• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.227-237
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• 2011

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the utilization and its determinants of rehabilitation services of people with disabilities in a rural area. Methods: From March 2 to April 1, 2011, we interviewed 101 disabled people with either physical disabilities or brain lesions. The subjects completed questionnaires about the utilization of rehabilitation services, general characteristics (age, sex, marital status, education level, economic status, health insurance, housing, and employment) and disability characteristics (type, level, comorbidity, reason for the occurrence of the disability, self-rated degree of disability, and daily life care giver). Frequency, Pearson's chi-square test, and a multiple logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. Results: This study showed that 70.3% of the people in this rural area with disabilities were using rehabilitation services. The two most common reasons for not using the services were "doubt about the effectiveness of the service" and "no facilities nearby." The facilities that the disabled people were currently using, in the order of most used to least, were general hospitals or clinics, rehabilitation centers, oriental medicine clinics, and public health centers. Only 19.7% of those who received rehabilitation responded that they were satisfied with the service. Significant factors in the utilization of rehabilitation services were sex, employment, self-rated economic status, and the reason for the occurrence of the disability. Women, people who were currently working, people who were of middle or higher economic status, or people who had acquired a disability were significantly more likely to use the services. Conclusions: A large number of people with disabilities in a rural area use rehabilitation services at present, but accessibility and satisfaction were low. Quantitatively and qualitatively, rehabilitation services for disabled people in a rural area should be centered around Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR). Effective strategies, for example reaching those who have not used the rehabilitation services, will be needed to improve services in rural areas.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.121-135
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• 2024

This study examined the influence of near-surface atmospheric warming in the Arctic-East Asia region during spring (March-May) from 1991 to 2020 on the synoptic-scale meteorology of dust storm-induced dust days in Seoul, Korea, in response to the Arctic Oscillation. Increased springtime warming in the Arctic-East Asia region correlated with a reduction of six days in the occurrence of dust storm-induced dust days in Seoul, Korea, along with a decline in the intensity of these days by -1.6 ㎍ m^-3yr^-1 in PM₁₀ mass concentration. The declining number of dust storm-induced dust days in Korea during the 2010s was the result of synoptic-scale meteorological analysis, which showed increased high-pressure activity as indicated by the negative potential vorticity unit. Moreover, a distinct pattern emerged in the distribution of dust storm-induced dust days in Korea based on the Arctic Oscillation Index (AOI), showing an increase in negative AOI and a decrease in positive AOI. Although the northward shift of the polar jet weakened the southerly low-pressure system activity over Mongolia and northern China, a reinforced high-pressure system formed over the Chinese continent during dust-storm-induced dust days with a negative AOI. This resulted in both a decrease in the frequency of dust-storm-induced dust days and reduction in wind speeds, facilitating their transport from source regions to Korea. Conversely, on days with positive AOIs, an extensive warm and stagnant high-pressure system dominated mainland China, accompanied by further cooling of the northern segment of the polar jet. A notable decline in wind speed in the lower troposphere across the Mongolia-northern China-Korea region diminished the occurrence of dust storm-induced dust days and also weakened their long-range transport.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.91-102
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this study is to find out the possibility of application to herbal medicine's report form for adverse drug reaction (ADR) by reviewing and analyzing Asian countries's ADR report forms. Method : We investigated, compared, and analyzed ADR report forms (ADR-RF) of Asian countries's ADR institutions (ACAI), such as, Korea institute of drug safety & risk management and Dongguk university Ilsan oriental hospital (DUIOH) in Korea, national center for ADR monintoring (NCAM) in China, pharmaceuticals and medical devices agency (PMDA) in Japan, Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) in Taiwan, and drug office, department of health, the government of the Hong Kong special administrative region (GHKSAR) in Hong Kong. Results : ADR-RF for ACAI included common contents, such as, patients information (name(initial), gender, age, weight), adverse event (AE)'s report information (Recognition and report for AE occurrence, first or follow up report, Severe AE), the detailed information of AE (the title of AE, onset & closing date of AE symptoms, the progress & results detailed test of AE), the information of AE's medicine (the types of medicine, product name, ingredient name, suspected or combination drug, single dose & frequency, dosage form, administration route, dealing for AE-suspected medicine), and AE reporter's information (reporter's information, institution's information). Taiwan had ADR-RF and the department exclusively for herbal medicine (HM), but others (except DUIOH) had not only no ADR report form but also contents for HM. Conclusion : ADR-RF for HM have to include the common contents of ACAI at least, as well as HM information related to ADR, such as the title, composition and types of HM, history related to HM's ADR, and the contents of drug-induced liver injury and so on. In addition, the main department of government for HM's ADR will be needed.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.105-111
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• 2007

