• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.28-38
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• 2009

In this study, a remote air quality monitoring system for underground spaces was developed by using NDIR-based CO$_2$ sensor. And the remote monitoring system based on wireless sensor networks was installed practically on the subway station platform. More than 6.5 million citizens commutate everyday by the Seoul subway transportation that is the most typical public transportation. They concern about air quality with increasing interest on public health or many workers in subway stations or underground shopping centers. Recently, the Korean Ministry of Environment has operated the air quality monitoring system in some subway stations for testing phase. However, it showed many defects which are large-scale, high-cost and maintenance of precision sensors imported from abroad. Therefore this research includes the reliability test and a theoretical study about the inexpensive commercialized CO$_2$ sensor for reliable measurement of air quality which changes rapidly by the surrounding environments. And then we develop the wireless sensor nodes and the gateway applied for remote air quality monitoring. In addition, web server program was realized to manage air quality in the subway platform. This result will be valuable for a basic research for air quality management in underground spaces for future study.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate drug prescription patterns for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in Korea. Methods: Ambulatory adult patients who were diagnosed and received treatment for the asthma (ICD-10 code J45) or COPD (ICD-10 code J44) from January 2009 to September 2011 in two independent secondary hospitals in Korea were enrolled in this study. Prescribed drug lists were generated based on the evidence-based guidelines and prescribed drug dosage forms were identified from the patient medical records and computerized drug prescription databases of the study centers. Results: Total numbers of asthma and COPD patient enrolled in this study were 2,432 and 2,615, respectively. Individual prescription-based accumulated numbers of patient were 12,021 for asthma and 16,584 for COPD. The most commonly prescribed three drugs were oral predisolone, oral formoterol and oral montelukast for asthma and oral formoterol, oral doxofylline and inhaled tiotropium for COPD. Frequencies of oral drugs were 83.4% and 63.3% while inhalers were 16.4% and 30.2%, for asthma and COPD, respectively. Conclusion: The oral treatment was prescribed more in asthma and COPD patients than inhalers. To enhance the compliance of evidence-based guidelines for these chronic airway diseases, more realistic and specific strategies to increase the use of inhalers recommended as primary treatment options for asthma and COPD would be required.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.230-237
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• 2018

Objective: To compare adverse event reporting patterns between ethical-the-counter and over-the-counter drugs from community pharmacies and outpatient settings. Methods: We conducted a descriptive study using the adverse event reporting database, wherein data were collected from the regional pharmacovigilance centers of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016. The reported drugs were classified into either ethical-the-counter or over-the-counter drugs, and we compared the distribution of patient age and gender, frequent adverse events and medications, serious adverse events, and causality assessment results, where causality assessments were performed according to the World Health Organization-The Uppsala Monitoring Centre's system. Results: We included 17,570 reports (75,451 drug-adverse event pairs). Ethical-the-counter and over-the-counter drugs accounted for 81.4% and 18.6% of the total adverse event reports, respectively. The use of over-the-counter drugs was higher in females and patients aged <18 years, whereas the use of ethical-the-counter drugs was higher in those aged >65 years. Alimentary tract and metabolism drugs, and respiratory system drugs were the most frequent ethical-the-counter and over-the-counter drugs, respectively. From causality assessment results, "possible" (75.4%) was the most commonly assigned category for ethical-the-counter drugs, while "possible" (44.0%) and "unlikely" (47.7%) were the most common categories for over-the-counter drugs. The distribution of serious adverse events were similar for both ethical-the-counter and over-the-counter drugs. Conclusion: Differences were observed in age, gender, reported medications, and symptoms for both ethical-the-counter and over-the-counter drugs. Further pharmacovigilance activities considering the adverse event characteristics of over-the-counter drugs, which are comparable to ethical-the-counter drugs, should be performed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.904-910
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the eating behavior and nutritional status of subjects according to their purpose of exercise. A total of 214 subjects, 20 to 30 years of age, who visited fitness centers in Seoul were enrolled. Anthropometrics, exercise habits, nutritional knowledge, and eating behaviors were analyzed using a questionnaire. Nutritional status was assessed by serial 24 h recalls. The subjects were divided into two groups based on their purpose of exercise: increasing muscle (Muscle growth, n=107) or losing body weight (Weight loss, n=107). The Muscle growth group contained a higher percentage of men, whereas the Weight loss group contained a higher percentage of women. The Muscle growth group showed significantly higher scores of nutritional knowledge and eating behaviors compared to the Weight loss group. The Muscle growth group also had a significantly higher intake of energy and protein compared to the Weight loss group. In fact, the intake of energy in the Weight loss group was lower than the estimated energy requirement (EER) for both men and women subjects. The intake of protein in the Muscle growth group was twice as much as the recommended nutrient intake (RNI). The intake of calcium in both groups was less than the RNI. In conclusion, those who exercised with the aim of increasing muscle took excess dietary protein and those who exercised with the aim of weight loss had a lower energy intake than the EER.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.485-491
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of a visiting exercise program for physical activity promotion on physical (grip strength, static balance) and psychological (depression, perceived health status) function of frail elderly patients receiving home visiting service care. Subjects included a total of 49 patients; 24 in the control group and 25 in the experimental group. The visiting exercise program was carried out 16 times for 8 weeks. The collected data were analyzed by ${\chi}^2-test$ and t-test using SPSS/WIN 21.0 program. There was a significant improvement in the left grip strength (t=2.19, p<.000), right grip strength (t=5.07, p=.032), static balance (t=3.98, p=.050), and depression (t=-8.83, p=.009) in the experimental group compared with the control group. The visiting exercise program for physical activity promotion was effective on physical and psychological functions for frail elderly patients receiving home visiting service care. Further research is needed in a longitudinal study incorporating various centers to examine the maintenance of such effects.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.267-272
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• 2016

