• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.160-174
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• 2005

Despite the decrease in the number of children due to low birth rate, the domestic children's apparel market has been achieving steady growth as family income is rising thanks to more opportunities for working women, parents spend more on their children, and they prefer brand products that make their children look special. In addition, the market is suffering from hard competition as large enterprises have joined the race. The present study purposed to survey the children's apparel market in Korea, which is in a transitional period, and to contribute to the development of the market with Korean brands. For this purpose, we analyzed the characteristics of children's apparel brands in the 21st century based on the current state of the domestic children's apparel market and, based on the findings, forecasted the future trend of children's apparel brands, suggested improvements for expected problems, proposed standards for coping with changes such as diversification, high quality and differentiation in the children's apparel market, and provided consumers with information on how to purchase products. According to the result of analyzing the characteristics of children's apparel brands in the 21st century, brands are categorized largely into four types - life cultural brands, functional product brands, character brands and brands advancing to China. Life cultural brands equipped with all necessities for children are expanding, and with the deepening social problems of environmental pollution and the reduction of the child population, functional products made of environment-friendly materials are spreading widely, targeting infants and children. Furthermore, for extending age targets and diversifying products, children's apparel is using characters. The use of characters is expected to have a considerable effect on the growth of brands because children are more subjective as consumers than before and they are more easily persuaded with characters. Domestic children's apparel brands advancing to China have a high expectation of success in overcoming the limitation of the local market that has reached its peak and growing into global brands. Korean apparel makers are struggling to overcome the depressed domestic market, to recover consumers' consumption, to cope with market opening, to pursue high value of sensibility and to expand the seniors' market, etc. In this situation, future trends of children's apparel brands will be the expansion of family brands, brand totalization, quality price, niche market (pre-teen market), etc. In response to these trends, we made the following suggestions for improvement. 1. Children's apparel brands are evolving into family brands as well as into total brands through voluming. Today, however, apparel makers are advancing to the children's apparel market with the concept of adults' apparel and, as a result, children's apparel is merely adults' apparel of reduced size, having problems in design, color and materials. Thus, apparel makers must develop design considering the wide range of size and the characteristics of children's apparel, strengthen sourcing abilities to create revenues, and make thorough survey of customers to find common denominators between adults' apparel and children's apparel considering that characteristic that the target class is different from the buyer class. Furthermore, they must make active investments in human resources, develop outstanding products through advanced planning and design, and support marketing techniques and management systems to stores. 2. As the declining birth rate will continue to have a negative effect on the market, it may be difficult to expand the market size but there is still a margin for growth through high-sensibility and high-quality products. The competitiveness of brands is determined by their market shares. Accordingly, concepts should be specialized according to lifestyle, customers' diverse needs should be satisfied, and cross-coordination should be achieved within a brand. 3. Considering Korean parents who do not spare investment in their children despite shrinking consumption, functional products must be high value-added goods that can enhance efficiency. However, in the current situation of the infants' apparel industry where a textile manufacturer supply its products to multiple brands, it is difficult to develop unique products only based on materials. Thus, it is considered urgent to appeal to consumers not by relying on materials only but by finding methods of applying their own characters to children's dress.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.57-65
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• 2016

