• Proceedings of the KSCN Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.33-38
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• 2005

During the 20th century, humankind went through the most significant changes in history, from industrial and agricultural revolutions to the invention of the personal computers and the internet, and changes continue to come at an even faster rate. One of notable change is emerging multicultural societies. People tended to live in a monocultural society and new cultures were infused in controlled and confined manners, however, people now live and eat in a continuously changing multicultural society Multicultural societies are emerged from the translocation of people (immigration) and, in a larger sense, globalization. Immigrants are faced with various and different cultures from their own, resulting in excitements and agonies in finding balance among many cultures. People who have not translocated themselves must also deal with various imported foreign cultures from fastfood restaurants to food beliefs. This lecture will use Korean Americans as an example to discuss how immigrants navigate different cultures and environments and how acculturation, the process of adaptation, affects their diet and health. In addition, how globalization has changed people's eatery will be briefly discussed. Understanding impacts of living and eating in a multicultural society is meaningful and useful to find effective approaches to promote healthy lifestyles to people in this fast changing times.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.297-304
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• 2011

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of "brominated" (bromine containing) man-made chemicals used as flame retardant additives in plastics, foams, and textiles. PBDEs are found in various environmental contaminants in air, soil, sediment, and water, and 209 individual forms (congeners) of PBDE exist. Among these, 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) is the dominant congener found in the environment. Exposure to BDE-47 is now worldwide, and levels of BDE-47 have been detected in the blood of animals, including humans. BDE-47 can adversely affect the developmental system in both humans and animals. BDEs have structural similarities to polychlorinated biphenyls and thyroid hormones. However, recent studies have shown that BDEs may act as hormonal disrupting chemicals with detrimental effects. Therefore, a reliable assessment of BDE-47 toxicological action is required to understand the detrimental impacts of BDE-47 on human health. In this review, we overview recent studies on the distribution and potential toxicological effects of BDE-47 in humans and animals.

• Atmosphere
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.463-470
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• 2007

This study aims to assess the impact of the hot summer weather on daily mortality in Busan. Daily total all-caused mortality in the entire population in Busan has been examined during 1991-2005. The daily deaths were standardized to account for the long-term trend in mortality and their seasonal and weekly cycles. We found the net increase (about 8.2%) of excess deaths during the extraordinary heat wave period in July of 1994. It corresponds to the excess deaths of 109.5 during the month. The abnormality of temperature extremes in July of 1994 and their impacts on human health were also investigated. Unusual heat wave appeared in the first ten days in July of 1994. The excess deaths are likely to be attributable to the record-breaking heat waves. The result suggests that unusual early heat waves would be dangerous, even for inhabitants who live in an acclimated region to the heat waves such as Busan.

• Atmosphere
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2007

In order to investigate the impacts of heat wave on human health, cluster analysis of meteorological elements (e.g., temperature, dewpoint, sea level pressure, visibility, cloud amount, and wind components) for identifying offensive synoptic air masses is employed. Meteorological data at Seoul during the past 30 years are used. The daily death data at Seoul are also employed. Occurrence frequency of heat waves which is defined by daily maximum temperature greater than the threshold temperature (i.e., $31.2^{\circ}C$) was analyzed. The result shows that the frequency and duration of heat waves at Seoul are increasing during the past 30 years. In addition, the increasing trend of the frequency and duration clearly appears in late spring and early autumn as well as summer. Factor analysis shows that 65.1% of the total variance can be explained by 4 components which are linearly independent. Eight clusters (or synoptic air masses) were classified and found to be optimal for representing the summertime air masses at Seoul, Korea. The results exhibit that cluster-mean values of meteorological variables of an offensive air mass (or cluster) are closely correlated with the observed and standardized deaths.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.12
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• pp.112-121
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• 2011

It has become general common sense through numerous researches that exercise provides positive impacts on physical and mental health. And it has been reported that regular exercise adjusts obesity by reducing body fat and lipid levels found in the blood and ultimately, it improves human quality of life. In this study, indices for managing swimming exercise therapy were induced through prior researches and weighted value was measured by modelling correlations between indices by using fuzzy ANP (Analytic Network Process) technique. With the determined results, users can be provided with real-time individualized exercise prescription without space constraint. And patient management system was intended to be realized so that tailor-made management per patient can be established on real-time through mobile equipments such as portable phone, smart phone, notebook and etc.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.217-234
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• 2017

Indoor air pollutants can cause severe health problems, specifically in terms of toxicological impacts on human. Every day, a complex mixture of many air pollutants is emitted from various sources and subject to atmospheric processes that can create varied classes of pollutants such as carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ketones, peroxyacetyl nitrate, and hydrocarbons. To adhere to indoor air quality standards, a number of techniques such as photocatalytic oxidation of various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been employed. Among these techniques, titania ($TiO_2$) based photocatalytic reactions have proven to be the best benchmark standard approach in the field of environmental applications. Over the last 45 years, $TiO_2$-based photocatalytic reactions have been explored for the degradation of various pollutants. This review discusses the indoor air quality profile, types of indoor pollutants, available indoor air cleaning approaches, and performance of $TiO_2$-based catalysts. Finally, we have presented the perspectives on the progress of $TiO_2$ induced photocatalysis for the purification of indoor air.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.401-406
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• 2017

