• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.256-270
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• 2016

This purpose of this study is to present a new theoretical framework on birthrate recovery in advanced countries in the 21st century. As a result of socioeconomic development and individualism diffusion, the central axis of the family has transformed from the vertical axis of the father-son relation, to the horizontal axis of the husband-wife relation. This process is divided into 2 stages. In the industrialization stage, a nation or a society achieves equality of the individual in family formation, including marriage or divorce. In the post-industrialization stage, it accomplishes the couple equality in family maintenance, including child rearing and household labor. This paper grouped 33 OECD member countries as post- industrialization countries and 103 countries as industrialization countries. This study utilizes 6 variables affecting marriage and childbearing based on previous research. Research results find that during the industrialization stage, the birthrate falls as the education level of women is higher. In the post-industrialization stage, the birthrate rises as gender equality level is higher.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.124-132
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• 1993

We studied the clinical characteristics of 45 children with tic symptoms, and a comparison was made according to their birth order patterns. The results were as follows. Sex ration was 14:1 higher for boys. The eldest children were 46.7%, single children, 15.6%, the youngest children, 33.3%, and twins 4.4% of all Organicity was suggested in 37.8%, early developmental problems in 71.1%, and family problems were in 89.9%. Among the co-existing problems, ADHD 46.7%, OCD 17.7%, Separation anxiety disorder 24.4%, GAD or anxiety dreams 17.8%, somatization disorder and enuresis 13.3% each, stuttering 8.9%, and other conditions. Overall, 84.4% of the patients have one or more co-existing conditions other than tic symptoms. When compared according to birth order patterns, the most significant difference was the time of onset The youngests have more incidences around the entrance period for elementary school(p<0.01). Among the twins, the lower birth-weight child was the patient. Summing up these findings, we concluded there were significant environmental factors working on the manifestation of tic and tourette disorders.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.702-710
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• 2017

Recently, in many reptiles (14 genera of turtles in five families), common characteristics of incubation temperatures are known to determine the sexes of hatchlings in many species of turtles, including the map turtles, painted turtles and snapping turtles, emys turtle, etc. According to many researcher's reports, in general, incubation at $25^{\circ}C$ (cooler temperatures) produces all or mostly males, however, incubation at $31^{\circ}C$ (higher temperatures) or higher produces all or mostly females. Exceptionally, even cooler temperature ($20^{\circ}C$) produce females, they produced all or mostly females. Accordingly, it is well-known that incubation temperature is the sex determining agent in these turtles. However, this paper presents study of the sex ratio and nest ecology in natural spawning nest: Observations on hatching sex ratios of eggs collected from natural nests of T. sinensis are similar to a previous report of the same genus Trionyx in the soft-shelled turtles. However, this genus (or species) showed some different phenomena to other kinds of turtles such as various kinds turtles mentioned above. After collection of naturally spawned eggs (17 eggs of T. sisnensis) on the natural nests, a laboratory experiment by the constant incubation temperatures was conducted with natural fluctuating soil temperatures in the natural nest with the soft-shelled turtle, T. sinensis. And also laboratory experiments were conducted using constant incubation temperatures of $25^{\circ}C$ (cooler temp.) and $30^{\circ}C$ (higher temp.) with the turtle, T. sinensis. Exceptionally, it was confirmed that the first and second incubation temperatures can't control sex-determination in the freshwater soft-shelled turtle, T. sinensis. The sex ratio approximated 1:1 (${\chi}^2=0.06$, P>0.05 (the Ist experiment). And the sex ratio approximated 1:1 independently of incubation temperature (${\chi}^2=0.33$, P>0.05 (the 2nd experiment). Consequently, temperature has no effect on sex determination in the genus Trionyx in a soft-shelled turtle.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.143-150
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• 2009

