• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.120-127
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• 2023

Background: In general, measurement qualities of cross-culturally adapted quality of life (QOL) measures are altered in many aspects, although versions of them are well-validated measures. The latent trait and measurement qualities of the QOL measures for cancer-related samples should be considered when developing cross-culturally adapted measures. Objects: To investigate the latent trait of the translated into Korean World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) administered to different cancer survivors who had palliative rehabilitation care service (PRCS). Methods: A cross-sectional study with 139 cancer survivors who had an experience of cancer survivorship with PRCS were conducted with a two-step analytic procedure including exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to confirm the latent trait and Rasch rating scale modeling to investigate the measurement qualities of the cross-culturally adapted WHOQOL-BREF measure. Results: While the original WHOQOL-BREF measure constitutes a 4-latent trait, the EFA reveals that 24 items constitute six substantial factors. The item loadings are predominantly spread over factors 1 through 4 in a mixed manner of the latent traits, while the loadings of 'physical health' and 'environmental health' latent traits show similarity to what the original measure intended to assess. The latent trait of the cross-culturally adapted WHOQOL-BREF measure administered to different cancer survivors is likely to reveal more dimensions than the original WHOQOL-BREF measure. Person reliability (i.e., analogous to Cronbach's alpha) and separation are measured with 0.92 and 3.48, respectively. All items except the one item (medical treatment item) fit the Rasch rating model. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the latent trait and the measurement qualities of the cross-culturally adapted WHOQOL-BREF measure should be taken into consideration when applying versions of it to various populations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.21-26
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to investigate morphological characteristics of 153 wild grown Poa pratensis collected from various areas of Korea and to see correlation among morphological characteristics and visual rating. Morphological characteristics such as plant height, leaf length, leaf width were measured. The collected Poa pratensis plants showed various morphological differences. The plant height of Poa pratensis ranged from 4.5 to 40.0cm. Poa pratensis leaf length ranged 3.0 to 30.2cm and leaf width ranged 1.0 to 5.0mm. The mean values of Poa pratensis height, leaf length and leaf width were 18.2cm, 13.1cm and 2.7mm respectively. The Poa pratensis plots were also visually rated 1 to 9 scale throughout the growing season for their overall characteristics as turfgrass. The height, leaf length, leaf width and visual rating had significant positive correlations. Especially the height and leaf length had a highly significant positive(r=0.74) correlation.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2005

We investigated the effects of prolonged exposure in hot environmental condition and ingestion of fluid on various physiological variables including plasma glucose, lactate, the rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and heart rate as well as golf putting performance. Six male professional golfers were voluntarily participated in three different putting trials which were separated by seven days of time interval period. Three different putting trials were conducted at either 20℃ or 32℃, or 32℃ + Fluid ingestion. Performing 32℃ + Fluid ingestion trial, all subject ingested sport drink as much as their body mass was decreased. For each experiment, all subjects were undertaken total 48 putting, which separated by four x 12 putting in four different time points (i.e., Rest, 1 hr, 2 hr, and 3 hr). Plasma glucose concentration was significantly decreased with hot ambient condition but it was almost fully recovered by fluid ingestion. Plasma lactate concentration was significantly higher when subjects were exposed in hot environmental condition, and it did not change with fluid ingestion. There was a no different in putting performance and psychological fatigue level (performed by GRID test) at any environmental conditions. The RPE, commonly used for evaluating of physical fatigue level, was significantly dropped by fluid ingestion which indicates lower physical fatigue level. In addition to this, heart rate (HR) was also significantly decreased after fluid ingestion. Based on these results, it was concluded that the ingestion of fluid during prolonged exposure in hot ambient condition decrease the degree of physical fatigue levels and heart rate, which will possibly improve the golf performance when exposed in extreme weather condition in summer. (Korean J Nutrition 38(2): 117～124, 2005)

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.435-442
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• 2011

