• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.646-662
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• 2024

Objectives: This study aimed to confirm the effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) with transcranial direct current electrical stimulation (tDCS) on motor function improvement in stroke patients. Methods: This study was conducted on patients diagnosed with stroke more than 2 weeks but within 12 months of onset. A total of 22 patients were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group received EA and tDCS treatment, while the control group received sham EA and sham tDCS treatment. Assessments were conducted using the Korean version of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (K-FMA) scores, grip and pinch strength tests, Box and Block test (BBT), Nine-hole peg test (9HPT), Berg balance scale (BBS), and the Korean version the Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI) scores. Adverse events were recorded at each intervention. Results: No statistically significant differences were observed in general characteristics between the two groups. The K-FMA, BBS, and K-MBI scores of both groups increased significantly after the intervention, but there was no significant difference between the two groups. Although hand strength and dexterity improved after intervention in both groups, the changes were not statistically significant. In the experimental group, the lateral pinch score increased significantly after the intervention, but this increase was not significant compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between the two groups. All nine reported adverse reactions were minor, with no moderate or severe adverse reactions reported. Conclusion: This study confirmed the potential effectiveness and safety of EA with tDCS in improving motor function in stroke patients.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2020

Purpose:The aim of the present study was to evaluate the incidence of the second mesiobuccal (MB2) canal, root fusion, and C-shaped root canal configuration in the Korean maxillary first (MM1) and second (MM2) molars by analyzing cone-beam computed tomographic (CBCT) images. Materials and methods: Patients undergoing presurgical CBCT examination were included in the current study. The CBCT images of 1498 MM1 and 1742 MM2 from 1658 Korean patients were assessed to determine the incidence of a MB2 canal, the types of canal configurations, root fusion, and C-shaped root canal configurations. Further, the correlations between the incidence of MB2 canal and age, gender, and tooth position were analyzed. Results: The study population was relatively old (mean age: 66.1 years). The percentage of MB2 canals in MB roots was 60.1% and 28.0% in MM1 and MM2, respectively, with the most common configurations being Weine type III in MM1 and Weine type II in MM2. Additionally, the frequency of a MB2 canal decreased with age in both molars and was higher in men than in women in the MM1 only. Furthermore, root fusion was present in 2.3% and 26.2% of the MM1 and MM2, respectively, whereas C-shaped root canals were observed in 0.4% and 2.7% of the MM1 and MM2, respectively. Conclusion: The MB2 canal was found more frequently in the MM1, whereas root fusion and C-shaped root canals were both seen more frequently in the MM2.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.3-7
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• 2012

Background and Objectives : Nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) shows a distinct geographic and demographic distribution with high incidences in Chinese and Southeast Asians. Current WHO classification divides NPC into nonkeratinizing carcinoma(NKC)(differentiated and undifferentiated subtypes), keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma(KSCC), and basaloid squamous cell carcinoma(BSCC). Relative frequency of histologic subtypes of NPC is known to vary according to the incidence of NPC. Korea is one of the low-incidence countries according to the GLOBOCAN 2008 database by IARC. The aim of this study is to assess the histopathologic types and EBV status of NPC of Koreans. Materials and Methods : We reviewed and reclassified 168 cases of NPC(132 males and 36 females) diagnosed from January 1996 through July 2006. In situ hybridization for EBV-encoded early RNA(EBER) was performed on 146 cases and the results were compared among different histologic types, genders, and age and stage groups. Results : NKC, undifferentiated subtype(NKC-U) was identified in 106 cases(63.1%) and differentiated subtype(NKC-D) in 49 cases(29.2%). Remaining 13 cases(7.7%) were classified as KSCC. NKC and NKC-U were more common in females than in males. EBV prevalence was higher in NKC than in KSCC(NKC-U, 90% ;, NKC-D, 84.1% ; KSCC, 7.7%) and more common in younger age(${\leq}40$) than older age(>40) group. Conclusion : Histologic type distribution and EBV prevalence of NPC in Korean patients corresponded to that of intermediate incidence area. Pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal KSCC is assumed to be different from that of NKC.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.43-56
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• 1994

