• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.1-17
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• 2011

Objectives : This study aimed to review randomized controlled trials of acupuncture performed in South Korea that used sham acupuncture as a control group. Methods : The following databases were searched through the end of September 2011: Koreanstudies information service system (KISS), Korean medical database (KMbase), national discovery OR science leaders (NDSL), oriental medicine advance searching integrated system (OASIS), and research information service system (RISS). The following search terms were used: acupuncture AND (sham or placebo). The reference lists of searched articles and Korea institute of oriental medicine (KIOM) reports(2005~2009) were identified. The following data were extracted: year/first author, disease, number of participants, blinding, intervention, outcome, and result. Where appropriate, we performed meta-analysis. The methodological quality was assessed according to the Jadad scale and 'risk of bias' by Cochrane Handbook procedure. Results : Twenty-nine studies were included in this review. In eighteen studies, penetrating sham controls were used as the control intervention, whereas the remaining eleven studies adopted non-penetrating sham controls such as the Park Sham Device or blunt auricular acupuncture. Nine studies showed statistically significant difference in outcomes. Twelve studies concerning insomnia after stroke, chronic tension-type headache, idiopathic Parkinson's disease, Hwa-Byung, and smoking cessation were included in meta-analysis. A meta-analysis of insomnia after stroke only found significant difference(MD -4.31, 95% Cl -6.19 to -2.42, $p$<0.00001). In general, all of the studies showed low methodological quality(Jadad score: mean 2.1). Risk of bias by Cochrane Handbook procedure varied. Conclusions : The results of this study could not suggest conclusive evidence that acupuncture is more effective than sham acupuncture in several diseases. In the future, more studies with rigorous acupuncture trials using sham controls should be conducted.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.34 no.1 s.102
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• pp.23-31
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• 2004

As a research method that weighs and combines evidence, meta analysis produces evidence that is more powerful than the original studies. The purpose of this study was to compare the jntercanine/intermolar expansion and rapid/slow expansion in the maxillary expansion treatment using meta analysis. Medline was searched from 1979 to 2000 for all studies examining the stability of transverse expansion of the human maxilla, and 388 articles were found. Then these articles were reduced to 7 based on the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a cumulative Meta evaluation score was computed for each study. The results were as follows; 1. The mean expansion in intermolar width was 6.0mm. of the 6.0mm, 4.8mm was retained and $20.0\%(1.2mm)$ was relapsed while wearing retainers. 2. In intercanines width, the mean expansion was 3.7mm. of the 3.7mm, 2.6mm was retained and $29.7\%(1.1mm)$ was relapsed while wearing retainers. 3. The differences In the amount of expansion and relapse between rapid expansion group and slow expansion group were less than $6\%(0.1-0.3mm)$. But, there might be differences in the skeletal/dental exapnsion ratios according to the expansion method.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8051-8055
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• 2014

Background: A common genetic variant rs3757318, located in intron of C6orf97, was firstly identified to be associated with breast cancer (BC) risk by a genome-wide association (GWA) study. However, subsequent validation studies with different ethnicities have yielded conflicting results. Materials and Methods: We performed a meta-analysis to synthesize all available data for evaluating the precise effect of this variant on BC susceptibility. Results: A total of 8 articles containing 11 studies with 62,891 cases and 65,635 controls were included in this meta-analysis. When compared to the G allele, the rs3757318-A allele was significantly associated with BC risk with the pooled OR of 1.21 (95% CI=1.15 - 1.29, P<0.001) but with obvious between-study heterogeneity (P=0.040). Stratified analysis suggested that diversity of ethnicity along with control source may explain part of the heterogeneity. Similarly, significant associations were also identified in heterozygote, homozygote, dominant and recessive genetic models. Sensitivity and publication bias analyses indicated robust stability of our results. Conclusions: Our present meta-analysis demonstrated that the variant rs3757318 is associated with increased BC risk. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to clarify the underlying biological mechanisms.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.4449-4454
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• 2014

