• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.348-357
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• 2011

Objectives: This study was conducted in order to examine the relationship between heavy metal concentrations in the soil and the level of heavy metals in the blood or urine of 216 local residents living near abandoned metal mines. Methods: Residents around abandoned metal mines were interviewed about their dietary habits, including seafood consumption, medical history, cigarette smoking, and drug history. Metal concentrations in the soil were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AA-7000, Shimadzu, Japan). Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) contents in the blood or urine were analyzed by GF-AAS (AA-6800, Shimadzu). Mercury (Hg) contents in the blood were determined by means of a mercury analyzer (SP-3DS, NIC). Arsenic (As) content in the soil and urine were measured by a HG-AAS (hydride vapor generation-atomic absorption spectrophotometer). Results: The heavy metal concentrations in the soil showed a log normal distribution and the geometric means of the four villages were 8.61 mg/kg for Pb, 0.19 mg/kg for Cd, 1.81 mg/kg for As and 0.035 mg/kg for Hg. The heavy metal levels of the 216 local residents showed a regular distribution for Pb, Cd, Hg in the blood and As in the urine. The arithmetic means were 3.37 ${\mu}g$/dl for Pb, 3.07 ${\mu}g$/l for Cd and 2.32 ${\mu}g$/l for Hg, 10.41 ${\mu}g$/l for As, respectively. Conclusions: As a result of multi-variate analysis for the affecting factors on the bodily heavy metal concentrations, gender and concentration in the soil (each, p<0.01) for blood lead levels; gender and smoking status (each, p<0.01) for blood cadmium levels; gender (p<0.01) for urine arsenic levels; gender, age and concentration in the soil (p<0.01) for blood mercury levels were shown to be the affecting factors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.5183-5188
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• 2012

Colorectal cancer remains one of the most widespread malignancies in the world. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies considering colorectal cancer risk factors among Russian populations, particularly in Siberia. The aim of this investigation was to determine the impact of various lifestyle, dietary, family, and socioeconomical factors on colorectal cancer risk in South-East Siberia. We recruited 185 Russian colorectal cancer cases and 210 gender-, age-, and ethnicity-matched asymptomatic controls with no history of any malignant tumor, using a specially designed questionnaire to obtain relevant information. After the statistical analysis, we defined several significant factors affecting colorectal cancer risk. Among these were smoking (OR=2.13, 95%CI=1.4-3.24, P=0.0004), being overweight (BMI between 25-30, OR=2.45, 95%CI=1.49-4.03, P=0.0004), alcohol drinking (OR=8.73, 95%CI=5.49-13.87, P<0.0001), beer drinking (OR=9.24, 95%CI=5.14-16.61, P<0.0001), consumption of hard liquor (OR=9.37, 95%CI=5.92-14.82, P<0.0001), excessive red meat consumption (P<0.0001), excessive intake of red meat products (P<0.0001), excessive intake of dairy products (P<0.0001), excessive sour cream and cheese consumption (P<0.0001 and 0.0002, respectively), spicy food consumption (OR=2.87, 95%CI=1.9-4.33, P<0.0001), family history of gastrointestinal malignant tumors (OR=3.99, 95%CI=2.09-7.59, P<0.0001), and income exceeding twice the subsistence minimum (OR=5.34, 95%CI=3.35-8.53, P<0.0001). Certain factors, such as high concentration of salt in the food and precancerous colonic lesions, demonstrated borderline significance (OR=3.45, 95%CI=1.68-7.1, P=0.0008, and OR=5.25, 95%CI=1.94-14.22, P=0.001, respectively). Some factors were established as protective, like consumption of rye bread and both rye and wheat bread (OR=0.32, 95%CI=0.21-0.5, P<0,0001, and OR=0.07, 95%CI=0.02-0.21, P<0.0001, respectively), and also low concentration of salt in the food, although this was of borderline significance (OR=0.43, 95%CI=0.26-0.69, P=0.0006). ABO and Rhesus blood antigens were not associated with increased colorectal cancer risk. These results should be definitely applied for elaboration of programs of colorectal cancer prevention in Russia, particularly in Siberia.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.161-166
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• 2017

In recent times, many people have problems of nutritional imbalance; lack or surplus intake of a specific nutrient despite the variety of available foods. Accordingly, the interest in health and diet issues has increased leading to the emergence of various mobile applications. However, most mobile applications only record the user's diet history and show simple statistics and usually provide only general information for healthy diet. It is necessary for users interested in healthy eating to be provided recommendation services reflecting their food interest and providing customized information. Hence, we propose a menu recommendation method which includes calculating the recommended calorie amount based on the user's physical and activity profile to assign to each food group a substitution unit. In addition, our method also analyzes the user's food preferences using food intake history. Thus it satisfies recommended intake unit for each food group by exchanging the user's preferred foods. Also, the excellence of our proposed algorithm is demonstrated through the calculation of precision, recall, health index and the harmonic average of the 3 aforementioned measures. We compare it to another method which considers user's interest and recommended substitution unit. The proposed method provides menu recommendation reflecting interest and personalized health status by which user can improve and maintain a healthy dietary habit.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.63-96
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• 2012

