• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.56 no.10
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• pp.439-445
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• 2013

Purpose: Previous studies suggest that the concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in cord blood may show an inverse association with respiratory tract infections (RTI) during childhood. The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of 25(OH)D concentrations in cord blood on infant RTI in a Korean birth cohort. Methods: The levels of 25(OH)D in cord blood obtained from 525 Korean newborns in the prospective COhort for Childhood Origin of Asthma and allergic diseases were examined. The primary outcome variable of interest was the prevalence of RTI at 6-month follow-up, as diagnosed by pediatricians and pediatric allergy and pulmonology specialists. RTI included acute nasopharyngitis, rhinosinusitis, otitis media, croup, tracheobronchitis, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia. Results: The median concentration of 25(OH)D in cord blood was 32.0 nmol/L (interquartile range, 21.4 to 53.2). One hundred and eighty neonates (34.3%) showed 25(OH)D concentrations less than 25.0 nmol/L, 292 (55.6%) showed 25(OH)D concentrations of 25.0-74.9 nmol/L, and 53 (10.1%) showed concentrations of ${\geq}75.0$ nmol/L. Adjusting for the season of birth, multivitamin intake during pregnancy, and exposure to passive smoking during pregnancy, 25(OH)D concentrations showed an inverse association with the risk of acquiring acute nasopharyngitis by 6 months of age (P for trend=0.0004). Conclusion: The results show that 89.9% of healthy newborns in Korea are born with vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency (55.6% and 34.3%, respectively). Cord blood vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency in healthy neonates is associated with an increased risk of acute nasopharyngitis by 6 months of age. More time spent outdoors and more intensified vitamin D supplementation for pregnant women may be needed to prevent the onset of acute nasopharyngitis in infants.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.135-151
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• 2017

Waterbirds were surveyed once a week from Oct. 2015 to Apr. 2016 to study the conditions of temperature of staying waterbirds on Wonju-Stream. The population staying on Wonju-Stream was in inverse proportion to the temperature change; birds increased as the temperature went down, and showed the highest peak counts on the 16th(27-Jan) survey, which was the lowest in temperature. decreasing as the temperature rose. The total population of Wonju River water birds increased with increasing freezing rate in proportion to the freezing rate of nearby reservoirs and tributaries. To clarify the relation of the numbers of the birds to temperature fluctuation, the correlation of the first period of wintering (1st~16th) and that of the later period(17th~27th) as well as the whole period was surveyed, based on the 16th which was the lowest in temperature. While most wintering waterbirds showed a negative correlation to the temperature, Egretta garzetta, Phalacrocorax carbo, and Ardea cinerea were positive in temperature relativity. Anas poecilorhyncha was in the highest relation to temperature fluctuation showing (7D/H3A(r=-0.960, P<0.000000001)) at 1-16 correlation(Cor.), with the whole wintering waterbird species showing the maximum correlation at 4D/LA in the every correlation(1~27Cor.(r=-0.942, P<0.01), 1~16Cor.(r=-0.947, P<0.01), 16~27Cor.(r=-0.958, P<0.01)). Each waterbird showed the correlation to the temperature variation(AT, HT, LT) and th duration(1D~7D) depending on the species differently. Most species demonstrated a bigger correlation to the lowest temperature rather than to the highest temperature. During the first half period of the wintering with the temperature falling it showed a high correlation to the temperature at the duration of 4D~7D, While it was for D1~D3 during the next half period.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.24 no.1 s.33
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• pp.8-15
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• 1991

This study was carried out in order to examine the urinary excretion of electrolytes (Na, K) and their relationship with blood pressure, and to estimate the amount of daily salt intake in a rural community. From January to March in 1987, a mobile screeing team visited 40 villages, and carried out health screening of 537 adult volunteers whose age were over 30 years and collected 12-hours overnight urine. To determine the completeness of collection, the urinary creatinine was measured. If the creatinine excretion was beyond the range given to the age group, the sample was excluded from the analysis as an incomplete collection : 345 samples were remained for analysis. This study revealed the following results. 1. The mean excretion amounts of urinary electrolytes for 12 hours were Na 193.5 mEq, K 20.8 mEq, creatinine 1.0 g. The mean ratio of electrolytes were Na/K 9.84, Na/creatinine 0.44, K/creatinine 0.046. 2. Both the mean excretion amount of K and the mean ratio of K/creatinine were less in hypertensives than in normotensives. K excretion also showed a tendency towards a decrease in inverse proportion to systolic blood pressure when it exceeded 120 mmHg. There was no significant difference between the hypertensives and normotensives in Na excretion. The sodium to potassium ratio increased in poportion to systolic blood pressure. 3. The mean daily salt excretion amount was 22.4 g. Assuming that 90% of the intake was excreted, the estimated amount of daily salt intake was 24.9 g.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.269-275
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• 2008

