• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.61-66
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• 2022

Objectives: In the epidemiology of communicable diseases, the term epidemic period, also referred to as "wave" is often used in the general and academic milieu. A wave refers to a natural pattern of increase in the number of sick individuals, a defined peak, and then a decline in the number of cases. It implies a pattern of peaks and valleys after a particular peak is taken. The idea of epidemic waves is a useful tool for predicting the course as well as helping to accurately describe an epidemic. However, in many domestic and foreign news as well as in various research results in Korea, most of the reports either had no standard, were inaccurate, had a questionable classification of the period of the epidemic, or the basis for classification of a given wave was not presented. Methods: The author reviewed and organized related literature with epidemic wave. The author made several suggestions of an epidemic wave as follows. Results: To start with, it should be based on the number of incident cases in consideration of the size of the outbreak, then the period from the bottom to the peak and then reaching the next bottom; also, the period over a certain scale based on the number of incident cases; and the period according to the change in the major infection type (mutation-dominant species). In addition, according to the period of change in the vaccination rate (formation of herd immunity), as well as the content and duration of the intervention, that is, classification according to the applied quarantine stage. Furthermore, the classification of epidemic periods by the time-dependent reproduction number or time-varying reproduction number (Rt), and lastly the application of mathematical methodology. Conclusions: Therefore, classifying the epidemic period into generally known and accepted time frames is considered to be a very important task for future research analysis and development of intervention strategies.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.48-52
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• 2015

Objectives: This retrospective cohort study aimed at calculating some parameters of changes in the findings of the subsequent screening mammography (SSM) in female Korean volunteers. Methods: The study included screenees aged 30 to 79 years who underwent SSM voluntarily after testing negative in the baseline screenings performed between January 2007 and December 2011. A change to a positive result was defined as category 4 or 5 by using the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System. The proportion of results that had changed to positive (CP, %) was calculated by dividing the number of cases with results that were positive in the SSM by the total number of study participants. The rate of results that had changed to positive (CR, cases per 100 000 screenee-months) was calculated by dividing the number of cases with results that were positive in the SSM by the total number of months of the follow-up period. Results: The overall CP and CR in all age groups (n=77 908) were 2.26% and 93.94 cases per 100 000 screenee-months, respectively. The median CP interval in the subjects who had positive SSM results was 30 to 36 months, while that in the age group of 30 to 39 years was shorter. Conclusions: Different screening intervals should be considered among women aged between 30 and 59 years. In addition, a strategy for a screening program should be developed for the age group of 30 to 39 years, in particular.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.58-63
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• 2022

The daily number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) ranges between 1,000 and 2,000. Despite higher vaccination rates, the number of confirmed cases continues to increase. The Mu variant of COVID-19 reported in some countries by WHO has been identified in Korea. In this study, we predicted the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Korea using the SARIMA for the Covid-19 prevention strategy. Trends and seasonality were observed in the data, and the ADF Test and KPSS Test was used accordingly. Order determination of the SARIMA(p,d,q)(P, D, Q, S) model helped in extracting the values of p, d, q, P, D, and Q parameters. After deducing the p and q parameters using ACF and PACF, the data were transformed and schematized into stationary forms through difference, log transformation, and seasonality removal. If seasonality appears, first determine S, then SARIMA P, D, Q, and finally determine ARIMA p, d, q using ACF and PACF for the order excluding seasonality.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.289-319
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• 1995

The clinical studies were performed on 301 cases who took Yongkakkyo-tang from June 1993 to December 1994 The results were as follows: 1. About 80%(239 cases) patients who took Yongkakkyo-tang were improved. 2. The ratio of male to female patients was 106:133. In the age distribution, it was found that under 20's were 8%(24/301), 30's and 40's were 33%(98/301), and over 50's was 39%(117/301). 3. In the regional distribution, it was found that Cervical region was 22 cases, thoracic region was 12 cases, cervical & lumbar region complex was 50 cases, upper limbs region was 6 cases, lower limbs region was 12 cases, and lumbar region was 153 cases(64%). 4. Among improved cases, the cases treated only with Yongkakkyo-tang were 16(5%), the cases treated with Yongkakkyo-tang, and treated with Chiropractic were 19(6%), the cases treated with Yongkakkyo-tang and Yanggun-tang chiropratic were 133(44%). 5. Among improved cases, the number of Chiropractic treatment, less then 15 teimes were 69 cases, 15 to 30 times were 91cases. Basedon these results, it was shown that Yongkakkyo-tang could be used for the treatment of degenerative disease of vertebra, and the treatment with Yongkakkyo-tang, Yanggun-tang and Chiropratic is more effective.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.275-277
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• 2012

