• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.306-316
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• 1999

Objectives: In Korea, as in most countries, there will be a sharp increase in the number of dementia patients in the near future. However basic data on dementia prevalence, which is important in defining epidemiologic characteristics and in implementing preventive strategy, are limited. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence rate of dementia in the urban elderly aged 65 or older in Kwangmyung, Korea. Methods: A two phase design was used for case finding and case identification. In phase I, a representative sample aged 65 or older was selected and interviewed by door-to-door survey with a Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE). In phase II, Of the 946 subjects interviewed in phase 1,356 elderly were randomly selected disproportionately according to K-MMSE score. Of these elderly, 223 (61.5%) underwent standardized clinical evaluations, including psychiatric interview, neurological examination, and neuropsychological assessment. Dementia was diagnosed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria. The diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) was made by National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer's Disease and feinted Disorders Association(NINCDS-ADRDA) criteria and vascular dementia (VD) by DSM-IV. Results: The overall weighted prevalence rate of all dementia among Kwangmyung residents aged 65 or older was 12,8%(age-adjusted rate: 13,0%, 95% Confidence Interval[CI]: 10.6-15.3%). Women had much higher prevalence rate than men even when age was controlled(15.9%[95% CI 12.6-19.2%] vs 7.5%[95% CI 4.0-10.4%]), The rates of dementia were 5.2%, 12.2%, 17.0%, and 34.3% for the age groups of 65-69, 70-74, 75-79 and 80 and over, respectively. The rate of AD appeared to be slightly higher than that of VD(5.2% vs 4.8%), though not statistically significant. Most of the cases(69%) were mild dementia according to CDR(<1) in these subjects. Conclusions : These results showed that the prevalence rate of dementia among urban elderly in Korea appears to be higher than those of other Asian countries.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.2 s.75
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• pp.333-338
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• 2006

The purpose of the present study was to clarify the sexual difference of the Heath-Carter somatotype related variables in boys and girls from 7 through 19 years of age. In the study design, the subjects and the methods were used by the cross-sectional investigation. The subjects participated in this study were 7 through 19 years of age who belonged to typical primary, junior, senior high school and college students, and about 250 males and 250 females in each group and both sexes. Therefore, the total subjects were 3,046 males and 2,984 females. All subjects of this study lived in Pusan metropolitan city, Korea. Somatotype was calculated by the Heath-Carter's anthropometric somatotype method, In this study, in attaiment rates of sum of 4 sites skinfold and endomorphy growth, girls were significantly higher than boys in all ages intervals except through 13 years of aged groups, respectively. In attainment rates of humerus and femur breadths growth, boys were significantly higher than girls in all ages interval except 13 through 15 years of aged groups, respectively. In attainment rate of arm circumference growth, boys were significantly higher than girls in all ages interval except 7 years of aged group. In attainment rate of calf circumference growth, boys were significantly higher than girls in all ages interal except 15years of aged group. In attainment rate of ectomorphy growth, boys were significantly higher than girls in all aged interal except 8 thorough 12 years of aged groups. This results suggests the urgent necessity of developing systematic and sperate progams to treat such sexual difference in boys and girls.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.259-264
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• 2002

In this study, sintering properties of Artificial Lightweight aggregates(ALAs) prepared from coal ash as a function of sintering temperature (900$^{\circ}$C, 1000$^{\circ}$C, 1100$^{\circ}$C) and time (2min, 5min, 10min) when limestone added as lightweight mineral was investigated. Increasing the sintering temperature resulted simultaneously from a decline of quartz mineral as well as growth of mullite mineral. Addition of limestone to ALAs newly formed sintered minerals such as clinoptilolite and plagioclase. Sintering effect of ALAs prepared from coal ash and limestone was more affected by a sintering temperature than time. As sintering temperature and time increae, transition of macropore to micropore and formation of closed pores were happened, consequently shrank the total pore volume of ALAs. The surface of ALAs sintered at 1000$^{\circ}$C for 5min was nearly not detected open pores due toe amalgamation effect of molten slag layer but homogeneous distributions of closed pores with micro-scale were examined in cross sectional area ALAs. Sintering temperature and time which present the most adequate state, in the preparation of ALAs, are corresponded to 1000$^{\circ}$C and 5min, respectively.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.88-98
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• 2012

Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) plays an essential role in the regulation of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) and triglyceride levels, which have been closely associated with cardiovascular diseases. Genetic studies in European have shown that LPL single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are strongly associated with lipid levels. However, studies about the influence of interactions between LPL SNPs and lifestyle factors have not been sufficiently performed. Here, we examine if LPL polymorphisms, as well as their interaction with lifestyle factors, influence lipid concentrations in a Korean population. A two-stage association study was performed using genotype data for SNPs on the LPL gene, including the 3' flanking region from 7,536 (stage 1) and 3,703 (stage 2) individuals. The association study showed that 15 SNPs and 4 haplotypes were strongly associated with HDLC (lowest $p=2.86{\times}10^{-22}$) and triglyceride levels (lowest $p=3.0{\times}10^{-15}$). Interactions between LPL polymorphisms and lifestyle factors (lowest $p=9.6{\times}10^{-4}$) were also observed on lipid concentrations. These findings suggest that there are interaction effects of LPL polymorphisms with lifestyle variables, including energy intake, fat intake, smoking, and alcohol consumption, as well as effects of LPL polymorphisms themselves, on lipid concentrations in a Korean population.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.290-294
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• 2014

In this study, we investigated the characteristics of rodent (mainly ground squirrel) burrows found near the Lake Hovsgol, Mongolia. Those burrows are straight to slightly curved and gently inclined in lateral view. Cross-sectional shapes are either circular or elliptical with diameters ranging from mostly 8-10 cm. Most abandoned burrows are passively filled with soils and/or pebbles. The size and architecture of these Mongolian burrows are remarkably similar to those of the previously reported Late Pleistocene burrows from Korea. Therefore, the rodent burrows found at Korean Palaeolithic sites are thought to have been formed by ground squirrels. However, the difference in burrow-fills suggests that the mean annual precipitation of the Korean Peninsula during the Late Pleistocene is much higher than that of Mongolia.

• The Korean Journal of Financial Management
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.41-72
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• 2003

The purposes of this paper are to build theoretical and empirically testable model to identify determining factors of ownership structure, and to analyze this model empirically using th Korea Stock Exchange panel data, and to test the impact of opening the stock market on the determinants of ownership structure. The determining factors of ownership structure identified in this paper include debt ratio, dividend, asset characteristics, profitability, growth business risk, size, institutional investors and chaebol-non chaebol dummy variable. Empirical panel estimation test reveals that this model can explain about $9\sim11%$ of the cross sectional variance in the equity ratio of large shareholders. The reasons that this model has too explanatory power are that some variables were measured with errors, and that there were some omitted variables in tested model. The regression results on the model variables ar generally in line with predictions. But the coefficient estimates on size is never significant. And it appears that the exogenous variable which explains opening the stock market has positive effect on the determinants of ownership structure.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.81-89
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the individually perceived quality of life in Korean patients with BMS using two questionnaires : the Medical Outcome Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-49). This cross-sectional study included sixty subjects diagnosed with BMS and sixty healthy subjects as controls. All subjects in this study completed two questionnaires: the Medical Outcome Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-49), which had been translated into Korean and subsequently validated for use in Korea. All of the subscales in the SF-36 exhibited significantly lower scores in BMS patients than control groups. Comparison of the mean SF-36 scores between the two groups revealed the greatest differences to be for the subscales of physical pain and role emotional (role limitations due to emotional problems). The mean score on each subscale of the OHIP-49 was significantly higher in BMS patients than control groups. Comparison of the mean OHIP-49 scores between the two groups revealed the greatest difference to be for the subscale of physical pain. These findings demonstrated that BMS had an impact on various components of a patient's quality of life. BMS patients exhibited more impaired results and a poorer quality of life than control groups.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2017