The PingMaiFa chapter, which is the second chapter of SongBon ShangHanLun, is the scholarly description(專論) of the pulse and pathological mechanism but has not been studied and published yet. This study is about article 1-13 which is the first part of The PingMaiFa chapter. We compared the original texts within the editions, comparing and analyzing the annotations of successive dynastic medical group. The articles of The SongBon ShangHanLun PingMaiFa chapter 1-13 is consisted as is shown: article 1 states about the general features of normal pulse (平脈) and its physiological mechanism and the morbid pulses (病脈) caused by wind, cold, retained fluid, pain and heat vexation, article 1,10 state about the normal pulses of Five viscera (lung, heart, spleen, liver and kidney) and their manipulations in pulse taking, article 2 states about the differentiations of deficiency and excess syndrome according to pulse conditions, article 3, 4 state about the estimation of good prognoses and a factitious disorder by the combination of pulses and symptoms, article 6 states about Latent qi (伏氣) and its diagnostic features, article 5 states about inspection and listening examination as co-diagnostic methods of the pulse diagnosis, article 7, 8, 9 state that the emotions, such as fear and shame, and the dietary are important factors to consider for making diagnosis, article 11 states about the overwhelming pulse (相乘脈) which indicates the abnormal correlations between five phases and appears in four patterns as the dissolute(縱), the unrighteous(橫), the unfavorable(逆) and the favorable(順), article 12 states about 6 harmful pulses(殘賊脈), which are string-like pulse(弦脈), tight pulse(緊脈), floating pulse(浮脈), slippery pulse(滑脈), sunken pulse(沈脈), rough pulse(澁脈), article 13 states about "JaeGoe"(災怪) which is an unexpected response after treatment and it comes because of the formulas that had before. Throughout all these articles, The PingMaiFa chapter not only offers great value for Pulse-taking diagnosis, but also leads to a better understanding of clinical applications.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.274-282
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• 1993

Background: Pulmonary paragonimiasis is caused by consumption of raw or improperly cooked crabs infected by a laval stage (metacercaris) of the parasite. In our country it had been a highly prevalent endemic disease until th late 1960s, and after then it's prevalence has been markedly decreased. But because some people have continued to ingest undercooked crabs, this disease have yet occured sporadically. Methods: We reviewed the clinical and radiological findings retrospectively in seventy-four patients of pulmonary paragonimiasis including familial infestation in 7 familes (20 cases) who were confirmed by food history, clinical and radiological findings, and labaratory data. Results: The male: female ratio was 2.2:1 and most prevalent age was 40-49 years old. Twen6ty nine patients (39%) had ova-positive infection. The detection sites were sputum (48%), pleural fluid (17%), fine needle aspiration biopsy of nodular or cystic lesion (17%), pleural biopsy (7%), skin nodule biopsy (7%), and stool (3%). The patients had pulmonary symptoms in 63 cases (85%) but 9 cases did not have any symptoms. The 53 cases (72%) had abnormal radiological findings in lung parenchyme (75%) and pleura (63%). However 21 cases (28%) showed no specific findings in their chest X-ray. Serum titers (ELISA) of specific IgG for paragonimiasis in 13 cases were followed for average 9.8 months after treatment, which showed slow decreasement. In the evaluation of family member (7 family, 20 cases), all members having the common dietary history together with a proven patients were confirmed this disease by serological test, regardless of the presence or the abscence of clinical or radilogical symptoms. Conclusion: We evaluated the clinical and radiological findings in 74 cases of pulmonary paragonimiasis including 7 family members who had a history of ingestion of improperly cooked crabs together with patients. The paients of pulmonary paragonimiasis have various findings in clinical and radiological findings. Common diet exposure history and laboratory findings including specific IgG were important in earlier diagnosing and treating in family members of patients.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2006

Purpose: Infantile constipation is one of the most common problems in pediatric gastrointestinal outpatient clinic. We planed to show the clinical feature of infantile constipation and explore the possible relationship between diets and symptoms of constipation. Methods: We analyzed the medical records and telephone questionnaire about infants under 2 years of age with constipation, who visited outpatient clinic of Department of Pediatrics, Ilsan Paik Hospital during the time from March 2002 to February 2005. Data including the symptoms and signs of constipation, diet history, and past-medical history were analyzed. Results: Total 96 infants, 40 male and 56 female, were enrolled in this study. The mean age was 9 months. Twenty-three infants were exclusively breast milk fed (BMF), 20 infants were cow's milk fed (CMF) and 53 infants had a history of mixed feeding with cow's milk and breast milk (MMF). Patients showed painful defecation (95.8%), abdominal distension (53.1%), palpable rectal stool (35.1%), hard stool (30.2%), blood-tinged stool (29.2%) and anal fissure (16.7%). Patients with exclusive cow milk feeding had prominent clinical features, such as anal fissure (p=0.03), hematochezia (p=0.04) and palpable rectal stool (p=0.025). Patients who had a history of larger intake of liquid food had a tendency to get anal skin tag (p<0.05). Conclusion: Exclusive breast milk feeding seemed important to avoid constipation with clinical significance. To educate caregivers in appropriate way of the weaning food may help the infants with constipation.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.83-89
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• 2002

