• 한국노년학
• /
• v.39 no.2
• /
• pp.363-388
• /
• 2019

This study examined the influence of subjective age on subjective well-being and depression, and the mediating effect of meaning in life. A survey of 394 adults aged 40 or older completed a questionnaire concerning subjective age perception, meaning in life, subjective well-being, and depression. The main results are summarized as follows. First, the analysis of subjective age according to the sociodemographic variables showed that middle-aged and elderly people, who were highly educated and had good perceived health status, felt themselves younger than their counterparts did. Second, a young subjective age had a positive effect on meaning in life and subjective well-being while negatively influencing depression. Third, meaning in life significantly mediated the relationship among subjective age, subjective well-being, and depression. In other words, the younger the middle- and old-aged adults perceived themselves, the more meaning they found in life, which led to higher subjective well-being and lower depression. These findings suggest that, as people get older, perceiving themselves as younger than their chronological age can protect their mental health, and meaning in life plays an important role in the process.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.111-125
• /
• 2012

The total fertility rate of our nation has been in the world's lowest level with constant falling since it reached an all-time low in 1983. The increase in economic participation of women, difficulties to balance work and family life, and traditional gender role and family norms in our society have been blamed for causing low birth rates. In addition, the current economic recession and increased polarization of wealth make it more difficult for working families to balance work and family life, resulting in lowering fertility rates. The Korean government has recently prepared the second five-year basic plan(2011-2015) to deal with low fertility and population ageing. The basic plan aims at providing support for working families in balancing work and family life and helping people ease the burden of marriage, childbirth, and raising their children. The work-family balance policies based on gender equality will do much to increase fertility rates in the future. In this context, this study examined current status and problems of balancing work and family life in our society, the Korean government and corporate policies for work-family balance, and the effects of policies on childbirth. Suggestions for future directions are presented.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.56 no.10
• /
• pp.569-574
• /
• 2023

Aberrant DNA methylation plays a pivotal role in the onset and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC), a disease with high incidence and mortality rates in Korea. Several CRC-associated diagnostic and prognostic methylation markers have been identified; however, due to a lack of comprehensive clinical and methylome data, these markers have not been validated in the Korean population. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to obtain the CRC methylation profile using 172 tumors and 128 adjacent normal colon tissues of Korean patients with CRC. Based on the comparative methylome analysis, we found that hypermethylated positions in the tumor were predominantly concentrated in CpG islands and promoter regions, whereas hypomethylated positions were largely found in the open-sea region, notably distant from the CpG islands. In addition, we stratified patients by applying the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) to the tumor methylome data. This stratification validated previous clinicopathological implications, as tumors with high CIMP signatures were significantly correlated with the proximal colon, higher prevalence of microsatellite instability status, and MLH1 promoter methylation. In conclusion, our extensive methylome analysis and the accompanying dataset offers valuable insights into the utilization of CRC-associated methylation markers in Korean patients, potentially improving CRC diagnosis and prognosis. Furthermore, this study serves as a solid foundation for further investigations into personalized and ethnicity-specific CRC treatments.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.151-160
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this study is to suggest problems and directions for improvement, focusing on the master's course at the Graduate School of Education, among the career guidance counselor training programs. First, in the case of career education counseling major education graduate school fostering system, ① 3 universities in Seoul, 2 in Gyeonggi-do, 1 in Incheon, 1 in Gangwon, 1 in Daegu, 1 in Jeonbuk, 3 in Chungnam, and 1 in Chungbuk, a total of 13 Opened in 20 universities. ② Most schools operate in a dual system. ③ As a major in career counseling, there is a maximum of 26 courses and a minimum of 10 courses for the master's course in the graduate school of education. Second, what are the problems and improvement directions of the career counseling graduate school training system? ① It is necessary to prepare a standardized curriculum. ② It is necessary to operate education to strengthen connection with the local community. ③ There is a need to resolve the level gap between the 13 graduate schools of education and the lack of faculty members at some universities. ④ Career education policy department of the Ministry of Education needs to periodically evaluate 13 education graduate schools. ⑤ The role of the career policy department of the Ministry of Education is to establish a mid- too long-term plan at the national level considering the demand and supply of career guidance counselors nationwide. ⑥ It is desirable to dualize the way to obtain a career guidance counselor license as it is now.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.25-31
• /
• 2023

