• 환경영향평가
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.225-233
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• 2008

An Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB) is an archive for samples that can be used to document and assess the quality of the environment in which we live. An ESB program looks at changes in the concentration of human and environmental specimens over long periods of time through retrospective analysis of archived samples of a particular area collected at regular intervals. The idea of ESB was first proposed by German and American scientists in the early 1970s and has been established since 1979 in Germany, USA, and Japan. Korea plans to establish a National Environmental Specimen Bank (NESB) in 2010. The NESB will be able to assess and improve the quality of analytical measurements as well as to compare the past and current environmental quality as a time capsule. The concept and design for the NESB facility was developed and its Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) are being developed based on an evaluation of ESBs and SOPs of Germany, USA, and Japan. Environmental specimens proposed for banking are based on typical representatives of every level of the food chain from each type of ecosystem that are widely distributed thus enabling comparisons between different sampling areas. Through retrospective analysis of environmental specimens, the NESB will improve the reliability of environmental monitoring, ecological risk assessment, and health impact assessment.

• 환경영향평가
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• 제18권6호
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• pp.429-434
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• 2009

Environmental specimen bank (ESB) is a new tool to assess ecosystem in environmental impact assessment (EIA). ESB looks at changes in the concentration of pollutants in human and environmental specimens over long periods of time through retrospective analysis of archived samples. Korea started to design its National Environmental Specimen Bank (NESB) in 2007 and planned to launch an operational pilot project by 2010. NESB prepares five Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of shoots of Red and Korean pine, leaves of Mongolian oak, Pigeon's egg, and Common carp's muscle out of 14 planned specimens in 2009. ESB contributes to monitoring the effectiveness of EIA projects and policies by providing a time capsule through ecosystem assessment of representative species. This study reviews ecosystem assessment in EIA and the ESB establishment in Korea and probes NESB applications in ecosystem assessment.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.71-76
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• 2012

Malignant mesothelioma is an uncommon but rapidly fatal disease for which the principal aetiological agent is exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma is of particular significance in Australia where asbestos use was very widespread from the 1950s until the 1980s. Exposure to asbestos includes occupational exposure associated with working with asbestos or in workplaces where asbestos is used and also 'take-home' exposure of family members of asbestos exposed workers. Asbestos exposure may also be nonoccupational, occurring as a consequence of using asbestos products in non-occupational contexts and passive exposure is also possible, such as exposure to asbestos products in the built environment or proximity to an environmental source of exposure, for example an asbestos production plant. The extremely long latency period for this disease makes exposure assessment problematic in the context of a mesothelioma registry. OccIDEAS, a recently developed online tool for retrospective exposure assessment, has been adapted for use in the Australian Mesothelioma Registry (AMR) to enable systematic retrospective exposure assessment of consenting cases. Twelve occupational questionnaire modules and one non-occupational module have been developed for the AMR, which form the basis of structured interviews using OccIDEAS, which also stores collected data and provides a framework for generating metrics of exposure.

• 임상간호연구
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.270-276
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to validate the Edmonson psychiatric fall risk assessment tool (EPFRAT) for psychiatric inpatients. Methods: Data from retrospective study were collected from 670 adult inpatients in two departments of mental health medicine of a tertiary general hospital by reviewing their electronic medical records. There were 41 patients who experienced falls and 629 patients who did not experience falls during the period from January to December 2019. Data were analyzed by sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and a receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) for validity assessment using the IBM SPSS/WIN 26.0 program. Results: Factors affecting falls were the participant's age, guardian's residence, high-risk determination at the time of admission, and comorbidity. At the 85 points where the point of sum of the sensitivity and specificity was largest, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of EPFRAT were 92.7%, 79.7%, 22.9%, and 99.4%, respectively. The area under the ROC to assess the overall validity of the tool was .92 (95% CI 0.89~0.94). Conclusion: The EPFRAT was proved to be valid and reasonable for predicting falls in psychiatric inpatients. Based on the results of this study, it could be used for the assessment of high-risk patients for falls in psychiatric units.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
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• 제5권4호
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• pp.171-178
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• 2011

