High-throughput microscopy (HTM) was developed recently for the automatic detection of airborne asbestos fibers that can cause lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma. The HTM method has been applied to couting the airborne asbestos fibers as an alternative to the conventional phase contrast microscopy (PCM). In this paper, we demonstrated that the HTM enabled us to obtain quantitative results for low-concentration airborne asbestos samples under detection limit, and we made a comparison between the results from HTM and PCM. In addition, a verification study was conducted using proficiency analytical testing (PAT) samples of chrysotile and amosite. The HTM method can be applied to the existing PCM method by reducing analysis time and labors. Potential applications can be extended to detection of asbestos fibers in soil and water.

Most of the subway stations are located underground and the indoor air quality can be very poor. IAQ tele-monitoring systems (TMS) have been installed at some of subway stations in Seoul to monitor indoor contaminants, such as carbon dioxide, particulate matters and nitrogen oxides. In this paper, we use CO₂, PM₁₀, NO₂ concentration data collected by TMS in one of the underground stations in Line 4. The correlations are analyzed between the concentrations measured at different locations, such as tunnel, waiting room, and platform to identify the source characteristics. The results indicate there are very weak correlations between CO₂-NO₂ and PM₁₀-NO₂ but strong correlation between CO₂-PM₁₀, because both of PM₁₀ and CO₂ are related to the number of passengers. The comparison of PM₁₀ concentrations before and after the installation of platform screen door (PSD) indicates that considerable amount of particulate matters are entrained from tunnel into platform area. The PSD exhibits positive effects on indoor air quality especially on particulate concentrations. In case of NO₂, there is a strong correlation between indoor and outdoor concentrations. The results presented in this paper can be used to control indoor air quality in subway stations more effectively.

Since it has been reported that asbestos fibers cause serious health problems such as lung cancer, malignant mesothelioma and other related diseases, it turns into social issue leading to a number of studies for characterizing asbestos found in the indoor environment. Among the established methods for detecting asbestos fibers, phase contrast microscopy (PCM) method is widely used as it dose not require complicated process nor high-priced equipments. However, PCM method is hard to define a sort of asbestos and to detect tiny asbestos fibers. We developed an image-based high-throughput microscopy (HTM) for automated counting of asbestos fibers which were distinguishable from the spherical particles. HTM method enabled us to analyze asbestos fibers both automatically and quantitatively. Test samples of chrysotile, amosite and crocidolite, which are frequently detected in Korea, were used in this study and comparisons were made between concentrations of asbestos fibers measured by manual counting method and HTM method. Application of HTM system can be extended to various areas such as malaria diagnosis, rare cell detection and bacterial colony counting.

In this paper, it is intended to investigate the condensation characteristics of a supply vent cap, which is designed and developed for natural ventilation systems for ondol heating spaces. Numerical simulations are conducted using a CFD package to analyze airflow and thermal conditions around the vent cap. Temperature and humidity distributions are obtained to predict condensation on the surface, depending on the material properties. As the thermal conductivity decreases, decreased is the condensation surface area. The thermal conductivity of the vent cap is found to be less than 1 W/mK in order to prevent condensation under the winter design condition of Seoul. An experimental technique is introduced to visualize condensation on surfaces using water-absorbing mud film. Analytical results are in good agreement with experimental observations. Discussion are also included for the thermal comfort and flow characteristics around the vent cap observed by the flow visualization and temperature visualization studies.

인간 감성변화의 기본인 피부온도 및 피복내 온습도 측정을 위한 시스템과 감성공학적 해석을 위한 보다 정밀하고 안정성이 있는 센서의 응답성 및 회로의 선형화에 대한 연구를 수행하고, 의복내 환경평가 및 실내 온습도 측정등의 다양한 감성공학적 해석을 위한 소프트웨어의 개발이 본 연구의 목적이다. 본 연구에는 손쉬운 온습도 변환장치와 풍부한 저장능력 등 다양한 분야에서 활용이 가능한 온습도 측정기와 이에 필요한 센서를 개발하고 측정기의 선형화특성을 평가하였다.