Although MR imaging is generally applicable to depict knee joint deterioration it, is sometimes occurred to mis-read and mis-diagnose the common knee joint diseases. In this study, we employed magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) method to improve the diagnosis of the various knee joint diseases. Spin-echo (SE) T2-weighted images (TR/TE 3,400-3,500/90-100 ms) were obtained in seven cases of knee joint deterioration, FSE T2-weighted images (TR/TE 4,500-5,000/100-108 ms) were obtained in seven cases of knee joint deterioration, gradient-echo (GRE) T2-weighted images (TR/TE 9/4.56/$50^{\circ}$ flip angle, NEX 1) were obtained in 3 cases of knee joint deterioration, In six cases of knee joint deterioration, fat suppression was performed using a T2-weighted short T1/tau inverse recovery (STIR) sequence (TR/TE =2,894-3,215 ms/70 ms, NEX 3, ETL 9). Calculation of MTR for individual pixels was performed on registration of unsaturated and saturated images. After processing to make MTR images, the images were displayed in gray color. For improving diagnosis, three-dimensional isotropic volume images, the MR tristimulus color mapping and the MTR map was employed. MTR images showed diagnostic images quality to assess the patients' pathologies. The intensity difference between MTR images and conventional MRI was seen on the color bar. The profile graph on MTR imaging effect showed a quantitative measure of the relative decrease in signal intensity due to the MT pulse. To diagnose the pathologies of the knee joint, the profile graph data was shown on the image as a small cross. The present study indicated that MTR images in the knee joint were feasible. Investigation of physical change on MTR imaging enables to provide us more insight in the physical and technical basis of MTR imaging. MTR images could be useful for rapid assessment of diseases that we examine unambiguous contrast in MT images of knee disorder patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.343-352
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• 2001

Background : Advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is characterized by progressive pulmonary hypertension leading to right heart dysfunction, which plays a Important role in clinical evaluation but remains difficult and challenging to quantify. The noninvasive doppler echocardiographic value referred to as the Tei index has been suggested as a simple, reproducible and reliable parameter of the right ventricular function. The purpose of this was to assess the right ventricular function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using the Tei index and to evaluate its relationship with the pulmonary functional status. Methods : The study population comprised of 26 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 10 normal control subjects. The Tei index was obtained by dividing the sum of the isovolumetric contraction and the relaxation times by the ejection time using a pulsed-wave doppler. It was compared with the other available Doppler echocardiographic parameters of systolic or diastolic function and with the pulmonary function of the patients. Results : The Tei indices of the patients with COPD were significantly higher than those of normal subjects($0.45{\pm}0.17$ vs. $0.27{\pm}0.03$, p<0.01). The isovolumetric contraction time/ejection time($0.32{\pm}0.08$ vs. $0.25{\pm}0.05$, p<0.05), the isovolumetric relaxation time/ejection time($0.29{\pm}0.16$ vs. $0.15{\pm}0.08$, p<0.05)and the preejection period/ejection time ($0.46{\pm}0.10$ vs. $0.38{\pm}0.06$, p<0.05) were prolonged and the ejection time ($255.2{\pm}32.6$ vs. $314.2{\pm}16.5$ msec, p<0.05) was significantly shortened in patients with COPD compared to normal subjects. The tei indices were inversely correlated with the $FEV_1$ (r=-0.46, p<0.05) and were prolonged significantly in patients with a severe obstructive ventilatory dysfunction(less than 35% of predicted $FEV_1$) compared to those with a mild and moderate ventilatory dysfunction. The tei indices showed an inverse correlation to with the ejection time (r=-0.469), the isovolumetric contraction time/ejection time(r=0.453), the isovolumetric relaxation time/ejection time(r=0.896) and the preejection period/ejection time(r=0.480). Conclusion : The tei index appeared to be a useful noninvasive means of evaluating the right ventricular function. It revealed a significant correlation with the pulmonary function in patients with COPD.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.89-96
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• 1999

