• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.623-632
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• 2005

This study was intended to collect the baseline information on dietary behavior of adults to develop nutrition education program in the context of healthy weights at community level. Nutrient intakes of 128 housewives were assessed by 24 hour recall method. Also food habits, nutrition knowledge and attitude were investigated by self-administered questionnaires. Subjects were divided to under-weight, normal-weight, over-weight groups by body mass index (BMI). Most under-weight groups evaluated as their current body images were normal. $41\%$ of normal-weight groups judged as their current body images were obese. Energy and fat intakes of over-weight group were significantly higher than that of under-weight and normal weight groups (p<0.05). However, carbohydrate and protein intakes showed no significant differences among the three groups. It appeared that active attitude toward change in nutrition attitude of normal weight group was significantly higher than that of under-weight group (p<0.05). There were no significant differences of food habit score, nutrition knowledge, and obesity habit scores among the three groups. The frequency of eating-out showed significant difference among three groups (p<0.05). Food habit scores were positively related to health-concerned attitude (r=0.174), convenience-concerned attitude (r=0.229) and food enjoyed attitude (0.213) and negatively related to obesity habit score (r=-0.206). Also, positive correlation of body fat mass with frequency of eatingout (r=0.213), instant food (r=0.227) and amount of meal (r=0.187) existed (p<0.05). We concluded that nutrition education programs for housewives should include specific strategies to modify unsound food behaviors and inappropriate perception of body image for a healthy weight.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.173-180
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• 2018

Objectives: Immunization is considered one of the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions protecting communities from preventable infectious diseases. The Korean government set up a dedicated workforce for national immunization in 2003, and since then has made strides in improving vaccination coverage across the nation. However, some groups remain relatively vulnerable and require intervention, and it is necessary to address unmet needs to prevent outbreaks of communicable diseases. This study was conducted to characterize persistent challenges to vaccination. Methods: The study adopted a qualitative method in accordance with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist. Three focus group interviews were conducted with 15 professionals in charge of vaccination-related duties. The interviews were conducted according to a semi-structured guideline, and thematic analysis was carried out. Data saturation was confirmed when the researchers agreed that no more new codes could be found. Results: A total of 4 main topics and 11 subtopics were introduced regarding barriers to vaccination. The main topics were vaccine hesitancy, personal circumstances, lack of information, and misclassification. Among them, vaccine hesitancy was confirmed to be the most significant factor impeding vaccination. It was also found that the factors hindering vaccination had changed over time and disproportionately affected certain groups. Conclusions: The study identified ongoing unmet needs and barriers to vaccination despite the accomplishments of the National Immunization Program. The results have implications for establishing tailored interventions that target context- and group-specific barriers to improve timely and complete vaccination coverage.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.568-579
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to understand and describe the hospital workers' experience related to the hospital evaluation program implemented in Korea between 2004 and 2009. Methods: During 2010, data were collected using focus group interviews. Four focus group interviews were held with a total of 28 hospital workers participating. All interviews were recorded and transcribed as they were spoken, and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Nine themes emerged from the analysis: 1) Positive change in the necessity of the evaluation; 2) Improvement in the hospital system, facilities, and human resources; 3) Unity through cooperation among departments; 4) Nursing work overload; 5) Lack of physicians' awareness and responsibilities; 6) Unfair and unrealistic evaluation items; 7) Lack of credibility of the outcome; 8) Shifting responsibility for negative outcomes to the workers; 9) Lack of pragmatic utility. Conclusion: The results of the study demonstrate that the hospital evaluation program played a key role in improving some work environments and communication among departments. At the same time, they show various negative themes resulting from the context of very authoritarian hospital systems and a connection-oriented society in Korea.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.16
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• pp.6609-6612
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• 2014