Objectives: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). People with AIDS are much more vulnerable to infections, including opportunistic infections and tumors, than people with a healthy immune system. The objective of this study was to correlate oral lesions associated with HIV/AIDS and immunosuppression levels by measuring clusters of differentiation 4 (CD4) cell counts among patients living in the middle western regions of Ghana. Materials and Methods: A total of 120 patients who visited the HIV clinic at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Regional Hospital Sunyani of Ghana were consecutively enrolled in this prospective and cross-sectional study. Referred patients' baseline CD4 counts were obtained from medical records and each patient received an initial physician assessment. Intraoral diagnoses were based on the classification and diagnostic criteria of the EEC Clearinghouse, 1993. After the initial assessment, extra- and intraoral tissues from each enrolled patient were examined. Data analyses were carried out using simple proportions, frequencies and chi-square tests of significance. Results: Our study included 120 patients, and was comprised of 42 (35.0%) males and 78 (65.0%) females, ranging in age from 21 to 67 years with sex-specific mean ages of 39.31 years (males) and 39.28 years (females). Patient CD4 count values ranged from 3 to 985 cells/mL with a mean baseline CD4 count of 291.29 cells/mL for males and 325.92 cells/mL for females. The mean baseline CD4 count for the entire sample was 313.80 cells/mL. Of the 120 patients we examined, 99 (82.5%) were observed to have at least one HIV-associated intraoral lesion while 21 (17.5%) had no intraoral lesions. Oral candidiasis, periodontitis, melanotic hyperpigmentation, gingivitis and xerostomia were the most common oral lesions. Conclusion: From a total of nine oral lesions, six lesions that included oral candidiasis, periodontitis, melanotic hyperpigmentation, gingivitis, xerostomia and oral hairy leukoplakia were significantly correlated with declining CD4 counts.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.328-338
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• 2017

Purpose: Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory disease induced by pathogenic bacterial accumulation. A novel index, the periodontal inflamed surface area (PISA), represents the sum of the periodontal pocket depth of bleeding on probing (BOP)-positive sites. It is advantageous for data processing and analysis because it can be treated as a continuous variable to quantify periodontal inflammation. In the present study, we evaluated correlations between PISA and periodontal classifications, and examined PISA as an index integrating the discrete conventional periodontal indexes. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional subgroup analysis of data from a prospective cohort study investigating the association between chronic periodontitis and the clinical features of ankylosing spondylitis. Data from 84 patients without systemic diseases (the control group in the previous study) were analyzed in the present study. Results: PISA values were positively correlated with conventional periodontal classifications (Spearman correlation coefficient=0.52; P<0.01) and with periodontal indexes, such as BOP and the plaque index (PI) (r=0.94; P<0.01 and r=0.60; P<0.01, respectively; Pearson correlation test). Porphyromonas gingivalis expression and the presence of serum P. gingivalis antibodies were significant factors affecting PISA values in a simple linear regression analysis, together with periodontal classification, PI, bleeding index, and smoking, but not in the multivariate analysis. In the multivariate linear regression analysis, PISA values were positively correlated with the quantity of current smoking, PI, and severity of periodontal disease. Conclusions: PISA integrates multiple periodontal indexes, such as probing pocket depth, BOP, and PI into a numerical variable. PISA is advantageous for quantifying periodontal inflammation and plaque accumulation.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.12-20
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• 2020

Purpose: This study was designed to analyze the relationship between the presence and severity of depression and chewing problems (CPs) in a representative sample of the general population. Materials and Methods: Health surveys and examinations were conducted on a nationally representative sample (n = 8150) of Korean was conducted. CPs was determined by a simple survey response concerning "Do you feel uncomfortable about chewing your food because of problems with your mouth such as teeth, dentures and gums?" Depression was defined as individuals with a total score ≥ 10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 survey. Data regarding demographics, socioeconomic history and comorbid health conditions were used to analyze adjusted logistic regression models. Results: In the Korean population, the prevalence of depression was significantly greater in individuals with CP (17.2%) than in those without CP (10.2%). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, the presence of depression was significantly associated with CPs (adjusted odd ratio [aOR]: 1.90, P < 0.001). The risk of CPs increased with increasing severity of depression as follows: severe depression (OR: 2.62, P < 0.001), moderately severe depression (OR: 2.19, P < 0.001). Conclusion: The presence of depression was significantly associated with CPs, especially in severely depressed individuals. Depression screening should be considered in treating CP patients.