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The optimal time of starting complementary foods (CFs) in infants remains a subject of debate. This population-based longitudinal cohort study evaluated the association between early CF introduction and body mass index (BMI) in children aged 5-7 years.The present study included 917,707 children born in Korea during 2008-2009. Initial timing of CF introduction was obtained by questionnaires administered between 4 and 6 months and 9 and 12 months of age. The cohort consisted of 154,565 eligible individuals who properly completed the screening programme, including structured questionnaires, anthropometric measurements and physical examinations. To balance baseline characteristics, children were subjected to propensity score matching based on 95 covariates, including indicators of baseline health such as perinatal condition, birth weight, economic status, clinical disease and drug exposure. Exposure was defined as introduction to CF at age4 months, and outcomes were overweight (BMI z-score85th percentile) and obesity (BMI z-score95th percentile) at ages 5-7 years.Of the 154,565 eligible children in the observed cohort, 10,499 (6.8%) were introduced to CF at age4 months and 144,066 (93.2%) at age ≥ 4 months. Propensity score matching yielded 9680 children introduced to CF at age4 months and 35,396 at age ≥ 4 months. The risk for being overweight or obese at age 5-7 years was slightly higher among those who started CF at age 4 months than at age ≥4 months (adjusted relative risk = 1.06; 95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.09). A similar but stronger association was observed for being obese at age 5-7 years (adjusted relative risk = 1.12; 95% confidence interval = 1.05-1.19).Early CF introduction before age 4 months was associated with increased BMI at age 5-7 years.

Background Soy-based infant formulas are increasingly popular, but data regarding their effects on neurodevelopmental outcomes during early childhood is scanty. Objective This study investigated the effect of consuming soy-based infant formula at 9-12 mo after birth on the subsequent development of epilepsy, neurodevelopmental disorders, and developmental status. Methods This nationwide retrospective administrative study used health screening examinations and linked insurance claims data of children born in Korea during 2008 and 2009. Infants who received soy formula were compared with those who received cow's milk formula using propensity score matching that considered birth history, economic status, clinical conditions, and drug prescription records. Exposure was defined as soy formula feeding determined from questionnaires completed by the parents when children were 9-12 mo old. Outcomes were epilepsy, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and developmental status. Children were followed until 31 December, 2017. Results A total of 153,841 eligible participants were enrolled; 11,535 (7.5%) children received soy formula, while 142,864 (92.5%) received cow's milk formula. The incidence rate of epilepsy during the follow-up period was 29.8 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI: 19.48, 41.65) in the soy formula group and 22.6 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI: 31.97, 59.07) in the cow's milk formula group, with no significant difference (aHR: 1.318; 95% CI: 0.825, 2.106). The 2 groups also had no difference based on prespecified analysis using different definitions of epilepsy. Likewise, no significant associations of soy formula with ADHD (aHR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.60) or ASD (aHR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.54, 1.83), or delays of developmental stages were observed. Conclusions Feeding with soy formula rather than cow's milk formula had no apparent association with increased risks of epilepsy, ADHD, ASD, and developmental status, according to this cohort composed of a general pediatric population.

This paper has presented a 6.78MHz class D power amplifier for high efficiency wireless power transfer and stable characteristics with load impedance variation. The high efficiency amplifier was designed by simulation to have the efficiency of more than 90% even with the load impedance variation for the receiving coil change of up to 30mm in the x and y direction at the vertical distance of 20mm to the fixed transmitting coil. Measurement shows that the power amplifier produced 42.1dBm of output power and 91% of power added efficiency at 30V DC bias. When misalignment occurred for the receiving coil to the transmitting coil, the load impedance of the power amplifier was changed, however, the PAE has maintained more than 88% and the output power was within 42.1dBm ± 1.7dB.

In this paper, the measurement of pressure gauge using color segmentation is proposed for the safety management of fire extinguisher. The main idea is that pressure gauge includes a green color indicating the normal pressure. In order to measure the fire extinguisher pressure, the proposed algorithm consists of two steps. The first step is performed the image cropping to find the region of the pressure gauge using CHT algorithm and green detection. The next step is calculated to find the indicator needle of the pressure gauge using the color code pattern around the green area. Finally, the actual pressure value is calculated based on the angle of the green area and the indicating needle. Some experimental results are conducted so as to verify the proposed algorithm, and the proposed method calculated the actual pressure, effectively.

Ethernet is the most widely deployed access network protocol around the world. IEEE 802.3az WG released the EEE standard based on LPI mode to improve the energy efficiency of Ethernet. This paper proposes improved adaptive power control mechanism that can enhance energy-efficiency based on EEE from small Ethernet switch. The feature of this mechanism is that it predicts the traffic characteristic of next cycle by measuring the amount of traffic flowing in during certain period and adjusts the optimal threshold value to relevant traffic load. Performance evaluation results indicate that the proposed mechanism improves overall performance compared to traditional mechanism, since it significantly reduces energy consumption rate, even though average packet delay increases a little bit.

