• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.353-362
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• 2023

TOC, which can measure more than 90% of organic substances, can be measured quickly and easily,replacing BOD and COD, which were indicators of organic pollutants. According to water quality pollution control standards, when measuring TOC, if the inorganic carbon ratio in the sample is over 50%, the NPOC (Non-Purgeable Organic Carbon) method should be used. If volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are present at a certain concentration, the TC-IC (subtracting inorganic carbon from total carbon) method should be used. To validate the limitations of these analytical conditions, experiments were conducted by varying the ratio of TOC to IC in purified water and measuring the concentration of TOC in test solutions. The results showed no significant difference between the TC-IC method and the NPOC method. When measuring samples with added VOC standard solutions, it was observed that the carbon loss due to purging was not significant when using the NPOC method. Therefore, it is concluded that the choice of analytical method does not lead to significant differences when VOCs are present in the sample. To account for potential variations in results based on water quality pollution control standards and regulations regarding the approval and testing of environmental measurement devices, a comparison of field sample concentration values was made using two widely used types of TOC analyzers in Korea. The results showed variations of 0.02 to 0.83 mg/L between methods depending on the manufacturer, highlighting the need for caution when selecting an instrument.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.344-352
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• 2023

Background: With its developed port and related industries, the concentration of fine dust is high in Busan compared to other cities in South Korea. Many studies have reported the health effects of fine dust, but there has been a lack of information regarding concentrations of volatile organic compounds among those who exposed to high levels of fine dust. Objectives: This study aimed to define an area with high concentrations of particulate matter and perform biomonitoring surveys among the residents of the area. Methods: Air quality data was collected and the mean level of each district in Busan was derived. We then defined the area with the highest concentrations of PM₁₀ as a target site. Urine samples were collected from the 400 participants and analyzed for VOCs metabolites - trans,trans-Muconic Acid (t,t-MA) and N-AcetylS-(benzyl)-L-cysteine (BMA). Interviews were conducted by trained investigators to examine demographic information. The levels of t,t-MA and BMA were compared with representative South Korean population data (Korean National Environmental Health Survey). The association of the VOC metabolites and fine dust were analyzed by general linear regression analysis. Results: The mean of PM₁₀ in the target site was 42.50 ㎍/m³ from 2018 to 2020. Among the 400 participants in the target site, 74.8% were female and the average age of the participants was 66 years. The geometric mean of t,t-MA was 71.15 ㎍/g creatinine and the BMA was 7.00 ㎍/g creatinine among the residents. The levels were higher than the geometric mean from the 4th KoNEHS. The levels of t,t-MA showed significance in BMI, smoking status, and household income. BMA showed significance in gender and age. Conclusions: Compared to the general population of South Korea, the target site's residents had higher biomonitoring levels. Based on this study, continuous screening for high risk areas, including the target site, and biomonitoring of the residents are required.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.69-74
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• 2007

Purpose : Human coronanviruses (hCovs) including hCoV-229E and hCoV-OC43 have been known as etiologic agents of the common colds and were regarded as clinically insignificant agents. However, recent identification of hCoV-NL63 and hCoV-HKU1 in children with lower respiratory tract infections has evoked the clinical concerns about their prevalence and the clinical significance of these hCoVs in children. This study was performed to investigate the prevalence of hCoVs in children with community-acquired pneumonia. Methods : From March 2006 to January 2007, nasopharyngeal specimens collected from children hospitalized with pneumonia, were tested for the presence of common respiratory viruses (respiratory syncytial virus, influenza A, influenza B, parainfluenza viruses, and adenovirus) using multiplex reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infection was excluded by nested RT-PCR using primers for the F-gene. To detect the different strains of hCoVs, nested RT-PCR assays specific for hCoVNL63, hCoV-OC43, hCoV-229E, and hCoV-HKU1 were performed. Results : Out of the 217 nasopharyngeal aspirate from children aged under 15 years, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was detected in 32 patients, hMPV in 18, human parainfluenza virus in 10, influenza virus A in 2, and adenovirus in 6. HCoVs were detected by RT-PCR in 8 (3.7%) of the 217 patients, hCoV-229E in 1, hCoV-NL63 in 3, and hCoVOC43 in 4 patients. HCoV-HKU1 was not detected in this study population. Conclusion : Recently identified hCoV-NL63 and hCoV-HKU1 seemed to have a little clinical significance in Korean children with severe or hospitalized community-acquired pneumonia.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.78-96
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• 1973

