• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.1317-1325
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• 2015

There are two types of clinical research to figure out risk factor for disease using collected data. One is prospective study to approach the subjects from the present time and the other is retrospective study to find the risk factor using the subject's information in the past. Both approached and study design are different but the purpose of the two studies is to identify a significant difference between two groups and to find out what the variables to influence groups. Especially when comparing the two groups in clinical research, we have to look at the difference between the impact clinical variables by group while controlling the influence of the baseline characteristics variables such as age and sex. However, in the retrospective study, the difference of baseline characteristic variables can occur more frequently because the past records did not randomly assign subjects into two groups. In clinical data analysis use covariates to solve this problem. Typically, the analysis method using the analysis of covariance of variance, adjusted model, and propensity score matching method. This study is introduce the way of equality adjustment between groups data analysis using covariates in retrospective clinical studies and apply it to the recurrence of gastric cancer data.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.103-112
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• 2021

Gallbladder polyps (GBPs) may be a cause of gallbladder cancer. The known risk factors for GBPs are male gender, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and dyslipidemia. Especially, male gender has been known that it strongly affects on the prevalence of GBPs. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate risk factors affecting the prevalence of GBPs among adults on Jeju Island according to genders. We examined 5,574 subjects who visited a single health-screening center at Jeju National University Hospital between January 2015 and December 2019. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to identify risk factors affecting the prevalence of GBPs. The prevalence of GBPs were 8.9% in male subjects and 8.1% in female subjects, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that ≥60 year age (odds ratio [OR] 0.659; P=0.027) and aspartate aminotransferase >32 IU/L (OR 0.658; P=0.009) in male subjects and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol ≥60 mg/dL (OR 0.514; P=0.013) in female subjects were independent factors affecting the prevalence of GBPs. The prevalence of GBPs in men (8.9%) is comparable to that in women (8.1%) on Jeju Island. Age <60 years and the higher level of aspartate aminotransferase in men and the normal or lower high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol in women were independent risk factors of GBPs on Jeju Island.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 1998

Purpose : Hospice Care is considered as one of the most perfect solutions for the problems brought up as the number of chronically ill patients are increasing rapidly and most of social welfare oriented countries are seeking the quality of life. Our former studies(1996, 1997) were to find out the current status of the hospice care in Korea by surveying terminally ill patients and their family members as well as medical professionals. The former study was also to conduct the operation research by developing an information service system for training of hospice care teams and volunteers, and hospice patients management. The purpose of this study was that hospice information service system was tested by home visiting hospice care through visiting nurses. Methods : From October 1, 1997 to March 31, 1998, Twenty six terminal cancer patients were included in this study from Seoul National University Hospital and other hospital. Databases and homepage, hospice information service system were designed and developed for the information needed for the hospice care before this study by our research team and this services were available through the internet. Visiting nurses were trained about this system and they visited the patients with PC notebook and provided them hospice care with hospice information system. They collected physical, psychiatric, social data of the subjects at the first visit and during hospice care at home. Results : Sixteen subjects(61.5%) died during the study and the mean survival was 20.7 days. Anorexia(96.2%), immobility(88.5%) and pain(84.6%) were the major symptom in the 26 subjects, Altered nutrition(26.1%) and pain(12.4%) were the most frequent diagnoses in 226 nursing diagnoses of the subjects. Families understood and demanded the hospice care more than patients. And most patients and families didn't demand spiritual or social care. Conclusion : Through this demonstration study, it was found that we have to provide the information of pain management and nutritional support for patients by the nurses and visiting hospice nurse. The information service system needs to be upgraded with information and manpower of spiritual and social care according to the findings.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.454-458
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• 2008