In this study, to investigate the effects of herb aroma components, the BDI test was performed with the 124 students of the Youngdong University and the subjects whose score was 16 or higher were selected and allocated to the herb-extracted aroma-treated group and the non-treated group, 27 and 10 students for each group. The BDI and SDS tests were carried out at each stage (before and after the treatment, 10 days later and 30 days later). The result showed that the pre-treatment BDI test result was significantly different from all those of the post-treatment test, and the tests after 10 days and 30 days in the aroma-treated group. In the SDS test, the pre-treatment test result was significantly different from the results of the post-treatment test and the test after 10 days, while it was not significantly different from the result of the test after 30 days. Additionally, to verify whether the change within the group is larger than that by natural recovery or not, ANCOVA was performed with respect to the difference in the pre-treatment test score between the groups depending on whether the treatment was given or not, having the SDS pre-treatment score as the covariate, and the result showed that the post-treatment test scores were significantly different. Thus, it was verified that, if the SDS test score is considered as the depression indicator, the effect of aromatherapy was greater than the change by natural recovery. The difference in the post-treatment test score was analyzed depending on whether the treatment was given or not, having the BDI pre-treatment test score as the control variable, and the result showed that the post-treatment test scores were not significantly different. Based on such a theoretical verification, it is assumed that the nature-friendly treatment method using herb aroma components can be a great help in suppressing depression. Therefore, it is expected that herb aroma components can provide systematic therapeutic effect on the suppression of depression.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.56-62
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• 2012

There is little information about appropriate greenspace structures to satisfy aesthetic function in Korea. The purpose of this study was to analyze Korean's aesthetic preferences for greenspace structures concerned with urban tree plantings of an areal type to explore desirable greenspace landscapes. The study considered 5 structural variables of greenspace which were species composition, tree density, tree size, vertical and horizontal structure, and tree layout pattern. A photo-questionnaire was prepared through color simulations of different landscape types for each structural variable. Preference responses of an interval-scale rating from 214 respondents were statistically analyzed between landscape types and between respondent groups. Respondents preferred greenspace landscapes with diverse tree species to single species, higher tree density to lower density, larger trees to many smaller trees, multilayered and grouped plantings to single-layered and sparse plantings, and informal pattern to formal pattern. These preferences tended to be relatively higher for educated specialist and student groups than for other generalist group. Thus, multilayered and dense plantings in natural pattern including larger trees of diverse species, which are similar to ecological plantings, are recommended to increase aesthetic function of greenspace.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.55-68
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• 2017

This research is carried out to investigate the relationship between sustainability practices and performance in a financial sense for Malaysian Oil and Gas sector. Objectives include to study the state of sustainability disclosure among Malaysian oil and gas companies, to understand if companies that practiced sustainability had better performances to their financial bottom-line and to conduct a data analysis to understand the relationship between Environmental, social and governance performance [represented by the acronym ACSI] and financial performance. Sustainability performance is measured using ACSI checklist, which is an adaptation of the GRI 3.0 by Global reporting initiative while financial performance was measured on financial and profitability parameters namely EBITDA, EPS and PE ratio. Secondary data sources are used which were then converted into a rating scale to develop quantitative data. SPSS 21 is used for the analysis. The result shows that the majority of oil and gas companies in Malaysia had poor performance in terms of sustainability disclosure. On all three chosen profitability parameters, the companies that practiced sustainability were found to perform better than their counterparts that did not. Strong and significant relationship exists between sustainability practices and better financial performance.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.71-83
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• 2009

Objective: This study was conducted to compare health conditions and problems, health promoting behavior, and risky environment of industrial workers. Methods: The subjects of this study were 1,075 workers in 40 factories, located in Daegu, Korea. Survey data were collected from April 17th, 2006 to April 28th, 2006. CMI (Cornell Medical Index) Health Checklist was used to assess the health problems, Health Rating Scale for health status, HPLP II for health promoting behavior, and environmental risk assessment tool for risky environment. The data were analyzed by One-way ANOVA and Pearson Correlation Coefficient using SPSS 12.0 for windows. Results: The results indicated a significant difference in health problems (F=4.70, p=.000), health conditions (F=2.47, p=.022), health promoting behavior (F=5.67, p=.000), and risky environment (F=14.75, p=.000) among these industrial workers. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that there is a need to develop customized health care programs for each company to provide differentiated health care to different types of work places. Further studies are required to assess differences in work environment among different types of work places for measures to reduce harmful factors to the environment.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.467-474
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• 2019

