• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.250-257
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• 2011

Objectives: This study was aimed at re-assessing the environmental burden of disease attributable to waterrelated diseases using available local data from Korea. Methods: The general methods and the operational definitions for water, sanitation and hygiene applied to the study were based on an environmental burden of disease study conducted by WHO. Eleven water-related diseases were selected. The attributable fraction for diarrhea was calculated by assessing local exposure levels to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene according the scenario-based approach. The attributable fractions for the other ten diseases were derived from the results of the environmental burden of diseases study. The attributable DALYs were measured by using the attributable fractions and local health statistics. Results: The total environmental burden of disease attributable to water, sanitation and hygiene for Korea was 0.9210 DALY per 1000 capitals. Of the total burden of disease, the attributable burden of diarrhea was 0.8863 (96.1%), the attributable burden of malaria and malnutrition was 0.0236 and 0.0063 DALY per 1000 capitals, respectively. There was little burden of disease measured for other diseases. Conclusions: This study is meaningful in re-assessing the environmental burden of disease using available local exposure data and health statistics. Quantitative analysis of the environmental risk factors and a health impact assessment would be helpful to prioritize health policies or interventions in the future.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2016

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are primarily formed as a result of thermal treatment of food, especially barbecuing or grilling. Contamination by PAHs is due to generation by direct pyrolysis of food nutrients and deposition from smoke produced through incomplete combustion of thermal agents. PAHs are ubiquitous compounds, well-known to be carcinogenic, which can reach the food in different ways. As an important human exposure pathway of contaminants, dietary intake of PAHs is of increasing concern for assessing cancer risk in the human body. In addition, the risks associated with consumption of barbecued meat may increase if consumers use cooking practices that enhance the concentrations of contaminants and their bioaccessibility. Since total PAHs always overestimate the actual amount that is available for absorption by the body, bioaccessibility of PAHs is to be preferred. Bioaccessibility of PAHs in food is the fraction of PAHs mobilized from food matrices during gastrointestinal digestion. An in vitro human digestion model was chosen for assessing the bioaccessibility of PAHs in food as it offers a simple, rapid, low cost alternative to human and animal studies; providing insights which may not be achievable in in vivo studies. Thus, this review aimed not only to provide an overview of general aspects of PAHs such as the formation, carcinogenicity, sources, occurrence, and factors affecting PAH concentrations, but also to enhance understanding of bioaccessibility assessment using an in vitro digestion model.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.179-185
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• 2011

Purpose: This study analyzed recent trends of instrument usage assessing cognitive function of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: The researcher collected 64 studies outside the country that were published between January 1996 and August 2010. Results: There was no study on the instrument assessing all domains of cognitive function in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Most instruments assessing cognitive function of breast cancer patients have been used for patients with dementia, depression, and/or organic brain damage. Also the objective neuropsychological tests such as the grooved pegboard for the psychomotor area, RCFT copy in visuospatial skill area and the WAIS-III block design have low sensitivity for measuring cognitive function in breast cancer patients, thus they are not good for applying to breast cancer patients. Conclusion: There is a need to develop an instrument which has good sensitivity and specificity for measuring the cognitive function of the breast cancer patients who experienced cognitive impairment after chemotherapy treatment. In addition, the developed instrument needs to be accessible and feasible in any nursing clinical setting for the purpose of accurate assessment and evaluation of the cognitive function among breast cancer patients.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 2013