Falling is one of the problems that threatens the health of elderly patients. This study was conducted once a week for 12 weeks, from 15th of April to 13th of June in 2016, and included 118 subjects above the age of 65 in 6 centers of J city. We evaluated the effectiveness of the fall prevention exercise program (FPEP) and analyzed its effects by making a comparison between before and after the exercise that pertains to activities of daily living, fear of falling, and quality of life. Moreover, this study confirms that there is a relationship between these three factors. The results of this study are as follows: There were statistically significant differences of activities of daily living (F=-4.75, p<..001), fear of falling (F=10.22, p<..001) and quality of life (F=-11.58, p<..001) between post-test improvements and pre-test conditions. In addition, this study confirms that there is a relationship between activities of daily living, fear of falling, and quality of life (r=.551, p<..001, r=-.477, p<..001, r=-.584, p<..001). Accordingly, we have identified that FPEP is very effective for improving activities of daily living, fear of falling, and quality of life for senior citizens.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.259-263
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• 2015

The increasing prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in the human population in the Republic of Korea (= Korea) is due to various reasons such as an increase in meat consumption. However, the importance of cats in transmitting T. gondii infection through oocysts to humans has seldom been assessed. A total of 300 fecal samples of stray cats captured around Seoul from June to August 2013 were examined for T. gondii B1 gene (indicating the presence of oocysts) using nested-PCR. Fourteen (4.7%) of 300 cats examined were positive for B1 gene. Female cats (7.5%) showed a higher prevalence than male cats (1.4%). Cats younger than 3 months (5.5%) showed a higher prevalence than cats (1.5%) older than 3 months. For laboratory passage of the positive samples, the fecal suspension (0.2 ml) of B1 gene positive cats was orally inoculated into experimental mice. Brain tissues of the mice were obtained after 40 days and examined for the presence of tissue cysts. Two isolates were successfully passaged (designated KNIH-1 and KNIH-2) and were molecularly analyzed using the SAG5D and SAG5E gene sequences. The SAG5D and SAG5E gene sequences showed high homologies with the ME49 strain (less virulent strain). The results indicated the importance of stray cats in transmitting T. gondii to humans in Korea, as revealed by detection of B1 gene in fecal samples. T. gondii isolates from cats were successfully passaged in the laboratory for the first time in Korea.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.273-278
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• 2008

There have been studies about dog’s personality and behavior, which is helpful to breed dogs as guide or companion. In this study, a questionnaire was developed using 54 Jindo dogs, which considered ten items about aggressiveness and sociability. The scores were analyzed by principle component analysis (PCA), after accounting for four variables: age, gender, growing place, and coat-colors. Our results from the PCA indicated three principle components, which classified ‘aggressiveness’, ‘sociability’ and unknown factor. The four variables did not significantly affect aggressiveness(P>0.05). However, there was a relationship between coat-color and sociability, i.e., the Jindo dogs with fawn color were more sociable than the white ones(P<0.1).