The purpose of this study was to identify differences in multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) findings of adnexal torsion (AT) according to the anatomical subtypes and identify MDCT findings that may predict conservative treatment.A total of 295 consecutive women with pelvic pain who underwent preoperative MDCT and subsequent surgery less than 24 h after admission were included in this retrospective study. Among them, 116 women (mean age: 33.9 years; range: 3-80 years) with histopathologically confirmed AT after surgery were included in the final analysis.On histopathological examination, an underlying ovarian mass was found in 98 women (98/116, 84.5%). In the group without ovarian mass (n=18), massive edema (12/18, 66.7% vs. 16/98, 16.3%; P0.001) was frequently found. However, in the group with ovarian mass (n=98), twisted tube or pedicle (5/18, 27.8% vs. 55/98, 56.1%; P=0.027) and concentric or eccentric wall thickening (5/18, 27.8% vs. 82/98, 83.7%; P0.001) demonstrated a statistically significant higher incidence. Based on the surgical and pathological results, the 116 women were classified into three subtypes including ovary-tubal (89/116, 77%), ovary only (22/116, 19%) and tubal only subtype (5/116, 4%). In the ovary-tubal subtype, tubal thickening (88/89, 98.9% vs. 11/22, 50.0%; P0.001), twisted tube or pedicle (57/89, 64.0% vs. 3/22, 13.6%; P0.001) and remaining tubal enhancement (52/89, 58.4% vs. 7/22, 31.8%; P=0.025) were more frequently observed than in the ovary only subtype. There was no significant difference between the relative frequency of imaging findings in the cystectomy group and adnexectomy group of the ovary-tubal type.Knowledge of common and characteristic MDCT findings of AT according to the anatomical subtypes is important to make accurate diagnosis and avoid delayed treatment.

The objective of this study was to compare concentrations of nutrients such as total nitrogen (TN), nitrate nitrogen (-N) total phosphorous (TP), and phosphate phosphorous (-P) in groundwater under paddy and upland fields, and surface water recharging from a rural mixed land-use watershed. Chinese cabbage and hot pepper were cultivated on the upland field plot. The TN concentrations in upland groundwater showed double peaks (4.7, 4.3 mg/L, respectively) in April 2009 shortly after fertilizer application, indicating that TN concentrations are greatly influenced by fertilization. However, the TN concentrations in paddy groundwater were always lower than 2.0 mg/L irrespective of fertilization. Whereas the mean concentrations of TN and -N in upland groundwater significantly (p-P in upland groundwater were significantly lower than those in surface water. On the other hand, the mean concentrations of TN, -N, TP and -P in paddy groudwater were significantly (p

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of hydropower factors (watershed, gross head), operation ratio and unit electricity cost on the benefit-cost ratio (B/C ratio) of small hydropower using agricultural reservoirs. The equation of B/C ratio was expressed as a function of watershed area, gross head, operation ratio and unit electricity cost. The benefit increased with watershed area, gross head and unit electricity cost, while the cost increased with watershed area and gross head but decreased with operation ratio. The B/C ratio increased with watershed area, gross head, operation ratio and unit electricity cost. While the effect of gross head on the B/C ratio decreased with watershed area, the effect of operation ratio and unit electricity cost on the B/C ratio increased with watershed area. The operation ratio is an important factor to affect the B/C ratio and therefore we need to develop hydropower for the heightened dams to expect high operation ratio due to continuous water release. The unit electricity cost is also an important factor to affect the B/C ratio and the B/C ratio was always below 1 unless unit electricity cost is over 60 Won/kWh under given conditions. The reservoirs with economic feasibility for small hydropower development were three in 21 when the equation of B/C ratio was appled to the study reservoirs. The results can be used to choose the appropriate reservoir with economic feasibility for development of small hydropower.

The purpose of this study is to investigate characteristics of total phosphorus (TP) and phosphate phosphorous (-P) concentrations in ponded water and redox potential (Eh) in paddy soil during the growing season. The TP and -P concentrations showed twice peak values after basal dressing and tillering fertilization. The ratio of -P to TP showed low values (0.07~0.18), indicating that most of phosphorus is particlulate. The -P concentrations significantly decreased with dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations. The Eh showed high values (179~636 mV) under non-ponded aerobic condition, but low values (74~112 mV) under ponded anaerobic condition The TP and -P concentrations in ponded water increased shortly after tillering fertilization even if phosphorus was not applied. This may be due to the release of dissolved phosphorus from the bottom sediment and its associated algal and water flea blooms under anaerobic condition. Therefore, proper water management should be needed shortly after tillering fertilization.