• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8503-8508
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• 2014

Background: After the WHO recommended HPV vaccination of the general population in 2009, government support of HPV vaccination programs was increased in many countries. However, this policy was not implemented in Korea due to perceived low cost-effectiveness. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the cost-utility of HPV vaccination programs targeted to high risk populations as compared to vaccination programs for the general population. Materials and Methods: Each study population was set to 100,000 people in a simulation study to determine the incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR), then standard prevalence rates, cost, vaccination rates, vaccine efficacy, and the Quality-Adjusted Life-Years (QALYs) were applied to the analysis. In addition, sensitivity analysis was performed by assuming discounted vaccination cost. Results: In the socially vulnerable population, QALYs gained through HPV vaccination were higher than that of the general population (General population: 1,019, Socially vulnerable population: 5,582). The results of ICUR showed that the cost of HPV vaccination was higher for the general population than the socially vulnerable population. (General population: 52,279,255 KRW, Socially vulnerable population: 9,547,347 KRW). Compared with 24 million KRW/QALYs as the social threshold, vaccination of the general population was not cost-effective. In contrast, vaccination of the socially vulnerable population was strongly cost-effective. Conclusions: The results suggest the importance and necessity of government support of HPV vaccination programs targeted to socially vulnerable populations because a targeted approach is much more cost-effective. The implementation of government support for such vaccination programs is a critical strategy for decreasing the burden of HPV infection in Korea.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.87 no.2
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• pp.134-144
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• 2024

Interstitial lung abnormalities (ILAs) are radiologic abnormalities found incidentally on chest computed tomography (CT) that can be show a wide range of diseases, from subclinical lung fibrosis to early pulmonary fibrosis including definitive usual interstitial pneumonia. To clear up confusion about ILA, the Fleischner society published a position paper on the definition, clinical symptoms, increased mortality, radiologic progression, and management of ILAs based on several Western cohorts and articles. Recently, studies on long-term outcome, risk factors, and quantification of ILA to address the confusion have been published in Asia. The incidence of ILA was 7% to 10% for Westerners, while the prevalence of ILA was about 4% for Asians. ILA is closely related to various respiratory symptoms or increased rate of treatment-related complication in lung cancer. There is little difference between Westerners and Asians regarding the clinical importance of ILA. Although the role of quantitative CT as a screening tool for ILA requires further validation and standardized imaging protocols, using a threshold of 5% in at least one zone demonstrated 67.6% sensitivity, 93.3% specificity, and 90.5% accuracy, and a 1.8% area threshold showed 100% sensitivity and 99% specificity in South Korea. Based on the position paper released by the Fleischner society, I would like to report how much ILA occurs in the Asian population, what the prognosis is, and review what management strategies should be pursued in the future.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.133-136
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• 2002

Whitefly, Dialeuropora decempuncta (Quaintance rind Baker) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) has attained the major pest status in mulberry, causing 24% crop loss by sucking the leaf juice and manifesting leaf curl, chlorosis and sooty mould desease during monsoon season in West Bengal, India. The assessment of economic threshold revel is an essential component for formulating the management practices. Experiments were carried out by inoculating five different densities of whitefly viz.,10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 adults on covered mulberry plants in glass houses. From the findings, it was observed that irrespective of released density, no crop loss was observed in the initial period. But with the passing of days, the percent crop loss was increased rapidly. The linear relationship between percent crop loss and number of adults released was established to highlight the significance of economic threshold. The statistical analysis in the linear form of equation showed that initial population of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 whiteflies/plant causes 3%, 12%, 21%, 30% and 40% crop loss in a period of 28 days which is equivalent to 57 kg, 247 kg, 437 kg, 626 kg and 816 kg leaf/acre. Execution of management practices (spray of 0.01% monocrotophos) are economical to the farmer whenever the loss is above 247 kg/acre, but below which application of control measures is not economical. From this study, it can be inferred that the economic threshold level far whitefly is 20 individuals/plant beyond which a farmer has to take appropriate control measures.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2020

The aim of this study was to estimate the microbial metabolic activity of indigenous soil microbes under the radon exposure with different intensity and times in the secured laboratory radon chamber. For this purpose, the soil microbes were collected from radon-contaminated site located in the G county, Korea. Thereafter, their metabolic activity was determined after the radon exposure of varying radon concentrations of 185, 1,400 and 14,000 Bq/㎥. The average depth variable concentrations of soil radon in the radon-contaminated site were 707, 860 and 1,185 Bq/㎥ from 0, 15, and 30 cm in deep, respectively. Simultaneously, the soil microbial culture was mainly composed of Bacillus sp., Brevibacillus sp., Lysinibacillus sp., and Paenibacillus sp. From the radon exposure test, higher or lower radiation intensities compared to the threshold level attributed the metabolic activity of mixed microbial consortium to be reduced, whereas the moderate radiation intensity (i.e. threshold level) induced it to the pinnacle point. It was decided that radon radiation could instigate the microbial metabolic activity depending on the radon levels while they were exposed, which could consequently address that the certain extent of threshold concentration present in the ecosystem relevant to microbial diversity and population density to be more proliferated.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.206-211
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• 2017

