• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.292-306
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• 2023

Antibiotics are used for the prevention and treatment of infections. This study aimed to investigate the patterns of dental antibiotic prescription in children and adolescents. The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service provided data on patients who visited medical institutions. It was categorized according to year, sex, age, insurance type, dental institution, and region. Chi-square tests, Fisher's exact tests, and one-way analyses of variance were performed. Statistical analyses were performed using SAS software (ver. 9.2; SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). Amoxicillin and cephalosporins, the most commonly used antibiotics, accounted for approximately 96% of the prescriptions. The younger the child, the more antibiotics were prescribed for trauma, pulpitis, and dental abscesses. However, closer to adolescence, the antibiotics were primarily prescribed to manage impacted teeth and periodontal problems. Antibiotics were prescribed for 3.13 days on average. There were significant differences in the prescription rates according to age, sex, type of insurance, type of medical institution, and region (p < 0.05). This study suggested that antibiotic prescriptions should be closely monitored to ensure appropriate usage of antibiotics.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2022.05a
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• pp.381-383
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• 2022

This study evaluated the completeness of emergency medical service (EMS) activity reports. In all, 67,830 cases of normal transfers were statistically analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22, and statistical significance was set at p <0.5. The 119EMT_2 certificate was omitted in 50,037 (73.8%) cases, followed by time-related items in 1,227 (1.8%) cases. In the primary assessment of vital signs, systolic blood pressure was omitted and erroneous in 1,218 (1.9%) and 1,129 (1.8%) cases, respectively. In the secondary assessment, the completeness of all vital sign items was approximately 70%. As the severity of the patient's condition increased, the errors in the EMS activity report also increased, at a significant level (p=.00). Paramedics must be aware of the importance of completing the activity report.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.99-120
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• 2023

The community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates in Upo wetland was identified, and the biological water quality was evaluated. In addition, through statistical analysis of current and literature data, ecological changes over time were evaluated for each wetland. Benthos were quantitatively collected in March, June, and September of 2020 and 2021, and 4 phyla, 5 classes, 16 orders, 42 families, 81 species and 3,406 individuals were identified. In the functional feeding group of Upo wetland, predators were dominant with 34 species (45.95%) and 1,504 individuals (41.84%). In the habitual dwelling group, sprawlers and swimmers showed the highest proportion in the number of species and individuals. Average biological indices in Mokpo and Upo were the highest and lowest, respectively, and it is considered that Mokpo maintains the healthy ecosystem for benthic macroinvertebrates. Community stability was high in Upo, and other wetlands are thought to be stabilizing. The ecological score of benthic macroinvertebrate community is considered to be more suitable index among three biological water quality evaluation indices for the environmental evaluation of Upo wetland. The evaluation results on changes in environmental quality showed that Upo has stable ecosystem without significant change, Mokpo and Sajipo have significant increases in some indices.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: Heavy metals discharged from various sources contaminate the soil and water and the residuals can persistently be accumulated. In this study, the concentration of soil heavy metals was assessed over the whole regions of Korea based on the contamination factor and the geoaccumulation index. METHODS AND RESULTS: The data of averaged concentrations of heavy metals and fluorine were collected from the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS) and the research papers published. In order to classify the levels of heavy metal concentration, the contamination index, including the contamination factor and the geoaccumulation index, based on the relative ratio of the actual concentration of heavy metals in the soil to the background concentration was calculated. In addition, the distribution of heavy metals in soils was visualized by using the geographic information system (GIS). As a result, the Cd contamination in the soils was the most concerned. CONCLUSION(S): This study very roughly indicated the outline of heavy metal concentration over the whole regions of Korea. The change in heavy metals' concentration over the time should further be monitored and the larger data of heavy metal contamination are needed for better understanding in the future.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.85-95
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• 2022

Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE), critical pollutants to human health and groundwater ecosystems, are managed by groundwater quality standards (GQS) in South Korea. However, there are no GQSs for their by-products, such as cis-dichloroethylene (DCE) and vinyl chloride (VC) produced through the dechlorination process of PCE and TCE. Therefore, in this study, we monitored PCE, TCE, cis-DCE, and VC in 111 national groundwater wells for three years (2016 to 2018) to evaluate their distributions, a biological dechlorination possibility, and human risk assessment. The detection frequency of them was 30.2% for PCE, 45.1% for TCE, 43.9% for cis-DCE and 13.4% for VC. The four chlorinated compounds were commonly detected in 21 out of 111 wells. In the results of statistical analysis with 21 wells data, DO and ORP also had a negative correlation with four organic chlorinated compounds, while EC and sulfate has a positive correlation with the compounds. This indicates that the 21 wells were relatively met with suitable environments for a biological dechlorination reaction compared to the other wells. Finally, cis-DCE had a non-carcinogenic risk of 10^-1 and the carcinogenic risk of VC was 10^-6 or higher. Through this study, the distribution status of the four chlorinated compounds in groundwater in South Korea and the necessity of preparing plans to manage cis-DCE and VC were confirmed.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2022

Background: Air pollution is increasing together with industrialization and urbanization. In order to reduce air pollution, public transportation is recommended rather than private cars, and the number of passengers using public transportation is increasing accordingly. This study observes the concentration of indoor pollutants in city buses over time. Through this means, we intend to suggest a plan to manage the indoor air quality in city buses. Objectives: The concentration of indoor pollution in public transportation was investigated from April 2021 to January 2022. Based on this, we evaluated the exposure to indoor pollutants. Methods: Six city bus lines in an industrial city were selected for the research, and indoor pollution was measured through IoT (Internet of Things)-based sensor-type measuring devices. The concentration of pollutants was measured every minute, and statistical data were constructed based on the measurement results. Results: In all the city buses studied, the average concentration of pollutants were below the guidelines. However, some measurement results showed cases of exceeding the guidelines. As a result of the analysis by time zone, there were more cases in which pollutants exceeded the standard value during rush hour compared to at other times. A risk assessment for PM₁₀ was performed by evaluating the excess mortality risk from exposure and the risk from inhalation exposure. Conclusions: All measured indoor pollutants in the city buses did not exceed the guidelines. Also, the risk assessment results were found to be within the level of safety. However, if a city bus is used for a long time, there is a possibility that there may be an impact on the human body due to inhalation exposure, so additional management is required.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.691-698
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• 2019