Maeul-soop(Village forest) is a key element of Korean traditional village landscape historically and culturally. However, a number of Maeul-soops have been lost or declined due to various influences since the modern age. For this Maeul-soop that has a variety of conservation values including historical, cultural and ecological ones, attention and efforts for a systematic conservation and restoration of Maeul-soop are needed. The purpose of the present study is to provide information on ecological restoration and sustainable use and management of Maeul-soops based on component plant species, habitat and location characteristics of 499 Maeul-soops spread throughout Korea. Major six categories of threat factors to Maeul-soop ecosystem were identified and the influence of each factor was evaluated. For the evaluation of weight by threat factors for the influence on the vulnerability of Maeul-soop ecosystem, more three-dimensional analysis was conducted using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis method. In the results of evaluation using AHP analysis method, reduction of area, among six categories, was spotted as the biggest threat to existence of Maeul-soops. Next, changes in topography and soil environment were considered as a threat factor of qualitative changes in Maeul-soop ecosystem. Influence of vegetation structure and its qualitative changes on the loss or decline of Masul-soop was evaluated to be lower than that of changes in habitat. Based on weight of each factor, the figures were converted with 100 points being the highest score and the evaluation of vulnerability of Maeul-soop was conducted with the converted figures. In the result of evaluation of vulnerability of Maeul-soops, grade III showed the highest frequency and a normal distribution was formed from low grade to high grade. 38 Maeul-soops were evaluated as grade I which showed high naturality and 10 Maeul-soops were evaluated as grade V as their maintenance was threatened. Also in the results of evaluation of vulnerability of each Maeul-soop, restoration of Maeul-soop's own area was found as top priority to guarantee the sustainability of Maeul-soops. It was confirmed that there was a need to prepare a national level ecological response strategy for each vulnerability factor of Maeul-soop, which was important national ecological resources.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.1159-1165
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• 2006

Our preliminary study showed that genistein and daidzein improved blood glucose level in type 2 diabetic mice by enhancing the glucose and lipid metabolism. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether genistein and daidzein are associated with alterations in antioxidant defense mechanism of type 2 diabetic mice. Male C57BL/KsJ-db/db (db/db) mice and age-matched non-diabetic littermates (db/+) were used in this study. The db/db mice were divided into control, genistein (0.02%, w/w) and daidzein (0.02%, w/w) groups. The relative weights of liver, epididymal adipose tissue and perirenal adipose tissue were significantly higher in the db/db group than in the db/+ group, whereas heart weight was lower. The genistein and daidzein supplement did not affect the organ weights in db/db mice. The blood glucose level was positively correlated with superoxide dismutase (SOD, r=0.380, p<0.05) and catalase (CAT, r=0.345, p<0.05) activities and negatively correlated with glutathione peroxidase (GSH Px, r= 0.404, p<0.05) activity in erythrocyte. Therefore, the erythrocyte SOD and CAT activities were significantly elevated in the db/db group compared to the db/+ group and the GSH-Px activity was lowered. However, the supplementation of genistein and daidzein reversed erythrocyte CAT and GSH-Px activities in type 2 diabetic mice. In this current study, the SOD activities in liver, kidney and heart were significantly not different between the groups. The CAT and GSH-Px activities in liver and GSH-Px activity in kidney were significantly higher in the db/db group than in the db/+ group, while the CAT activity in kidney, CAT and GSH-Px activities in heart were lowered. The supplementation of genistein and daidzein significantly attenuated the changes of CAT and/or GSH-Px activities in liver and heart. The supplementation of genistein and daidzein elevated GSH levels in kidney and heart compared to the db/db control group. The lipid peroxide levels in liver, kidney and heart were significantly lowered in the genistein and daidzein supplemented groups compared to the db/db control group. These results suggest that genistein and daidzein might be beneficial for the prevention of type 2 diabetic complication via suppressing changes of antioxidant enzymes activities with simultaneous reduction of lipid peroxidation.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.503-510
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• 2020

