• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.139-142
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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, and the chemical is one of seven chemicals of which human and environmental risk are being assessed by National Institute of Environmental Research under the frame of OECD SIDS program. The Atmospheric Oxidation Program for Microsoft Windows (AOPWIN) is used to estimates the rate constant for the atmospheric, gas－phase reaction between photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals and organic chemicals. It is also used to estimates the rate constant for the gas－phase reaction between ozone and olefinic/acetylenic compounds. The rate constants estimated by the program are then used to calculate atmospheric half－lives for organic compounds based upon average atmospheric concentrations of hydroxyl radicals and ozone. AOPWIN requires only a chemical structure to make these predictions. Structures are entered into AOPWIN by SMILES (Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry System) notations. In this study, one of environmental fate/distribution of the chemical elements, photodegradation of acetanilide was estimated using AOPWIN model based on SMILES notation and chemical name data.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.837-852
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• 2000

Backgrounds : Today, tuberculosis cannot only be cured medically, but also controlled by public health. Despite the overall worldwide decline in tuberculosis, the disease continues to be a significant problem among developing countries and in the slums of large cities in some industrialized countries. Particularly, this communicable disease has come into the public health spotlight because of its resurgence in the 1990's. our country has been operating the Korean National Tuberculosis Control Program since 1962, focusing around public health centers. Therefore, this study aims to compare the effectiveness of tuberculosis control activities, one of the major public health activities in Korea, by producing indexes, such as the yearly registration rate per 100,000 population and treatment compliance of tuberculosis on in small areas (communities). Methods : This work was accomplished by constructing a time-series analytic model using data from "1980~2000: the Yearly Statistical Report" with patient registry data of 234 City. County. District public health centers and by identifying the factors influencing the tuberculosis indexes. Results : The trends of pulmonary tuberculosis positive point prevalence and pulmonary tuberculosis negative point prevalence on X-ray screening have declined steadily, beginning in 1981 and continuing to 1998 by region (city, county, district). Although the tuberculosis mortality rate steadily shows a declining trend by year and region, but Korea still ranks first among 29 OECD countries in 1998, with a tuberculosis mortality rate of 7.1 per 100,000 persons, according to the time-series analysis for fatal diseases. Conclusion : The results of the study will form the fundamental basis of future regional health care planning and the Korean Tuberculosis Surveillance System on 2000. Since the implementation of local autonomy through the Local Health Act of 1995, it has now become vita1 for each city, county, district public health centers to determine its own priorities for relevant health care management, including budget allocation and program goals.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.93-111
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• 2005

Defining soil quality in scopes and applications is one of the prerequisite for the sustainable management of soil environment to orient researches, strategies and policies. However, definition of soil quality is controversial depending upon a viewpoint of soil science or soil environment. Soil quality can be, irrespective of the disciplines, defined as the capacity of a soil to function within ecosystem boundaries to sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality and promote plant and animal health. Common to all of the soil quality concepts can be summarized as the capacity of soil to function effectively at present and in the future. The OECD includes soil quality as one of the agri-environment indicators. This article intends to i) summarize the current soil quality research, and ii) provide information on protocol of soil quality assessment. A framework for soil quality was divided into three steps: indicator selection as minimum data set (MDS), scoring of the selected indicators, and integration of scores into soil quality index. Korean government suggested possible physical and chemical indicators such as bulk density and organic matter for paddy and upland soils to OECD. The framework of soil quality assessment is not yet implemented in Korea. Countries such as USA, Canada and New Zealand have constructed the framework on soil quality assessment and developed a user-friendly version of soil quality assessment tools to evaluate the integrated effects of various soil management practices. The protocol provided in this review might help policymakers, scientists, and administrators improve awareness about soil quality and understand the way of soil environment management.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.20 no.4 s.51
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• pp.279-286
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• 2005

