• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.47
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• pp.302.1-303.10
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• 2018

Background: A considerable amount of research has shown that knowledge and appropriate awareness are essential for encouraging positive behaviors and promoting health. In Korea, the roles that behavioral changes play in the prevention of cancer have been an important issue since the introduction of the 10 codes for cancer prevention in 2006. Thus, the present study investigated the associations of tobacco-related knowledge with awareness and attitudes towards positive smoking-cessation behaviors. Methods: The present study analyzed data from the 2010 national questionnaire survey (n = 1,006). This study evaluated sociodemographic characteristics, smoking status, self-rated health status, health-related interests, and the accuracy of 12 tobacco-related statements to determine knowledge level and to investigate its impact on awareness and behaviors related to smoking. These parameters were examined and staged using the Precaution Adoption Process Model. Results: A higher level of tobacco-related knowledge was significantly associated with a positive attitude towards smoking cessation (5-8 correct answers: odds ratio [OR], 2.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.57-4.08; ${\geq}9$ correct answers: OR, 3.90; 95% CI, 2.22-6.82; reference: ${\leq}4$ correct answers). Interestingly, among current smokers, only those who correctly responded to ${\geq}9$ of 12 tobacco-related statements were significantly associated with a positive attitude towards smoking cessation. Conclusion: This study found that having a higher level of tobacco-related knowledge had a significant impact on positive attitudes towards smoking cessation. This suggests that there is a need to disseminate appropriate knowledge to the general population to encourage positive attitudes and promote healthful behaviors in terms of smoking.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.127-135
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to show the relation of the change between spacial structure and social conditions of rural area. The spacial structure change of Asan city was analyzed using Space Syntax, and multiple regression analysis (dependent variables: connectivity, global integration, local integration / independent variables: population, household, farm population, farm population of 65years old and over, farm household, part-time farm households, cultivated land) was accomplished. As th result, that the increase of connectivity is related to the increase of population and farm population of 65years old and over and the decrease of farm population, and the increase of local integration is related to the increase of farm population of 65years old and over was showed. However, that global integration is not related to change of social conditions was proved.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.18-40
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• 2008

Measurements of health related quality of life can be used to compare patients with specific conditions to average individuals in the general population in a similar age and gender group. However there are few data available regarding health related quality of life for the general population of Korea. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the validity of the Korean version of EQ-5D and to measure the health related quality of life of the general adult population in a metropolitan city. The survey was cross-sectional and employed a stratified and multistage sampling design through 100 examination sites in 5 districts of UIsan. A total of 12,644 individuals from 4,112 households participated in the survey. Of these, we analyzed data from 8,068 adults who were over 19 years old and completed the EQ-5D. To examine the validity of the questionnaire, the differences in 5 dimensions and the $EQ-5D_{index}$ were analyzed with regard to demographic and socioeconomic factors such as sex, age, income, and education. In addition, visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to evaluate the overall health related quality of life issues of the respondents. The level of health related quality of life of the general adult population was then compared with the results from the third Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and other countries. There were a small number of people with problems related tomobility, self-care, and usual activity. In addition, many people complained ofpain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. The complaint rate in each dimension, VAS, and $EQ-5D_{index}$ indicated relatively better states for males, the younger group, the higher income group, and the higher education group. In addition, the level of health related quality of life of the general population of Ulsan was relatively higher than that of Koreans nationwide as well as the populations of other countries. EQ-SD provided a valid measure of the health-related quality of life of the general adult population. In addition, the results of a survey of Ulsan revealed that the quality of life of its population is better than that of the overall population of Korea and of the populations of other countries.

