• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2014

Objectives: This experiment was conducted to examine the toxicity of Water soluble Carthmi-Flos herbal acupuncture (WCF) by administering a single intramuscular dose of WCF in 6-week-old, male and female Sprague-Dawley rats and to find the lethality dose for WCF. Methods: The experiment was conducted at Biotoxtech according to Good Laboratory Practices under a request by the Korean Pharmacopuncture Institute. This experiment was performed based on the testing standards of "Toxicity Test Standards for Drugs" by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Subjects were divided into 4 groups: 1 control group in which normal saline was administered and 3 test groups in which 0.1, 0.5 or 1.0 mL of WCF was administered; a single intramuscular dose was injected into 5 males and 5 females in each group. General symptoms and body weights were observed/measured for 14 days after injection. At the end of the observation period, hematological and clinical chemistry tests were performed, followed by necropsy and histopathological examinations of the injected sections. Results: No mortalities were observed in any group. Also, symptoms, body weight, hematology, clinical chemistry and necropsy were not affected. However, histopathological examination of the injected part in one female in the 1.0-mL group showed infiltration of mononuclear cells and a multi-nucleated giant cell around eosinophilic material. Conclusion: Administration of single intramuscular doses of WCF in 3 groups of rats showed that the approximate lethal dose of WCF for all rats was in excess of 1.0 mL, as no mortalities were observed for injections up to and including 1.0 mL.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.831-842
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• 2018

Objectives: This study was conducted to reveal the biological basis of dental plaque and preschool children's dental health status through repetitive and continuous toothbrushing instruction to preschool children, using quantitative criteria, and to emphasize the importance of the role of an oral health manager for the prevention of dental caries. Methods: After IRB approval, toothbrushing instruction and oral microbial specimen collection were conducted with children of preschool age at the Daycare Center attached to D. University, Busan. Specimens from 27 children were characterized by analysis with real-time multi-chain enzymatic polymerization reaction technique at an agency specializing in genetic analysis. Results: In a survey of the children's dental health behaviors, 48.1% responded that the toothbrushing time is 91 to 150 seconds; 66.7% responded that the frequency of toothbrushing is more than three times per day; 81.5% stated that they performed tongue brushing; and 81.5% brushed their teeth. Regarding levels of dental cariogenic bacteria, after children received continuous toothbrushing instruction, there were reductions in both Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus. Regarding toothbrushing time, the time increased in relation to the presence of instruction. Regarding Quigley Hein Index, the index decreased in the early and middle periods upon addition of instruction, then increased in the middle and later periods. Conclusions: Through persistent and repetitive toothbrushing instruction, healthy behavior can be positively established in children of preschool age; it is necessary to prepare institutional measures so opportunities for dental health education can be consistently provided and maintained. In the future, it will be necessary to conduct a follow-up study to verify the factors affecting toothbrushing time and volume of oral pathogens.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2017

Objectives: By the end of the 2000s, the economic situation in many European countries started to deteriorate, generating financial uncertainty, social insecurity and worse health status. The aim of the present study was to investigate how the recent financial crisis has affected the lifestyle health determinants and behaviours of older adults living in the Mediterranean islands. Methods: From 2005 to 2015, a population-based, multi-stage convenience sampling method was used to voluntarily enrol 2749 older adults (50% men) from 20 Mediterranean islands and the rural area of the Mani peninsula. Lifestyle status was evaluated as the cumulative score of four components (range, 0 to 6), that is, smoking habits, diet quality (MedDietScore), depression status (Geriatric Depression Scale) and physical activity. Results: Older Mediterranean people enrolled in the study from 2009 onwards showed social isolation and increased smoking, were more prone to depressive symptoms, and adopted less healthy dietary habits, as compared to their counterparts participating earlier in the study (p<0.05), irrespective of age, gender, several clinical characteristics, or socioeconomic status of the participants (an almost 50% adjusted increase in the lifestyle score from before 2009 to after 2009, p<0.001). Conclusions: A shift towards less healthy behaviours was noticeable after the economic crisis had commenced. Public health interventions should focus on older adults, particularly of lower socioeconomic levels, in order to effectively reduce the burden of cardiometabolic disease at the population level.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.108-117
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• 2013

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to 1) explore nurses' attitudes toward death, coping with death, understanding and performance regarding end-of-life (EOL) care, 2) describe correlations among the above factors, and 3) determine the factors affecting nurses' EOL care performance. Methods: Study participants were 187 nurses stationed at departments that post higher mortality than others such as the oncology department, intensive care unit (ICU) and emergency department (ED). Data were collected from three urban university-affiliated hospitals. Multi-dimensional measure was performed for study instruments such as "attitude toward death", "coping with death" and "understanding and performance regarding EOL care". Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple regressions. Results: First, nurses showed significantly different attitudes toward death by age, religion, work unit and EOL care education. Younger nurses tend to score low on the understanding of EOL care, and ED nurses' score was lower than their peers at the oncology department and ICU. Second, EOL care performance was positively correlated with attitude toward death (P<0.001), coping with death (P=0.003) and understanding of EOL care (P<0.001). Third, nurses' EOL care performance was affected by work unit (P<0.001) and understanding of EOL care (P<0.001). Conclusion: Because nurses' performance was influenced by their work unit and understanding of EOL care, they should be provided with appropriate training to improve their understanding of death and EOL care according to work unit.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.100-105
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• 2017

