• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.74-80
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• 2012

Fish contain both the neurotoxin methyl mercury (MeHg) and nutrients important for brain development. The developing brain appears to be most sensitive to MeHg toxicity and mothers who consume fish during pregnancy expose their fetus prenatally. Although brain development is most dramatic during fetal life, it continues for years postnatally and additional exposure can occur when a mother breast feeds or the child consumes fish. This raises the possibility that MeHg might influence brain. We evaluated the relationship between fish consumption and mercury exposure levels in umbilical cord blood of the pregnant women of the city of Tongyeong city, Korea. A total of 159 pregnant women residing in the city of Tongyeong, Korea were recruited for the study between October 2010 and March 2011. Fish consumption was evaluated using food frequency questionnaires including detailed questions on fish consumption. We used ANOVA to estimated the particular relevance between the frequency of fish consumption and the umbilical cord blood mercury concentration, and other various factors. The average mean concentration of mercury levels in umbilical cord blood of pregnant women who participated in our study were $2.69{\pm}2.50ppb$, ranging from 0.01 to 14.80 ppb. The mean concentration of umbilical cord blood mercury exposure was lower than the level recommended by WHO (5.0 ppb), but the mercury exposure level exceeded the WHO recommended in 17 (10.7%) cases of umbilical cord blood. Mercury levels in cord blood of pregnant women were $2.04{\pm}2.00ppb$, ranging from 0 to 8.00 ppb in below 29 years old and $3.18{\pm}2.74ppb$, ranging from 0.01 to 14.80 ppb in more 30 years old. In this study, there was a significant difference for the frequency of eating fish between the groups (p < 0.01). The level of the groups that ate fish 3 to more times per week ($4.15{\pm}4.02ppb$) was significant higher as compared with the level of other groups that ate fish 1 to times per week ($2.63{\pm}2.22ppb$) and none per week ($1.06{\pm}1.44ppb$), respectively. We found that the mercury concentration of umbilical cord blood associate with fish consumption and this was statistically significant and this fact revels that fish consumption is positively related to mercury levels in the umbilical cord blood. We need systematic and periodic research on the general population to prevent mercury poisoning, which can be cause by low-level mercury exposure from dietary intake such as chronic fish consumption.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.75-97
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• 2012

Knowledge residing in the heads of employees has always been regarded as one of the most critical resources within a firm. However, many tries to facilitate knowledge transfer among employees has been unsuccessful because of the motivational and cognitive problems between the knowledge source and the recipient. Social capital, which is defined as "the sum of the actual and potential resources embedded within, available through, derived from the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social unit [Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998]," is suggested to resolve these motivational and cognitive problems of knowledge transfer. In Social capital theory, there are two research streams. One insists that social capital strengthens group solidarity and brings up cooperative behaviors among group members, such as voluntary help to colleagues. Therefore, social capital can motivate an expert to transfer his/her knowledge to a colleague in need without any direct reward. The other stream insists that social capital provides an access to various resources that the owner of social capital doesn't possess directly. In knowledge transfer context, an employee with social capital can access and learn much knowledge from his/her colleagues. Therefore, social capital provides benefits to both the knowledge source and the recipient in different ways. However, prior research on knowledge transfer and social capital is mostly limited to either of the research stream of social capital and covered only the knowledge source's or the knowledge recipient's perspective. Social network theory which focuses on the structural dimension of social capital provides clear explanation about the in-depth mechanisms of social capital's two different benefits. 'Strong tie' builds up identification, trust, and emotional attachment between the knowledge source and the recipient; therefore, it motivates the knowledge source to transfer his/her knowledge to the recipient. On the other hand, 'weak tie' easily expands to 'diverse' knowledge sources because it does not take much effort to manage. Therefore, the real value of 'weak tie' comes from the 'diverse network structure,' not the 'weak tie' itself. It implies that the two different perspectives on strength of ties can co-exist. For example, an extroverted employee can manage many 'strong' ties with 'various' colleagues. In this regards, the individual-level structure of one's relationships as well as the dyadic-level relationship should be considered together to provide a holistic view of social capital. In addition, interaction effect between individual-level characteristics and dyadic-level characteristics can be examined, too. Based on these arguments, this study has following research questions. (1) How does the social capital of the knowledge source and the recipient influence knowledge transfer respectively? (2) How does the strength of ties between the knowledge source and the recipient influence knowledge transfer? (3) How does the social capital of the knowledge source and the recipient influence the effect of the strength of ties between the knowledge source and the recipient on knowledge transfer? Based on Social capital theory and Social network theory, a multi-level research model is developed to consider both the individual-level social capital of the knowledge source and the recipient and the dyadic-level strength of relationship between the knowledge source and the recipient. 'Cross-classified random effect model,' one of the multi-level analysis methods, is adopted to analyze the survey responses from 337 R&D employees. The results of analysis provide several findings. First, among three dimensions of the knowledge source's social capital, network centrality (i.e., structural dimension) shows the significant direct effect on knowledge transfer. On the other hand, the knowledge recipient's network centrality is not influential. Instead, it strengthens the influence of the strength of ties between the knowledge source and the recipient on knowledge transfer. It means that the knowledge source's network centrality does not directly increase knowledge transfer. Instead, by providing access to various knowledge sources, the network centrality provides only the context where the strong tie between the knowledge source and the recipient leads to effective knowledge transfer. In short, network centrality has indirect effect on knowledge transfer from the knowledge recipient's perspective, while it has direct effect from the knowledge source's perspective. This is the most important contribution of this research. In addition, contrary to the research hypothesis, company tenure of the knowledge recipient negatively influences knowledge transfer. It means that experienced employees do not look for new knowledge and stick to their own knowledge. This is also an interesting result. One of the possible reasons is the hierarchical culture of Korea, such as a fear of losing face in front of subordinates. In a research methodology perspective, multi-level analysis adopted in this study seems to be very promising in management research area which has a multi-level data structure, such as employee-team-department-company. In addition, social network analysis is also a promising research approach with an exploding availability of online social network data.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.356-367
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• 2012

