• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.245-252
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• 2018

We evaluated the possible clinical application of Non HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride to HDL-cholesterol ratio as a metabolic syndrome predictor for the elderly in Korea. 1,543 elderly persons aged 65 years or older who visited the health examination center of Gyeonggi Regional General Hospital from January 2015 to December 2017 and had a health checkup were enrolled in this study. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed based on the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (AHA/NHLBI) standards. Abdominal obesity was assessed by the Asia-Pacific standards presented at the World Health Organization (WHO) West Pacific Region. Non-HDL-cholesterol was calculated as the difference between total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol. The metabolic syndrome predictive power was higher for triglyceride to HDL-cholesterol ratio than for Non HDL-cholesterol. After correcting for related factors, triglyceride to HDL-cholesterol ratio was higher in the $4^{th}$ quartile, which had a higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome, than in the $1^{st}$ quartile. The optimal cutoff value for the triglyceride to HDL-cholesterol ratio that predicts the onset of metabolic syndrome was 2.8. triglyceride to HDL-cholesterol ratio can be a simple and practical indicator of the risk of metabolic syndrome.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.231-242
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• 2016

As of late, air quality information has been actively gathered and investigated in order to find possible environmental risk factors that may affect the onset of cardiovascular disease. Nevertheless, existing studies are limited in the detailed analysis because they take advantage of the air quality information of the macro statistics divided into administrative districts. This paper proposes the construction of distance-based air quality dataset using a domestic hospital’s geographical location information as a reliable data gathering step for a more detailed analysis of environmental risk factors. For the construction of the dataset, air quality information was obtained by utilizing the geographical location of a hospital—in which a patient with cardiovascular disease had been admitted—and then matching the hospital with a meteorological and air pollution station in its vicinity. An air quality acquisition system based on GMap.net was devised for the purpose of data gathering and visualization. The reliability of the experiment was confirmed by evaluating the matching rate and error of air quality values between the acquired dataset with existing area-based air quality datasets from matched distances. Therefore, this dataset, which considers geographical information, can be utilized in multidisciplinary research for the discovery of environmental risk factors that can affect not only cardiovascular diseases but also potentially other epidemic diseases.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.352-361
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of macroeconomic and non-macroeconomic forces on the management performance of the air transport firms and offer the useful information to the managers. To conduct the regression analysis, eight macroeconomic and non-macroeconomic variables were selected individually as an independent variable. Macroeconomic variables were the return of corporate bond, West Texas Intermediate, the unemployment rate, the money supply, the trade balance, the won to USD exchange rate, the consumer price index and the index of industrial production. And non-macroeconomic variables were Taiwan earthquake, the Asian economic crisis, the 911 terrorist attacks in the US, the Iraq war, Beijing Olympic, the outbreak of a swine flu epidemic, the 1st presidential election and the 2nd presidential election. And ROA was selected as a dependent variable. As the result of analysis, it was found that the changing rates of won to USD exchange rate and consumer price index affected the changing rate of ROA significantly. And also as the result of analysing the impact of two significant macroeconomic variables and eight non-macroeconomic variables on the changing rate of ROA, it was found that the Asian economic crisis and the outbreak of a swine flu epidemic had a negative impact on it. Therefore managers should take note of a change in macroeconomic and non-macroeconomic variables carefully to improve the management performance.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2007

The pregnancy and postpartum period appear to be a time of heightened vulnerability for the development of major depression in some women. Postpartum depression affects 10% of women within a few weeks immediately postpartum. Postpartum depression is associated with disturbances in the mother-infant relationship, which in turn have an adverse impact on the course of child cognitive and emotional development. Depression during pregnancy is also common, although it has been relatively neglected. Psychopathological symptoms during pregnancy have physiological consequences for the fetus. Understanding the aetiology of perinatal depression requires integrating of multiple psychosocial and biological risk factors. The treatment of depressed pregnant women requires skilled decision making by psychiatrists. Risk-benefit analysis is appropriate method for intervention fur depression in pregnancy. Effective treatments for depression in pregnancy include psychotherapy, antidepressant medication and electroconvulsive therapy. In treatment of postpartum depression, the biological, psychological, and social interventions are included. Prescribing antidepressants(such as fluoxetine), estrogen in severe and chronic cases, and counselling can be effective for improving maternal mood and aspects of infant outcome. Ongoing research is directed to further elucidating neurohormonal and psychosocial contributions to depression during pregnancy or postpartum. Screening for risk factors and symptoms for depression need to be incorporated into antenatal and pediatric clinics.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.223-228
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• 2004

