• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2008

Background: Circulating levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) provide prognostic information for patients with heart failure. The aim of our study was to investigate whether preoperative and postoperative BNP levels could predict postoperative complications and outcomes in patients after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Material and Method: Data was collected prospectively on 30 patients (M/F=19/11, age $60.0{\pm}9.6$ years) undergoing conventional CABG during a 1-year period beginning on January 1, 2005. Patients underwent off-pump CABG, and combined surgery was excluded. The BNP assay was performed preoperatively, immediate postoperatively at the intensive care unit (ICU), and 1, 3, 5, and 7days postoperatively. Result: Preoperative BNP levels significantly correlated with preoperative echocardiographic ejection fraction and an ICU stay of 5 days or more (r=-0.4, p=0.028; r=0.39, p=0.031, respectively). A preoperative BNP cut-off value above 263 pg/mL demonstrated high specificity (90.5%) for predicting postoperative complications using the receiver operating characteristics curves. Preoperative and postoperative (7 days) BNP levels were different depending on the abscence (mean BNP=$99{\pm}23\;pg/mL$ vs. $296{\pm}74\;pg/mL$, p<0.05) and presence (mean BNP=$212{\pm}29\;pg/mL$ vs. $408{\pm}23\;pg/mL$, p<0.01). Conclusion: Preoperative BNP levels >263 pg/mL predict postoperative complications in patients receiving CABG.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.451-462
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• 2007

This study was conducted to investigate breakfast consumption pattern in relation to diet quality and health outcomes of Korean adults. Data are from 2001 National Health and Nutrition Survey. Dietary information of 3406 adults aged $30{\sim}49$ years and their socio-demographic characteristics, blood lipid profile, fasting blood glucose, blood pressure, anthropometric measurements were analyzed. According to the breakfast consumption of the subjects, they were classified to breakfast skippers and eaters and the eaters' breakfast staple types were defined as RICE, BREAD, NOODLES, MIXED (mixed types including several grain-based dishes), and OTHERS. The proportions of breakfast consumption patterns were 18.4% for skippers, 71.1% for RICE, 2.6% for BREAD, 1.6% for NOODLES, 4.0% for MIXED, and 2.4% for OTHERS. Breakfast skippers had lower daily nutrients intake than breakfast eaters but their health outcomes did not differ from those of eaters. Instead, men with BREAD pattern had higher blood cholesterol and women in NOODLE pattern had higher blood glucose and lower HDL cholesterol. The BREAD pattern breakfast had higher energy contribution from fat and lower nutrient densities and the subjects in BREAD pattern had higher level of household income. Men's BREAD pattern breakfast consisted more animal products than that of women. There was high probability of undernutrition among women in NOODLE pattern and their mean household income was the lowest. From these results, in Korea, breakfast staple types have different food patterns and there was need for developing healthy food patterns appropriate to each staple type. The breakfast consumption pattern had influences on nutrient adequacy of the diet and health outcomes and seemed to represent socio-economic status. These could be used in doing nutrition education in community.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.257-264
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• 2018

The recent global climate change induced the drought, flooding, and insect pest outbreaks. These caused the severe damage to crop yield in the domesticated field and occurrence change of insect pest species. The sap-sucking insect pest, aphids are common in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and cause serious yield losses. Thus, developing resistance cultivars is promising and efficient strategy to prevent the significant yield losses by aphid and screening germplasm is the essential procedure to achieve this goal. We tried to establish a resistance test indicator for foxglove aphid, Aulacorthum solani (Kaltenbach), in soybean and found that plant damage degree or infested plant damage is most suitable one. Also we screened around 1,200 of soybean germplasm including wild and cultivated species for its resistance to foxglove aphid from the various origins, and 67 soybeans, including PI 366121, showed antixenosis resistance, 31 germplasms among 67 antixenosis germplasms were showed antibiosis to foxglove aphid with non-choice test. The identified foxglove aphid resistant soybean resources showed significantly low rate in survival test. Furthermore, resistance type, (i.e., antibiosis or antixenosis) of each candidate were varied. In this research, we established the screening index for foxglove aphid resistance in soybean, and identified the resistance varieties. This result could be useful resources in breeding for new foxglove aphid resistance soybean cultivars, and provide fundamental information to investigate the resistance mechanism in soybean.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.1-39
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• 2013

