• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.71-76
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• 2017

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the musculoskeletal diseases (MSDs) that occur in heavy industrial workers according to the occupational category, prevalence, environment, and number of physical therapy visits. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: For this study, data was collected of workers who were engaged in heavy industry in Korea and who visited the company physicians and received physical therapy in 2016. Data was collected from 855 subjects and was analyzed. With the data collected, analysis of the type and prevalence of MSDs and the number of physical therapy visits that have occurred according to the occupational category and environment was performed. Results: The most common MSDs were lumbar sprains and spasms (31.1%), and shoulder sprain and spasm (19.4%). In addition, the most common type of MSDs according to the occupational category and environment (occupational type) were lumbar sprain and spasms in 11 occupations, including white collar workers, and in milling, inspection, crane operation, and finishing jobs, shoulder muscle sprain and strain were the most common disorders. Also, the prevalence of MSDs according to occupational category and environment (occupational type) was the highest in workers involved with welding, which was 29.7%. Conclusions: Through this study, the type and prevalence of MSDs according to the occupational category and environment of heavy industrial workers have been confirmed. Further studies are necessary to study the future types of the work patterns of industrial workers and to develop a system for preventing and managing MSDs that may occur.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.157-183
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• 2006

This study examines the factors that influence the chance of getting a full-time tenure track? position in universities in biochemistry. Its main findings are: first, as age at the time of getting a Ph.D. degree increases and the more recent a birth-cohort a female Ph.D. belonged to, the more likely she was likely to get a job; second, the number of citations of publications in science-citation indexed journals during a Ph.D. program period and the number of publications in science-citation indexed journals in post Ph.D. period increased her chance of getting a job; third, a post doctoral program and the duration of Ph.D. training did not affect a chance of getting a job; finally, a Ph.D. from a foreign university and a prestige ranking of a Ph.D. program did not influence a chance of getting a job.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.643-650
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• 2017

Vascular dementia (VaD) is a group of heterogeneous diseases with the common feature of cerebral hypoperfusion. To identify key factors contributing to VaD pathophysiology, we performed a detailed comparison of Wistar and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats subjected to permanent bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAo). Eight-week old male Wistar and SD rats underwent BCCAo, followed by a reference memory test using a five-radial arm maze with tactile cues. Continuous monitoring of cerebral blood flow (CBF) was performed with a laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDPI) system. A separate cohort of animals was sacrificed for evaluation of the brain vasculature and white matter damage after BCCAo. We found reference memory impairment in Wistar rats, but not in SD rats. Moreover, our LDPI system revealed that Wistar rats had significant hypoperfusion in the brain region supplied by the posterior cerebral artery (PCA). Furthermore, Wistar rats showed more profound CBF reduction in the forebrain region than did SD rats. Post-mortem analysis of brain vasculature demonstrated greater PCA plasticity at all time points after BCCAo in Wistar rats. Finally, we confirmed white matter rarefaction that was only observed in Wistar rats. Our studies show a comprehensive and dynamic CBF status after BCCAo in Wistar rats in addition to severe PCA dolichoectasia, which correlated well with white matter lesion and memory decline.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.278-285
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• 2019

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is highly prevalent in overweight patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and can be reduced by physical activity via altered proinflammatory parameters. However, the association between the frequency of physical activity and the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in prediabetic patients remains unclear and was evaluated in this study. Methods: Utilizing the Korean National Health Insurance Sharing Service database, 58,391 adults, who met the research criteria and underwent a general medical check-up between 2009 and 2013, were selected for this study. To analyze the data, a logistic regression with a proc survey logistic procedure was used. Results: The study revealed that the cumulative rheumatoid arthritis prevalence was lower in prediabetic patients compared to that in the control group (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.483-0.840; p=0.001). More frequent physical activity (≥3 days/week) was significantly associated with a reduced rheumatoid arthritis prevalence in both groups (OR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.039-0.521; p=0.044 vs. OR, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.063-0.237; p=0.007). Additionally, a 3.8-fold higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis development was observed in prediabetic adults with less frequent baseline physical activity (≤2 days/week). Overall, in prediabetes, the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis was associated with the frequency of physical activity and not with the fasting plasma glucose levels. Conclusion: More frequent physical activity is associated with a low risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis in prediabetic patients. Thus, further studies are needed to confirm the clinical outcomes of frequent physical activity in rheumatoid arthritis prevention and control.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.123-128
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• 2011