Purpose and Methods: Urinary tract infection(UTI) is one of the most important diseases of childhood, especially for young infants. To characterize the patients diagnosed with febrile UTI in their first 6 months of life and to explore the risk factors of recurrent UTI, a retrospective study was performed. Results: Among the 90 patients studied, 77 were boys(86%). First episodes of UTI were diagnosed at the age of $2.5{\pm}1.4$ months. These patients underwent ultrasonographic evaluation of urinary tract(n=90) and voiding cystourethrography(n=81) where 53 and 35 studies showed abnormal findings respectively, and a total of 45 cases of urinary tract anomaly including vesicoureteral reflux(VUR, n=35) were diagnosed. Normal findings on ultrasonography indicated decreased risk of VUR in boys of 1-3 months of age(n=30). 53 patients were followed up more than 6 months and 45 episodes of subsequent UTI developed in 29 patients during the first 6-month period. Patients with relapse were older than patients without relapse at the diagnosis of first UTI, but other clinical parameters including abnormal findings on the imaging studies and prophylactic antibiotics prescription were not different between the two groups. Conclusion: UTI in early infancy occurred mainly in male infants and half of the patients had structural anomalies. USG was of clinical value in detecting anomalies requiring surgical intervention, and to rule out high grade VUR in 1-3 months old boys. Results of the imaging study or prophylactic antibiotics could not modify the risk of recurrent UTI. (J Korean Soc Pediatr Nephrol 2004;8:223-228)

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.289-297
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• 2019

Objectives: To identify the positive rate of and the risk factors associated with latent tuberculosis infection(LTBI) in mine workers, the objectives of the present study evaluated those among former mine workers. Methods: Between January 2015 and May 2017, former male mine workers who had been subjects for epidemiology research for work-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) and had received QuantiFERON-$TB^{(R)}$ Gold In-Tube(QFT-GIT) from the Institute of Occupation and Environment(IOE) under Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service(KCOMWEL) were selected as the study subjects. To identify significant variables for increased risk of LTBI, logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: A total of 736 male former mine workers were selected as study subjects. The positive rate of LTBI among subjects was 69.2%(509/736). The current smoking[odds ratio(OR), 2.3; 95% confidence interval(CI), 1.1-4.9], COPD(OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 0.9-2.3), department loading(OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 0.9-3.4) and mining(OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 0.9-2.5), and working duration of over 20(OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 0.9-3.1) and over 30 years(OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 0.9-4.9) were associated with increased risk of LTBI. The interferon-gamma(IFN-${\gamma}$) level after stimulation with Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB)-specific antigens showed a significantly negative correlation with age(r=-0.126). Conclusions: The present study determined that the high positive rate of LTBI among mine workers was associated with not only the host factors but also the occupational exposure to mine dust.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.143-151
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• 2022

In order to investigate the cause of wilting symptoms in red pepper field of Korea, the frequency of occurrence of red peppers showing wilting symptoms was investigated in pepper cultivation fields in Goesan, Chungcheongbuk-do for 5 years from 2010 to 2014. There was a difference in the frequency of wilting symptoms depending on the year of investigation, but the frequency of occurrence increased as the investigation period passed from June and July to August. During this period, Ralstonia solanacearum causing the bacterial wilt was isolated at a rate four times higher than Phytophthora capsica causing the Phytophthora late blight. In wilted peppers collected in Goesan of Chungbuk and Andong of Gyeongbuk in 2013 and 2014, R. solanacearum and P. capsici were isolated from 20.3% and 3.8% of the total fields, respectively. In the year with a high rate of wilting symptoms, the average temperature was high, and the disease occurrence date of the bacterial wilt, estimated with disease forecasting model, was also fast. The inconsistency between the number of days at risk of Phytophthora late blight and the frequency of occurrence of wither symptoms is thought to be due to the generalization of the use of cultivars resistant to the Phytophthora late blight in the pepper field. In our study, the wilting symptoms were caused by the bacterial wilt caused by R. solanacearum rather than the Phytophthora late blight caused by P. capsica, which is possibly caused by increasing cultivation of pepper varieties resistant to the Phytophthora late blight in the field.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.218-225
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• 2016

