• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.7
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• pp.341-346
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• 2021

Background: The results differ among published studies regarding exposure to meconium and the risk of developing autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Purpose: The present study pooled all of the epidemiologic studies retrieved from broader databases on the association between meconium exposure and risk of developing ASD in children. Methods: The Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases were searched without language restrictions for articles published between their inception to February 20, 2020, using relevant keywords. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated as random-effect estimates of the associations among studies. A subgroup analysis was conducted to explore any potential sources of heterogeneity among studies. Results: The pooled estimate of OR reported a weakly significant association between meconium exposure and ASD development in children (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03-1.24). There was low heterogeneity among the articles reporting risk for ASD among children (I²=19.3%; P=0.259). The results of subgroup analysis based on meconium exposure showed a significant association between a meconium-stained neonate and ASD development (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.11-1.24). Couclusion: Meconium exposure was weakly associated with an increased risk of ASD. However, more evidence based on large prospective cohort studies is required to provide conclusive evidence about whether meconium exposure is associated with an increased risk of ASD development.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.60-75
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• 2019

The primary aim of this systematic review was to assess the evidence on periodontal disease progression after treatment in patients receiving supportive periodontal therapy (SPT) and to identify predictors of clinical attachment level (CAL) loss. A protocol was developed to answer the following focused question: In adult patients treated for periodontitis, what is the disease progression in terms of CAL loss after surgical or non-surgical treatment? Randomized controlled clinical trials, prospective cohort studies, and longitudinal observational human studies with a minimum of 5 years of follow-up after surgical or non-surgical treatment that reported CAL and probing depth changes were selected. Seventeen publications reporting data from 14 investigations were included. Data from 964 patients with a follow-up range of 5-15 years was evaluated. When the CAL at the latest follow-up was compared to the CAL after active periodontal therapy, 10 of the included studies reported an overall mean CAL loss of ${\leq}0.5mm$, 3 studies reported a mean CAL loss of 0.5-1 mm, and 4 studies reported a mean CAL loss of >1 mm. Based on 7 publications, the percentage of sites showing a CAL loss of ${\geq}2mm$ varied from 3% to 20%, and a high percentage of sites with CAL loss was associated with poor oral hygiene, smoking, and poor compliance with SPT. The outcomes after periodontal therapy remained stable over time. Disease progression occurred in a reduced number of sites and patients, mostly associated with poor oral hygiene, poor compliance with SPT, and smoking.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.1-17
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• 2021

Objectives The present study examined the recent domestic and international trends of non-surgical treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Methods The studies on non-surgical treatment of LSS were investigated via searching Korean web databases and PubMed. As a result, 39 studies were analyzed according to the authors, the types of study, the relationship to surgical treatment and the method of treatment. Results The first authors' occupations were identified as 17 doctors, 12 Korean medicine doctors, six physiotherapists, three chiropractic doctors and one doctor of science. The most common type of study in Korea was the case report and most of the studies were retrospective. Overseas, there were many prospective or experimental studies including randomized controlled trials (RCT). In Korea, non-surgical treatment was performed independently of surgical treatment in most cases. Among non-surgical treatments, the most researched treatment was traditional Korean medicine (TKM), followed by injection therapy, exercise therapy, and physical therapy. Conclusions Through this review, we can determine the effectiveness of TKM and its research direction. TKM should be studied experimentally including RCT and it should be conducted not only on acupuncture, but also on other treatment methods such as acupotomy, chuna, and herbal medicine. It is also necessary to conduct studies on TKM before and after surgery to compare the effects of surgery and TKM together, as well the effects on non-surgical treatments.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.275-287
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• 2022

