• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.781-784
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• 2013

Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine whether susceptibility to oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is related to polymorphisms in the u-PA gene. Methods: We examined the rs2227564 C/T and rs2227562 G/A single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 196 OSCC patients and 201 age- and gender-matched controls via direct sequencing and PCR-RFLP methods. Results: Significant differences were found in allelic and genotypic distributions of the rs2227564 and rs2227562 loci when comparing cases and controls. In addition, logistic analyses indicated that the rs2227564 C/T genotype was related to a 1.52-fold increased risk of developing OSCC (adjusted OR=1.521, 95%CI: 1.144~2.022, P=0.004). Linkage disequilibrium analysis was conducted and no association between the two loci was found (D'=0.031, $r^2$=0.000). Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence that the rs2227564 C/T SNP in the u-PA gene is associated with the development of OSCC.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.381-386
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• 2020

Objectives: Few studies have been published regarding the relevance of the admission diagnosis to the smoking cessation rate. We studied smoking cessation rates in relation to admission diagnoses in our inpatient smoking cessation programmes. Methods: This retrospective study included all patients recruited into our inpatient smoking cessation programmes at 2 institutions in Singapore between June 2008 and December 2016. Patients were given individualized intensive counselling and were followed up via phone interviews for up to 6-month to assess their smoking status. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyse potential associations between admission diagnoses and 6-month abstinence. Results: A total of 7194 patients were included in this study. The mean age was 54.1 years, and 93.2% were male. In total, 1778 patients (24.7%) were abstinent at the 6-month follow-up call. Patients who quit smoking tended to be of Chinese ethnicity, have initiated smoking at a later age, be better educated, and have lower Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence scores. After adjusting for these factors, patients with a cardiovascular admission diagnosis had a significantly higher probability of quitting tobacco use than patients with a respiratory or other diagnosis. Conclusions: In patients acutely admitted to the hospital, a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease was associated with the highest quit rate. Smoking cessation interventions need to be incorporated into all cardiovascular disease treatment pathways to leverage the patient's motivation and to improve the quit rate. In addition, patients in groups with lower quit rates may benefit from more intensive programmes to increase the rate of successful cessation.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2017

Background: In contemporary China, most parents are dual-earner couples and there is only one child in the family. We aimed to examine the associations of parents' work stress with suicidal ideation among the corresponding adolescent. We further hypothesized that low parental support experienced by adolescents may mediate the associations. Methods: Cross-sectional data from school students and their working parents were used, with 907 families from Kunming City, China. Stress at work was measured by the effort-reward imbalance questionnaire. Perceived parental support was assessed by an item on parental empathy and their willingness to communicate with the adolescent. Suicidal ideation was considered positive if students reported thoughts about suicide every month or more frequently during the previous 6 months. Logistic regression was used to examine the associations. Results: We observed that parents' work stress was positively associated with low parental support, which was in turn associated with adolescent suicidal ideation. The odds ratio for parents' work stress and adolescent suicidal ideation was 2.91 (95% confidence interval: 1.53-5.53), and this association was markedly attenuated to 2.24 (95% confidence interval: 1.15-4.36) after additional adjustment for parental support. Notably, mothers' work stress levels exerted stronger effects on children's suicidal ideation than those of fathers. Conclusion: Parents' work stress (particularly mother's work stress) was strongly associated with adolescent's suicidal ideation, and the association was partially mediated by low parental support. These results need to be replicated and extended in prospective investigations within and beyond China, in order to explore potential causal pathways as a basis of preventive action.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.683-689
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• 2012

The logistics industry is growing rapidly with China's economic development in recent years. Particularly, the intermodal freight system is becoming the main issue to reduce the logistic costs under the situation that the quantity of cargo transported between Korea and China is continuously increasing. Shift from road transportation to eco-friendly modes such as rail and coastwise shipping is also increasing. The present study suggests technical aspects related to the implementation of intermodal transport system centered on train ferries between two countries with already employed Chinese infrastructure into consideration. Technical assessment of intermodal train ferry system entails not only the vessels but supporting facilities and technologies as well. Port and rail facilities and operating skills for efficient modal shifting, and their standardization is indispensible to the realization of an intermodal train ferry system between the two countries.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.449-460
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aims to provide base data for designing education and counseling programs for child-raising by identifying the types, characteristics and predictors of parenting behaviors of married immigrant women. Methods: We used a self-report questionnaire to survey 126 immigrant mothers of young children, who agreed to participate, and who could speak Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Filipino, or English, at two children's hospitals and two multicultural support centers. Statistical analysis was conducted using descriptive analysis, K-means clustering, ${\chi}^2$ test, Fisher's exact test, one-way ANOVA, $Sch{\acute{e}}ffe^{\prime}s$ test, and multinominal logistic regression. Results: We identified three clusters of parenting behaviors: 'affectionate acceptance group' (38.9%), 'active engaging group' (26.2%), and 'passive parenting group' (34.9%). Passive parenting and affectionate acceptance groups were distinguished by the conversation time between couples (p=.028, OR=5.52), ideology of motherhood (p=.032, OR=4.33), and parenting stress between parent and child (p=.049, OR=0.22). Passive parenting was distinguished from active engaging group by support from spouses for participating in multicultural support centers or relevant programs (p=.011, OR=2.37), and ideology of motherhood (p=.001, OR=16.65). Ideology of motherhood was also the distinguishing factor between affectionate acceptance and active engaging groups (p=.041, OR=3.85). Conclusion: Since immigrant women's parenting type depends on their ideology of motherhood, parenting stress, and spousal relationships in terms of communication and support to help their child-raising and socio-cultural adaptation, it is necessary to provide them with systematic education and support, as well as interventions across personal, family, and community levels.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.523-536
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• 2023