This study of 855 clinical nurses was conducted using a questionnaire that include tour different scales; the motives of determining their profession, the attitudes toward their profession, the general items, and desire and expectation to their profession and society. The data were analyzed by Chi-Square Test and Percentage. The results of this study included Hypothesis are as follows; The respondents were 855 (78.6%) among 1088 clinical nurses who were employed by General of Educational hospitals through the city of Seoul, Pusan, Taegu, Daejun, Kwangju, and Wonju. 1) a. In the Age Distribution, the majority of respondents were under the age of 30yrs(88.2%) and the minority were above 31yrs(11.2%), and the preponderance of the majority to minority(9:1) was noted. In compared with area, a group above 31yrs old in Seoul (6.9%) was lower than other area (16.3%). b. The types of Educational background were 16.3% in Voc.Tr. School, 66.5% in Diploma and 17.1% in Degree.146 clinical nurses were from the Degree course, and 142 (97.3%) CN among those of them were occupied around Seoul and 4(2.7%) around other area. c. In the Marital Status,71,5% were the unmarried and 28.5% were the married. And compared with the area was 20.4% in Seoul and 41.4% in other area. d. Most common Length of Clinical Experience after graduation was under tile 2yrs (55.4%), 3yrs(14.2%, and 4yrs (6.2%). In compared with area, Seoul (15.3%) was lower than other area (38.1%) above 5yrs of clinical experience, and the preponderance of tile other area to Seoul as 2.5: I was noted. 2) a. Hypothesis 1 was significant relation between the types of Educational Background of the CN and their motives for selection of Nursing, P-value was below 0.01. b. There was a significance on hypothesis 2 (P＜0.01): that was relation between their motives for selection of clinical nursing field after their graduation and the area which they were employed. c. Hypothesis 4 was accepted as significant relation between the level of satisfaction of their clinical experience after their graduation and the types of educational back ground, P-value was below 0.01. d. There was a significance on hypothesis 5(P＜0.01) that was relation between the CN's response about the orientation program and the area which they were employed. e. Hypothesis 6 was retained as significant relation between the area and inservice educational programme of their employed hospital was practising or not. P-value was 0.01. f. Hypothesis 7 was retained as significant relation between the area and the CN's response about the inservice educational programme of their employed. P-value was below 0.01. g. There was a significance on hypothesis 8 (P<0.0l) that was relation between the CN's experience on attending the professional meeting and the area. h. Hypothesis 10 was accepted as significant relation between the response about the present licence system and their educational background. p-value was below 0.01. i. There was a significance on hypothesis 11 (P fO.01) that was relation between the carrying out the regular and delivery vacation and the area. J. Hypothesis 12 was accepted as significant relation between the CN's consideration of the lack of leisure and their marital status. p-value was below 0.01' k. There was a significance on hypothesis 13 (P <0.01) that was relation between the CN's response about their salary and their marital status. l. Hypothesis 14 was significant relation between the most difficulties of CN during their working and the hospital which they were employed. p-value was below 0.01.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.447-459
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• 2012