• Asian Journal of Business Environment
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.23-28
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• 2019

Purpose - With rapid population aging in Korea, changes in the population structure will result in a rise in the fiscal burden. This paper investigates the effects of population aging on fiscal spending based on Korea's province data and country panel data from the OECD. Research design, data, and methodology - We use province-level fiscal data from Local Finance Integrated Open System and the Korean Statistical Information Service and also collect country panel data from the OECD. To investigate the relationship between population aging and fiscal expenditures, our analysis uses the fixed effects model. Results - The empirical analysis based on Korean local finance and country panel data show that population aging has a positive impact on social welfare expenditures and it also has a positive impact on spending related to children and the elderly, implying that population aging may lead to an increase in fiscal spending via an increase in social welfare expenditures and spending related to children and the elderly. Conclusion - These empirical results suggest that countries like Korea that expect to experience rapid population aging need to pay more attention to prepare for the expected increase in age-related spending in the near future.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.167-172
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• 2014

In the present study, muscle tissues were obtained separately from individuals from Atlantic hairtail population (AHP), Gunsan hairtail population (GHP) and Chinese hairtail population (CHP), respectively. The seven decamer primers were used to generate the shared loci, specific, unique shared loci to each population and shared loci by the three hairtail populations. Here, averagely, a decamer primer generated 64.7 amplified products per primer in the AHP population, 55.7 in GHP population and 56.4 in CHP population. The number of unique shared loci to each population and number of shared loci by the three populations generated by genetic analysis using 7 decamer primers in AHP, GHP and CHP population. 119 unique shared loci to each population, with an average of 17 per primer, were observed in the AHP population, and 28 loci, with an average of 4 per primer, were observed in the CHP population. The hierarchical dendrogram point out three main branches: cluster 1 (ATLANTIC 01 ~ ATLANTIC 07), cluster 2 (GUNSAN 08 ~ GUNSAN 14) and cluster 3 (CHINESE 15 ~ CHINESE 21). The shortest genetic distance displaying significant molecular difference was between individuals' CHINESE no. 16 and CHINESE no. 18 (0.045). In the long run, individual no. 01 of the AHP population was most distantly related to CHINESE no. 19 (genetic distance = 0.430). Consequently, PCR analysis generated on the genetic data displayed that the geographic AHP population was widely separated from CHP population, while individuals of CHP population were fairly closely related to those of GHP population.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.320-331
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• 2019

Background: Dioecious plant species having both male and female plants have been investigated regarding sex-related characteristics such as sex ratio, sex-differential resource requirements, and spatial segregation of the sexes. Habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to the survival of plant populations, but dioecious species are particularly more prone to such habitat degradation than non-dioecious species because of their dimorphic sexual system. We examined the sex-related demographics of two Ilex cornuta populations being different regarding land use history. Methods: During 2016-2017, we examined I. cornuta trees with a basal diameter ${\geq}1.5cm$ in the Yongsu-ri population (YS population) and the Gotjawal Provincial Park population (GP population). Plant sex (male, female, or unsexed) was identified. The tree size (basal diameter and height of the main stem), clonal production (the ramet numbers per genet), and vitality for each clone were measured. The associations between population, sex, tree size, clonal production, and vitality were examined using ANOVAs and contingency table analyses. Finally, point pattern analyses using O-ring statistics were conducted to assess spatial patterns. Results: Upon excluding unsexed trees, the YS population with 74 trees was significantly male-biased (0.66), while the GP population with only 26 trees had a 1:1 sex ratio. In both populations, males and females did not differ in tree size. Although the mean number of ramets differed significantly between populations, females tended to produce more ramets than males. The proportion of weak trees was significantly higher in the YS than in the GP population. Neither population showed evidence of spatial segregation of the sexes. Conclusions: The two populations of dioecious I. cornuta are characterized by the small number of trees and relatively high frequencies of non-reproductive trees. Both indicate that these populations are quite susceptible to environmental and genetic stochasticity. On the other hand, the differences between populations in sex ratio, clonal production, and vitality suggest that conservation efforts for I. cornuta need to be population-specific. In order to help recover and enable this vulnerable species to persist, it is necessary to find ways to enhance their sexual reproduction and simultaneously reduce habitat disturbances due to anthropogenic activities.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.15-24
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• 2023

