• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.53-65
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• 1990

Exposure factors in the chest radiographic examination vary with hospital. They include low voltage radiation to high voltage hard radiation quality, which are in wide use. In the present report, exposure factors generally employed are reviewed, and the chest radiograhic techniques performed in our hospital are explained. In addition, the attitude of radiological technologists toward patients and so forth are also discussed.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.253-257
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• 2014

Arsenic is a ubiquitous, naturally occurring metalloid that may be a significant risk factor for cancer after exposure to contaminated drinking water, cigarettes, foods, industry, occupational environment, and air. Among the various routes of arsenic exposure, drinking water is the largest source of arsenic poisoning worldwide. Arsenic exposure from ingested foods usually comes from food crops grown in arsenic-contaminated soil and/or irrigated with arsenic-contaminated water. According to a recent World Health Organization report, arsenic from contaminated water can be quickly and easily absorbed and depending on its metabolic form, may adversely affect human health. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration regulations for metals found in cosmetics to protect consumers against contaminations deemed deleterious to health; some cosmetics were found to contain a variety of chemicals including heavy metals, which are sometimes used as preservatives. Moreover, developing countries tend to have a growing number of industrial factories that unfortunately, harm the environment, especially in cities where industrial and vehicle emissions, as well as household activities, cause serious air pollution. Air is also an important source of arsenic exposure in areas with industrial activity. The presence of arsenic in airborne particulate matter is considered a risk for certain diseases. Taken together, various potential pathways of arsenic exposure seem to affect humans adversely, and future efforts to reduce arsenic exposure caused by environmental factors should be made.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 2010

Embodying the safety of radioactive waste disposal requires the relevant safety criteria and the corresponding stylized methods to demonstrate its compliance with the criteria. This paper proposes a conceptual model of risk-based safety evaluation for integrating complex potential radiation exposure situations in radioactive waste disposal. For demonstrating compliance with a risk constraint, the approach deals with important exposure scenarios from the viewpoint of the receptor to estimate the resulting risk. For respective exposure situations, it considers the occurrence probabilities of the relevant exposure scenarios as their probability of giving rise to doses to estimate the total risk to a representative person by aggregating the respective risks. In this model, an exposure scenario is simply constructed with three components:radionuclide release, radionuclide migration and environment contamination, and interaction between the contaminated media and the receptor. A set of exposure scenarios and the representative person are established from reasonable combinations of the components, based on a balance of their occurrence probabilities and the consequences. In addition, the probability of an exposure scenario is estimated on the assumption that the initiating external factors influence release mechanisms and transport pathways, and its effect on the interaction between the environment and the receptor may be covered in terms of the representative person. This integrated approach enables a systematic risk assessment for complex exposure situations of radioactive waste disposal and facilitates the evaluation of compliance with risk constraints.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2004

Objective : In this study, we aimed to produce basic data on the prenatal environmental risk factors of low birth weight infants at a community level. Methods : In 2000, we conducted the direct interview using questionnaire about prenatal environmental risk factors with low birth weight infant-delivered mothers and normal weight infant-delivered mothers in Asan-city, Chungcheongnamdo Province, Korea. The questionsgiven to the mothers included past pregnancy history, menstrual status, disease history before and during the pregnancy, family history, environmental risk factors and exposure history. The responses of the twogroups were compared to calculate the prenatal environmental risk factors of each group. Results : Mothers' smoking was significantly associated with low birth weight infants (adjusted odds ratio(AOR) 3.27; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-8.56) and preterm baby (AOR 4.20; 95% CI, 1.21-14.61). Other environmental risk factors were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: Smoking of mothers can be a risk factor for the delivery of low birth weight infants. These results could provide the basic data on prenatal environmental risk factors of mothers of low birth weight infants and suggest research topics for further community-based evaluation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.292-298
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• 2020

