• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2010

Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the most common endocrine disrupters. In the last decade, the number of studies concerning the effects of chronic treatment with BPA on the development of the central nervous system (CNS) has increased. However, little is known about the effects of chronic exposure to BPA on higher brain functions such as memory or psychomotor functions. Here, we report our following findings: (1) Prenatal and neonatal exposure to BPA enhances psychostimulant-induced rewarding effects, results in the up- or downregulation of dopamine receptors, causes memory impairment, and decreases choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity. (2) BPA activates astrocytes in vivo and in vitro. These findings suggest that prenatal and neonatal exposure to BPA affects the development of the CNS.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.240-244
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• 2021

Imperforate anus is an anomaly caused by a defect in the development of the hindgut during early pregnancy. It is a relatively common congenital malformation and is more common in males. Although there are cases of a solitary imperforate anus, the condition is more commonly found as a part of a wider spectrum of other congenital anomalies. Although urgent reconstructive anorectal surgery is not necessary, immediate evaluation is important and urgent decompressive surgery may be required. Moreover, as there are often other anomalies that can affect management, prenatal diagnosis can help in optimizing perinatal care and prepare parents through prenatal counseling. In the past, imperforate anus was diagnosed by prenatal ultrasonography based on indirect signs such as bowel dilatation or intraluminal calcified meconium. Currently, it is diagnosed by directly checking the perineum with prenatal ultrasonography. Despite advances in ultrasound technology, accurate prenatal diagnosis is impossible in most cases and imperforate anus is detected after birth. Here, we present two cases of imperforate anus in female fetuses that were not diagnosed prenatally.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.3
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• pp.49-62
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• 1982

This is a study to analyze rural area women's perception and practice of prenatal care, which is the fundamental of the education of children. Further, it was aimed to provide basic data for ideal childbirth, upbringing and household management process. For that object, questionnaires were distributed to women living in Yongdong region to judge the level of general understanding on prenatal care. Research was done from three different aspects; dietary life, emotion control and health management. Percentages were drawn out to see the general tendency. The following results were discovered from data analysis: 1. Most subjects of the survey knew well about prenatal care. They had acquired that knowledge from their parents. Most thought that prenatal care is necessary. They answered that they think prenatal care has more or less effect on the fetus. The first dime they thought about prenatal care was after they found that they were pregnant. 2. The subjects knew well about dietary needs for pregnant women carried out much of what they knew. Intake of sufficiently nutritious food is somewhat difficult, but foods that are regarded as bad were avoided thoroughly. It appears that most women have much concern about what they eat during pregnancy. 3. Most of the subjects understood that the emotional stability is necessary but it wasn't put into practice so well as in dietary life. Especially, attitudes connected with emotional development like, "Look or hear only what is good (for the fetus)" were practised little. Efforts for self-restraint as "Not to hate or pick out others' defects or talk bad about others" were appeared to be great, and it is practised well, too. 4. The subjects were well-informed on health area, but practised little. Behaviors for health improvement as to "Lead a regular daily life for health" or "Not to take a long trop" were practised very faithfully. The results of the survey showed that passive attitudes related to tabooed food, self-abstinence and cautions for bodily safety were prevalent; more positive and progressive disposition missing. That is, full perception and active practices for caloric intake, emotional improvement and physical strength development are needed.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects on maternal-fetal attachment and self efficacy for delivery using the Taekyo-oriented prenatal class. This class is for 2 hours/week for 4 weeks. The program covers the contents of fetal growth and development including their responding ability, the importance of the uterine environment, sharing the motive and purpose of pregnancy, sharing experiences about pregnancy, sharing of prejudices against delivery, training of maternal-fetal interaction, understanding delivery, relaxation breathing techniques, maternity exercises, writing letters or prayers to the baby, and declaration of loving the baby. This study took place from March 4th to June 15th, 2000, in a university hospital and community care center, and was done by with a pretest-posttest design, with 55 pregnant women who were within 32-36 weeks pregnant and who agreed to participate in this study. Data was measured twice by self-report by the Cranley's Maternal-fetal Attachment Scale(MFAS, 1981), and the Shin's(1997) Self Efficacy for Delivery Scale at the beginning and at the completion of the class. Data was analyzed by SAS. The study results were: 1. The score of maternal-fetal attachment was significantly increased after the Taekyo perspective prenatal class than before the class. (t=7.389, p=0.000) 2. The score of self efficacy for delivery was significantly increased after the Taekyo perspective prenatal class than before the class. (t=8.885, p=0.000) The above results proved that the present Taekyo perspective prenatal education program was effective in increasing maternal-infant attachment and self efficacy for delivery. Therefore, it is concluded that the existing prenatal class should include Taekyo perspective elements. However, further study is needed to compare the effects with preexisted prenatal class.

