• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.514-528
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• 2014

This study examined the actual state and future improvement of food allergies in adolescents and adults in order to prevent damage. In this survey, proportions of females, people in their 40s, college graduates, and office workers and housewives with allergies were higher than other groups. Exactly 41.1% of participants responded that they had experienced food allergies while 58.9% responded that they had not. According to their responses, the most common food allergy symptom involved the skin while whole-body allergic reactions were rare. Most respondents answered that frequency of their food allergies was two or three times. There was a variety of allergenic foods, including fast food, eggs, mackerel and milk, and instant food was ranked as the most allergenic food. Therefore, in order to protect consumers from damage caused by food allergens, the food allergen labeling system must be improved. A better food allergen labeling system should be implemented to avoid potential risks of allergic reactions and ensure national food safety.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea CI
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.50-60
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• 2010

For the last half a century, the personal computer and software industries have been prosperous due to the incessant evolution of computer systems. In the 21st century, the embedded system market has greatly increased as the market shifted to the mobile gadget field. While a lot of multimedia gadgets such as mobile phone, navigation system, PMP, etc. are pouring into the market, most industrial control systems still rely on 8-bit micro-controllers and simple application software techniques. Unfortunately, the technological barrier which requires additional investment and higher quality manpower to overcome, and the business risks which come from the uncertainty of the market growth and the competitiveness of the resulting products have prevented the companies in the industry from taking advantage of such fancy technologies. However, high performance, low-power and low-cost hardware and software platforms will enable their high-technology products to be developed and recognized by potential clients in the future. This paper presents such a platform for industrial embedded systems. The platform was designed based on Telechips TCC8300 multimedia processor which embedded a variety of parallel hardware for the implementation of multimedia functions. And open-source Embedded Linux, TinyX and GTK+ are used for implementation of GUI to minimize technology costs. In order to estimate the expected performance and power consumption, the performance improvement and the power consumption due to each of enabled hardware sub-systems including YUV2RGB frame converter are measured. An analytic model was devised to check the feasibility of a new application and trade off its performance and power consumption. The validity of the model has been confirmed by implementing a real target system. The cost can be further mitigated by using the hardware parts which are being used for mass production products mostly in the cell-phone market.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.223-232
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• 2012

Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify the relationship between fish consumption and blood mercury levels in a sample of adult Koreans. Methods: The study subjects were 299 residents of Busan (male: 65, female: 234) and 185 residents of Namhae (male: 69, female: 116), South Korea. Demographic characteristics, current smoking, current drinking, fish consumption per week, past history of amalgam treatment, and residential district were recorded by trained interviewers in June and July, 2009. We considered a portion of fish to be equivalent to 70 gm weight, and calculated amounts of fish consumed per week. Using chi-square tests, t-tests, ANOVA, and multiple linear regression analysis, we estimated the relationships between blood mercury levels and amount of fish consumed per week and other factors. Results: The mean blood mercury level of our subjects was 6.61 ${\mu}g/L$, higher than the criterion defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (5.8 ${\mu}g/L$). In multiple linear regression analysis, residential district and amount of fish consumed per week were associated with blood mercury levels. However, marital status, current drinking, and gender, and age were not associated with blood mercury levels. Conclusions: In conclusion, we suggest the implementation of systematic and periodic population-based studies to decrease the risks of mercury poisoning among South Koreans who consume fish as a regular part of the diet.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.175-187
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• 2009

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate whether joint effects between family allergy history and environmental tobacco smoke(ETS) by parents were associated with pediatric asthma and wheezing. Methods: The study objects of this study were 2301 element school students and their parents in an urban-rural areas of Gyeonggi-do. Pediatric asthma and wheezing were identified by measures of International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaires. We investigated history of parental allergy, ETS, and other socioeconomic status of both parent. Data were analyzed using logistic regression methods. Results: After adjusting other variables, children with maternal asthma history were more likely to be reported life time wheezing (OR: 3.79 95%CI:2.43-5.90), recent wheezing (OR:4.09 95%CI:2.28-7.38), and diagnostic asthma (OR:2.61 95%CI: 1.44-4.75). Paternal asthma history increasing risk of life time wheezing (OR 2.01 95%CI:1.19-3.38) and recent wheezing (OR:2.38 95%CI:1.24-4.56). Joint effect between parental allergy history and ETS significantly effected on child's life time wheezing and recent wheezing. The risks of life time wheezing (OR:2.47 95%CI:1.64-3.717) and recent wheezing (OR: 2.51 95%CI:1.34-4.69) were significantly higher than others without both factors. The risk of recent wheezing of children with maternal recent smoking and parental allergy history (OR:4.83 95%CI:1.89-12.33) was higher than their counterpart. Conclusions: The result of this study implies that children with family allergy history and passive smoking are more likely to be get asthma and wheezing than children with family allergy history and non-passive smoking. This study provide the object information to increase the efficiency of non-smoking campaign and education for decreasing pediatric asthma risk.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.5-35
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• 2004

