• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.532-541
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• 2022

Obesity induced by high-fat diet (HFD) is verified as a strong risk factor and negative prognostic factor for prostate cancer in several genetically engineered mice although it was not examined in the normal mice. To investigate whether HFD-induced obesity can affect the development and progression of cancer in the prostate of normal mice, alterations in the weight and histological structure of the prostate as well as the expression of cancer-related proteins were analyzed in obese C57BL/6N mice fed with 60% HFD for 16 weeks. First, HFD-induced obesity, including an increase in organ weight, body weight, fat accumulation, and serum lipid profile, was successfully induced in C57BL/6N mice after HFD treatment. The total weight of the prostate significantly increased HFD-induced obesity in the model mice compared with the control group. Among the four lobes of the prostate, the weight of the ventral prostate (VP) and anterior prostate (AP) were higher in HFD-induced obesity model mice than in the control group, although the weights of the lateral prostate (DLP) and seminal vesicle (SV) were constantly maintained. In addition, the incidences of hyperplasia and non-hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in the histological structure were remarkably increased in HFD-induced obesity model mice, while the epithelial thickness was higher in the same group. A significant increase in the phosphorylation levels of key proteins in the AKT (protein kinase B) signaling pathway was detected in HFD-induced obesity model mice. Therefore, these results suggest that HFD-induced obesity can promote hyperplasia and NHL in the prostates of C57BL/6N mice through the activation of the AKT signaling pathway.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2022

The effect of sediments in a waste dumping area on marine organisms was evaluated using sediment toxicity tests with a benthic amphipod (Monocorophium acherusicum) and bioluminescent bacterium (Vibrio fischeri) in accordance with the Korean Standard Method for Marine Wastes (KSMMW). Nine sites in the East Sea-Byeong, East Sea-Jeong, and Yellow Sea-Byeong areas were sampled from 2016 to 2019. The test results showed that the relative average survival rate (benthic amphipods) and relative luminescence inhibition rate (luminescent bacteria) were below 30%, which were judged to be "non-toxic." However, in the t-test, a total of 12 benthic amphipod samples (6, 1, 1, and 4 in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively) were significantly different (p<0.05) from the control samples. To identify the source of toxicity on benthic amphipods, a simple linear regression analysis was performed between the levels of eight heavy metals (Cr, As, Ni, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and Hg) in sediments and the relative average survival rate. The results indicated that Cr had the highest contribution to the toxicity of benthic amphipods (p = 0.000, R2 = 0.355). In addition, Cr was detected at the highest concentration at the DB-85 station and exceeded the Marine Environment Standards every year. Although the sediments were determined as "not toxic" according to the ecotoxicity criteria of the KSMMW, the results of the statistical significance tests and toxicity identification evaluation indicated that the toxic effect was not acceptable. Therefore, revising the criteria for determining the toxic effect by deriving a reference value through quantitative risk assessment using species sensitivity distribution curves is necessary in the future.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.121-142
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• 2023