In this study, the emission characteristics of volatile and odorant species released from salted meat product (Spam) was investigated as a function of time. Gas samples released from Spam samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOC) and sulfur compounds (RSC) at five different times for the elapsed (E) days of 0, 1, 3, 6, and 9 (E-0 to E-9) by GC/MS and GC/PFPD system, respectively. Results indicated that reduced sulfur, aldehyde, and ketone groups were the dominant odorants. Especially, hydrogen sulfide was the predominant in concentration and odor activity value (OAV) during the fresh stage. Its concentration was 1465 ${\mu}g/m^3$ (60.0% of the total mass) in E-0 and 455 ${\mu}g/m^3$ (28.0%) in E-1, while its OAV was 19.4 (78.3%: E-0) and 6.02 (41.7%: E-1). On the other hand, the concentration of acetone showed the maximum values in the decaying stage (E-3: 451 (43.2%), E-6: 369 (64.2%), and E-9: 1150 ${\mu}g/m^3$ (70.2%)). Furthermore, the concentration of 2,3-butanedione was also detected considerably from decaying sample (E-3: 17.6 (1.68%), E-6: 16.1 (2.80%), and E-9: 179 ${\mu}g/m^3$ (10.9%)). However, OAV of acetone was insignificant (<0.01%) in the decaying stage, while that of 2,3-butanedione was relatively high in the range of 1.14-11.6 (14.5-76.2% of ${\Sigma}OAV$). It thus confirmed that the major odorant groups generated from Spam samples changed with the progress of decay such as sulfur (fresh stage), aldehyde (intermediate stage), and ketone compounds (decaying stage).

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1126-1133
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• 2010

A two-stage biofilter was constructed and utilized to determine the removal efficiency when treating dynamic loading of a mixture of odorous compounds including benzene, toluene, p-xylene, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. A yeast strain, Candida tropicalis, and a sulfur oxidizing bacterial (SOB) strain, Acidithiobacillus caldus sp., were immobilized in polyurethane media and packed in the two-stage biofilter. The experiment of dynamic loading variation was composed of (1) stepwise loading variation of all the odorous compounds (total EC test), (2) stepwise loading variation of each odorous compound, and (3) intermittent loading variation with 2-day-off and 3-day-on. The total EC test showed that the maximum elimination capacity was $61\;g/m^3/hr$ for total VOCs, and 5.2 and $9.1\;g/m^3/hr$ for ammonia and hydrogen, respectively. In addition, the inhibition between VOCs was observed when the loading of each individual VOC was varied. Especially the stepwise increase in toluene loading resulted in decreases of benzene and p-xylene removal efficiencies about 30% and 25%, respectively. However, the inhibition between organic and inorganic compounds was not observed. The intermittent loading variation with 2-day-off and 3-day-on showed that greater than 95% of the overall removal efficiency was restored in two days after the loading resumed. Consequently, the two-stage biofilter packed with immobilized microorganisms showed advantages over conventional biofilters for the simultaneous treatment of the mixture of organic and inorganic odorous compounds.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.287-297
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• 2013

The optimization of analytical method for the thermal desorption of seven VOCs (volatile organic compounds) by TD-GC/MS (thermal desorption-gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer) with solid phase sorbent tube, and comparative analysis for the determination of VOCs plotted by standard sorbent tubes prepared using both gas phase and liquid phase materials were investigated. The result of paired t-test showed that a liquid phase standard sorbent tube method was in agreement with a gas phase standard sorbent tube method for six species of VOCs including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-, m-, and p-xylene except for styrene at the significance level (${\alpha}=0.01$), while the 15.6% of difference in response factor between both of gas phase and liquid phase standard plotting for the determination of styrene showed that both methods were significantly different at the significance level. Therefore, the liquid phase standard plotting method was employed to reduce erroneous data for the determination of styrene including BTEX. Under the optimized analytical method by liquid phase standard sorbent tube, recovery was between $100{\pm}5%$ for 7 species of VOCs, reproducibility ranged from 0.3 to 7.7%, and method detection limit (MDL) ranged from $0.01{\mu}g/m^3$ for o-xylene to $0.27{\mu}g/m^3$ for toluene. The optimized standard method was applied to determine VOCs VOCs from indoor air of of dormitory, one bedroom apartment, and a new car.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.242-250
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to investigate the terpenoids of Total Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) released during drying of Cryptomeria japonica using the thermal extractor (TE). Considering the drying process of C. japonica, temperatures of TE were set at $27^{\circ}C$, $60^{\circ}C$, $80^{\circ}C$, $100^{\circ}C$, and $120^{\circ}C$, respectively. As the result, the emission factors of VOCs and terpenoids were increased as temperature increased. The amount of terpenoids included in VOCs emission factors were 87.5%, 81.6%, 83.6%, 90.1%, and 97.3% depending on above temperatures, respectively. Especially at$100^{\circ}C$ and $120^{\circ}C$, the amount of terpenoids were measured more than 90%. ${\delta}$-cadinene was the highest yield at each temperature and 32 types of terpenoids were collected. Emitted terpenoids were classified into the sesquiterpene group which consists of 15 carbon sources. These 32 sesquiterpenes were used for determining the useful bioactivity such as antifungal activity by the agar dilution. As the result, they showed the antifungal activity against Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Microsporum gypseum. The 5,000 ppm concentration of terpenoids showed a strong activity with 100% against the 3 fungi. At the 1,000 ppm concentration of terpenoids, the antifungal activities against three fungi were 95.2%, 98.7%, and 97.3%, and their activities were a little inhibited at 100 ppm concentration.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.120-124
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• 2014