Objectives : South Korea has experienced unprecedented ups and downs in the sex ratio at birth(SRB), which has been a unique phenomenon in the last two decades. However, little is known about socioeconomic factors that influence the SRB. Employing the diffusion theory by Rogers, this study was undertaken to examine the trends in social variations in the SRB from 1981 to 2004 in Korea. Methods : The data was taken from Vital Birth Statistics for the period from 1981-2004. We computed the annual male proportion of live births according to the parental education(university, middle/high school, primary) and occupation(non-manual, manual, others). Logistic regression analysis was employed to estimate the odds ratios of male birth according to social position for the equidistant three time periods(1981-1984, 1991-1994, and 2001-2004). Results : An increased SRB was detected among parents with higher social position before the mid 1980s. Since then, however, a greater SRB was found for the less educated and manual jobholders. The inverse social gradient for the SRB was most prominent in early 1990s, but the gap has narrowed since the late 1990s. The mother's socioeconomic position could be a sensitive indicator of the social variations in the sex ratio at birth. Conclusions : Changes in the relationship of parental social position with the SRB were detected during the 1980-2004 in Korea. This Korean experience may well be explained by diffusion theory, suggesting there have been socioeconomic differences in the adoption and spread of sex-detection technology.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.77-97
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• 1994

Despite the fact that the national family planning program in korea has accomplished its primary goals of fertility reduction and universal contraceptive use, the induced abortion is still high and there has been an increasing trend in the population sex ratio at birth. It seems that the changes in the imbalance of sex ratio have originated from traditonal boy preference. This indicates that much of the current family planning program can be overhauled, so that the program quality could be better controlled, by preventing the number of unwanted pregnancies and the imbalance of sex ratios. This paper aims, therefore, to examine the determinants of induced abortion through the investigation of pregnancy outcomes and their changes over time and to study the interaction between induced abortion, boy preference and the imbalance of sex ratio in Korea. The abortion rate had increased rapidly until the mid-1980s when there were about the same number of abortions as live births. Thereafter, the abortion rate has been maintained at this high level. By parity it shows a much higher abortion rate for a higher parity at all time. From the first parity, the sex composition of previous children stands out as the most important factor in deciding the pregnancy outcome at all time. The probability of a pregnancy ending in an abortion increases substantially when parents already had a son. The decline of the desired family size and the sustained strong son preference has made the sex of children a more important factor in the determination of the pregnancy outcome. Women's education has had consistently positive effects on the probability of a pregnancy ending in an abortion, but the effect shows a steady decline over time. The premarital pregnancy and urban residence also increase the abortion probability. This study suggests that the main concerns of the family planning program should be to strengthen the social support policies so as to weaken the son preference value leading to a balanced sex ratio and prevention of induced abortions.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.260-273
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• 2010

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of married Korean women regarding marriage and childbirth, and their awareness of childbirth-related issues such as low birth rates, sex preferences and sex imbalances in Korea. Methods: A total of 453 married women aged 20 or older were randomly selected from four urban districts and five rural districts out of 25 districts in Gyeongju, a consolidated city located in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, South Korea. The survey was conducted from December 2005 to February 2006. A total of 392 out of 453 questionnaires(86.5% response rate) were collected, and 44 incomplete questionnaires were excluded, leaving 348 completed questionnaires to be used for data analysis. Age was divided into three groups as below 49, 50-69, 70 or older. Results: Women's perceptions of marriage were associated with age(p<0.01). Perceptions about childbirth were also significantly related to age(p<0.01), type of residential area (p<0.01) and education level(p<0.05). Sex preferences were significantly related to age(p<0.05) and occupation(p<0.01). Of the respondents aged 49 or younger, 34.8% indicated that the ideal number of children is two, while 25.5% of respondents aged 50 to 69 and 15.3% of respondents aged 70 and 33.7% of respondents aged 70 or older considered four children to be the ideal number. Perceptions of sex imbalance were significantly related to socioeconomic status(p<0.01) and occupation(p<0.01). The largest number of respondents cited "economic burden" as the main reason for low birth rates. Multiple logistic regressions were performed for all three age groups using male sex preference as the dependent variable under the assumption that respondents can have only a single child. Socioeconomic status (p<0.01) and residential area (p<0.05) were significant variables for those aged 49 or below. Education level(p<0.05) and residential area (p<0.01) were statistically significant variables on preferring son in case of having only one child for respondents aged 50 to 69. We did not detect any significant independent variables in respondents who were 70 or older. Conclusions: Our results highlight the necessity of developing policies and public education programs to explain the consequences of low birth rates and sex imbalances in Korea. As increasing numbers of women work outside the home, it is important for the government and employers to provide social and working environments where women do not consider marriage and childbirth to be obstacles to social and business activities.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.182-227
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• 1998