Considering the relationship between state-owned enterprise (SOE) CEOs and political circles, this study examines the performance impacts of CEO's succession type, board chair separation, and industry expertise and finance expertise of CEOs and outside directors. I propose the definition of political independence in SOE CEOs based on the independence in appearance that might affect general people's perception. It means that there are no relationships or circumstances that might affect SOE CEO's judgment, activity, and report. The definition is able to overcome the limitations of the prior research that could not discover the CEOs who were affiliated to political circles because the research just distinguished the CEOs following their pre-jobs. This study focused on the performance impacts of political independence impaired CEO as well as the CEO's impacts on the relationship between the performance and other corporate governance variables. I selected as dependent variables the average return on asset as operating income divided by total assets and the average customer satisfaction rate evaluated by Korean government during the first three years following the year of the events of explanatory variables. My theory and evidence from the various CEO's personal background and financial information from SOEs in Lee Myung-bak Administration and Rho Moo-hyun Administration suggest the following important things. First, the analysis based on whether or not a SOE CEO keeps political independence shows that a political independence impaired CEO made a significantly negative impact on customer satisfaction rate. Second, the separation between a board chair and a CEO in SOEs introduced by Korean Act on Management of Public Institutions made a significantly positive impact on customer satisfaction rate. However, the positive impact of the board chair separation was removed in a political independence impaired CEO's SOE. Third, outside director's industry expertise made a significantly positive impact on return on asset. However, the positive impact of the outside director's industry expertise was removed in a political independence impaired CEO's SOE. Fourth, the comparison between Lee Myung-bak Administration and Roh Moo-hyun Administration on the corporate governance and performance of SOEs shows that the ratio of political independence impaired CEO was significantly higher in Lee Administration and the ratio of outside director's industry expertise and finance expertise were respectively significantly higher in Roh Administration. Based on these results, I suggested a few policy alternatives for CEO's improved political independence and requirements for executive's expertise in SOEs.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.51-69
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• 2009

This study is intended to provide fundamental information to improve the quality of student activities presented in the Clothing & Textiles How to Dress Appropriately' section of the current middle school 'Technology Home Economics' textbooks so that Home Economics may better reflect students' interests, making it applicable in real life. The survey was conducted to 154 male and 160 female students on their preferences regarding student activities. The results are as follows. First, students who like clothing & textiles section regard "Opportunities to take part in various kinds of practices and student activities" as the major reason for preference. And the single biggest reason why they dislike the unit was due to "Too much contents to be memorized." Among various contents regarding dress in the unit, "How to Wear Clothes That Look Good on Me, and the Right Ways to Wear Them" attracted the most attention, regardless of what contents they consider necessary, interesting, or helpful in real life. Second, as for the time of implementation of the activities, students preferred "End of each class". They also preferred small-group activities (group size), well-structured problems (type of problems) and tasks that require analysis based on theoretical principles through experiments and practices (methods of implementation). Third, the findings as to the actual experience of conducting the student activities indicated that, in most cases, student activities were conducted in accordance to what was suggested in the textbooks, but not to what the students preferred. Therefore, in order to make home economics more applicable to students, it is desirable to focus on their everyday lives as is favored by the students, and increase small-group activities. Also, suggesting various and comprehensive problematic situations such as non-structured, open-ended problems and encouraging diverse implementation would be helpful in improving students' critical and creative thinking abilities.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.257-262
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• 2006

