• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.68-76
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• 2021

This study was attempted to understand the relationship between the attitudes toward abortion, euthanasia, and the level of perception of good death among nursing college students and related factors. The data were collected by using structured questionnaires and the subjects were selected in C and G city. The research method was a descriptive research study, and the mean, standard deviation, frequency analysis, and Pearson's correlation coefficients were analyzed for the variables. The results of this study are as follows. The degree of support for the abortion opposition was 2.51±.56 (score range 1-4), and the opposition to abortion was superior to the approval..The perception of euthanasia was 3.06±.47 points (4 point scale), which was positively recognized at a higher level than the middle, and the good death perception was 2.97±.47 points (4 point scale), which was moderate. 97.1% of the respondents said that they had abortion decisions, and 5.7% of the university students experienced abortion. The attitude toward abortion showed negative correlation with the attitude toward euthanasia (r=-.374, p<.001), showing that the more supportive the anti-abortion, the more positive the attitude toward euthanasia. Therefore, it is necessary to educate the subjects to protect and respect the human rights of patients based on the dignity of life and humanistic thinking while providing nursing services.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.221-228
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• 2021

Recently, there has been an increased awareness on the use of High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) as a non-surgical treatment option for leiomyomas. This study aimed to assess gynecologists' perception of HIFU therapy for uterine leiomyomas in Korea. We analyzed questionnaires from 162 Korean gynecologists who provided data on 1) demographics, 2) pattern of practice with respect to leiomyomas, and 3) opinion regarding HIFU therapy for leiomyomas. Of the 162 gynecologists, 2.8 % regarded HIFU as a first-line treatment for leiomyomas. HIFU was only available at the workplace of 19 % of respondents; of these, 58 % had requested the use of HIFU. When asked about their perception of HIFU for treating leiomyomas, only 19 % of the respondents thought that it was effective. The commonest perceived complication was a delay in the adequate treatment of sarcoma (59 %), followed by bowel injury (52 %). The respondents considered HIFU to be suitable in the following circumstances: age between 40 and 49 years, those patients who no longer desired pregnancy, medium-sized (5-6 cm) leiomyomas, and up to 2 leiomyomas. The Korean gynecologists' perception of HIFU as a treatment for leiomyomas is still not favorable. Gynecologists working at hospitals where HIFU is available tended to have a higher positive perception of this treatment. In addition to research involving a large number of gynecologists from multiple countries, a study on the long-term outcomes of HIFU is needed.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1128-1141
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• 2021

'Angelica' is one of the most traditionally consumed medicinal herbs around Northeast Asia including Korea for treatments of various diseases or health care purposes like hematopoiesis, blood circulation for women, sedative, analgesic, and a tonic medicine etc. Angelica gigas Nakai, a Korean native species of Angelica, is clearly different from the others in containing a high concentration of active ingredients like pyranocoumarines including decursin, decursinol, and decursinol angelate. These compounds have various kinds of positive effects such as anti-tumor activity including the precaution of neutropenia occurred during anticancer drug administration, improvements of metabolic disorders, menstrual irregularity, impairment of renal function, respiration improvement, cognition-enhancement, anti-inflammatory effect, anti-oxidative effect, enhancing fertility and so forth. Thus it implies incredible potentialities in future development for foods and drugs. However, certain purity-related qualities and/or overdose in food products can cause side effects like toxicities; therefore, their safety profiles should also be considered. This review focuses on the positive and negative effects of three pyranocoumarines in Angelica gigas Nakai and some possibilities and considerations for future food and drug products development.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.136-153
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• 2022

