• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.113-125
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• 2002

This study is to evaluate contamination of the 3-way stopcocks connected to infusion set, which is used to the patients admitted to emergency room in a general hospital in D city. The data were collected from Oct. 1, 2001 to Feb. 25, 2002. First of all, in order to select microorganisms, From the 50 patients were randomized, Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus, Staphylococcus aureus, micrococcus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter detected. Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus, Staphylococcus aureus, micrococcus were determined to be evaluated in this study. As a result, 8 of the patients were Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus positive(>15 colonies), 4 were Staphylococcus aureus positive(>15 colonies). 1 was micrococcus positive(>15 colonies). Among the patients who were Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus positive 112(average) colonies were detected on the first day, 429 were on the second day, and 563 were on the third day. In case of patients of Staphylococcus aureus positive, 85(average) colonies were detected on the first day, 151 were on the second day, and the 203 were on the third day. CNS was cultured using API kit for the 8 patients who were in CNS positive. One case was detected Staphylococcus capitis, another one case was Staphylococcus chromogenes. Two cases were Staphylococcus xylosus, another two were Staphylococcus hominis, and the remainer were Staphylococcus epidermidis. As a result, the API codes of two Staphylococcus epidermidis had shown the same pattern, and the resistance patterns of the them were the same, too. As a result of resistance test among 5 patients who have shown that the same resistance pattern in 02SAK1, 02SAK5, 02SAK2, 02SAK4. As a result of this study, aseptic technique of 3-way stopcock intravenous therapy can protect infections, and it is needed the sterilization of the 3-way stopcock just before injection using disinfectants. It needs to improve the 3 way stopcock change intervals from 48 hours.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.103-108
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• 1989

Three mushroom cannerries were selected by size which are representative vegetable processing firms in korea for monitoring microbial contamination of processing water, washing water, mushroom before and after washing through first and second washing tanks and, blanched and prolonged mushroom for certain time at room temperature. Total contamination degree was expressed as colony forming unit (CFU) of mesophilic aerobes. The contamination degree of processing water was $10^{2}\;CFU/100\;ml$ and washing water in first and second washing tank were 10 to 100 times higher than processing water. When 2.3 tons of washing water was used for washing 1 ton of mushroom, washing effect was showed by reduction of microbial load but cutting it to 1.8 tonsIl ton of mushroom, microbial load was higher than that of raw mushroom level. Blanching reduced microbial load to 50-500 CFU/g of blanched mushroom and it was not seen much increase of CFU in blanched mushroom left at room temperature for 3 hours in $16^{\circ}C$ processing water. Just after injection of $80^{\circ}C$ brine in container, CFU/ml of brine in container was $84{\times}10^{4}$ but it was increased rapidly to $20{\times}10^{7}$ after 2 hours at ambient temperature.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2004

The concectration and distribution of contaminants obtained from a contaminated land investigation or an environmental geochemistry survey constitutes the basis of a decision-making process on environmental policies or of scientific researches. As the quality of data determines the reliability of the result, the investigation plan should be adjusted according to the purpose of the investigation. In general, the effort to improve the data quality had been focused mainly on the QA/QC procedures in laboratories. The rapid progress of analytical instrument has also contributed toward improving the analytical precision to a sacrificable degree. Nevertheless, in many cases, it is not the analytical precision that needs improvement for the better precision of overall measurement process: it is rather during the sampling process in the field that is responsible for the poor precision. To assess the data quality on a measured value, ISO recommends to provide information on "measurement uncertainty" along with the measured value. The measurement uncertainty in an environmental measurement context can be explained as the statistical number that expresses the degree of the uncertainty stemming from the sampling and analytical procedures. There is a cost involved in order to improve the precision of sampling and analytical methods so as to decrease the degree of measurement uncertainty. The economical point of compromise in an investigation planning can be achieved when the allowable degree of uncertainty has been set before-hand. The investigation can then be planned accordingly not to exceed the uncertainty limit. Furthermore, if the measurement uncertainty estimated from the preliminary investigation can be separated into sampling and analytical uncertainties, it can be used as a criterion where the resources for the investigation should be allotted cost-effectively to reinforce the weakest link of the whole investigation process. This paper aims to present a method of estimating the level of measurement uncertainty of a measured contamination concentration at a site used as an example and to show how the estimated uncertainty can be applied to serve the particular purpose of an investigation.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.299-306
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• 2009