Objective: The objective of our present study was to assess the efficacy of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) for differentiating and diagnosis of pancreatic and liver diseases in Pokhara valley. Materials and methods: A hospital based retrospective study was carried out using data retrieved from the register maintained in the Department of Biochemistry of the Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal between 1st January, 2011 and 31st October, 2011. Estimation of CEA was performed by ELISA reader for all cases. Approval for the study was obtained from the institutional research ethical committee. Results: Of the 771 subjects, 208 (27%), 60(7.8%), 240(31.1%), 54(7.0%), 75(9.7%), 59(7.7%), 75(9.7%) cases were of active chronic hepatitis, cryptogenic cirrhosis, alcoholic cirrhosis, primary biliary cirrhosis, hepatoma, acute or chronic pancreatitis, carcinoma of pancreas respectively. The majority of cases (104) of active chronic hepatitis had CEA levels <5ng/ml(50%). CEA levels were found to be increased in cases of alcoholic cirrhosis with maximum number of cases (106) in range of 10 to 20 ng/ml (44%). There were no cases having more than 20ng/ml of CEA in primary biliary cirrhosis and acute or chronic pancreatitis. In cases of pancreatic cancer, maximum number of cases (35) were having CEA >20ng/ml(47%). Conclusion: High levels of CEA are associated with advanced stage of disease. CEA can thus provide an important improvement in the diagnosis by differentiating pancreatic cancer especially from chronic pancreatitis when there is a high suspicion of malignancy. Increased CEA levels may also signify progression from benign to malignant transformation in the liver.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.85-96
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to present the legal object in the related legislation taking the present condition of the domestic laws and the leading cases connected with ecological restoration materials and analyzing their properties according to the analytic standards which are legal class and ecological restoration material items, the present condition by the field of ecological restoration business, interrelationship between the law and the leading cases, comparison of the domestic laws with the foreign regulations. The results of this study are as follows; 1) Detailed enforcement regulation(36.5% of totals), enforcement regulation(32.4%) and law(31.1%) as legal class of the domestic legislation relating to ecological restoration materials are in the order of frequency that shows the little strong frequency at low-ranking class. By items, the number of legislation relating to planting material holds about majority, next to it, stone material, soil material and wood material are in the order of frequency. 2) By the field of ecological restoration business, legislation relating to administration forms the highest frequency(36.3% of totals), next to it, material properties(23.4%), plan design(13.0%) are in the order of frequency. 3) For the number of the leading cases by items of ecological restoration materials, those are, for the most part, them relating to planting material(93.8% of totals). The number of legislation relating to planting material forms the highest frequency at laws and the leading cases in common. 4) The domestic legislation connected with ecological restoration materials is mainly to be in legal class of the positive law, on the contrary, a foreign country has legislation widely consisted of laws, ordinances and other general regulations. Some foreign country legislated the topsoil conservation act, but not to domestic. The result of this study will be applied to legislature and court as reference materials, and to the public and public officer as a means of an understanding of ecological restoration materials.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.180-191
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• 2006

Objectives : The purpose of this clinical report was to investigate the general characteristics of the patients with nasal polyps and estimate the efficacy of the oriental medical treatment on nasal polyps. Methods : We performed a clinical analysis of 50 patients who visited Kabsan oriental clinic due to nasal polyps. We inquired into distribution of age, sex, operation history related to nose, grade of nasal polyps, efficacy of treatment, etc. Results and Conclusions : 1. The sex ratio was 2.3 : 1. The average age was 40.02 years. 2. In the nasal operation history, inexperienced patients were 35 cases and experienced patients were 15 cases. 3. In the region of nasal polyps, there were 35 cases of bilateral types of nasal polyps, which is mon than in unilateral types. In the number of nasal polyps, multicentric types of 26 cases were similar in the number with solitary type of 24 cases. 4. In the predisposing or concomitant diseases, chronic sinusitis was the most frequent followed by allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinitis, septal deviation chronic otitis media, asthma, tonsilitis and allergic dermatitis. 5. In the main symptoms, nasal obstruction was the most important. In the concomitant symptoms, patients had frequent rhinorrhea, smell disturbance, postnasal drip, headache, etc. 6. The average treatment period was 3,58 months and the average number of treatment was 12.94 sessions. 1. In the amount of herbal medicine, 2 and 3 Ji(劑) were the most. The most frequently used herbal medicine to treat was Hyangbujamogeuntanggagam(香附子茅根湯加減) 8. In the change of grade after treatment, Grade I was the most. In the efficacy of treatment, 'good' was the most, followed by 'excellent' and 'uneffective'.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.39-49
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• 2010

