• 대한의생명과학회지
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.123-131
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• 2003

Inflammation appears to have a major role in the development of atherosclerosis. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is involved in the inflammatory response via the generation of prostanoids that, in turn, are involved in the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). This study hypothesized that a vascular infection with cytomegalovirus (CMV) may induce a chronic inflammatory reaction and activated inflammatory cells may express inflammatory mediators such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and matrix metalloproteinases-9 (MMP-9). To confirm the hypothesis, the immunohistochemical stains for CMV late antigen, COX-2, MMP-9, macrophage, and T-lymphocyte were performed on CMV-infected atherosclerotic lesions. The immunoreactivity for COX-2 and MMP-9 was evident in all cases of atherosclerosis along with plaques, mainly in macrophages/foamy cells, intimal and medial smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells of the intima. Within the intima, the increased immunoreactivity for COX-2 and MMP-9 was colocalized to the area stained with CMV late antigen. Sections from control specimens showed no immunoreactivity for CMV late antigen, COX-2 and MMP-9. These data seem to support the hypothesis that CMV may participate in a pathogenetic mechanism for atherogenesis or progression of atherosclerosis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제52권3호
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• pp.235-242
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• 2014

Paleoparasitology is the application of conventional or molecular investigative techniques to archeological samples in order to reveal parasitic infection patterns among past populations. Although pioneering studies already have reported key paleoparasitological findings around the world, the same sorts of studies had not, until very recently, been conducted in sufficient numbers in Korea. Mummified remains of individuals dating to the Korean Joseon Dynasty actually have proved very meaningful to concerned researchers, owing particularly to their superb preservation status, which makes them ideal subjects for paleoparasitological studies. Over the past several years, our study series on Korean mummies has yielded very pertinent data on parasitic infection patterns prevailing among certain Joseon Dynasty populations. In this short review, we summarized the findings and achievements of our recent paleoparasitological examinations of Joseon mummies and discussed about the prospects for future research in this vein.

• 한국직업건강간호학회지
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.153-161
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of violence experience, emotional labor and job stress on clinical nurses' depression and to provide suggestions for improving the quality of patient care. Methods: This research involved 257 clinical nurses who were working at an acute care hospital with at least 200 beds in S city and K province. Data were collected from May 23 to June 7 in 2014 and were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21.0. Results: The results show that 98.1% of subjects had violence experience in the past year and the violence experience included 44.4% physical threat, 37.5% verbal violence and 18.1% physical violence. The average scores were emotional labor 3.57, job stress 3.54 and depression 21.16. There were positive correlations among violence experience, emotional labor, job stress and depression (p<.01). There were also significant co-relationships between depression and violence experience (r=.21, p=.001), between depression and emotional labor (r=.48, p<.001) and between depression and job stress (r=.31, p<.001). Conclusion: The results suggest that it is necessary to set up guidelines for clinical nurses to manage violence, emotional labor and job stress in order to create better working environment and to improve quality of patient care.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.331-347
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• 2012

This paper describes the varying material model, the analysis method and the software development for reinforced concrete circular columns confined by spiral or hoop transverse steel reinforcement and subjected to eccentric loading. The widely used Mander model of concentric loading is adapted here to eccentric loading by developing an auto-adjustable stress-strain curve based on the eccentricity of the axial load or the size of the compression zone to generate more accurate interaction diagrams. The prediction of the ultimate unconfined capacity is straight forward. On the other hand, the prediction of the actual ultimate capacity of confined concrete columns requires specialized nonlinear analysis. This nonlinear procedure is programmed using C-Sharp to build efficient software that can be used for design, analysis, extreme event evaluation and forensic engineering. The software is equipped with an elegant graphics interface that assimilates input data, detail drawings, capacity diagrams and demand point mapping in a single sheet. Options for preliminary design, section and reinforcement selection are seamlessly integrated as well. Improvements to KDOT Bridge Design Manual using this software with reference to AASHTO LRFD are made.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.787-791
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• 2017

Americium-beryllium (Am-Be; n, ${\gamma}$) is a neutron emitting source used in various research fields such as chemistry, physics, geology, archaeology, medicine, and environmental monitoring, as well as in the forensic sciences. It is a mobile source of neutron activity (20 Ci), yielding a small thermal neutron flux that is water moderated. The aim of this study is to develop a model to increase the neutron thermal flux of a source such as Am-Be. This study achieved multiple advantageous results: primarily, it will help us perform neutron activation analysis. Next, it will give us the opportunity to produce radio-elements with short half-lives. Am-Be single and multisource (5 sources) experiments were performed within an irradiation facility with a paraffin moderator. The resulting models mainly increase the thermal neutron flux compared to the traditional method with water moderator.