Objectives: The aim of this research is to establish Similar Exposure Groups (SEGs) for chemical and biological risk factors that occur in farm work involving 24 tasks among 15 crops. Methods: To categorize SEGs, work type, work environment, and similar tasks for each crop were considered. After confirming the chemical risk factors (pesticides, inorganic dust-total dust and PM₁₀, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide) and biological factors (organic dust-total dust and PM₁₀, and endotoxins) that occur in the crops and tasks, similar crops and tasks were selected as SEGs. Results: Among chemical risk factors, pesticides was selected for the SEGs, which was categorized by open field, greenhouse, fruit, and specialty crops. For inorganic dust, open field (plowing harrowing, seedling, planting, harvest, and sorting and packing) and specialty crops (plowing harrowing, seedling, planting, and harvest) were selected as SEGs. For ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, livestock (preparation of farm, management of nursery bed, feeding, shipment and manure treatment) were selected as SEGs. For biological risk factors such as organic dust (total dust, PM₁₀) and endotoxins, open field (manure application), greenhouse (plowing harrowing, planting, manure application, and harvest), fruit (manure application), specialty crops (manure application, making furrows, mixing mushroom media, harvest, and sorting and packing), and livestock (preparation of farm, maintaining poultry litter, feeding, shipment and manure treatment) were selected as SEGs. Conclusions: To establish similar exposure groups in agriculture, it is important that the characteristics of each hazard factor are categorized by identifying risk factors occurring by tasks.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.73-91
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• 2014

Microblog is emerging as a new communication service because of its usefulness and real-time accessability. Recently, microblog services, such as twitter and me2day in Korea, are getting a great attention. Continuous use intention is critical to sustain the service. However, most recent studies are based on Technology Acceptance Model(TAM) and Expectation Confirmation Model(ECM). These models are only focused on individual factors and overlook social influence factors. Social influence has been indicated as a critical factor of technology adoption and diffusion in social context(Davis, 1989; Fulk et al., 1987). In this study, we explore factors related to social influence which effect on continuous use intention for 'me2day' that is one of the most famous microblog in Korea. The purpose of this study is to understand continuous use intention and examine the relationship among social influence factors, social presence, and continuous use intention. To understand the phenomenon of continuous use intention in microblog service, this study employed social influence theory and expanded it by adding personal network exposure and group norm as additional social influence factors. The results show that social identity, group norms, and social presence positively influences continuous use intention. Contrary to our expectation, personal network exposure does not influence on continuous use intention. Academically, this research can contribute to microblog research field through elucidating the relationship among social influence factors, social presence, and continuous use intention. Although there is not enough research which is considered social influence factors as major explanation for continuous use intention, this study can give novel point of view to understand continuous use intention of microblog. Practically, service providers could consider ways to encourage users to continually use microblog service by reinforcing social influence factors and social presence.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2020

Background: Exploratory study to investigate whether co-exposure to physical wrist stressors and chemicals is associated with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in French male farmers and agricultural workers. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 711 men aged 30-65 years and working as either farmers or agricultural workers in 2009-2010 within a cohort covered by the French Agricultural Workers' and Farmers' Mutual Benefit Fund. CTS and exposure to physical wrist stressors and chemicals were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Associations between CTS and personal/medical factors, exposure to physical wrist stressors, exposure to chemicals, and co-exposure to physical wrist stressors and chemicals were studied using multivariate logistic regression models. Results: Forty-four men {5.6% [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.0-7.7]} reported that they had suffered from unilateral/bilateral CTS during the last 12 months. CTS was associated with age, current smoking [odds ratio (OR) = 2.1 (1.0-4.5)], and exposure to physical wrist stressors [OR = 2.6 (1.1-5.9)]. An association was found between CTS and co-exposure to physical wrist stressors and chemicals [OR = 3.3 (0.8-14.3), p = 0.044] in comparison with the no-exposure group. Conclusions: This exploratory study shows an association of CTS with exposure to biomechanical wrist stressors in male farmers and agricultural workers and suggests an association of CTS with co-exposure to physical wrist stressors and chemicals. Owing to the limitations of the study, this result must be confirmed by a prospective study with objective assessments of the outcome and exposure before drawing conclusions on the possible synergistic effects of mechanical stressors and chemicals on the impairment of the median nerve.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.182-189
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• 2023

