• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.369-379
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• 2002

The characteristics of the East Asian summer monsoon circulation associated with the cool and wet summer of 1993 and the warm and dry summer of 1994 are investigated by analyzing the atmospheric circulations features in the upper and lower troposphere and by examining the global SST and associated tropical convective precipitation fields. The negative geopotential height anomalies at 500 hPa and 200 hPa in 1993 over East Asia, the central North Pacific, and the western United States were replaced by positive ones in 1994. In addition, the 200 hPa zonal wind anomaly averaged over the East Asian summer monsoon region is negatively correlated with the Korean summer temperature anomaly. The subtropical jet stream in 1993 was displaced into the central part of Korea well south of its normal position. The western Pacific subtropical high was shifted southward, and the East Asian summer rainfall and temperature was above-normal and below-normal, respectively due to the southwestward extension of a cold and dry polar airmass from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Est Sea. In contrast, the subtropical jet stream in 1994 was displaced well north of its normal position. The abrupt northward shift of the western Pacific subtropical high was accompanied with the rapid northward movement of the rain band of the East Asian summer monsoon rainfall. The anomaly patterns of the East Asia summer rainfall and temperature were opposite to those of 1993. Large sea surface temperature anomalies of opposite signs existed in the tropical Pacific with a mature El $Ni{\~{n}o$ in 1993 and a weak La $Ni{\~{n}a$ condition in 1994. The role of the anomalous convective precipitation in the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean related with the variations in the low-level cross-equatorial flow along the northwestern periphery of the Australian high and the Mascarene high is probably to influence a large-scale atmospheric circulation over the East Asia during both the years.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.27 no.3 s.47
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• pp.609-626
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• 1994

This study was conducted to investigate whether variations in hospital services utilization across small geographic areas in Korea existed, and if so, what factors are responsible for the variation. The claims data of the fiscal year 1992 obtained from the regional health insurance societies were used for the study. Main findings of the research can be summarized as follows: 1 Extremal Quotients (EQ) of hospital expenditure per capita and hospital days per capita were 2.69 and 2.73, and Coefficient of Variation (CV) were 0.14, both, respectively. The EQ and the CV of admission rate were also 2.71, 0.15. The EQ and the CV of expenditure per admission were 1.73, 0.10 and those of hospital days per admission were 1.29, 0.06. All these statistics were statistically significant and this result provides strong evidence for the existence of small area variations. 2. Comparing patterns of variation among areas, the area which showed higher utilization amounts is Chansungp'o. Koje area, whereas the areas which showed lower utilization amounts are Yongju, Changhung, Miryang, Mokp'o, Koch'ang area. 3. Multivariate analytic methods were used to examine factors related to the variation across areas. In terms of the health resource availability variables, beds per capita or physicians per capita were positively associated with all utilization indices. As for the health service market structure variables, the proportion of health care institutions operating for less than f years was positively related to the expenditure per capita, hospital days per capita and expenditure per admission. In addition the proportion of the private health care institutions also had a negative relationship with total utilization amount and admission rate and the proportion of physicians under age 40 was negatively associated with expenditure per capita and expenditure per admission. With regard to the socio-demographic characteristics, proportion of medicaid population was positively related to hospital days per capita, and percentage of paved road was positively related to hospital days per admission. As a conclusion, wide variations existed across small areas in Korea and supply factors were found to be important in explaining the variation.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.569-611
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• 2018

Rapid economic growth, urbanization, and industrialization of China have tremendously degraded the overall quality of living environments, especially the air quality, not only negatively affecting Chinese people but also impacting citizens of neighboring countries, namely Korea. The Chinese government has invested much effort to regulate the air pollution due to burning coal through introducing strict environmental monitoring policies and aggressive implementation. This paper presents an overview of Chinese air pollution prevention policy due to burning coal, and the associated trends and specifics of institutional arrangements regarding air pollutant emission regulations. It turns out that the policies have become stricter than before; some polices are geared towards enforcing extra regulation at the regional level. It is expected that the regulation will become stricter in the future. However, the actual contribution and feasibility of such policies must be analyzed based on sound science. The policies seem to care little about influencing the air quality of Korea, and this has to be improved. In order to do so, it is important to strengthen environmental cooperation between Korea and China, and better yet to research on not only the air quality but also the associated fields, such as energy, industrial technology, and global environmental governance.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.208-215
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• 2020

