• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2013

Objectives: Mental health has been shown to be linked with certain underlying physiological mechanisms. The objective of this cross sectional study was to investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms and brachial artery reactivity (BAR) in an understudied population: police officers. Methods: Participants were 351 police officers who were clinically examined in the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Police Stress (BCOPS) study. BAR was performed using standard B-Mode ultrasound procedures. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. Mean values of the difference between the baseline and maximum diameters of the brachial artery were determined across three categories of CES-D score using the analysis of variance and the analysis of covariance. p-values for linear trends were obtained from linear regression models. Results: The mean age (${\pm}$ standard deviation) of all officers was $40.9{\pm}7.2$ years. Women had a slightly higher mean CES-D score than men ($8.9{\pm}8.9$ vs. $7.4{\pm}6.4$) and a slightly higher percentage increase of BAR than men (6.90 vs. 5.26%). Smoking status significantly modified the associations between depressive symptoms and BAR. Among current smokers, mean absolute values of BAR significantly decreased as depressive symptoms increased after adjustment for age, gender, race/ethnicity, hypertension, and diabetes; the multivariate-adjusted p-values were 0.033 (absolute) and 0.040 (%). Associations between depressive symptoms and BAR were not statistically significant among former smokers or never smokers. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms were inversely associated with BAR among police officers who were current smokers and together may be considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease among police officers. Further prospective research is warranted.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.291-297
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• 2005

Objectives : The effects of exercise on bone density have been found to be inconsistent in previous studies. We conducted a cross-sectional study in premenarcheal girls to test two hypotheses to explain these inconsistencies. Firstly,'the intensity of mechanical strain, in terms of the ground reaction force(GRF), has more important effects on the bone mass at a weight-bearing site', and secondly, 'calcium intake modifies the bone response to exercise'. Methods : The areal bone mineral density was measured at the Os calcis, using peripheral dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, in 91 premenarcheal girls aged between 9 and 12 years. The intensity of mechanical strain of exercise was assessed by a self-report questionnaire and scored by the GRF as multiples of body weight, irrespective of the frequency and duration of exercise. The energy and calcium intake were calculated from the 24-hour dietary recall. An analysis of covariance(ANCOVA) was used to determine the interaction and main effects of exercise and calcium on the bone density, after adjusting for age, weight, height and energy intake. Results : The difference in the bone density between moderate and low impact exercise was more pronounced in the high than low calcium intake group. The bone density for moderate impact exercise and high calcium intake was significantly higher than that for low impact exercise (p=0.046) and low calcium intake, after adjusting for age, weight, height and energy intake. Conclusions : Our study suggests that the bone density at a weight-bearing site is positively related to the intensity of mechanical loading exercise, and the calcium intake may modify the bone response to exercise at the loaded site in premenarcheal girls.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.192-198
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine associations between marital status and vegetable intake. Methods: Data were from participants 30 years and over (n = 18,190) in the 2007~2010 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Marital status was divided into three groups: married, never married, and separated/divorced/widowed. Vegetable intake was estimated from the twenty-four hour dietary recall. Data were analyzed using a chi-square test, analysis of covariance, least squares means, and logistic regression. Results: Married respondents tend to consume more vegetables, including kimchi, than all other marital status groups. Vegetable intake, excluding kimchi, was lowest among 30~64 year-old respondents who had never married. Elderly men (65 years and older) who were never married/separated/divorced/ widowed had significantly lower vegetable intake than elderly men who were married (p = 0.0008). When considering the Korean dietary reference intake (KDRIs), elderly men who were never married/separated/divorced/widowed, compared with elderly men who were married, had a significantly higher odds ratio for consuming fewer vegetables than the KDRIs (OR = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.13~2.37). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that marital status might influence vegetable intake and the probability of consuming fewer vegetables than the KDRIs. In particular, being never married/separated/divorced/ widowed might adversely affect vegetable consumption among elderly men, although assessing the causal effect of marital status from this cross-sectional study is difficult.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.123-133
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• 2003

Objectives: To examine the association between serum gamma-glutamyltransferase(GGT) activity level and blood pressure, serum lipids in the male residents of rural area, we analyzed cross-sectionally the data of 379 male health examinees aged 40 years and older from rural areas in Gyeongsangnam-do prefecture in Korea. Methods: Blood pressure and concentration of serum lipids were compared between high and low level of serum GGT activity by t-test or Wilcoxon rank sum test. Possible confounding effects of age, body mass index and coffee drinking were adjusted by analysis of covariance. Results: Adjusted values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure were higher in the group of high level of serum GGT activity in non-drinkers(P=0.055 and P=0.074 respectively) and drinkers(P=0.284 and P=0.398) of alcohol. Adjusted serum total cholesterol level was also higher in the group of high level of serum GGT activity in non-drinkers(P=0.052) but not in drinkers(P=0.981) of alcohol. In serum triglyceride, adjusted level was significantly higher in the group of high level of serum GGT activity in both non-drinkers(P=0.035) and drinkers(P=0.002) of alcohol. Conclusions: These results suggest the association of serum GGT activity and serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, or blood pressure in non-drinkres of alcohol.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
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• v.18B no.3
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• pp.147-156
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• 2011