The notion that dental amalgam is a potential source of mercury exposure remains a controversial issue. However, there are few epidemiological analyses that have addressed whether this occurs in children. We aimed in our current study to identify the relationship between dental amalgam filling surfaces and the blood mercury levels in a cohort of 711 South Korean children aged between 8-9 years. Oral examinations were conducted to detect the number of amalgam filling surfaces on the teeth of these individuals. Blood samples were also taken from these children to assess the levels of mercury accumulation in the body. The amalgam filling surfaces were classified into four groups based on their number: 0 (n = 368), 1-5 (n = 219), 6-10 (n = 89), and 11+ (n = 35). The blood mercury levels in the children with more than 10 amalgam surfaces was 0.47 ${\mu}g$/L higher on average than those with no amalgam surfaces after adjusting for the frequency of fish or seafood consumption, age, and gender (P < 0.05). We found from our data that a higher number of dental amalgam fillings correlated with a higher blood mercury level in Korean children. Further studies are needed to investigate whether these elevated mercury levels exert neurotoxic or nephrotoxic effects.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.717-724
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• 2020

Background: Malignant arrhythmias require drug therapy. However, most of the currently available antiarrhythmic drugs have significant side effects. Ginsenoside Rg2 exhibits excellent cardioprotective effects and appears to be a promising candidate for cardiovascular drug development. So far, the oral toxicity and antiarrhythmic effects of Rg2 have not been evaluated. Methods: Acute oral toxicity of Rg2 was assessed by the Limit Test method in mice. Subchronic oral toxicity was determined by repeated dose 28-day toxicity study in rats. Antiarrhythmic activities of Rg2 were evaluated in calcium chloride-induced arrhythmic rats. Antiarrhythmic mechanism of Rg2 was investigated in arrhythmic rats and H9c2 cardiomyocytes. Results: The results of toxicity studies indicated that Rg2 exhibited no single-dose (10 g/kg) acute oral toxicity. And 28-day repeated dose treatment with Rg2 (1.75, 3.5 and 5 g/kg/d) demonstrated minimal, if any, subchronic toxicity. Serum biochemical examination showed that total cholesterol in the high-dose cohort was dramatically decreased, whereas prothrombin time was increased at Day 28, suggesting that Rg2 might regulate lipid metabolism and have a potential anticoagulant effect. Moreover, pretreatment with Rg2 showed antiarrhythmic effects on the rat model of calcium chloride induced arrhythmia, in terms of the reduced duration time, mortality, and incidence of malignant arrhythmias. The antiarrhythmic mechanism of Rg2 might be the inhibition of calcium influx through L-type calcium channels by suppressing the phosphorylation of Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Conclusion: Our findings support the development of Rg2 as a promising antiarrhythmic drug with fewer side effects for clinical use.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.35-40
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• 2016

