Analysis of differences in variables related to health and safety according to the employment type of Korean workers

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to understand the differences in variables related to health and safety according to the employment type of Korean workers, specifically to identify the differences by employment type on in health status, the likelihood of wearing protective gear when working, access to manuals on emotional expression, and access to information on risk factors related to health and safety. Methods: The secondary data of four items on employment type, health type of workers and safety among the 5th Korean Working Condition Survey conducted in 2017 in Korea was used in this study. The data of workers were processed by using SPSS/WIN 23.0 Program and R 3.1.2, and demographic characteristics were quantified as frequency and percentage.  Results: A total of 30,300 employed people were surveyed. The result shows that part-time workers have poorer health than full-time workers (c2 = 540.7155, p < 0.05), insufficiently wore protective gear (c2 = 24.8702, p < 0.05), had insufficient access to manuals on emotional expression (c2 = 27.7612, p < 0.05) and lacked information about risk factors (c2 = 185.0082, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Health and safety manager will need to have education and consultation, development of manual and perform an early intervention to improve safety environment as primary health care providers by understanding factors related to health and safety of part-time workers

Numerical simulation of the heavy rainfall caused by a convection band over Korea: a case study on the comparison of WRF and CReSS

This study investigates the capability of two numerical models, namely the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Cloud Resolving Storm Simulator (CReSS), to simulate the heavy rainfall that occurred on September 21, 2010 in the middle of the Korean peninsula. This event was considered part of the typical rainfall caused by intense quasi-stationary convection band, leading to a large accumulated rainfall amount within a narrow area. To investigate the relevant characteristics of this heavy rainfall and the feasibility of the numerical models to simulate them, the experiments using both numerical models were designed with a focus on Korea with a horizontal grid spacing of 2 km. The initial and later boundary conditions were interpolated using the output of the mesoscale model of Japan Meteorological Agency and integration spanned the 24-h period from 2100 UTC on September 20, 2010 when the rainfall started in the Yellow Sea. Generally, the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of the rainfall simulated by CReSS are closer than those of the WRF to the in situ observations (655 stations). The WRF simulation reveals the deficiency in capturing the unusual stagnant behavior of this event. The spatial and vertical patterns of reflectivity are consistent with the rainfall pattern, supporting that strong reflectivity coincides with the convective activity that accompanies excessive rainfall. The thermodynamic structure is the main driver of the different behavior between both simulations. The higher equivalent potential temperature, deep moist absolutely unstable layer and strong veering wind shear seen in the CReSS simulation play a role in the development of a favorable environment for inducing convection.National Institute of Meteorological Research (Korea) (Grant (NIMR-2012-B-7))Korea. Meteorological Administratio

Investigation of surface inhomogeneity and estimation of the GOES skin temperature assimilation errors of the MM5 implied by the inhomogeneity over Houston metropolitan area

This study developed a parameterization method to investigate the impacts of inhomogeneous land surfaces on mesoscale model simulations using a high-resolution 1-d PBL model. Then, the 1-d PBL model was used to investigate the inhomogeneity-caused model errors in applying the GOES satellite skin temperature assimilation technique into the MM5 over the Houston metropolitan area (HOU). In order to investigate the surface inhomogeneity impacts on the surface fluxes and PBL variables over HOU, homo- and inhomogeneous 1-d PBL model simulations were performed over HOU and compared to each other. The 1-d PBL model was constructed so that the surface inhomogeneities were able to be represented within model grid elements using a methodology similar to Avissar and Pielke (1989). The surface inhomogeneities over HOU were defined using 30-m resolution land cover data produced by Global Environment Management (GEM), Inc. The inhomogeneity parameterization method developed in the 1-d model was applied to a standard MM5 simulation to test the applicability of the parameterization to 3-d mesoscale model simulations. From the 1-d simulations it was inferred that the surface inhomogeneities would enhance the sensible heat flux by about 36 % and reduce the latent heat flux by about 25 %, thereby inducing the warmer (0.7 %) and drier (-1.0 %) PBL and the colder and moister PBL top induced by greater turbulent diffusivities. The 3-d application of the inhomogeneity parameterization indicated consistent results with the 1-d in general, with additional effects of advection and differential local circulation. The original GOES simulation was warmer compared to observations over HOU than over surrounding areas. The satellite data assimilation itself would lead to a warm bias due to erroneous estimation of gridpoint-mean skin temperature by the satellite, but 1-d simulations indicate that the impact of this error should be much weaker than what was observed. It seems that, unless the already existing warm and dry bias of the MM5 is corrected, the inhomogeneity parameterization in the MM5 would adversely affect the MM5 performance. Therefore, consideration of the surface inhomogeneities in the urban area needs to be confined to the GOES skin temperature retrieval errors at the moment