Purpose: Bipolar hemiarthroplasty is used as an alternative to open reduction and internal fixation for unstable intertrochanteric fractures in elderly patients. Recent advances in medical systems and technologies have resulted in increased survival rates after intertrochanteric fractures of the femur, requiring selection of the appropriate femoral stems considering the mid- to long-term duration of survival. Hemiarthroplasty was performed for unstable intertrochanteric fractures using a double tapered quadrilateral femoral stem (C2 stem), and the clinical and radiological results were evaluated as a five-year follow-up post-surgery. Materials and Methods: From January 2004 to December 2013, 43 patients (43 hips) who underwent hemiarthroplasty with a C2 stem were enrolled in this study. Their mean age was 78.6 years (range, 70-84 years), and the mean follow-up period was 85.4 months (range, 60-96 months). During the follow-up period, clinical parameters, such as the changes in pain, walking ability, and functional status, were examined. Radiologically, changes in the proximal femur, such as osteoporosis and bone resorption of cortical bone, were noted. Complications that occurred during the follow-up period, such as dislocation and prosthetic features, were also reviewed. Results: Initially, the pain was relieved postoperatively, but it increased four years after surgery. The walking ability was reduced by two steps in nine patients after 60 months, and the Harris hip score was reduced significantly postoperatively after two to three years. Radiologically, cortical osteoporosis occurred in 14 patients. Five patients developed cortical bone resorption. Four of them showed nonunion of the trochanteric fracture fragments, and three of them suffered reverse oblique fractures. Conclusion: Careful selection considering the general health condition and remaining lifespan of the patient would be necessary for primary hip hemiarthroplasty using a 3C type cementless femoral stem for unstable intertrochanteric fractures in elderly patients with osteoporosis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.277-286
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• 2023

Sarcopenia is the age-related loss of muscle mass and function. It is a natural part of aging and can lead to decreased mobility and increased frailty. The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, which is involved in muscle protein degradation, is closely linked to sarcopenia. Germinated Rhynchosia nulubilis hydrolysate (GRH) has been reported to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, but there have been no reports on its inhibitory effect on muscle reduction. However, no study has yet explored the relationship between GRH and muscle loss inhibition. In this study, we evaluated the effects of GRH on muscle atrophy inhibitory activity in dexamethasone (Dexa)-induced muscle atrophy C2C12 myotubes and mouse models. Moreover, we identified a molecular pathway underlying the effects of GRH on skeletal muscle. May Grunwald-Giemsa staining showed that the length and area of myotubes increased in the groups treated with GRH. In addition, the GRH-treated group significantly reduced the expression of muscle ring finger protein 1 and muscular atrophy F-box (MAFbx) in the Dexa-induced muscular atrophy C2C12 model. GRH also improved muscle strength in C57BL/6 mice with Dexa-induced muscle atrophy, resulting in prolonged running exhaustive time and increased grip strength. We found that muscle strengthening by GRH was correlated with a decreased expression of the MAFbx gene in mouse muscle tissue. In conclusion, GRH can attenuate Dexa-induced muscle atrophy by inhibiting the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway via downregulation of the MAFbx gene expression.

• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.831-842
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• 2010

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenic obesity(SO), a condition of the reduction in muscle mass paired with an increased fat mass has been paid attention because of its association with disability in later life. A few evidence, however, has reported the association with these factors. PURPOSE: To explore the association among SO, physical function and fitness in older women. METHOD: 257 older women(age of 74) were recruited from Y city and 7 physical functions and 4 fitness tests were measured. Participants were classified into one of four groups based on their body fat and muscle mass: Normal group (GR-A), high fat(GR-B), sarcopenia(GR-C), and sarcopenic obese(GR-D). GLMand LSD-test were conducted with SPSS 12.0. RESULTS: Chair stand, arm-curl, back-scratch, 2-min steps of GR-A was higher than GR-C and GR-D(p<.05). One-leg stand of GR-A was higher than GR-D(p<.01) and of GR-C was higher than GR-D(p<.01).8ft-TUG of GR-D was lower than GR-A(p<.01). Grip strength, knee extension of GR-A was higher than that of GR-C and GR-D(p<.01) and knee flexion of GR-A was also higher than that of GR-C and GR-D(p<.01). CONCLUSION: Based on our findings, we conclude that SO is significantly associated with lower physical function and fitness in older Korean women, which alarm the risk of frailty induced by SO.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.55-77
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• 2011