Earthworm (Eisenia fetida) acute toxicity test was carried out and ecological risk assessment in soil was performed with national monitoring data. 14 day - $LC_{50}$ of nonylphenol and bisphenol A were 288.1 mg/kg and 90.1 mg/kg, respectively. And NOECs of nonylphenol and bisphenol A were 250 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg, respectively. Significant weight decrement was appeared at 70 mg/kg of bisphenol A, however, nonylphenol at concentrations tested did not severe adverse effect on the weight decrement. The environmental monitoring has been carrying out by NIER since 1999. Exposure levels of nonylphenol in soil were ND$\sim$10.55 $\mu$g/kg and those of bisphenol A were ND$\sim$15.50$\mu$g/kg in National Monitoring data which had been performed from 2000 to 2004. The measured soil exposure level was applied to evaluate the environmental risk assessment. The values of PNEC for bisphenol A and nonylphenol were determined as 0.5 mg/kg and 2.5 mg/kg, respectively using the safety factors which were suggested in EU and OECD. The values of HQ (PEC/PNEC) were determined to be below I for bisphenol A and nonylphenol when the maximum exposure levels for bispheol A (15.50$\mu$g/kg) and nonylphenol (10.55$\mu$g/kg) were applied. Conclusively, the environmental risk assessment of bisphenol A and nonylphenol was not critical in soil.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1246-1254
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• 2012

The South Korea has the highest overall smoking rates of male among the thirty member-countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This study was performed to determine the association between amount of smoking and self-reported voice problem in Korean adult population using national survey data. Data were drawn from the Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2008. Subjects were 3,600 persons (1,501 male, 2,099 female) aged 19 years and older living in the community. Adjusting for covariates (age, sex, education, income, longest occupation, alcohol drinking, pain and discomfort during the last 2 weeks), Severe smoke (>40.5-55.5 pack year), more than 20 cigarettes per day were independent risk factors for self-reported voice problem. It was found that the number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) the proportional increased in risk of voice disorders. These findings suggest that the investigation of CPD are required for effective screening of voice disorder.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.135-139
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• 2013

Objective : This study was conducted to examine the relationship between the annual changes of suicide methods and suicide rates in South Korea. We compared the suicide methods in South Korea with those in six other OECD countries, Japan, Finland, France, United States, Canada and Australia. Methods : Data of suicide rates and methods since the year 2000 were obtained from the official electronic mortality data published by the seven countries and from the World Health Organization [WHO] mortality database. We compared the correlation between suicide methods and suicidal rates in South Korea using Spearman's correlation test. Results : The proportion of hanging steadily increased, whereas self-poisoning steadily decreased from 2000 to 2011. The increased use of hanging was associated with the increase of suicide rates in South Korea. The preference for jumping as a suicide method in South Korea can be notably compared to that of other countries. Conclusion : Preference use of lethal methods, such as hanging, may play a great role in the increase of suicide rates in South Korea. The limitation of physical and cognitive access to lethal methods can be an effective suicide prevention strategy.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.79-99
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• 2018

Purpose - Food consumption in Korea has changed in paradigm as it has grown qualitatively in the past in quantitative shortages. Consumer food consumption patterns are rapidly changing due to changes in economic, social and population conditions, scientific and technological development, climate change, and market opening. At the same time, there is a need to actively respond to these changes in terms of the food industry, market, and government policy. The purpose of this study is to examine the changes and characteristics of food consumption expenditure of Korean consumers in-depth and depth in order to provide implications for agriculture, food market and policymakers. Research design, data, and methodology - We analyzed various food consumption changes from the 1980s to 2015 through Household Income and Expenditure Survey raw data from MDIS(Microdata Integrated Service) of Statistics Korea. and conducted the age effect, generation effect, and year effect by cohort analysis. We also conducted comparisons with OECD countries on several indicators. Results - Food consumption spending was slow, and there was no significant change in home consumption, while eating out consumption increased about 20 times in 2015 compared to 1980. Income, age, residential area, number of household members showed significant changes in food consumption. According to the cohort analysis, the changes in the food consumption structure are largely due to age effect, and the year, age, and generation effects are different for each food item. Conclusions - Food consumption has a significant impact on not only the nutritional status of consumers but ultimately the public health. Therefore, they should be regarded as a strategic policy area of central government rather than a matter of size and change of food consumption expenditure.

