• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
• /
• v.17 no.7
• /
• pp.167-175
• /
• 2012

Ubiquitous health care system, which is one of the developing solution technologies of IT, BT and NT, could give us new medical environments in future. Implementing health information systems can be complex, expensive and frustrating. Healthcare professionals seeking to acquire or upgrade systems do not have convenient, reliable way of specifying a level of adherence to communication standards sufficient to achieve truly efficient interoperability. Great progress has been made in establishing such standards-DICOM, IHE and HL7, notably, are now highly advanced. In this paper, there are suggestions that provide a test bed, demonstration and specification of how standards such a IHE, HL7, ASTM can be used to provide an integrated environment.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.10 no.1_2
• /
• pp.37-46
• /
• 1995

The purpose of this research is to estimate a safe environmental level of human exposure to thresholding-acting toxicants in drinking water and recommend the acceptable levels and management plans for maintaining good quality of drinking water' and protecting health hazard. This research has been funded as a national project for three years from 1992 to 1995. This study(the second year, 1993-1994) was conducted to monitor 39 species of noncarcinogenic chemicals such as volatile organic compounds(VOCs), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbens(PAHs), pesticides and heavy metals of drinking water at some area in six cities of Korea, and evaluate health risk due to these chemicals through four main steps (hazard identification, exposure assessment, dose-response assessment and risk characterization) of risk assessment in drinking water. In hazard identification, 39 species of non-carcinogenic chemicals were identified by the US EPA classification system. In the step of exposure assessment, sampling of tap water from the public water supply system had been conducted from 1993 to 1994, and 39 chemicals were analyzed. Inclose-response assessment for non-carcinogens, reference doses(RfD) and lifetime health advisories(HAs) of lifetime acceptable levels were calculated. In risk characterization of detected chemicals, the hazard quotients of noncarcinogens were less than one except those of manganese and iron in D city.

• International Commerce and Information Review
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.403-431
• /
• 2011

The environmental issues including domestic measures to protect public life or health are generally easy to bring the tension between the WTO and its member countries. The standard of review, whether de novo review, total deference, or somewhere in between, is largely important in the WTO's adjudicating mechanism because it is closely related to the appropriate balance of power between sovereign nations and the WTO: The multilateral trading regime, through the proper standard of review, could harmoniously operated without interest conflicts among the member countries and at the same time between the WTO and the member countries. Irrespective the important function of the standard of review in the WTO judicial system, applicable standard of review has not been established in the current SPS Agreement. Furthermore, the nature of the SPS Agreement related in scientific factors, such as scientific experiment, data and assessment prevents the WTO's panel from applying consistent standard of review. Considering the judicial demand for the moderate treatment of the case under the SPS Agreement, this paper explores appropriate standard of review applicable the SPS-related environmental measures, particularly, by analysing the recent SPS-related dispute, US-Hormones Suspension.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.188-192
• /
• 2012

Palliative medicine has shown demonstrated benefit for patients with serious illness, their families, and hospital systems. As such, the demand for palliative care services is growing at a fast pace, and health care facilities frequently struggle to develop and implement effective and sustainable methods of providing this care. As with any new system, challenges and barriers naturally exist to instituting palliative care. Undertaking careful assessment, planning, and resource allocation can provide the greatest likelihood of success when developing these novel yet much needed models of care. This summary paper offers a qualitative overview of the potential benefits and the rationale to implement robust palliative care systems. We briefly review the history of palliative medicine in the broadest sense and address several seminal works from the US palliative care literature. Core practices to establish and advance palliative medicine are suggested. Commentary is provided on some of the particular barriers to palliative system development that may need to be addressed in the context of Korean medical culture. Collectively, we hope this overview can contribute to a framework within which such research and development can occur, leading to increasingly effective and sustainable palliative medicine in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.73-78
• /
• 2010

Background: Although collaboration for community health is emphasized, the concept and process of collaboration are rather unclear. International research has classified the types of collaboration and focused on the factors influencing successful collaboration. Greater attention is needed for collaboration practice and research domestically. Findings: By the level of intensity, the types of collaboration range from simpler networking to more formal and sophisticated collaboration. A 4-stage collaboration development consists of formation, implementation, maintenance, and institutionalization stages. Influential factors for collaboration development include: shared goals; operational structure and process; sufficient resources; member and leadership characteristics; environment and climate for collaboration; and information exchange and communication. Discussion: Most of collaboration research so far has dealt with partnerships and coalition building with community-based organizations, and much attention is given to private-public partnership for health. Contextual understanding and collaborative environment are the foremost tasks for us to enhance collaboration for community health in our centralized public health system.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.2131-2136
• /
• 2016