Exposure to lead during pregnancy is a risk factor for the development of psychiatric disorders in the offspring. In this study, we investigated whether exposure to low levels of lead acetate (0.2%) in drinking water during pregnancy and lactation causes behavioral impairment and affects the expression of proteins associated with neurodevelopment. Lead exposure altered several parameters in rat offspring compared with those unexposed in open-field, social interaction, and pre-pulse inhibition tests. These parameters were restored to normal levels after clozapine treatment. Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses of the hippocampus revealed that several neurodevelopmental proteins were downregulated in lead-exposed rats. The expression was normalized after clozapine treatment (5 mg/kg/day, postnatal day 35-56). These findings demonstrate that downregulation of several proteins in lead-exposed rats affected subsequent behavioral changes. Our results suggest that lead exposure in early life may induce psychiatric disorders and treatment with antipsychotics such as clozapine may reduce their incidence.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2012

Lichen planus is a chronic inflammatory mucocutaneous disease that affects multiple sites of the body. Often it involves the oral mucosa, but also involve other sites such as skin, genitals, scalp and nails. There is no clear cause of oral lichen planus (OLP), current data suggest that OLP is a T-cell mediated autoimmune disorder which may have an altered self-peptide triggering apoptosis of oral epithelial cells. Usually OLP appears in middle-aged women which tends to be chronic with periods of exacerbation and remission. There are many theories those causes the OLP such as psychological and environmental factors, genetic tendency, drugs and more. 60-70% of lichen planus is accompanied by oral lesions, and more than half of its cases are not able to defined by their skin. In this study, among all the possibility(possible) theories, we tried to evaluate the influence of emotional stress in exacerbating OLP. There were thirty patients with a clinical or histological diagnosis of OLP and other thirty subjects who did not show any signs of systemic disorders include OLP. They were evaluated by using modified Holmes and Rahe's Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS). As a result, a significantly higher level of stress was found in the OLP patients than the control group. Therefore it could be concluded that psychological stressors play an important role in the exacerbating OLP.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.17-44
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• 1987

The study examined the characteristics of the relationship of home environment variables and children's social development. Two studies were conducted ; Study I examined (1) the correlation of home environment variables and children's social ability and (2) the predictability of home environment variables for children's social ability by children's age. Study II investigated the causal relationship among the variables which are supposed to affect children's social ability. The subjects of this study were 240 children at age four, six and eight attending nursery schools, kindergartens and elementary schools and their mothers. Instruments included the Inventory of Home Stimulation (HOME), the Inventory of Sociodemographic Variables, social maturation scale, and the social-emotional developmental rating scale. The results obtained from this study were as follows : 1) Home environment variables had a positive correlation with children's social development at age four and six, but at age eight, only HOME variables had a significant positive correlation with children's social development. 2) The home environmental variables that significantly predicted children's social development differed according to children's age. That is, play materials, economic status of the home, and parent education were predictive of children's social development at age four, while parent's education, fostering maturity and independence, and play materials were predictive at age six. Fostering maturity and independence, aspects of physical environment, and economic status of the home were predictive at age eight. 3) The causal model of home environment effect on children's social development was formulated by exogenous variables (parent education and economic status of the home) and endogenous variables (direct stimulation, indirect stimulation and the emotional climate of the home). 4) The results of the analysis of the causal model showed that the variables that have a direct effect on children's social development differed according to children's age. That is, direct stimulation had more effect on children's social development at earlier ages, and indirect stimulation had more effect on children's social development at later ages. Among socio-demographic variables, parent's education was most closely related to children's social development. The amount of variance that explained children's social development decreased with increase in children's age.