• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.997-1006
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• 2015

This study analyzed urban infrastructure risk to flooding based on the possibility map of flooding calculated by neural network model focusing on Seoul. This study found that Gangnam-gu, Songpa-gu, Seocho-gu and Seodaemun-gu contained relatively large high-risk areas to flooding. Over $4.17km^2$ of transportation facilities were located in high-risk area to flooding and Gangnam-gu included over $0.85km^2$ of infrastructures exposed to high inundation risk. This study is meaningful in that it first applied the neural network modeling to flooding risk assesment and results of risk assessment can be incorporated into various planning process.

• Journal of the Korea Construction Safety Engineering Association
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• s.36
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• pp.73-81
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• 2006

Construction fall accidents have been investigated by many researchers. Construction workers are prone to fall when elevations of the construction site is high. And falls are the most fatal accidents: it can be directly linked to the death. Construction fall accidents might be reduced by predetermining several areas which are highly probable to have fall accidents and by controlling such areas until the completion of the building construction. In this paper, a fall prevention system is suggested which can identify the areas where the focus on fall protection is perhaps most needed from the process characteristics. Main methodologies for this research are summarized as follows: 1. A data base on elements and types of falls is constructed from the data analysis of last 10 years fall accidents history. 2. Guideline is derived by identifying the highly probable areas of fall accidents with respect to the specific construction process. 3. Developed system is verified by applying the system to construction sites. 4. Finally a fall prevention system is suggested by utilizing the fall accidents data.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2004

It is important to select a risk based priority area for environmental policy formation and decision-making. We estimated the health risks and associated damage costs from exposure to fine particles and assigned priority areas for twenty -five districts in Seoul. In order to estimate the theoretical mortality incidence of the health risk, baseline risks were estimated from mortality rates in two low level areas of fine particles, Seocho Gu and Cheju city To estimate the damage cost from the risk estimates, we investigated and estimated the willingness to pay (WTP) for specific risk reduction. We assumed two different locations as the reference area, Cheju city as Scenario I and Seocho gu as Scenario II. From the results, the five districts, Kwangjin, Chungnang, Kangbuk, Nowon, and Kangnam, ranked high in the categories of both health risk and economic risk. Damage costs were over twenty billion won in each of these districts. As there are uncertainties in these results, the parameter values such as PM$_{2.5}$ level, dose -response slope factor, baseline risk, exposure population and WTP should be continuously validated and refined.d.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2019

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is among the top infectious disease priorities in Korea and the leading cause of economic loss in relevant poultry industry. An understanding of the spatial epidemiology of HPAI outbreak is essential in assessing and managing the risk of the infection. Though previous studies have reported the majority of outbreaks occurred clustered in what are preferred to as densely populated poultry regions, especially in southwest coast of Korea, little is known about the spatial distribution of risk areas vulnerable to HPAI occurrence based on geographic information system (GIS). The main aim of the present study was to develop a GIS-based risk index model for defining potential high-risk areas of HPAI outbreaks and to explore spatial distribution in relative risk index for each 252 Si-Gun-Gu (administrative unit) in Korea. The risk index was derived incorporating seven GIS database associated with risk factors of HPAI in a standardized five-score scale. Scale 1 and 5 for each database represent the lowest and the highest risk of HPAI respectively. Our model showed that Jeollabuk-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Jeollanam-do and Chungcheongbuk-do regions will have the highest relative risk from HPAI. Areas with risk index value over 4.0 were Naju, Jeongeup, Anseong, Cheonan, Kochang, Iksan, Kyeongju and Kimje, indicating that Korea is at risk of HPAI introduction. Management and control of HPAI becomes difficult once the virus are established in domestic poultry populations; therefore, early detection and development of nationwide monitoring system through targeted surveillance of high-risk spots are priorities for preventing the future outbreaks.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.177-200
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• 2018

Sixteen USEPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the surface water from the coastal areas of Bangladesh were analyzed by GC-MS/MS. Samples were collected in winter and summer, 2015. The total concentration of PAHs (${\Sigma}PAHs$) showed a slight variation in the two seasons, which varied from 855.4 to 9653.7 ng/L in winter and 679.4 to 12639.3 ng/L in summer, respectively. The levels of ${\Sigma}PAHs$ were comparable to or relatively higher than other coastal areas around the world. The areas with recent urbanization and industrialization (Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Sundarbans) were more contaminated with PAHs than the unindustrialized area (Meghna Estuary). Generally, 2-3-ring PAHs were the dominant compounds. Molecular ratios suggested that PAHs in the study areas could be originated from both pyrogenic and petrogenic sources. The risk assessment revealed the extremely high ecological risk of PAHs, indicating an intense attention should be paid to PAHs pollution in the coastal areas of Bangladesh.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1811-1815
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• 2016

