• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.77-97
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• 1994

Despite the fact that the national family planning program in korea has accomplished its primary goals of fertility reduction and universal contraceptive use, the induced abortion is still high and there has been an increasing trend in the population sex ratio at birth. It seems that the changes in the imbalance of sex ratio have originated from traditonal boy preference. This indicates that much of the current family planning program can be overhauled, so that the program quality could be better controlled, by preventing the number of unwanted pregnancies and the imbalance of sex ratios. This paper aims, therefore, to examine the determinants of induced abortion through the investigation of pregnancy outcomes and their changes over time and to study the interaction between induced abortion, boy preference and the imbalance of sex ratio in Korea. The abortion rate had increased rapidly until the mid-1980s when there were about the same number of abortions as live births. Thereafter, the abortion rate has been maintained at this high level. By parity it shows a much higher abortion rate for a higher parity at all time. From the first parity, the sex composition of previous children stands out as the most important factor in deciding the pregnancy outcome at all time. The probability of a pregnancy ending in an abortion increases substantially when parents already had a son. The decline of the desired family size and the sustained strong son preference has made the sex of children a more important factor in the determination of the pregnancy outcome. Women's education has had consistently positive effects on the probability of a pregnancy ending in an abortion, but the effect shows a steady decline over time. The premarital pregnancy and urban residence also increase the abortion probability. This study suggests that the main concerns of the family planning program should be to strengthen the social support policies so as to weaken the son preference value leading to a balanced sex ratio and prevention of induced abortions.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.65-96
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• 1997

The main purpose of this study is to explore the determinants of sex ratio imbalance at birth in Taegu which has experienced the extremely imbalanced sex ratio at birth since mid-1980s. This paper attempts to compare the determinants of sex ratio imbalance at birth, such as sex discrimination against women, son preference, prenatal sex identification followes by sex-selective induced abortions, among married women aged 25 to 44 in Taegu with those in Bay area, California in USA. The research is based on the survey data which were conducted in Taegu, Repulic of Korea and Bay area, California in USA. The findings of this analysis suggest that married women in Taegu are more likely to feel sex discrimination against women than married women in Bay area. Furthermore, the percentage of married women's effort for son bearing before pregnancy is much higher than that of married women in Bay area. We also have found that the percentage of sex-selective induced abortion in Taegu is six times higher than that of married women in Bay area. According to the logistic regression analysis, the determinants of sex-selective induced abortion among married women in Taegu are discrimination against women, son preference, prenatal sex identification. On the other hand, age is the only variable which has an important impact on sex-selective induced abortion among married women in Bay area. From the findings of this study, we can conclude that son preference based on Cofucianism is the most important impact on sex ratio imbalance at birth in Taegu where son preference is much stronger than other regions in Korea. The phenomenon of extremely imbalanced sex ratio at birth in Taegu is the result of combination of these factors, such as strong son preference, seeking to have at least one son within small family size, and prenatal sex identification followed by sex-selective induced abortion.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.365-373
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• 2009

Since 1990, identifying the sex of fetus and illegal abortion has brought the sex ratio imbalance at birth in Korea due to a notion of preferring a son to a daughter, socio-economic development, population policy, and so forth. Although there have been many researches such as time series analysis and region difference analysis to monitor this sex ratio imbalance, they have a defect that time and space could not be included in the analysis simultaneously. This study analyzes the sex ratio imbalance at birth, taking into account time and region at the same time. The analysis considered the numbers of male and female babies, who were born as the third or latter in their families, in 2000 and 2001 at 234 Gu / Si / Goon administrative districts. Here, we suggest a mixture model of binomial distributions, assuming heterogeneous populations. The estimation of the location parameters, weights and correlation coefficient of the mixture model is conducted by the EM algorithm, and the heterogeneity of the regions is expressed as a picture using ArcView GIS.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.335-342
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• 2018

