• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.409-415
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• 2021

Medical waste management is becoming increasingly important, specifically in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, as hospitals, clinics, quarantine centers, and medical research institutes are generating tons of medical waste every day. Previously, a traditional incineration process was utilized for managing medical waste, but the lack of landfill sites, and accompanying environmental concerns endanger public health. Consequently, an innovative sterilization shredding system was developed to resolve this problem. In this research, we focused on the design and numerical analysis of a shredding system for hazardous and infectious medical waste, to establish its operational performance. The shredding machine's components were modeled in a CAD application, and finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted using ABAQUS software. Static, fatigue, and dynamic loading conditions were used to analyze the structural stability of the cutting blade. The blade geometry proved to be effective based on the cutting force applied to shred medical waste. The dynamic stability of the structure was verified using modal analysis. Furthermore, an S-N curve was generated using a high cycle fatigue study, to predict the expected life of the cutting blade. Resultantly, an appropriate shredder system was devised to link with a sterilization unit, which could be beneficial in reducing the volume of medical waste and disposal time, thereof, thus eliminating environmental issues, and potential health hazards.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.532-544
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• 2017

Objectives: Because the amount of medical waste (i.e., health-care waste) generated in Korea is rapidly increasing and social concern against its safety is widespread, a number of issues related with medical wastes are being discussed. The purpose of this study is to compare diverse medical waste management systems worldwide and propose future directions of a medical waste management system in Korea. Methods: Literature review was conducted mainly on the WHO, and developed countries such as the European Union (Germany, Belgium and UK), Japan and the United States. For these countries, the data with respect to their systems for medical waste management ranging from the definition of medical waste to the whole processes of collection, transportation and disposal were summarized and compared. Results: The terminology and classification of medical wastes were not consistent for WHO recommendation, EU, Japan, US and Korea. Comparison of the collection, storage, transportation and disposal of medical waste showed that Korea had rather stronger regulations for medical waste management compared to developed countries including Belgium (Flanders region), Germany, Japan and the US. Considering that developed countries adopt rather flexible disposal system especially for general medical wastes which pose lower possibility of infection, Korean government could consider diversifying disposal methods other than incineration. It may also be very important to try to reduce the amount of medical wastes and enough capacity for off-site incineration are secured. Conclusion: Our study of international comparisons suggests that it is necessary to continue to identify advantages and disadvantages of the current medical waste management systems and establish more effective one in Korea.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.282-293
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of infection control implemented at dental offices and factors affecting it in an attempt to help promote the health of dental health care workers. The subjects in this study were 180 medical personnels who worked at dental offices in the region of South Jeolla Province. A self-administered survey was conducted from April 1 to May 30, 2008, and the collected data were analyzed. The findings of the study were as follows: 1. As for the implementation of infection control at the dental offices, what the health care workers investigated did the most was post-treatment hand washing(95.0), a constant separation of infectious wastes(94.4), wearing rubber gloves all the time during medical instrument cleansing(92.8) and pre-treatment hand washing(91.7). 2. In regard to the implementation of infection control at the dental offices, what the dental personnels did the least was drying their hands with air(5.0), wearing goggles in times of treatment(23.3), receiving regular education on infection control(26.7) and putting sterilizers to a performance test on a regular basis(43.9). 3. The dental health care workers were significantly different according to age in the management of contagious diseases(p=0.005). Their career made a significant difference to the management of contagious diseases(p=0.000) and instrument cleansing/sterilization(p=0.043). The service area made a significant difference to wearing and managing personal protective clothes (p=0.040) and waste management(p=0.040). 4. Concerning the relationship between the acquisition of dental hygienist certificate and the practice of infection control, whether the dental health care workers were certified or not made no significant difference to that. 5. As to the correlation among the factors affecting the prevention and management of contagious diseases, there was a positive correlation among hand washing(r=0.379), wearing and managing personal protective clothes(r=0.349), instrument cleansing/sterilization(r=0.323) and waste management(r=0.388). All the factors made a statistically significant difference to the prevention and management of contagious diseases(p<0.01).

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 2008

Radiation technology is currently used in a number of industrial processes such as sterilization, cross linking of polymer, food irradiation, rubber vulcanization in the tire manufacturing, contaminated medical waste, etc. Gamma ray and electron beam are the key examples of well-established economical applications of radiation processes. The purpose of this paper is to review the recent technological trends and activities for radiation processes in order for the industrial end users to better understand, and obtain useful information about the technology. It is clear that the radiation processing technology has potential for a variety of the industrial applications.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.370-378
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting infection control practice by dental hygienist students in Jeju during clinical training amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Online survey was conducted on 112 students and the results were statistically analyzed with frequency analysis, Student's T-test, one-way ANOVA, and regression analysis using SPSS 20.0. In the 'awareness and practice of infection control by year in college' section, 2nd year students scored significantly higher in 'cleaning and surface disinfection,' 'medical waste disposal,' and 'COVID-19 preventive measure' compared to 3rd year students. In the 'type of training institution' section, hospital setting scored significantly higher in 'cleaning and surface disinfection,' 'instrument disinfection and sterilization,' 'personal and patient protection,' and 'COVID-19 preventive measure' compared to dental clinic setting. In the 'location of institution' section, Seoul metropolitan region scored higher in 'medical waste disposal' compared to Jeju region. According to regression analysis, year in college (2nd year), type of training institution (hospital setting), location of training institution (Seoul metropolitan region), and difficulty using protective gear (no difficulty) were associated with better COVID-19 preventive measure This first study in Jeju provides an insight on the awareness and practice of infection control measures by dental hygienist students in Jeju during clinical training. Further investigation for improvement of clinical training manual is warranted.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.313-319
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• 2016

Objectives: The objective of the study was to infection control by analyzing the influence of working environment on infection control activities in the dental hygienists. Methods: The cross-sectional study was based on a survey on a total of 377 dental hygienists working in dental settings. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship of general characteristics and infection control activities. All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS for Windows version 20.0, and p<0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: Predictive powers(=Adjusted $R^2$ of the investigated factors such as operation room, sterilization disinfection laundry, dental unit waterline, staff individual, infection control system, personal protective equipment, medical waste, hand hygiene, oral surgical procedures, clinical contact surfaces were adjusted $R^2=0.394$, 0.306, 0.277, 0.244, 0.241, 0.177, 0.165,, 0.154, 0.134, 0.124 respectively. Conclusions: In order to enhance infection control activities, the program development and implementation for the aseptic procedure is very important. The program should include periodic reinforcement of infection control education and regular monitoring of infection control activities.