Community structure of fish and inhabiting status of endangered species, Cobitis choii and Gobiobotia naktongensis were investigated in the Ji Stream, a tributary of the Geum River Drainage System of Korea from May to October 2011. Ten to 23 fish species inhabited upper stream (St. 1~St. 4) with a Aa-Bb river type composed of mostly pebble and cobble bottoms, 16~28 species did middle stream (St. 5~St. 7) with a Bb type composed of mostly cobble and boulder bottoms, and 20-29 species did lower stream (St. 8~St. 10) with a Bb-Bc type composed of mostly sand bottoms. A total of 44 species belonging to nine families were found in the stream during the survay. The dominant species were in the order of Zacco platypus (37.2%), Pungtungia herzi (5.8%) and Pseudogobio esocinus (5.5%). Other abundant species included Acheilognathus lanceolatus (5.3%), Zacco koreanus (5.2%), Hemibarbus longirostris (4.9%) and Squalidus gracilis majimae (3.5%). Among residing species, 16 species were endemic to Korea, two (Cobits choii and Gobiobotia naktongensis) were endangered, and one (Micropterus salmoides) was non-indigenous. The similarity index based on species composition and abundance clearly delineated the fish community of the Ji Stream according to the three major sections, which were defined at the above. Dominance index gradually decreased toward downstream, while diversity, evenness and species richness indexes gradually increased toward downstream. The two endangered species, C. choii and G. naktongensis co-occurred at the lower stream due to the prevalence of a sandy substratum.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.569-592
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• 2018

This study purported to investigate the current state of human rights of older adults residing in rural areas of Korea. The study utilized, as an analytic framework, 4 priority directions (1. "older persons and development", 2. "rural area development", 3. "advancing health and well-being into old age", and 4. "ensuring enabling and supportive environments") with 13 task actions recommended by Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA). Furthermore, the study examined gender differences in all items included in the analytic framework. Data was collected by the face-to-face survey on 800 subjects aged 65 and over. Statistical analyses were conducted using STATA 13.0 program. The main results were summarized in order of 4 priority directions as follows. First, average working hours per day were 6.2, and men reportedly participated in economic activities and needed job training more than women, while women participated in lifelong education programs more than men. Awareness of fire and disaster prevention facilities was low in both genders. Second, accessibility to the support center for the elderly living alone as well as protective services for the vulnerable elderly was found to be low. IT-based services and networking were used more by men than women, and specifically, IT-based financial transactions and welfare services were least used. Third, medical check-ups and vaccinations were well received, while consistent treatments for chronic illnesses and long-term care services were relatively less given. In addition, accessibility to mental health service centers was considerably low. Fourth, although old house structures and the lack of convenience facilities were found to be circumstantial risk factors for these elders, experiences of receiving housing support services were scarce. The elderly were found to rely more on informal care, and concerns for their care were higher in women than men. Plus, accessibility to elderly abuse services was markedly low. Based on these results, discussed were implications for implementing policies and practical interventions to raise the levels of the human rights for this population.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.19 no.1 s.43
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• pp.99-114
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• 2007

