• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.240-248
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• 2006

The purposes of this study were to investigate the symptoms, diseases and deaths of residents living near the municipal solid waste landfill site, and to compare the relative risk ratio of their adverse health effects with control group. In self-evaluation, the scores were especially severe lowest in residents of v2 and v3 villages(which were located about 500 m toward under the landfill site) such as 32.2 and 16.7 for village-environment, 24.8 and 16.0 for management of landfill site, and 23.5 and 16.5 for confidence of environmental policy, respectively. On symptoms, relative risk ratios were also highest as 3.53 and 3.55 for breathing difficulty, and 3.36 and 3.00 for respiratory symptom in v2 and v3 villages, respectively. On morbidity, they were slightly high as much as 1.39 and 1.24 in v5 and v2 villages, respectively. On mortality, relative risk ratios were $1.15{\sim}2.46$ in experimental villages. They were especially high as much as 2.46 in v3 village where located near under the landfill site, and also 2.14 in v5 village where located at area affected with the landfill site, but near the sea. The rate of cancer causing death was average 35.2% of total deaths. It was very highest as much as 61.1 % in v2 village, where was closely located near under the landfill site. Cancers causing death in this village were lung cancer(3 cases), larynx cancer(2 cases), stomach cancer(2 cases), pancreatic cancer(1 case), thryoid cancer(1 case), leukemia(1 case) and other(1 case). Our data, although based on limited number of cases and geographical coverage, suggest that residents living near landfill site have the increasing relative risks of various symptoms and mortality causing cancer. No causal mechanisms are available to explain these findings. But the possibility of a causal association between the increased adverse health effects and the municipal solid waste landfill site cannot be fully excluded.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.498-508
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• 2019

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Lower circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels are associated with a higher risk of hypertension (HTN); however, it remains unclear whether the relationship is causal. We aimed to evaluate the causal effects of circulating 25(OH)D levels on the prevalence of HTN in the Korean population using the Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Epidemiological data, serum 25(OH)D data, and genomic DNA biospecimens were obtained from 2,591 participants, a subset of the study population in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey 2011-2012. Five 25(OH)D-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; DHCR7 rs12785878, CYP2R1 rs10741657, CYP2R1 rs12794714, CYP24A1 rs6013897, and GC rs2282679), identified a priori from genome-wide association studies, were used as instrument variables (IVs) for serum 25(OH)D levels. In the MR analysis, we performed IV analyses using the two-stage least squares method. RESULTS: In the observational analysis, circulating 25(OH)D levels were found to be inversely associated with the HTN prevalence in ordinary least squares models (odds ratio: 0.97, 95% confidence interval: 0.96, 0.99) after adjusting for the potential confounders. There were differences in the circulating 25(OH)D levels across genotypes of individual SNPs. In the MR analysis, using individual SNPs as IVs, 25(OH)D levels were not associated with the HTN prevalence. CONCLUSIONS: We found no association between genetically determined circulating 25(OH)D levels and HTN in Korean adults. Our results are listed owing to the relatively small sample size and possible weak instrument bias; therefore, further studies are needed to confirm these results.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.69-76
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• 2012

The purpose of the study is to identify the relationship among the variables related learner's satisfaction, flow experience and self-directedness and verify the path model of causal relationship among those variables in web based computer e-learning. Based on the theoretical rationale, we hypothesized the path model including learner's satisfaction as outcome variable, flow experience and self-directedness as causal and mediating variables. A total of 193 students were participated in this study and the main results showed as follows: 1. Learner's self-directedness showed significant (p<.01), indirect effect on learner's satisfaction mediated by flow experience and the flow experience showed significant (p<.01), direct effect on learner's satisfaction; 2. Among 7 constructs of self-directedness, 'creative approach', 'love of learning', 'self-confidence as a learner' showed significant (p<.01), indirect effects on learner's satisfaction mediated by 'clear goals' construct among flow experience.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.472-479
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• 2023

Background and Objectives: The association between bilirubin and atrial fibrillation (AF) has been evaluated previously in observational studies but with contradictory results. This study evaluated the causal association between serum bilirubin level and AF using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Methods: This cross-sectional study includes 8,977 participants from the Dong-gu Study. In the observational analysis, multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between bilirubin and prevalent AF. To evaluate the causal association between bilirubin and AF, MR analysis was conducted by using the UGT1A1 rs11891311 and rs4148323 polymorphisms as instrumental variables. Results: Elevated serum bilirubin levels were associated with an increased risk for AF in observational analysis (total bilirubin: odds ratio [OR], 1.31; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.15-1.48 per 1 standard deviation [SD]; direct bilirubin: OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.18-1.46 per 1 SD), whereas the genetically predicted serum bilirubin levels in MR analysis did not show this association (total bilirubin: OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.67-1.53 per 1 SD; direct bilirubin: OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.61-1.73 per 1 SD). Conclusions: Genetically predicted bilirubin levels were not associated with prevalent AF. Thus, the observational association between serum bilirubin levels and AF may be noncausal and affected by reverse causality or unmeasured confounding.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.710-719
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• 2023

Background and Objectives: In previous studies, high homocysteine levels were associated with high cardiovascular mortality. However, these results were inconsistent with those of randomized controlled trials. We aimed to evaluate the causal role of homocysteine on allcause and cardiovascular mortality using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Methods: This study included the 10,005 participants in the Namwon Study. In conventional observational analysis, age, sex, survey years, lifestyles, body mass index, comorbidities, and serum folate level were adjusted using multivariate Cox proportional regression. MR using 2-stage least squares regression was used to evaluate the association between genetically predicted plasma homocysteine levels and mortality. Age, sex, and survey years were adjusted for each stage. The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphism was used as an instrumental variable for predicting plasma homocysteine levels. Results: Observed homocysteine levels were positively associated with all-cause (hazard ratio [HR], 1.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.26-1.54) and cardiovascular (HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.28-2.06) mortality when plasma homocysteine levels doubled. However, these associations were not significant in MR analysis. The HRs of doubling genetically predicted plasma homocysteine levels for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality were 0.99 (95% CI, 0.62-1.57) and 1.76 (95% CI, 0.54-5.77), respectively. Conclusions: This MR analysis did not support a causal role for elevated plasma homocysteine concentrations in premature deaths.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2017

