• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 2008

This paper proposes a method of estimating the lifetime distribution at use condition for constant stress accelerated life tests when an infant-mortality failure mode as well as wear-out one exists. General limited failure population model is introduced to describe these failure modes. It is assumed that the log lifetime of each failure mode follows a location-scale distribution and a linear relation exists between the location parameter and the stress. An estimation procedure using the expectation and maximization algorithm is proposed. Specific formulas for Weibull distribution are obtained. An illustrative example and the simulation results are given.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.27
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• pp.2.1-2.4
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• 2012

Objectives: This study is a cross-sectional study to investigate the frequency of humidifier and humidifier disinfectant usage in the general population. Methods: A questionnaire was applied to 94 subjects (46 male, 48 female) from the general population of Gyeonggi Province. The questionnaire consisted of 3 scales (general characteristics, 5 items about humidifier usage, 5 items about humidifier disinfectant usage). Results: Thirty-five (37.2%) of the 94 subjects use a humidifier and humidifier disinfectant usage was found to be 18.1%. The frequency of humidifier usage is 4.8 times per a week and the humidifier disinfectant usage is 2.4 times per a week. Humidifier usage rate was highest in January. and then tended to rise gradually from October. Conclusions: Although this study population was not representative, we can say that approximately 50 percent of the humidifier users use a humidifier disinfectant and the trend of using a humidifier has shown seasonality.

• The Korean Journal of Gastroenterology
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• v.72 no.5
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• pp.245-251
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• 2018

Gastric cancer is the most common cancer in Korea and the fifth most common cancer globally. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is considered the main etiologic agent for gastric cancer development. Most regional guidelines for H. pylori treatment recommend treating the organism to prevent gastric cancer in the high-risk group. However, evidence that such a strategy can also be applied to the general population, especially in terms of the preventive effect and safety, has not been adequately presented yet. Although a meta-analysis in the general population suggested effectiveness in decreasing gastric cancer incidence, individual studies should be critically reviewed to evaluate the soundness of the evidence. Recently published, long-term, Korean studies on metachronous gastric cancer prevention ended the controversies from previous short-term studies and confirmed the effectiveness. Currently, further prospective, large, randomized studies are ongoing in the general population and will provide more definitive, high-level evidence on this gastric cancer prevention strategy in the next decade.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.164-171
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• 2014

Background: Safety of drugs has become a major issue in public healthcare. Spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reaction (ADR) is the cornerstone in management of drug safety. We aimed to investigate the awareness and knowledge of spontaneous ADR reporting in general public of Korea. Methods: A total of 1,500 study subjects aged 19-69 years were interviewed with a questionnaire for their awareness and knowledge related to spontaneous ADR reporting. Computer assisted telephone interview was performed from 27th February 2013 to 4th March 2013. Target population was selected with quota sampling, using age, sex, and residence area. Healthcare professionals such as physicians, pharmacists, and nurses were excluded. The survey questions included awareness of spontaneous ADR reporting, opinions on ways to activate ADR reporting, and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Overall awareness of spontaneous ADR reporting system was 8.3% (${\pm}2.53%$) among general population of Korea. Major source from which people got the information regarding ADR reporting was television/radio (69.9%), followed by internet (19.3%), and poster/brochure (6.1%). Awareness level differed between age groups (p<0.0001) and education levels (p<0.0001). Upon learning about the ADR reporting system, 88.5% of study subjects agreed on the necessity of ADR reporting system, while 46.6% thought promotion through internet and mass media as an effective way to activate ADR reporting. Conclusion: The overall awareness of spontaneous ADR reporting should be enhanced in order to establish a firm national system for drug safety. Adequate promotions should be performed targeting lower awareness groups, as well as various publicity activities via effective channels for the general population.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.205-210
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• 2003

The aim of this study was to estimate the influence of 37 bp insertion/deletion (I/O) poly-morphism of the low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein-associated protein 1 (LRPAP1) gene on anthropometrical or biochemical parameters in korean general population. To determine the frequency of the genotype, we analyzed 244 samples of Korean origin. The frequency of the I allele was 0.55 in men and 0.56 in women, which were significantly higher than the frequency (0.26) that was reported in Czech population of Caucasian origin. In addition, the I allele of this polymorphism was significantly associated with higher value of body mass index (BMI) in our subjects by ANOVA test (P<0.05), and this association was maintained after controlling for age and gender by ANCOVA test (P<0.05). Thus, our results suggest that the I/O polymorphism of the LRPAP1 gene may be useful as a genetic marker for obesity in Korean general population.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1589-1598
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between airborne manganese and blood manganese in a general population of South Korean adults. The concentrations of airborne manganese in total suspended particulate (TSP) were calculated from data obtained from ambient air-monitoring stations (AAMSs) located in South Korea. Blood manganese data obtained Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) using a rolling sampling design involving a complex, stratified, multistage, probability cluster survey of a representative sample of the non-institutionalized civilian population of South Korea. Airborne manganese geometric means was 46.10 $ng/m^3$, blood manganese geometric means were 1.19 ${\mu}g/d{\ell}$ for male and 1.40 ${\mu}g/d{\ell}$ for female. In multiple linear regression analysis of log transformed blood manganeseas a continuous variable on airborne manganese, after adjusting for covariates including gender, age, job, smoking and drinking status, education level, BMI (body mass index). Airborne manganese was positively associated with blood manganese with statistical significance. The present study confirms that airborne manganese is a possible contributor to the increase of blood manganese in the adult general population.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.529-536
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• 2000