Purpose: This study evaluated the validity of measuring paravertebral muscle function with 3D-NEWTON (Hanmed, Korea) by assessing the correlation between Biodex (Biodex, USA) and surface electromyography (EMG). Methods: Nineteen healthy adults participated. The function of their paravertebral muscle was measured in three ways. Maximum endurance time was measured in seconds when 3D-NEWTON was inclined forward for assessing extensor function, and inclined backward for assessing flexor function. Using surface EMG, maximum muscle activity was obtained from the eractor spinae and rectus abdominis during the 3D-NEWTON measurement. Maximum muscle activity was the mean activity from 10 seconds when the root mean squared firing data was highest. Through Biodex the peak torques of the extensor and flexor were measured during isometric exercises. The Spearman correlation coefficiencts from 3D-NEWTON, surface EMG, and Biodex were calculated. Results: The data from surface EMG and Biodex were statistically correlated when measured for flexor function, but less so for extensor function. In the case of 3D-NEWTON, the correlation coefficient with Biodex was 0.50 (p=0.05), while the coefficient with surface EMG was 0.53 (p=0.02) when measured for extensor function. Similarly, the correlation coefficienct with Biodex was 0.60 (p=0.01), while the surface EMG was 0.51 (p=0.03) for flexor function. Conclusion: 3D-NEWTON was a useful method for measuring paravertebral muscle function and can give helpful information for treating people with diseases associated with the lumbar spine.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.124-135
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to find the relationship between elementary school teachers' beliefs of inquiry and science performance assessment. To collect data for analyzing elementary school teachers' beliefs of inquiry and their practice of science performance assessment, the researcher was surveyed with elementary school teachers by open-ended questionnaires and interview. The findings of this study were as follows; First, Most of elementary school teachers beliefs of inquiry was shown as constructivist tendency. This view of inquiry involves watching and doing experiments, and the skills of thinking processes, in which learners make their own interpretations rather than merely acquiring preexisting knowledge structures. Second, for content knowledge, participants' preception about the target of science performance assessment involved assessing application of science knowledge rather than basic level of substantive knowledge. For inquiry process, participants' preception about the target of science performance assessment involved assessing the lower level of inquiry rather than the higher level of inquiry. Most of participants was measured using a paper and pencil test for the actual evaluation methods due to the ease and objectivity of the assessment, the lack of understanding how to perform the performance evaluation process and method. Especially, participants who recognize that the higher level of inquiry was used performance and informal mode of assessing.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.140-151
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• 2020

Purpose: To evaluate reliability of Q-ray view (Aiobio Inc,. Seoul, Korea) for assessing retention status of pit and fissure sealants. Methods: Pit and fissure sealants of 58 permanent molars from 15 third-grade students were examined. Posterior teeth with ≥1 pit and fissure sealants applied to the occlusal surface for >6 months were examined. The teeth were examined using traditional visual-tactile assessments and combined Q-ray view. Pit and fissure sealants were evaluated by assessing marginal plaque, marginal discoloration, marginal integrity, retention, and presence of caries. Fleiss kappa and Cohen's kappa values were calculated to compare inter- and intrarater agreements between visual-tactile and combined Q-ray view assessments. Results: Regarding interrater agreement in visual-tactile assessments, K values of Cohen's kappa for marginal plaque, marginal discoloration, and presence of caries were 0.22-0.57, 0.36-0.57, and 0.43-0.61, respectively, and agreements ranged from slight to moderate. When combined with Q-ray view, the values were 0.81-0.89, 0.69-0.88, and 0.80-0.90, respectively, and agreements ranged from substantial to nearly perfect level, indicating statistical significance. Marginal plaque (0.81-0.83), marginal discoloration (0.57-0.89), and presence of caries (0.69-0.91) showed higher agreements in combined Q-ray view than in visual-tactile assessments, and kappa values of marginal plaques were significantly higher in combined Q-ray view than in visual-tactile assessments. Conclusion: Evaluating retention status of pit and fissure sealants using Q-ray view showed higher reliability than using visual/tactile assessments for marginal plaque, marginal discoloration, and presence of caries. Therefore, Q-ray view may be used to assess the retention status of pit and fissure sealants.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.327-337
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• 2007

