• Development and Reproduction
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.331-339
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• 2018

NUCB2/nesfatin-1 is first known to be expressed in the hypothalamus while controlling appetite and energy metabolism. However, recent studies have shown that NUCB2/nesfatin-1 was expressed in the various organs as well as the hypothalamus. Our previous reports also demonstrated that NUCB2/nesfatin-1 was expressed in the ovary, testis, pituitary gland, lung, kidney, and stomach of fetal and adult mice. However, the role of NUCB2/nesfatin-1 in mouse fetus remains unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate whether NUCB2/nestatin-1 is expressed in mouse fetus at the developmental stage in which organogenesis begins. To do this, we performed in situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining to examine the distribution of NUCB2 mRNA and nesfatin-1 protein in the mouse fetal organs during early developmental stages, especially at embryonic day (E) 10.5. As a result of ISH, NUCB2 mRNA positive signals were more frequent in the liver, but there were relatively few positive signals in heart. On the other hand, no positive signals were detected in other organs. These ISH results were validated by IHC staining and qRT-PCR analysis. Expression of nesfatin-1 protein detected by IHC staining was similar to that of NUCB2 mRNA detected by ISH in the liver and heart. In addition, the levels of NUCB2 mRNA expression analyzed by qRT-PCR were significantly increased in the liver and heart compared to other organs of the mouse fetus at E13.5, whereas its level was extensively decreased in the liver, but increased in the lung, stomach, and kidney of the mouse fetus at E17.5. These results suggest that NUCB2/nesfatin-1 may play an important role in liver and heart development and physiological functions in the developmental process of mouse fetus. Further studies are needed on the function of NUCB2/nesfatin-1, which is highly expressed in the various organs, including liver and heart during mouse development.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.441-447
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• 2018

This study aims to develop digital techniques that enable repeated practice of dental radiography using augmented reality technology. A three-dimensional object was fabricated by superimposing a photograph of an adult model and a computed tomography image of a manikin phantom. The system was structured using 106 radiographs such that one of these saved radiographs is opened when the user attempts to take a radiograph on a mobile device. This system enabled users to repeatedly practice at the pre-clinical stage without exposure to radiation. We attempt to contribute to enhancing dental hygienists' competency in dental radiography using these techniques. However, a system that enables the user to actually take a radiograph based on face recognition would be more useful in terms of practice, so additional studies are needed on the topic.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 2019

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of extruded pellet (EP) size on the growth performance of olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus at the juvenile (Exp-I; $62.2{\pm}0.05$), growing (Exp-II; $150{\pm}1$) and sub-adult (Exp-III; $299{\pm}1$) stages. In Exp-I (3, 4, 5 and 6 mm diets), Exp-II (4, 9, 11 and 13 mm diets) and Exp-III (9, 11, 13 and 16 mm diets), triplicate groups of fish were fed four EP diets of different pellet sizes. In Exp-I, larger pellet sizes were significantly better than the smallest pellet size (3 mm). In Exp-II, significantly improved feed and protein efficiency were observed with increasing pellet size. The feed conversion ratios of the fish fed the 4 and 9 mm diets were significantly lower than those of fish fed 11 and 13 mm diets. The dietary digestibility of protein and energy was higher in smaller EPs than in larger sizes. In Exp-III, the growth performance of fish was not affected by the pellet size. However, feed intake was significantly affected, increasing with increasing pellet size. Therefore, the optimum pellet sizes for olive flounder under the conditions in this study were 5 mm for 60-150 g fish and 9 mm for 150-500 g fish.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.313-320
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• 2022

The KoreaN Cohort Study for Outcomes in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease (KNOW-CKD) was launched in 2011 with the support of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The study was designed with the aim of exploring the various clinical features and characteristics of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Koreans, and elucidating the risk factors for CKD progression and adverse outcomes of CKD. For the cohort study, nephrologists at 9 tertiary university-affiliated hospitals participated in patient recruitment and follow-up. Biostatisticians and epidemiologists also participated in the basic design and structuring of the study. From 2011 until 2016, the KNOW-CKD Phase I recruited 2238 adult patients with CKD from stages G1 to G5, who were not receiving renal replacement therapy. The KNOW-CKD Phase II recruitment was started in 2019, with an enrollment target of 1500 subjects, focused on diabetic nephropathy and hypertensive kidney diseases in patients with reduced kidney function who are presumed to be at a higher risk of adverse outcomes. As of 2021, the KNOW-CKD investigators have published articles in the fields of socioeconomics, quality of life, nutrition, physical activity, renal progression, cardiovascular disease and outcomes, anemia, mineral bone disease, serum and urine biomarkers, and international and inter-ethnic comparisons. The KNOW-CKD researchers will elaborate a prediction model for various outcomes of CKD such as the development of end-stage kidney disease, major adverse cardiovascular events, and death.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.39-59
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• 2022

