• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.7-16
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• 2012

The Korean GDP per capita doubled during the last 10 years. As the GDP increases, Korean health behaviors such as, eating, drinking, smoking, and exercise habits changed as well. Compared to the remarkably advanced diagnostic technologies and therapeutics during the last decade, the leading causes of death in Korea scarcely changed. Among the leading causes of death, cerebrovascular disease, heart disease, diabetes, liver disease and hypertension are closely related to health behaviors. Using the database of medical check-up between 2001 and 2010, the authors performed a longitudinal study for the prevalence rates and the trends of major chronic adult diseases among the 2,721 workers along with their health behavior. Among the diagnostic test items, fasting blood sugar, cholesterol and BMI levels showed steady increase and these three test items all showed linear trends (p<0.001). The average blood sugar and cholesterol levels were near worrying levels. Moreover, the average BMI of males was found to be at the overweight level, intimating the possibility reaching thee Obese Class I level soon if there are no aggressive counter measures. Fasting blood sugar and cholesterol levels were higher in a drinking group as compared to a non-drinking group, and the BMI levels were also higher in the drinking group and the smoking group as compared to the non-drinking and the non-smoking group (p<0.001). Finally, the authors believe that the fasting blood sugar, cholesterol and BMI levels should be designated as target monitoring test items in the medical check-up for Korean employees.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.97-114
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• 1998

This study's purpose is to clarify the growth pattern of Down Syndrome cases -particulary centering on the adolescent growth pattern - and to draw up a standard growth chart on body height and weight which is one estimation of physical growth for the effective caring of their health. I sampled 269 Down syndrome cases (Male 151, Female 118) whose ages ranged from 6 years of age to adulthood and 348 normal control cases (Male 175, Female 173) who were in same age group with Down Syndrome. We also picked 124 Down syndromes cases(Male 70, Female 54) and gathered 8 year longitudinal data on their body height and weight. The results were that, I found Down syndrome cases' height to be short and their weight to be overweight. As far as age at peak height velocity was concerned, boys were at 11-12 years of age and girls were at 10-11 years of age, showing that girls were about one year faster. Peak height velocity was 6.8cm/yr for boys and 5.4cm/yr for girls. The age at peak weight velocity were 12-13 years for age for boys and 10-11 years of age for girls. Peak weight velocity was 5.7kg/yr for boys and 4.3kg/yr for girls. The menarche age of girls with Down syndrome was anticipated to come about 2 years after peak height velocity and peak weight velocity. Finally, we drew up a standard growth chart and compared it with that of the NCHS, which caused us to come to the conclusion that the Standard Growth Chart for Down syndrome cases in Korea that came out of this study was appropriate for the growth-assesment of Down syndrome.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.415-434
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• 2011

Leisure is an important role on happiness and health in midlife. Nevertheless, there has been little research using a longitudinal method in Korea to identify the influence of leisure on happiness and health. Current study examined the effect of leisure satisfaction and time for leisure activities on happiness(SHS) and health-related variables(psychological symptoms, physical symptoms, and quality of sleep) in middle aged adults(40-65 years) by longitudinal data. Two surveys were conducted with 10 months' interval and total 145 respondents(M=49.45) participated in both surveys. Hierarchical regression analysis was employed to investigate that both leisure satisfaction and time for leisure activities in the first time have an effect on happiness and health-related variables in the second time after controlling for each happiness and health variables in the first time as well as demographic variables. We found that leisure satisfaction influenced beneficially on happiness(SHS), psychological symptoms, and quality of sleep after 10-month. Similarly, time for leisure activities had effect on happiness(SHS), psychological symptoms, and physical symptoms after 10-month. The implication for study were discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1878-1890
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• 2008

The main objective of this study was to examine how Chinese consumers' perceptions toward Korean apparel products have changed over the years. Specifically, motives for purchasing Korean apparel products, information sources, purchase criteria and evaluation on Korean apparel products were investigated. Data were collected in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2007 from young female Chinese in Beijing, China during the months of June and July. A total of 603 questionnaires were collected and 578 were used in the final analysis. The results of two-way analysis of variance by year and purchase experience indicated that in overall, purchase motives and importance of various information sources changed greatly over the years, while evaluation on Korean apparel products have remained relatively stable. In comparison to the longitudinal changes in Chinese perception toward Korean apparel products, Chinese consumers' perception toward Korean apparel products did not differ significantly in most of variables according to purchase experience.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.75-81
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• 2007

