• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.452-456
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• 2010

Water is an indispensable input to human's existence and industrial production. In these days, people are getting more concerned about their health and the interest in the safety of drinking water has increased. In this situation, this paper attempts to measure the economic benefits of the tap water quality improvement. The study area was restricted to Busan, the second largest city in Korea, where local government is planning to implement a tap water quality improvement program. We apply a one-and-one-half bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation (CV) method to obtain at least a preliminary evaluation of the benefits. CV is developed for valuing goods or services that cannot be valued either directly or indirectly from market observations and has been applied to several environmental goods. The CV survey was rigorously designed to comply with the guidelines for best-practiced CV studies. We surveyed a randomly selected sample of 400 households in Busan and asked respondents questions in person-to-person interviews about how they would be willing to pay for the water quality improvement. Respondents overall accepted the contingent market and were willing to contribute a significant amount (US$1.66), on average, per household per month. We can also calculate the aggregate value of the program which improves the water quality in Busan. This study is expected to provide policy-makers with useful information for evaluating and planning environmental policies relating specifically to water.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2024

Over the past decade, there has been global expansion in the advancement of underwater cleaning technology for ship hulls. This methodology ensures both diver safety and operational efficiency. However, recent attention has been drawn to the harmful effects of ship hull-cleaning wastewater on marine animals. It is anticipated that this wastewater may have various impacts on a wide range of organisms, potentially leading to populationand ecosystem-relevant alterations. This concern is especially significant when the wastewater affects functionally important species, such as aquaculture animals and habitat-forming species living in coastal regions, where underwater cleaning platforms are commonly established. Despite this, information on the ecotoxicological effects of this wastewater remains limited. In this mini review, we discuss the adverse effects of wastewater from in-water cleaning processes, as well as the current challenges and limitations in regulating and mitigating its potential toxicity. Overall, recent findings underscore the detrimental effects posed by sublethal levels of wastewater to the health status of aquatic animals under both acute and chronic exposure.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.45-50
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• 2016

This paper describes the development of smart sticks as walking assistance for elderly people that incorporate motion sensing, hear-beat sensing, data processing, and communication functions. Our sticks communicate with users' smart phones and upon a detection of falling-off, an alarm is generated and propagated to multiple guardians registered in advance. In addition, the sticks provide smart healthcare functionalities for elderly people thus suggest an health platform that is empowered by various health-related informations. The heartbeat sensors and motion sensors mounted on the sticks enable various additional functions. Our smart sticks are designed to function as stable walking assistance as well as to support elderly people by providing useful services in the convergence with information technologies.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.15-25
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• 2016

Objectives: In this study, we examined the validity of Clostridium difficile culture results as a proxy measure of Clostridium difficile infection, and inferred the epidemiologic characteristics of Clostridium difficile infection by tracking the trends of Clostridium difficile culture results. Methods: We reviewed the medical records to figure out the actual possibilities of Clostridium difficile infection of those with positive or negative results of Clostridium difficile culture during the time span from January 2012 to March 2012. We calculated the positive and negative predictive value of Clostridium difficile culture results for Clostridium difficile infection. Furthermore, epidemiologic characteristics of Clostridium difficile infection in a tertiary general hospital in 2012 were analyzed. Result: The estimated positive predictive value of Clostridium difficile culture tests for Clostridium difficile infection was 100%, and the estimated negative predictive value was around 94.4~99.3% depending on the cutoff value of possibility of Clostridium difficile infection. A total of 622 cases were identified as Clostridium difficile infection in a tertiary general hospital in 2012 and there were 4.9 patients with Clostridium difficile infection per 1,000 inpatients. Conclusion: In conclusion, we identified that Clostridium difficile culture results can be used as a proxy measure of Clostridium difficile infection.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2022

Background: Air pollution is increasing together with industrialization and urbanization. In order to reduce air pollution, public transportation is recommended rather than private cars, and the number of passengers using public transportation is increasing accordingly. This study observes the concentration of indoor pollutants in city buses over time. Through this means, we intend to suggest a plan to manage the indoor air quality in city buses. Objectives: The concentration of indoor pollution in public transportation was investigated from April 2021 to January 2022. Based on this, we evaluated the exposure to indoor pollutants. Methods: Six city bus lines in an industrial city were selected for the research, and indoor pollution was measured through IoT (Internet of Things)-based sensor-type measuring devices. The concentration of pollutants was measured every minute, and statistical data were constructed based on the measurement results. Results: In all the city buses studied, the average concentration of pollutants were below the guidelines. However, some measurement results showed cases of exceeding the guidelines. As a result of the analysis by time zone, there were more cases in which pollutants exceeded the standard value during rush hour compared to at other times. A risk assessment for PM₁₀ was performed by evaluating the excess mortality risk from exposure and the risk from inhalation exposure. Conclusions: All measured indoor pollutants in the city buses did not exceed the guidelines. Also, the risk assessment results were found to be within the level of safety. However, if a city bus is used for a long time, there is a possibility that there may be an impact on the human body due to inhalation exposure, so additional management is required.