Aim: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) have been considered as a risk factor for many cancers. We conducted this meta-analysis to clarify the association between H. pylori infection and the risk of pancreatic cancer. Methods: We searched the Medicine/Pubmed and Embase databases, studies about the association between H. pylori infection and pancreatic cancer published up to Jan.2014 were included. Finally, a total of 9 studies were used for this a meta-analysis. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) of H. pylori infection on pancreatic cancer with respect to control groups were evaluated. Two authors independently assessed the methodological quality and extracted data. This meta-analysis was conducted using software, state (version 12.0) to investigate heterogeneity among individual studies and to summarize the studies. Using the fixed-effects or random-effects model, depending on the absence or presence of significant heterogeneity. Sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the influence of each individual study on the pooled ORs by omitting a single study each time. Publication bias was evaluated by funnel plot, using Egger's and Begg's tests. Results: There was no significant association between H. pylori infection and pancreatic cancer risk in the summary ORs,(OR=1.06, 95%CI: 0.74-1.37) through the random-effect method, but heterogeneity among studies was significant ($I^2$=58.9%), so we put the studies into two subgraphs (eastern and western). The results about western (OR=1.14 95%CI:0.89, 1.40) showed heterogeneity among the western countries of $I^2$=6.6%, with no significant association between Hp+ and pancreatic cancer, but the eastern countries (OR=0.62, 95%CI:0.49, 0.76), $I^2$=0, suggested that decreasing pancreas-cancer risk in subjects with Hp+ infection. Simultaneously, 7 studies examined CagA+ strains was (OR=0.84 95%CI:0.63, 1.04), $I^2$=36% with the random-effect method, subgraphs indicated that CagA+ could decrease the risk of pancreatic cancer in the eastern subjects (OR=0.66, 95%CI:0.52-0.80), but the association was not statistically significant in the western subjects (OR=0.95, 95%CI:0.73, 1.16). Conclusion: Hp+ and CagA+ infection are associated with a decreased risk of pancreatic cancer in eastern populations but have no significant associations in western countries.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.4689-4695
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• 2014

Background: A great number of studies have shown that cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) genetic polymorphisms, CYP1A1 Msp I and CYP1A1 Ile/Val, might be risk factors for digestive tract cancers, including esophageal cancer (EC), gastric cancer (GC), hepatic carcinoma (HC), as well as colorectal cancer (CC), but the results are controversial. In this study, a meta-analysis of this literature aimed to clarify associations of CYP1A1 genetic polymorphisms with digestive tract cancers susceptibility in Chinese populations. Materials and Methods: Eligible case-control studies published until December 2013 were retrieved by systematic literature searches from PubMed, Embase, CBM, CNKI and other Chinese databases by two investigators independently. The associated literature was acquired through deliberate search and selection based on established inclusion criteria. Fixed-effects or random-effects models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs and 95%CIs). The meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.2 and Stata 12.0 softwares with stability evaluated by both stratified and sensitivity analyses. Moreover, sensitivity analysis and publication bias diagnostics confirmed the reliability and stability. Results: Eighteen case-control studies with 1,747 cases and 2,923 controls were selected for CYP1A1 MspI polymorphisms, and twenty case-control studies with 3, 790 cases and 4, 907 controls for the CYP1A1 Ile/Val polymorphisms. Correlation associations between CYP1A1 Ile/Val polymorphisms and digestive tract cancers susceptibility were observed in four genetic models in the meta-analysis (GG vs AA:OR= 2.03, 95%CI =1.52- 2.72; AG vs AA: OR=1.26, 95%CI =1.07-1.48; [GG+AG vs AA] :OR =1.42, 95%CI=1.20-1.68, [GG vs AA+AG]:OR=1.80, 95%CI =1.40-2.31). There was no association between CYP1A1 Msp I polymorphisms and digestive tract cancers risk. Subgroup analysis for tumor type showed a significant association of CYP1A1 Ile/Val genetic polymorphisms with EC in China. However, available data collected by the study failed to reveal remarkable associations of GC or HC with CYP1A1 Ile/Val genetic polymorphisms and EC, GC or CC with CYP1A1 MspI genetic polymorphisms. Conclusions: Our results indicated that CYP1A1 Ile/Val genetic polymorphisms, but not CYP1A1 Msp I polymorphisms, are associated with an increased digestive tract cancers risk in Chinese populations. Additional well-designed studies, with larger sample size, focusing on different ethnicities and cancer types are now warranted to validate this finding.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.94-102
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• 2020

This study conducted a meta-analysis of the effects of self-management intervention for reducing the depression and anxiety of osteoarthritis patients. The research sources were PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Ovid-MEDLINE and Korean databases from the Korean and foreign literature published until September 30, 2019. The R version 3.5.1 program was used to identify the effectiveness of self-management intervention. As a result, 11 studies from a total of 1,877 articles in the relevant literature were analyzed, and the total number of participants was 2,751. The results showed that the overall effect size for reducing depression and anxiety was -0.44 (95% CI: -0.66, -0.22) in osteoarthritis patients (p <.001). On the sub-analysis, depression was -0.37 (95% CI: -0.66, -0.08), and anxiety was -0.56 (95% CI: -0.92, -0.20). To explain the heterogeneity, the meta-ANOVA was the setting, duration, and provider of intervention. Analysis of the publication bias was performed by a Funnel plot, which was visually relatively symmetrical and was not asymmetric according to Egger's Regression test (bias=0.19, p=.928). The results of this study established clinical evidence by identifying the effects of self-management intervention for reducing the depression and anxiety of osteoarthritis patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.1615-1621
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• 2013