Korean government decided to adopt an explicit population control policy in 1961 and from the following year the establishment and operation of the national family planning programme was included in each of the Five-Year Economic Development Plans that began in 1962. This policy was pursued in the understanding that without proper population control measures korea could not be able to achieve economic development. Korean national family planning programme is characterized by contraceptive target system through public health network with distribution of free contraceptives by family planning field workers and clinical contraceptive services such as IUD, vasectomy and tubaligation at designated clinics by the government. In addition, IE&C activities by the Planned Parenthood Federation of Korea and programme evaluation and research by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs contributed to the development of the government programme. Between 1960 and mid 1980s the nation's total fertility rate was reduced from 6.0 to population replacement level of 2.1 and thereafter it has been maintained at 1.6 to 1.7 of below replacement level. With a short period of less than three decades fertility transition was completed in Korea. It is estimated that if the current level of below replacement fertility continues, the population in Korea stabilize at around 52.78 million people by the year 2028, and it will begin to decrease thereafter. Under this circumstances, the government adopted new directions and strategies of the population policy in June 1996, focused primarily on population quality and social welfare than on demographic arenas. In spite of over 80 percent of high contraceptive prevalence among married women, high incidence of induced abortions is maintained. Moreover, the prevalence of sex selective induced abortions using procedures to determine the sex of the fetus has resulted in an imbalance in the sex ratio at birth. In order to overcome those problems associated with reproductive health new policy for population quality control and health promotion programme should be highly strengthened in the future.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.10
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• pp.1204-1212
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• 2002

Purpose : Early surfactant therapy with either gentle ventilation, high-frequency ventilation or aggressive weaning of mechanical ventilation are principles for the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome(RDS). We studied to determine the accessibility of noninvasive nasal continuous positive airway pressure(CPAP) rather than mechanical ventilation by invasive intubation after early surfactant therapy. Methods : The study group consisted of 14 infants who were born and diagnosed with moderate respiratory distress syndrome and received early surfactant therapy with nasal CPAP of PEEP 5-6 cm $H_2O$ within two hours after birth in the Fatima neonatal intensive care unit for two years from January 1999 to August 2001. The control group consisted of 15 infants who were diagnosed with the disease and could be weaned from mechanical ventilator within five days after birth during the same period. Results : The characteristics, the severity of clinical symptoms and laboratory findings in the two groups at birth showed no significant difference. Neither did the interim analysis of laboratory data in two groups. Of 14 infants in the study group who received nasal CPAP after early surfactant therapy, only two infants showed weaning failure with this therapy. In the response cases, duration of CPAP was five days and mean airway pressure was $5.4{\pm}0.5cm$ $H_2O$. Two had the complication of CPAP with abdominal distension. Final complications and outcomes in the two groups showed no signifcant difference(P>0.05). Conclusion : The clinical courses in the two groups showed no significant difference. Therefore, we suggest that early surfactant therapy with noninvasive nasal CPAP is a simple and safe method rather than aggressive weaning after invasive mechanical ventilation in moderate respiratory distress syndrome.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.103-114
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• 2001