This study was performed to compare the level of odorous compounds in feces and urine of finishing pigs. Feces and urine from 16 finishing pigs were separately collected for 28-d. Concentrations of volatile organic compound (VOC; phenols and indoles) and volatile fatty acid (VFA; SCFA and BCFA) were measured in feces and urine. Amount of phenols and p-cresol was higher (P<0.05) in urine than in feces. Urinal levels of phenols and p-cresol were 257.8 ppm and 250.9 ppm, and those of fecal phenols and p-cresol were 0.50 ppm and 0.05 ppm, respectively. There was no difference in concentration of indoles from feces (1.0 ppm) and urine (1.8 ppm). Short chain fatty acid (SCFA) level in urine was higher (P<0.05) than in feces showing 4,547 ppm and 863 ppm, respectively. Proportion of acetic acid to total SCFA was higher in urine (94%) than in feces (66%). However, level of branched fatty acid (BCFA) was greater in feces (118 ppm) compare to that of urine (87 ppm). Odorous compounds analyzed in the current study, phenols and SCFA, were contained more in urine than in feces. Greater amount of VFA is typically found in feces than in urine since it is generated in the large intestine. However, urine contained more VFA than feces in the current study. Therefore, it will be necessary to exploit odor reducing techniques especially for pig urine as grassland fertilizer.

• Solar Energy
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.43-54
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• 2000

We prepared and characterized $Cu(In_{1-x}Ga_x)Se_2$(CIGS) films using a elemental co-evaporation method for absorbing layer of high efficiency thin film solar cells. The CIGS films deposited on a soda-lime glass exhibited low resistivity because of higher carrier concentration. Na was accumulated at the CIGS surface and the 0 and Se were also accumulated at the surface, suggesting that oxidation is a driving force of Na accumulation. The structure of CIGS film was modified or a secondary phase was formed in the Cu-poor CIGS bulk films probably due to the incorporation of Na into Cu vacancy sites. As the Ga/(In+Ga) ratio increased, the diffraction peaks of $Cu(In_{1-x}Ga_x)Se_2$ films were shifted to larger angle and splitted, and the grain size of $Cu_{0.91}(In_{1-x}Ga_x)Se_2$ films became smaller. All $Cu_{0.91}(In_{1-x}Ga_x)Se_2$ films showed the p-type conductivity regardless of the Ga/(In+Ga) ratio. Ag/n-ZnO/i-ZnO/CdS/$Cu_{0.91}(In_{0.7}Ga_{0.3})Se_2$/Mo solar cells were fabricated. The currently best efficiency in this study was 14.48% for $0.18cm^2$ area ($V_{oc}=581.5mV,\;J_{sc}=34.88mA$, F.F=0.714).