성인 남성들이 2002년부터 2006년 까지 건강검진을 받기위해 대학병원을 내원한 성인 남성 80명을 개인별 골밀도를 5년간 관찰하여 분석하였다. 연구 대상자 성인 남성 80명의 평균연령은 $43.15{\pm}4.82$세였다. 대퇴경부의 골밀도는 1차 측정에서 -0.61에 비하여 4차 및 5차 측정에서 유의하게 감소하였으며, 척추 골밀도는 1차 측정 -0.67에서 2차 측정에서 유의한 감소를 나타냈지만 3~5차 측정에서 유의한 차이를 보이지 않았다. 생활습관에 따른 음주, 흡연, 운동, 식습관에 따른 군 간의 대퇴경부 및 척추 골밀도 변화 값의 차이는 보이지 않았다. 1차 측정에서의 대퇴경부 골밀도를 기준으로 골밀도 상($0{\leqq}BMD$), 중($-1.0{\leqq}BMD<0$), 하(BMD < -1.0) 집단에서 1차 측정과 5차 측정 골밀도의 차이를 비교하였을 때, 상 집단에서 대퇴경부 골밀도가 1차 $0.67{\pm}0.76$에서 $0.42{\pm}0.93$로 유의하게 감소하였다. 다른 집단에서는 전후 비교에서 유의한 차이를 보이지 않았다. 대상자들의 나이에 관계없이 젊어서부터 골밀도가 낮은 사람들은 대퇴경부 및 척추의 골밀도가 낮아 있었으며, 골밀도가 높은 사람들은 1차 측정 때부터 5차 측정 때까지 높았다. 대퇴경의 골밀도는 1차 측정에 비해 5차에서 유의한 감소를 나타내어 척추보다는 대퇴경부의 골밀도에 주의하도록 한다.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• 제5권1호
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• pp.1-8
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• 2016

Objective: The present study was to investigate the discrimination capacity of the Performance Oriented Mobility Assessment-Gait Scale (POMA-GS), for predicting falls in stroke survivors. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Data including the characteristics and number of falls of 52 chronic stroke patients from a rehabilitation center were collected. The number of falls each subject had experienced in the previous year were investigated through interviews. The subjects were divided into two groups depending on the number of falls: if falls occurred twice or more on the basis of the time of study after stroke, they were defined as the falls group and if there was no fall experience or one fall, they were defined as the non-falls group. The subjects were examined with the POMA-GS, and physical functions were examined using by the One Leg Stand Test (OLST), Sit to Stand Test (SST), 10-m Walk Test, Lower Extremity in Fugl-Meyer assessment (FM-LE), and Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS). The validity of POMA-GS for falls prediction was analyzed. Results: In the POMA-GS, which predicts falls in stroke survivors, the cut-off value was 8.5 (sensitivity 72%; specificity 65%) and the area under the curve was 0.75 (95% confidence interval: 0.60-0.90, p<0.007). There was a significant difference in the OLST, SST, FM-LE, and TIS between the subjects with POMA-GS >8.5 and the subjects with POMA-GS ${\leq}8.5$. Conclusions: The POMA-GS could be a useful tool in predicting falls in stroke survivors, as its discrimination capacity and predictive validity is proven satisfactory.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권6호
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• pp.2113-2119
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• 2024

This study presents the development and characterization of a prototype TL/OSL reader for the retrospective dose assessment of individuals in radiological emergencies. The reader is portable, semi-automatic, and capable of accurate measurements. The dimension of the reader is 25 × 25 × 37 cm³ and the weight is about 15 kg. The reader consists of a sample moving stage, a heating module, an optical stimulation module, a detection module, a data acquisition (DAQ) unit, a nitrogen gas control module, and a PC with a GUI program. The reader has three measurement modes: TL, CW_OSL, and custom mode. The reader was characterized using commercial thermal luminescence dosimeters (TLD, LiF:Mg,Cu,Si) and optically stimulated dosimeters (OSLD, Al₂O₃:C), as well as fortuitous materials, such as display glasses and resistors of mobile phone. The results showed that the reader is capable of measuring signals with a detection limit of up to 0.02 mGy using a commercial dosimeter. In the dose recovery test using fortuitous materials, the reconstructed doses obtained three days post-irradiation closely aligned with the initially administered doses. As a result, this study suggests that the developed TL/OSL reader is a promising instrument for emergency dose assessment at accident sites.

