• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.73-81
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to obtain scientific information regarding classification and health hazards that may result from a 13 weeks inhalation exposure of isoprene in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The testing method was conducted in accordance with OECD guidelines for the testing of chemicals No. 413. The Rats were divided into 4 groups (10 male and 10 female rats in each group) and exposed to 0, 360, 1,620, 7,300 ppm isoprene in each exposure chamber for 6 h/day, 5 days/week, for 13 weeks. As a result, there were no mortality or abnormality during the period of study and did not show any significant changes of body weight. There were no dose response changes in urinalysis, hematological and serum biochemical value examination. Relative organ weight was increased significantly the right kidney in 7,300 ppm group of male rats. In female rats, relative organ weight of the left kidney and the both lungs in 1,620 ppm group and the left lung and the both kidneys in 7,300 ppm group were increased significantly. But the histopathological findings did not reveal any exposure-related changes. According to the above results, the no observable adverse effect level (NOAEL) of isoprene was 7,300 ppm (20.3 mg/L) in both male and female rats. In conclusion, Isoprene was not classified specific target organ toxicity of the 'Standard for Classification and Labeling of Chemical Substance and Material Safety Data Sheet' (Ministry of Employment and Labor, 2009).

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.125-138
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• 2007

Objectives: This retrospective study is to identify related factors of treatment success of patients with tuberculosis at community health centers. Methods: The subjects of this study were 1,417 patients with tuberculosis treated in 28 community health centers. The predictors of tuberculosis treatment success were analyzed in terms of 2 areas, which were characteristics of patients and health centers(TB control program). The characteristics of patients consist of 2 factors, such as demographic & diagnosis and treatment. The present conditions of health centers consist of 3 factors, location of centers, resources, and community activities. Data were analysed using X2- test and logistic regression methods. Results: The significant differences between success group and failure group were sex(p=0.003), age(p=0.013), job(p=0.000), type of patients(p=0.001), past history(p=0.029), BCG injection(p=0.009), sputum culture examination(p=0.017), period of treatment(p=0.000), location of center(p=0.001), population per staff(p=0.015), FTE(p=0.027), education days of staff(p=0.005), BCG injection rate(p=0.001), case detection rate (p=0.003), and health education provision rate(p=0.044). Then these variables were analysed using logistic regression analysis. Significant positive factors of treatment success were occupation(95% CI:1.3-6.1), periods of treatment(95% CI:1.5-2.2), center in large city(95% CI:1.2-16.7), center in middle city(95% CI:2.1-24.3), job education related TB(95% CI:1.02-1.3), and BCG injection rate(95% CI:1.1-303.4). Significant negative factors of treatment success were male(95% CI:0.1-0.5) and treatment after default(95% CI:0.005-0.5). Conclusions: Tuberculosis is still one of serious diseases in Korea, because it causes highest mortality rate among OECD countries. This study may provide information to improve treatment effectiveness of tuberculosis at community health centers.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.159-178
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• 2011

Korea ranks high among the OECD member countries with a high out-of-pocket share. In 2006, the government implemented in full scale the policy of extending the health insurance benefit coverage. Included in the policy are lowering the out-of-pocket share of patients of serious case and expanding the medical bill ceiling system to mention just a few. This study proposes to confirm effectiveness of the benefit extension policy by identifying changes in 'out-of-pocket expenditure as a share of the ability to pay' and 'incidence rate of catastrophic health care expenditure' of each individual household as manifested before and after the benefit extension policy was implemented. The 1st and 3rd year data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS), conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), were used for the analysis, where low-income households and ordinary households are sampled separately. While the absolute amount of 'out-of-pocket expenditure' occurred to the average household increased for the period 2005-2007, the 'out-of-pocket expenditure as a share of the ability to pay' decreased. At the same time, the share decreased in the case of low-income households and households with patients of chronic or serious case as contrasted with ordinary households. 'Incidence rates of catastrophic health care expenditure' of ordinary households for 2007 stood at 14.6%, 5.9% and 2.8% at the threshold of 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively. The rates decreased overall between 2005 and 2007, while those of low-income households with patients of serious case statistically significantly increased. An analysis of this study indicates that it is related with the medical bill ceiling system regardless of incomes introduced in 2007.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.316-328
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• 2012

Objectives: This study was designed to provide the information regarding chemicals classification and health hazard by evaluating the toxicological effect through repeated inhalation exposure of methyl acrylate(MA) in Sprague-Dawley(SD) rat for 13 weeks. Methods: According to the notification with Ministry of Labor(No. 2009-68) and OECD Test Guideline 413, the rats were exposed to MA at concentration of 0, 56, 168, 280 ppm via whole body inhalation for 6 hours per day, 5 days per week, for 13 weeks. All animals were observed for mortality, morbidity and the change of body weight and food consumption were determined during the exposure period. Necropsy finding, organ weight, hematology, clinical biochemistry and histopathological examination following exposure were also performed. Results: There were no death and abnormal clinical signs relate to exposure MA. However, At 160 ppm and 280 ppm exposure groups, body weight and food consumption showed statistically significant decrease and histopathological changes in lung, trachea, nasal cavity, larynx were observed. Conclusions: MA was mainly affected respiratory tract. It is consequently provided to be classified as category 2(0.2 mg/L/6h < category 2 ${\leq}$ 1.0 mg/L/6h) for specific target organ toxicity following repeated exposure according to Standard for Classification and Labeling of Chemical Substance and Material Safety Data Sheet. The NOAEL(no observable adverse effect level) of MA was also determined to be lower than 56 ppm.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.205-209
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• 2001

