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The South Korean species of the genus Stichillus Enderlein are reviewed and four species are newly recognized. One of them, S. koreanus sp. nov., is described as new to science and the other three species, viz. S. cylindratus Nakayama & Shima, S. japonicus (Matsumura) and S. spinosus Liu & Chou are new to South Korea. Detailed descriptions with photographs of four Korean Stichillus species, and a revised key to males of ten species from East Asia except Mongolia and North Korea are provided.

The association between polymorphisms of glutathione-related enzyme (GST) genes and the risk of schizophrenia has been investigated in many published studies. However, their results were inconclusive. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to explore the association between the GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms and the risk of schizophrenia. Twelve case-control studies were included in this meta-analysis. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were used to investigate the strength of the association. Our meta-analysis results revealed that GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms were not related to risk of schizophrenia (p > 0.05 in each model). Further analyses based on ethnicity, GSTM polymorphism showed weak association with schizophrenia in East Asian population (OR = 1.314, 95% CI = 1.025-1.684, p = 0.031). In conclusion, our meta-analysis indicated the GSTM1 polymorphism may be the only genetic risk factor for schizophrenia in East Asian population. However, more meta-analysis with a larger sample size were needed to provide more precise evidence.

Neanderthals were a group of archaic hominins that occupied most of Europe and parts of Western Asia from ∼30,000 to 300,000 years ago (KYA). They coexisted with modern humans during part of this time. Previous genetic analyses that compared a draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome with genomes of several modern humans concluded that Neanderthals made a small (1-4%) contribution to the gene pools of all non-African populations. This observation was consistent with a single episode of admixture from Neanderthals into the ancestors of all non-Africans when the two groups coexisted in the Middle East 50-80 KYA. We examined the relationship between Neanderthals and modern humans in greater detail by applying two complementary methods to the published draft Neanderthal genome and an expanded set of high-coverage modern human genome sequences. We find that, consistent with the recent finding of Meyer et al. (2012), Neanderthals contributed more DNA to modern East Asians than to modern Europeans. Furthermore we find that the Maasai of East Africa have a small but significant fraction of Neanderthal DNA. Because our analysis is of several genomic samples from each modern human population considered, we are able to document the extent of variation in Neanderthal ancestry within and among populations. Our results combined with those previously published show that a more complex model of admixture between Neanderthals and modern humans is necessary to account for the different levels of Neanderthal ancestry among human populations. In particular, at least some Neanderthal-modern human admixture must postdate the separation of the ancestors of modern European and modern East Asian populations.

High-frequency in situ measurements at Gosan (Jeju Island, Korea) during November 2007 to December 2008 have been combined with interspecies correlation analysis to estimate national emissions of halogenated compounds (HCs) in East Asia, including the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF(6)), and other chlorinated and brominated compounds. Our results suggest that overall China is the dominant emitter of HCs in East Asia, however significant emissions are also found in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan for HFC-134a, HFC-143a, C(2)F(6), SF(6), CH(3)CCl(3), and HFC-365mfc. The combined emissions of CFCs, halon-1211, HCFCs, HFCs, PFCs, and SF(6) from all four countries in 2008 are 25.3, 1.6, 135, 42.6, 3.6, and 2.0 kt/a, respectively. They account for approximately 15%, 26%, 29%, 16%, 32%, and 26.5% of global emissions, respectively. Our results show signs that Japan has successfully phased out CFCs and HCFCs in compliance with the Montreal Protocol (MP), Korea has started transitioning from HCFCs to HFCs, while China still significantly consumes HCFCs. Taiwan, while not directly regulated under the MP, is shown to have adapted the use of HFCs. Combined analysis of emission rates and the interspecies correlation matrix presented in this study proves to be a powerful tool for monitoring and diagnosing changes in consumption of HCs in East Asia.

The author reviews South Korea's family planning program since its inception in 1962. The focus is on pregnancy due to contraceptive failure and the use of induced abortion as a remedy. It is found that "according to a logistic regression analysis, major factors which affect the outcome of pregnancy due to contraceptive failure were residence area, number of boys, educational level, duration of marriage, women's age and number of children." (SUMMARY IN ENG), (excerpt)

The authors review the evolution since the 1960s of South Korea's family planning and fertility survey programs. "In the 1960s, research was interested in respondents' contraception knowledge and practice rate and in the relationships between contraceptive knowledge and the practice rate....[The] major research emphasis in the 1970s and 1980s was measuring fertility and finding obstacles or problems to family planning projects." Recommendations for future research are made. (SUMMARY IN ENG)