Ammonia, $NH_3$, is a key chemical widely used in chemical industries and a toxic pollutant that impacts human health. Thus, there is a need for the development of effective adsorbents with high uptake capacities to adsorb $NH_3$. An adsorbent with a high surface area and a small pore size is generally preferred in order to have a high capacity for the removal of $NH_3$. The use inorganic nanoporous materials as gas adsorbents has increased substantially and emerged as an alternative to zeolite and activated carbon. Herein, mesoporous alumina (MA) was prepared and used as an $NH_3$ adsorbent. MA showed good pore properties such as a uniform pore size and interlinked pore system, when compared to commercial adsorbents (activated carbon, zeolite, and silica powder). MA has free hydroxyl groups, serving as useful adsorption sites for $NH_3$. In an adsorption isotherm test, MA exhibited 4.7-6.5 times higher uptake capacities for $NH_3$ than commercial adsorbents. Although the larger surface areas of adsorbents are important features of ideal adsorbents, a regular and interlinked adsorbent pore system was found to be a more crucial factor to adsorb $NH_3$.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.5037-5040
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• 2016

Objectives: To determine the frequency of delayed diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma in our setup; highlighting factors responsible for any delay and their possible relevance to demographic and diagnostic features. Methods: This cross sectional study of six months duration was conducted in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of the Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. A total of 246 patients, both male and female, having a biopsy proven definitive diagnosis of OSCC were included using a consecutive sampling technique. Delay in diagnosis was assessed from the stated period of time from when the patient first noticed symptoms of disease until a definitive diagnosis was made. We concluded delayed diagnosis if this was more than 40 days. Results: The ages of patients ranged from 27 to 60 years with a mean of $46.7{\pm}10.2$ years and a marked male predominance (3.7:1). Delayed diagnosis was observed in 91.5% of cases. However, statistically no significant differences were found with age, gender, marital, education status, household income and time of biopsy. Conclusion: Our primary finding of delayed diagnosis with no prior contact with any health care professional clearly reflects a need of taking urgent measures to avoid serious impacts on morbidity and mortality associated with OSCC.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.101-112
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• 1996

Dry and wet deposition is an impertant removal mechanism of the amobient aerosol in the atmospheric environment. Since the deposition flut provides adverse impacts on various encironmental media including aquatic and ecological system as well as human health, it is essential to quantitatively estimate the removal fluxes of many air pollutants. Thus, the purposes of this experimental study are to investigate seasonal deposition flux variations of the total dustfall and various inorganic elements in the local ambient air and then to finally estimate their dry deposition velocities. To perform the study, the total of 90 dustfall samples were collected from January, 1994 thru February, 1995 in 5 different cities of Korea including Seoul, Suwon, Daejon, Kwangju, and Kangrung. Each sample was analyzed by an AAS and an ICP to determine the quantities of the 11 inorganic elements, such as Zn, Cd, Cr, K, Na, Pb, Ca, Fe, Mn, Mi, and Cu. As results, deposition fluxes, soluble/insoluble fractions, and deposition velocities for each element were extensively investigated. The resulting dry deposition velocities of some elements in Suwon were estimated by ranges of 0.57 .sim. 0.87 cm/sec for Zn, 0.35 .sim. 0.45 cm/sec for Pb, 1.25 .sim. 3.52 cm/sec for Ca, 0.21 .sim. 0.48 cm/sec for Fe, 0.95 .sim. 9.31 cm/sec for Mn, and 2.08 cm/sec for Cu.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.244-258
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• 2018

We performed this study to investigate the spatial, seasonal, and daily variations of the concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Pohang, where large steel industrial complexes are located. Ambient air sampling was undertaken at 4 sites during 4 seasons. Each sample was taken for 4 hours continuously for 8 consecutive days per season at each site. Three sites were located within the Pohang city, but one as a control site in Gyeongju. A total of 72 individual VOCs were determined by thermal desorption coupled with GC/MS, including aliphatics, aromatics, carbonyls and halides. The most abundant VOC was toluene, being followed by ethylbenzene and xylenes. Benzene concentrations(c.a. 0.7 ppb) were found to be much lower than the national ambient standard of 1.5 ppb. Overall, the VOCs levels in Pohang appeared to be lower than other national industrial complexes in Korea such as Shiwha-Banwol, Yeosu-Gwangyang, Gumi, and Ulsan. This implies that steel industry may not give significant impacts on the atmospheric levels of VOCs as much as petrochemical, electronic, and/or textile industries, where large amounts of organic solvents are used.