Opisthorchis viverrini is an ongoing public health problem in Northeast Thailand. Despite continuous efforts for decades by healthcare organizations to overcome this problem, infection rates remain high. To enable related personnel to identify and address the various issues effectively, a cross-sectional study was performed to investigate prevalence and risk factors for opisthorchiasis. The target group was 3,916 Thai residents of Northeast Thailand who were 15 or over. Participants were recruited using the 30 clusters sampling technique. The data were gathered through questionnaires, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and stool examinations for parasite eggs (using the Modified Kato Katz method). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inference statistics; in order to ascertain the risk factors and test them using the odds ratio and multiple logistic regressions. The prevalence of opisthorchiasis was 22.7% (95%CI: 0.26 to 0.24). The province with the highest prevalence was Nakhorn Phanom (40.9%; female to male ratio =1:1.2). The age group with the highest prevalence was 40-49 year olds. All age groups had a prevalence >20%. Four of seven provinces had a prevalence >20%. The factors related to opisthorchiasis were (a) sex, (b) age (especially > 50), (c) proximity and duration living near a water body, and (d) eating raw and/or fermented fish. In order to reduce the prevalence of opisthorchiasis, the focus in populations living in upper Northeast Thailand should be changing their eating behaviors as appropriate to their tradition and context.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.166-182
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to explore the difficulties experienced by career-interrupted women and recruiters in the reemployment process. Using focused group interview(FGI), the depth interviews with six women and six recruiters had been carried out. Collected data was analyzed based on the interview and focus group research method by Corbin and Strauss(2008). Finally, eight domains in career-interrupted women' experience and five in recruiters' were created from the analysis of the data. In the context of the experience there were something in common. They include the need of proper job for woman, the lack of employment system and resource, and the negative perception of women workers. As result, we suggested implications. for solving the difficulties in the reemployment process.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2018

Background: The treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is challenging, and multimodal treatment including surgery is recommended; however, the role of surgery is debated. The treatment outcomes of MPM in Korea have not been reported. We analyzed the outcomes of MPM in the context of multimodal treatment, including surgery. Methods: The records of 29 patients with pathologically proven MPM from April 1998 to July 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. The treatment outcomes of the surgery and non-surgery groups were compared. Results: The overall median survival time was 10.6 months, and the overall 3-year survival rate was 25%. No postoperative 30-day or in-hospital mortality occurred in the surgery group. Postoperative complications included tachyarrhythmia (n=4), pulmonary thromboembolism (n=1), pneumonia (n=1), chylothorax (n=1), and wound complications (n=3). The treatment outcomes between the surgery and non-surgery groups were not significantly different (3-year survival rate: 31.3% vs. 16.7%, respectively; p=0.47). In a subgroup analysis, there was no significant difference in the treatment outcomes between the extrapleural pneumonectomy group and the non-surgery group (3-year survival rate: 45.5% vs. 16.7%, respectively; p=0.23). Conclusion: Multimodal treatment incorporating surgery did not show better outcomes than non-surgical treatment. A nationwide multicenter data registry and prospective randomized controlled studies are necessary to optimize the treatment of MPM.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.283-290
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• 2011