We examined the association between eating frequency of rice vs. bread at breakfast and nutrient and food-group intake among 1771 female college students aged 18-20 years. The frequency of main staples at breakfast and the nutrient and food group intake for the previous month were assessed with a validated self-administered diet history questionnaire. We divided main staples into rice, bread, and noodles. As the eating frequency for noodles was almost negligible, we computed the difference of eating frequency of rice minus that of bread(mean = 0.7 times/week). Among 16 nutrients examined, the difference of eating frequency correlated significantly and negatively only with fat intake, especially saturated fatty acid (SFA) (r=-0.31, p<0.001), and significantly and positively with the intake of n-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acid, iron, sodium, protein, carotene, potassium, dietary fiber, and vitamin C (r=0.08-0.15, p<0.001) after adjusting for the energy intake, the residential area, the population size, and the living status with their families. In conclusion, the more frequent intake of rice compared to bread at breakfast correlated with the higher intake of the several vitamins and minerals, and the lower intake of fat, especially SFA. The only unfavorable aspect of the rice group was the higher sodium intake.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2016

Objectives : In this study, we investigated the trends of cohort project in domestic and overseas, and suggested the necessity of cohort on korean medicine and the direction of research. Methods : The papers which include cohort in the title and published by 2015 were searched using PubMed. In order to study the history of cohort in domestic and overseas, research trend was investigated based on the websites of each cohort projects and traditional medicine searching engine named OASIS. Results : Using PubMed, 42,802 papers were searched. Most of the studies over 50 % of total articles, however, were conducted in these 6 years. Nevertheless, cohort studies are being actively proceed, the korean medicine based on cohort studies are nonexistent. Therefore, further discussion about cohort study on korean medicine is necessary to gather physiological index and clinical index of korean medicine consistently. Conclusions : Systematically constructed cohort on korean medicine would be the foundation which collects information, such as gene information, bio information, dietary habit, life style, and Pattern identification (辨證), and integrates them. The analysis of massive clinical materials could suggest the basis of Prevention and treatment of korean medicine considering the difference between personal.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.165-168
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• 2012

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge of oral cancer and its associated factors among university students in Malaysia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 200 university students in Malaysia. A self administered questionnaire was used to collect data. It included questions on sociodemographic data, awareness and knowledge of oral cancer. Results: Mean age of the respondents was $21.5{\pm}2.5$ and the age ranged from 18 to 27 years. The majority of the respondents were aware of oral cancer (92.0%) and recognized the followings as signs and symptoms of oral cancer: ulcer and oral bleeding (71.0%), followed by swelling (61.5%). A satisfactory knowledge was observed on the following risk factors; smoking (95.5%), poor oral hygiene (90.5%), family history (90.0%), alcohol (84.5%) and poor fitting dentures (83.0%). However, unsatisfactory knowledge was observed about hot/spicy food (46.5%), obesity (36.0%), old age (31.5%), dietary factor (29.0%) and smokeless tobacco (25.5%). Knowledge of oral cancer was associated significantly with age (p<0.01), year of study (p<0.01) and course of study (p<0.01). Conclusion: Instead of satisfactory awareness and knowledge of oral cancer and its clinical presentations, inadequate knowledge was observed about its risk factors. There is a need to introduce oral cancer education among university students.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.4429-4436
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• 2014

Background: Although the nutritional may exert effect on the breast cancer risk, it is not clear whether the role diet is the same in sedentary and physically active women. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between fruit, vegetable and carbohydrate intake and the risk of breast cancer among Polish women considering their physical activity level. Materials and Methods: A case-control study was conducted that included 858 women with histological confirmed breast cancer and 1,085 controls, free of any cancer diagnosis, aged 28-78 years. The study was based on a self-administered questionnaire to ascertain physical activity, dietary intake, sociodemographic characteristics, reproductive factors, family history of breast cancer, current weight and high, and other lifestyle factors. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated in unconditional logistic regression analyses including a broad range of potential confounders. Results: With comparison of the highest vs lowest quartile of intake, strong significant associations were observed for total vegetables (OR=0.37, 95%CI=0.20-0.69 P for trend <0.01 and OR=0.53, 95%CI=0.29-0.96, P for trend <0.02), and total fruits (OR=0.47, 95%CI=0.25-0.87, P for trend <0.05 and OR=0.47, 95%CI=0.24-0.90, P for trend <0.02) among women characterized by the lowest and the highest quartile of physical activity. No associations were observed for total carbohydrate intake. Additional analysis showed a positive association for sweets and desert intake among women in the lowest quartile of physical activity (OR=3.49, 95%CI=1.67-7.30, P for trend <0.009) for extreme quartiles of intake comparing to the referent group. Conclusions: The results suggest that a higher consumption of vegetable and fruit may be associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer, especially among women who were low or most physically active throughout their lifetimes. These findings do not support an association between diet high in carbohydrate and breast cancer. However, a higher intake of sweets and deserts may by associated with an increased risk of breast cancer among women who were less physically active.