Background and Objectives : Adductor type spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD) is neurogenic disorder and focal laryngeal dystonia, while muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) is caused by functional voice disorder. Both ADSD and MTD may be associated with excessive supraglottic contraction and compensation, resulting in a strained voice quality with spastic voice breaks. The aim of this study was to determine the utility of spectrogram analysis in the differentiation of ADSD from MTD. Materials and Methods : From 2015 through 2017, 17 patients of ADSD and 20 of MTD, underwent acoustic recording and phonatory function studies, were enrolled. Jitter (frequency perturbation), Shimmer (amplitude perturbation) were obtained using MDVP (Multi-dimensional Voice Program) and GRBAS scale was used for perceptual evaluation. The two speech therapist evaluated a wide band (11,250 Hz) spectrogram by blind test using 4 scales (0-3 point) for four spectral findings, abrupt voice breaks, irregular wide spaced vertical striations, well defined formants and high frequency spectral noise. Results : Jitter, Shimmer and GRBAS were not found different between two groups with no significant correlation (p>0.05). Abrupt voice breaks and irregular wide spaced vertical striations of ADSD were significantly higher than those of MTD with strong correlation (p<0.01). High frequency spectral noise of MTD were higher than those of ADSD with strong correlation (p<0.01). Well defined formants were not found different between two groups. Conclusion : The wide band spectrograms provided visual perceptual information can differentiate ADSD from MTD. Spectrogram analysis is a useful diagnostic tool for differentiating ADSD from MTD where perceptual analysis and clinical evaluation alone are insufficient.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.467-474
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• 2007

Objectives : Gastric cancer is the most common incident cancer in Korea. Although Helicobacter pylori infection is the most important risk factor for the development of gastric cancer, cigarette smoking has also been suggested to play an important role in the development of gastric cancer. The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between cigarette smoking and gastric cancer risk in a Korean population. Methods : The study population consisted of 13,785 subjects who had been enrolled in the Korean Multi-Center Career Cohort between 1993 and 2002. As of December 2002, 139 incident gastric cancer cases were ascertained through the Korea Central Cancer Registry and the National Death Certificate Database. Relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for gastric cancer were estimated using Cox#s proportional hazard model adjusted for age, education, alcohol drinking status and history of gastritis or ulcer. Results : Significant dose-response relationships were observed between the duration of smoking and the risk of gastric cancer among the male subjects in comparison to non-smokers: men who smoked for 20-39 years had a 2.09-fold (95% CI 1.00-4.38) increase, and those who smoked for more than 40 years had a 3.13-fold (95% CI 1.59-6.17) increase in the risk of gastric cancer ($P_{trend}<0.01$). Conclusions : This study suggests that a longer duration of cigarette smoking may increase the risk of gastric cancer development in a dose-response manner in Korean men. The association between smoking and gastric cancer risk in women should be verified in future studies with a larger number of cases.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.181-185
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• 2008

Objectives : This study was performed to evaluate the reproducibility of a questionnaire concerned with reproductive history and to ascertain which characteristics of the subjects (age, the visit-revisit intervals, education and chronic disease) are associated with good reliability in the Korean Multi-Center Cancer Cohort (KMCC) study. Materials and Methods: A total of 19,688 participants were enrolled between 1993 and 2004. Among them, we selected 386 participants who were aged 40 or more and who re-visited within 8 years after the first visit. Reliability was measured by the percent agreement according to error range for the continuous variables and the percent agreement and kappa statistics for the categorical variables. Results : The pregnancy histories were reliable (kappa=0.67) and the reasons for being menopausal among the postmenopausal women were also reliable (kappa=0.92). The percent agreement of the breast-feeding history was high (96.1%), although the kappa statistic was low. For the continuous variables, when the error range of one variable was considered to be reliable, the percent agreement of the age at menarche and the age at the first full term pregnancy was good (69.4% and 83.6%), whereas that of the age at menopause was low (51.5%). The factors associated with high reliability were a younger age, the presence of chronic disease and a short visit-revisit time interval. Conclusions : The agreements for parity, the reasons for menopause, and the breastfeeding history in the reproductive history questionnaire used in the KMCC were relatively good. The questionnaire for the menarche age and the menopausal age might have lower reliability due to the difference between Korean age and American age. To obtain reliable information, more attention should be given to the items in questionnaire-based surveys, and especially for surveying old-aged women.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2017