The concrete pavement of the Seohae Highway in Korea has suffered from serious distress, only four to seven years after construction. Deterioration due to Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR) has seldom been reported per se in Korea, because the aggregate used for the cement concrete has been considered safe against alkali-silica reaction so far. The purpose of this study is to examine the deterioration caused by an alkali-silica reaction of concrete pavement in Korea. The investigation methods included visual inspection and Automatic Road Analyzer (ARAN) analysis of surface cracks, coring for internal cracks, stereo microscopic analysis, scanning electronic microscope (SEM) analysis, and electron dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX) analysis. The results are presented as follows: the crack pattern of the concrete pavement in Korea was longitudinal cracking, map cracking or D-cracking. Local areas of damage were noticed four to five years after construction. The cracks started from edges or joints and spread out to slabs. The most intensive cracking was observed at the intersection of the transverse and longitudinal joints. Where cracking was the most intense, pieces of concrete and aggregate had spalled away from top surface and joint interface area. The progress of deterioration was very fast. The reaction product of alkali-silica gel was clearly identified by its generally colorless, white, or very pale yellow hue seen through a stereo optical microscopy. The typical locations of the reaction product were at the interface between aggregate and cement paste in a shape of a rim, within aggregate particles in the cracks, and in the large void in the cement paste. Most of the white products were found at interface or internal aggregates. SEM and EDX analysis confirmed that the white gel was a typical reaction product of ASR. The ASR gel in Korea mainly consisted of Silicate (Si) and Potassium (K) from the cement. The crack in the concrete pavement was caused by ASR. It seems that Korea is no longer safe from alkali-silica reaction.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.89-95
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• 2015

Purpose: House dust mite (HDM) has been suggested to be the most important aeroallergen responsible for atopic asthma in Korea. We aimed to investigate that specific IgE antibodies to HDM and other common indoor aeroallergens contribute differently to total serum IgE and show different relationships with longitudinal fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measurements in Korean atopic asthmatic patients. Methods: A total of 193 children aged 8 to 16 years with intermittent or mild persistent atopic asthma were recruited. Sera were assayed for total IgE and specific IgE antibodies to HDM and other common indoor allergens. FeNO was serially measured 10 times or more over 2 years when subjects were not receiving controller medications. Results: In 152 children who completed the study, IgE antibodies to specific HDM were more prevalent than those to other common indoor aeroallergens. In addition, IgE antibody titers to HDM were the strongest contributor to total IgE increases. Furthermore, only HDM-specific IgE antibody titer significantly correlated with maximum FeNO (r=0.21, P=0.029) and the rate of FeNO higher than 21 parts per billion (ppb) (r=0.30, P=0.002). Eight patients (5%) were found to have maximum FeNO of 21 ppb or less, suggesting the presence of a low FeNO phenotype among atopic asthmatic patients. Conclusion: The quantity of HDM-specific IgE antibody provides a possible explanation for increases of total IgE and significantly correlates with the amount and frequency of FeNO increases in Korean atopic asthmatic patients.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.335-341
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• 2010

Objective : Anterior cervical corpectomy with fusion (ACF) or laminoplasty may be associated with substantial number of complications for treating multilevel cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) with significant cord compression. For more safe decompression and stabilization in multilevel cervical OPLL with prominent cord compression, we propose circumferential cervical surgery (selective ACF and laminoplasty) based on our favorable experience. Methods : Twelve patients with cervical myelopathy underwent circumferential cervical surgery and all patients showed multilevel OPLL with Signal change of the spinal cord on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A retrospective review of clinical, radiological. and surgical data was conducted. Results : There were 9 men and 3 women with mean age of 56.7 years and a mean follow up period of 15.6 months. The average corpectomy level was 1.16 and laminoplasty level was 4.58. The average Japanese Orthopedic Association score for recovery was 5.1 points and good clinical results were obtained in 11 patients (92%) (p < 0.05). The average space available for the cord improved from 58.2% to 87.9% and the average Cobb's angle changed from 7.63 to 12.27 at 6 months after operation without failure of fusion (p < 0.05). Average operation time was 8.36 hours, with an estimated blood loss of 760 mL and duration of bed rest of 2.0 days. There were no incidences of significant surgical complications, including wound infection. Conclusion : Although the current study examined a small sample with relatively short-term follow-up periods, our study results demonstrate that circumferential cervical surgery is considered favorable for safety and effectiveness in multilevel OPLL with prominent cord compression.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.109-116
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• 2016