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.132-142
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• 2016

The study aimed to examine the state of visual acuity tests in preschoolers and determine the factors affecting the deterioration of their vision. A total of 172 pair, child aged 5-7 years and either one of their parents, were recruited from childcare centers or kindergarten between August 2015 and January 2016. Questionnaires were administered to the parents, and the children's visual acuities were measured. Using forward selection in logistics regression analysis, factors affecting vision deterioration were elucidated. Of 172 children, 128 (74.4%) had undergone a visual acuity test previously and 77 (44.8%) showed a deterioration in their vision. Children who had undergone their first visual acuity test after the age of 7 years (OR=7.425, CI=2.844- 19.385) and showed more abnormal eye symptoms, such as squinting or tilting the head to see or falling down frequently (OR=3.084, CI=1.202-7.914) and whose age was younger (OR=10.335, CI=3.252-32.848), were more likely to develop deterioration of vision. Children who had a posture such that they looked up at the computer monitor from below (OR=.075, CI=.022-.255), were less likely to show deterioration of vision. It can be inferred that early visual acuity tests is essential to detect deteriorated vision of preschoolers. Therefore, it is necessary to educate parents, personnels in day care center, and health clinics about the importance of early visual acuity tests and close observation of specific behaviors related to vision deterioration. Development of precautionary intervention program of vision deterioration in preschoolers and examination of its effects are needed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2007

Large colorless single crystals of sodium zeolite X, stoichiometry |Na80 |[Si112Al80O384]-FAU, with diameters up to 200 μm and Si/Al = 1.41 have been synthesized from gels with the composition of 2.40SiO2 : 2.00NaAlO2 : 7.52NaOH : 454H2O : 5.00TEA. One of these, a colorless octahedron about 200 μm in cross-section has been treated with aqueous 0.1 M KNO3 for the preparation of K+-exchanged zeolite X. The crystal structure of |K80|[Si112Al80O384]-FAU per unit cell, a = 24.838(4) A, dehydrated at 673 K and 1 × 10-6 Torr, has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques in the cubic space group Fd at 294 K. The structure was refined using all intensities to the final error indices (using only the 707 reflections for which Fo > 4σ (Fo)) R1 = 0.075 (based on F) and R2 = 0.236 (based on F2). About 80 K+ ions per unit cell are found at an unusually large number of crystallographically distinct positions, eight. Eleven K+ ions are at the centers of double 6-rings (D6Rs, site I; K-O = 2.492(6) A and O-K-O (octahedral) = 88.45(22)o and 91.55(22)o). Site-I' position (in the sodalite cavities opposite D6Rs) is occupied by five K+ ions per unit cell; these K+ ions are recessed 1.92 A into the sodalite cavities from their 3-oxygen planes (K-O = 2.820(19) A, and O-K-O = 78.6(6)o). Twety-three K+ ions are found at three nonequivalent site II (in the supercage) with occupancies of 5, 9, and 9 ions; these K+ ions are recessed 0.43 A, 0.75 A, and 1.55 A, respectively, into the supercage from the three oxygens to which it is bound (K-O = 2.36(13) A, 2.45(13) A, and 2.710(13) A, O-K-O = 116.5(20)o, 110.1(17)o, and 90.4(6)o, respectively). The remaining sixteen, thirteen, and twelve K+ ions occupy three sites III' near triple 4-rings in the supercage (K-O = 2.64(3) A, 2.94(3) A, 2.73(5) A, 2.96(6) A, 3.06(4) A, and 3.08(3) A).