This paper proposes a 3-stage (preprocessing, feature extraction, and classification) fault detection and classification algorithm for induction motors. In the first stage, a low-pass filter is used to remove noise components in the fault signal. In the second stage, a discrete cosine transform (DCT) and a statistical method are used to extract features of the fault signal. Finally, a back propagation neural network (BPNN) method is applied to classify the fault signal. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, we used one second long normal/abnormal vibration signals of an induction motor sampled at 8kHz. Experimental results showed that the proposed algorithm achieves about 100% accuracy in fault classification, and it provides 50% improved accuracy when compared to the existing fault detection algorithm using a cross-covariance method. In a real-world data acquisition environment, unnecessary noise components are usually included to the real signal. Thus, we conducted an additional simulation to evaluate how well the proposed algorithm classifies the fault signals in a circumstance where a white Gaussian noise is inserted into the fault signals. The simulation results showed that the proposed algorithm achieves over 98% accuracy in fault classification. Moreover, we developed a testbed system including a TI's DSP (digital signal processor) to implement and verify the functionality of the proposed algorithm.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.181-197
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to look into students' understandings of environmental issues, especially issues on global warming in South Korea and Singapore. We surveyed students (n=2,389, from 6 to 10 years) from 12 schools in South Korea and 5 schools in Singapore on how useful students believe various actions might be in reducing global warming, and their willingness to undertake such actions. We employed questionnaires developed by Boyes, Skamp, & Stanisstreet (2009), which consists of 44 questions on 16 pro-environmental actions. We analyzed the degree of students' beliefs, willingness to act, and the relationship between the believed usefulness of action and willingness to act. Differences between the two countries were determined by Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) using the ordinal data and the potential effectiveness of education was explored by plotting the measures of the degree of willingness to act for a particular action against the value of the believed usefulness of action and fitting the regression line. The degree of willingness to act and their beliefs in the usefulness of action was different from question to question between the two countries, however, the overall relationship between willingness to take action and beliefs in the action has shown to be stronger among Singaporean students than those of South Korean students. Based on the findings, we attempted to discuss about how environmental education needs to take into account the complexity of beliefs, willingness to act, and action taking.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1-32
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• 2011

I. Introduction: In Chinese electronics industry, the local wholesalers are still dominant but power is rapidly swifting from wholesalers to retailers because in recent foreign big retailers and local mass merchandisers are growing fast. During such transient period, conflicts among channel members emerge important issues. For example, when wholesalers who have more power exercise influence strategies to maintain status, conflicts among manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer will be intensified. Korean electronics companies in China need differentiated channel strategies by dealing with wholesalers and retailers simultaneously to sell more Korean products in competition with foreign firms. For example, Korean electronics firms should utilize 'guanxi' or relational quality to form long-term relationships with whloesalers instead of power and conflict issues. The major purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of conflict, dependency, and influence strategies between local Korean-products-selling retailers and wholesalers on performance in Chinese electronics distribution channels. In particular, this paper proposes effective distribution strategies for Korean electronics companies in China by analyzing moderating effects of 'Guanxi'. II. Literature Review and Hypotheses: The specific purposes of this study are as follows. First, causes of conflicts between local Korean-products-selling retailers and wholesalers are examined from the perspectives of goal incongruence and role ambiguity and then effects of these causes are found out on perceived conflicts of local retailers. Second, the effects of dependency of local retailers upon wholesalers are investigated on local retailers' perceived conflicts. Third, the effects of non-coercive influence strategies such as information exchange and recommendation and coercive strategies such as threats and legalistic pleas exercised by wholesalers are explored on perceived conflicts by local retailers. Fourth, the effects of level of conflicts perceived by local retailers are verified on local retailers' financial performance and satisfaction. Fifth, moderating effects of relational qualities, say, 'quanxi' between wholesalers and retailers are analyzed on the impact of wholesalers' influence strategies on retailers' performances. Finally, moderating effects of relational qualities are examined on the relationship between conflicts and performance. To accomplish above-mentioned research objectives, Figure 1 and the following research hypotheses are proposed and verified. III. Measurement and Data Analysis: To verify the proposed research model and hypotheses, data were collected from 97 retailers who are selling Korean electronic products located around Central and Southern regions in China. Covariance analysis and moderated regression analysis were employed to validate hypotheses. IV. Conclusion: The following results were drawn using structural equation modeling and hierarchical moderated regression. First, goal incongruence perceived by local retailers significantly affected conflict but role ambiguity did not. Second, consistent with conflict spiral theory, the level of conflict decreased when retailers' dependency increased toward wholesalers. Third, noncoercive influence strategies such as information exchange and recommendation implemented by wholesalers had significant effects on retailers' performance such as sales and satisfaction without conflict. On the other hand, coercive influence strategies such as threat and legalistic plea had insignificant effects on performance in spite of increasing the level of conflict. Fourth, 'guanxi', namely, relational quality between local retailers and wholesalers showed unique effects on performance. In case of noncoercive influence strategies, 'guanxi' did not play a role of moderator. Rather, relational quality and noncoercive influence strategies can serve as independent variables to enhance performance. On the other hand, when 'guanxi' was well built due to mutual trust and commitment, relational quality as a moderator can positively function to improve performance even though hostile, coercive influence strategies were implemented. Fifth, 'guanxi' significantly moderated the effects of conflict on performance. Even if conflict arises, local retailers who form solid relational quality can increase performance by dealing with dysfunctional conflict synergistically compared with low 'quanxi' retailers. In conclusion, this study verified the importance of relational quality via 'quanxi' between local retailers and wholesalers in Chinese electronic industry because relational quality could cross out the adverse effects of coercive influence strategies and conflict on performance.