This study investigates the psychological effects of positive/negative valence order in repeated exposure to a suspenseful text. Specifically, the study seeks to understand how the order in which positive and negative elements are presented in a narrative impacts the experience of suspense, arousal, and enjoyment in readers or listeners. Using a suspenseful short story, participants were exposed to narratives with varying valence orders in a repeated-measures design. The study employed self-report questionnaires and psychophysiological measurements to capture participants' psychological responses. The results supported the hypothesis that repeated exposure impacts suspense, with negative valence enhancing suspense and arousal. Moreover, the order of valence influenced participants' psychological responses, indicating that positive valence can mitigate the impact of repeated exposure. However, the influence on enjoyment was not significant. Psychophysiological measures, specifically skin conductance level (SCL), revealed trends of habituation over repeated exposure. The findings underscore the significance of negative valence in heightening suspense and suggest directions for future research in exploring diverse factors that contribute to suspense in both fictional and real-life contexts.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.3035-3039
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• 2014

Background: Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent malignancies in the world and both incidence and mortality rates are continuing to rise in Pakistan. However, epidemiological studies to identify common lung cancer determinants in the Pakistani population have been limited. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective case-control study, 400 cases and 800 controls were enrolled from different hospitals of all provinces of Pakistan. Information about socio-demographic, occupational, lifestyle and dietary variables was extracted by questionnaire from all subjects. Odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. and dose-response associations were also assessed for suitable factors. Results: Strong associations were observed for smoking (OR=9.4, 95%CI=6.9-12.8), pesticide exposure (OR=5.1, 95%CI=3.1-8.3), exposure to diesel exhaust (OR=3.1, 95%CI=2.1-4.5), red meat consumption (OR=2.9, 95%CI=1.8-4.7) and chicken consumption (OR=2.8, 95%CI=1.7-49). Other associated factors observed were welding fumes (OR=2.5, 95%CI=1.0-6.5), sedentary living (OR=2.0, 95%CI=1.6-2.6), family history (OR=2.0, 95%CI=0.8-4.9), wood dust (OR=1.9, 95%CI=1.2-3.1), tea consumption (OR=1.8, 95%CI=1.2-2.6), coffee consumption (OR=1.8, 95%CI=1.1-2.8), alcoholism (OR=1.7, 95%CI=1.1-2.5) and asbestos exposure(OR=1.5, 95%CI=0.5-4.4). Consumption of vegetables (OR=0.3, 95%CI=0.2-0.4), juices (OR=0.3, 95%CI=0.3-0.4), fruits (OR=0.7, 95%CI=0.5-0.9) and milk (OR=0.6, 95%CI=0.5-0.8) showed reduction in risk of lung cancer. Strongest dose-response relationships were observed for smoking ($X^2=333.8$, $p{\leq}0.0000001$), pesticide exposure ($X^2=50.9$, $p{\leq}0.0000001$) and exposure to diesel exhaust ($X^2=51.8$, $p{\leq}0.0000001$). Conclusions: Smoking, pesticide exposure, diesel exhaust and meat consumption are main lung cancer determinants in Pakistan. Consuming vegetables, fruits, milk and juices can reduce the risk of lung cancer risk, as in other countries.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.541-555
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• 2019

Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine heavy metal exposure levels in the blood and urine of a nationally representative adult population in Korea, and to identify the major influence factors for exposure through linkage analysis using questionnaire data. Methods: Biological samples and questionnaire data were collected from adults aged 18 and over who had participated in the Korean National Environmental Health Survey from 2009 to 2017. Lead, mercury, and cadmium exposure levels were presented with geometric mean and 95th percentiles. Multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the factors affecting heavy metal concentrations. Results: Blood lead levels increased slightly in Cycle 2 compared to Cycle 1, but decreased in Cycle 3. Blood and urinary mercury and urinary cadmium levels decreased over time. The main influence factors included gender, age, and smoking status for blood lead levels; gender, age, and intake of fish at least once a week for blood mercury levels; and age for urinary cadmium levels. Conclusion: The Korean National Environmental Health Survey is an effective tool for confirming over-time changes in exposure to lead, mercury, and cadmium in Korean adults and to identify its influence factors. The results of this study are expected to present basic data for calculating reference values and baseline exposure levels for environmental chemicals in Korean adults.