This study aims at investigating how middle school students perceive the content of the 'Me and My Family Relations' unit in the technology and home economics textbook, act on such perceptions and how this connects with their healthy family relations. In addition, the study also points at inquiring into what kind of differences and mutual influences can be found in the above-mentioned three factors according to family environment. With this objective. this research has analyzed survey data conducted on 401 7th grade middle school students residing in Incheon Greater city, collected by the random sampling method. The findings are as follow: First, the students were found to have positive perceptions on the 'family relations and communication' unit in the technology and home economics text book. However. they were also found to perceive that the content was not as realizable in their everyday family lives. Second, the number of students who perceived their family lives to be healthy was found to be quite high. The students perceived their family lives to be healthy projecting from such aspects as the degree of gratification and affection, extent of family bonding, communication patterns, and problem solving abilities, in the same order. In addition, the higher the families' socio-economic level, and in the cases that the students had working mothers and the fathers held higher degrees, the degree to which the families were perceived to be healthy was higher. Third, in investigating the influence that such factors as the students' family environment, the degree that students perceived the text book content positively, and the degree that the students perceive the content to be realizable have on healthy family relations, among these factors, the students' perceived degree of how healthy their family relations are had the most bearing over the above-mentioned factors. The second influential factor on how healthy family relations are was the family's affectional environment, found to be more influential than such factors as family type, the mother's employment status, living standards, and the parents' educational level. On the other hand, the perceived level of realizability was found to have a lower influence on the students' family relations than the perceived positivity.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.20
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• pp.163-204
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• 2010

"Nectar of Immortality", also known as Suryukwha, is a painting which is hung on the wall during Suryukjae, a rite to console the spirits residing on both land and water. The Suryukwha at Bonyung Temple in the Ming Dynasty consisted of 139 scrolls depicting separate scenes. In Korea, however, Nectar of Immortality combines all the scenes into one large painting. The lower part of Nectar of Immortality describes pain, disasters, and the frailty of human life in this world. This is intended to inspire people to embrace Buddhism and be delivered from their worldly existence. However, it reflects the social realities of that time as well. The scenes at the bottom of the painting of nomadic troupes of entertainers and their performances are part of this reflection. In this section, various scenes of traditional Korean performance are illustrated, such as double and single tightrope walking, Sotdaetagi (performing atop a pole), Ssangjulbaegi (one form of Sotdaetagi), tumbling, bell juggling, mask dramas, dish spinning, puppet shows, the dance of Sadang, and sword dancing. Among these performances, some, such as Sotdaetagi, Ssangjulbaegi, double tightrope walking, bell juggling and sword dancing (Punggakjaengipae), have since ceased to exist. The troupes of entertainers depicted in Nectar of Immortality are Sadangpae, Namsadangpae, Sotdaejaengipae, Choranipae, Punggakjaenipae, Gutjungpae, and circus troupes. When, after itinerant lives, these entertainers die, they become forlorn wandering spirits with no descendants to perform their memorial services. The entertainers in the performance scenes are the embodiment of souls who are the subjects of salvation through Suryukjae. Among these entertainers, Sotdaejaengipae, Sadangpae, Choranipae, Punggakjaenipae and Gutjungpae no longer exist. In sum, Nectar of Immortality provides insight into the vanished content of numerous historic forms of performance and the activities of nomadic troupes of entertainers.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.236-250
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• 2016