This study investigate the interaction effects of bundle price discount framing and message framing on consumer's attitude of bundle component. Although each effect of bundle price discount framing and message framing has been explored individually, few attempts have been made to invest them jointly. This study tests the interaction effects of bundle price discount framing and message framing on consumer's evaluation of bundle component. Moreover, this research focuses on consumer's evaluation of individual bundle component while the existing research on bundling primarily focused on consumer's evaluation of the bundle. Prior research suggests that consumers are sensitive to the framing of prices and discounts in the presentation of the bundle offer. For example, there is considerable evidence that partitioning or consolidating the prices of a bundle can influence the attractiveness of the bundle offer. Similarly, there is evidence that an equivalent price reduction to the overall bundle, one of the individual products in the bundle, or distributed among the individual products in the bundle can alter the perceived attractiveness of the offer (e.g. Chakravarti, Krish, Paul, and Srivastava 2002; Hamilton and Srivastava 2008; Janiszewski and Cunha 2004; Johnson, Herrmann and Bauer 1999; ; Morwitz, Greenleaf, and Johnson 1998; Yadav 1994; 1995). In line with these earlier research, this research suggests that the bundle type can influence the consumer's evaluation of bundle component. There are two types of bundle - mixed-leader bundle and mixed-joint bundle. In mixed-leader bundling, the price of one of the two products is discounted when the other product is purchased at the regular price. In mixed-joint bundling, a single price is set when the two product are purchased jointly. This study supposes that the teeth whitening product is the leader product in a mixed-leader bundle. So bundle price discount framing is manipulated such as "Buy the teeth whitening product (regular price \80,000) and get 50% discount on the functional toothpaste(regular price \40,000), special set price \100,000" or "Buy the functional toothpaste and the teeth whitening product as a set and get discount for the set, special set price \60,000". Message framing is manipulated through the product claims described in an advertising bill. The positive framing presents that "Over 95% of users achieved the expected 2-3 shades of improvement in two weeks" where as the negative framing presents "less than 5% of users did not achieve the expected 2-3 shades of improvement in two weeks". This study uses hypothetical brand name of the teeth whitening product and the functional toothpaste This study is based on a 2x2 factorial design with bundle discount framing (mixed-leader bundle vs. mixed-joint bundle) and massage framing (positive vs. negative). The dependant variables are consumer's perceived quality and attitude of the teeth whitening product The data reveals that two dependant variables are correlated, so the data is analyzed with two-way MANOVA. This research explores the significant interaction effect of bundle discount framing and message framing on consumer's perceived quality and attitude of the teeth whitening product. When the message framing is positive, consumer's perceived quality and attitude of the teeth whitening product is higher in mixed-leader bundle than mixed-joint bundle condition. However, when the message framing is negative, consumer's evaluation is higher in mixed-joint bundle than mixed-leader bundle. The author explains this result by stating that consumers are less likely to use heuristics such as price-quality association and value discounting hypothesis(Raghubir 2004) in the negative message framing condition. Additionally, consumer's perceived risk of the teeth whitening product in the negative message framing condition can be more reduced by the bundle partner(e.g. the toothpaste) in mixed-joint bundle than mixed-leader bundle. Based on the results, marketing managers are advised to use different bundle type based on message framing of their product.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.78-86
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• 2024

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the specialty hospital system by comparing the medical use of inpatients who had artificial joint replacement surgery in specialty hospitals and non-specialty hospitals. Methods: This study utilized 2021-2022 healthcare benefit claims data provided by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. The dependent variable is inpatient medical use which is measured in terms of charges per case and length of stay. The independent variable was whether the hospital was designated as a specialty hospital, and the control variables were patient-level variables (age, gender, insurer type, surgery type, and Charlson comorbidity index) and medical institution-level variables (establishment type, classification, location, number of orthopedic surgeons, and number of nurses). Results: The results of the multiple regression analysis between charges per case and whether a hospital is designated as a specialty hospital showed a statistically significant negative relationship between charges per case and whether a hospital is designated as a specialty hospital. This suggests a significant low in charges per case when a hospital is designated as a specialty hospital compared to a non-specialty hospital, indicating that there is a difference in medical use outcomes between specialty hospitals and non-specialty hospitals inpatients. Conclusion: The practical implications of this study are as follows. First, the criteria for designating specialty hospitals should be alleviated. In our study, the results show that specialty hospitals have significantly lower per-case costs than non-specialty hospitals. Despite the cost-effectiveness of specialty hospitals, the high barriers to be designated for specialty hospitals have gathered the specialty hospitals in metropolitan and major cities. To address the regional imbalance of specialty hospitals, it is believed that ease the criteria for designating specialty hospitals in non-metropolitan areas, such as introducing "semi-specialty hospitals (tentative name)," will lead to a reduction in health disparities between regions and reduce medical costs. Second, it is necessary to determine the appropriateness of the size of hospitals' medical staff. The study found that the number of orthopedic surgeons and nurses varied in charges per case. Therefore, it is believed that appropriately allocating hospital medical staff can maximize the cost-effectiveness of medical services and ultimately reduce medical costs.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.163-177
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• 2024