As the number and weight of imported food are steadily increasing, safety management of imported food to prevent food safety accidents is becoming more important. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety conducts on-site inspections of foreign food facilities before customs clearance as well as import inspection at the customs clearance stage. However, a data-based safety management plan for imported food is needed due to time, cost, and limited resources. In this study, we tried to increase the efficiency of the on-site inspection by preparing a machine learning prediction model that pre-selects the companies that are expected to fail before the on-site inspection. Basic information of 303,272 foreign food facilities and processing businesses collected in the Integrated Food Safety Information Network and 1,689 cases of on-site inspection information data collected from 2019 to April 2022 were collected. After preprocessing the data of foreign food facilities, only the data subject to on-site inspection were extracted using the foreign food facility_code. As a result, it consisted of a total of 1,689 data and 103 variables. For 103 variables, variables that were '0' were removed based on the Theil-U index, and after reducing by applying Multiple Correspondence Analysis, 49 characteristic variables were finally derived. We build eight different models and perform hyperparameter tuning through 5-fold cross validation. Then, the performance of the generated models are evaluated. The research purpose of selecting companies subject to on-site inspection is to maximize the recall, which is the probability of judging nonconforming companies as nonconforming. As a result of applying various algorithms of machine learning, the Random Forest model with the highest Recall_macro, AUROC, Average PR, F1-score, and Balanced Accuracy was evaluated as the best model. Finally, we apply Kernal SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) to present the selection reason for nonconforming facilities of individual instances, and discuss applicability to the on-site inspection facility selection system. Based on the results of this study, it is expected that it will contribute to the efficient operation of limited resources such as manpower and budget by establishing an imported food management system through a data-based scientific risk management model.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.73-83
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the viral load dynamics in children with underlying malignancies diagnosed with symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: This was a retrospective longitudinal cohort study of patients <19 years old with underlying hemato-oncologic malignancies that were diagnosed with their first symptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 infection during March 1 to August 30, 2022. Review of electronic medical records and telephone surveys were undertaken to assess the clinical presentations and transmission route of the patients. Thresholds of negligible likelihood of infectious virus was defined as E gene reverse transcription (RT)-PCR cycle threshold (Ct) value ≥25. Results: During the 6-month study period, a total of 43 children with 44 episodes of COVID-19 were included. Of the 44 episodes, the median age of the patients included was 8 years old (interquartile range [IQR], 4.9-10.5), and the most common underlying disease was acute lymphoid leukemia (n=30, 68.2%), followed by patients post-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (n=8, 18.2%). Majority of the patients had mild COVID-19 (n=32, 72.7%), and three patients (7.0%) had severe/critical COVID-19. Furthermore, 2.3% (n=1) died of COVID-19 associated acute respiratory distress syndrome. The largest percentage of the patients showed E gene RT-PCR Ct value ≥25 between 15-21 days (n=13, 39.4%), followed by 22-28 days (n=10, 30.3%). In 15.2% (n=5), E gene RT-PCR Ct value remained <25 beyond 28 days after initial positive PCR. Refractory malignancy status (β, 67.0; 95% confidence interval, 7.0-17.0; P=0.030) was significantly associated with prolonged duration of E gene RT-PCR <25. A patient with prolonged duration of E gene RT-PCR Ct value <25 was suspected to have infectivity shown by the transmission of the virus to his mother at day 86 after his initial positive test. Conclusions: Children that acquire symptomatic COVID-19 during refractory malignancy state are at a high risk for prolonged shedding warranting PCR-based transmission precautions in this cohort of patients.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.157-163
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• 2019

Purpose: To investigate the incidence and associated factors of delirium after orthopedic surgery. Materials and Methods: A total of 2,122 cases, who were older than 20 years and underwent orthopedic surgery at a single medical center during a one year period were included. Among them, 132 patients who were diagnosed with delirium after surgery under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-V criteria and medicated under the consultation of a psychiatrist were included in the study The differences in the incidence of delirium and several affecting factors were analyzed. Results: The overall incidence of delirium after surgery was 6.2% (132 in 2,122 cases). The mean age of the delirium group was 77.4 years (range, 54-92 years), which was higher than that of the non-delirium group (58.1 years). The percentage of women in the delirium group was 63.6% (84 in 132 cases), which was higher than that of the women in the non-delirium group (49.0%). The incidence of delirium after surgery was 9.3% (85 in 916 cases) due to trauma and 3.9% (47 in 1206 cases) due to disease. The incidence of postoperative delirium according to the surgical region was 29.2% (7 in 24 cases) in two or more regions, 13.7% (72 in 526 cases) in the hip, and 9.6% (14 in 146 cases) in the spine, 3.5% (20 in 577 cases) in the knee-lower leg, 2.5% (5 in 199 cases) in the foot-ankle, 2.4% (11 in 457 cases) in the shoulder-elbow, and 1.6% (3 in 189 cases) in the forearm-wrist-hand. Delirium occurred more rapidly in women and surgery due to disease, and the duration of delirium was longer in patients with dementia and major depressive disorders. Conclusion: The incidence of postoperative delirium was high in cases of surgery due to trauma and in cases of surgery in two or more sites. The incidence of postoperative delirium according to a single surgical region was higher in the order of the hip, spine, and knee. Active intervention is needed regarding the correctable risk factor.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2017