Some of the information concerning sexual function in the male diabetes has been focused upon the problems of endocrine or semen parameters. However, the characteristics of acrosome reaction and spermatozoa concentration at the epididymis and vas deferens have scarcely been studied, and the causes of the infertility has not been critically identified. So, we designed to inspect the spermatozoa concentration and the characteristics of acrosome reaction at epididymis and vas deferens of diabetic Wistar rat induced by streptozotocin (STZ, 70 mg/kg, ip). Experimental animal was sacrificed at 3 days and 14 days after the STZ injection. In the diabetes-induced rat, the levels of insulin and glucose had a pattern of inverse proportion. The spermatozoa concentrations in caput and corpus epididymis were significantly decreased in all diabetic condition. In cauda epididymis, however, there was significant decrease in sperm concentration at 14 days onward. In diabetic rat, the spontaneous reaction rate of spermatozoa of cauda and vas deferens were significantly higher than the control group. The ARIC (acrosome reaction to ionophore challenge) value of caudal sperm was 28.7 at control, 22.1 at 3 days, and 8.3 at 14 days. In the present study the spermatozoa concentration was decreased and the spontaneous reaction rate was increased by diabetes. In ARIC-test, it is revealed that the fertility of spermatozoa of 14 days group was lower than control or 3 days group. Diabetes mellitus may be provoke the decreased fertilization rate and subsequent infertility and subsequent infertility.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8371-8376
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• 2014

Background: The use of statistical methods has become an imperative tool in breast cancer survival data analysis. The purpose of this study was to develop the best statistical probability model using the Bayesian method to predict future survival times for the black non-Hispanic female breast cancer patients diagnosed during 1973-2009 in the U.S. Materials and Methods: We used a stratified random sample of black non-Hispanic female breast cancer patient data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional regression methods. Four advanced types of statistical models, Exponentiated Exponential (EE), Beta Generalized Exponential (BGE), Exponentiated Weibull (EW), and Beta Inverse Weibull (BIW) were utilized for data analysis. The statistical model building criteria, Akaike Information Criteria (AIC), Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC), and Deviance Information Criteria (DIC) were used to measure the goodness of fit tests. Furthermore, we used the Bayesian approach to obtain the predictive survival inferences from the best-fit data based on the exponentiated Weibull model. Results: We identified the highest number of black non-Hispanic female breast cancer patients in Michigan and the lowest in Hawaii. The mean (SD), of age at diagnosis (years) was 58.3 (14.43). The mean (SD), of survival time (months) for black non-Hispanic females was 66.8 (30.20). Non-Hispanic blacks had a significantly increased risk of death compared to Black Hispanics (Hazard ratio: 1.96, 95%CI: 1.51-2.54). Compared to other statistical probability models, we found that the exponentiated Weibull model better fits for the survival times. By making use of the Bayesian method predictive inferences for future survival times were obtained. Conclusions: These findings will be of great significance in determining appropriate treatment plans and health-care cost allocation. Furthermore, the same approach should contribute to build future predictive models for any health related diseases.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.219-226
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• 2010

Current earthquake alert notification for immediate post-earthquake procedures for the critical facilities is exclusively dependent on the ground-motion intensity measures observed at the seismic station located within the site. This practice is prune to false notification due to a noise and problems of missing and poor quality records of the seismic station. The credibility of the earthquake alert notification can be enhanced by utilizing the multiple transformed records of the nearby seismic stations at other sites interconnected to the same earthquake monitoring system by a network. The time-domain transformation of the site-response between the seismic stations is implemented by convoluting the nearby records with a pair of forward and inverse FIR filters designed for the site response relative to a seismic basement. The transformed records from the nearby seismic stations can be used to estimate the ground-motion intensity measures missing at the site or to evaluate the data quality along with other various possible applications in the area of geoscience and earthquake engineering.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.1-30
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• 2003