This study investigated the relationship among gait variables and physical fitness variables for Korean elderly people. Two hundred elderly people aged 65 to 85, (100 men and 100 women) participated in this study. They performed senior fitness test consisting of 6 tests, 3 additional physical tests (vertical jump, one leg stand, and grip force), body composition measures, and gait test. The gait test used shoes having an inertia measurement device in the outer-soles. The results indicated that the stride length, 6-min walking, lean body mass, and dumbbell curls were significantly affected by age (the above 75 group vs. the below 75 group). Among 33 measured parameters, the principal component analysis (PCA) revealed five PCs such as gait characteristics, physical features, gait variability, and fitness levels. In addition, the correlation analysis showed that the preferred walking speed was significantly, positively associated with stride length and single support time, whereas it was negatively associated with double support time and gait variability.(Ed note: please confirm my modification) In conclusion, sarcopenia should be avoided in elderly people, and resistance exercise is highly recommended to help elderly people maintain their gait ability.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.302-308
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• 2006

Objectives: This study aims to examine if a garbage dumping site has real and negative influence on the quality of life (QOL) for the nearby residents. The net effects of the residential distance from the garbage dumping site and from the garbage truck route were investigated for five domains of the QOL. Methods: Two hundred fifty seven Shin-dong Myeon residents, Chun-cheon Si, participated in a self-administrated survey. The Shin-dong Myeon garbage dumping site began operating in 1996. ANCOV A with generalized linear models and multiple regression analysis were performed. Results: Descriptive analyses show that a residence nearby a garbage dumping site is negatively associated with the physical and environmental domains of the QOL. The residential distance from the garbage truck route does not exert any significant effect on various domains of QOL, except for the environmental domain. On the multivariate analysis, the residents living near the garbage dumping site tended to have a significantly negative QOL in the physical and environmental domains. However, the distance from the garbage truck route did not show a significant nor substantial effect on the QOL. The demographic and socioeconomic control variables are associated with a number of the QOL domains, and their patterns are consistent with the general expectations. Conclusions: The results indicated that a garbage dumping site is considered to be an environmental hazard among the nearby residents according to the lower scores on the physical and environmental domains of the QOL. The findings from this study provide comprehensive understanding on the residents' QOL, and they may help politicians and policy makers make decisions for appropriate interventions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Child Welfare
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• no.53
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• pp.1-23
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• 2016