The incidence and mortality of various cancers are associated with sex-specific disparities. Sex differences in cancer epidemiology are one of the most significant findings. Men are more prone to die from cancer, particularly hematological malignancies. Sex difference in cancer incidence is attributed to regulation at the genetic/molecular level and sex hormones such as estrogen. At the genetic/molecular level, gene polymorphism and altered enzymes involving drug metabolism generate differences in cancer incidence between men and women. Sex hormones modulate gene expression in various cancers. Genetic or hormonal differences between men and women determine the effect of chemotherapy. Until today, animal studies and clinical trials investigating chemotherapy showed sex imbalance. Chemotherapy has been used without consideration of sex differences, resulting in disparity of efficacy and toxicity between sexes. Based on accumulating evidence supporting sex differences in chemotherapy, all clinical trials in cancer must incorporate sex differences for a better understanding of biological differences between men and women. In the present review, we summarized the sex differences in (1) incidence and mortality of cancer, (2) genetic and molecular basis of cancer, (3) sex hormones in cancer incidence, and (4) efficacy and toxicity of chemotherapy. This review provides useful information for sex-based chemotherapy and development of personalized therapeutic strategies against cancer.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.671-679
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• 2021

House ownership is considered as one of the important pre-conditions for marriage in China. Given that gender imbalance is a prominent issue in the country, competition for marriage partners might motivate males to look for a house and probably bigger and more expensive house. This is believed to have caused house price hikes in recent years. This study aims to investigate the impact of gender imbalance on house prices using data from 30 provinces in China for the 2000-2017 period. The results based on the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimations show that house price is strongly influenced by gender imbalance. However, there is no evidence to support differential effects across eastern and mid-western regions. One potential reason is that pre-marriage house ownership has become a common culture for the whole community and therefore it does not vary significantly across regions. There are several important policy implications. Firstly, the issues should be addressed by the policymakers at national level and not regional level. Secondly, the government should intervene to bring back gender ratio to its normal level. Finally, the government should limit the number of houses people can buy and increase the supply of houses in the market.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.129-135
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• 2013

Aggression can be defined as 'behavior intended to harm another' which can be seen both from humans and animals. However, trying to understand aggression in a simplistic view may make it difficult to develop an integrated approach. So, we tried to explain aggression in a multidisciplinary approach, affected by various factors such as neuroanatomical structures, neurotransmitter, genes, and sex hormone. Parallel with animal models, human aggression can be understood with two phenomena, offensive aggression and defensive aggression. Neurobiological model of aggression give a chance to explain aggression with an imbalance between prefrontal regulatory influences and hyper-reactivity of the subcortical areas involved in affective evaluation, finally in an aspect of brain organization. Serotonin and GABA usually inhibit aggression and norepinephrine while glutamate and dopamine precipitate aggressive behavior. As there is no one gene which has been identified as a cause of aggression, functions between gene to gene interaction and gene to environment interaction are being magnified. Contributions of sex hormone to aggression, especially molecular biologic interaction of testosterone and regulation of estrogen receptor have been emphasized during the research on aggression. This multidisciplinary approach on aggression with types, neurochemical bases, and animal models can bring integrated interpretation on aggression.

• Osteoporosis and Sarcopenia
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.117-122
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• 2017

Sarcopenia is the degenerative loss of muscle mass and function with aging. Recently sarcopenia was recognized as a clinical disease by the International Classification of Disease, 10th revision, Clinical Modification. An imbalance between protein synthesis and degradation causes a gradual loss of muscle mass, resulting in a decline of muscle function as a progress of sarcopenia. Many mechanisms involved in the onset of sarcopenia include age-related factors as well as activity-, disease-, and nutrition-related factors. The stage of sarcopenia reflecting the severity of conditions assists clinical management of sarcopenia. It is important that systemic descriptions of the disease conditions include age, sex, and other environmental risk factors as well as levels of physical function. To develop a new therapeutic intervention needed is the detailed understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms by which apoptosis, autophagy, atrophy, and hypertrophy occur in the muscle stem cells, myotubes, and/or neuromuscular junction. The new strategy to managing sarcopenia will be signal-modulating small molecules, natural compounds, repurposing of old drugs, and muscle-specific microRNAs.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.260-273
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• 2010