• 의학교육논단
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.16-20
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• 2016

Although the state of medicine in North Korea is of great interest, there is little information, if any, about the present state of medicine in North Korea. Even North Korea's laws and regulations on medicine are not publicly available. It is plausible that the dictator's commands or the policy of the Communist Party may be superior to the nation's constitution and laws on medical education and much more. Information is only available from a limited number of publications and mainly from the statements of refugees, which differ greatly among themselves. No one refugee could provide authoritative data or information because they were never in the position to see the larger picture or have experience over the long term. However, what is known is that the major health professions in North Korea include physicians (medical doctors), stomatologists (oral doctors), 'Koryo' doctors (doctors of Korean traditional medicine), midwives, and nurses. The names and the founding year of each of the regular medical schools are listed along with the change and restoration of names of schools. It is known that there have been quasi-physicians and semi-physicians. However, the reasons for any changes that have taken place also remain unknown. The educational system, curriculum, and even the number of years of training needed to qualify to become a physician have varied from time to time.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2019

Various probabilistic methods have been proposed for using interpopulation allele frequency differences to infer the ethnic group of a DNA specimen. The selection of the statistical method is critical because the accuracy of the statistical classification results vary. For the ancestry classification, we proposed a new ancestry evaluation method that estimate the combined ethnicity index as well as compared its performance with various classical classification methods using two real data sets. We selected 13 SNPs that are useful for the inference of ethnic origin. These single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed by restriction fragment mass polymorphism assay and followed by classification among ethnic groups. We genotyped 400 individuals from four ethnic groups (100 African-American, 100 Caucasian, 100 Korean, and 100 Mexican-American) for 13 SNPs and allele frequencies that differed among the four ethnic groups. Additionally, we applied our new method to HapMap SNP genotypes for 1,011 samples from 4 populations (African, European, East Asian, and Central-South Asian). Our proposed method yielded the highest accuracy among statistical classification methods. Our ethnic group classification system based on the analysis of ancestry informative SNP markers can provide a useful statistical tool to identify ethnic groups.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제59권4호
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• pp.393-397
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• 2021

Although research conducted in East Asia has uncovered parasite eggs from ancient toilets or cesspits, data accumulated to date needs to be supplemented by more archaeoparasitological studies. We examined a total of 21 soil samples from a toilet-like structure at the Hwajisan site, a Baekje-period royal villa, in present-day Korea. At least 4 species of helminth eggs, i.e., Trichuris trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides, Clonorchis sinensis, and Trichuris sp. (or Trichuris vulpis) were detected in 3 sediment samples of the structure that was likely a toilet used by Baekje nobles. The eggs of T. trichiura were found in all 3 samples (no. 1, 4, and 5); and A. lumbricoides eggs were detected in 2 samples (no. 4 and 5). C. sinensis and T. vulpis-like eggs were found in no. 5 sample. From the findings of this study, we can suppose that the soil-transmitted helminths were prevalent in ancient Korean people, including the nobles of Baekje Kingdom during the 5th to 7th century.

• 한국응급구조학회지
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.31-40
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• 2023

Purpose: The study aims to provide basic data for understanding the department of paramedicines' bachelor's degree courses to enable curriculum development and reorganization. Methods: The 2023 academic curricula for all eleven universities with active departments of paramedicine offering bachelor's degrees were investigated from April 25 to May 10, 2023. Results: The average courseload was 22.0 units. There were 7.73 major subjects, with 19.45 units on average. The culture subject was available in 7 colleges and was 2.55 units on the average 1.18 subject. Grouping the major subjects showed that 15.3% of subjects were related to advanced paramedicine (the most common course), followed by 11.8% related to research methodology and seminar, and 10.8% related to radiology and simulations. Related subjects in statistics, disaster, and forensic science were also offered. Conclusion: This study found that the curricula of the departments of paramedicine differed from that of the general bachelor's degree. Going forward, university leaders should organize the paramedicine curriculum considering the environmental changes in emergency medicine and the scalability of EMT-Paramedic jobs.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제61권1호
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• pp.89-93
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• 2023

Parasite infection rates estimated by examining ancient coprolites can provide insights into parasitism in Joseon society. Using newly discovered Joseon period cases is essential to regularly update the parasite infection rates and reinforce the reliability of our previous estimations. In the present study, we investigated parasite infections in Joseon coprolites newly isolated from the cities of Euijeongbu, Gumi, and Wonju. We then updated the overall parasite infection rates of Joseon period samples (n= 30) as follows: 86.7% (26/30) for Trichuris trichiura, 56.7% (17/30) for Ascaris lumbricoides, 30.0% (9/30) for Clonorchis sinensis, and 30.0% (9/30) for Paragonimus westermani. The parasite infection rates in the Joseon society, estimated through coprolite examination, were very similar to those determined previously despite the addition of new cases to the existing data pool.