RFID-Based Digital Board Game Platforms

This paper presents digital board games built upon RFID-based platforms. The platforms consist of RFID tag-embedded physical objects and RFID reader boards. A library is built upon the platforms for recognizing data, locations, and movements of the physical game objects. Three kinds of game prototypes are designed and developed for use in young children's edutainment. The user tests prove that a natural type of interactivity can be achieved for digital board games, and it can contribute to establishing paradigms for next-generation edutainment

A rare case of primary malignant small cell carcinoma combined with urothelial cell carcinoma in the ureter

BACKGROUND: Extrapulmonary small cell carcinomas have been reported in a variety of organs, and their incidence in the genitourinary tract is second only to that in the gastrointestinal tract. To date, however, only a few cases of small cell carcinoma of the ureter have been reported. Because the extreme rarity of this type of carcinoma, its clinical behaviour, diagnostic methods, and effective treatment modalities have not yet been determined. CASE PRESENTATION: A 59-year-old man presented with a 1-month history of painless gross haematuria. Urine cytopathology revealed a urothelial carcinoma and computed tomography revealed left hydronephroureterosis with a distal ureteral stone and a mildly enhanced fungating mass just below the stone-impacted site. The preoperative TNM stage was T2N0M0. The patient underwent simultaneous diagnostic ureterorenoscopy and left laparoscopic nephroureterectomy with bladder cuff resection. Gross examination showed a 3.5 × 3.0 × 0.8 cm white, partly yellow mass in the left distal ureter. Light microscopy showed a small cell carcinoma, overlaid on a urothelial carcinoma in situ, invading the ureter and external lateral resection margins. The small cell carcinoma was diffusely positive for neuron-specific enolase, and exhibited focal positivity for CD 56, synaptophysin, chromogranin and cytokeratin 20. The patient was treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, consisting of cisplatin and etoposide, and radiation therapy, and has been well, without evidence of tumour recurrence or metastasis in the 10 months after surgery. CONCLUSION: Small cell carcinoma of the ureter is rare. Although its clinical behaviour and diagnostic modalities have not been determined and it has yet to be diagnosed immunohistopathologically, multimodality treatment including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy may improve patient survival

MicroRNA-29a suppresses the growth, migration, and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma cells by targeting carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 6

AbstractCarcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 6 (CEACAM6) is an important regulator of cell adhesion, invasion, and metastasis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the functional roles of CEACAM6 in lung adenocarcinoma and to identify miRNAs that inhibit the growth, migration, and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma cells by targeting CEACAM6. CEACAM6 expression is associated with poor prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma, and CEACAM6 has important functional roles in controlling the growth, migration, and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, miR-29a can suppress the growth, migration, and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma cells by targeting CEACAM6. Therefore, miR-29a/CEACAM6 axis represents a potential therapeutic target for treatment of lung adenocarcinoma

Serum cytokine profiles in healthy young and elderly population assessed using multiplexed bead-based immunoassays

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lipid metabolites and cytokines, including chemokines and growth factors, are the key regulators of immune cell function and differentiation, and thus, dysregulation of these regulators is associated with various human diseases. However, previous studies demonstrating a positive correlation of cytokine levels with aging may have been influenced by various environmental factors and underlying diseases. Also, data regarding cytokine profiling in the elderly are limited to a small subset of cytokines.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared the profiles of 22 cytokines, including chemokines and growth factors, in a case-controlled study group of a gender-matched, healthy cohort of 55 patients over the age of 65 and 55 patients under the age of 45. Assessment of serum cytokine concentrations was performed using commercially-available multiplex bead-based sandwich immunoassays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) and transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-α) levels were significantly higher in the elderly patients, whereas granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) levels were significantly lower in the elderly patients. The partial correlation analysis demonstrating the correlation between cytokine levels when controlled for gender, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglyceride, and serum creatinine levels further demonstrated that G-CSF, GM-CSF, and MCP-1 had significant negative correlations with age, whereas sCD40L and TGF-α had significant positive correlations.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Future studies will focus on examining the significance of these age-related changes in circulating cytokines and other biological markers and their potential contribution to the development of different age-associated diseases.</p