Background: This study aims to examine changes in fraudulent claim counts and total reimbursements before and after enhancements in counterfeit claim controls and monitoring of provider claim patterns under the "Proactive self-audit pilot program of fraudulent claims." Methods: This study used the claims data and hospital information (July 2021-February 2022) of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. The data was collected from 1,129 hospitals assigned to the pilot program, selected from the providers who filed a claim for reimbursement for intravenous injections. Paired and independent t-tests, along with regression analysis, were utilized to analyze changing patterns and factors influencing claim behaviors. Results: This program led to a reduction in the number of fraudulent claims and the total amount of reimbursements across all levels of hospitals in the experimental groups (except for physicians below 40 years old). In the control group, general hospitals and hospitals demonstrated some significant decreases based on the duration since opening, while clinics showed significant reductions in specified subjects. Additionally, a notable increase was observed among male physicians over the age of 50 years. Overall, claims and reimbursements significantly declined after the intervention. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between hospital opening duration and claim numbers, suggesting longer-established hospitals were more likely to file claims. Conclusion: The results indicate that the pilot program successfully encouraged providers to autonomously minimize fraudulent claims. Therefore, it is advised to extend further support, including promotional activities, training, seminars, and continuous monitoring, to nonparticipating hospitals to facilitate independent improvements in their claim practices.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.421-429
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• 2005

Purpose: It has been postulated that dopamine release in the striatum underlies the reinforcing properties of nicotine. Substantial evidence in the animal studies demonstrates that nicotine interacts with dopaminergic neuron and regulates the activation of the dopaminergic system. The aim of this study was to visualize the dopamine release by smoking in human brain using PET scan with $[^{11}C]raclopride$. Materials and Methods: Five male non-smokers or ex-smokers with an abstinence period longer than 1 year (mean age of $24.4{\pm}1.7$ years) were enrolled in this study $[^{11}C]raclopride$, a dopamine D2 receptor radioligand, was administrated with bolus-plus-constant infusion. Dynamic PET was performed during 120 minutes ($3{\times}20s,\;2{\times}60s,\;2{\times}120s,\;1{\times}180s\;and\;22{\times}300s$). following the 50 minute-scanning, subjects smoked a cigarette containing 1 mg of nicotine while in the scanner. Blood samples for the measurement of plasma nicotine level were collected at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, 60, and 90 minute after smoking. Regions for striatal structures were drawn on the coronal summed PET images guided with co-registered MRI. Binding potential, calculated as (striatal-cerebellar)/cerebellar activity, was measured under equilibrium condition at baseline and smoking session. Results: The mean decrease in binding potential of $[^{11}C]raclopride$ between the baseline and smoking in caudate head, anterior putamen and ventral striatum was 4.7%, 4.0% and 7.8%, respectively. This indicated the striatal dopamine release by smoking. Of these, the reduction in binding potential in the ventral striatum was significantly correlated with the cumulated plasma level of the nicotine (Spearman's rho=0.9, p=0.04). Conclusion: These data demonstrate that in vivo imaging with $[^{11}C]raclopride$ PET could measure nicotine-induced dopamine release in the human brain, which has a significant positive correlation with the amount or nicotine administered bt smoking.