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Green Cross to supply flu vaccine to Latin America

Different Green Cross influenza vaccines will continue to be supplied to Central and South American countries through April. Green Cross Corp., Korea’s leading vaccine and blood derivatives maker, plans to boost exports of its flu vaccines this year. / Courtesy of Green Cross Corp.By Kwon Ji-younGreen Cross Corp. announced Friday that it will continue to supply Central and South American countries with flu vaccines until April.In January, Green Cross won a $23 million flu vaccine order from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), a subsidiary of the World Health Organization that promotes health and quality of life in the countries of the Americas, and has engaged in efforts to supply the vaccine to countries such as Columbia, Peru, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Paraguay.These efforts began on Feb. 28, when Green Cross, Korea’s leading vaccine maker, shipped its first load.The company will also participate in a PAHO bidding for the flu vaccine in the Northern Hemisphere later this year, boosting exports by a large margin. Only four companies have secured the rig

Mar 14, 2014
Green Cross to supply flu vaccine to Latin America

Foods to protect us from fine particles

By Cho Ae-kyungIn recent weeks, Korea has been under the influence of fine particles.Both the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Environment have continued to issue warnings about the particulate matter.The dust, of which more than half was estimated to have originated from China, contains heavy metals, including aluminum, copper, cadmium and lead contaminants. As seasonal westerly winds carry such materials from China to Korea, citizens’ noses and throats are likely to be exposed to air pollution into April.Citizens are also expected to experience another kind of air pollution, which is a seasonal meteorological phenomenon disturbing much of East Asia during the spring.The dusty storms originate from the deserts in northern China and Mongolia. High-speed winds blowing over these regions kick up clouds of dry soil particles and fine particles and carry the dust to other Asian countries, including China, Japan and Korea.Heavy metal pollutants concentrated in the yellow dust clouds, including quartz, lead and cadmium, worsen the air quality of the metropolitan area

Mar 14, 2014
Foods to protect us from fine particles

Injuries lurk in spring marathon

By Song Sang-hoSpring is approaching and several marathon races are expected to attract scores of enthusiastic runners.Many people try to complete races, regardless of their age or experience in long-distance running.Marathons stimulate all muscles of your body and help you to keep in shape. The sport is especially helpful for women hoping to lose weight as well as address depression.However, running a long distance — from a split run of 5 kilometers to the full distance of 42.195 kilometers — is even tough for experienced runners.In the case of novices, a sudden increase in work rate will affect their bodies, especially their feet. Regardless of runners’ experience, there is a high risk of foot injury since they absorb the impact of running directly.Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries for novice runners, who often fail to warm up properly before running.The symptom, often described as a “twisted ankle,” causes ligaments on the outside of the ankle to stretch or tear. If there is pain while lifting toes and swelling on the outer ankle bone,

Mar 14, 2014
Injuries lurk in spring marathon

(271) What should you consider in moving?

By Janet ShinPeople have paid special attention to moving house since olden days. It was because where and how they located themselves had significant influence on their lives. It is applied not only to a house but other types of buildings such as offices, schools and restaurants.For instance, there were preferred moving seasons. It used to be either spring or fall when most people traditionally plan and do the actual move. This could have been just for climate reasons.Although people may move at any time and easily adjust to substantive conditions nowadays, they still try to pick an auspicious day in order to prevent any undesirable misfortune, which is considered to be important in one’s life.Many people ask me when the most propitious date is, but actually it is the direction and place as well as the time that they should pay attention to.One can improve their current residence by applying appropriate feng shui cures. We often talk about ways to decorate our front doors, for example, whether to put mirrors on them or not and how to organize objects in specific parts of the h

Mar 13, 2014
(271) What should you consider in moving?

Online communities reveal who you are

Various Internet clubs reflect users’ interest By Baek Byung-yeul, Park Ji-won, Nam Hyun-woo Internet communities are thriving, especially in Korea, one of the world’s most wired societies, providing esoteric sites for cyberspace chitchats to take place.In such countless communities, the members define the unique characteristics of each community. In return, an individual’s interests, political viewpoints and sometimes character is shown through which communities they frequent.This leads many Internet users to frequently delete their website-visit history to protect their privacy, knowing that the sort of online activities someone engages in has become an effective tool for understanding an individual’s personality.In a survey on 500 Korean university students by UnivTomorrow Research Laboratory for the Twenties, half the respondents said they regularly visit online communities.Some 70 percent of them said they have heard of Nate Pann (pan.nate.com), followed by Ilbe (ilbe.com), DC Inside (dcinside.com), Today’s Humor (todayhumor.co.kr) and oth