Objectives: The aim of this study was to find out whether east asian herbal medicine (EAHM) treatment alone is effective in improving pregnancy-related indicators compared to conventional medicine in women with Diminished Ovarian Reserve (DOR). Methods: We searched eligible studies from PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, CiNii, Korean Medical Database, Korean Studies Information Service System, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, ScienceOn. GRADE pro was used to evaluate the current evidence of the study. Result: A total of 5 studies, 325 women with DOR were included. EAHM showed a significant effect on improvement of pregnancy rate (n=270, RR 2.13 [95% CI 1.44 to 3.15], Z=3.78, p=0.0002, I2=0%) and Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) level (n=211, SMD 0.82 [95% CI 0.40 to 1.25], Z=3.80, p=0.0001) compared to conventional medicine. In ovulation rate (n=156, RR 0.86 [95% CI 0.70 to 1.06], Z=1.43, p=0.15, I2=0%), Antral Follicle Count (n=245, SMD 0.27 [95% CI -0.25 to 0.79], Z=1.01, p=0.31), and follicle stimulating hormone (n=245, SMD 0.29 [95% CI -0.13 to 0.70], Z=1.36, p=0.17) level, EAHM showed similar effects to conventional medicine. In this study, the most frequently used herbal medicines were Cuscutae Semen, Dipsaci Radix, and Angelicae Gigantis Radix. Conclusion: This meta-analysis showed that EAHM could improve pregnancy rates and AMH levels in women with DOR. However, more well-designed RCTs will have to be performed further in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.572-582
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• 2006

This survey was conducted from June 2004 to August 2004, through questionnaires given to 432 women aged ranging from 20 to 50 years, who were living in the Seoul metropolitan area. The questionnaires were designed to determine the physique, level of obesity and dieting survey as well as to uncover which diets were in fashion and their satisfaction degree. Dieting-related knowledge and dieting side effects were also investigated. The results were as follows: In dieting survey, as the age increased, dieting for health reason (52.3%) increased, whereas that for aesthetic reasons (32.6%) decreased (p<0.05). The most effective methods of dieting were exercise (50.2%) and diet (45.0%) regimens. In regards to exercise frequency, 46.5% for none, 23.5% for 1-2 times a week, suggesting that most respondents do not practice exercise for dieting purposes (p<0.05). Major source for dieting was shown to be obtained from relative family or friends (31.7%), newspapers or magazines (29.3%) and internet (14.9%). As the age decreased, information from the latter increased, whereas that from TV program (21.2%) decreased (p<0.05). Reasons for excess weight were bad eating habits (39.6%), lack of exercise (38.3%), pregnancy and childbirth (10.6%). In fad dieting, while organic foods and aerobic exercises scored the highest satisfaction degree among diet and exercise regimens, on the other hand, sauna, steam baths and high temperature half-immersion baths scored the highest among surgery and other special therapies. As the age increased, the satisfaction degree for organic foods such as organic vegetable and high functional boiled cooked rice increased (p<0.05). As the age increased, scores on dieting-related knowledge decreased. Side effects of dieting included dizziness 06.2%) fatigue (15.1%) indigestion/constipation (11.1%) physical weakness 00.5%), loss of concentration (7.8%), dry skin (7.4%) loss of motivation (6.7%). The above results showed that attitude toward dieting among adult women varied with age and in light of the well-being trend, organic foods and aerobic exercises scored the highest satisfaction degree through all age.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.39-49
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• 1995

This study was attempted to investigate the acceptive status of 428 persons who had taken the vasectomy and the tubal ligation and the intra-uterine device(IUD, copper-T). It defined the complications after the contraceptive procedures and the effects of the supporting of the government for contraception. The target population was identified from the list of the 105 females taken tubal ligation, and 109 males vasectomized, 214 IUD acceptors covered by Gumi Health Center from January 1990 to December 1992. Data was collected from the target population by the questionnaire and medical records between March 1 and April 30, 1993. Among the study subjects, 56.0% of vasectomized males was between 30 and 34 years of age and the highest percentages of tubal ligation and IUD acceptors were between 25 and 29 years of age. The highest percentage of occupation of vasectomized males was officials and that of tubal ligation and IUD acceptors was in no occupational status. 81.2% of respondents were more than high school in educational level, educational level of vasectomized males was more higher than that of females. The percentage contraceptive acceptors with one or two children was 90.8% for vasectomized males, 80.1% for females with tubal ligation, and 93.9% for IUD acceptors. The most people accepted the contraception as they felt the need rather than other's persuasion. The major reasons of contraception were having the wanted children and alleviating the economic burden for the raising and the educating their children. Among the vasectomized males, 11.0% complained the side reaction and the most common symptoms were the inflammation around the wound and sexual declination. Among the tubal ligation females, 46.7% complained the side reaction and the most common symptoms were vaginal discharge, the menorrhagia, back pain and lethargy. The IUD acceptors were similar to them. The regretting rate of tubal ligation and the IUD acceptors was higher than the vasectomized males. The major reason of their regretting was the side reaction in the tubal ligation and the IUD. But the vasectomized males had the insecurity that they couldn't have their own children any more, and sexual declination. The main reason of the females accepted the tubal ligation and the IUD were the fears about toward induced abortion. The most contraceptive acceptors(83.2%) wanted to be offered by the government, but if they pay the expense in their own money, they would accept the contraception in 86.9%.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.115-124
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• 2010

