• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.83 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 1994

Three different types of tissue taken from three game birds such as Ring-necked Pheasant, Rufous Turtle Dove, Mallard and a mammal, Korean Water Deer were analyzed for five heavy metals such as iron, zinc, copper, lead and cadmium. The main purpose of this study was to make clear the background levels of the metal concentrations in the tissues of these game species. The metal levels were generally low and could be considered as the background levels. But some markedly high levels of lead were recorded in the muscles of birds shot by the shotgun. The implications of these results were discussed with respect to the health of people.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1789-1795
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• 2016

Background: Breast cancer is the commonest female cancer worldwide and its propensity to metastasize negatively impacts on therapeutic outcome. Several clinicopathological parameters with prognostic/predictive significance have been associated with metastatic suppressor expression levels. The role of metastatic suppressor gene (MSG) KiSS1 in breast cancer remains unclear. Our goal was to investigate the possible clinical significance of KiSS1 breast cancer. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 87 histologically proven cases of breast cancer and background normal tiisue. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to investigate KiSS1 at gene and protein levels, respectively, for correlation with several patient characteristics including age, family history, hormonal receptor status, stage, tumor size, nodal involvement and metastatic manifestation and finally with median overall survival (OS). Results: Our study revealed (i) KiSS1 levels were generally elevated in breast cancer vs normal tissue (P < 0.05). (ii) however, a statistically significant lower expression of KiSS1 was observed in metastatic vs non metastatic cases (P = 0.04). (iii) KiSS1 levels strongly correlated with T,N,M category, histological grade and advanced stage (p<0.001) but not other studied parameters. (iv) Lastly, a significant correlation between expression of KiSS1 and median OS was found (P = 0.04). Conclusions: Conclusively, less elevated KiSS1 expression is a negative prognostic factor for OS, advancing tumor stage, axillary lymph node status, metastatic propensity and advancing grade of the breast cancer patient. Patients with negative KiSS1 expression may require a more intensive therapeutic strategy.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2003

In this work, the present concentration levels of total gaseous mercury (TGM) are compared among three East Asian countries, Korea, China, and Japan. Comparison of Hg distribution patterns was made by selecting representative figures for each type of land use among those three countries. The results of the analysis indicate that Hg concentrations within a country can fall into a wide range due probably to the diversity of source processes. It is seen that the urban areas of China and Japan generally exhibit large spatial variability with notably high Hg levels (above 10 ng m$^{-3}$), compared to their Korean counterparts. Although the presence of high Hg levels in Chinese locations can be accounted for by the major man-made source processes (e.g., the use of coal), the causes of unexpectedly high Hg data in Japanese sites appear to be rather complicated. The Hg concentration levels in relatively remote locations however show much reduced values, above 3 ng m$^{-3}$, which is still higher than the typical background concentrations of 1 to 2 ng m$^{-3}$ in Europe or America. Considering that the presence of unusually high Hg levels in urban areas of Asia is the consequence of man-made activities, the prevalence of excessively high Hg values in certain regions of the Asian continent needs further research to accurately assess the fundamental picture of Hg geochemistry in the East Asia.

• Child Studies in Asia-Pacific Contexts
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.139-158
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• 2013

The present study investigated the direct and interactive effects of children's temperament and mothers' reactions to hypothetical vignettes of children's aggression on 3- to 6-year-old children's overt aggression (OA) and relational aggression (RA). A total of 317 mothers of 3- to 6-year-old children and 26 teachers from eight day-care centers and kindergartens were contacted. Each mother reported her child's background, assessed her child's temperament and responded to the Mothers' Reaction to Hypothetical Vignettes of Children's Aggression (MRCA) scale. Children's OA and RA were assessed by teachers. Results showed that high levels of children's surgency predicted children's OA and RA. Although mothers' reactions did not predict children's OA and RA directly, significant interactions indicated that mothers' restrictive reactions were more strongly related to children's OA for children with high levels of surgency and low levels of effortful control. In addition, mothers' responsive reactions were more strongly related to children's OA for children with low levels of surgency. This study demonstrates that relative contributions of children's temperament and mothers' reactions differ according to the form of children's aggression. It also shows that certain types and levels of mothers' reactions to children's aggressive behavior can be critical for children with certain types and levels of temperament in developing children's overt aggression. The findings of this study can be applied to building early prevention and future intervention programs for young children's aggression.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.79-90
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• 1996

A research project was conducted to assess the levels of noise exposed to "Noraebang" users and potential hazards to noise-induced hearing loss due to commercial Noraebang noise. A two-way, mixed-factors factorial design was employed for the experiment using independent variables of "noise source" (no- singer, 1-singer, and 2-singer conditions) and "music type" (Trot, Ballad, and Rock music) with 18 normal hearing subjects. Each singer group sang 5 popular songs of each music type in each signing condition, whereas background music was just played for the no-singer condition. For each music played/sung, equivalent continuous sound pressure levels and maximum sound pressure levels were measured for data analysis purposes. Pure-tone audiometry was applied for measuring subjects' hearing threshold levels before and after exposure to Noraebgang noise. The statistical analyses indicate that average continuous noise levels due to Noraebang leisure environment were very serious, especially when two people were singing (higher than 95 dBA). Furthermore, maximum noise levels often exceeded the OSHA's non-premissible 115 dBA level. Worse yet, hearing loss assessment implies that Noraebang facilities may pose a serious threat to noise-induced hearing loss, based on 6-8 dB loss at 125 Hz and 8 dB loss at 4000 Hz after about 1-hour Noraebang noise exposure.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.341-346
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• 2019