Objectives : The electroacupuncture(EA) was often used in Oriental medicine clinic and basic researches. However, there have been neither any national standard of acupuncture needles in Korea nor many studies about the property of acupuncture needles for applying electrical stimulations. Therefore we investigated the electrical corrosion property of acupuncture needles used for EA stimulation in clinic. Methods : We observed the occurrence of electrical corrosion like changes in the surface of acupuncture needles after EA stimulation with various parameters(electrical stimulation intensity, treatment duration, diameter of needle) under a light microscope. We performed EA stimulation on Baekhoe($GV_{20}$) or Joksamli($ST_{36}$) of rats with intensity of 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.1, 0.25 or 0.5mA at a 10Hz frequency. Results : The electrical corrosion-like changes were found on the surface of needles when the EA stimulation was given over 0.05mA of intensity. When electrical stimulation was treated for 10min, the electrical corrosion-like changes were low, but the electrical corrosion-like changes gradually increased by the treatment duration(20, 30min). We also found that acupuncture needles of 0.2mm diameter were produced more extensive electrical corrosion-like changes than acupuncture needles of 0.3 or 0.4mm diameter by electrical stimulation. Conclusions: These results suggested that EA stimulation could produce electrical corrosion-like changes of acupuncture needles through intensity of current, duration of electric stimulation and/or diameter of needle.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.670-674
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• 2005

Supernumerary tooth develops as a result of abnormal proliferation of the dental lamina during the initiation stage of dental development. It could be a sporadic occurrence or a hereditary transmission. Supernumerary tooth occurs with a frequency of 1 to 3%. Generally, there is a 2:1 preference for boys. It is usually found in the anterior portion of the maxilla and may be associated with complications such as impaction, malposition of permanent teeth, formation of diastema, cysts and eruption into nasal cavity, The position of supernumerary tooth found in the anterior portion of the maxilla is determined by the axis of the tooth. One third of supernumerary tooth in the anterior portion of the maxilla has no possibility of eruption due to its invertedly impacted position. However, as long as the coronal part of the follicle remains intact, migration of supernumerary tooth is possible. The migration may occur into the palate, the premolar region, the sinus or the nasal cavity. Also, growth of vertical dimension of maxilla could make surgical approach difficult as time goes by For this reason, we have found invertedly impacted mesiodens moved to the vault of the palate in the two cases, and extracted supernumerary tooth surgically.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.197-211
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• 2007

With the development of orthodontics and increasing concerns on physical appearance, the number of patients has been steadily increasing. It is quite important not only to make effective cure plans and accurate diagnoses but also to have a thorough grasp of patients' malocclusion types and their occurrence frequency, in addition to patients' personality in order to cure the patients appropriately. This study is based on 946 malocclusion patients who had visited Chong-A Dental Hospital from 1999 to 2004 and investigated their aspects of malocclusion and characteristics of their gender, age and residence. The results are as follows. 1. The number of patients per year had been decreased until 2001, after which year the number had fluctuated. The number was the largest in 1999, 169 and the smallest in 2001, 140. Female occupied 68.0% of the total, twice as many as male, 32.0%) 2. Based on the Angle's classification, 19 or over year - old group was the largest of the total, 59.3% and 6 or younger year - old group, the smallest, 0.5%. The 19 or over year old group was less than a half of the total (47.4%) in 2003 and there were no patients who belonged to the 6 or younger year - old group in 2003 and 2004. 3. Distributions on the types of malocclusion have shown that 39.9 % of the total are in the Class I, the largest, 31.0% in the Class I and 29.2 in the Class II, the smallest. 1) The number of the ClassI was 73, the largest, that of the Class III being 35, the smallest in 1999. On the whole, the number of the Class I accounted for the largest part of the total. 2) The number of male patients in the Class II was the smallest, generally being the largest in the Class I. In case of female, that of the Class III was the smallest. 3) Based on the age, the Class I was the highest in between 7 and 13 age group, the Class III the lowest. The Class I occupied the largest around 40%. 4) In the shape of physiognomy, the meso occupied the largest part among all the Class, of which the Class II was the highest, 64.2%. The bracy was the largest in the Class I, and the dolicho in the Class III. 5) In the profile, the convex shape was the largest in the Class I and II, and especially in the Class II, over 3/4 of the total, 75.4%. In contrast, the direct shape was the largest in the Class III and the sunken shape occupied 33.3%, which was nearly ten times more than the case of the Class I and III. 6) In the asymmetry of physiognomy, the number of patients of the Class IIIwas the largest, 34.1% and that of the Class II, the smallest, 19.5%. It was found that about one fourth of the malocclusion patients were under the asymmetry of physiognomy. 4. In the distribution of patients' residence, 81.4% were from the Seoul Metropolis and 48.2% from Gangnam-Gu where Chong-A Dental Hospital is located and Seocho-Gu and Songpa-Gu which are adjacent to Gangnam-Gu.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.68 no.2
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• pp.87-92
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• 2010

