• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.84-88
• /
• 2017

Background: Workers in slaughterhouses are exposed to a wide range of biological contaminants, such as bacteria and fungi, due to their working environment. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of respiratory disorders among workers in slaughterhouses. Methods: This study was conducted on 81 workers in slaughterhouses and 81 healthy office workers as a reference group. The American Thoracic Society standard respiratory symptoms questionnaire was used to determine the prevalence of respiratory disorders. Besides, lung function tests were conducted using a calibrated spirometer at the beginning (preshift) and at the end (postshift) of the $1^{st}$ working day. Single-stage Anderson sampler was used to measure the concentration of bioaerosols in different parts of slaughterhouses. Results: The prevalence of respiratory disorders, such as cough, productive cough, breathlessness, phlegm, and wheezing, was 3.17, 4.02, 3.07, 4.66, and 3.94 times, respectively, higher among workers in slaughterhouses compared with the reference group. Conclusion: The prevalence of respiratory disorders was significantly higher among workers in slaughterhouses. Thus, the significant reduction in the percentage predicted lung function among workers in slaughterhouses might be associated with exposure to bioaerosols in their work environment.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2018

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are the most important problems among professions particularly, dentists. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in various parts of the body in Iranian dentists by using systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was based on preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and searching in national databases such as SID, Magiran, Irandoc, IranMedex, and Medlib, and international databases such as MedLine, Web of Sciences, Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, Embase, Springer, Wiley Online Library, Ebsco, CEBM, and Google Scholar search engine which were published by January 1, 2017. Researched keywords were in Persian and their standard English equivalents were in accordance with their MeSH. The obtained documents were analyzed using Comprehensive Meta-analysis version 2. Results: According to 23 studies through 2,531 Iranian dentists which took part in this study, prevalence of skeletal disorders in Iranian dentists has been 17.6% [confidence interval (CI) 95%:11.7-25.5] in knees, 33.2% (CI 95%:24.1-43.8) in shoulders, 33.4% (CI 95%: 26.8-40.8) in the thorax, 51.9% (CI 95%:46.7-57.2) in necks, 33.7% (CI 95%:28.2-39.6) in wrists/hands, 12.9% (CI 95%:7.7-20.6) in elbows, 37.3% (CI 95%: 31.5-43.5) in lower back, 11.9% (CI 95%:8.7-16.1) in thighs, 12.9% (CI 95%:3.8-36) in the foot, and 10.5% (CI 95%:7-15.4) in legs. Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in Iranian dentists, ergonomics should be included as a lesson in preclinic and also, reeducation courses for ergonomics basics should be executed for graduate dentists.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.312-316
• /
• 2015

Background: Unleaded petrol contains significant amounts of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTX). Toxic responses following occupational exposure to unleaded petrol have been evaluated only in limited studies. The main purpose of this study was to ascertain whether (or not) exposure to unleaded petrol, under normal working conditions, is associated with any hepatotoxic or nephrotoxic response. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in which 200 employees of Shiraz petrol stations with current exposure to unleaded petrol, as well as 200 unexposed employees, were investigated. Atmospheric concentrations of BTX were measured using standard methods. Additionally, urine and fasting blood samples were taken from individuals for urinalysis and routine biochemical tests of kidney and liver function. Results: The geometric means of airborne concentrations of BTX were found to be $0.8mg\;m^{-3}$, $1.4mg\;m^{-3}$, and $2.8mg\;m^{-3}$, respectively. Additionally, means of direct bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, blood urea and plasma creatinine were significantly higher in exposed individuals than in unexposed employees. Conversely, serum albumin, total protein, and serum concentrations of calcium and sodium were significantly lower in petrol station workers than in their unexposed counterparts. Conclusion: The average exposure of petrol station workers to BTX did not exceed the current threshold limit values (TLVs) for these chemicals. However, evidence of subtle, subclinical and prepathologic early liver and kidney dysfunction was evident in exposed individuals.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.52 no.5
• /
• pp.452-460
• /
• 2019

Exposure to heavy metals through the consumption of contaminated seafood poses a health risk to humans. In Korea, seafood imports are increasing with consumption, with the largest increase in imported seafood coming from Russia. Peter the Great Bay and the Razdolnaya River are both major fisheries and protected areas under the Northwest Pacific Action Plan located near Vladivostok, Russia. This study analyzed heavy metal [cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), total mercury (tHg), and total (tAs), and inorganic (iAs) arsenic] concentrations in shellfish and crustaceans collected from these areas. Except for iAs, the major toxic heavy metal concentrations of the samples met the national standards (Cd, 0.024-0.982 and 0.003-0.379 mg/kg; Pb, 0.021-1.533 and 0.002 mg/kg; tHg, 0.006-0.015 and 0.036-0.097 mg/kg). The tAs concentrations of three samples exceeded the Russian standard (5 mg/kg, wet weight), whereas the iAs concentrations were extremely low (ND-0.033 mg/kg). Compared with the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, the percentages of PTWI of Cd, Pb, and tHg were 0.239%, 0.001-0.049%, and 0.013-0.302%, respectively. These findings reveal that there is no potential health risk by heavy metals through the consumption of Russian seafood obtained in the surveyed areas.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
• /
• 2000.10a
• /
• pp.165-170
• /
• 2000