The dispute over the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea has been sharply opposed since the U.N. commander set it in August 1953 with the aim of preventing accidental armed conflict between the two Koreas in the waters of the Korean Peninsula. In 2022, for the first time since the division, North Korea made a missile provocation beyond the NLL. The purpose of this study is to identify how the research on the NLL, which is under way by North Korea's actual provocation, has been conducted and to suggest a direction to proceed. This study examined the trend of research using a total of five academic information DBs, including RISS and Scholar, focusing on academic papers studied on NLL from 1998 to 2023. As a result of examining the current status of each year, field, and research method, significant differences in research volume were identified according to the government's relationship with North Korea, and the research field had the most introduction of the concept of NLL and historical background, confirming the need to expand to more diverse fields to have international legal justification and justification for the NLL, considering the changing international environment according to the logic of power. In terms of final research methods, most of them were literature studies, so the need for quantitative research using interviews, surveys, and big data was also found. It is hoped that the analysis results of this paper will play a positive role in setting the research direction for the international response of the NLL in the future amid the interests of the international political environment that is still ongoing.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.952-961
• /
• 2024

Objective: Stocking density (SD) is an important issue in the poultry industry, which is related to the production performance, intestinal health and immune status. In the present study, the effects of SD on the metabolism and homeostasis of uric acid as well as the related functions of the liver and kidney in ducks were examined. Methods: A total of 360 healthy 56-day-old Shan-ma ducks were randomly divided into the low stocking density (n = 60, density = 5 birds/m²), medium stocking density (n = 120, density = 10 birds/m²) and high stocking density groups (HSD; n = 180, density = 15 birds/m²). Samples were collected in the 3rd, 6th, and 9th weeks of the experiment for analysis. Results: The serum levels of uric acid, lipopolysaccharide and inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1β [IL-1β], IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α]) were increased significantly in the HSD group. Serious histopathological lesions could be seen in both the livers and kidneys in the HSD group in the 9th week. The mRNA expression levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-8 and TNF-α) and related pathway components (toll-like receptor 4, myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88, and nuclear factor-κB) were increased significantly in both the livers and kidneys in the HSD group. The mRNA expression levels of enzymes (adenosine deaminase, xanthine oxidase, phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate amidotransferase, and phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase 1) related to the synthesis of uric acid increased significantly in the livers in the HSD group. However, the mRNA expression level of solute carrier family 2 member 9, which plays an important role in the excretion of uric acid by the kidney, was decreased significantly in the kidneys in the HSD group. Conclusion: These results indicated that a higher SD could cause tissue inflammatory lesions in the liver and kidney and subsequently affect the metabolism and homeostasis of uric acid, and is helpful for guiding decisions related to the breeding and production of ducks.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.21-28
• /
• 2024

This study analyzed the current status of care policies and senior citizen issues in Korea, which has entered a super-aging society, and attempted to suggest improvement measures for desirable convergence policies. The problems of the elderly in Korea have emerged as health problems, poverty problems, loss of roles, and care problems due to changes in the concept of family, values, and socioeconomic structure. In addition, poor seniors need jobs and employment policies, and healthy middle-class seniors need policy development to enable leisure activities and volunteer activities. In particular, it is necessary to establish policies to enable people to spend the rest of their lives in elderly care facilities and elderly care hospitals through community care policies. The super-aging society accounts for more than 20% of the total population among those aged 65 or older, and according to the National Statistical Office, it is expected to become a super-aging society by 2025. Elderly welfare policies must provide various programs and the needs and services of elderly care, and in the future, a super-aging society will need to secure a lot of financial resources and maintain a productive population to cover the financial resources. In other words, the human life cycle is from birth to death, and when the ratio of natural deaths of the elderly and infants born is appropriate, the society and the country can be seen as stable, vibrant, and healthy societies.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.117-137
• /
• 2024