Objective: To testify whether the increased peripheral blood natural killer (pbNK) cells fraction and their cytolytic activity could coincide with patient's history of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) and to evaluate these factors are can be valuable diagnostic markers in RSA. Methods: Women with a history of RSA comprised the patient group (n=35). Normal fertile women, who were experienced at least one healthy term birth without history of infertility or recurrent miscarriage, were included as the healthy control group (n=15). The pbNK cells of $CD3^-/CD56^+/CD16^+$ and their cytolytic activities against K562 cells were measured by flow cytometry and the values were compared between study and control groups. Results: Proportions of pbNK cells among peripheral blood monocytes (PBMC) ($14.2{\pm}5.2$ vs. $9.4{\pm}3.7%$, p=0.002, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8 to 7.8) was significantly higher in the patient group. The odds ratio of having RSA history was increased as 8.4 folds (59% of sensitivity, 80% of specificity, and 95% CI: 2.0 to 35.8) in patients who showed pbNK cells fraction above 12.1% which was determined as cut-off value by using ROC curve analysis. The cytolytic activities of pbNK cells which measured by three different ratio of effecter pbNK cells to target K562 cells and calculated by the percent of cytolytic K562 cells, were significantly higher in study group than that of control group (in 50:1 ratio, $48.3{\pm}19.0$ vs. $31.3{\pm}11.9%$, p=0.002; in 25:1 ratio, $37.0{\pm}18.1$ vs. $20.2{\pm}9.2%$, p<0.001; in 12.5:1 ratio, $23.5{\pm}12.7$ vs. $12.4{\pm}7.3%$, p=0.001). With the cut-off values of cytolytic activity of pbNK cells as 43.1% (50:1), 26.9% (25:1), and 17.4% (12.5:1) each, the risk of having RSA history was increased by 10.0, 11.4, and 15.0 folds in patients who had increased in each effector of pbNK to target of K562 cells ratio. Conclusion: The analysis of pbNK cells fraction and their cytolytic activity can be valuable diagnostic markers for RSA. We are going to planning the large scaled studies which include the data of obstetric outcomes in subsequent pregnancies to clarify our results of this study.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.292-299
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to investigate parental knowledge and attitude and practices relating to infant oral health care and to promote their motivations to their children's oral health care. Authors interviewed 350 persons in Ilwon-Dong and whose children were between 0 to 36 months old and acquired questionnaire from them. The questionnaire constituted of questions about general knowledge of tooth eruption, methods of oral hygiene care, and opinions about preventive dental visit. The collected data were analysed and compared with other researches. The important results obtained from this study were : 1. Females and highly educated persons had more dental knowledge than males and poorly educated persons. But age and economic status did not affect their level of dental knowledge. 2. Fifty nine percents of respondents thought that tooth began to be formed before birth. 3. Seventy six percents of respondents thought that infant oral health care should begin before tooth eruption, but actually only 63% started oral hygiene care before age one. 4. Seventy percents of respondents used gauze for infant oral care. 5. Fifty seven percents of respondents still gave bottles to their children after they reached age one or more and 55% of respondents never heard of nursing caries. 6. Ninety percents of respondents agreed that carious deciduous teeth need restorations, and 31% of respondents thought that age two is the appropriate time for the first dental visit. 7. Forty seven percents of parents did not think that dental caries is an infectious disease. 8. Only Thirty three percents of parents visited dental clinics for examination and prevention during pregnancy and only 11% of expecting parents were offered dental health care education in pediatric or obstetrician clincs. 9. Information about oral health care was mostly given from baby megazines. 10. Overall parental knowledge about infant oral health care was not sufficient to maintain appropriate dental care for infants.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.74-80
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• 2012