Aflatoxin (AF) and Ochratoxin A (OTA) are carcinogenic and possible carcinogenic mycotoxins respectively produced by Aspergillus spp or Penicillium spp. The study for contamination survey and proposal for reduction of mycotoxin in red pepper were carried out. 192 samples were collected at such various stages and markets as pre/post-harvest stages, internet shopping mall /super-market and small stakeholder mill/geographically indicated company. As only 2 samples were positive for aflatoxin, so contamination rate was 1.04%. In the meanwhile, contamination rate for ochratoxin A was 21.88% and a various amount of OTA was detected in 42 positive samples. 6 samples were found to be contaminated at higher level than $5\;{\mu}gkg^{-1}$ for ochratoxin A, which was established recently as a maximum permissible limit in korea. There was no difference in degree of contamination with regard to cultivation type because any mycotoxin was not found at all in both organically and conventionally grown red pepper. But, there was statistically significant difference in the process of manufacturing. Finished products were OTA-contaminated at a level of $2.32\;{\pm}\;6.54\;{\mu}gkg^{-1}$(mean ${\pm}$ SD), even though OTA was not detected in deep frozen red peppers right after long term storage. And contamination for OTA was a level of $0.33\;{\pm}\;0.91\;{\mu}gkg^{-1}$(mean ${\pm}$ SD) in red paprika powder after uv sterilization, while the contamination for OTA was $2.78\;{\pm}\;4.49\;{\mu}kg^{-1}$(mean ${\pm}$ SD) in non-uv sterilized powder. In addition, our investigation shows that higher OTA contamination occurred in some of famous brand products sold in super-market and domestic products than products collected through on-line shopping or from small stakeholder mills and imported products respectively, however, difference was not statistically significant.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.248-255
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• 2017

Many rivers and seas have been affected by environmental contamination. Therefore, city water supplies often require a high-degree purification treatment to provide safe drinking water. However, in order to achieve a high-degree purification treatment, a large amount of chlorine has to be added to sterilize city drinking water. The added chlorine reacts chemically with water and forms hypochlorous and chlorine ions. The hypochlorous ionizes with hypochlorous ions and hydrogen ions. As a result, the city water contains a large amount of chlorine ion. As such, when city water is used with domestic boilers, many kinds of heat exchangers, and the engines of vehicle and ships, there are often corrosion problems. In this study, alkali water was electrochemically made by electrolysis of city water, and corrosion properties between alkali and city water were investigated with an electrochemical method. Most of the chlorine ions are thought to not be contained in the alkali water because the alkali water is created in the cathodic chamber with an electrolysis process. In other words, the chlorine ion can be mostly removed by its migration from a cathodic chamber to an anodic chamber. Moreover, the alkali water also contains a large amount of hydroxide ion. The alkali water indicated relatively good corrosion resistance compared to the city water and the city water exhibited a local corrosion pattern due to the chlorine ion created by a high-degree purification treatment. In contrast, the alkali water showed a general corrosion pattern. Consequently, alkali water can be used with cooling water to inhibit local corrosion by chlorine ions in domestic boilers, various heat exchangers and the engine of ships and for structural steel in a marine structure.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.631-642
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• 2024

The present study concerns the corrosion mitigation of electrochemical chloride extraction (ECE) in concrete structure. Concrete specimen was fabricated with 5.0% chloride in cast, while the other specimen was exposed to 4.0M NaCl solution for 1 year to accelerate corrosion of steel. Then, the ECE was applied to the concrete specimen with 1000 mA/m² of the current density for 2, 4 and 8 weeks, respectively. During the ECE, the corrosion current density and corrosion potential were regularly monitored. As a result, the ECE was very effective in mitigating the degree of corrosion on the steel surface. The corrosion current density was significantly reduced from thousands to decades mA/m², while the corrosion potential was mostly shifted to positive direction. Assuming that the corrosion starts at 1.0 mA/m² of the corrosion current density or/and -275 mV vs SCE of the corrosion potential, the ECE could not fully achieve the repassivation of the steel, although its degree was lowered more or less depending on the duration of the treatment and type of chloride contamination. A visual examination confirmed that an increase in the duration of the treatment could lower the rust formation, but never fully removed all rust stains.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.523-532
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• 2017

A field survey studying intestinal parasites in humans and microbial pathogen contamination at environment was performed in a Laotian rural village to identify potential risks for disease outbreaks. A parasitological investigation was conducted in Ban Lak Sip village, Luang Prabang, Lao PDR involving fecal samples from 305 inhabitants as well as water samples taken from 3 sites of the local stream. Water analysis indicated the presence of several enteric pathogens, i.e., Aeromonas spp., Vibrio spp., E. coli H7, E. coli O157: H7, verocytotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC), Shigella spp., and enteric adenovirus. The level of microbial pathogens contamination was associated with human activity, with greater levels of contamination found at the downstream site compared to the site at the village and upstream, respectively. Regarding intestinal parasites, the prevalence of helminth and protozoan infections were 68.9% and 27.2%, respectively. Eight helminth taxa were identified in fecal samples, i.e., 2 tapeworm species (Taenia sp. and Hymenolepis diminuta), 1 trematode (Opisthorchis sp.), and 5 nematodes (Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Strongyloides stercoralis, trichostrongylids, and hookworms). Six species of intestinal protists were identified, i.e., Blastocystis hominis, Cyclospora spp., Endolimax nana, Entamoeba histolytica/E. dispar, Entamoeba coli, and Giardia lamblia. Questionnaires and interviews were also conducted to determine risk factors of infection. These analyses together with a prevailing infection level suggested that most of villagers were exposed to parasites in a similar degree due to limited socio-economic differences and sharing of similar practices. Limited access to effective public health facilities is also a significant contributing factor.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.667-674
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• 2004