Sex steroid hormone receptors play a central role in modulating telomerase activity, especially in cancer cells. However, information on the regulation of steroid hormone receptors and their distinct functions on telomerase activity within the mesenchymal stem cell are largely unavailable due to low telomerase activity in the cell. In this study, the effects of estrogen ($E_2$) treatment and function of estrogen receptor alpha ($ER{\alpha}$) and estrogen receptor beta ($ER{\beta}$) on telomerase activity were investigated in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Telomerase activity and mRNA expression of the catalytic subunit of telomerase (hTERT) were upregulated by treatment of the cells with $E_2$. The protein concentration of $ER{\alpha}$ was also increased by $E_2$ treatment, and enhancement of $ER{\alpha}$ accumulation in the nucleus was clearly detected with immunocytochemistry. When $ER{\alpha}$ expression was reduced by siRNA transfection into hMSCs, the effect of $E_2$ on the induction of hTERT expression and telomerase activity was diminished. In contrast, the transient overexpression of $ER{\alpha}$ increased the effect of $E_2$ on the expression of hTERT mRNA. These findings indicate that the activation of hTERT expression and telomerase activity by $E_2$ in hMSCs depends on $ER{\alpha}$, but not on $ER{\beta}$.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.337-347
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• 2014

Purpose: Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is the cause of fatal diseases such as pulmonary embolism, due to a prolonged immobility, surgery, paralysis, and injuries. This study aimed to develop an evidence-based practice guideline for DVT prevention and apply it to patients with surgery in diverse nursing sites in South Korea. Methods: A 24-staged processes of adaptation was carried out on the basis of "adaptation of nursing practical guidelines" developed by Gu et al., in 2012. Results: Developed nursing guidelines of DVT prevention are composed of 79 recommendations in 8 domains. The extent and ratings of each recommendation with its evidence were addressed along with the background information. Conclusion: The developed DVT prevention guideline is necessary to be added to the evidence-based practice guidelines for the fundamentals of nursing practice. The developed guideline is needed to be disseminated to diverse nursing clinical settings in order to prevent DVT and enhance the quality nursing care.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.93-102
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that influence the practices and the intentions of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among adolescent daughters' mothers. The focus is on the mothers' HPV knowledge and sex-related communication with their daughters. Methods: The participants were 298 mothers with middle or high school student daughters. Participants were conveniently selected from a mothers' association and churches in Seoul, Cheonan and Asan city. Information on their demographics, HPV vaccination-related knowledge, sex-related communication, and intention of receiving HPV vaccination were obtained through questionnaires. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the $x^2$ test and logistic regression with SPSS for Windows 21.0 software. Results: The rate of HPV vaccination, the awareness of the HPV vaccine and the rate of giving correct answers to HPV knowledge questions were 13.1%. 84.6%, and 36.3%, respectively. The factors that influenced HPV vaccination most were their family history of cervical cancer, educational backgrounds and awareness of the HPV vaccine. The intention to receive HPV vaccination was mainly influenced by HPV knowledge. However, sex-related communication did not affect the mothers' intention of obtaining HPV vaccination. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that strategies to educate mothers with adolescent daughters on HPV are necessary. In addition, this study strongly recommends further studies be planned to examine sex-related communication between mothers and daughters.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.486-492
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• 2015

This study was conducted to provide fundamental data on the awareness of radiation, specifically the differences between general awareness, psychological state and harmful effects. Data was collected from 334 University students in the Chungbuk region through a self-administered questionnaire. According to the results of the reliability and factor analysis, the awareness of radiation was 2.80, with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.815 and KMO of 0.798. Factor analysis extracted three components of the awareness of radiation, which we named general awareness (factor 1), psychological state (factor 2), and harmful effect (factor 3). There were significant differences in the general awareness of natural radiation and radiation-containing foods (p<0.05), whereas no significant differences were found in the general awareness of radiation food supply (p>0.05). Also, the psychological state showed a significant difference in exposure inspection, future exposure, and radiation-containing food (p<0.05), whereas no significant differences were found in the refusal of radiation inspection (p>0.05). The harmful effects showed a significant difference in the rejection of radiation (p<0.05), but no significant differences in the cancer and genetic effects, diseases and physical harmfulness (p>0.05). A significant positive result (p<0.05) was found for the psychological state according to the harmful effects of radiation. Based on this study, detailed and continuous education must be accomplished by increasing the awareness of radiation and the acceptance level, conveying a proper understanding of radiation and assisting subjects with receiving the information they desire through various educational mediums.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.255-264
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• 2016