Background: Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) is related to tumor invasion and metastasis. However, the role of MMP-9 expression in breast cancer survival remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to accomplish a more accurate estimation of the association between MMP-9 expression and survival results in breast cancer patients through meta-analysis. Methods: A meta-analysis of published studies investigating the effects of positive MMP-9 expression on both relapse free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) was performed. Relevant literature was confirmed by searching electronic databases including PubMed, Ovid, EMBASE and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) before November 1, 2012. Individual hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were extracted and pooled HRs with 95% CIs were used to evaluate the strength of the association between positive MMP-9 expression and survival results of breast cancer patients. Funnel plot and Egger's regression tests were used to evaluate publication bias. Heterogeneity and sensitivity analysis was also conducted. All the work was completed using STATA. Results: A total of 2,344 patients from 15 evaluative studies were finally included. Pooled HRs and 95% CIs suggested that MMP-9 overexpression had an unfavorable impact on both OS (HR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.41-2.04) and RFS (HR: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.17-2.01) in breast cancer patients. There was no significant heterogeneity observed in the studies reported for OS (P=0.360, $I^2$=8.8%), but not RFS (P=0.002, $I^2$=67%). Publication bias was absent among the studies both in OS and RFS cases (t=-0.54, P=0.605 and t=1.71, P=0.131, respectively). Omission of any single study had little effect on the combined risk estimates on sensitivity analysis. Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis suggest that positive MMP-9 expression confers a higher risk of relapse and a worse survival in patients with breast cancer. Larger prospective studies are now needed to evaluate the clinical utility of MMP-9 expression.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.32 no.4 s.91
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• pp.304-315
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• 2006

This study is performed to reexamine the association between ambient air pollution and daily mortality in seven major cities of Korea using a method of meta-analysis with the data filed for the period 1998-2001. These cities account for half of the Korean population (about 23 million). The observed concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO, mean=1.08 ppm), ozone ($O_3$, mean=33.97 ppb), particulate matter less than 10 ${\mu}m$ ($PM_{10},\;mean=57.11\;{\mu}g/m^3$), nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$, mean=25.09 ppb), and sulfur dioxide ($SO_2$, mean=9.14 ppb) during the study period were at levels below Korea's current ambient air quality standards. Generalized additive models were applied to allow for the highly flexible fitting of seasonal and long-term time trends in air pollution as well as nonlinear associations with weather variables, such as air temperature and relative humidity. Also, we calculated a weighted mean as a meta-analysis summary of the estimates and its standard error. In city-specific analyses, an increase of $41.17{\mu}g/m^3(IQR)\;of\;PM_{10}$ corresponded to $1{\sim}12%$ more deaths, given constant weather conditions. Like most of air pollution epidemiologic studies, this meta-analysis cannot avoid fleeing from measurement misclassification since no personal measurement was taken. However, we can expect that a measurement bias be reduced in district-specific estimate since a monitoring station is better representative of air quality of the matched district. Significant heterogeneity was found for the effect of all pollutants. The estimated relative risks from meta-like analysis increased compared to those relative risks from pooled analysis. The similar results to those from the previous studies indicated existence of health effect of air pollution at current levels in many industrialized countries, including Korea.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.25-44
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the previous studies done on the child-care teacher's turnover intentions. From 2001 to 2011, 33 articles which reforted primary empirical data met the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The results of this study are as follo ws: First, included in the main factors related to child-care teachers' turnover intentions were a job-related variable, an organizational internal variable and an organizational external variable. Second, the most influential protective variable related to the child-care teacher's turnover intentions among the set of organizational external variables was work-time followed by welfare, education and training, remuneration, social recognition and promotion system. Third, the most influential protective variable related to child-care teachers' turnover intentions among the set of job-related variables was teacher efficacy followed by job satisfaction, participation of decision making, performance, work-autonomy and work-professionalism. Fourth, the most influential protective variable related to the child-care teacher's turnover intentions among the set of organizational internal variables was personal relations followed by relationships with the director and relationships with colleagues. The effect size of these variables was large. Fifth, the results of meta-regression analysis revealed that the survey area and years had no significant effect on overall effect sizes.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.355-365
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• 2015

As the global climate has dramatically changed over the past decades, there has been active research on evaluating its effects on food security, which has been recognized as one of the most important issues in the field. In this study, we analyzed the impact of the climate change on the Korean agriculture using meta-analysis methods. Especially, our research focus is on estimating the effect of CO2 concentration and two adaptations (planting-date and cultivar adjustments)on rice that accounts for a larger proportion of the Korean domestic agriculture. Unlike traditional general meta-analysis methods that use summary statistics of effects of interest, meta analysis specific to the agriculture literature was conducted by integrating the data on rice yield that were generated under various CO2 emission scenarios and general circulating models of the 6 collected individual studies. As a modeling approach, the rice yield change ratio was set as the dependent variable and the main and interaction effects of CO2 concentration and adaptation were considered as independent variables in a regression model, As a result, CO2 is estimated to have opposite effects on rice yield depending on whether any of the two adaptations is applied or not; decreasing effect without adaptation and increasing effect with adaptation. In addition, it turns out that the cultivar adjustment has a higher increasing effect on rice yield than the planting-date adjustment. The results of the study are expected to be used as basic quantitative data for establishing responsive polices to the future climate changes.