Purpose - This study investigates the purchase pattern relating to soybean products in Korea. Specifically, the effect of branding based on a regional name was analyzed in terms of consumer purchase frequencies. The primary purpose of this study is to understand why family characteristics affect product selection for a regional brand in the soybean food category. Research design, data, and methodology - We used data collected by the Rural Development Administration (RDA) of Korea. The RDA has monitored agricultural food consumers for years in order to obtain purchase records. Panel participants live in regions near the capital city of Seoul, Korea. Examining data from January 2010 to May 2016, 667 families were selected for analysis. The final data set was 1,335,402. Each purchase item by each individual family was aggregated to a countable weekly observation. To analyze the data set quantitatively, zero-inflation regression was adopted, which was appropriate to avoid biases from overly dispersed observations. Results - We hypothesized the effects of regional branding from the viewpoint of the family characteristics. The first hypothesis was that the number of children would be positively associated with the purchase of a regional brand of soybean products. The result strongly supported this hypothesis. The second hypothesis was that the number of family members would be negatively associated with the purchase of the soybean products of a regional brand. Based on empirical analysis, we concluded that this hypothesis was partially supported. The third hypothesis was the presence of an interaction effect between the number of children and the family size, which was supported by the results. As a supplementary analysis, we also tested mean-variance differences in terms of categories and regional branding with corporate branding. Conclusion - The results of this study provide insights for regional branding strategies in agricultural food management. This study appears to be one of the seminal studies trying to analyze purchase patterns from longitudinal observations. In addition, this study adopted variables characterizing family lifestyle. This study confirmed that children and family size should be considered when soybean product brands are introduced.

• 한국노년학
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.397-420
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• 2021

The paper tried to determine relationships between volunteering and hypertension risks, symptom betterment, activity difficulty occurrences, and medicine treatment among middle-aged and older adults, with a prospective cohort study. Multilevel mixed-effects generalized linear models were used for the analysis of longitudinal panel data collected over 10 years from 2008 to 2018, using 5,867 cohort samples. The results showed that those who volunteered at least 200 hours per year were 3.4 times more lower than not-volunteering in risks of hypertension, those who volunteered yearly 50~99 hours were a lot more improved than not-volunteering in the symptom betterment, those who volunteered yearly at least 200 hours were 7.7 times lower than not-volunteering in activity difficulty occurrences, and those who volunteered yearly 50~99 hours were 2.5 times lower than not-volunteering in the occurrences of medicine treatment. These indicate that volunteering among middle-aged and older adults may have health benefits against incident hypertension. Finally the thesis discusses the study limitations, future directions of studies, and the practices implications.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2021

Objectives: After heart disease, brain stroke (BS) is the second most common cause of death worldwide, underscoring the importance of understanding preventable and treatable risk factors for the outcomes of BS. This study aimed to model the survival of patients with BS in the presence of competing risks. Methods: This longitudinal study was conducted on 332 patients with a definitive diagnosis of BS. Demographic characteristics and risk factors were collected by a validated checklist. Patients' mortality status was investigated by telephone follow-up to identify deaths that may be have been caused by stroke or other factors (heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc.). Data were analyzed by the Lunn-McNeil approach at alpha=0.1. Results: Older age at diagnosis (59-68 years: adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.19; 90% confidence interval [CI], 1.38 to 3.48; 69-75 years: aHR, 5.04; 90% CI, 3.25 to 7.80; ≥76 years: aHR, 5.30; 90% CI, 3.40 to 8.44), having heart disease (aHR, 1.65; 90% CI, 1.23 to 2.23), oral contraceptive pill use (women only) (aHR, 0.44; 90% CI, 0.24 to 0.78) and ischemic stroke (aHR, 0.52; 90% CI, 0.36 to 0.74) were directly related to death from BS. Older age at diagnosis (59-68 years: aHR, 21.42; 90% CI, 3.52 to 130.39; 75-69 years: aHR, 16.48; 90% CI, 2.75 to 98.69; ≥76 years: aHR, 26.03; 90% CI, 4.06 to 166.93) and rural residence (aHR, 2.30; 90% CI, 1.15 to 4.60) were directly related to death from other causes. Significant risk factors were found for both causes of death. Conclusions: BS-specific and non-BS-specific mortality had different risk factors. These findings could be utilized to prescribe optimal and specific treatment.