• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.235-242
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of soluble potassium silicate by soil drenching application on watermelon growth, yield, and nutrient uptake. The potassium silicate rates were control (No potassium silicate), 1.63mM, 3.25mM, 6.50mM. The potassium silicate were treated 6 times (twice before fruit forming and 4 times after fruit forming per 7 day. Soil chemical properties, such as soil pH, EC, available phosphorus and silicate, exchangeable K, nitrate-N levels were increased after potassium silicate treatment, while the concentrations of soil organic matter, exchangeable Ca and Mg were similar to control. The growth characteristics of watermelon, such as stem diameter, fresh and dry weight of watermelon at harvest were thicker and heavier for increased potassium silicate treatment than the control, while number of node, and plant length were same for all treatments. With increased potassium silicate treatment, nutrient concentrations, such as P and K in the watermelon leaf at harvest were increased, N concentration in the leaf was decreased, and Ca and Mg concentrations in the leaf were same. Chlorophyll content was increased with increased potassium silicate application. The occurrence of powdery mildew was lower for the potassium silicate treatments than the control. Fresh watermelon weight for the potassium silicate treatments was 0.1 to 0.5kg per watermelon heavier than the control, sugar content was 0.5 to $0.6^{\circ}Brix$ higher than control, and merchantable watermelon was 2 to 4% increased compared to the control. These results suggest that potassium silicate application by soil drenching method in the greenhouse can improve watermelon nutrient uptake, merchantable watermelon and suppress the occurrence of powdery mildew.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7459-7466
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• 2013

Background: Some 60 years after introduction of the Papanicolaou smear worldwide, cervical cancer remains a burden in developing countries where >85% of world new cases and deaths occur, suggesting a failure to establish comprehensive cervical-cancer control programs. Effective interventions are available to control cervical cancer but are not all affordable in low-income settings. Disease awareness saves lives by risk-reduction as witnessed in reducing mortality of HIV/AIDS and smoking-related cancers. Subjects and Methods: We initiated a community-based awareness program on cervical cancer in two low-income Muslim Uyghur townships in Kashi (Kashgar) Prefecture, Xinjiang, China in 2008. The education involved more than 5,000 women from two rural townships and awareness was then evaluated in 2010 and 2011, respectively, using a questionnaire with 10 basic knowledge questions on cervical cancer. Demographic information was also collected and included in an EpiData database. A 10-point scoring system was used to score the awareness. Results: The effectiveness and feasibility of the program were evaluated among 4,475 women aged 19-70 years, of whom >92% lived on/below US$1.00/day. Women without prior education showed a poor average awareness rate of 6.4% (164/2,559). A onetime education intervention, however, sharply raised the awareness rate by 4-fold to 25.5% (493/1,916). Importantly, low income and illiteracy were two reliable factors affecting awareness before or after education intervention. Conclusions: Education intervention can significantly raise the awareness of cervical cancer in low-income women. Economic development and compulsory education are two important solutions in raising general disease awareness. We propose that implementing community-based awareness programs against cervical cancer is realistic, locally affordable and sustainable in low-income countries, which may save many lives over time and, importantly, will facilitate the integration of comprehensive programs when feasible. In this context, adopting this strategy may provide one good example of how to achieve "good health at low cost".

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.10
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• pp.1056-1060
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• 2006

Purpose : As hearing ability affects language and cognitive development, early detection and intervention of congenital hearing defects is very important. We analyzed the result of newborn hearing screening using automated auditory brainstem response and estimated the incidence of congenital hearing defects in newborn infants in Korea. Methods : Hearing screening tests were done on 7,218 newborn infants who were delivered at Cheil General Hospital from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005. The first screening test was done on the second day of life with automated auditory brainstem response(AABR) using $ALGO{\bigcirc}^{(3)}$ Newborn hearing screener($Natus^{(R)}$ Medical Incorporated, San Carlos, USA) with 35 dB sound level. The newborn infants who did not pass the initial screening test took the second screening AABR test before discharge from the nursery. Infants who did not pass these screenings at the nursery were followed up at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Samsung Seoul Hospital. Results : Total 7,218 infants(83.3 percent of total 8,664 live births of the Cheil General Hospital) were screened in the nursery, and 55 of them failed to pass the newborn screening. Among 55 infants who were referred, six were lost during follow-up, and 14 were confirmed as hearing impaired. Six of them(42.8 percent) do not have any risk factors for hearing impairment. We can estimate that the incidence of hearing defects is about 1.9-2.8 per 1,000 live births. Conclusion : Automated auditory brainstem response is an effective tool to screen the hearing of newborn infants. Congenital hearing loss is more frequent than metabolic diseases on which screening tests are available in the newborn period. About 40 percent of infants who have hearing defects do not have any risk factors for hearing impairment. Therefore, universal newborn hearing screening must be recommended to all neonates.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.577-595
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• 2009