Fish contain both the neurotoxin methyl mercury (MeHg) and nutrients important for brain development. The developing brain appears to be most sensitive to MeHg toxicity and mothers who consume fish during pregnancy expose their fetus prenatally. Although brain development is most dramatic during fetal life, it continues for years postnatally and additional exposure can occur when a mother breast feeds or the child consumes fish. This raises the possibility that MeHg might influence brain. We evaluated the relationship between fish consumption and mercury exposure levels in umbilical cord blood of the pregnant women of the city of Tongyeong city, Korea. A total of 159 pregnant women residing in the city of Tongyeong, Korea were recruited for the study between October 2010 and March 2011. Fish consumption was evaluated using food frequency questionnaires including detailed questions on fish consumption. We used ANOVA to estimated the particular relevance between the frequency of fish consumption and the umbilical cord blood mercury concentration, and other various factors. The average mean concentration of mercury levels in umbilical cord blood of pregnant women who participated in our study were $2.69{\pm}2.50ppb$, ranging from 0.01 to 14.80 ppb. The mean concentration of umbilical cord blood mercury exposure was lower than the level recommended by WHO (5.0 ppb), but the mercury exposure level exceeded the WHO recommended in 17 (10.7%) cases of umbilical cord blood. Mercury levels in cord blood of pregnant women were $2.04{\pm}2.00ppb$, ranging from 0 to 8.00 ppb in below 29 years old and $3.18{\pm}2.74ppb$, ranging from 0.01 to 14.80 ppb in more 30 years old. In this study, there was a significant difference for the frequency of eating fish between the groups (p < 0.01). The level of the groups that ate fish 3 to more times per week ($4.15{\pm}4.02ppb$) was significant higher as compared with the level of other groups that ate fish 1 to times per week ($2.63{\pm}2.22ppb$) and none per week ($1.06{\pm}1.44ppb$), respectively. We found that the mercury concentration of umbilical cord blood associate with fish consumption and this was statistically significant and this fact revels that fish consumption is positively related to mercury levels in the umbilical cord blood. We need systematic and periodic research on the general population to prevent mercury poisoning, which can be cause by low-level mercury exposure from dietary intake such as chronic fish consumption.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.339-348
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• 2010

Objective: To investigate the beneficial effect of fragment removal on the subsequent cell division and clinical outcome of the fragmented human embryos. Methods: A prospective study was performed in Hanna Women's Clinic and Mizmedi Hospital. Sixty couples undergoing In vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) program were participated in the present study. The microsurgical fragment removal was performed in 106 fragmented embryos of 29 patients before the transfer. As a control group, 122 fragmented embryos of 31 patients were transferred without the fragment removal. Effects of fragment removal on morphological changes and clinical outcomes of fragmented embryos were investigated. Results: Mean morphological grade (G2.79) of fragmented embryos was significantly improved after the fragment removal(G1.63, p<0.001). Most of the fragmented embryos did not show a regeneration of fragments after the fragment removal during the subsequent development, and a beneficial effect of fragment removal on the development of the fragment removed embryos was observed. Implantation and pregnancy rates of fragment removed embryos were 12.3% and 31.3%, whereas the rates of control group embryos were 6.6% and 22.5%, respectively. There was no statistical significance in the rates between the two groups because of the low number of trials. Conclusion: Microsurgical fragment removal improved the subsequent development as well as the morphological grade of fragmented embryos. The fragment removal may be beneficial for neighboring blastomeres by repairing the intercellular communication and removing the secretion of the potential toxic materials by fragments.