• 대한한의학회지
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.14-22
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• 2010

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate any clinical research regarding asthma published by the Korean Oriental Medical Society and its sub-societies for future rigorous clinical research. Methods: Every article relevant to asthma was initially obtained from journals in the Korean Oriental Medical Society and its sub-societies by electronic search at journal web sites or manual search. Journals were limited to those registered by the Korea Research Foundation. From initial findings, two independent reviewers selected clinical articles and these articles were further analyzed separately into predefined criteria according to prospective and retrospective studies. For prospective studies, quality assessment was also conducted. Results: From 99 articles initially obtained, 19 were finally analyzed. 14 were prospective whereas 5 were retrospective. Among the prospective articles, there were no randomized controlled trials and the non-randomized studies had no control groups, with several problems of quality regarding pre-calculated study size and unbiased assessment. None of the retrospective studies described asthma diagnosis objectively and outcome measures were either non-relevant to asthma or non-validated. Conclusions: Well-designed randomized controlled studies for asthma are needed and more rigorous non-randomized controlled studies should be conducted.

• 대한한의학방제학회지
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• 제32권3호
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• pp.325-343
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• 2024

Objective : To understand how Chungsangboha-tang (CSBHT) is being utilized in clinical practice and research in Korea, clinical studies related to CSBHT published in domestic academic journals were analyzed. Methods : The search was conducted using the following six databases: Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, ScienceON, Research Information Sharing Service, Koreanstudies Information Service System, and The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine. After selecting relevant literature published before June 24, 2024, the studies were classified and analyzed according to their research design. Results : The final selection comprised 20 studies categorized as follows: 1 non-randomized controlled trial and 10 before-and-after studies in prospective clinical research, along with 7 case reports and 2 retrospective chart reviews in retrospective clinical studies. Among the 233 participants included in these studies, 169 had asthma, 53 had chronic cough, and 5 had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Additionally, other conditions reported included Churg-Strauss syndrome, pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis, non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease, bronchiectasis, and pulmonary hypertension. CSBHT was administered as a decoction in 13 studies, as granules in 6 studies, and both in one study. The most frequently used assessment tools were pulmonary function tests and quality of life evaluations. For safety assessment, liver function test results and adverse events were reported. Conclusion : To enhance the utilization of CSBHT in Korean medicine clinical practice, continuous accumulation of domestic clinical research is essential. Moreover, meticulously designed randomized controlled trials are necessary to elevate the level of evidence.

• 근관절건강학회지
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.65-74
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• 2024

Purpose: This study was conducted to verify fall predictive power and reasonable fall risk assessment tool by a comparative analysis of the sensitivity, specificity, positive forecast and negative forecast of each tool by applying Morse Fall Scale (MFS), Johns Hopkins Fall Risk Assessment Tool (JHFRAT), and Fall Assessment Scale-Korean version (FAS-K) through electronic medical records to adult patients hospitalized in a general hospital in Korea. Methods: We performed a retrospective evaluation study from January to December 2018, 123 fall groups experiencing falls during hospitalization and 123 non-falls groups were selected. Data presented a reasonable assessment tool that predicts and distinguishes fall high-risk patients through area comparison based on the ROC curve for each tool. Results: In the ROC curve analysis by fall risk assessment group, the AUC of MFS is shown to be .706 (good), JHFRAT is shown to be .649 (sufficient) and FAS-K is shown to be .804 (very good). FAS-K at a cut-off score of 4, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative prediction values were 83.7%, 60.2%, 67.8%, and 78.7%, respectively. Conclusion: Based on the above findings, it is believed that the FAS-K was presented as a suitable and reasonable tool for predicting falls for adult patients in general hospitals.