This study aimed to reanalyze energy and nutrient intakes of 2007 Korean Nutrition and Health Examination Survey (KNHANES) using CAN-Pro 3.0, a commonly used nutrient analysis software in Korea. Food items and their codes were selected from 2007 KNHANES dietary intake file and converted to food codes of CAN-Pro 3.0 nutrient database (NDB). Of the 1,324 total food items, 1,155 items were converted by direct matching, 123 items were matched using other items in CAN-Pro 3.0 NDB and 42 items were matched using external sources. Consumption frequencies of items converted by direct matching contributed 94.5% of total consumption. Nutrient intakes of 4,091 participants of 2007 KNHANES, over 1 year old, were recalculated using CAN-Pro 3.0 NDB and compared with intakes in 2007 KNHANES dietary intake file. Intakes for energy and all nutrients except protein and Vitamin C calculated by two NDBs were significantly different by paired t-test (p < 0.001), but significantly correlated by Pearson' correlation coefficients (p < 0.001). Percent differences between the NDBs ranged from 0.3% to 15.1%, low for protein, energy, vitamin C, iron, vitamin B$_2$ (below 5%) but high for phosphorus, retinol, vitamin A, and $\beta$-carotene (over 10%). Age group, sex, and their interactions significantly influenced six nutrients (p < 0.05). Intake levels of zinc, vitamin B6, vitamin E, folate and cholesterol were not available in 2007 KNHANES but were calculated by CAN-Pro 3.0. Mean intake levels of zinc, vitamin B$_6$, vitamin E, and folate by age and sex groups revealed that some groups had mean levels below RI (Recommended Intake) or AI (Adequate Intake) levels. Intake level of cholesterol was higher than the recommended level (below 300 mg/day) in some groups, especially males. Results of the present study indicate the need for comparable and more comprehensive NDB to be used for dietary assessment of KNHANES and other researches. More rigorous evaluation of nutrients which have not been reported in KNHANES is needed.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.111-125
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• 1990

For the last several years, considerable criticism has been leveled against Korea's exchange rate management. While Korea was designated a currency manipulator by the U.S., domestically it is often complained that the won/dollar rate did not adequately reflect changes in Korea's export competitiveness and fluctuations in the exchange rates of major currencies. In view of this situation, Korea changed its exchange regime at the beginning of March this year from the dual currency basket system to a more flexible one, called a "market average rate regime". Under this new regime, the won rate is determined in the exchange market based upon the supply of and demand for foreign exchange and is allowed to freely fluctuate each day within a + 0.4 % range. This paper, first, seeks to evaluate Korea's exchange rate management under the dual basket regime of the 1980s, and then to construct an optimal currency basket for the won which could provide a proper indicator for exchange market intervention under the new market average rate regime. The analysis of fluctuations in the real effective exchange rate (REER) of the won indicates that the won rates in the 1980s failed not only to offset changes in relative prices between home and trading partner countries, but also to properly respond to variations in major exchange rates as further evidenced by sizable fluctuations in the nominal effective rates of the won. In other words, the currency basket regime which was adopted in 1980 for the stabilization of the REER of the won has not been operated properly, mainly because authorities often resorted to policy considerations in determining the won's rate. In the second part of the paper, an optimal currency basket for Korea is constructed, designed to minimize the fluctuations in the REER of the won without including policy considerations as a factor. It is recognized, however, that both domestic and foreign price data are not available immediately for the calculation of the REER. For this problem, the approach suggested by Lipschitz (1980) is followed, in which optimal weights for currencies in the basket are determined based upon the past correlation between price and exchange rates. When the optimal basket is applied to Korea since the mid-80s, it is found that the REER of the won could have been much more stable than it actually was. We also argue for the use of variable weights rather than fixed ones, which would be determined by the changing relationship between exchange rates and relative prices. The optimal basket, and the optimal basket exchange rate based on that basket, could provide an important medium- or long-term reference for proper exchange market intervention under the market average rate regime, together with other factors, such as developments in the current account balance and changes in productivity.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.54-66
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• 2001