How in the Antarctic icefish, generally, and Pseudochaenichthys georgianus, in particular, otoliths increase in size and build new material as the fish ages and passes through different life phases is largely unexplored. Morphometric details of 3418 otoliths of Ps. georgianus from S. Georgia and 318 from S. Shetland, were processed and proportions of the amounts of collagen and aragonite removed by EDTA were determined for different age groups. Microstructural investigations showed that characteristics of the 3-dimensinal collagen net are the reason for the radial direction and orientation of the aragonite needles of approximately 1.0 ㎛ in length in larval and 2.3 ㎛ in length in adult specimens. Earlier generated increment layers from the primordial centre (PC) in the dorsal direction restrict those of the secondary centre (SC), causing new growth layer accretion in different directions. In the otoliths of larval Ps. georgianus, aragonite layers are 0.89 ㎛ wide while in juveniles and adults they measure 1.45-2.86 ㎛. Otoliths change from a sphere shape in the larvae to a longish object of irregular outline in the older stages. It is tentaively suggested that the observed otolith shape differences at distinct growth stages are due to physical effects related to swimming speeds at particular water depths and locations. To confirm that otoliths, apart from being useful for age analyses, could also serve to establish correlations between developmental stage and the oceanic environment the fish spend time in, further analyses using additional species and state-of-the-art methods like µCT imaging to evaluate otolith volumes and shapes are required.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.188-211
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• 2021

Decreasing response rates to traditional survey methods, like face-to-face and telephone interviews, have led survey practitioners around the world to seek new ways of conducting surveys in recent years." The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this problem because it made conducting face-to-face interviews even more difficult than before. For example, it made conducting face-to-face surveys infeasible in 2020 in South Korea, and so the Korean Academic Multimode Open Survey (KAMOS) was unable to conduct a planned face-to-face survey to recruit new panel members. The entire 8,514-member panel, established via two-stage probability-based sampling from 2016 to 2019, was invited to take three online/telephone surveys in 2020. Of these panel members, 1,352 responded to at least one survey in 2020. To test to what extent the panel remained representative of the adult South Korean population, we compared the two groups of panel members: those who responded to at least one survey in 2020 and those who did not. After weighting both groups on the basis of age, sex, and geographical area, we analyzed their responses to some of the questions that were asked during multiple rounds of the face-to-face panel-recruiting interviews. Using Cohen's d for survey items that could be analyzed numerically and Cramér's V for categorical items, we were able to conclude that the respondents to the 2020 surveys were equivalent to the non-respondents in terms of both demographics and in the answers they originally gave to substantive questions on a variety of topics related to social science or public opinion research, including questions about quality of life, societal issue, and politics (Cohen's d items <0.2, 95% CI; Cramér's V items <0.1, 95% CI). This analysis may provide a model for others who wish to test the continued representativeness of their panel or who would like to use a different survey mode or change some other aspect of their methodology and test whether it is equivalent to their former methodology. Our success in building a panel that retained its representativeness may be useful to those in other countries where face-to-face surveys had previously been the norm but are becoming increasingly difficult to conduct.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.1-18
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• 2022

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of interventional clinical trial registration for children with precocious puberty and to secure basic data for the design of clinical trials for traditional Korean medicine treatment of precocious puberty. Methods The following resources were used to search for data: Clinicaltrial.gov, World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO ICTRP), and Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS), using the search terms, 'Precocious puberty', 'child'. All clinical trials which were registered as of June 2022 were used. Results For the intervention and clinical trial design, gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analog was reported in 41.7% of trials, and single group assignment was performed in 66.7% of the studies. Prior consent had not been reported in 50% of the studies. Tanner stage and GnRH stimulation tests were reported by multiple trials as inclusion criteria, and prior treatment experiences for trial drugs were reported as exclusion criteria. The peak serum concentration of luteinizing hormone following GnRH stimulation test was used as a primary outcome in 45.8% of clinical trials, and other growth-related indicators such as growth rate, height, and predicted adult height were also reported. Conclusions In consideration of the design, eligibility criteria, and outcome measurement of the existing clinical trials identified in this study, it should be referred to in the design of clinical trials for traditional Korean medicine treatment of precocious puberty.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.245-252
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• 2021