Although the officially confirmed incidence of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome(AIDS) has remained low thus far in Korea, the progression of the pandemic has been rapid, concerned about an eventual increase in transmission. Until a vaccine or cure is found, public information and education remain an important weapon against AIDS. For the year 2000, the current WHO projection is that there will be a cumulative total of 40 million HIV infections in man, woman and children, of which more than 90％ will be in the developing countries. The incerased mortality among adults and children has raised concerns that AIDS may become so devastaing as to reverse positive population growth rates and wipe out entire population. In order to plan for the rising incidence of patient with AIDS, an assessment of AIDS-related cognition and behavior, attitude of the recognized high-risk groups is necessary. Considering that undergraduates have sexuality active and more oriented toward sexual concerns than other ages. Adolescents today are more sexually involved than in the past: The media, including films, music, and television, reinforce sexual concerns by preseating images of highly sexual adolescents. Incidence of both petting and sexual intercourse in higher and occurs at earlier ages, they are important reservoir of AIDS infection. Hence, it has become important to emymerats and describe the knowledge, attitude and behavior of them, I want.. This information will eventually guide the direction of change in public policies and education programs to meet the challenges of AIDS. The objective of this study were to identity Knowledge, Attitude, Experience of Sex and AIDS in Korea. The data were collected by survey at Korean Federation for AIDS Affairs, INC. and J university, K junior college. After October in 1993, surveyed with 507 student during their's college days in Seoul. The questionnaire was designed to provide information on sex and AIDS-related knowledge and attitudes and experience. AIDS-related knowledge was measured by using 26 questions on mode of transmission and AIDS-related attitudes were measured by 7 questions, AIDS-related experience was measured by 5 questions. There were the main dependent variables in our study, In conclusion, students during their university day need to develop AIDS-preventive education programs. Clearly, the many AIDS-prevention educational effort need to be guided by well trained health agents. Financial supports from all sectors (i.e., public and private) of our society are required to achieve that end. Further researches on AIDS-related Knowledge and Attitude and behaviors of undergraduates are needed for the development of comprehensive AIDS prevention programs.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.827-858
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• 2011

In Korea, various environmentally harmful subsidies are granted in agriculture, fishery, energy, electricity, transportation, steel and shipbuilding industry. Examples include tax-exempt fuel for agriculture & fishery, VAT- exemption for briquette & anthracite, temporary subsidy for fuel, production stabilizing subsidy for coal mining, subsidy for briquette. Korea's yearly total subsidy in energy area is about 5,291 billion won, among them is 4,870 billion won. To reduce air pollutants and to mitigate climate change, Korea has to review the phase-out of environmentally harmful subsidies and the phase-in of environment-friendly subsidy. The reduction or removal of environmentally harmful subsidies will enhance economic efficiency and bring about environmental benefits. Economic efficiency means less use of inputs, which reduces environmental cost and improves social benefits. This paper applies the Shoven and Whalley's model to the Korean economy and analyzes the general equilibrium incidence effects of reforming environmentally harmful subsidies in the energy and electricity in Korea. We consider several counterfactual scenarios in which current environmentally harmful subsidies are reduced or abolished, compare them with the reference case in the economy, and evaluated the change in efficiency costs and distributional incidence of tax reforms related to subsidies.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.917-924
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• 2012

This study was attempted in order to grasp the influence of smoking upon periodontal disease by analyzing relationship between the smoking realities and the periodontal disease risk in adults aged over 19 in our country. In the findings, the mean in CPI of the whole subjects was 1.92. Among 6989 whole subjects, the group whose CPI is 0-2 included 4707 people(67.3%). The group whose CPI is 3-4 included 2282 people(32.7%). As for the group whose CPI is more than 3 when confounder wasn't corrected, the risk on incidence of periodontal disease in the group with smoking in the past increased by 1.78 times(95% CI:1.56-2.02), compared to the group with no smoking. In the group with the current smoking, it increased by 1.75 times(95% CI:1.55-1.82). Even with correcting gender, age, educational level, and diabetes appearance, the risk on incidence of periodontal disease was higher by 1.28 times(95% CI:1.08-1.53) in the group with smoking in the past and by 1.82 times(95% CI:1.54-2.16) in the group with the current smoking than the group without smoking at all. Accordingly, smoking was indicated to be related to periodontal disease. Thus, the positive publicity needs to allow patients themselves to establish firm consciousness. In addition, dental hygienists need to perform systematic non-smoking educational guidance within doctor's office. Thus, it is thought to necessarily contribute to improving periodontal health.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.13 no.2 s.20
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• pp.65-69
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• 2007

