In this study we carry out usability evaluation for adjustable electric beds for home care that are used the most by the elderly, and examines dissatisfaction of users. In this sense, we performed an interview with stakeholders including bed users, developers and suppliers to develop usability evaluation contents. In addition, we carried out feasibility and reliability study over evaluation form through usability assessment, and developed usability evaluation indicator.

The use of complimentary indicators, other than radiation dose and risk, to assess the safety of radioactive waste disposal has been discussed in a number of publications for providing the reasonable assurance of disposal safety and convincing the public audience. In this study, the radionuclide flux was selected as performance indicator to appraise the performance of engineered barriers and natural barrier in the Wolsong low- and intermediate-level waste disposal facility. Radionuclide flux showing the retention capability by each compartment of the disposal system is independent of assumptions in biosphere model and exposure pathways. The scenario considered as the normal scenario of disposal facility has been divided into intact or degraded silo concrete conditions. In the intact silo concrete, the radionuclide flux has been assessed with respect to the radionuclide retardation performance of each engineered barrier. In the degraded silo concrete, the radionuclide flux has been explored based on the performance degradation of engineered barriers and the relative significance of natural barrier quantitatively. The results can be used to optimally design the near-surface disposal facility being planned as the second project phase. In the future, additional complimentary indicators will be employed for strengthening the safety case for improving the public acceptance of low- and intermediate-level waste disposal facility.

The use of aquatic species in ecotoxicity research is well established in developed countries. However there are limitations of using the species that are not native to Korea, and the toxicity data produced by domestic test species are significantly needed to reflect the domestic situation. In this study, the applicability of 3 kinds of native species, Chironomus yoshimatsui Martin et Sublette, Ephemera orientalis McLachlan and Heterocypris incongruens Ramdohr, as aquatic toxicity test species was studied. Also, the integration method of each species response to various industrial effluent and surface water was developed. In ecotoxicological researches using macro invertebrates, temperature is one of the most important toxicity-modifying factors, and temperature effect is species specific. Besides temperature effect, there are other physico-chemical factors that can affect test organisms, such as pH, water hardness and dissolved organic matter. The ideal test species for freshwater quality assessment is very sensitive to various pollutant but resistant to wide ranges of physico-chemical properties of environmental media. Behaviour is the cumulative interaction of a variety of biotic and abiotic factors that represents the animal′s response to internal and external factors and relates one organism to another. So, it is a major mechanism by which animals adapt to changes in their environment, including exposure to contaminants. Despite the importance of behavioral ecotoxicological test, there are few researches to assess the quality of freshwater and its sediment, in part due to the difficulties to obtain detailed quantitative data. This study shows the potentiality of behavioral test for water quality assessment using burrowing behavior of midge species exposed to several heavy metals. Finally, we propose a method which integrates each test into one concise and useful index and can be applied to various field water.

Members of the non-biting midge family Chironomidae are the most widespread and abundant group of aquatic insects in fresh waters. Although the composition of chironomid communities is considered to be a potential biotic index for water quality assessment, it has not been used easily because of the difficulties with species level identification for larvae. This study was to analyse the molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTU) in chironomid communities to appropriately apply a species level identification. A total of 41 chironomid larvae collected from 7 sampling sites in the Han river system according to water quality were used for analyses. Partial mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) genes were sequenced and analyzed. As a result, 35 different haplotypes (MOTU01-13) were obtained from the 673bp COI sequences. Average genetic distance was 0.0041 (range 0.000 to 0.013) within the MOTU and was 0.1703 (range 0.1181 to 0.2456) between the MOTUs. Nine MOTUs were found at the stream sites represented water quality A, 2 MOTUs at water quality C, and 1 MOTU at water quality D.

연령이 증가함에 따라 피부 내부에서는 콜라겐의 합성 능력이 떨어지고 탄력섬유의 손상 및 matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) 발현이 증가한다. 본 연구의 목적은 눈가에 주름이 형성되기 전에 연령이 증가할수 록 피부 내부에서 피부 노화의 징후가 관찰된다는 것을 확인하고, 피부 내부에서 먼저 발생하는 노화의 징후가 칠엽담 지페노사이드 분획물 함유 크림(칠엽담 지페노사이드 크림)의 효능으로 인해 개선되는 것을 확인하는 데 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 육안으로 눈가에 주름이 관찰되지 않는 21 ∼ 34세의 한국 여성 52명을 대상으로 임상 시험을 수행하였다. 이들에게서 연령이 증가함에 따라 피부 외부의 노화 징후가 관찰되지는 않지만 피부 내부에서 노화의 징후가 시작되는 시점을 진피치밀도 측정을 통해 확인하였다. 그리고 육안으로 주름이 관찰되 지는 않았지만, 진피치밀도가 감소하는 연령대에서 칠엽담 지페노사이드 크림을 4주 및 8주 사용한 후에 진피치 밀도 값이 유의하게 증가함을 확인하였다. 따라서 칠엽담 지페노사이드 크림이 피부 내부에서 먼저 진행되는 노화를 효과적으로 개선하는데 도움을 주며, 이 결과를 토대로 칠엽담 지페노사이드 분획물이 향후 주름 개선 기능성 화장품 개발에 활용하기 적합하다고 판단된다.