• Journal of The Korean Digital Architecture Interior Association
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2013

Recently, the korean statistical information service reported that the elder people aged over 65 years take 11 percentage point of all population, indicating that the hyper-elder era will advent shortly. As a result, there are remarkably increasing demands for providing self-organizable home agent system for elder people. Of the home agent system, the ubiquitous home service is known to be useful to overcome this problem. However, current ubiquitous home services limited to provide functional services, and it can be observed that there is lack of consideration for elder-support products which are closely interacted with elder people in the living situation. In this paper, we analyze senior aids products that can be combined to the ubiquitous home service, and propose design procedure for senior aids products that can be applied to self-organizable ubiquitous services. We studied characteristics of elder people, current state of affairs for senior aids products, and home services that are highly required by elder people. Moreover, we observed that the ubiquitous home services related to health, safety, and amenity are urgently needed, and those services can be categorized according to residential areas. Following those observances, we proposed a design principle based on the universal design paradigm to provide self-organizable ubiquitous home service environment for elder people using senior aids products.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.421-435
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• 2006

The objective of this report is to introduce the European Union's variation rules governing medicinal products that are subject to post-approval changes. The EMEA outlines a variety of changes occurring to approved medicinal products. It also recommends a marketing authorisation holder to follow specific post-approval applications in various situations. For instance, the Commission Regulation(EC) No. 1085/2003 explains variation types and suggests post-authorisation procedures with which an applicant should comply. In all cases of minor and major variations the applicant has to investigate and validate whether or not the intended changes would have impact on the safety, efficacy and quality of a drug product. The applicant should then submit to the EMEA a variation application with adequate documentation in support of the notified changes. This procedure is implemented to ensure that changes to the approved medicinal product do not cause my public health concerns. In fact, the post-authorisation guidance categorizes post-approval changes into type IA/IB variations, type II variations, and extension applications. Such classifications determine administrative procedures to be followed in an efficient manner. Based on the type of a variation, the regulatory agency opts to reduce or extend the evaluation time-frame. The thrust of the EU's post-authorisation guidance is introduced in text with appropriate explanation. All these information will be likely to be helpful in updating a Korean regulatory guidance that could better deal with post-approval changes to generic drugs available in the market.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.173-179
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• 2016

This study was conducted to provide basic information for future Anseong local food policy and local food activation by finding the key factor determining consumer purchasing for Anseong local food. First, we conducted a survey and derived consumer purchasing attributes for the local food. Logistic regression analysis was performed to find the main factors that determine the consumers' purchase intention for Anseong local food out of such seven attributes as 'excellent quality', 'safety', 'good for health', 'activation of local economy', 'low price', 'accessibility', 'variety of items'. The results showed that the most influencing attributes on consumers' purchase decisions for Anseong local food were 'excellent quality' and 'low price' followed by 'accessibility' and 'activation of local economy'.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.266-273
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• 1999

The maximum work capacity at various shoulder angles was estimated in terms of joint moment through maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) measurement, and the result was compared to workload computed from 3-D static lifting model (3DSSPP) based upon national institute of safety and health (NIOSH) lifting guideline (1991). The electromyography (EMG) of anterior/posterior deltoid and trapezius muscle was also recorded to study the function of individual muscle during asymmetric shoulder lifting. Psychophysical workload was measured to observe the difference from MVC or biomechanical estimation. An apparatus was constructed for the study and twenty five trials including five flexion angles and five add/abduction angles were performed isometrically. Results indicated that MVC at 30 degree of flexion was the strongest whereas MVC at 120 degree was the weakest. In case of add/abduction, MVC decreased to 77 to 89 % during add/abduction compared to the MVC at neutral position. Regarding the normalized EMG value, a substantial increase was observed at 30 and 60 degree abduction. More importantly, the shoulder moment computed from maximum permissible limit (MPL) was greater than the moment at MVC condition during 30 degree adduction. Current result can be used as a reference information for a safe workplace design to prevent the shoulder from an excessive work load in industry.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.133-154
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• 2023

Obscured structural members are mostly under-evaluated during condition assessment due to lack of visual inspection capability. Insufficient information about the integrity of these structural members poses a significant risk for public safety. Time domain reflectometry (TDR) is a novel approach in structural health monitoring (SHM). Ordinary coaxial cables "as is" without a major modification are not suitable for SHM with TDR. The objective of this study is to propose a practical and cost-effective modification approach to commercially available coaxial cables in order to use them as a "cable sensor" for damage detection with the TDR equipment for obscured structural members. The experimental validation and assessment of the proposed modification approach was achieved by conducting 3-point bending tests of the model piles as a representative obscured structural member. It can be noted that the RG59/U-6 and RG6/U-4 cable sensors expose higher strain sensitivity in comparison with non-modified "as is" versions of the cables used. As a result, the cable sensors have the capability of sensing both the presence and the location of a structural damage with a maximum aberration of 3 cm. Furthermore, the crack development can be monitored by the RG59/U-6 cable sensor with a simple calibration.