Background: In patients with total elbow arthroplasty (TEA), the soft-tissue around the elbow can be vulnerable to soft-tissue complications. This study aims to assess the outcomes after soft-tissue reconstruction following TEA. Methods: We retrospectively included nine adult patients who underwent soft-tissue reconstruction following TEA. Demographic data and disease characteristics were collected through medical chart reviews. Additionally, we contacted all four patients that were alive at the time of the study by phone to assess any current elbow complications. Local tissue rearrangement was used for soft-tissue reconstruction in six patients, and a pedicle flap was used in three patients. The median follow-up period was 1.3 years (range, 6 months-14.7 years). Results: Seven patients (78%) underwent reoperation. Four patients (44%) had a reoperation for soft-tissue complications, including dehiscence or nonhealing of infected wounds. Five patients (56%) had a reoperation for implant-related complications, including three infections and two peri-prosthetic fractures. At the final follow-ups, six patients (67%) achieved successful wound healing and two patients had continued wound healing issues, while two patients had an antibiotic spacer in situ and one patient underwent an above-the-elbow amputation. Conclusions: This study reports a complication rate of 78% for soft-tissue reconstructions after TEA. Successful soft-tissue healing was achieved in 67% of patients, but at the cost of multiple surgeries. Early definitive soft-tissue reconstruction could prove to be preferable to minor interventions such as irrigation, debridement, and local tissue advancement, or smaller soft-tissue reconstructions using local tissue rearrangement or a pedicled flap at a later stage.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.sup1
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• pp.89-112
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• 2022

An accurate assessment of the recommended calcium (Ca) intake may contribute to reducing the risk of fractures and chronic diseases, ultimately improving quality of life. This review was performed to summarize key findings of Ca studies, investigate the effect of Ca intake on health outcomes, and determine the adequacy of evidence to revise the 2015 Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans (KDRIs) for Ca in 2020. Databases were searched for intervention studies that assessed health outcomes by providing Ca in diets or as supplements. The framework of the systematic review comprised conducting literature searches, data extraction, quality assessment of the literature, and summarizing key findings relevant to set the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) and Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for Ca for the 2020 KDRI. The final search was performed in June 2019. A total of 13,309 studies were identified through databases and manual search. Sixtyfive studies were included in the final quality assessment and were summarized according to health indicators. As bone health was used as an indicator of the EAR for Ca, literature reports on bone health were further categorized by the life-cycle stage of the participants. This systematic review did not find new evidence that could be applied to the general Korean adult population, including postmenopausal women, for defining a new EAR for Ca in the 2020 KDRIs. Evidence in most of the reviewed literature was considered weak; however, some evidence was found that could improve the criteria on how the EAR for Ca was determined in children and adolescents. A review of the literature for the 2020 KDRIs for Ca did not find strong evidence in order to change the recommended values of the 2015 KDRIs. More clinical interventions are required among Koreans to strengthen the body of evidence to warrant the revision of the KDRIs.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.29-33
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• 1969

An ichneumon-fly, Megarhyssa jezoensis Matsumura, was found as a parasite of Sirex nitobei Matsumura, a pest insect of the walnut, Juglans sinensis Maximowicz, at Ye-San, Choong-Nam province, middle Korea. The life cycle of Megarhyssa jezoensis was as follows: 1. It occurred three times a year. The adults appear at the end of April to the middle of May (maximum on 5th May) after hibernation, at the beginning to the middle of July (maximum on 10 th July) in the first generatioin, and at the end of September to the end of October (maximum on 8 th October) in the second. 2. The larvae grew from the beginning of May to the end of June in the first generation, from the middle of July to the beginning of September in the second and from the beginning of October to the end of the year in the last. 3. The pupae developed from the end of June to the middle of July and from the end of August to the middle of September. 4. The adults oviposited their eggs on the surface of the host, the larvae in Sirex nitobei growing in the stem of the walnut, and the larvae hatched from the eggs were ectoparasiting the larvae of Sirex to grow and pupate. The parasite hibernated in the pupal stage but the adult which emerged at the early spring stayed in the hole of the walnut stem till the end of April.