Port State Control (PSC) is the inspection of foreign ships in national ports for the purpose of verifying th\ulcorner the condition of the ships and its equipments comply with the requirement of international conventions and the ship is manned and operated in compliance with applicable international laws. On the other hand, check items in PSC are nearly similar to periodical survey of Classification Societies, because they have the same background regarding safety and maritime pollution prevention. The purpose of this study is to develope computer-aided information systems for ship inspection item which is useful for effective implementation of Port State Control. For this work, the status of PSC is reviewed, and the related scheme of ship survey system in Classification Societies is investigated. On these bases, a computer software integrated database system and object-oriented technique is developed. The developed system is expected helpful to establish and maintain an effective system of Port State Control.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.442-451
• /
• 2014

Over 20,000 defense shelters are currently designated and operated in Korea. However, only few sheltershave the capacity to defend against CBR attack or terror from North Korea. Furthermore, as public defense shelters are only equipped with air-raid shelters, it is urgent to establish standard for CBR attack.This study focuses on shelter-in-place(SIP), a kind of CBR shelter in the U.S., and aims to draw up construction plan and planning of Korean defenses helter.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.1
• /
• pp.344-350
• /
• 2021

As the High Flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO) has been recently required to support new R&D relevant to future nuclear systems requiring a much higher neutron fluence, the development of irradiation capsule technology for long-term irradiation testing was performed in three steps (3, 5, 10 dpa). At first, several design improvements of a standard capsule were suggested based on a failure analysis of the capsule and successfully applied for irradiation testing at HANARO at up to eight reactor operation cycles equivalent to 3 dpa. Based on a schematic stress analysis of the vulnerable parts of the previous capsule, an optimized design of the capsule was made for 5 dpa irradiation. The newly designed capsule was safely out-pile tested up to 450 days, which was equivalent to 5 dpa irradiation in the reactor. The test results were submitted to the Reactor Safety Review Committee of HANARO and irradiation testing for 5 dpa was approved. The capsule was also successfully out-pile tested to evaluate the possibility of irradiation testing for 10 dpa. For a higher neutron fluence exceeding 10 dpa, new capsule technologies, including a new capsule that has a different bottom design and neutron flux boosting capsule, were also suggested.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
• /
• 2006.05a
• /
• pp.577-580
• /
• 2006

The rapidly growth of Internet is main factor that activates the Digital Contents market. However imprudent Digital Contents market could be shrunk by imprudent illegal copy and delivery. MPEG(Moving Picture Experts Group) proposed MPEG-21 Multimedia frameworks in order to solve these problem. IPMP is parts of MPEG-21 Multimedia Frameworks, when Digital Contents goes through production delivery consumption, which defines standard to keep the Digital Contents in safety. Currently IPMP defined by FCD(Final Committee Draft) level. Therefore development of system which applied to latest standard to protect and manage the Digital Contents is required. and the system consists of fourth organizations which means Metadata Production server, Tool server, License server, Consumption server. In this Paper, we made production server to parse REL(Rights Expression Language) document that has right information for content from license server, and create metadata based on MPEG-21 IPMP about the content that applied to watermark. then, after it do remuxing, transmit the protected data to consumption server.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.60 no.11
• /
• pp.353-358
• /
• 2017

Purpose: To develop and evaluate a simple screening tool to assess hearing loss in newborns. A derived score was compared with the standard clinical practice tool. Methods: This cohort study was designed to screen the hearing of newborns using transiently evoked otoacoustic emission and auditory brain stem response, and to determine the risk factors associated with hearing loss of newborns in 3 tertiary hospitals in Northern Thailand. Data were prospectively collected from November 1, 2010 to May 31, 2012. To develop the risk score, clinical-risk indicators were measured by Poisson risk regression. The regression coefficients were transformed into item scores dividing each regression-coefficient with the smallest coefficient in the model, rounding the number to its nearest integer, and adding up to a total score. Results: Five clinical risk factors (Craniofacial anomaly, Ototoxicity, Birth weight, family history [Relative] of congenital sensorineural hearing loss, and Apgar score) were included in our COBRA score. The screening tool detected, by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, more than 80% of existing hearing loss. The positive-likelihood ratio of hearing loss in patients with scores of 4, 6, and 8 were 25.21 (95% confidence interval [CI], 14.69-43.26), 58.52 (95% CI, 36.26-94.44), and 51.56 (95% CI, 33.74-78.82), respectively. This result was similar to the standard tool (The Joint Committee on Infant Hearing) of 26.72 (95% CI, 20.59-34.66). Conclusion: A simple screening tool of five predictors provides good prediction indices for newborn hearing loss, which may motivate parents to bring children for further appropriate testing and investigations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.295-300
• /
• 2010

The international convention on standards of training, certification and watch-keeping for seafarers, 1978(1978 STCW convention) has been established as a minimum standard and competence of seafarers, and contributed to reduce marine accidents caused by human errors. The convention has been partly amended several times according to environmental change of ship's operation and there were comprehensive revisions in so called 1995 amended STCW convention. In these years, ships are in tendency of increasing size and speed, and also adopted high technologies. These kinds of changes brought STW sub-committee up for discussions to modify the convention to cope with new environments from the year of 2006. As the result, major amendaments to STCW convention have been adopted at a diplomatic conference in Manila, Philippine in June 2010, thereby new global standards will be in force to train and certify seafarers to operate technologically advanced ships before long. This paper is to introduce major amendaments such as ship's security, ECDIS and leadership etc. in this Manila amendments and to clarify some articles to be adopted in programs for education and training of seafarers in Korea.