Tourette's disorder is a disease which manifests one or more motor tics and vocal tics for more than a year. Chronic motor tic or vocal tic disorders are characterized by only one kind of tics for more than a year. We intended to investigate the clinical characteristics of the patients with chronic motor tic disorders or Tourette's disorders who had admitted from May 1, 1998 to May 1, 1999 to Seoul National University Hospital Child and Adolescent Psychiatry ward. In addition, we compared the clinical characteristics of the patients in order to elucidate the relationship between the two disorders. The patients with learning disabilities were selected as controls. There was no statistically significant difference between the onsets of the patients with chronic motor tic disorders(n=13, $7.3{\pm}2.5$ years), and Tourette's disorder(n=39, $7.2{\pm}2.2$ years), but with learning disability($4.2{\pm}1.9$ years). Also, the patients with chronic motor tic disorder and Tourette's disorder showed similar age at admission($11.7{\pm}2.7$ versus $11.5{\pm}2.6$ years), duration of admission($5.7{\pm}5.4$ versus $11.0{\pm}8.7$ weeks), mothers' ages at child birth($27.3{\pm}2.9$ versus $28.3{\pm}6.7$ years old),and fathers' age at child birth($32.2{\pm}3.2$ versus $33.3{\pm}5.2$ years old). We observed that those who had learning disabilities were alike in those aspects, except for age at visit to clinic($9.8{\pm}3.2$ years old). Family history of psychiatric illnesses(24.1% versus 46.2%), recognized precipitating factors(11.1% versus 35.7%) and response to pharmacological treatments(77.8% versus 76.9%) of the patients with chronic motor tic disorders and Tourette's disorders were observed and no differences were found. Comorbid patterns of diseases were noted. Intrafamilial conflicts were more common in the patients with learning disabilities than those with chronic tic disorders or Tourette's disorders. Precipitating factors were observed more frequent in chronic tic disorder and Tourette's disorder than learning disability. Neurocognitive profiles were investigated, and verbal IQs of the patients with chronic motor tic disorder, Tourette's disorder and learning disability were $92.3{\pm}10.7$, $94.7{\pm}14.9$, $94.3{\pm}13.8$, performance IQs $93.0{\pm}20.5$, $97.5{\pm}13.0$, $95.0{\pm}16.9$ and full-scale IQs $91.9{\pm}20.1$, $95.8{\pm}14.5$, $93.9{\pm}15.1$, respectively, which were found to be not significantly different. No difference was found in structural neurological abnormalities and EEG profiles. The patients with learning disabilities showed more common Bender-Gestalt test abnormalities. In conclusion, we have not found any affirmative clues for the division of chronic motor tic disorder and Tourette's disorder in clinical perspective.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.63-68
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• 2000

Purpose: MCDK is regarded as a common cause of abdominal masses in children. And the presentation of the MCDK is usually a unilateral flank mass in the a newborn. Bialteral disease results in either fetal demise or necessity fer renal replacement therapy at birth. This study is designed to assess the clinical features and natural history of the unilateral multicystic dysplastic kidney. Patients and Methods: From January 1987 to January 2000 data were obtained retrospectively on 57 patients (28 boys and 29 girls, age ranged 1day-11years) who had a diagnosis of multicystic dysplastic kidney. The diagnosis of multicystic dysplastic kidney was confirmed by a combination of ultrasonography and radionuclide scan. Voiding cystourethrogram study in 31 patients were done to determine the condition of the contalateral kidney. Restllts: $84\%$ of the patients were diagnosed before birth by antenatal ultrasonography Clinical manifestations of children with postnatal diagnoses were palpable abdominal mass($3.5\%$), abdominal distension($17\%$), and incidental($10.5\%$). The abnormalities in contralateral kidney were hydronephrosis($21\%$), compensatory hypertrophy($12\%$), simple cyst($2\%$), bifid pelvis($2\%$). Surgical management was performed in 20 patients($35\%$) due to recurrent infection, for diagnostic purpose to differentiate from malignancy and abdominal distention. Follow-up in the remaining 37 patients continued (mean 18 months) and results of sonogram findings were involution change in 23 patients($40\%$) and no interval changes in 13 patient($23\%$). Conclusions : The apparent tendency to regression of the dysplastic kidney and no difference in the number of complications justify a conservative management rather than operative intervention except in associated severe complications such as urinary tract infection or rupture of cysts.