Background: Cancer is currently one of the main public health problems all over the world and its economic burden is substantial both for health systems and for society as a whole. To inform priorities for cancer control, we here estimated years of potential life lost (YPLL) and productivity losses due to cancer-related premature mortality in Iran from 2006 to 2010. Materials and Methods: The number of cancer deaths by sex and age groups for top ten leading cancers in Iran were obtained from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. To estimate the YPLL and the cost of productivity loss due to cancer-related premature mortality, the life expectancy method and the human capital approach were used, respectively. Results: There were 138,228 cancer-related deaths in Iran (without Tehran province) of which 76 % (106,954) were attributable to the top 10 ranked cancers. Some 63 % of total cancer-related deaths were of males. The top 10 ranked cancers resulted in 106,766,942 YPLL in total, 64,171,529 (60 %) in males and 42,595,412 (40%) in females. The estimated YPPLL due to top 10 ranked cancers was 58,581,737 during the period studied of which 32,214,524 (54%) was accounted for in males. The total cost of lost productivity caused by premature deaths because of top 10 cancers was 1.68 billion dollars (US$) from 2006 to 2010, ranging from 251 million dollars in 2006 to 283 million dollars in 2010. Conclusions: This study showed that the economic burden of premature mortality attributable to cancer is significant for Iranian society. The findings provide useful information about the economic impact of cancer for health system policy/decision makers and should facilitate planning of preventive intervention and effective resource allocation.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.407-413
• /
• 2015

Paraquat dichloride (N,N-dimethyl-4-4'-bipiridinium, PQ) is an extremely toxic chemical that is widely used in herbicides. PQ generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) and causes multiple organ failure. In particular, PQ has been reported to be an immunotoxic agrochemical compound. PQ was shown to decrease the number of macrophages in rats and suppress monocyte phagocytic activity in mice. However, the effect of PQ on macrophage cell viability remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated the cytotoxic effect of PQ on the mouse macrophage cell line, RAW264.7 and its possible mechanism of action. RAW264.7 cells were treated with PQ (0, 75, and $150{\mu}M$), and cellular apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and intracellular ROS levels were determined. Morphological changes to the cell nucleus and cellular apoptosis were also evaluated by DAPI and Annexin V staining, respectively. In this study, PQ induced apoptotic cell death by dose-dependently decreasing MMP. Additionally, PQ increased the cleaved form of caspase-3, an apoptotic marker. In conclusion, PQ induces apoptosis in RAW264.7 cells through a ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway. Thus, our study improves our knowledge of PQ-induced toxicity, and may give us a greater understanding of how PQ affects the immune system.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.197-211
• /
• 2014

An investigation of tunnel linings is performed at two tunnels in the US using complimentary noncontact techniques: air-coupled ground penetrating radar (GPR), and a vehicle-mounted scanning system (SPACETEC) that combines laser, visual, and infrared thermography scanning methods. This paper shows that a combination of such techniques can maximize inspection coverage in a comprehensive and efficient manner. Since ground-truth is typically not available in public tunnel field evaluations, the noncontact techniques used are compared with two reliable in-depth contact nondestructive testing methods: ground-coupled GPR and ultrasonic tomography. The noncontact techniques are used to identify and locate the reinforcement mesh, structural steel ribs, internal layer interfaces, shallow delamination, and tile debonding. It is shown that this combination of methods can be used synergistically to provide tunnel owners with a comprehensive and efficient approach for monitoring tunnel lining conditions.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.77-86
• /
• 2015

In the industrial accident that occurred in the recent contract type of business or establishment (including subcontractor) employers and contractors who demand among employers, would be liable to have a proper discussion on how to prevent industrial accidents. To resolve this issue, it introduced the discussion with the Japanese legal system, which has a system similar to the Occupational Safety and seeks to help us in our country's future institutional improvements.

• 한국유가공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2005.10a
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2005

The ubiquitous presence of lactoferrin (LF) receptor in human as reported by the research group of Prof, Bo Lonnerdal, Univ. California, encouraged us to search for the unknown physiological roles of LF. Under the collaboration with Prof. Etsumori Harada, Tottori Univ., and his research group, we have found two novel biological activities of LF as the control of the lipid metabolism and the effect on the central nervous system. Relating to the lipid metabolism, LF could, in animal experiments, reduce triglyceride and total cholesterol both in blood and liver. LF increased plasma HDL-C and lowered LDL-C. In the central nervous system, LF showed anti-nociceptive activity mediated by ${\mu}$-opioid receptor in the rat spinal cord. LF enhanced analgesic action of morphine synergistically via nitric oxide synthesis. LF showed opioid-mediated suppressive effect on distress induced by maternal separation in rat pups.