• Journal of mucopolysaccharidosis and rare diseases
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.19-22
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• 2016

Purpose: Mucolipidosis type II (ML II), also known as I-cell disease is an autosomal recessive inherited disorder of lysosomal enzyme transport caused by a deficiency of the uridine diphosphate (UDP)-N-acetylglucosamine:lysosomal enzyme N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase (GlcNAc-phosphotransferase). Clinical manifestations are skeletal abnormalities, mental retardation, cardiac disease, and respiratory complications. A severely and rapidity progressive clinical course leads to death before 10 years of age. Methods/Results: In this study we diagnosed three cases of prenatal ML II in two different at-risk families. We compared two procedures -biochemical analysis and molecular analysis - for the prenatal diagnosis of ML II. Both methods require an invasive procedure to obtain specimens for the diagnosis. Biochemical analysis requires obtaining cell cultures from amniotic fluid for more than two weeks, and would result in a late diagnosis at 19 to 22 weeks of gestation. Molecular genetic testing by direct sequence analysis is usually possible when mutations are confirmed in the proband. Molecular analysis has an advantage in that it can be performed during the first-trimester. Conclusion: Molecular diagnosis is a preferable method when a prompt decision is necessary.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.774-789
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• 1995

Due to the rapid socioeconomic development and the introduction of the national health insurance system the general population's need for health care and utilization of health care services have increased dramatically. As a result of this change. Korea is experiencing a shortage of health care facilities and health manpower, and this leads long wailing line at doctor's offices. One of the solutions of this problem could be home health care system for those who have minor health related problems. With this background, this study was conducted to look at the feasibility of a home-based prenatal care system using information superhighway and nursing informatics specialists. With the home-based prenatal care system, the pregnant woman checks her blood pressure, tests her urine for sugar and protein, and measures her body weight at home and sends the information to a hospital computer via the information networks such as public telephone line and information superhighway. Nursing informatics specialist at the hospital will go through each patient record and screen those who have abnormal values and notify them to see a doctor as soon as possible. Besides telemonitoring features, the proposed system will include tole-education capabilities for the patients so that patient can learn whatever they need to know ragarding the prenatal care via information networks. If this system develops and operates, patient can save time in terms of travel to and from the hospital and waiting time in the hospital. And the health care institute can utilize its resource more efficiently.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.488-491
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• 2014

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the prenatal hypoxic effect on the fetal brain development. Methods : We used the guinea pig chronic placental insufficiency model to investigate the effect of hypoxia on fetal brain development. We ligated unilateral uterine artery at 30-32 days of gestation (dg : with term defined as -67 dg). At 50 dg, 60 dg, fetuses were sacrificed and assigned to either the growth-restricted (GR) or control (no ligation) group. After fixation, dissection, and sectioning of cerebral tissue from these animals, immunohistochemistry was performed with NeuN antibody, which is a mature neuronal marker in the cerebral cortex. Results : The number of NeuN-immunoreactive (IR) cells in the cerebral cortex did not differ between the GR and control groups at 50 dg. However, the number of NeuN-IR cells was lesser in GR fetuses than in controls at 60 dg (p<0.05). Conclusion : These findings show that chronic prenatal hypoxia affect the number of neuron in the cerebral cortex of guinea pig fetus at 60 dg. The approach used in this study is helpful for extending our understanding of neurogenesis in the cerebral cortex, and the findings may be useful for elucidating the brain injury caused by prenatal hypoxia.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.242-250
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to characterize the prenatal and postnatal development of the mouse parotid salivary gland and tooth, and to investigate the relationship between the developmental timing of the two organs. Development of parotid salivary gland begins on embryonic day 15 (E15), which is the prebud stage; E17 is the initial bud stage; E21 to postnatal day 3 (PN3) is the pseudoglandular stage; PN5 to PN10 is the canalicular stage; and PN21 is the terminal bud stage. At E15, the developing maxillary molar tissue is at the bud stage; at E17, it is at the cap stage; at E21, it is at the early bell stage; PN3 to PN5 comprises the advanced bell stage; at PN10, it is at the crown stage; at PN21, it is at the functional stage. Therefore, unlike the other major salivary glands, the development of mouse parotid salivary gland is completed through a process of prenatal and postnatal morphogenesis and becomes functional at about the same time as the developing tooth. The developmental completion times of the parotid salivary gland and tooth are closely related to the weaning time of animal.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.491-499
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• 1991

The present experiment was carried out 1) to study the developmental topography of GnRH neuronal system and 2) to characterize the cellular localization of GnRH neurons in the prenatal brain development of the rat. At embryonic day (I) 14.5, immunoreactive cell bodies of GnRH were first seen in the nasal septum and in the ganglion terminate located in the ventral protion of the caudal olfactory bulb. Two days later (E 16.5), GnRH-containing neurons were observed at the level of olfactory tubercle and diagonal band of Broca, which is the first appearance in the intracerebral region. From 118.5, the topographic pattern of immunoreactive GnRH perikarya was similar to that of adult rats. The present data suggest that GnRH neurons were originated from the nasal septum and gradually extended to the hvpothalamic regions with increasing fetal age.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.523-527
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• 2007

Previous studies reported that exposure to noise during pregnancy adversely influenced the development of the fetus and neonate. In Oriental medicine, medications based on Angelicae gigantis radix have been known to be of efficacy in the treatment of various diseases. c-Fos, an immediate early gene whose expression is sometimes used as a marker for stimulus-induced changes in the metabolic activity of neurons. In the present study, the influence of postnatal Angelicae gigantis radix administration on c-Fos expression in the each region of hippocampus of offspring rats with prenatal noise stress during pregnancy was investigated. From the present results, exposure to the prenatal stress during pregnancy enhanced c-Fox expression, whereas exposure to postnatal Angelice gigantis radix suppressed c-Fos expression in the offsprings with prenatal noise stress during pregnancy. Based on the present study, Angelicae gigantis radix may provide new therapeutic opportunities as an agent to counteract the effects of prenatal noise stress- induced hippocampal dysfunction, and may be useful in the treatment of psychiatric problems in children of mothers who have experienced noise stress during pregnancy.