Recently interest in infection control is increasing in hospitalsnfection control has become more important in the overall health care practiceental hospital also requires thorough infection control. There are various kinds of vectormedical clothing. Contaminated clothing of a hospital staff can be a vector of nosocomial infecton. actual case of nosocomial infecton caused by contaminated medical clothing, nursing students were measuring contamination levels of uniforms and pathogenic microorganism wdetected in front of the uniform and pocket. There is also a high risk of exposure to contamination in the dental hospital. We conducted a study to enhance awareness about infection and proper clothing management by comparing before and after contamination of clothing caused by aerosols produced during scaling. Subjects were scaling operators' uniforms in the department of dental hygiene, K University located in Daejeon. Before scaling, the uniform was sterilized by autoclavecaling was performed times in the same place (an average of 60 minutes per person, a total of 180 minutes). ive parts of the uniform (sleeves, chest, belly, thigh, edge of pants) contracted Rodak-plate for 15 seconds. After incubating the contacted Rodak-plate at 37℃ incubator, contamination levels by measuring the number of colonies. As a result, all parts increased number of colonies. ontamination order chestedge of pants thigh belly sleeves. Increase rate of colonies was also high in the order chest edge of pants thigh belly sleeves. This study showed seriousness of clothing contaminationcaused by aerol produced during scalingcontamination of clothing can be a path to nosocomial infecton. According to th study, infection control for clothing as well as dental instruments should be implemented and thorough infection control training needed for dental staff. In further researches, practical infection prevention supplementing clothing management method.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.247-263
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• 2023

Purpose: This study was conducted to update the Nutrition Quotient for Adolescents (NQ-A), which is used to assess the overall dietary quality and food behavior among Korean adolescents. Methods: The first 30 candidate items of the measurable eating behavior checklist were obtained based on a previous NQ-A checklist, the results of the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey data, national nutrition policies and dietary guidelines, and literature reviews. A total of 100 middle and high school students residing in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province participated in a pilot study using the 25-item checklist. Factor analysis and frequency analysis were conducted to determine if the checklist items were organized properly and whether the responses to each item were distributed adequately, respectively. As a result, 22 checklist items were selected for the nationwide survey, which was applied to 1,000 adolescent subjects with stratified sampling from 6 metropolitan cities. The construct validity of the updated NQ-A 2021 was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. Results: Twenty checklist items were determined for the final NQ-A 2021. The items were composed of three factors: balance (8 items), moderation (9 items), and practice (3 items). The standardized path coefficients were used as the weights of items to determine the nutrition quotients. NQ-A 2021 and 3-factor scores were calculated according to the weights of questionnaire items. The weight for each of the 3 factors was determined as follows: balance, 0.15; moderation, 0.30; and practice, 0.55. Conclusion: The updated NQ-A 2021 is a useful instrument for easily and quickly evaluating the dietary qualities and eating behaviors of Korean adolescents.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.9 no.spc
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• pp.107-122
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• 2003