This thesis is about the Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP) control and monitoring system. which brings protection against the corrosion of the ship's hull in the sea environments. The ICCP system is composed of a power supply. anode. reference electrode and controller. AC sources from the ship's generator are converted to DC sources in terms of power supply, and a protection current is sent to ship's hull though anode. The controller fully senses whether or not the detected potential is within a range of protection of ship's hull and then it is automatically controlled to increase or decrease the amount of protective current to be sent to the anode. The monitoring system with RS 232/485 communication is also studied in order to check the normal state of the system at a long period. because an operator does not always watch over this system and thus the system cannot operate well because of his or her negligent management. Since the vessel always navigates in the sea. an characteristics experiment of the ICCP system is conducted by introducing various corrosive environmental factors such as velocity, resistivity, dissolved oxygen, PH, temperature and contamination degree. These results must be referred to when the ICCP system is set up. In short. the ICCP is a multi-system for use on ships and on land structures because it includes a safety device. It is suggested that this system can accomodate a ship's automation and will be very useful.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2004.05b
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• pp.173-175
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• 2004

The degree of contamination on outdoor insulators is one of the most importance factor to determine the pollution level of outdoor insulation. Outdoor insulators in coastal are affected due to salty wind blowing from the seaside. The sea salt is known as the most dangerous pollutant. As known through the preceding study, the generation of salt pollutant and the pollution degree of outdoor insulators have a close relation in accordance with meteorological conditions, such as temperature, humidity, dewpoint, wind velocity and wind direction. Therefore, at first, we have analyzed relation between meteorological conditions and contaminants for development of prediction method. In this paper, we have investigated a statistical estimation technique based on actual data for equivalent salt deposit density(ESDD) of outdoor insulators which were installed in Kochang field test substation with multiple linear regression analysis.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.510-517
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to analyze microbial hazards for cultivation environments and personal hygiene of strawberry and tomato farms at the growth and harvesting stage. Samples were collected from thirty strawberry farms and forty tomato farms located in Korea and tested for Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. To investigate the change in the distribution of the S. aureus and B. cereus, a total of 4,284 samples including air born, soil or medium, mulching film, harvest basket, groves and irrigation water etc. were collected from eight strawberry farms and nine tomato farms for one year. As a result, total S. aureus and B. cereus in all samples were detected. Among the total bacteria of strawberry farms, S. aureus (glove: $0{\sim}2.1Log\;CFU/100cm^2$, harvest basket: $0{\sim}3.0Log\;CFU/100cm^2$, soil or culture media: 0~4.1 Log CFU/g, mulching film: $0{\sim}3.8Log\;CFU/100cm^2$), B. cereus (glove: $0{\sim}2.8Log\;CFU/100cm^2$, harvest basket: $0{\sim}4.8Log\;CFU/100cm^2$, soil or culture media: 0~5.3 Log CFU/g, mulching film: $0{\sim}4.5Log\;CFU/100cm^2$) were detected in all samples. The total bacteria of tomato farms, S. aureus (glove: $0{\sim}4.0Log\;CFU/100cm^2$, harvest basket: $0{\sim}5.0Log\;CFU/100cm^2$, soil or culture media: 0~6.1 Log CFU/g, mulching film: $0{\sim}4.0Log\;CFU/100cm^2$), B. cereus (glove: $0{\sim}4.0Log\;CFU/100cm^2$, harvest basket: $0{\sim}4.3Log\;CFU/100cm^2$, soil or culture media: 0~5.9 Log CFU/g, mulching film: $0{\sim}4.7Log\;CFU/100cm^2$) were detected in all samples. The contamination of S. aureus and B. cereus were detected in soil, mulching film and harvest basket from planting until harvest to processing, with the highest count recorded from the soil. But S. aureus and B. cereus were not detected in irrigation water samples. The incidence of S. aureus and B. cereus in hydroponics culture farm were less than those in soil culture. The amount of S. aureus and B. cereus detected in strawberry and tomato farms were less than the minimum amount required to produce a toxin that induces food poisoning. In this way, the degree of contamination of food poisoning bacteria was lower in the production environment of the Korea strawberry and tomato, but problems can be caused by post-harvest management method. These results will be used as fundamental data to create a manual for sanitary agricultural environment management, and post-harvest management should be performed to reduce the contamination of hazardous microorganisms.