Purpose: We analyzed the clinicopathologic features, including treatment and outcome, and the survival rates between young and elderly patients with gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: Clinical information was reviewed for 1086 patients who had undergone a gastrectomy for gastric cancer during a 10-year period from 1990 to 1999, and the patients were assigned to one of two groups: the A group (<40 years of age, 91 patients) and the B group (${\geq}70\;years\;of\;age,\;85\;patients)$). Results: Compared to the B group, the A group had more females (47.3% vs 32.9%), a greater frequency of family history of cancer (15.4% vs 3.5%), and greater proportions of histologically poorly differentiated tumors (84.5% vs 40.2%) and Lauren diffuse-type tumors (69.1% vs 35.1%)(P<0.05). There was no difference in TNM stage. Cardiopulmonary co-morbidities were more in the B group, respectively, 1.1% (A group) and 11.8% (B group)(P<0.01), but the morbidity and the mortality were similar. Although there was no difference in curability, the B group underwent less aggressive operations in lymph-node dissection above D3 and had a shorter operation time, a smaller number of retrieved lymph nodes, and less adjuvant chemotherapy (P<0.001). However, there were no differences in the disease-specific 5-year survival rates, 67.6% and 67.0% respectively. Conclusion: Young and elderly patients with gastric cancer had different clinicopathological features. Especially, elderly patients underwent relatively less aggressive treatment. In spite of these facts, the outcome of treatment and the disease-specific survival rates were not different.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.43
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• pp.205-230
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• 2015

This study aims to compare the differences of crucial factors that are associated with probation warning tickets between sex offenders and non-sex offenders in South Korea. Serious high-profile cases have occurred in recent years which resulted in public and political conners for successful sex offender management and monitoring strategy through community corrections. The official response has been to initiate a series of legislative probation and parole measures by using GPS electronic monitoring system, chemical castration, and sex offender registry and notification. In this context, the current study is designed to explore the major factors that could affect the failure of probation by comparing the differences between sex offenders and non-sex offenders in terms of their major factors which are related to the failure of probation. The failure of probation is measured by the number of warning tickets which would be issued when there is the violation of probation conditions. The data is obtained from Seoul Probation office from January, 29, 2014 to February, 28, 2014. The sample number of sex offenders is 144 and the number of non-sex offenders is 1,460. The data includes the information regarding the offenders who completed their probation order after they were assigned to Seoul Probation in 2013. Furthermore, this study uses the chi-square and logistic regression analysis by using SPSS statistical package program. The result demonstrated that only prior criminal history was statistically significant factor that was related to the number of warning tickets in the sex offender group when other variables were controlled($X^2=25.15$, p<0.05, Nagelkerke $R^2=0.23$)(b=0.19, SE=0.08, p<0.05). By contrast, there were various factors that were associated with the number of warning tickets in non-sex offender group. Specifically, the logistic regression analysis for the non-sex offenders showed that demographic variable(marital status and employment type), offender-victim relationships, alcohol addiction, violent behavior, prior criminal history, community service order, and attendance order were statistically significant factors that were associated with the odds of warning tickets. Further policy implication will be discussed.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.109-130
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• 2022

The Vietnamese government has proposed contract farming through a new type of cooperative as an institutional innovation which aims to restructure the agricultural sector. However, policy changes often impact farmers, who bear the primary effects of the transition process. Understanding households' strategies for land use and livelihood is crucial for policymaking in the agricultural development field. This study was conducted in the rural Binh Dao commune in Central Vietnam. We analyzed household members' labor force changes and their livelihood behaviors after their participation in a contract farming scheme using qualitative analysis methods combined with geographic information system (GIS) support, based on secondary data and in-depth interviews of 190 farmers. Simultaneously, we created a digital map of the cooperative's production area to investigate changes in land use and production activities. The findings show that contract farming shaped the vertical coordination of the value chain from the farmers to the cooperative and agricultural product trading companies. Subsequently, it encouraged land use and labor efficiency due to mechanical support. In addition, it also increased productivity and protected farmers from market risks. However, despite its positive effects on agricultural productivity in this case, the contract farming scheme could not achieve the restructuring of the rural labor force toward non-agricultural sectors. Ironically, farmers in the Binh Dao commune tended to increase cultivable land during the agricultural restructuring program, rather than switching their labor forces to non-agricultural sectors. The lack of stable non-farming job opportunities in rural Vietnam results in challenges to the efficiency of agricultural restructuring programs. Consequently, farmers in the Binh Dao commune are still smallholder farmers, depending on the family labor force.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2024