As a result, for the increasing expansion by the university faculties in the field of postgraduate studies, The Deanship of Graduate Studies at the university has been established in 1430 AH/2009 CE to specifically address the needs of the current and prospective graduate population to supervise postgraduate studies programs in coordination with the concerned faculties. This comes as a result for the university being certain of the importance of providing postgraduate studies opportunities that follow the bachelor's degree to qualify our ambitious youth appropriately. The University offers 72 different Graduate programs, awarding doctoral and master's degrees along with fellowships and diplomas in various disciplines like health, engineering, science, literary, and educational. Currently, the financial model for admission and students' payment is manual and paper based. This paper proposes to provide a user interface for Financial Management in Deanship of Graduate studies The basic purpose of the system was to minimize human interference and reduce mistakes placed by human interference, also to have efficient and a fast performance, and perform Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for various tasks such as billing and scheduling details.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.301-316
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• 2022

Objectives: To compare Korean medicine (KM) and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) psychotherapy for anxiety. Methods: Databases including MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE (via Elsevier), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System were comprehensively searched. Prospective clinical studies on KM or TCM psychotherapy for patients with anxiety disorder or individuals with elevated anxiety levels published up to August 3, 2022 were reviewed. Psychotherapy was divided into counselling, art therapy, and meditation according to its characteristics. Results: A total of 12 clinical studies were reviewed, including nine randomized controlled trials. The most common disorder investigated was post-traumatic stress disorder. Ten studies used TCM psychotherapy and two used KM psychotherapy. As for differences between TCM psychotherapy and KM psychotherapy, TCM psychotherapy utilized pattern identification in the procedure more actively than KM psychotherapy. In addition, some TCM studies have attempted to directly converge Western psychotherapy (i.e., hypnosis) and Eastern psychotherapy (i.e., Taoin qigong therapy). In the case of KM psychotherapy, there was an attempt to incorporate psychotherapy with Sasang constitutional medicine. Reported effects of TCM psychotherapy and KM psychotherapy on anxiety were positive. Conclusions: Research status of KM psychotherapy and TCM psychotherapy for anxiety was investigated, revealing some of their characteristics, commonalities, and differences. Findings of this review have the potential to provide a clue to the development of conventional KM psychotherapy and new medical technology for KM psychotherapy.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.183-192
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• 2000

Purpose : Adverse events(AE) associated with vaccination have not been systematically monitored in Korea. But since 1994, several deaths after inactivated mouse brain derived Japanese encephalitis vaccine injection arouse the safety problem of immunization in the public, and a evaluation of vaccination program including the effectiveness and safety problem had been started. We have been using MMR vaccine containing Japanese mumps vaccine strains, which are known to be associated with the high rate of adverse events including aseptic meningitis, for the last decade. Methods : We conducted a prospective study of vaccine adverse events associated with MMR vaccine through a tracking system using telephone calls. We followed up 7,594 cases of MMR vaccinees. Results : Reported adverse events included fever, couvulsion, parotitis, and aseptic meningitis. Nine cases of parotitis and seven cases of aseptic meningitis were recognized during follow up period. The incidence of both parotitis and aeptic meningitis was $85.1/10^5$, for Urabe mumps strain. For Hoshino strain, the incidence of parotitis and aseptic meningitis was $158.0/10^5$ and $94.8/10^5$, respectively. Conclusions : The incidence of adverse events was to be a higher than that of natural infection in Korea and was comparable to the results of studies done in other countries.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.165-184
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of SNS use by prospective early childhood teachers in PBL class on flow and problem-solving skills. For this purpose, the PBL class was conducted for eight weeks with 44 prospective students in the early childhood social studies course, and measured the classroom situation in terms of usefulness of SNS, flow, and problem-solving skills by using a cognitive test. To analyze the measured values, frequency analysis, reliability analysis, factor analysis, and correlation analysis were performed. Also, to verify the hypotheses set in this study, structural equation modeling was used based on AMOS. The result is as follows: First, in PBL-based class, use of SNS had a positive effect on flow. Second, flow had a direct influence on problem-solving skills. Third, however, use of SNS did not have a direct influence on problem-solving skills and, therefore, flow plays a mediating role for problem-solving skills. Based on the result, in the study, it was found that the use of SNS in PBL class can increase interest, motivation, and participation of students and they then become more willing to contribute to class activities.