The present study was aimed to examine the occurrence and influencing factors therapeutic duplication (TD) of medications for anxiety disorders by analyzing the relevant prescription data. In this study, the prescription data issued on March 19, 2008 in domestic medical institutes were utilized. TD was defined as more than two medications under the same therapeutic classification per prescription based on the Anatomical Therapeutic Classification (ATC) code. The assessment of TD was performed based on the number of cases and on the ratio determined. To identify the influencing factor of TD, the variables related to the differences in the TD ratio were analyzed based on the results of the Chi-Square test conducted with the variables; patients, medical institutes, diseases, and treatments. The number and ratio of TD were determined to be 1,333 out of the total of 19,219 anxiety disorder cases, and 6.94%, most cases involving benzodiazepine derivatives, respectively. The TD ratio was found to be higher in relation to males than to females. Patients with national health insurance benefits have a higher TD ratio compared to the medical-aid beneficiaries. The TD ratios were highest in clinics, psychiatry divisions, and Gyeongsang district. The TD ratio of the cases with more than two anxiety disorders was found to be higher than that of the cases with only one anxiety disorder. As the number of medications per prescription increased, the TD ratio was shown to have become gradually higher. In conclusion, in order to prevent TD, the concurrent DUR system should be implemented. The prescribers and pharmacists must be educated regarding duplicated medications to promote the safe and effective use of medicines, without unnecessary TD.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.371-382
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• 1985

Over the past 4 decades after World War II a great deal of data and clinical experiences have been accumulated relating to the diagnosis and surgical treatment of congenital and acquired cardiovascular diseases in Korea. Clinical data on cardiovascular surgical cases performed in all 22 hospitals for open heart surgery in Korea was collected from it`s starting up to December 1984. The first recorded open heart surgery for a young adult atrial septal defect was performed by Young Kyoon Lee, M.D. on August 7, 1959, Seoul National University Hospital, Korea. And, some scattered reports on cardiovascular surgical cases in it`s early period have changed recently the number of hospitals for open heart surgery and clinical cases enormously in total amount of 13, 100 cardiovascular operations performed on 12, 990 cases up to December 1984. Of the total 13, 100 cardiovascular operations, congenital cardiovascular anomaly occupied 70%. Of the congenital cases, 6, 580 operations for acyanotic group [operative mortality 4.5%], and 2, 489 operations for cyanotic group [operative mortality 20%]. The incidence of congenital cardiovascular anomaly in order of frequency was ventricular septal defect [29%], patent ductus arteriosus [26%], Tetralogy of Fallot [22%], atrial septal defect [8, 6%], pulmonary valve stenosis [3.0%], and endocardial cushion defect [1.1%]. Of the 3, 412 valvular heart disease cases, which occupied 85% of total 4, 031 acquired cardiovascular disease, individual incidence was in mitral 2, 565 [63.5%], double valve 451 [11.1%], and simple aortic valve 351 [8.7%]. Total number of valve replaced, mechanical and tissue, was 2, 795, and 1, 884 for mitral, 808 for aortic, and 103 for tricuspid in position. Operative mortality for prosthetic valve replacement in total was 9.8%. Remained acquired cardiovascular cases chronic constrictive pericarditis [7.9%], cardiac tumor [1.9%], coronary artery bypass [1.8%], cardiac trauma [1.2%] and less than 1% of thoracic aortic aneurysm. Overall operative mortality for open and non-open cardiovascular surgical operation was 7.7% [congenital acyanotic group 3.2%, congenital cyanotic group 19.4%, and acquired group 7.8%]. In conclusion, present status of cardiovascular surgery in Korea is stabilized with accumulation of clinical cases and experiences, and the future in the field of cardiovascular surgery is promising, especially in the infant cardiac surgery and aortocoronary bypass surgery, with abrupt increase of specialized cardiac centers, trained specialists, and expanding social health insurance.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.247-253
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• 2010

Purpose: Most stomach surgeons have been educated sufficiently in conventional open distal gastrectomy (ODG) but insufficiently in laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG). We compared learning curves and clinical outcomes between ODG and LADG by a single surgeon who had sufficient education of ODG and insufficient education of LADG. Materials and Methods: ODG (90 patients, January through September, 2004) and LADG groups (90 patients, June 2006 to June 2007) were compared. The learning curve was assessed with the mean number of retrieved lymph nodes, operation time, and postoperative morbidity/mortality. Results: Mean operation time was 168.3 minutes for ODG and 183.6 minutes for LADG. The mean number of retrieved lymph nodes was 37.9. Up to about the 20th to 25th cases, the slope decrease in the learning curve for LADG was more apparent than for ODG, although they both reached plateaus after the 50th cases. The mean number of retrieved lymph nodes reached the overall mean after the 30th and 40th cases for ODG and LADG, respectively. For ODG, complications were evenly distributed throughout the subgroups, whereas for LADG, complications occurred in 10 (33.3%) of the first 30 cases. Conclusions: Compared with conventional ODG, LADG is feasible, in particular for a surgeon who has had much experience with conventional ODG, although LADG required more operative time, slightly more time to get adequately retrieved lymph nodes and more complications. However, there were more minor problems in the first 30 LADG than ODG cases. The unfavorable results for LADG can be overcome easily through an adequate training program for LADG.