Background: Although the concept of workload is important to nursing practice, only a few nursing researchers have focused on the issue of workload within the nursing context. Knowledge of how the dynamics of workload affects the job stress of nurses working in a specific unit or department in a hospital setting, and the influence of coworker support on this relationship, still remains limited. This study, therefore examined the effect of workload on job stress of Ghanaian outpatient department nurses and the moderating effect of coworker support on this relationship. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used, and questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 216 outpatient department nurses from four major hospitals in Ghana. The data collected measured workload, job stress, and coworker support using National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Task Load Index, job stress scale, and coworker support scale, respectively. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and hierarchical regression. Results: High levels of workload were associated with high levels of job stress of the nurses. Also, higher levels of workload were related to higher levels of job stress for nurses who received high levels of coworker support, but this was not the case for those who received low levels of coworker support (reserve buffering effect). Conclusion: The finding reiterates the adverse effect of workloads on employees' health, and the reverse buffering effect implies that supporting a colleague at work should be conveyed in a positive manner devoid of negative appraisal.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.357-368
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• 2017

To establish new metal groundwater standard, 5 metals such as aluminum, chromium, iron, manganese, and selenium were evaluated by Chemical Ranking Of groundWater pollutaNts (CROWN) including possibility of exposure, toxicity, interest factor, connection standard for other media, and data reliability. 430 groundwater samples in 2013 and 2014 were collected semiannually from 110 groundwater wells and they were analyzed for selenium, manganese, iron, chromium, and aluminum. For this study, 430 groundwater samples were categorized into 3 geological distribution features, such as igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock region and geological background levels were divided by pre-selection methods. For the results, the average concentrations of aluminum, chromium, iron, manganese, and selenium in 430 groundwater samples were $0.0008mg\;L^{-1}$, $0.0001mg\;L^{-1}$, $0.174mg\;L^{-1}$, $0.083mg\;L^{-1}$, and $0.0004mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. In addition, among various geologies, average concentration of selenium was the highest in igneous rock region, average concentrations of chromium, manganese and aluminum were the greatest in sedimentary rock region, and average concentration of iron was the most high in metamorphic rock region. As a result of the geological background concentration with pre-selection method, background concentrations of selenium and aluminum in groundwater samples were the highest from sedimentary rock as $0.0010mg\;L^{-1}$ and $0.0029mg\;L^{-1}$ and background concentrations of manganese and iron in groundwater samples were the greatest from metamorphic rock as $0.460mg\;L^{-1}$ and $1.574mg\;L^{-1}$, and no chromium background concentration in groundwater samples was found from all geology.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.4327-4331
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• 2011

A new method in thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) was developed to correct peak tailing backgrounds in the isotope ratio measurements of uranium in ultra trace levels for higher accuracy. Two different uranium standard reference materials (U005 and U030) were used to construct databases of signal intensities at mass 234 u and mass 236 u, which correspond to the two uranium minor isotopes, and signal intensity of $^{238}U$. Correlations between peak tailing backgrounds and $^{238}U$ were obtained by least-squares regression on calculated backgrounds at mass 234 u and mass 236 u with respect to the signal intensity of $^{238}U$ followed by separation of the peak tails of the two major isotopes of uranium ($^{235}U$ and $^{238}U$), which enables us to obtain a master equation for peak tailing background correction on all kinds of samples. Verification of the correction method was carried out using U010 and IRMM-040a.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.372-390
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• 2018

The purpose of this research is to know the scientific reasoning ability of elementary students. In order to find it, 320 elementary students wrote a report about germination of the 700 or 2,000 years old seeds. Their writings were analyzed by scientific writing analysis frameworks, Scientific Reasoning Types and Scientific Reasoning Level Criteria developed by Lim (2018). Minto Pyramid Principles was used to show statements and relations of statements related to scientific reasoning. This paper showed scientific reasoning statements of elementary students about germination of seeds. The characteristics of scientific reasoning of elementary students were as follows. In the process of logical writing by the types of scientific reasoning, many students showed various characteristics and different levels. In the writings based on inductive reasoning, they did not distinguish between common features and differences of cases, and did not derive the rules based on common features and differences of the cases. In the writings based on deductive reasoning, there were cases where the major premise corresponding to the principle or rule was omitted and only the phenomenon was described, or the rule was presented but not connected with the case. In the writings based on abductive reasoning, the ability to selectively use the background knowledge related to the question situation was not sufficient, and borrowing of similar background knowledge, which was commonly used in other situations, was very rare.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.255-259
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• 2012

Objective: This study aims to investigate relationship between representative anthropometric dimensions and income levels for Korean from 1958 to 1989. The anthropometric dimensions include stature and body weight, and GNP per head was used as an index of income level. Background: Although anthropometric dimensions were affected by varying factors such as genetic, environmental and socioeconomic factors, most studies on anthropometry have focused on measurement methods, providing data and their characteristics. Method: Anthropometric data were retrieved from homepages of Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, and Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism, and GNPs per head by year from Korean Statistical Information Service. Results: During analysis period, statures and body weights for males and females increased by 6.4cm and 6.1cm, 10.7kg and 4.0kg, respectively. Infants' stature and body weight nearly linearly increased with GNPs per head. Anthropometric dimensions of stature and body weight were very positively correlated with GNPs per head. Conclusion: This study revealed that income levels significantly affect stature and body weight. Application: The results would be used as a valuable basic data when establishing government policies related to anthropometry.