• Annals of Surgical Treatment and Research
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• v.95 no.5
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• pp.286-296
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• 2018

Purpose: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy (SLNB) is widely accepted for staging of melanoma patients. It has been shown that clinico-pathological features such as Breslow thickness, ulceration, age, and sex are better predictors of relapse and survival than SLN status alone. The aims of this study were to evaluate the long-term (10-year) prognostic impact of SLNB and to determine predictive factors associated with SLN metastasis, relapse, and melanoma specific mortality (MSM). Methods: This was a prospective observational study on 289 consecutive patients with primary cutaneous melanoma who underwent SLNB from January 2000 to December 2007, and followed until January 2014, at an Italian academic hospital. Results: SLN was positive in 64 patients (22.1%). The median follow-up was 116 months (79-147 months). Tenyear disease-free survival and melanoma specific survival were poor in patients with positive SLN (58.7% and 66.4%, respectively). Only the increasing Breslow thickness resulted independently associated to an increased risk of SLN metastasis. Cox regression analysis showed that a Breslow thickness >2 mm was an independent predictor of relapse, and male sex and Breslow thickness >2 mm was a predictor of MSM. At 10 years, SLN metastasis was not significantly associated to either relapse or MSM. Conclusion: After the fifth year of follow-up, SLN metastasis is not an independent predictive factor of relapse or mortality which are mainly influenced by the characteristics of the primary tumor and of the patient. Patients with a Breslow thickness >2 mm regardless of the SLN status should be considered at high risk for 10-year relapse and mortality.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.43-55
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• 2021

Recently, as the domestic job problem has become serious, government ministries are investing a lot of budgets to encourage startups by prospective entrepreneurs. What is important to the success of startups is the recognition of various startup opportunities before starting a startup, and the experience through trial. However, in reality, prospective entrepreneurs recognize and seek various startup opportunities through support such as startup education and initial commercialization funds through various government supported projects, but it is difficult to actually start a business. Previous studies have revealed that the recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities affects entrepreneurial intentions by various variables such as gender, but research is insufficient on what kind of black box exists between the recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities and entrepreneurial intentions. The purpose of this study is to emphasize the importance of positive psychological capital as a major method for improving the entrepreneurial intention, and to analyze exploratorily whether positive psychological capital plays a mediating role between the recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities and the entrepreneurial intention. As a result of the study, it was confirmed that the recognition of startup opportunities affects the intention to start a business, and positive psychological capital has a mediating effect between the recognition of the startup opportunity and the intention to start a business. This means that positive psychological capital is important in order to lead to actual entrepreneurial intentions after recognizing a startup opportunity. Therefore, in order to revitalize the startups of prospective entrepreneurs in the current startup ecosystem, it is necessary to prepare a plan to improve the recognition of startup opportunities and positive psychological capital.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.97-104
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• 2023

Purpose: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) are frequently employed to counteract the detrimental effects of proteinuria on glomerular diseases. However, the effects of ARBs remain poorly examined in pediatric patients with immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy. Herein, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of losartan, an ARB, in pediatric IgA nephropathy with proteinuria. Methods: This prospective, single-arm, multicenter study included children with IgA nephropathy exhibiting proteinuria. Changes in proteinuria, blood pressure, and kidney function were prospectively evaluated before and 4 and 24 weeks after losartan administration. The primary endpoint was the difference in proteinuria between baseline and 24 weeks. Results: In total, 29 patients were enrolled and received losartan treatment. The full analysis set included 28 patients who received losartan at least once and had pre- and post-urinary protein to creatinine ratio measurements (n=28). The per-protocol analysis group included 22 patients who completed all scheduled visits without any serious violations during the study period. In both groups, the mean log (urine protein to creatinine ratio) value decreased significantly at 6 months. After 24 weeks, the urinary protein to creatinine ratio decreased by more than 50% in approximately 40% of the patients. The glomerular filtration rate was not significantly altered during the observation period. Conclusions: Losartan decreased proteinuria without decreasing kidney function in patients with IgA nephropathy over 24 weeks. Losartan could be safely employed to reduce proteinuria in this patient population. ClinicalTrials.gov trial registration (NCT0223277)