The sense of crisis regarding regional extinction due to low birth rates and an aging population is expanding. Generally, the local extinction index is used to analyze local extinction. However, it is challenging to diagnose the actual situation of village extinction risk in rural areas, even though the regional extinction index can be analyzed in units such as Si-Gun-Gu and Eup-Myeon-Dong. This difficulty arises because the regional extinction index solely relies on natural population growth indicators (elderly population and female population aged 20-39). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a village extinction index that can identify the disappearance of rural villages. Additionally, the aim is to apply the developed indicators to the village (administrative ri) spatial unit. The existing regional extinction index used only mortality-related indicators as factors for natural population decline and fertility-related indicators as factors for natural population growth. However, the developed village extinction index included not only the factors of natural population change but also incorporated social population growth factors and factors related to the pace of village extinction. This is the key difference between the developed village extinction index and the existing regional extinction index. In this study, the indicators of "total population," "number of young women aged 20-44," "number of elderly population aged 70 or older," and "number of incoming population" were selected to develop a village extinction index. The village extinction index was developed by incorporating both natural population growth indicators and social population growth indicators. The developed village extinction index was applied to administrative villages. This research is expected to provide a more accurate understanding of the current state of rural villages facing extinction.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.435-440
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• 2017

The author performed PCR-based genetic platform to measure the hierarchical dendrogram of Euclidean genetic distances of Korean scallop populations (KSP), particularly for Chlamys farreri, which was further compared with those of the Chinese scallop populations (CSP), by employing the with specifically designed oligonucleotide primer sets. The scallop is economically and ecologically very important bivalves in South Korea. Relatively, individuals of KSP population were fairly distantly related to that of CSP population, as shown in the hierarchical dendrogram of Euclidean genetic distances. Comparatively, individuals of KSP population were fairly distantly related to that of CSP population. Thus analysis of genetic difference between scallop populations could provide important statistics for fishery and aquaculture. Overall the results showed specific and/or conserved genetic loci between scallop populations. Information on the genetic distance of the bivalve would be helpful to understand scallop expansion or conservation in the coastal regions of South Korea. Specific markers developed by the author will be useful for the analysis of scallop population genetics and distribution in coastal region.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.425-431
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• 2014

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The study objectives were to examine the participation rate in food assistance programs and explore the factors that contribute to such participation among the Korean elderly population. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study sample comprised 3,932 respondents aged 65 years or older who were selected from a secondary data set, the fourth Korean Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS). The factors, related to participation in programs were examined based on the predisposing, enabling and need factors of the help-seeking behavior model. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to select the best contributors among the factors related to program participation. RESULTS: The predisposing rate in food assistance programs was 8.5% (7.1% for men and 10.4% for women). When all variables were included in the model, living without spouse, no formal education, low income, having social security benefits and food insecurity in elderly men, and age, low income, having social security benefits and feeling poor in elderly women were significantly related to a higher tendency to program participation. CONCLUSIONS: The predisposing and need factors, such as living without spouse, low education level, food insecurity and feeling poor were important for program participation, as well as enabling factors, such as household income and social security benefits. A comprehensive approach considering these factors to identify the target population for food assistance programs is needed to increase the effectiveness and target population penetration of these programs.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.59-77
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of traffic-related air pollution on the urban population in the Metropolitan Seoul area. In particular, this study analyzes urban population exposure to traffic-related particulate materials(PM). For the purpose, this study examines the relationships between traffic flows and PM concentration levels during the last fifteen years. Traffic volumes have been decreased significantly in recent year in Seoul, however, PM levels have been declined less compare to traffic volumes. It may be related with the rapid growth in the population and vehicle numbers in Gyenggi, the outskirt of Seoul, where several New Towns have been developed in the middle of 1990's. The spatial pattern of commuting has changed, and thus and travel distances and traffic volumes have increased along the main roads connecting CBDs in Seoul and New Towns consisting of large residential apartment complexes. These changes in traffic flows and travel behaviors cause increasing exposure to traffic-related air pollution for urban population over the Metropolitan Seoul area. GIS techniques are applied to analyze the spatial patterns of traffic flows, population distributions, PM distributions, and passenger flows comprehensively. This study also analyzes real time base traffic flow data and passenger flow data obtained from T-card transaction database applying data mining techniques. This study also attempts to develop a space-time model for assessing journey-time exposure to traffic related air pollutants based on travel passenger frequency distribution function. The results of this study can be used for the implications for sustainable transport systems, public health and transportation policy by reducing urban air pollution and road traffics in the Metropolitan Seoul area.