This research is about the change of the occupation and the income of the subscriber of the medical expenditure due to the economic influence on them. The data of this study are based on 4,215 of medical cost payers among respondents of the survey on "Health and Retirement", which was the fourth additional research of Korea Labor and Income Panel Survey. The main findings of this study are as follows: First, the average medical cost is 5.5% of the income. The ratio of the medical cost to an earned income is highly different between low-income group and high income group. For the low income group, the medical cost reaches up to 1/3 of the total family income. That proves that the medical cost si a heavy burden on them. The group with the high medical expenditure seems to be supported by their own private property and other family members whenever it is needed. But it doesn't show the exact sources of the property, which includes the fund from the interests and real estates. On the other hand, only 14.4% of the subscribers changed their job status on the 5th year, and 85.6% of those kept their job status until the 5th year from the 4th year. This shows that the amount of the medical cost could be the important factor for them to change their job; for example, it is crucial whether the medical expenditure is over the average rate or not. Furthermore, the change of the occupation caused by the medical cost has the negative influence on the gross income. It makes the economic conditions of the family get worse. Therefore, the health insurance in Korea is lack of the compensational function, which substitutes the family income reduced by the change of the job status due to the high medical cost.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2007

Objective: To examine determinants of successful pregnancy and evaluate COH-IVF outcomes of infertile patients after conservative surgical treatment of borderline ovarian tumor (BOT). Methods: In women of BOT (n=93), from January 1995 to December 1999, 44 of 93 women underwent conservative surgical treatment. From theses 44 women, patients characteristics, surgical and histological parameters were compared between 14 women who conceived and 30 women who failed to conceive. For 5 infertile women of 30 women who failed to conceive, 10 attempt IVF cycles were analysed; clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), implantation rate (IR) and live birth rate (LBR). Results: Women who conceived tend to be younger (25.9 vs 27.0 years) and lower serum CA-125 level (59.7 vs 72.9) compared to women who failed to conceive without significant difference. For 8 cycles out of 10 attempt IVF cycles, except for 2 cancellation cycles, the mean number of oocytes retrieved was 5.6 (range 2$\sim$16) with a mean fertilization rate of 74.4%. The CPR, IR and LBR per embryo transfer were 50.0% (4/8 cycles), 31.6% (6/19) and 50.0% (4/8 cycles) respectively. During the mean follow-up period after COH-IVF initiation, 29.6 (range 14$\sim$61) months, no recurrence was found. Conclusion: No determinant of successful pregnancy was found after conservative treatment for BOT. COH-IVF may be considered for infertile patients after conservative treatment of BOT. However, larger clinical studies with longer follow-up are necessary to evaluate the safety and efficacy of COH-IVF. All patients should be informed of the potential risks associated with ovarian hyperstimulation and close follow-up is necessary after COH-IVF.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.839-844
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• 2009

This experiment was conducted to evaluate pollen viability of Nakdongbyeo, transgenic rice lines, an F$_1$ hybrid from a cross between Milyang weedy rice and ABC-promoter transgenic rice line containing basta-resistant (bar) gene and subsequent selfed progenies, F$_2$ and F$_3$. The reaction of pollen with 3-{4,5 dimethylthiazolyl-2}-2,5-diphenyl monotetrazolium bromide (MTT) as a staining chemical immediately after pollen shedding showed maximum pollen viability of 86% in Nakdongbeyo, 75% in ABC-promoter transgenic rice line, 62% in ubiquitin-promoter transgenic line, 68% in F$_1$, 79% in F$_2$ and 78% in F$_3$. Viability gradually declined during subsequent observations at 20-minute intervals. However, there was a drastic decline in pollen viability after 40 minutes of pollen shedding. The mean difference of pollen viability among rice lines and time was highly significant, indicating significantly different pollen viabilities at different time intervals. Maximum viability of 36.2% was observed in F$_3$ and minimum viability of 3.5% was found in F$_2$ at 90 min after pollen shedding. Results of this experiment on pollen viability and longevity elucidate potential risks of pollen-mediated flow of herbicide-resistant gene from transgenic rice lines and possible integration of it into the weedy rice population.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.225-230
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• 2008