Mar 11, 2014
Online communities reveal who you are

Fallacies on Oriental medicine

By Lee Sung-hunWhen I prescribe “hanyak,” or Oriental herbal medicine, to patients at my clinic, I find that many are reluctant to take it because of fallacies they may have about it.Oftentimes, they believe taking boyak will make them gain weight. Some women claim they did not lost weight after pregnancy because they took hanyak, while others fear that hanyak will damage their liver. Some are also worried whether the ingredients are free from heavy metallic substances or pesticides. However, all of these mistaken impressions are based on information from unreliable sources.Our readers may know the aim of Oriental medicine is bringing balance to our body. That is achieved by removing the excessive qi and filling up the gap through tonifying herbal medicine. Oriental doctors call the procedure of filling up that gap the “restoring method.” Hanyak used for such restoring methods, complementing energy rather than treating a certain illness, is called “boyak.” Boyak helps fight illnesses by strengthening our immune systems. Since the restoring method i

Mar 7, 2014
Fallacies on Oriental medicine

Hidden truth about belated second childbirth

By Lee Hye-junSue is 38 and has a 3-year-old son. She has been trying to get pregnant again for almost two years. Since her first pregnancy came earlier than expected ― only two months into her marriage ― she cannot understand why it is taking so long this time around. She visited a fertility clinic for check-ups, but everything appeared to be normal, which only frustrated her more.When a woman has never experienced pregnancy in her life, it is called primary infertility. If she delivers but fails to conceive again, it is called secondary infertility.There are various causes of infertility, including issues related to the man, tubal blockage, ovulation dysfunction and uterine abnormality. Such issues are known as affecting both primary and secondary infertility, but some 10 to 30 percent of cases cannot be explained, as is the case with Sue. She can’t help wondering why she has to suffer infertility after such a smooth first pregnancy.The most common cause of secondary infertility is a woman’s age. As women age, their fertility gradually declines. If women have

Mar 7, 2014
Hidden truth about belated second childbirth

(270) Do we need more?

By Janet ShinSaju seldom takes an objective evaluation. Whereas it does has more subjective validity. It consists of five aspects of our lives, human relations, ways to display one’s talents, wealth, power and knowledge. We can actually count the amount of each facet by the numbers of individual symbolic elements. However you shouldn’t judge one’s life by quantitative assessment. It is rather related with their qualitative positions and how they link with others. Compared to the past, our modern life has plenty of resources. They include not only the basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter but other types like information, capital and even emotions. If our ancestors have struggled to gratify the former requirements, we in contemporary times are craving for much more but still feel unfortunate. What makes our life unhappier if it is not for the sense of deficiency. The development of industry, invention of machines, advanced science and technology brought us a great deal of abundance. The state-of-the-art microscopes enabled us to see minute pa

Mar 6, 2014
(270) Do we need more?

Youth in competition to join army

New recruits salute at the Korea Army Training Center in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, on Feb. 6. Competition for joining the military has become fierce as the number of applicants surged amid the prolonged economic slowdown and the high youth unemployment rate. / YonhapBy Yoon Sung-won, Kwon Ji-youn, Park Jin-haiAll able-bodied Korean men aged over 18 are subject to compulsory military service. No matter how many people say it’s an honorable deed to fulfill one’s military duty, most feel it an interruption in a career path.Leaving the rigid top-down rank system and exhausting training aside, the fact that they must spend the remainder of their youth deprived of freedom, is considered to be one of the top reasons for the half-heartedness.Recently, however, joining the army has become a competition as the number of applicants has surged.Choi Ji-hoon, a 21-year-old college student, told The Korea Times that he was embarrassed to realize that he should have made far more effort to fulfill his military duty than just applying for it.In 2012, Choi applied for t

Mar 4, 2014
Youth in competition to join army

Double stroller, double dilemma

By Jane HanThe joy of raising a baby is priceless, but I must admit, it does cost quite a lot. And when you have twins, it’s pretty much twice as much more money.So what I often do is try to put off spending on certain things as much as I can because, sometimes — if I wait just enough — I realize that I don’t even need it at all. But of course, that’s not always the case and, after waiting a good eight months, I finally took the plunge and bought a stroller.I contemplated, researched and contemplated some more for a whole eight months over the stroller situation, so you’d think I would pretty much know what I want. Well, the reality turned out to be just the opposite. The information overload only made me more confused and indecisive.I don’t know why on earth there has to be so many different types of strollers. Some names I can’t even pronounce. Some are more expensive than a used car. And some are just too fancy I wouldn’t even know how to operate them.The choices seemed endless so I had to set a range and define my preference b

Feb 28, 2014
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