Lemna gibba was newly cultured and provided for toxicity tests. In this study, the chromate toxicity tests for Lemna gibba were performed according to the OECD Lemna growth inhibition test guideline. The test species was Lemna gibba, and the tests were repeated 5 times. To evaluate the toxicity test results, the average specific growth rate, EC50, 95％ confidential limit, and variances were calculated. The test performance was analyzed by the doubling time and test statistics. The average values of EC50 data determined by logistic and linear interpolation curves were 25.9 ppm and 35.4 ppm respectively (by chromate concentration). The doubling time of all controls were below 2.5 day, so all tests passed the criteria for the test performance. This study introduced a new test method, Lemna growth inhibition test, which is provided for the hazard assessment of aquatic environment.

• The Korean Chronic Disease News
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• no.319
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• pp.1-18
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• 2007

복지시대의 첨병-구례군보건의료원 김영락 원장/노인복지시설 통합.개편/비만치료도 건강보험급여 대상/보건소 중심, 만성질환 관리시스템 구축/임의왕진 의료급여비 환수/적절한 운동이 '대장암' 예방한다/모유수유 오래하면 유방암 감소/50대 두통, 어지러움은 중풍 의심/축수산물 항생제 잔류 기준 엄격 적용/담배연기 없는 깨끗한 병원/레이저 이용 암 세포만 선택적 파괴/'주민 삶의 질 적인 개선' 지향-구례구보건의료원/농촌지역 공공보건의료 질적 발전에 정열 쏟아-김영락 원장/동아제약, 유럽 시장 본격진출/LG, 세계 최초 항구토 패치 도입/한미약품, 의약사 금융지원 한다/국내 첫 생약제제 임상시험 지침 마련/암환자 완치율 44.4% 수준/고혈압.당뇨병치료율 2배 증가/혈압 없어도 '코골면' 고혈압 위험 높아/조기위암 전체 위암 절반 넘었다/항암면역세포치료제 NKM 허가/OECD Health Data 2007 보건의료실태분석

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.81-101
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to examine support policies regarding work and family reconciliation, to suggest plans to improve workplace policies, and to suggest directions for further studies. This study looks at OECD's work-life reconciliation policies as well as family friendly workplace policies in Korea to find a way to enhance business' receptiveness and implementation of the policies. By examining women's labor conditions, this study finds that family friendly workplace policies are necessarily imminent in our society of low fertility and ageing. Along with the evaluation of benefit level and the effectiveness of current policies, this study uses data from interviews with working mothers who have had the experience of family friendly benefits. The results of the analyses suggest that the government should focus on improving the workplace environment in companies that do not show bias against the use of family friendly policies. In order to farm more successful policies, future studies are needed to analyze the changes of fertility, working conditions, support programs, and benefits.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.223-226
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• 2001

Acetanilide is a High Production Volume Chemical, which is produced about 2,300 tons/year in Korea as of 1998 survey. Most is used as an intermediate for synthesis of pharmaceuticals and dyes. The chemical is one of seven chemicals, which are under the frame of OECD SIDS program sponsored by National Institute of Environmental Research of Korea. Regarding the information on the environmental fate. bioconcentration is one of important factor to estimate the environmental tranfer. However, measurement of bioconcentration needs high expense and time. For this reason, OECD recommends to use BCFWIN model to estimate bioconcentration of organic chemicals, BCFWIN estimates the bioconcentration factor (BCF) of an organic compound using the log octanol-water partition coefficient (Kow) of the compound. Structures are entered into BCFWIN through SMITES (Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry System) notations. The BCFWIN method classifies a compound as either ionic or non-ionic. ionic compounds include carboxylic acids, sulfonic acids and salts of sulfonic acids, and charged nitrogen compounds (nitrogen with a + 5 valence such as quaternary ammonium compounds). All other compounds are classified as non-ionic. In this study, bioaccumulation of acetanilide was estimated using BCFWIN model based on SMIIES notation, chemical name data and partition coefficient as one of environmental fate/distribution of the chemical elements.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.82 no.1
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• pp.2-11
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• 2021

More than 4 million women undergo breast cancer (BC) screening with mammography each year in Korea. Digital mammography (DM) was introduced in 2000, and it has been reported to have a higher diagnostic accuracy than screen-film mammography (SFM) or computed radiography (CR) in women with dense breasts. According to a study using data from the National Cancer Screening Program for BC, the diagnostic accuracy of DM was higher than those of SFM and CR, regardless of age, breast density, and screening round. Currently, despite high supply rate among OECD countries, the distribution of DM equipment is approximately 35% in Korea. For quick replacement with DM, it will be necessary to improve its fee for the National Health Insurance and support an educational program for radiologists. In addition, efforts should be made to increase the accessibility of DM.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.1183-1191
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• 2016

According to WHO (World Health Organization), Korea ranked 1st place for TB mortality rate among OECD countries. In order to improve the situation, several administrative policies have been suggested and their efforts start showing some improvement. Meanwhile, those policies must be supported by solid scientific evidences by conducting appropriate statistical analyses. In particular, incidence and mortality rates of respiratory infectious disease such as TB must be analyzed considering their geographical characteristics. In this paper, we analyzed TB mortality rates in Korea from 2000 to 2011 using one of bayesian spatio-temporal models, which is implemented as R package (R-INLA).