The recent increase of colon, breast, and prostate cancer incidence in Korea has been attributed to a diet pattern change to a more Western style, in which the foods eaten are higher in protein and fat. Whether high protein intake itself stimulates tumor cell growth and exacerbates disease status has been investigated, however, many epidemiological studies have inconsistent results between meat intake and the risk of certain cancers. These inconsistent results are partly because of the difficulty of studying the effects of just the meat intake. Other factors, such as overall meal context, could not be completely excluded in the study. To address the question of whether high protein itself is independently associated with carcinogenesis, we initiated ICR mice with 200 nmol ($50{\mu}g$) 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) and fed animals either a normal diet (ND, 14% casein) or a high protein diet (HPD, 50% casein) for 15 weeks with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) promotion in two-stage skin carcinogenesis protocol. There was no significant difference between ND and HPD group in food intake and body weight throughout the experiment. However, tumor multiplicity of the HPD group was decreased by 75.5% compared to that of the ND group. In addition, HPD inhibited skin hyperplasia and epidermal cell proliferation. Western analyses with whole skin lysates showed that HPD inhibited TPA-induced Akt (S473), S6K (T389), 4E-BP1 (Thr 37/46) and Erk1/2 (Thr202/Tyr204) phosphorylation as well as COX-2 expression. Taken together, these data suggest that a high protein diet has an anticarcinogenic effect by inhibiting the TPA-induced Akt signaling pathway.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.69-77
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in student writings of claim and evidence after group and class discussions; changes in students' critical thinking; and students' perceptions on an argument-based claim and evidence writing approach. Seventy two grade 11 students from two classes of a high school located in Seoul participated in ten chemistry activities using the argument-based claim and evidence writing approach. Claim scores for 9 topics and evidence scores for 10 topics significantly improved after group discussion. There were also statistically significant differences in claim scores for 7 topics and evidence scores for 10 topics after class discussion. Participant students responded to an open-ended survey that group discussion helped them to figure out the problem context and class discussion guided them to provide with more sufficient evidence. There were also statistically significant increases in sub-scores of the Cornell Critical Thinking Test after the intervention.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.529-543
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• 2014

The objectives of this study were to perform a descriptive analysis to characterize and compare the sensory properties of commercial Makgeolli products as well as a cross-cultural comparison of the sensory descriptions of these products between two sensory panels (Korean and Japanese). The samples used in this study were seven different types of Makgeolli, which were commercial products. A total of 10 Korean and 7 Japanese panelists were selected in Korea. Each group was trained, and they identified product attributes and performed descriptive analyses independently. The Korean and Japanese panelists generated 34 and 28 sensory attributes, respectively, to describe appearance, odor/aroma, taste/flavor, texture, and after flavor of the products. There were significant differences among the samples for 24 attributes by Korean and 23 attributes by Japanese panelists. Although there was not a large difference in the number of descriptors between Korean and Japanese panels, the Korean panelists generated more various attributes associated with flavor than the Japanese panelists, and the attributes of Japanese panelists included references to non-food products such as rotten grass. Multiple factor analysis (MFA) was applied to the descriptive analysis data from the Korean and Japanese panels to delineate the associations between Makgeolli samples and their sensory characteristics. Both the Korean and Japanese panels clustered the JRM, JSM, KRM and KSM samples into one group and the CRM and BSM samples into another group. The ESM sample was distinguished from the other six samples. These results of the cross-cultural comparison suggest that comparative analyses of sensory profiles between cultures should be conducted regularly in future studies, and further research such as consumer acceptance tests should be conducted to determine the sensory characteristics that drive consumer acceptance of Makgeolli products in the context of increasing food product exports to other countries.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.14 no.3 s.62
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• pp.514-527
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• 2006

It can be said that the ultimate goal of advertising is creating consumers' buying intention and buying behavior toward advertised goods. But literature suggests that ads have both intended and unintended consequences, and one of the unintended consequences is that the idealized images of physical attractiveness found in advertising have negative impact on girls' and womens' self-perceptions. Thus, this study, using social comparison theory as a framework, was designed to investigate the influences of the images of models in ads portrayed in TV and fashion magazines on the purchasing intention, self-esteem and body satisfaction of college women. Using an experimental stimulus, a moving picture representing thin and attractive models in the context of advertising fashion goods, two conditions were manipulated and the subjects were placed into one of two groups randomly, the experiment group and the control group. The experiment group only was exposed to the ads portraying highly attractive models. Data were collected from two groups using same questionnaire. The data were analyzed using t-test, two-way ANOVA, and descriptive statistics. The findings were as follows: 1. The thin and attractive image of models in ads on buying intention had significant positive influence on buying intention(p<.05). 2. The thin and attractive image of models in ads had significant negative influences on self-esteem(p<.05). 3. The thin and attractive image of models in ads had significant negative influence on body satisfaction(p<.05). 4. The ideal body internalization had significant negative influences on body satisfaction(p<.05), but interaction effect of model's image and ideal body internalization on body satisfaction was not significant.