This study is to examine the effect of improving the forest therapy program for adolescents using forest healing resources (focused on improving index of greenness for adolescents). The participants were 30 students from in the control group that participated in the 2018 program, and 51 students in experimental group that participated in the improved program in 2019. The questionnaire, developed by Korea Forest Welfare Institute, was comprised of items on general matters, index of greenness, restorative environment, positive emotion, negative emotion, facial expression and psychological assessment. The control group had 30 and the experimental group had 49 valid copies of the questionnaires. As a result of the paired sample t-test for each group, the control group showed a significant increase in all categories except restorative environment. In the experimental group, all categories significantly improved to a higher level (p <.01). An independent sample t-test (one-tailed test) was performed to test the effect of the forest therapy program with improved index of greenness. As a result, the index of greenness increased by 0.73 points(t=2.555, p <.01) and restorative environment by 1.01 points (t=2.567, p <.01), showing statistical significance. Negative emotion increased by 0.04 points (t=0.183, p >.05), which was not significant. On the other hand, positive emotion decreased by 0.42 points (t=-1.918, p <.05), facial expression by 0.57 points (t=-1.775, p <.05), and psychological assessment by 0.29 points (t=-0.981, p >.05), showing significance in positive emotion and facial expression. However, all the decreased items showed significant improvements between the pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.57-65
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• 2023

The public safety management guidelines were introduced in 2019 and continue to be dedicated to advancing comprehensive measures for public safety management, with a primary focus on prioritizing the safety and well-being of the public within governmental institutions. To achieve this goal, our previous study developed a establishment procedure of risk assessment-based safety inspection system for public institutions that order construction projects and applied it to highway construction projects to evaluate its effectiveness. To enhance the practicality of the establishment procedure, it is essential to collect and analyze feedback from stakeholders regarding its performance and suitability. This study conducted a survey involving 200 participants who had experience with the establishment procedure, and performed statistical analyses to evaluate its performance and applicability. The survey results indicated that the participants reported a high level of satisfaction (scoring 4 and above on a 5-point Likert scale) in several areas: specialization of safety inspection items for different types of work (with a satisfaction rate of 65%), the evaluation process for safety ratings (64.5%), and their willingness to recommend the procedure to other institutions (75.5%). In the factor analysis with Varimax rotation, two factors emerged: (1) a specialization factor related to safety inspection items, and (2) a grading factor associated with safety evaluation results. Regression analyses of these factors unveiled significant positive relationships with improvements in safety and health performance, including the prevention of fatal accidents, heightened safety responsibility, and raised safety inspection standards. The establishment procedure of safety inspection system developed in our previous study can play a crucial role in reducing accidents resulting in fatalities and injuries at construction sites, ultimately contributing to a safer working environment for all involved parties.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2024

Purpose: The planning of medical facilities involves formulating a comprehensive medical basic plan, translating it into spatial dimensions through a space program. Feasibility assessment often relies on empirical methods like floor area per bed. However, with the shift towards specialized medical concepts, proportional scaling to bed numbers is challenging. This study proposes scale planning improvements during the feasibility assessment stage for comprehensive hospitals, analyzing cases using area determination factors and standard areas based on medical resources. Methods: The Korean Development Institute's Public Investment Management Center (KDI) identified issues in the scale determination of medical facilities in the Preliminary Feasibility Study Guidelines and investigated alternative approaches for determining the scale of a case that passed the preliminary feasibility study in 2019. The study assessed the feasibility of applying individual factors to determine not only the number of beds but also the scale at the sector and department levels. Additionally, a statistical analysis was conducted to examine the correlation between the total number of beds and various area determination factors. Results: Results suggest a strong correlation between total beds and major equipment needs, but in hospitals with <500 beds, this correlation weakens. Ward section scale is better calculated per ward type, not just total beds. Outpatient department scale depends on specialists, influencing treatment room numbers. Medical personnel play a crucial role in determining the scale of sections like rehabilitation therapy rooms, operating rooms, dialysis rooms, and overall facility scale.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.33-48
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• 2024

This paper presents the detailed experimental and analytical investigation on the evolution of static (E_s) and dynamic modulus of elasticity (E_d) of concrete having 0%, 35%, and 50% FA used as partial cement replacement. Destructive and non-destructive tests were conducted on cylindrical specimens to evaluate the compressive strength and MoE of concrete in compression at the age of 28, 56, 90, and 150 days for all mixes. Experimental results show that the concrete having 35% FA achieved compressive strength and MoE similar to plain concrete at the age of 90 days, while 50% FA concrete attained satisfactory compressive strength and MoE at the age of 150 days. The comprehensive statistical analysis has been carried out in two ways on the basis of the experimental results. Firstly, the 28-day crushing strength of plain concrete in compression was used to design the models for the prediction of E_s and E_d of fly ash concrete at any age and percentage replacement of FA. Secondly, using the values of UPV and RHN, models have been developed to predict the age or time-dependent E_s and E_d of fly ash concrete. These models will be helpful in assessing the E_s and E_d of fly ash concrete without knowing the 28-day crushing strength of plain concrete in compression in the laboratory. Hence, the suggested models in the present study will be beneficial in conducting the health assessment of fly ash based concrete structures.