The recent experience about self-employment shows three main trends: first, its share out of the total workers has steadily increased, recording 37.6% in 2001, implying its prevalence and importance; second, its share out of male workers has caught up female workers', implying its importance to males as well as females; and finally, during the recent Economic Crisis when there was mass layoff and large scale bankruptcy, its share rapidly increased, reflecting its role of a buffer to economic fluctuation. However, there have been few studies on self-employment, mainly focusing on what makes someone choose it as an alternative to being employed. This study analyzes the determinants of the duration to terminate self-employment, by applying the proportional hazard model to the Korea Labor and Income Panel Survey(KLIPS) by the Korea Labor Institute. The KLIPS started the first wave in 1998 with the 5,000 household sample (and about 12,000 individual sample of household members aged 15 and more). In this study, the first four waves are used for analysis. The average duration of 5,357 spells of self-employment is 130 months. It shows slight difference between males(124 months) and females(138 months) while it widely ranges over industries (296 months for agriculture industry while 50 months for restaurant and hotel industry). Estimates of the proportional hazard model of the self-employment duration show that females are more likely to terminate self-employment while it is not statistically significant. The effect of age at starting self-employment on the hazard shows the inverse V-shape, which implies that, until a certain age(47 years), the hazard become higher as aging while, since then, it become lower as aging. The level of education has a positive effect on the hazard, implying that more education is related to the higher probability to be employed. The measures of economic performances, annual sales and earnings, are positively related to continuing self-employment while hardship at the start of self-employment measured by several ways has a negative effect. Training before opening business has a positive effect on keeping on self-employment and its effects are different over its providers, significantly positive for public providers while insignificant for private providers. More and further research on self-employment is urgent in the rapidly ageing society. To help workers to be self-employed, more public assistance is necessary for education, training, financing, marketing, management, and human resource management in order to make the olders consider self-employment as a good alternative rather than an inevitable one.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.176-209
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• 1994

1. The Jung-Sa(正邪) of the Excessive Liver-Symptoms belongs to the eleven symptoms, there are blue face, blue thin fingernail, anger, fancy of larg body, dizziness, eye flame, Bell's palsy, hard swelling pain at braest, side pain going on the belly from the side, side pain and movement at the left side. 2. The Mi-Sa(微邪) of the Excessive Liver-Symptoms belongs to the four symptoms, there are meat in eye, edema in cheek, lack of appetite and diarrhea. 3. The Juk-Sa(賊邪) of the Excessive Liver-Symptoms belongs to the only one symptom, this is nosebleeding. 4. The Hu-Sa(虛邪) of the Excessive Liver-Symptoms belongs to the three symptoms, there are scrotum constraction, strain in belly and constipation. 5. The Sil-Sa(實邪) of the Excessive Liver-Symptoms belongs to the twenty eight symptoms, there are red eye, raised eyes(兩眼上?), spitting blood, sternocostal turgid pain, turgidity in belly, drooping testis, vomiting water acid, sickening, belching, confusion, impatience, frequent forgetfulness, headache, giddness, eye pain, deaf, ringing in the ear, feeling inverse, drying mouth, stuffiness sensation in the chest, chest pain, stuffiness sensation in the belly, bellyache, quadriplegia, spasm of extremities, tremor, alternate spells of fever and chills, high fever and strain in muscle. 6. Those symptoms, Red corner of the eye, red face, swelling on the forehead, stiff-neck and back strong, opisthotonos, constracture of the limbs, vomiting yellow bitter water, speech impediment, epilepsy, depression, strong tongue, different thing in throat, fullness and distention of the gastric region, feeling sick and tenesmus, have no connected with the Excessive Liver-Symptoms(肝實證) 7. The Excessive Liver-Symptoms(肝實證) is connected with the ganjabyoung(肝自病) and Hwa(火) which the pathology is, than because Mock(木) is excessive and Mock-Saeng-Hwa(木生火), the ganjabyoung(肝自病) and Sil-Sa(實邪) are many. 8. There are the sixteen symptoms with the exception of The Excessive Liver-Symptoms(肝實證), because supposed that the scholars in medicine included the union syndroms(合病), the combine syndroms(兼病) and the analysis of symptoms(辨證) in The Analysis of Five Visceral Symptoms. 9. During consideration of the symptoms at the above statements, where are many causes by Gan-Pung(肝風), there is difficult of distinction between the excessive Liver-Symptoms(肝實證) and C.V.A(Cerebral Vascular Attack). Because than NaeKyung(內經) distinguished between the excessive Liver-Symptoms(肝實證) and C.V.A., the future medical specialists connected with the excessive Liver-Symptoms(肝實證) and C.V.A.. 10. An appearance of Sang-Hwa(相火) that the liver possessed is divided into an appearance of Hwa(火), there will be making a study att the more necessary. 11. The cuases of each syndroms are consist of the origins of syndroms, its pathology and the positions where the syndroms appeared, I consider that is the various ways how judge the syndroms except the Five Pathogenic Factors(五邪). 12. If more than study will be achieved in all, the new definition will be standed about the Excessive and Deficient Five Visceral Syndroms(五臟虛實證), I consider this will be the foundation data that study the Oriental Medicine and the important data that is a judgement standard of clininc.