Recently, Korea has undergone rapid social and economic development, and with that came various changes in living habits and disease patterns; the nation, accordingly, has been alerted to the associated risks of chronic ailments. As risk factors of metabolic syndrome commonly include causal factors of chronic diseases, prevention is important. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Korean adults is 22.4%, which comprises a large portion of the whole disease (Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2013). This study aims to examine the elements of healthy living practices by analyzing the risk factors of metabolic syndrome and health behaviors, and provide basic materials to contribute to the activation of health promotion. Among 12,481 subjects of the source data from the 2014 community health survey, which was performed on adults aged 19 and over in Jeonlabuk-do, 12,185 people were analyzed in this study using SPSS 23.0. There were significant differences with respect to sex, smoking status, age, education level, and number of days of physical activity among the results of the difference of the risk factors of the metabolic syndrome according to the characteristics of the health behavior of the subjects. Of the risk factors for metabolic syndrome, this study emphasized the necessity of strategies to promote health programs regarding the management of drinking, smoking, physical activities, depression, subjective health condition and quality of life to the group of those with dyslipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.393-403
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree of cognitive impairment for the elders taking part in activities at senior community center and to identify the multiple factors affecting the cognitive dysfunction of them. Data were collected for the 375 elders taking part in activities at senior community center at 4 different areas of dong, up, and myun of C-city from June 2016 to July 2016, and their general characteristics as well as health-related characteristics, depression, and cognitive dysfunction were investigated and analyzed. The results of this study showed that cognitive dysfunction was affected by the age, education, economic support, history of stroke, and exercise. The risk of cognitive dysfunction was 3.50 times higher in patients over 80 years old than patients below 74 years old(p=.002), and the lower the level of education showed the higher the risk of cognitive dysfunction(p=.036)(p<.001). In addition, the risk of cognitive dysfunction was low in the absence of a history of stroke(p=.033), and the risk of cognitive dysfunction increased by 1.84 times if they do not exercise(p=.044). Based on the present study, It is required to consider the risk factors for cognitive dysfunction efforts to prevent and manage cognitive impairment before the onset of cognitive dysfunction.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.84-93
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• 2010

Purpose : This study was performed to estimate the incidence of nosocomial sepsis and to identify the most relevant risk factors for nosocomial sepsis in high-risk very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Methods : A retrospective review of 341 VLBW infants, admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Eulji University Hospital (Daejeon & Seoul) between January 2002 and June 2009, who survived more than 72 hours was performed. The incidence, causative organisms, risk factors and prognosis of nosocomial sepsis in VLBW infants were analyzed. Results : The incidence of nosocomial sepsis was 16.1% and the onset date of nosocomial sepsis was 21.5$\pm$15.9 days (mean$\pm$SD) after delivery. Staphylococcus aureus (21.3%) was the most common organism in the patients with nosocomial sepsis in VLBW infants. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that, gestational age [odds ratio (OR), 0.87; 95% CI, 0.83-0.91], umbilical artery catheter use for more than 5 days (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.15-4.46), umbilical venous catheter use for more than 5 days (OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.11-4.16), peripheral arterial line use (OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.14-4.04) and intravenous intralipids (OR, 4.3;95% CI, 1.13-14.32) were identified as risk factors. Conclusion : The limited usage of intravascular catheter related procedures and the short providence of intravenous nutrition may decrease the incidence of nosocomial sepsis in VLBW infants.