The plethora of genome sequence information of bacteria in recent times has ushered in many novel strategies for antibacterial drug discovery and facilitated medical science to take up the challenge of the increasing resistance of pathogenic bacteria to current antibiotics. In this study, we adopted subtractive genomics approach to analyze the whole genome sequence of the Fusobacterium nucleatum, a human oral pathogen having association with colorectal cancer. Our study divulged 1,499 proteins of F. nucleatum, which have no homolog's in human genome. These proteins were subjected to screening further by using the Database of Essential Genes (DEG) that resulted in the identification of 32 vitally important proteins for the bacterium. Subsequent analysis of the identified pivotal proteins, using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) Automated Annotation Server (KAAS) resulted in sorting 3 key enzymes of F. nucleatum that may be good candidates as potential drug targets, since they are unique for the bacterium and absent in humans. In addition, we have demonstrated the three dimensional structure of these three proteins. Finally, determination of ligand binding sites of the 2 key proteins as well as screening for functional inhibitors that best fitted with the ligands sites were conducted to discover effective novel therapeutic compounds against F. nucleatum.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.181-190
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• 2017

Functional foods are of great significance since our society is accelerating into aging. An aging society has many physiological metabolic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and geriatric diseases. Fundamental treatments for the elderly are almost impossible and the social burden is heavy. If these diseases can be prevented or alleviated by improving dietary habits using functional foods, the significance would be very large. Pomegranate has been found to have 124 different kinds of phytochemicals. Polyphenols have a wide range of protective effects including various physiological metabolic diseases and cancers. It is necessary to develop functional foods such as preservatives and food extenders which can contribute to food safety, required in the food industry, by using such bioactive substances. Pomegranates have been reported to decrease the impact of many serious illnesses. There is a considerable amount of bioactive substances in the peel of a pomegranate, which has potent anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-apoptotic properties. Unfortunately, the peel is typically discarded after processing. Despite knowledge regarding the bioactive substances in the pomegranate peel and peel extracts, including their functionality and diversity, the knowledge is not well known by consumers in general. The aim of this study was to review up to date research trends for processing and developing new functional foods by utilizing nutritional functional substances, favourite food materials, and materials for processing food contained in pomegranate peels and pomegranate peel extracts. This study will summarize the data found in pomegranate peel and pomegranate peel extract literature mainly recently published in Science Direct. There are polyphenolic compounds (ellagitannins, punicalagin, proanthocyanidin, flavonoids, polysaccharides, etc.) in the fruit peel, making up about 50% of the pomegranate's weight. The polyphenol content of a pomegranate fruit peel is 149.91 mg/g, which is about 100 times higher than the juice. Paying attention to the fact that the ellagitannin content (14.22 mg/g) in the fruit peel is also twice as high as that of the fruit juice and seeds, that confirms the possibility of utilizing the peel as a food ingredient capable of developing new, functional bioactive foods.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1994.02a
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• pp.440-449
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• 1994

Current risk assessment practices largely reflect the need for a consistent set of relatively rapid, first-cut procedures to assess 'plausible upper limits' of various risks. These practices have important roles to play in 1) screening candidate hazards for initial attention and 2) directing attention to cases where moderate-cost measures to control exposures are likely to be warranted, in the absence of further extensive (and expensive) data gathering and analysis. A problem with the current practices, however, is that they have led assessors to do a generally poor job of analyzing and expressing uncertainties, fostering 'One-Number Disease' (in which everything from one's social policy position on risk acceptance to one's technical judgment on the likelihood of different cancer dose-response relationships is rolled into a single quantity). At least for analyses that involve relatively important decisions for society (both relatively large potential health risks and relatively large potential economic costs or other disruptions), we can and should at least go one further step - and that is to assess and convey both a central tendency estimate of exposure and risk as well as our more conventional 'conservative' upper-confidence-limit values. To accomplish this, more sophisticated efforts are needed to appropriately represent the likely effects of various sources of uncertainty along the casual chain from the release of toxicants to the production of adverse effects. When the effects of individual sources of uncertainty are assessed (and any important interactions included), Monte Carlo simulation procedures can be used to produce an overall analysis of uncertainties and to highlight areas where uncertainties might be appreciably reduced by further study. Beyond the information yielded by such analyses for decision-making in a few important cases, the value of doing several exemplary risk assessments in. this way is that a set of benchmarks can be defined that will help calibrate the assumptions used in the larger number of risk assessments that must be done by 'default' procedures.