Plankton communities have close relationships with environmental changes in water columns. Thus, the use of plankton as a biological tool for assessing the marine ecosystem health may be effective. Major issue regarding coastal pollution has been usually recognized as phytoplankton blooms or red tides caused by the eutrophication, an increase in concentration of inorganic nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. However, in order to understand the effects of the overall pollution on marine ecosystem, the organic pollutants as well as the inorganic nutrients should be also considered. For understanding the effects of the organic pollution, among the planktonic organisms, heterotrophic bacteria, heterotrophic flagellates and ciliates should be investigated. Generally, there are three approaches for assessing the marine ecosystem health using the plankton taxa or plankton communities. The first one is a community-based approach such as diversity index and chlorophyll a concentration which are common in analysis of the plankton communities. The second is an indiviual-based approach which is to monitor the pollution indicative species. This approach needs one's ability to identify the plankton to species level. The last approach is a bioassay of toxicity, which can be applied to the plankton. A pilot study in Masan Bay was conducted to assess the effects of the inorganic and organic pollution. In this article, a new approach using plankton communities was tentatively presented as a biological tool for assessing the ecosystem health of Masan Bay.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.273-286
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for assessing the attitude and the knowledge level of elementary school in-service and pre-service teachers' on the modem environmental issues, and to implement it. The results of this study could be summarized as following. First, the instrument for attitude was developed as a Likert-type scale, it was constituted of 30 items through the item-chosen processes to improve the validity and reliability. The Cronbach's Alpha coefficient of the attitude instrument was .899. Second, The instrument for knowledge was developed as a multiple-choice form with 와 distracts, and the final version was constituted of 35 items. The average discrimination, difficulty, and Cronbach's Alpha coefficient of the items were .367, .629, .899, respectively. Third, in-service elementary teachers have been thinking about the modern environmental problems more seriously than pre-service teachers. However, in-service teachers 'knowledge level was lower than pre-service teachers'. Fourth, women have been thinking about the modern environmental problems more seriously than men. However, there was no difference significantly between men and women on knowledge level. Fifth, This process of developing the instrument could be provided as a model for future research which will try to develop instruments for assessing attitude or knowledge of any new areas with constructs.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.331-342
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• 2016

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the diagnostic tools available for assessing maxillary transverse deficiencies. Methods: An electronic search of three databases was performed from their date of establishment to April 2015, with manual searching of reference lists of relevant articles. Articles were considered for inclusion if they reported the accuracy or reliability of a diagnostic method or evaluation technique for maxillary transverse dimensions in mixed or permanent dentitions. Risk of bias was assessed in the included articles, using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool-2. Results: Nine articles were selected. The studies were heterogeneous, with moderate to low methodological quality, and all had a high risk of bias. Four suggested that the use of arch width prediction indices with dental cast measurements is unreliable for use in diagnosis. Frontal cephalograms derived from cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images were reportedly more reliable for assessing intermaxillary transverse discrepancies than posteroanterior cephalograms. Two studies proposed new three-dimensional transverse analyses with CBCT images that were reportedly reliable, but have not been validated for clinical sensitivity or specificity. No studies reported sensitivity, specificity, positive or negative predictive values or likelihood ratios, or ROC curves of the methods for the diagnosis of transverse deficiencies. Conclusions: Current evidence does not enable solid conclusions to be drawn, owing to a lack of reliable high quality diagnostic studies evaluating maxillary transverse deficiencies. CBCT images are reportedly more reliable for diagnosis, but further validation is required to confirm CBCT's accuracy and diagnostic superiority.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of progressive muscle relaxation therapy on nausea, vomiting and anxiety experienced by children who were histologically diagnosed as malignancy and have received cancer chemotherapy. Twenty subjects with 10 in experimental group and 10 in control group, between the age of 7 to 12 years participated in this study. All subjects were admitted for inpatients chemotherapy at the S hospital between April to August 1998. The methods used for interventional muscle relaxation were both the 16 items of the progressive muscle relaxation therapy developed by Jacobson and the 4 items of the muscle relaxation therapy by Wolpe. The method for assessing nausea, vomiting was the Index of Nausea and Vomiting by Rhodes et al and that for anxiety was State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children by Spielberger. The data was analysed by repeated measures ANOVA and Scheffe test using SAS program. The results were as follows : 1. On measurement of nausea, vomiting, in the experimental group, the mean values of the second and the third measurements showed tendency to slightly decrease compared with the first measurement, but there was no statistically significance. And in the control group, there were no significant differences among first measurement, second measurement and third measurement. Also there was no significant difference in the mean values assessing nausea, vomiting between experimental and control group (F=1.33, p=0.2645). 2. The results assessing state anxiety showed, in the experimental group, progressive decrease in mean values at each measurement, while the control group showed no significant differences between the mean values of each measurement. Also there was statistically significant difference in state anxiety measurements between experimental and control group(F=4.36, p=0.05). In conclusion, muscle relaxation therapy for school-aged children with chemotherapy could not be effective to decrease nausea, vomiting, but it could be effective to decrease anxiety.