Health Behaviors and Academic Performance Among Korean Adolescents

SummaryPurposeThis study aimed to examine the most prominent health-related behaviors impacting the academic performance of Korean adolescents.MethodsThe 2012 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey data were analyzed using an ordinal regression analysis after adjusting for general and other health behaviors.ResultsBefore adjustment, all health behaviors were significantly associated with academic performance. After adjustment for other health behaviors and confounding factors, only smoking [odds ratio (OR) = 2.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.98, 2.16), p < .001], alcohol consumption [OR = 1.22, 95% CI (1.18, 1.27), p < .001], and physical activity [OR = 1.09, 95% CI (1.06, 1.13), p < .001] were associated with lower academic performance, and engaging in a regular diet [OR = 0.65, 95% CI (0.65, 0.62), p < .001] was associated with higher academic performance.ConclusionsRegular diet, reducing smoking and alcohol drinking, and physical activity should be the target when designing health interventions for improving academic performance in Korean adolescents

The Relationship Between Chaebol And Firm Value Using Bayesian Network

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of being a chaebol company, the biggest company characteristic variable, on firm value. It tries to overcome the limitation of multiple regression analysis mostly used in preceding research. That is, as multiple regression analysis assumes uniform linearity between dependent and independent variables, it could not reflect the diverse types of the real world. Thus, based on being a chaebol company and financial information, company characteristic variables influencing firm value, this study derives causal relationships existing between them. The results could help managers and various accounting information users in their decision-making by providing them with information of what company characteristics would directly or indirectly influence firm value. To this end, this study utilizes Bayesian Network and attempts Markov Blanket. In the end, all the analysis methods used in this study not only provides significant results, but also raises its practical value by offering information of diverse situations that could occur in the real world

Doubly responsive polymersomes towards monosaccharides and temperature under physiologically relevant conditions

Organoboronic acid-containing polymers and block copolymers have recently attracted attention because of their ability to recognize important natural diol compounds such as saccharides and nucleotides under physiologically relevant conditions at neutral pH. In particular, polymers and block copolymers that are responsive toward multiple stimuli can be utilized to create smart delivery vehicles for use in applications in a complex environment. Here we report the monosaccharide-responsive polymers and block copolymers comprising styreneboroxole and oligo(ethylene glycol)-functionalized styrenes (OEG-STs) as repeating units. We have shown that homopolymers and copolymers of OEG-STs are thermally responsive by demonstrating that they possess the characteristic of tunable lower critical solution temperature (LCST) in water. When copolymerized with OEG-STs, styreneboroxole units function as a switch to change the solubility of the resulting polymers in aqueous solution by recognizing mono-saccharides via the formation of boronate ester. By introducing the minimum number of monosaccharide-responsive styreneboroxole units onto the thermally responsive OEG-ST backbone, we demonstrated the monosaccharide-responsive behavior of the resulting copolymers and their amphiphilic block copolymers in aqueous solution at physiologically relevant pH and temperature. A strategy based on doubly responsive block copolymers reported here could be utilized as new delivery vehicles for cargo molecules such as insulin, due to their ability to function in an in vivo environmentopen

Toll-like Receptors and Antimicrobial Peptides Expressions of Psoriasis: Correlation with Serum Vitamin D Level

To evaluate the association of Toll-like receptors (TLRs), antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and vitamin D receptors (VDRs) in psoriasis, lesional (PP) and perilesional skin (PN) from psoriasis, atopic dermatitis (AD) patients and healthy controls (NN) were studied by immunohistochemistry. Compared with PN, AD and NN skin, dysregulated expression of TLRs, AMPs and VDR was detected in PP skin. Noteworthy, our results showed altered correlation between TLR2 and VDR expression in PP and PN skin. Human beta defensin 2 (HBD2) and cathelicidin (LL-37) expressions in the PP skin were higher in serum vitamin D sufficient (VDS) groups than serum vitamin D deficient (VDD) groups. Negative correlation was found between TLR2 and VDR expression in the PP skin of VDD groups. However, positive correlation was noted in the PP skin of VDS groups. Based on the present results, therapies targeting the activity of TLRs, AMPs and vitamin D, including modulation of the TLR-VDR pathways, might provide new therapeutic approaches to the psoriasis and other inflammatory skin diseases

Is Foreign Direct Investment Effective From The Perspective Of Tax Avoidance? An Analysis Of Tax Avoidance Through The International Transfer Pricing Behaviors Of Korean Corporations

This study examines whether multinational companies carry out tax avoidance through subsidiaries. An empirical analysis was conducted of 4,585 Korean firms from 2001 to 2010 by company and year. The results are as follows. First, MNCs that have become more internationally diversified through the establishment of overseas subsidiaries generally show a higher tendency to avoid tax. Thus, the analysis results show a positive correlation between globally diversified MNCs and corporate tax avoidance. This correlation is established due to the firms' active use of tax strategies (investment tax credits, tax cuts) applicable to the various countries in which they have expanded their businesses. Second, the analysis results showed that these firms actively avoided tax with overseas transfer pricing behaviors when compared to companies without overseas subsidiaries. Thus, the adjustment of sales prices and purchase value through actual transactions increased the propensity of the parent company to avoid tax.

Malignant Melanoma of Unknown Primary Origin Presenting as Cardiac Metastasis

Malignant melanoma has a very high propensity to metastasize to the heart. However, melanoma may sometimes present as a metastatic lesion in the absence of a primary lesion, which are called melanomas of unknown primary origin. We report a case in which a patient presented with a metastatic maligant melanoma in the right atrium with pericardial effusion and without a primary origin

Surface currents from hourly variations of suspended particulate matter from Geostationary Ocean Color Imager data

Surface currents in Korean coastal regions were obtained using the maximum cross-correlation method applied to hourly suspended particulate matter images from the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager. Preliminary current vectors were filtered out by applying a series of quality-control procedures. The current vectors resulting from the tests were compared with the currents from a numerical model with tide and wind field. It was found that the estimated currents were more similarly to the currents caused by both tide and wind. A high degree of discrepancy was detected in regions of strong tidal currents, where the fundamental assumption of horizontal movement was limited due to the dominant vertical tidal mixing in the shallow region. The hourly rotations of the current vectors within a day were clarified by a comparison of the time-varying orientation angles of tidal ellipses. This study emphasized how to understand the short-term surface flows from hourly high-resolution geostationary satellite images