The aim of this study was to investigate the fluoride release and some mechanical properties including 3-point bending strength, amount of abrasion, surface hardness, water sorption/solubility and cytotoxicity of the newly developed composite resins containing 8, 16, 24 wt% $SrF_2$ glass filler (VF8, VF16, VF24) and four commercially available composite resins, Heliomolar(HE), Verdonfil(VE), Z100(ZH) and Aelitefil(AE). To investigate cytotoxic effect, agar overlay assay was done. Amount of fluoride released into distilled water was measured over a 62-days period from VF8, VF16, VF24 and HE. Results were as follows: 1. Experimental composite resins showed similar mechanical properties to commercial composite resins, but 3-point bending strength and surface hardness of experimental composite resins were inferior to ZH. 2. Over a 62-day Period, the amount of fluoride released was ordered: VF24>VF16>VF8>HE. In experimental composite resins, the amount of fluoride released was 9-23 times greater than HE and seemed to be proportional to the content of $SrF_2$ glass filler. 3. Experimental composite resins and all control composite resins showed mild cytotoxicity. This study showed significantly greater fluoride release from newly developed composite resins than control(HE) and addition of $SrF_2$ glass filler did not decrease mechanical properties or increase cytotoxicity of composite resin. The results from this study imply that newly developed composite resin have adequate mechanical properites, mild cytotoxicity and some potential for secondary caries prevention.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.481-489
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• 2011

This study was conducted to evaluate the pressure treatment characteristics of Japanese red pine and Japanese larch skin timber with ACQ-2, CUAZ-2 and CuHDO-1. The effect of moisture content (MC) on preservative treatability was investigated for Japanese red pine sapwood and Japanese larch heartwood, and fixation characteristics of CCA alternatives was also evaluated. Japanese red pine sapwood, which was dried below 30 percent MC, was fully penetrated with preservatives, and minimum requirement of preservative retention for the hazard class H3 was achieved. Through measuring preservative retention gradient in Japanese red pine sapwood, it was confirmed that the retention gradient of CuHDO-1 was steeper than that of both ACQ-2 and CUAZ-2. In particular, it was intensified at a higher MCs of wood samples (25∼30%). Japanese larch heartwood did not meet the minimum requirement of penetration and retention for the hazard class H3 over the range of pretreatment MCs tested. With presteaming under $121^{\circ}C$ for 12 hours, the treatability of Japanese larch heartwood was enhanced to meet the minimum requirement for the hazard class H3. The fixation rate of copper was much more faster under drying condition compared with nondrying condition; more than 95% of copper were fixed in 3~6 days and 1 day under drying conditions in Japanese red pine sapwood and Japanese larch heartwood, respectively. After 3-week fixation period at ambient temperature, the amount of mobile copper in treated wood sample that remains available for leaching from treated wood was the highest in the wood samples treated with ACQ-2, followed by CuHDO-1 and CUAZ-2. It was proportional to the amount of copper in treating solution.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.12
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• pp.1354-1361
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• 2005

Purpose : Rotavirus is an enteric pathogen that affects millions of children globally each year. But no specific therapy is available for the management of rotavirus diarrhea. Due to the clear need to define improved modality for treatment of rotavirus diarrhea, we evaluated the efficacy of antirotavirus IgY in the treatment of infants and children with gastroenteritis. Methods : First, the amount of viral particle in the stools of thirteen patients(seven were given IgY, 6 placebo) infected by rotavirus were evaluated for 3 days with the quantitative RT-PCR method. Second, 36 children with known rotavirus infection identified by ELISA or semi-quantitative RT-PCR were evaluated. We gave 5 g anti-rotavirus egg yolk daily in two equally divided doses for 3 days to two groups(an 18 IgY group and an 18 placebo group), respectively after parenteral consent. Daily vomiting frequency, stool frequency, oral intake and urine output were monitored for 3 days, and electrolyte and blood chemistry were checked at the first and third days. Results : First, in the placebo group, the amount of virus particles increased daily, but in the IgY group it decreased daily. Second, when IgY and placebos were given to children infected with rotavirus, diarrhea on the third day decreased significantly in the IgY group, compared with the placebo group. Conclusion : Treatment with antirotavirus immunoglobulin from immunized chicken's egg resulted in a decrease in the amount of viral particles in stools and diarrhea frequency in children. These results suggest that anti-rotavirus IgY is effective in the treatment of rotavirus gastroenteritis.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.285-296
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• 2014