Background and Purpose : The purpose of this case-control study was to show the relationship between risk factors(past medical history, BMI, WHR, smoking, drinking), warning signs(dyscinesia, sightless, dysarthria, sensory disorder, numbness, blephalospasm, facial spasm, tension) and the incidence of stroke in korean adults. Methods : 455 stroke patients were enrolled as the case group and 180 non-stroke patients as control group from Oct. 2005 to Feb. 2006. Patients were hospitalized within 2 weeks after the onset of stroke. Obesity were defined as $BMI{\geq}25kg/m2$, $WHR{\geq}0.9$ in male and $WHR{\geq}0.8$ in female. Risk factors and warning signs were obtained from personal interview. The analysis of the data was done by chi-square test. Fisher's exact test and test-sample t-test. Results : The percentage of current smokers(or current drinkers) of case group is higher significantly than that of control group. The past medical history of risk factors were found to be transient ischemic attack(p=0.0698), facial palsy(p=0.4061), hypertension(p<0.0001), hyperlipidemia(p=0.1484), DM(p<0.0001), ischemic heart disease(p=0.0093), migraine(p=0.0014) and hypochondria(p=0.2370). $WHR{\geq}0.9$ in male had a 6.696 (3.711-12.082) odds ratio, $WHR{\geq}0.8$ in female had a 1.567 (0.659-3.726) odds ratio. $BMI{\geq}25kg/m2$ had a 2.017(1.263-3.222). The dyscinesia and sensory disorder of warning signs were found to be statistical difference between case and control group. Conclusions : According to the above results, it was found that smoking, drinking, BMI, WHR, hypertension, DM, ischemic heart disease, migraine affected to the incidence of stroke.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3545-3549
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• 2016

Background: The incidence of bladder cancer is lower in Asian than in Western countries. However, the crude incidence and mortality of bladder cancer have recently increased in Japan because of the increased number of senior citizens. We have already reported risk factors for urothelial cancer in a large population-based cohort study in Japan (JACC study). However, we did not evaluate the cancer risk in the upper and lower urinary tract separately in our previous study. Materials and Methods: Here we evaluated the risk of cancer death in the upper and lower urinary tracts, separately, using the database of the JACC study. The analytic cohort included 46,395 males and 64,190 females aged 40 to 79 years old. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to determine hazard ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. Results: Current smoking increased the risk of both upper and lower urinary tract cancer deaths. A history of kidney disease was associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer death, even after controlling for age, sex and smoking status. Conclusions: The present study confirmed that current smoking increases the risk of both upper and lower urinary tract cancer deaths and indicated the possibility that a history of kidney disease may be a risk factor for bladder cancer death in the Japanese population.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.145-158
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• 2024