Diabetes mellitus is the fifth leading cause of death among Koreans. Control of hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia is strongly correlated with decrease in risks for cardiovascular diseases, the most common and fatal diabetic complication. The effects of chronic feeding of a mixture of Chinese herbs on blood lipid profile were measured in an animal model of type 2 diabetes mellitus, db/db mice (C57BL/Ks). The Chinese herb mixture was composed of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer,Astragalus membranaceus, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Lycium chinense, Morus, Pueraria thunbergiana, Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina, Acanthopanax sessiliflorus, Schizandra chinensis, Scutellaria baicalensis, Dioscorea batatas, Polygonatum doratumvar. pluriflorum, Paeonia lactiflora, and Rehmannia glutinosa in a ratio of 1 : 0.7 : 0.4 : 0.7 :0.4 : 0.7 : 1.1 : 0.9 : 0.4 : 0.4 : 0.7 :0.7 : 0.9 : 0.9. Methanol extract of the Chinese herb mixture was tested for the inhibitory activity against yeast ${\alpha}$-glucosidase in vitro. The Chinese herb mixture extract inhibited ${\alpha}$-glucosidase by 25.2% at the concentration of 0.5mg/mL. Four weekold male db/db mice (n = 14) were fed AIN-93G semipurified diet or diet containing 10% powder of the Chinese herb mixture for 6 weeks after 1 week of adaptation period. Body weight (39.5 ${\pm}$ 1.6 g) and food intake (4.3 ${\pm}$ 0.6 g/day) of the Chinese herb group were not significantly different from those of the control group (40.4 ${\pm}$ 2.6 g and 4.5 ${\pm}$ 0.6 g/day). Consumption of Chinese herb mixture significantly decreased plasma glucose level (442.5 ${\pm}$ 36.0mg/dL) compared with the control group (489.8 ${\pm}$ 34.6 mg/dL, p < 0.05). Plasma cholesterol level (159.2 ${\pm}$ 18.4 mg/dL) of the Chinese herb group was significantly lower than that of the control group (185.4 ${\pm}$ 13.7 mg/dL, p < 0.05). Blood glycated hemoglobin (6.3 ${\pm}$ 0.8%) and plasma triglyceride levels (99.4 ${\pm}$ 15.0mg/dL) of the Chinese herb group were not significantly different from those of the control group (6.7 ${\pm}$ 0.7% and 108.8 ${\pm}$ 11.0mg/dL). Thus, the Chinese herb mixture could be useful in the treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular complications of diabetes.

• The Korean Journal of Financial Management
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.27-63
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• 2004

Since the 1980s, many multinational corporations have been issuing stocks on foreign stock exchanges, not only to enhance their investor base and liquidity, but also to diversify risks. The phenomenon has also been intensified by the rapid financial globalization and securitization trends. The main purpose of this study is to look into the long-run performance of MNCs' cross-listings of stocks on foreign stock exchanges. We use the event study and cross-sectional regression methods. We obtained some interesting empirical results about the long-run effect of cross-listings. First before the listing data the effect of cross-listing is to increase the underlying stock Vice in the local market. It may be caused by expectation of lower risk and cost of capital. However, after the listing data the stock price has been declining, even if it is not significant. Second, we examine the difference in the long-run cross-listing effect, which may be caused by the listing direction. When listing is made from a less developed market to a more developed market, the effect is better than that in the reverse direction. Furthermore, the effect is worse, when the listing company's home country is the U.S. Third, there is a negative relation between CARs and underlying stock liquidity in the local market, So it implies that a firm, whose underlying stocks are very liquid in the local market should carefully value cross-listing based upon the cost and benefit analysis. Last, but not the least we find that the long-un cross-listing effect is better, when a listing firm's ROE is higher.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.38C no.9
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• pp.822-829
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• 2013

Hypertension is one of the most common clinical diseases, with an increasing prevalence globally. Hypertension triggers various harmful consequences and affects multiple organs. Life-long care may be required in some cases. According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of hypertension is gradually increasing. A 2011 survey revealed that 28.9% of Korean adults had hypertension. The prevalence rates were slightly higher among men than women. Accurate measurement of blood pressure(BP) is crucial to classify patients, to identify BP-related risks, and to inform correct treatment. For accurate blood pressure measurement, the use of a cuff bladder size appropriate for the mid-upper arm circumference(MUAC) is essential. Incorrect sized cuff bladder is one of the main causes of equipment error affecting sphygmomanometer accuracy. When commercial sphygmomanometers were examined, the cuff bladders differed from the dimensions specified in the ISO 81060-1:2007 standards. Undercuffing is responsible for a spurious overestimation of BP in patients with large arms leading to overdiagnosis of hypertension, whereas overcuffing (that is, use of relatively large cuffs with small arms), may be responsible for an opposite problem, leading to erroneous underestimation of BP levels. The cuff bladder sizes recommended by the American Heart Association(AHA) are an arm circumference(AC) of 17-25 cm for small-sized adults, AC of 24-32 cm for adults, AC of 32-42 cm for normal-sized adults, and AC of 42-50 cm for obese adults. In contrast, the AC of Korean adults ranges from 23-31 cm, belonging to a single type of adult bladder. Three types of bladders are necessary for Korean adults with an AC of 23-31cm. Hospitals often use one or two differently-sized Western cuffs for adult patients, which can yield inaccurate BP determinations. Cuff bladders with dimensions based on anthropometric reference data obtained from Koreans will aid hospitals to measure BP more accurately.