With using a subsample of 1,373 poor single mothers and their children from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study, the present study examined the associations among mothers' economic hardship, depressive symptoms, and parenting stress, child abuse and neglect, and their children's behavior problems, delinquency, and social skill. These families were tracked through follow-up interviews at the time of birth, and when the children were three, five, and nine years old. The results indicated that mothers' economic hardship, depressive symptoms, and parenting stress were significant predictors to determine their children's abuse and neglect. Findings also suggest that higher levels of child abuse and neglect are positively associated with more behavior problems and delinquency, and negatively associated with social skills. Further discussions include policy and services to prevent child abuse and neglect and to alleviate mothers' financial difficulties, depression, and parenting stress.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.35-71
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to examine which job-related factors are associated with presenteeism, which is defined as attending work while ill. Although presenteeism is a relatively new concept in academic research, it should be regarded as an important social issue in that presenteeism threatens employees' job prospects and quality of life as well as it causes loss of work productivity. I analyzed a cross-sectional survey of 24,571 wage workers over 15 from the fourth wave of the Korean Working Conditions Survey in 2014. Five logistic regression models were analyzed on experience of presenteeism, and work hours and private life, occupational environment, job insecurity, rewards and welfare were assessed as key predictors of presenteeism. I found that 1) work hours with bad fit with private life, 2) high level of work time-pressure, and low job satisfaction 3) job insecurity, and 4) low benefits are associated with experience of presenteeism. The findings are fairly consistent with the theory of job-person mismatch, which explains that workers tend to preserve their personal resources by going to work while ill (presenteeism) when job demands or work conditions do not match with their level of personal expectation and, thus, workers are afraid of loss of personal resources. Presenteeism influences worker's long-term health and quality of life negatively as well as causes serious social costs. Therefore, we need organizational efforts to prevent the negative effects of presenteeism on society as well as workers.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.474-481
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to identify the quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with gel consistency (GC), and to evaluate the relationships between GC and physico-chemical properties related to eating quality in rice. A total of 120 doubled haploid (DH) lines derived from a cross between 'Samgang' and 'Nagdong' and 26 varieties were used for this study. The 120 DH lines were divided into four groups, soft (61~100 mm), medium (41~60 mm), hard (26~40 mm) and whole population, according to the gel length. A negative correlation between GC and amylose content was observed only in the soft group. The GC negatively correlated with lipid content in the medium, and the whole population, but positively correlated with lipid content in the soft group. The positive correlation between GC and protein content was observed in the soft group, while negative correlations were observed in the medium group and the whole population. Two significant QTLs regarding GC were detected on chromosomes 4 and 11. They collectively explained 23% of phenotypic variation with LOD score of 3.1 and 2.9, respectively. The DNA markers of S4026 and RM287 were tightly linked to GC in the DH population and 26 varieties, respectively.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.354-368
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• 2019

Purpose: This study evaluated the glycemic response of diets using estimated glycemic load (eGL), which had been developed for mixed meals for Korean adults, and examined its associations with cardiometabolic risk factors among Korean adults. Methods: A total of 4,655 men and 6,760 women aged 19 years and above were included from the 2013 ~ 2016 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. eGL was calculated by each meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack) and then summed to give daily total eGL. A multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association. Results: Mean daily total eGL was 112.6 in men and 99.3 in women. Daily total eGL was positively associated with carbohydrate and fiber intakes, but negatively associated with protein and fat intakes in both men and women (p < 0.05 for all). Daily total eGL showed an inverse association with HDL-cholesterol level in both men and women (p = 0.0036 for men and p = 0.0008 for women). Men in the highest quintile of daily total eGL showed a 66% increased risk of hypercholesterolemia (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.10 ~ 2.50; p for trend = 0.0447) compared with those in the lowest quintile. Conclusion: These findings suggest that eGL based on carbohydrate, protein, fat and fiber intakes can reflect glycemic response and therefore can be used as an index for dietary planning, nutrition education and in the food industry.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.306-317
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to examine the structural relationships among the Big Five personality traits, self-esteem, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction of employees and to investigate how these relationships vary depend on gender. Using data from 1183 employees from the 18th and 19th Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) in 2015 and 2016, we investigate the structural relationships among variables including multi-group path analysis by gender. This study found that openness to experience(${\beta}=.07$), conscientiousness(${\beta}=.19$), and extraversion(${\beta}=.09$) were positively associated with employees' self-esteem while neuroticism was negatively associated(${\beta}=-.09$). Second, only neuroticism among the Big Five personality traits was significantly related to job satisfaction(${\beta}=.08$). Third, conscientiousness(${\beta}=.08$) and agreeableness(${\beta}=.09$) were significantly related to life satisfaction. Fourth, self-esteem positively affected career satisfaction(${\beta}=.31$) and life satisfaction(${\beta}=.29$). Fifth, self-esteem mediated the links between all Big Five personality traits, except agreeableness, as well as job and life satisfaction. Sixth, the effect of extraversion on life satisfaction had differences between male and female. These results imply that self-esteem enhancement program based on the Big Five personality traits should be implemented in order to improve employee's job and life satisfaction.