• CELLMED
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.2.1-2.8
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• 2021

The clinical condition Amnesia causes difficulty in learning new information and the inability to recall past events. It is primarily concerned with recent memory loss. Majoon-e-Nisyan (MJN) is a polyherbal Unani formulation, present in a semi-solid form. It is widely used potent drug of the Unani System of Medicine (USM) for treating Nisyan (amnesia). In the present study polyherbal Unani formulation, MJN has been studied for its quality control and acute toxicity. Standardization (quality control) of drugs deals with drug identity, drug quality and purity determination. Standardization of MJN had been done as per the Unani pharmacopoeial parameters approved by World Health Organization (WHO) - Pharmacognostical parameters, Physico-chemical parameters, high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC), microbial load, aflatoxin, and heavy metals. Solvents and chemicals used in the study were of analytical grade and used instrument were calibrated. By conducting an acute oral toxicity study in rats, the safety of MJN was assessed. The limit test method of OECD guideline 425 was followed in the study. Results of standardization and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for preparation of MJN may serve as the standard reference in the future. The data generated in the study for the quality control of MJN proved the quality of formulation and shows that MJN is not toxic in rats following acute dosing up to 2000 mg/kg bw. The data obtained in the paper for MJN may be used as a standard guideline for preparation of the formulation which can save time, cost, and resources for future research endeavours.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.67-77
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• 2020

Purpose : Recently, Korea has entered an aging society due to the steadily increasing proportion of the elderly population. Additionally, elderly suicidal rate in Korea is the highest among OECD member countries. Because old age is a time when all functions are weakened physically, mentally, and socially, negative experiences, including depression and poor quality of life in the elderly, may lead to suicidal intentions. This study attempts to understand the relationship between depression and quality of life experienced by the elderly and their suicidal intentions. Methods : The survey was conducted from January 2 to March 31, 2019 by administering a questionnaire targeting people aged ≥ 65 years, who were registered at public health centers located in U-city, Gyeonggi-do. In total, 1,015 copies of data were used for the final analysis. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 23.0 program. The χ2 test was performed to investigate the relationship between the demographic characteristics and the suicidal intentions of the elderly subjects. The t-test was performed to determine the relationship between suicidal intentions, depression, and quality of life in elderly subjects. Results : The study results revealed that 168 people (16.6 %) had thought of suicide and 3.2 % had actually tried to commit suicide. The reasons for suicidal thoughts were family problems in 60 (5.6 %), economic problems in 49 (4.6 %), and physical illness in 44 (4.1 %). Those with suicidal intentions had higher levels of depression (t=11.712, p<.001) and higher quality of life scores (t=-9.565, p<.001). Conclusion : Based on these results, it is proposed that a suicide prevention policy and program that can improve the elderly's depression and quality of life is necessary.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.553-563
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• 2020

Suicide is one of the major social problems in Korea, and its suicide rate is highest among the OECD countries. It has been reported that employment instability in labour market is causal factor of suicide ideation. Because the unemployed and temporary or part-time workers are reported to have high level of suicide ideation due to unstable job security, and they are likely to be a high risk group for suicide, it is necessary to do in-depth research on the effect of job stability on suicide ideation and the protective factors. For this purpose this study investigates the relationship between employment status and suicide ideation, and examine the moderating effect of family function. Data of 1,235 adults from the national-wide 'Longitudinal Study of Suicide Survivors' Mental Health were analyzed. Employment status were associated with the level of suicide ideation(B=-.904, p<.001), and the level of suicide ideation was the highest in the unemployed group. And the moderating effect of family function was statistically significant(B=-.218, p<.05), and good family function buffers the effect of unstable job status on suicide as a protective factor. Based on these findings, policy and practical implications for suicide prevention for precarious employment from the family dimension are discussed.