The major purpose of this study was to identify the differences in priorities of nutrition service needs between the service provider and consumers (general population). Identification of the personal characteristics which influence the priorities of nutrition service needs among the general population was also examined. An interview survey using a questionnaire was conducted to collect the data required for analysis. The questionnaire included the priorities of various nutrition service needs as well as the personal characteristics of the study subjects. The study subjects were 300 residents over 40 years of age, and 15 health workers representing health center service personnel in Kyounggi province. Wilcoxon Rank Sums test were adopted to analize the differences in priority between the service providers and consumers. The results showed that priority of nutrition service needs for provider were significantly different from that of consumer. Gender, age, family type, and education levels of the population were the significant factors affecting the differences in priorities for nutrition service needs among consumers (general population). Out of the results, it could be suggested that consumers need should be considered in developing nutrition services to promote nutrition services utilization in health centers. The results may also suggest that one of the causes for the low utilization rate of nutrition services in health centers was the provider oriented program development regardless of the needs of consumers.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.11-13
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• 1999

Recently it was reported that Insertion/Deletion polymorphism in the gene coding for Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) is associated with human capacity for physical performance. This study was performed to genotyping of the ACE gene to determine the correlation between elite endurance performance and ACE I/D gene polymorphism. DNA sample was obtained from peripheral blood, hair roots and mouth epithelial cell in 739 general population and 200 elite athletic performance students. The ACE gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using allele specific oligonucleotide primers. 155, 525 bp and 237 bp PCR products indicating the presence of insertion(I) and deletion(D) alleles, respectively, were clearly resolved after electrophoresis on a 2% agarose gel with ethidium bromide. Of the 200 elite athletic performance population subjects, 68(34%) showed ACE genotype 11,100(50%) genotype ID and 32(16%) genotype DD. Of the 739 general population subjects, 259(35.1%) showed ACE genotype 11,363(49.1%) genotype ID and 117(15.8%) genotype DD. Therefore ACE I/D gene polymorphism was not associated with human capacity for physical performance.(p>0.05)

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.45.1-45.5
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• 2020

With the ongoing rise of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic across the globe, interests in COVID-19 antibody testing, also known as a serology test has grown, as a way to measure how far the infection has spread in the population and to identify individuals who may be immune. Recently, many countries reported their population based antibody titer study results. South Korea recently reported their third antibody formation rate, where it divided the study between the general population and the young male youths in their early twenties. As previously stated, these simple point estimates may be misinterpreted without proper estimation of standard error and confidence intervals. In this article, we provide an updated 95% confidence intervals for COVID-19 antibody formation rate for the Korean population using asymptotic, exact and Bayesian statistical estimation methods. As before, we found that the Wald method gives the narrowest interval among all asymptotic methods whereas mid p-value gives the narrowest among all exact methods and Jeffrey's method gives the narrowest from Bayesian method. The most conservative 95% confidence interval estimation shows that as of 00:00 November 23, 2020, at least 69,524 people were infected but not confirmed. It also shows that more positive cases were found among the young male in their twenties (0.22%), three times that of the general public (0.051%). This thereby calls for the quarantine authorities' need to strengthen quarantine managements for the early twenties in order to find the hidden infected people in the population.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.656-665
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• 2016

Objectives: This study examined the characteristics and related factors by comparing the lifestyles and health behaviors between Korean Seventh-day Adventists and the general population of Korea. Methods: A survey was conducted of 878 people more than 20-years-old Korean Seventh-day Adventists who live in the metropolitan area and 3,000 people more than 20-years-old who live in the metropolitan area in 4th (2nd year) National Health and Nutrition Survey. A comparison of health behaviors related to health screenings, smoking, drinking, physical activity, subjective stress, weight management, and oral health was analyzed using a chi-square test. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the contributing factor to the health behavior. Results: Health screening rates among Korean Seventh-day Adventists were higher than the general population (p<0.001), but Korean Seventh-day Adventists showed lower rates of health screening in the 20-30 ages. Lifetime smoking experience rates and current smoking rates were significantly lower in the Korean Seventh-day Adventists than in the general population (p<0.001). The success rate of smoking cessation among ex-smokers of Korean Seventh-day Adventists were very high. In terms of the drinking rate, Korean Seventh-day Adventists were significantly lower than the general population (p<0.001). The drinking rate of men was higher than women (p<0.001). Moderate physical activity of men were higher than women in Korean Seventh-day Adventists (p<0.001). Conclusion: The lifestyles and health behaviors of Korean Seventh-day Adventists, such as tobacco smoking and alcoholic drinking, were eminently healthier than the general population. Nevertheless, further well-organized studies will be needed.