Most wetlands worldwide have suffered from extensive human exploitation. Unfortunately they have been less explored compared to river and lake ecosystems despite their ecological importance and economic values. This is the same case in Korea. This study was aimed to estimate the assemblage attributes and distribution characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates for fifty wetlands distributed throughout subtropical Jeju Island in 2021. A total of 133 taxa were identified during survey periods belonging to 53 families, 19 orders, 5 classes and 3 phyla. Taxa richness ranged from 4 to 31 taxa per wetland with an average of 17.5 taxa. Taxa richness and abundance of predatory insect groups such as Odonata, Hemiptera and Coleoptera respectively accounted for 67.7% and 68.2% of the total. Among them Coleoptera were the most diverse and abundant. Taxa richness and abundance did not significantly differ from each wetland type classified in accordance with the National Wetland Classification System. There were three endangered species (Clithon retropictum, Lethocerus deyrolli and Cybister (Cybister) chinensis) and several restrictively distributed species only in Jeju Island. Cluster analysis based on the similarity in the benthic macroinvertebrate composition largely classified 50 wetlands into two major clusters: small wetlands located in lowland areas and medium-sized wetlands in middle mountainous regions. All cluster groups displayed significant differences in wetland area, long axis, percentage of fine particles and macrophyte composition ratio. Indicator Species Analysis selected 19 important indicators with the highest indicator value of Ceriagrion melanurum at 63%, followed by Noterus japonicus (59%) and Polypylis hemisphaerula (58%). Our results are expected to provide fundamental information on the biodiversity and habitat environments for benthic macroinvertebrates in wetland ecosystems, consequently helping to establish conservation and restoration plans for small wetlands relatively vulnerable to human disturbance.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.43-54
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• 2007

This study aimed at investigating the level of high school students' entrance exam stress and mental health first and also investigating if the entrance exam stress and mental health are related to gender, grade, character type, parenting style and economic status. This is expected to be used as a fundamental data for the development of health education program on high school students' stress and diagnosis of their mental health. To achieve those goals above, the questionnaire was used and the sample consisted of 600 students from general high schools in a large city, C and in a smaller city, A in Chungnam province through questionnaire and the conclusion, which was based on 582 proper questionnaires from the 600 questionnaires, through variable analysis, correlation analysis and multi-regression, is below. First, according to the information provided by respondents, the result showed the relationship between those background variables and the entrance exam stress and mental health level. As the students are more introverted and the parenting style is more authoritative, the entrance exam stress is higher and the mental health level is higher as the parenting style is more authoritative and the economic status is lower. In gender, the entrance exam stress level was high for male students in regard to parents pressure. For female students, it was due to the insufficient free time. In test performance, the good grade group showed high stress level when they don't have enough free time and the poor grade group showed high stress level when they have test tension and poor test performance. In character style, the introverted group showed high stress level in future uncertainty. In parenting style, the authoritative group showed significantly high level in all four sub-factors and there is no significant relationship with the stress level and economic statue. Female students reported higher mental health level than male students in somatization and depression. In academic achievement, the poor grade group showed high level in obsession, fear-anxiety and psychotism. In character style, the introverted group showed high level in sensitivity towards others and depression. And in parenting style, the authoritative group is higher in 9 sub-factors than the other two groups in the factor, economic status. The lower economic status group showed high mental health problem level in this order; in obsession, sensitivity towards others, depression, paranonia and psychotism. Second, the results revealed that there is a significant difference among the groups after comparing and analyzing the relationship between the mental health level according to the three groups, the first, second and third group divided by the degree of entrance exam stress. And the higher the entrance exam stress is, the higher the mental health problem level is. Verification showed that there was obvious difference among the groups. the entrance exam stress was positively correlated with the mental health level. The lack of free time, future uncertainty, test anxiety/poor test performance and parents pressure, these factors, in that order, were correlated with the mental health level. when the prediction variables which influenced on mental health are analyzed, test-anxiety/poor test performance was found to be related to mental health most. And after the factor, test-anxiety, future uncertainty and the lack of free time were listed(ranked), however results did not show any correlation with parents' pressure.