This study was conducted to provide baseline data regarding functional cosmetics so that Inula. based cosmetics can increase its competitiveness in the market as well as to understand current trends to enable anticipation of demands for future product development. For this research, general consumers over the age of 20 residing in Seoul and the Gyeonggi district were surveyed. The results show consumers preferred serum-type products among various types of cosmetics, and that they purchased these once every 1-3 months. Consumers also preferred these products in less than 10-30ml capacity, and at costs of less than 30,000-50,000 KRW. For whitening, functional cosmetics consumers also preferred the serum type, in less than 30-50ml capacity and priced less than 30,000-50,000 KRW. Consumers preferred to purchase functional cosmetics in single units. The major purchasing location, with a high preference rate, was cosmetic stores, and the major sources of information, also with high preference rates, were 'experienced reviews from family, friends and acquaintances' and 'TV advertisements'. Respondents selected 'over 50,000 KRW' the most for all items when responding to 'Purchase Intent for Functional Cosmetics containing Inula', and responded that they were willing to pay 10%-30% more for functional cosmetics containing Inula compared to standard functional cosmetics. These results show that businesses in the cosmetics industry need to take consumer demand into account when developing new functional cosmetic products, as well as establish plans to create specialized spaces that provide better quality service and increase word of mouth effect through better utilization of various types of offline media, social media, and blogs. The study also shows a need for businesses to develop products fully utilizing the Inula flower, which has been shown to be effective as a natural skin whitener, wrinkle reducer and skin moisturizer, to appeal to the increasing number of customers interested in health and beauty.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 1976

Introduction Recently, changes in the patterns and concepts of maternity care, in both developing and developed countries have been accelerating. An outstanding development in this field is the number of deliveries taking place in hospitals or maternity centers. In Korea, however, more than 90% of deliveries are carried out at home with the help of untrained relatives or even without helpers. It is estimated that less than 10% of deliveries are assisted by professional persons such as a physician or a midwife. Taking into account the shortage of professional person i11 rural Korea, it is difficult to expect widespread prenatal, postnatal, and delivery care by professional persons in the near future, It is unrealistic, therefore, to expect rapid development of MCH care by professional persons in rural Korea due to economic and sociological reasons. Given these conditions. it is reasonable that an educated village women could used as a "maternity aid", serving simple and technically easy roles in the MCH field, if we could give such a women incentive to do so. The midwife and physician are assigned difficult problems in the MCH field which could not be solved by the village worker. However, with the application of the village worker system, we could expect to improve maternal and child hoalth through the replacement of untrained relatives as birth attendants with educated and trained maternity aides. We hope that this system will be a way of improving MCH care, which is only one part of the general health services offered at the local health centre level. Problems of MCH in rural Korea The field of MCH is not only the weakest point in the medical field in our country hut it has also dropped behind other developing countries. Regarding the knowledge about pregnancy and delivery, a large proportion of our respondents reported having only a little knowledge, while 29% reported that they had "sufficient" knowledge. The average number of pregnancies among women residing in rural areas was 4.3 while the rate of women with 5 or more pregnancies among general women and women who terminated childbearing were 43 and 80% respectively. The rate of unwanted pregnancy among general women was 19.7%. The total rate for complications during pregnancy was 15.4%, toxemia being the major complication. The rate of pregnant women with chronic disease was 7%. Regarding the interval of pregnancy, the rates of pregnancy within 12 months and within 36 months after last delivery were 9 and 49% respectively. Induced abortion has been increasing in rural areas, being as high as 30-50% in some locations. The maternal death rate was shown 10 times higher than in developed countries (35/10,000 live births). Prenatal care Most women had no consultation with a physician during the prenatal period. Of those women who did have prenatal care, the majority (63%) received such care only 1 or 2 times throughout the entire period of pregnancy. Also, in 80% of these women the first visit Game after 4 months of gestation. Delivery conditions This field is lagging behind other public health problems in our country. Namely, more than 95% of the women deliveried their baby at home, and delivery attendance by a professional person occurred only 11% of the time. Attendance rate by laymen was 78% while those receiving no care at all was 16%. For instruments used to cut the umbilical corn, sterilized scissors were used by 19%, non-sterilized scissors by 63% and 16% used sickles. Regarding delivery sheets, the rate of use of clean sheets was only 10%, unclean sheets, vinyl and papers 72%, and without sheets, 18%. The main reason for not using a hospital as a place of delivery was that the women felt they did not need it as they had previously experience easy deliveries outside hospitals. Difficult delivery composed about 5% of the total. Child health The main food for infants (95%) was breast milk. Regarding weaning time, the rates within one year, up to one and half, two, three and more than three years were 28,43,60,81 and 91% respectively, and even after the next pregnancy still continued lactation. The vaccination of children is the only service for child health in rural Korea. As shown in the Table, the rates of all kinds of vaccination were very low and insufficient. Infant death rate was 42 per 1,000 live births. Most of the deaths were caused by preventable diseases. Death of infants within the neonatal period was 83% meaning that deaths from communicable diseases decreased remarkably after that time. Infant deaths which occurred without medical care was 52%. Methods of improvement in the MCH field 1. Through the activities of village health workers (VHW) to detect pregnant women by home visiting and. after registration. visiting once a month to observe any abnormalities in pregnant women. If they find warning signs of abnormalities. they refer them to the public health nurse or midwife. Sterilized delivery kits were distributed to the expected mother 2 weeks prior to expected date of delivery by the VHW. If a delivery was expected to be difficult, then the VHW took the mother to a physician or call a physician to help after birth, the VHW visits the mother and baby to confirm health and to recommend the baby be given proper vaccination. 2. Through the midwife or public health nurse (aid nurse) Examination of pregnant women who are referred by the VHW to confirm abnormalities and to treat them. If the midwife or aid nurse could not solve the problems, they refer the pregnant women to the OB-GY specialist. The midwife and PHN will attend in the cases of normal deliveries and they help in the birth. The PHN will conduct vaccination for all infants and children under 5, years old. 3. The Physician will help only in those cases referred to him by the PHN or VHW. However, the physician should examine all pregnant women at least three times during their pregnancy. First, the physician will identify the pregnancy and conduct general physical examination to confirm any chronic disease that might disturb the continuity of the pregnancy. Second, if the pregnant woman shows any abnormalities the physician must examine and treat. Third, at 9 or 10 months of gestation (after sitting of the baby) the physician should examine the position of the fetus and measure the pelvis to recommend institutional delivery of those who are expected to have a difficult delivery. And of course. the medical care of both the mother and the infants are responsible of the physician. Overall, large areas of the field of MCH would be served by the VHW, PHN, or midwife so the physician is needed only as a parttime worker.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.195-201
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• 2014