Although the problems of the algal blooms have been world-widely observed in freshwater, estuary, and marine throughout the year, it is not yet certain what are the basic causes of such blooms. Consequently, it is very difficult to predict when and where algal blooms occur. The constituents of the Asian dust are in a good agreement with the elements required for the algal growth, which suggests some possible relationship between the algal blooms and the Asian dust. There have been frequently algal blooms in drinking water from rivers or lakes. However, there is no any algal blooms in upwelling waters where the Asian dust cannot penetrate into the soil due to its relatively weak settling velocity (size of particles, $4.5{\pm}1.5{\mu}m$), which implies the possible close relationship of the Asian dust with algal blooms. The present initiative study is thus intended firstly in Korea to illustrate such a relationship by reviewing typical previous studies along with 12 years of weekly iron profiles (2001~2012) and two slant culture experiments with the dissolved Asian dust. The result showed bacterial suspected colonies in the slant culture experiment that are qualitatively in a good agreement with the recent Japanese studies. Since the diatoms require cheap energy (8%) compared to other phytoplankton (100%) to synthesize their cell walls by silicate, the present results can be used to predict algal blooms by diatoms if the concentrations of iron and silicate are available during spring and fall. It can be postulated that the algal blooms occur only if the environmental factors such as light, nutrients, calm water surface layer, temperature, and pH are simultaneously satisfied with the requirements of the micronutrients of mineral ions supplied by the Asian dust as enzymatic cofactors for the rapid bio-synthesis of the macromolecules during algal blooms. Simple eco-friendly methods to regulate the algal blooms are suggested for the initial stage of blooming with limited area: 1) to cover up the water surface with black curtain and inhibit photosynthesis during the day time, 2) to blow air (20.9%) or pure oxygen into the bottom of the water and inhibit rubisco for carbon uptake and nitrate reductase for nitrogen uptake activities in algal growth during the night, 3) to eliminate the resting spores or cysts by suction of bottom sediments as deep as 5 cm to prevent the next year germinations.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.266-280
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• 1994

Upper-air synoptic data and surface weather elements such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, cloud and precipitation were analyzed in some detail to determine the characteristics of Nopsae, a foehn-like surface wind over the Youngsuh region of Central Korea. NOAA AVHRR and GMS images are also referenced to identify the distribution of clouds and precipitation to classify the tpyes of foehn over the study area. The data period examined is from 1982 until 1993 of spring and summer months from March through August. Results of the anaylsis are as follows. Warm and dry air penetration over the Younesuh region has experienced on foehn days occured between March 21 and August 10 during study perion. The mean annual number of foehn the days were 28. Foehn phenomena were prominent during March 21-25, April 5-15, May 25-June 10, and June 26-30 pentads. The intensity of the phenomena can be evaluated as the difference of daily maximum temperature and relative humidity between windward sites and leeward sites. The intensity of daily maximum temperature reached 14.5$^{\circ}C$, but most values were in the range of 5.0-7.5$^{\circ}C$ (61%). Although strong intensity of foehns usually develop in June, it is common that farmers in the region experince more aridity during the foehnday of April and May due to the transplantation of rice seedlings. Long-run foehn are not common phenomena and 55% of foehn terminate in one day, but there is a record that Nopsae persisted up to 9 days continuously. The author identified using the cloud and precipitation data out of NOAA-11, AVHRR and GMS images is that one of them has no precipitation over windward side. The available data and the results of the analysis are somewhat inadequate. Since the results imply that wave phenomenon is potentially important in terms of local surface weather and vertical momentum transport, more detailed theoretical and observational studies are necessary to clarify the mechanism and the impacts of Nopsae.