Background: D-dimer testing is widely applied as a first step in the diagnostic work-up of pulmonary embolism (PE). Although this is the most sensitive assay for ruling out PE, the prognostic implications of D-dimer testing in patients with normotensive PE are not well known. The aim of this study was to determine if D-dimer testing on admission predicts major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in patients with normotensive PE. Methods: A total of 180 consecutive patients with normotensive PE admitted between January 2003 and June 2009 were included. The group was divided into quartiles on the basis of their D-dimer levels. We compared the frequency of MACE by quartile of D-dimer level and estimated sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values for MACE in the first and fourth quartile. Results: In the 37 (20.6%) patients with MACEs, the median D-dimer level (7.94[IQR:4.03~18.17]${\mu}g/mL$) was higher than in patients with a benign course (5.29[IQR:2.60~11.52]${\mu}g/mL$, p<0.01). The occurrence of MACEs was increased with increasing D-dimer level (p=0.017). In the first quartile (D-Dimer <$2.76{\mu}g/mL$) sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for predicting MACEs were, respectively, 91.9%, 29.4%, 25.2%, and 93.3%. Conclusion: Patients with D-dimer levels below $2.76{\mu}g/mL$ have a low risk of MACEs. Our study suggest that D-dimer level may be used to identify low risk patients with normotensive PE.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.179-185
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• 2005

Background: Psoriasis is a multifactorial autoimmune skin disease with a pathogenesis that has remained obscure. Recently, T cells bearing natural killer receptors (NKRs) were precisely and strongly targeted as new putative pathogenic immunocytes in psoriasis. Among NKRs, killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) is the major molecule recognizing HLA class I allotypes and might be closely related to psoriasis. Methods: To investigate the association of KIR genotype and patients with psoriasis in Korean, we defined the 14 KIR genotypes in 96 patients with psoriasis and 86 healthy controls using PCR-SSP methods. Results: The frequencies of KIR2DS4 and KIR3DL1 were significantly decreased in psoriasis compared with controls (RR=0.21, p<0.02). When patients were divided into two subgroups at the age of onset, type I (<30 years) and type II ($({\geq}30$ years) respectively, these phenomena were similarly observed independent of groups divided (type I: RR=0.26, p<0.005; type II: RR=0.14, p<0.0006). When the patients were divided into subgroups according to the age of onset and family history, the frequencies of KIR2DS4, KIR3DL1, and KIR2DS3 were significantly decreased in type I compared with type II psoriasis (3DL1, 2DS4: p<0.004; 2DS3: p<0.04) and were significantly decreased in psoriasis without family history compared to with family history (3DL1, 2DS4: p<0.007; 2DS3: p<0.05). The frequency of haplotype combination BB was significantly increased in psoriasis compared with controls (RR=2.74, p<0.009). Conclusion: These results suggest that KIR genotype is a factor for the occurrence and development of psoriasis and in future how combinations of HLA and KIR genes influence psoriasis needs to be defined.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4571-4575
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• 2012

Introduction and Purpose: The frequency of bilateral breast cancer is 1.4-11.0% among all breast cancers. It can present as synchronous (SC) or metachronous (MC). Data regarding clinical course of bilateral breast cancer are scarce. In this study, we therefore evaluated demographic, pathological and clinical characteristics, treatments and responses in bilateral breast cancer cases; making distinctions between metachronous-synchronous and comparing with historic one-sided data for the same parameters. Materials and Methods: One hundred fifty bilateral breast cancer cases from ten different centers between 2000 and 2011 were retrospectively scanned. Age of the cases, family history, menopausal status, pathological features, pathological stages, neoadjuvant, surgery, adjuvant and palliative chemotherapy/radiotherapy were examined in the context of the first and second occurrence and discussed with reference to the literature. Results: Metachronous and synchronous groups showed similar age, menopausal status, tumor type, HER2/neu expression; the family history tumor grade, tumor stage, ER-negativity rate, local and distant metastases rates, surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy application rates were identified as significantly different. Palliative chemotherapy response rate was greater in the metachronous group but median PFS rates did not differ between the groups. Conclusion: Although bilateral breast cancer is not frequent, MC breast cancer is different from SC breast cancer by having more advanced grade, stage, less ER expression, more frequent rates of local relapse and distant metastasis and better response to chemotherapy in case of relapse/metastasis.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.410-418
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• 2016

This study examined the prevalence of MIH and severity of hypomineralization exhibited by MIH-affected tooth based on the clinical examination of 950 children between age 8 and 9 in the city of Jeonju. The etiology was also studied utilizing a questionnaire on the MIH risk factors. The prevalence of MIH was 7.1%. The examined MIH-affected teeth showed statically significant difference in the degree of their hypomineralization (p < 0.05). The permanent first molar showed greater frequency of MIH compared to the permanent incisor, and the MIH code 2a and 3 were only observed in the permanent first molar (p < 0.05). From the questionnaire, showed the significant relationship between the occurrence of MIH and risk factors such as stress and antibiotics intake during pregnancy, low birth weight and events like hospital admission, frequent respiratory infection, high fever and long-term antibiotics intake within the three years of children's lives (p < 0.05). Among all the possible risk factors, the antibiotics intake during pregnancy only showed high correlation with the incidence of MIH (p < 0.05).