Background: In contemporary China, most parents are dual-earner couples and there is only one child in the family. We aimed to examine the associations of parents' work stress with suicidal ideation among the corresponding adolescent. We further hypothesized that low parental support experienced by adolescents may mediate the associations. Methods: Cross-sectional data from school students and their working parents were used, with 907 families from Kunming City, China. Stress at work was measured by the effort-reward imbalance questionnaire. Perceived parental support was assessed by an item on parental empathy and their willingness to communicate with the adolescent. Suicidal ideation was considered positive if students reported thoughts about suicide every month or more frequently during the previous 6 months. Logistic regression was used to examine the associations. Results: We observed that parents' work stress was positively associated with low parental support, which was in turn associated with adolescent suicidal ideation. The odds ratio for parents' work stress and adolescent suicidal ideation was 2.91 (95% confidence interval: 1.53-5.53), and this association was markedly attenuated to 2.24 (95% confidence interval: 1.15-4.36) after additional adjustment for parental support. Notably, mothers' work stress levels exerted stronger effects on children's suicidal ideation than those of fathers. Conclusion: Parents' work stress (particularly mother's work stress) was strongly associated with adolescent's suicidal ideation, and the association was partially mediated by low parental support. These results need to be replicated and extended in prospective investigations within and beyond China, in order to explore potential causal pathways as a basis of preventive action.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.53-58
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• 2010

Social capital is regarded as the alternative plan and the index of healthy society for constructing social tie through solving social problems on the basis of causal relationship between sports, social capital, and healthy society, in order to accomplish sound society. The role of sports to construct healthy society and social capital is emphasized here. To accomplish healthy society amid various social deviations nowadays, the value of sports should be newly recognized and highlighted among the general public. To attain this purpose, organizing sports club as a voluntary association and facilitating its activities, securing confidence for the sports organization and policies, developing and popularizing sports program to form community and civil society should be embodied. The research field of sports sociology should inquire into the most suitable condition in constructing healthy society and social capital, and should make efforts to find out realistic solutions to satisfy this that purpose. To examine this aspect, cooperative research on micro scale and macro scale of trust as social capital interdisciplinary research into the field of psychology and sociology, research on the methodology of the social network, and critical research are required.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.101-113
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• 2020

The study aims to investigate the existence of overconfidence bias in Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore. This paper focuses on the Vietnam Stock Market and other two countries of ASEAN, namely Singapore and Thailand. Data was collected over the period from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2018, daily returns for each of the securities. This paper uses the time series method, namely ADF test, Granger Causality and VAR approach to find evidences of the overconfidence effect in Vietnam in relation to some ASEAN markets. The results show similarities between the observed countries with slight variations, with focus on Vietnam market. In general concrete evidences of overconfidence were found in both Vietnamese and Singaporean markets, in which Singaporean investors show higher degree of overconfidence than Vietnamese investors. Overconfidence is not as clear in Thai market, however a direct causal link from increased returns to increased investor confidence was found. From the model deployed in the paper, there are reasons to conclude that Thai investors are under-confident. The findings of the study shed lights into the existence of overconfidence bias in Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore on a comparative basis, provide more insights and implications for future research in this new and rising field of research.

• Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.1-6
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• 2015

Due to unique characteristics of small construction companies, safety management is comprised of complex problems. This paper aims to better understand the complexity and dynamics of safety management in small construction companies. A system dynamics (SD) model was built in order to capture the causal interdependencies between factors at different system levels (regulation, organization, technical and individual) and their effects on safety outcomes. Various tests were conducted to build confidence in the model's usefulness to understand safety problems facing small companies from a system dynamics view. A number of policies were analyzed by changing the value of parameters. The value of a system dynamics approach to safety management in small construction companies is its ability to address joint effects of multiple safety risk factors on safety performance with a systems thinking perspective. By taking into account feedback loops and non-linear relationships, such a system dynamics model provides insights into the complex causes of relatively poor safety performance of small construction companies and improvement strategies.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.694-705
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• 2002

The purpose of this study is to describe the health behavior experience of middle-aged Korean women in rural areas, and to help understand their health practice, perceive their nursing needs and provide guidelines to developing appropriate nursing interventions. Method: The participants were 18 healthy middle-aged women living in rural areas, with no serious illness that require hospitalization. The data was collected through interviews and participant observation, analyzed by the grounded theory methodology of Strauss & Corbin(1997). The data collection period was from April to November of 2001. Result: Depending on the paradigm model, the central phenomenon was family-oriented pursuing of yangsaeng. The causal condition was less confidence on one's own health, responsibilities in caring for family. The contexts were cultural system. The intervening condition was information system, support system, limitation of approaching a medical institution. The action/ interaction strategies were yangsaeng through dietary practice, yangsaeng through promoting clothing and housing, yangsaeng through exercise, practice of folk therapy, yangsaeng through mental hygiene, and use of medical institution. The consequences were stabilization of body and mind, and stabilization of family. Conclusion: It is recommended for nurses to understand health behavior experience of middle-aged women, and provide nursing intervention with theoretical scheme and practical principles so that these women can pursue the family-oriented process of yangsaeng.