Wetland geographical areas have a higher incidence of Opisthorchis viverrini-associated cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), confirmed by data from geographic information systems, than other areas. Behavioral data also indicate that people in these areas traditionally eat uncooked freshwater fish dishes, a vehicle for O. viverrini infection. The best approach to reducing CCA incidence is decreasing risk factors together with behavior alteration. Evaluation of CCA risk and its related factors are first needed for planning the prevention and control programs in the future. We therefore aimed to evaluate the CCA risk and explore its related factors among people in wetland communities of Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. A cross-sectional study was conducted between July and August 2014. In total 906 participants, with informed consent, completed questionnaires. Overall risk of CCA was determined by multiplying odds ratios (ORs) of the risk factors for CCA from literature reviews. A mean score of 5.95 was applied as the cut-off point. Assessment of factors related to overall risk of CCA was accomplished using conditional logistic regression. Of all participants, 60.15% had a high level of the overall risk of CCA. Factors related to the overall risk of CCA were gender (p<0.001), marital status (p<0.001), perceived susceptibility (p=0.043) and prevention behavior for CCA (p<0.001). In conclusion, most participants in this community had a high level of overall risk of CCA. Therefore, integrated prevention and control programs continue to be urgently required.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.31-39
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to analyse the hazard risk by examining the magnitude and severity of each type of hazard in order to mitigate and prepare for disasters in medical facilities. Methods: The hazard risk analysis for hazard types was surveyed for team leaders of medical facilities. The questionnaire analyzed data from 27 facilities, which were returned from 41 Local Medical Centers. Results: When looking at the 'Risk' by category type of hazard, the influence of health safety and fire/energy safety comes first, followed by natural disaster, facility safety, and crime safety. On the other hand, as for 'Magnitude', facility safety and crime safety come first, followed by health safety, fire/energy safety, and natural disasters. Most of the top types of disaster judged to have high hazard in medical facilities are health types. The top five priorities of hazard in medical facilities, they are affected by the geographical and industrial conditions of the treatment area. In the case of cities, the hazard was found to be high in the order of infectious disease, patient surge, and wind and flood damage. On the other hand, in rural areas, livestock diseases and infectious diseases showed the highest hazard. In the case of forest areas, the hazard was high in the order of wildfire, fire accident, lightning, tide, earthquake, and landslide, whereas in coastal areas of industrial complexes, the hazard was high due to fire, landslide, water pollution, marine pollution, and chemical spill accident. Implications: Through the research, standards will be established for the design of hospitals with disaster preparedness, and will contribute to the preparation of preemptive measures in terms of maintenance.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.4301-4306
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• 2016

Background: Cancer is a burden on humanity and ranks as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in China. Shanxi province has its unique cancer patterns and the burden is increasing. In this study, we aimed to assess the pattern of dietary habits and life-style in Shanxi, a high-risk area for upper gastrointestinal cancers in China and further evaluate the trends in cancer incidence and mortality based on registered data. Materials and Methods: Data on lifestyle, diet, physical activity were obtained from the household health survey at Zhongyang from 2013 to 2015. Cancer diagnoses were reported to Shanxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention (SCDCP). Population-based cancer incidence data and mortality data of 2012 were collected from the SCDCP. All incidence and death rates were expressed per 100,000 populations. Univariate analysis was performed using the Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. Results: Overall, deficiencies in fresh fruits and vegetable food, and intake of hot food, salted food, or pickled food are serious problems in Shanxi, especially in rural areas. Upper gastrointestinal cancers were the most commonly diagnosed cancers, and the incidence in rural areas is higher than those in urban areas. Cervical cancer is the most common cancer for females. Moreover, the agespecific incidence exhibited an increased trend before 40 years old. Consistent with the previous literature, our epidemiological investigation results suggest that lifestyle, nutrition deficient, and infections were major risk factors for upper gastrointestinal cancers or cervical cancer in Shanxi. Facing a serious situation, we further explored defensible recommendations for the general public in order to promote changes in environments that support healthful eating and physical activity habits, to reduce cancer risk. Conclusions: Our results present the current cancer trends in Shanxi and its related etiologic risk factors and provide a theoretical basis to guide public health efforts to prevent and control cancers in the province.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.97-102
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• 2007

An environmental survey from three abandoned metal mine areas was undertaken on to assess the risk of adverse health effects on human exposure to heavy metals influenced by past mining activities. Tailings contained high concentrations of heavy metals may have a impact on soils and waters around the tailing piles. In order to perform the human risk assessment, chemical analysis data of soils, rice grains and waters for As, Cd, Cu and Pb have been used. The HQ values for heavy metals via the rice consumption were significantly higher compared with other exposure pathways in all metal mine areas. The resulting HI values in three mine areas were higher than 9.0, and their toxic risk due to rice ingestion was strong in these mine areas. The cancer risk of being exposed to As by the rice consumption from the A, B and C mine areas was $5.1\;{\times}\;10^{-3}$, $6.8\;{\times}\;10^{-3}$ and $3.1\;{\times}\;10^{-3}$, respectively. The As cancer risk via the exposure pathway of rice ingestion from these mine areas exceeds the acceptable risk of 1 in 10,000 set for regulatory purposes. Thus, the daily intakes of rice by the local residents from these mine areas can pose a potential health threat if exposed by long-term As exposure.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.9
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• pp.305-314
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• 2020

This paper investigates the impact of profit and loss sharing (PLS) contracts on non-performing financing of Islamic rural banks as Islamic small banks focus on small and medium enterprises at province level across country. Our study employs panel data, consisting of 142 Islamic rural banks and using quarterly data from 2013Q1 to 2018Q4, and splits them based on the bank's size and geographical area. Both static and dynamic panel regressions are then applied. The results obviously indicate that a high proportion of profit and loss sharing contracts leads to high financing risk. The large Islamic banks encounter a higher non-performing financing stemming from profit and loss contracts compared to small Islamic banks. Profit and loss contracts also produce higher financing risk for Islamic banks outside Java, as those areas are less developed areas than Java itself. A more efficient Islamic bank is less financing risk. Income diversification lessens the impaired financing and, more particularly, large Islamic banks and Islamic banks located in Java much benefit by diversifying income and financing to lower financing risk. Our study suggests that Islamic rural banks may consider the optimal level of profit and loss sharing contracts to minimize financing risk.