Purpose: This study investigated the association between sleep problems and food allergies (FAs) in Chinese preschoolers and assessed whether there is a difference in this association among children with/without siblings. Methods: A cluster-stratified sampling approach was employed to select four districts in Chongqing based on demographic considerations. A total of 16 kindergartens (n = 966 parents) participated in this study. Parents completed the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) and a standard FAs questionnaire. Analysis of covariance and multiple logistic regression were used to assess the associations between sleep problems and FAs after adjusting for relevant confounders. Results: The study found that 16.3% of children had FAs, with eggs, shellfish, and fruit being the most common allergenic foods. The prevalence of FAs was significantly higher in single children (20.63%) than in children with siblings (13.36%). A total of 70.39% of children had CSHQ scores above the clinical cut-off for sleep disorder. Factor analysis revealed five underlying dimensions from the CSHQ. Factor scores, except for the 'difficulty morning waking' factor, were not significantly different between the two groups. Remarkably, the factor scores of 'parasomnias' and 'sleep anxiety' were significantly higher when children had both siblings and FAs. For all subjects, the odds ratios (ORs) of FAs significantly increased with the presence of sleep disorder (OR, 2.35; 95% confidence interval [CI],1.50-3.68) and 'difficulty falling asleep' (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.22-1.48). The subgroup analysis showed that the probability of FAs significantly increased with the 'difficulty falling asleep' (OR, 1.32 vs. 1.38) and sleep disorder (OR, 2.48 vs. 2.14) in children with and without siblings, respectively. The 'parasomnias' was positively associated only with children with siblings. Conclusion: This study suggests that children with siblings might be more susceptible to FAs when accompanied by certain sleep problems. Further studies are warranted to address the underlying dimensions and possible mediation effects of having siblings with sleep problems.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.128-133
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• 2012

Objectives : Located on chromosome 10q22-q23, the human neuregulin 3 (NRG3) is suggested as a strong positional and functional candidate gene involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Several case-control studies examining the association between polymorphisms on NRG3 gene with schizophrenia and/or its traits (such as delusion) have been reported recently in cohorts of Han Chinese, Ashkenazi Jews, Australians, white Americans of Western European ancestry and Koreans. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the association of one SNP in exon 9 (rs2295933) of NRG3 gene with the risk of schizophrenia in a Korean population. Methods : Using TaqMan assay, rs2295933 in the exon 9 of NRG3 was genotyped in 435 patients with schizophrenia as cases and 393 unrelated healthy individuals as controls. Differences in frequency distributions were analyzed using logistic regression models following various modes of genetic inheritance and controlling for age and sex as covariates. Results : Subsequent analysis revealed that the frequency distribution of rs2295933 of NRG3 was not different between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls of Korean ethnicity. Conclusions : This study does not support the role of NRG3 in schizophrenia in a Korean population.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.678-684
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to figure out and establish the basic data that can help improve management of oral healthcare for the international marriage migrantwomen. In this sense, we surveyed questions on 237 women out of 1,300 immigrant women, who have participated the program in operation by multi-cultural household supporting center, in a fashion of face-to-face investigation and on-the-spot direct cavity inspection simultaneously from May 1th to October 31th, 2010. Collected data were electro-statistically computerized under SPSS 17.0 program and analyzed with frequency analysis, recurrence analysis and logistic regression analysis respectively. Foundings were revealed as follows; On the nationality base, show the data in the ratio of 38.8% for Vietnamese, 29.1% for Philippine, 12.2% for Chinese and 6.8% for Japanese respectively. Current oral cavity status shows in the ratio of 60% with carious tooth symptoms, 40% without carious tooth symptom. Philippine women have irregular sets of tooth in many a case. (i.e., in short of numbers of teeth, due to removing individual tooth.) Japanese ladies are indicated to have less irregular sets of tooth, in comparison with that of the other immigrants from overseas. And lastly, high-income immigrant women in general were found having less numbers of unhealthy sets of tooth. Getting older, it appears that decayed tooth symptom is on the tendency of getting less in the field of dentistry circles. Immigrant ladies living with husbands under higher education background usually are found living a life in the less ratio of having toothache. A full-time immigrant housewives, however, are living everyday life in more times of suffering with tooth disease.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.23-36
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• 2012