Background: Self-reported low back pain (LBP) has been evaluated in relation to material handling lifting tasks, but little research has focused on relating quantifiable stressors to LBP at the individual level. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Composite Lifting Index (CLI) has been used to quantify stressors for lifting tasks. A chemical exposure can be readily used as an exposure metric or stressor for chemical risk assessment (RA). Defining and quantifying lifting nonchemical stressors and related adverse responses is more difficult. Stressor-response models appropriate for CLI and LBP associations do not easily fit in common chemical RA modeling techniques (e.g., Benchmark Dose methods), so different approaches were tried. Methods: This work used prospective data from 138 manufacturing workers to consider the linkage of the occupational stressor of material lifting to LBP. The final model used a Bayesian random threshold approach to estimate the probability of an increase in LBP as a threshold step function. Results: Using maximal and mean CLI values, a significant increase in the probability of LBP for values above 1.5 was found. Conclusion: A risk of LBP associated with CLI values > 1.5 existed in this worker population. The relevance for other populations requires further study.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.460-471
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• 2012

Objectives: Due to global warming resulting from climate change, there has been increasing interest in the relationship between temperature and mortality. These temperature-related deaths depend on diverse conditions related to a given place and person, as well as on time. This study examined changes in the impact of high temperatures on death in summer, using the effect and burden of elevated temperatures on deaths in Seoul and Daegu. Methods: A Poisson regression model was used to estimate short-term temperature effects on mortality. Temperature-related risks were divided into three time periods of equal length (1996-2000, 2001-2005, and 2006-2010). In addition, in order to compare the impact of high temperatures on deaths, this study calculated the proportion of attributable deaths to population, which simultaneously considers the threshold and the slope above the threshold. Results: The effect and burden of high temperatures on deaths is high in Daegu. However, the impact (i.e. the effect and burden) of elevated summer temperatures on deaths has declined over the past 15 years. Sensitivity analyses using alternative thresholds show the robustness of these findings. Conclusion: This study suggests that the attributable burden of high temperatures on deaths to be more plausible than relative risk or threshold for comparing the health impact of high temperatures across populations. Moreover, these results contain important implications for the development or the adjustment of present and future strategies and policies for controlling the temperature-related health burden on populations.

• Atmosphere
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.309-318
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• 2009

Vulnerability to heat was examined for populations of 6 major cities in South Korea (Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, Gwangju, Daegu, and Busan). Daily excess mortality and maximum temperature from 1991 to 2005 were employed in this study. The results show that the standardized mortality increase associated with a $1^{\circ}C$ increase in daily maximum temperature above the city-specific threshold explains the heat acclimatization effect better than the threshold temperature itself. The estimated increase in mortality (standardized per 10 million population) associated with a $1^{\circ}C$ increase in temperature above the threshold is 4.8 in Incheon, 4.7 in Seoul, 4.3 in Daejeon, 2.8 in Gwangju, 2.4 in Daegu, and 1.5 in Busan, well reflecting the latitudinal locations and local climates of each city. Climate models project more frequent, more intense, and longer lasting heat waves in most land areas in both hemispheres in the 21st century under increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. In order to mitigate the adverse human health impacts due to excess heat, more detailed characteristics of acclimatization to heat need to be understood and quantified.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.26
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• pp.249-272
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• 2012

Diaspora studies has become one of the fastest growing field in the humanities over the past several decades, and the use of term diaspora has been widening to include almost any population on the move. Diaspora literature not only mirrors but actively incorporates this new notion of diaspora with characters "at the threshold" navigating new territories and identities. Querying how diaspora studies intersects with theatre and performance, this paper attempts to probe how recent Korean American drama parallels and promotes diaspora studies' radical departure from traditional notions of identities and territories. For this purpose, this essay 1) examines theoretical affinities between diaspora studies and performance studies 2) investigates how Sung Rno's plays, Cleveland Raining and wAve, explore and embody multiple and evolving meanings of Korean diaspora on the stage 3) examines how theatre can create the third space that transcends both Korean and American nationalism and 4) speculates possibilities of reframing Asian American Studies as Asian diaspora studies. Korean American characters in Rno's play redirect diasporic identities, as their concern gradually moves from "where I come from" to "where I go to." Instead of remaining in the dark as a mere spectator, both Rno and his characters choose to be 'on' the stage where they can imagine, perform, and realize (however temporarily) "unimaginable community" by confronting their own social, political, and cultural ambivalence. Stage, the threshold between reality and fiction, Korea and America, and past and future, becomes their true 'home' where they incubate and precipitate "nation in transformation" that Yan Haiping argues for as "another transnational."

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.229-236
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• 2024

The linear no-threshold (LNT) model is an assumption that explains the dose-response relationship for health risks, allowing for linear extrapolation from high doses to low doses without a threshold. The selection of an appropriate model for low-dose risk evaluation is a critical component in the risk assessment process for hazardous agents. This paper reviews the LNT model in light of epidemiological evidence from major international consortia studying ionizing radiation. From a scientific perspective, substantial evidence supporting the LNT model has been observed in epidemiological studies of low-dose ionizing radiation exposure, although some findings suggest non-linear dose relationships for certain cancer sites and variations across populations. From a practical standpoint, the LNT remains the most useful model for radiation protection purposes, with no alternative dose-response relationship proving more appropriate. It is important to note that the LNT model does not directly reflect the magnitude of risk at the population level, and this distinction should be clearly communicated to the public. While applying the LNT model as the principal basis for radiation protection, continuous research into various dose-response relationships is crucial for advancing our understanding.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1990.07a
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• pp.257-260
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• 1990

Monte Carlo simulations of electron impact ionization in silicon utilizing simple spherical band approximation including L valley are presented. The mean energy of electron at high electric field is lowered and the threshold energy of electron impact ionizaiotn is smeared out to $E_x$ by including L valley. This work also presents the importance of the modeling of L valley by calculating the electron population rate of it over the threshold energy of eletron impact ionization, which is higher than 10%