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in Korean children and adolescents using representative samples and questionnaires. Methods: A survey involving the interview of 10-, 12-, and 15-year-old children and adolescents regarding the symptoms of TMD was conducted as a part of the 2010 National Oral Health Surveys. The study population included 18,112 subjects (male, 9,734; female, 8,378). The interview involved three questions related to the symptoms of TMD. The prevalence of symptoms of TMD, correlation of the symptoms with sex and age, and the difference in the number of symptoms according to sex and age were analyzed. Results: Among the symptoms of TMD in children and adolescents, the prevalence of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) sounds during mouth opening was 13.0%, while those of TMJ pain and limitation were 3.1% and 4.3%, respectively. While the prevalence of TMJ sounds during mouth opening did not show any statistically significant difference between the sexes, the rates of prevalence of TMJ pain and limitation of mouth opening in were higher in the female subjects than the male (p<0.05). It was also observed that the older the subjects, the higher the prevalence of TMJ sounds, TMJ pain, and limitation of mouth opening (p<0.05). The number of symptoms of TMD was found to be increased among female subjects as well as the older ones (p<0.05). Conclusions: There are variations in the prevalence of symptoms of TMD among Korean children and adolescents according to sex and age, which is consistent with the results of previous studies. It is necessary to conduct a national cohort study to evaluate the risk factors for TMD in children and adolescents.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1655-1659
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate that which symptoms are adequate indicator of the deficiency of Eum pattern in the stroke patients. In the time period Dec. 2006 to Aug. 2007, 479 patients with a first-ever stroke admitted in the department of Internal Medicine of 12 Oriental Medical Hospitals were included. Patients were hospitalized within 1 months after the onset of stroke. Stroke patients had been interviewed by resident who studied standard operation procedures in Fundamental Study for Standardization and Objectification of Differentiation and Pattern Identification of Syndrome of Oriental Medicine for Stroke. Eum-deficiency patients was confirmed by medical specialist diagnosis, resident diagnosis, case report form analysis without a dissenting voice. Deficiency of Eum group included 65 case, Non Eum group 414 case out of 479 patients. dryness of mouth, short and rapid purse, white face and reddish zygoma, mirror-like tongue were higher among Eum group. Eum and Non Eum patients do not significantly differ in reddened tongue, dryness in tongue, night sweat, palpitation, afternoon tidal heat, palmar heat, sores of the mouth or tongue. This study was insufficiency because sample size is very small. More data from prospective cohort studies will help to Korean Standard Differentiation of the Symptoms and Signs for the Stroke.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.150-158
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• 2010

Genome-wise association studies (GWASs) have become popular approaches to identify genetic variants associated with human biological traits. In this study, we applied Structural Equation Models (SEMs) in order to model complex relationships between genetic networks and traits as risk factors. SEMs allow us to achieve a better understanding of biological mechanisms through identifying greater numbers of genes and pathways that are associated with a set of traits and the relationship among them. For efficient SEM analysis for GWASs, we developed a procedure, comprised of four stages. In the first stage, we conducted single-SNP analysis using regression models, where age, sex, and recruited area were included as adjusting covariates. In the second stage, Fisher's combination test was conducted for each gene to detect significant genes using p-values obtained from the single-SNP analysis. In the third stage, Fisher's exact test was adopted to determine which biological pathways were enriched with significant SNPs. Finally, based on a pathway that was associated with the four traits in common, a SEM was fit to model a causal relationship among the genetic factors and traits. We applied our SEM model to GWAS data with four central obesity related traits: suprailiac and subscapular measures for upper body fat, BMI, and hypertension. Study subjects were collected from two Korean cohort regions. After quality control, 327,872 SNPs for 8842 individuals were included in the analysis. After comparing two SEMs, we concluded that suprailiac and subscapular measures may indirectly affect hypertension susceptibility by influencing BMI. In conclusion, our analysis demonstrates that SEMs provide a better understanding of biological mechanisms by identifying greater numbers of genes and pathways.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.3797-3806
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• 2015

A population decline in rural area is correlated with the number of household, with agricultural workers, as a result, affects the farming income. Agricultural population is a foundation of agriculture structure. Agricultural population decline influences agricultural policies to be implemented for the future and there is concern about slowdown in productivity. The purpose of this study is to build the ability to use the model and conduct applied analyses of various kinds and to make rational agricultural policies by forecasting and analyzing agricultural population change. Unlike previous studies, which have some assumptions about the giving-up farming rate (GFR) of the key points on the agricultural population model or, After estimating only one equation with respect to the total population, and then distribute by sex and age. This study was conducted to investigate the reactions are different from the farmhouse, gender, age by estimating giving-up farming rate (GFR) equations each gender & age. Through this research, we can find that Farm Population changes of the simulation can be performed for a variety of agricultural policy in conjunction with existing agricultural simulation models as well.