Purpose: Although smoking and alcohol consumption are known risk factors for gastric cancer (GC), studies assessing their effects on early-onset GC are limited. In this nationwide, population-based, prospective cohort study, we assessed the effects of smoking and alcohol consumption on early-onset GC in patients aged <50 years. Materials and Methods: We analyzed data of patients aged 20-39 years who underwent cancer and general health screening in the Korean National Health Screening Program between 2009 and 2012. We calculated the adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for GC incidence until December 2020. Results: We enrolled 6,793,699 individuals (men:women=4,077,292:2,716,407) in this cohort. The mean duration of follow-up was 9.4 years. During follow-up, 9,893 cases of GC (men:women=6,304:3,589) were reported. Compared with the aHRs (95% CI) of never-smokers, those of former and current-smokers were 1.121 (1.044-1.205) and 1.282 (1.212-1.355), respectively. Compared with the aHRs (95% CI) of non-consumers, those of low-moderate- and high-risk alcohol consumers were 1.095 (1.046-1.146) and 1.212 (1.113-1.321), respectively. GC risk was the highest in current-smokers and high-risk alcohol consumers (1.447 [1.297-1.615]). Interestingly, alcohol consumption and smoking additively increased the GC risk in men but not in women (P_interaction=0.002). Conclusion: Smoking and alcohol consumption are significant risk factors for early-onset GC in young Koreans. Further studies are needed to investigate sex-based impact of alcohol consumption and smoking on GC incidence in young individuals.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.206-241
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• 1985

Attempts to search infection period, infection speed in the tissue of neck blast of rice plant, location of inoculum source and effects of several conditions about the leaf sheath of rice plants for neck blast incidence have been made. 1. The most infectious period for neck blast incidence was the booting stage just before heading date, and most of necks have been infected during the booting stage and on heading date. But $Indica{\times}Japonica$ hybrid varieties had shown always high possibility for infection after booting stage. 2. Incubation period for neck blast of rice plants under natural conditions had rather a long period ranging from 10 to 22 days. Under artificial inoculation condition incubation period in the young panicle was shorter than in the old panicle. Panicles that emerged from the sheath of flag leaf had long incubation period, with a low infection rate and they also shown slow infection speed in the tissue. 3. Considering the incubation period of neck blast of rice plant, we assumed that the most effective application periods of chemicals are 5-10 days for immediate effective chemicals and 10-15 days for slow effective chemicals before heading. 4. Infiltration of conidia into the leaf sheath of rice plant carried out by saturation effect with water through the suture of the upper three leaves. The number of conidia observed in the leaf sheath during the booting stage were higher than those in the leaf sheath during other stages. Ligule had protected to infiltrate of conidia into the leaf sheath. 5. When conidia were infiltrated into the leaf sheath, the highest number of attached conidia was observed on the panicle base and panicle axis with hairs and degenerated panicle, which seemed to promote the infection of neck blast. 6. The lowest spore concentration for neck blast incidence was variable with rice varietal groups. $Indica{\times}Japonica$ hybrid varieties were infected easily compared to the Japonica type varieties, especially. The number of spores for neck blast incidence in $Indica{\times}Japonica$ hybrid varieties was less than 100 and disease index was higher also in $Indica{\times}Japonica$ hybrid than in Japonica type varieties. 7. Nitrogen content and silicate content were related with blast incidence in necks of rice plants in the different growing stage changed during growing period. Nitrogen content increased from booting stage to heading date and then decreased gradually as time passes. Silicate content increased from booting stage after heading with time. Change of these content promoted to increase neck blast infection. 8. Conidia moved to rice plant by ascending and desending dispersal and then attached on the rice plant. Conidia transfered horizontally was found very negligible. So we presumed that infection rate of neck blast was very low after emergence of panicle base from the leaf sheath. Also ascending air current by temperature difference between upper and lower side of rice plant seemed to increase the liberation of spores. 9. Conidial number of the blast fungus collected just before and after heading date was closely related with neck blast incidence. Lesions on three leaves from the top were closely related with neck blast incidence, because they had high potential for conidia formation of rice blast fungus and they were direct inoculum sources for neck blast. 10. The condition inside the leaf sheath was very favorable for the incidence of neck blast and the neck blast incidence in the leaf sheath increased as the level of fertilizer applied increased. Therefore, the infection rate of neck blast on the all panicle parts such as panicle base, panicle branches, spikelets, nodes, and internodes inside the leaf sheath didn't show differences due to varietal resistance or fertilizers applied. 11. Except for others among dominant species of fungi in the leaf sheath, only Gerlachia oryzae appeared to promote incidence of neck blast. It was assumed that days for heading of varieties were related with neck blast incidence.