Objectives : The coverage of Korean National Health Insurance is limited to basic level. Korean government encourages private health insurance for covering medical securities. So, many studies examined the determinants of purchasing private health insurance. However, 11% of Korean population is older than 65 in 2011. Considering the elderly is important to establish a health policy. The aim of this study is to examine factors determining the purchase of private health insurance among middle-aged and elderly Korean adults. Methods : We used the second Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA), selected 8,688 sample of the aged 47 or older for the analysis. KLoSA collected information on demographic characteristics, income, health- related factors. KLoSA data include in the number of outpatient, inpatient, oriental hospital visit, dental clinic visit for two years. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between the determinants of purchasing private health insurance and the factors which include age, gender, education, residential district, marital status, smoking, drinking, physical exercise, economic activity status, national health insurance type, income, the number of chronic disease, and the number of outpatient, inpatient, oriental hospital visit, dental clinic visit for two years. Results : People who were older, did not live in a city, had higher IADL, currently drunk alcohol, did exercise regularly and had chronic diseases more than three were inclined not to purchase private health insurance. Females, the married, well-educated, past & currently smokers, the employed, high income earners, national health insurers, metropolitan citizens and someone who got high MMSE were more likely to purchase private health insurance. The more people experienced outpatients, inpatients, dental clinics and Chinese medicine clinics, the more private health insurance was purchased. The elderly people over 75 had more private health insurance than the aged 65-74. The strongest factors for private health insurance is gender, and economic status such as income. Conclusion : In this study, we found healthy-high income people were more likely to purchase private health insurance. In contrast, unhealthy-low income and older people did not. The economic factors were strongly related with private health insurance in aged over 75. These mean inequality exists in the using private health insurance. Therefore, the government should consider vulnerable social group before expanding private health insurance.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.31-40
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• 2013

Purpose - The Northeast Asian Logistic Hub strategy was established to create a national competitive advantage in northeast Asia. Countries in this region are competing fiercely to become the central base distribution port as the volume of container shipping continues to increase due to the northeast Asian (especially Chinese) economic growth. The primary method by which shippers are improving their customer service and distribution is enhancing profits by minimizing call ports on the key route through strategic affiliations and the use of large vessels. Each nation is planning large-scale investments in the construction of sea ports that can accommodate large vessels. This paper proposes ways by which the logistical strategies of domestic corporations can keep pace with changes in government policy concerning the Northeast Asian Business Hub policy. It examines the logistics system in the Northeast Asian region, analyzes the government's Northeast Asian Business Hub policy, and suggests logistical strategies for domestic corporations through an analysis based on a questionnaire designed to grasp domestic firms' needs and goals. Research design, data and methodology - The purpose of this study is to determine how shipping companies establish partnerships with third-party logistics providers and draws out the implications of the results. The survey methods used were personal interviews and questionnaires distributed to a sample population through e-mail, fax, mail, and telephone. A total of 600 questionnaires were distributed, of which 165 were returned. Among these, ten were excluded due to insufficient content; ultimately, 155 were used for the sample. The statistical data collection process was analyzed through data coating and a statistical package program. Results - This study argues that greater flexibility in policies, administration, and systems will be needed to significantly improve established business practices. In this dissertation, we primarily identify that in order to become a center of northeast Asian logistics, Korea must adopt a new paradigm and abandon the existing systems that are based on the economic and social systems that have stemmed from bureaucracy, inflexibility, chauvinism, and equalitarianism. Flexible policies, administration, and systems will be necessary to improve business practices. Domestic corporations must establish a strategic logistics hub and related network while simultaneously pursuing value-added logistics businesses by increasing their manpower and building a logistics information system. This will strengthen their competitive edge and lead to system improvements. Conclusions - Domestic corporations must adopt a new paradigm and use more reasonable business laws, systems, and policies that are based on market-driven flexibility and transparency. Moreover, social norms and regulations should be established to help ensure political and social security. Korea must also develop a culture of tolerance for foreign companies. Finally, the paradigm defining the policy governing the development of the capital city and its satellite cities in this context must be changed.