Body fluid has been studied for diverse fields like Ringer's solutions, artificial joint fluids, cell growth culture media because it plays a crucial role in controlling body temperature and acts as a solvent for diverse metabolite processes in the body and delivery media of mineral, energy source, hormone, signal and drug from and to cell via blood or lymphatic vessel by osmotic pressure or active uptake. Stratum corneum containing extracellular lipids and NMF (natural moisturizing factor) absorbs atmospheric water residing outside of cells and utilize it to hydrate inside of their own. This process is related to skin barrier function. In this study, we conducted the cell viability test with Cell Bio Fluid $Sync^{TM}$, which mimicks body fluids including amino acids, peptides, and monosaccharides to strengthen skin barrier, and the clinical skin improvement test with cosmetics containing Cell Bio Fluid $Sync^{TM}$. In the cell viability test, HaCaT cell was treated with PBS for 3 hours, followed by the treatment of a cell culture medium (DMEM) and isotonic solution (PBS) and Cell Bio Fluid $Sync^{TM}$ for 3 hours each. Then, MTT assay and image analysis were conducted. In the clinical skin improvement test, twenty-one healthy women participated. Participants applied cosmetics containing Cell Bio Fluid $Sync^{TM}$ on their face for a week and evaluated the skin hydration, skin roughness, brightness and evenness. All measurements were conducted after they washed off their face and took a rest under the constant temperature ($22{\pm}2^{\circ}C$) and constant humidity conditions ($50{\pm}5%$) for 20 minutes. All the data were analyzed by SPSS (version 21) software program. Results showed that Cell Bio Fluid $Sync^{TM}$ improved both the cell viability and in vivo skin conditions such as skin hydration, roughness, brightness and evenness.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.93-102
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• 2004

Recently, the golden age of herbal cosmetics has come. Along with active introduction of oriental herbal lines, diversification of distribution channels is designated as a major feature. In this background, the present study attempts to consider the domestic market for oriental herbal cosmetics, which is growing rapidly with the introduction of various new brands, and examine the perceptions of this new type of cosmetics by women consumers based on their purchase behaviors, and search for the ways for its promotion and development. A survey was conducted to adult women consumers aged 19∼60 residing in Seoul or Gyeonggi-do. Out of a total of 430 surveys distributed, 350 answer sheets were used for the analysis Among the results, the first-hand information on the herbal cosmetics market, their usage, and the consumer needs obtained in the present study will serve as a fundamental data for planning the marketing strategies for the oriental herbal cosmetics.