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of married Korean women regarding marriage and childbirth, and their awareness of childbirth-related issues such as low birth rates, sex preferences and sex imbalances in Korea. Methods: A total of 453 married women aged 20 or older were randomly selected from four urban districts and five rural districts out of 25 districts in Gyeongju, a consolidated city located in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, South Korea. The survey was conducted from December 2005 to February 2006. A total of 392 out of 453 questionnaires(86.5% response rate) were collected, and 44 incomplete questionnaires were excluded, leaving 348 completed questionnaires to be used for data analysis. Age was divided into three groups as below 49, 50-69, 70 or older. Results: Women's perceptions of marriage were associated with age(p<0.01). Perceptions about childbirth were also significantly related to age(p<0.01), type of residential area (p<0.01) and education level(p<0.05). Sex preferences were significantly related to age(p<0.05) and occupation(p<0.01). Of the respondents aged 49 or younger, 34.8% indicated that the ideal number of children is two, while 25.5% of respondents aged 50 to 69 and 15.3% of respondents aged 70 and 33.7% of respondents aged 70 or older considered four children to be the ideal number. Perceptions of sex imbalance were significantly related to socioeconomic status(p<0.01) and occupation(p<0.01). The largest number of respondents cited "economic burden" as the main reason for low birth rates. Multiple logistic regressions were performed for all three age groups using male sex preference as the dependent variable under the assumption that respondents can have only a single child. Socioeconomic status (p<0.01) and residential area (p<0.05) were significant variables for those aged 49 or below. Education level(p<0.05) and residential area (p<0.01) were statistically significant variables on preferring son in case of having only one child for respondents aged 50 to 69. We did not detect any significant independent variables in respondents who were 70 or older. Conclusions: Our results highlight the necessity of developing policies and public education programs to explain the consequences of low birth rates and sex imbalances in Korea. As increasing numbers of women work outside the home, it is important for the government and employers to provide social and working environments where women do not consider marriage and childbirth to be obstacles to social and business activities.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.377-390
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• 2023

Purpose: Diabetes mellitus (DM) causes body fluid imbalance because of hyperglycemia, but there is a lack of research on the relationship between DM and body fluid imbalance in the Korean population. This study compared the differences in body fluid composition and dietary intake between individuals with type 2 DM (T2DM) and a normal control (NC) group without the disease. Methods: In this study, 36 subjects with T2DM and 21 without diabetes were divided into the T2DM and NC groups. The subjects were divided into four subgroups to assess differences in body fluid volume according to sex: men T2DM group (n = 24), men NC group (n = 9), women T2DM group (n = 12), and women NC group (n = 12). The body fluid composition was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis, including intracellular water (ICW), extracellular water (ECW), total body water (TBW), ECW/ICW, and ECW/TBW. Nutrient intake was evaluated using their dietary records. Results: The results showed that the ECW/ICW and the ECW/TBW were significantly higher in the T2DM group compared to the NC group. Both men and women in the T2DM group showed significantly higher ECW/ICW and ECW/TBW than the respective NC group. The T2DM group had a higher carbohydrate, dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, sodium, and potassium intake per 1,000 kcal and lower total daily energy, fat, and cholesterol intake per 1,000 kcal than the NC group. Conclusion: These results suggest a positive association between T2DM and body fluid imbalance. This study can be used widely as basic data for the evaluation and diagnosis of diabetic complications in the future.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.229-234
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• 2016

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the demographic patterns of maxillofacial prosthetic treatment to identify the characteristics and geographic distribution of patients with maxillofacial prosthetics in the capital region of Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS. This retrospective analytical multicenter study was performed by chart reviews. This study included patients who visited the department of prosthodontics at four university dental hospitals for maxillofacial prosthetic rehabilitation. Patients with facial and congenital defects or with insufficient medical data were excluded. The patients were classified into three categories based on the location of the defect. Patients' sex, age, and residential area were analyzed. Pearson's chi-square test with a significance level of 0.05 was used to analyze the variables. RESULTS. Among 540 patients with maxillofacial prosthetics, there were 284 (52.59%) male patients and 256 (47.41%) female patients. The number of the patients varied greatly by hospital. Most patients were older than 70, and the most common defect was a hard palate defect. Chi-square analysis did not identify any significant differences in sex, age, and distance to hospital for any defect group (P>.05). CONCLUSION. The results of this study indicated that there was imbalance in the distribution of patients with maxillofacial prosthetic among the hospitals in the capital region of Korea. Considerations on specialists and insurance policies for the improvement of maxillofacial prosthetics in Korea are required.