Objectives : This paper serves to explore current trends of systems biology in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and examine how it may influence the Traditional Korean medicine. Methods : Literature review method was collectively used to classify Introduction to systems biology, diagnosis and syndrome classification of systems biology in TCM perspective, physiotherapy including acupuncture, herbs and formula functions, TCM systems biology, and directions of academic development. Results : The term 'Systems biology' is coined as a combination of systems science and biology. It is a field of study that tries to understand living organism by establishing a theory based on an ideal model that analyzes and predicts the desired output with understanding of interrelationships and dynamics between variables. Systems biology has an integrated and multi-dimensional nature that observes the interaction among the elements constructing the network. The current state of systems biology in TCM is categorized into 4 parts: diagnosis and syndrome, physical therapy, herbs and formulas and academic development of TCM systems biology and its technology. Diagnosis and syndrome field is focusing on developing TCM into personalized medicine by clarifying Kidney yin deficiency patterns and metabolic differences among five patterns of diabetes and analyzing plasma metabolism and biomarkers of coronary heart disease patients. In the field of physical therapy such as acupuncture and moxibustion, researchers discovered the effect of stimulating acupoint ST40 on gene expression and the effects of acupuncture on treating functional dyspepsia and acute ischemic stroke. Herbs and formulas were analyzed with TCM network pharmacology. The therapeutic mechanisms of Si Wu Tang and its series formulas are explained by identifying potential active substances, targets and mechanism of action, including metabolic pathways of amino acid and fatty acid. For the academic development of TCM systems biology and its technology, it is necessary to integrate massive database, integrate pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, as well as systems biology. It is also essential to establish a platform to maximize herbal treatment through accumulation of research data and diseases-specific, or drug-specific network combined with clinical experiences, and identify functions and roles of molecules in herbs and conduct animal-based studies within TCM frame. So far, few literature reviews exist for systems biology in traditional Korean medicine and they merely re-examine known efficacies of simple substances, herbs and formulas. For the future, it is necessary to identify specific mechanisms of working agents and targets to maximize the effects of traditional medicine modalities. Conclusions : Systems biology is widely accepted and studied in TCM and already advanced into a field known as 'TCM systems biology', which calls for the study of incorporating TCM and systems biology. It is time for traditional Korean medicine to acknowledge the importance of systems biology and present scientific basis of traditional medicine and establish the principles of diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases. By doing so, traditional Korean medicine would be innovated and further developed into a personalized medicine.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.228-239
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• 2013

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to develop an automated disinfectant dilution system, and an automated data management system for spraying amount for resolving uncertainty problem. Methods: Proper diluting rate was made by a controlled volume pump for liquid disinfectant and a screw conveyer pump for solid disinfectant. The water capacity of disinfecting system of 400 L was controlled by two water level sensors. The water quantity of water tank was controlled by the signals which were produced by the water level sensors. Signals were processed by Labview Programming, and ON/OFF of solenoid valve that was used for controlling water supplying to water tank, was controlled by SSR. The operating time of pumps for disinfectant was controlled quantitatively. A turbine flowmeter was used for development of automated measurement system for spraying amount of disinfectant. In order to save the flowmeter data and to control the spraying system, a multi-function data logger was used, and it was processed and saved in Excel file by a program developed in this study. Results: Labview 2010 was used for programming to control the automated measurement system for spraying amount of disinfectant. Results showed that the relationship between flowmeter value and time had a significant linear relationship such as 0.99 of $R^2$. Generally, 6.74 L/s of diluted disinfectant is sprayed for a vehicle passing through the disinfection system (about 15 seconds). Test results showed that average error between the measured spraying amount and the flowmeter data was 50 mL, and the range of error was 1.3%. Since the amount and time of spraying could be saved in real-time by using the spreadsheet files which could not be modified arbitrarily, it made possible to judge objectively whether the disinfection spraying was performed or not. Test results of spraying liquid and solid disinfectant showed that the errors between the measured discharge rate and the theoretical one were ranged within 3-4% for various dilution rates. Conclusions: The disinfection system developed would be working accurately. The automated spraying data base management system satisfied the purpose of this study. The automated dilution process system developed in this study could discharge liquid and solid disinfectant with accurate dilution rate, relatively.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.695-705
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• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to evaluate the appearance of having relationship between the exposure to lead and cadmium and the dental caries targeting adults in the Republic of Korea. Methods : The study was designed as a cross-sectional study, using the data of the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The subjects as 1,966 people, who were confirmed the appearance of dental caries among 1,991 people of having been offered the heavy-metal concentration in blood. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 19.0, according to complex sampling design. Results : As a result of multi-variate analysis on factors of dental caries, in Model I without correction, the gender, age, educational level, appearance of lifelong smoking, daily toothbrushing frequency, appearance of using dental floss, and subjective oral health status were recognized as important factors. In Model II with correction of gender and age, the educational level, daily toothbrushing frequency, and subjective oral health status were recognized as statistically significant factors. In Model III with correction of all factors, the gender, age, educational level, appearance of using dental floss, and subjective oral health status were functioning as statistically significant factors. As a result of statistically analyzing relationship between the exposure to lead and cadmium and the dental caries targeting adults, it was analyzed that there is no significant correlation. However, in case of lead, the tendency of being grown the cross ratio of dental caries could be examined in model I, which didn't correct disturbance factor, model II, which corrected gender and age, and model III, which corrected all variables of disturbance factor. Conclusions : The exposure to lead and cadmium was indicated to have no relationship with adults' dental caries. However, a continuous research of relationship was considered to be necessary by using Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is surveyed in the future.