The object of this study is to evaluate the prevailing physical and psychosocial conditions regarding occupational low back injury. This study consists of two parts. In the first part of the study, analytic biomechanical model and NIOSH guidelines are applied to evaluate risk levels of low back injury for automobile assembly jobs. Total of 246 workers are analysed. There are 20 jobs having greater back compressive forces than 300kg at L5/S1. Also, there are 44 jobs over Action Limit with respect to 1981 NIOSH guidelines. The relationship between psychosocial factors and low back injury was examined in the second part of the study. A battery of questionnaires concerning the psychosocial stress based on PWI (Psychosocial Well-being Index) and musculoskeletal pain symptoms at low back was completed by 246 workers at the same plant. Results showed that 207 out 246 workers experienced the symptoms and 27 workers were diagnosed as patients. Two groups(low stressed, high stressed) based on PWI score had no significant relationships with both symptoms and results of diagnosis. The relationships between physical work load and psychosocial stress were also analysed. Specifically, some postural factors(vertical deviation angle of forearm, horizontal deviation angle of upperarm, vertical deviation angle of thigh, etc) were highly correlated with psychosocial stress. The results illustrated that PWI scores were associated with some physical workloads. However, psychosocial stress levels couldn't be well related with the pain symptom as well as the actual incidence of low back injury since pain or discomfort regarding low back injury were more complex than that of other musculoskeletal disorders.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.97-113
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• 2023

In order to generalize the social entrepreneurship model with cooperation orientation and increase the possibility of using the model, this study developed a measurement tool and tested it with 389 executives of social enterprises. For the development of the measurement tool, preliminary measurement items were formed through review of previous studies, and a questionnaire was tentatively composed of 40 measurement items in five areas through an expert panel review of the measurement items. A total of 389 questionnaires were collected by conducting a questionnaire survey targeting Korean social enterprise managers, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted using 375 questionnaires that could be analyzed. Five factors for 24 items were derived through exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis. Through a series of analysis processes including primary and secondary confirmatory factor analysis, the model fit of the newly constructed social entrepreneurship research model was confirmed, and the validity and reliability of the measurement tools were verified. As a result of this study, the model fit of the social entrepreneurship model(social value orientation; innovativeness; pro-activeness; risk-taking; cooperation orientation) is verified, thereby improving the theoretical explanatory power of social entrepreneurship research and at the same time providing the basis and basis for theoretical expansion of follow-up research. The study proved the possibility of generalizing the social entrepreneurship model with added cooperation orientation, and at the same time, the measurement tool used in this study was widely used as a tool to measure social entrepreneurship theoretically and practically. In addition, it was confirmed that the cooperation orientation is manifested in corporate decision-making and activity behaviors for resource mobilization and capacity building, opportunity and performance creation, social capital and network reinforcement, and governance establishment of social enterprises.

• Journal of Medicine and Life Science
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.40-48
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• 2024

Understanding the effectiveness of statin treatment is essential for developing tailored stroke prevention strategies. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of statin treatment in preventing recurrent stroke among patients with various ischemic stroke subtypes. Using data from the Clinical Research Collaboration for Stroke-Korea-National Institute for Health (CRCS-K-NIH) registry, we included patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted between January 2011 and July 2020. To evaluate the differential effects of statin treatment based on the ischemic stroke subtype, we analyzed patients with large artery atherosclerosis (LAA), cardio-embolism (CE), and small vessel occlusion (SVO). The primary outcomes were recurrent ischemic stroke and recurrent stroke events. The hazard ratio for outcomes between statin users and nonusers was compared using a Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for covariates. A total of 46,630 patients who met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. Statins were prescribed to 92%, 93%, and 78% of patients with LAA, SVO, and CE subtypes, respectively. The hazards of recurrent ischemic stroke and recurrent stroke in statin users were reduced to 0.79 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63-0.99) and 0.77 (95% CI, 0.62-0.95) in the LAA subtype and 0.63 (95% CI, 0.52-0.76) and 0.63 (95% CI, 0.53-0.75) in CE subtype compared to nonusers. However, the hazards of these outcomes did not significantly decrease in the SVO subtype. The effectiveness of statin treatment in reducing the risk of recurrent stroke in patients with LAA and CE subtypes has been suggested. Nonetheless, no significant effect was observed in the SVO subtype, suggesting a differential effect of statins on different stroke subtypes.