ESG has become a necessity for all companies, and major Korean banks are actively practicing ESG management. Banks are playing a role in providing ESG finance as intermediaries in the supply of funds. Recently, they have launched ESG digital banking products that offer preferential interest rates for eco-friendly activities in combination with digital technologies. However, indiscriminate provision of preferential interest rates can adversely affect profitability of banks, and they may face the problem of 'Greenwashing' if they do not contribute to improving environmental awareness. Therefore, this study selected ESG digital savings products linked to electricity savings as the subject of the study, and empirically analyzed consumers' environmental awareness and savings behavior through actual data of consumers (N=2,478). The main findings of this study are as follows First, the analysis of the consumer status of ESG digital banking products shows that the 30-50s are the main consumer base, and the MZ generation shows relatively high performance in achieving preferential interest rates through electricity saving practices. Second, consumers' environmental awareness has a significant impact on achieving the goals of ESG banking products. ESG banking products can contribute to environmental awareness while fulfilling the basic function of saving. Third, environmental awareness did not drive consumers' savings contribution behavior, suggesting the need for continued consumer engagement. Based on environmental awareness and the theory of saving behavior, this study provides a theoretical explanation in ESG financial products. The results suggest that the appropriateness of the preferential interest rate design of ESG financial products is important.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2024

Purpose: Lycopene is abundantly contained in Tomatoes and is known for diverse biological activities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects. In this study, the antioxidative potential of lycopene was investigated through the induction of hemeoxygenase (HO)-1 by nuclear factor-erythroid 2 p45-related factor2 (Nrf2) and upstream signaling molecules, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Aktin RAW 264.7 cells. Methods: The antioxidative potential of lycopene against oxidative stress and its molecular mechanisms were determined by the cell viability assay, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation assay, and Western blot analysis in RAW 264.7 cells. Results: Lycopene treatment significantly attenuated tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP) induced intracellular ROS formation in a dose-dependent manner without any cytotoxicity. In addition, 50 µM of lycopene for 6 h treatment induced potent HO-1 expression and its transcription factor, Nrf2. MAPK and PI3K/Aktwere also analyzed due to their critical roles in the regulation of cellular redox homeostasis against oxidative damage. As a result, phosphorylation of extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) was significantly induced by lycopene treatment while the activated status of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), p38, and Akt, were not given any effect. To confirm the antioxidative mechanism of HO-1 mediated by ERK activation, each selective inhibitor was employed in a protection assay, in which oxidative damage occurred by t-BHP. Lycopene, SnPP, and CoPP treatments reflected accelerated HO-1 expression could be a protective role against oxidative damage-initiated cell death. A selective inhibitor for ERK significantly inhibited the lycopene-induced cytoprotective effect but selective inhibitors for other signaling molecules did not attenuate the rate of t-BHP-induced cell death. Conclusion: In conclusion, lycopene potently scavenged intracellular ROS formation and enhanced the HO-1 mediated antioxidative potential through the modulation of Nrf2, MAPK signaling pathway in RAW 264.7 cells.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.342-355
• /
• 2023

Background and Objectives: Osteoblasts are derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) and play important role in bone remodeling. While our previous studies have investigated the cell subtypes and heterogeneity in osteoblasts and BMMSCs separately, cell-to-cell communications between osteoblasts and BMMSCs in vivo in humans have not been characterized. The aim of this study was to investigate the cellular communication between human primary osteoblasts and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Methods and Results: To investigate the cell-to-cell communications between osteoblasts and BMMSCs and identify new cell subtypes, we performed a systematic integration analysis with our single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) transcriptomes data from BMMSCs and osteoblasts. We successfully identified a novel preosteoblasts subtype which highly expressed ATF3, CCL2, CXCL2 and IRF1. Biological functional annotations of the transcriptomes suggested that the novel preosteoblasts subtype may inhibit osteoblasts differentiation, maintain cells to a less differentiated status and recruit osteoclasts. Ligand-receptor interaction analysis showed strong interaction between mature osteoblasts and BMMSCs. Meanwhile, we found FZD1 was highly expressed in BMMSCs of osteogenic differentiation direction. WIF1 and SFRP4, which were highly expressed in mature osteoblasts were reported to inhibit osteogenic differentiation. We speculated that WIF1 and sFRP4 expressed in mature osteoblasts inhibited the binding of FZD1 to Wnt ligand in BMMSCs, thereby further inhibiting osteogenic differentiation of BMMSCs. Conclusions: Our study provided a more systematic and comprehensive understanding of the heterogeneity of osteogenic cells. At the single cell level, this study provided insights into the cell-to-cell communications between BMMSCs and osteoblasts and mature osteoblasts may mediate negative feedback regulation of osteogenesis process.