• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.118-127
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a Tai-Chi exercise program on subjective health and physiological function index. Methods: This study was designed as non-equivalent control group pretestposttest research. Eighteen women in each group completed the posttest with an attendance rate of 78.3 % after 12 weeks. The Tai Chi exercise program was provided two times a week over three months for the experimental group, but no program for the control group. A questionnaire was used for subjective health index, which consisted of Korean-WOMAC Index for joint stiffness, K-HAQ for physical disability, EQ-5D for quality of life and perceived health status, and CES-D for depression. To measure the effect on the physiological function index, femoral muscle strength, shoulder joint and back flexibility were measured. Results: All variables except left anterior femoral muscle strength had significant homogeneity between the two groups. There were statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in joint stiffness (t=-2.165, p=.03), physical disability (t=-2.231, p=.038), EQ-5D index (t=3.783, p=.001), perceived health status (t=-2.349, p=.025) and femoral posterior muscle strength (t=2.487, p=.038). Conclusion: The Tai-Chi exercise program was beneficial for women with arthritis in rural communities.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.6147-6150
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• 2013

Background: Breast feeding is considered to be mutually beneficial for both mothers and infants, though the effect of lactation problems on development of breast lesions (whether benign or malignant) is not clear. Objectives: This study was conducted to identify possible relations between lactation problems and benign and malignant breast disease. Materials and Methods: 308 patients referred to two referral breast clinics in Tehran, the capital city of IR Iran, between January 2008 and January 2011, were recruited. They were interviewed by a standard questionnaire regarding breast feeding problems. The study population was classified in 3 major groups; breast feeding without any problem, unwillingness to breast feed according to whether mothers' preference not to feed or some breast problems like mastitis, and finally insufficient milk that caused the mothers to feed their babies with formula. Results: Recruiting binary logistic regression method, mother's unwillingness to feed her child by breast milk, and also breast problems such as mastitis and abscess during lactation period showed significant relation with both benign and malignant breast diseases (p value<0.01). Surprisingly, inadequate milk was not associated with any of these conditions. Conclusions: We concluded that lactation problems which involve normal milk drainage from the breast may play an important role in whether the mother wll subsequently develope both benign and malignant pathologies. In contrast in the situation that the production of the milk is not sufficient and there are no intentional or unintentional problems in drainage of the produced milk, future problems would not be more common.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.151-157
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• 2020

Objectives: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the main public health challenges currently facing the world. Because of its high transmissibility, COVID-19 has already caused extensive morbidity and mortality in many countries throughout the world. An accurate estimation of the basic reproduction number (R₀) of COVID-19 would be beneficial for prevention programs. In light of discrepancies in original research on this issue, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled R₀ for COVID-19 in the current outbreak. Methods: International databases (including Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, and Scopus) were searched to identify studies conducted regarding the R₀ of COVID-19. Articles were searched using the following keywords: "COVID-19" and "basic reproduction number" or "R₀." The heterogeneity among studies was assessed using the I² index, the Cochran Q test, and T². A random-effects model was used to estimate R₀ in this study. Results: The mean reported R₀ in the identified articles was 3.38±1.40, with a range of 1.90 to 6.49. According to the results of the random-effects model, the pooled R₀ for COVID-19 was estimated as 3.32 (95% confidence interval, 2.81 to 3.82). According to the results of the meta-regression analysis, the type of model used to estimate R₀ did not have a significant effect on heterogeneity among studies (p=0.81). Conclusions: Considering the estimated R₀ for COVID-19, reducing the number of contacts within the population is a necessary step to control the epidemic. The estimated overall R₀ was higher than the World Health Organization estimate.

• Journal of the Korean Medical Association
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• v.61 no.12
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• pp.702-705
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• 2018

Advances in technology lead to advances in medical devices, and these advances have the positive effect of creating opportunities for beneficial developments in healthcare, such as innovating traditional healthcare processes or expanding opportunities for diagnosing and treating diseases. Nonetheless, device developers, suppliers, users, insurers, and patients all face the challenge of balancing patient safety and health effectiveness with a reasonable profit. In Korea, the New Health Technology Assessment system aims to introduce safe and effective health technology, but this is only effective for the entry of devices onto the healthcare market. This system is not enough for creating a healthy ecosystem in which high-quality technologies and devices survive in the market and naturally exit from the market if not successful. The nation must not lag in the rapid development of medical devices, but the concomitant requirement for patient safety is like two rabbits moving in different directions. There is not enough time to resolve each source of uncertainty for both developers and users. The early adoption of health technologies, including medical devices, offers new opportunities for treatment and diagnosis, but also poses unexpected health risks. Thus, we need to design a plan to generate scientific evidence related to medical devices after they introduced into practice. Additionally, regarding the use of individual medical devices, we believe that the creation of a healthy ecosystem for medical devices by implementing medical device surveillance culture is a way to manage the opportunities and risks of the early introduction of innovative medical devices.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.413-416
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• 2008

Effects of extracts obtained from the flowers of Elsholtzia splendens on the serum lipid profile and hepatotoxicity in mice were investigated. Female ICR mice were given E. splendens ethanolic extract (ESEs) orally at a dose of 10 or 50 mg/kg BW for 50 days. Significant dose-dependent decreases in triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol of serum were observed. In addition, ESEs prolonged the lag-time of LDL oxidation in vitro. In the serum of ICE mice given ESEs orally at 10 and 50 mg/kg BW, the serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) increased significantly, while total protein, albumin, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and total bilirubin did not change. Therefore, ESEs may be beneficial to human health, although it has some hepatotoxicity.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.147-152
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• 2017

The rate of human milk feeding has been decreasing despite the diverse efforts of many physicians and nurses, as well as numerous professional organizations and various international health institutions. The number of physicians and nurses who can provide proper guidance for human milk feeding and offer appropriate knowledge and techniques to allow the most beneficial and convenient manner of breastfeeding is quite deficient. It is suggested that physicians and nurses be trained to teach and educate about the medical importance of human milk feeding to lactating mothers. This can be accomplished through systemic changes in medical education and clinical practice. However, the curricula of medical schools in Korea do not provide enough education and training to effect an increase in human milk feeding. The author strongly recommends that the educational objectives for medical schools and resident training offer more education and training concerning so that they are well aware of breastfeeding basics and techniques, and have ability to solve lactation-associated clinical problems.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2010

Palmitic acid (PA) is one of free fatty acids, which is found from Gaultheria itoana Hayata and Sarcopyramis nepalensis. Although PA has a variety of pharmacological effects including mediates hypothalamic insulin resistance, induces IP-10 expression, and promote apoptotic activities, the anti-inflammatory mechanism of PA in mouse peritoneal macrophages remains unclear. In this study, we showed that PA exerted an anti-inflammatory action through suppression the production of tumor necrosis factor-$\alpha$, interleukin-6, cyclooxygenases-2 and nitric oxide in lipopolysaccaride-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages. Our study suggests an important molecular mechanism of PA, which might explain its beneficial effect in the regulation of inflammatory reactions.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.717-728
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• 1994

This study was aimed to screen edible herbs which control the composition of intestinal microflora. With in vitro experiments, we screened the water or ethanol extracts of about 60 edible herbs and wild plants in terms of the inhibition activity on the growth of the harmful Clostridium perfringens and growth promoting activity for the beneficial Bifidobacteria. The water extracts of mugwort and small water dropwort inhibited the growth of Cl.perfringens both in agar diffusion method and broth culture. On the other hand, the water extracts of petasites, mugwort, yellow day-lily and bitter cress have shown the promotion effect on the growth of Bifidobacterium longum. In the culture test using human feces as starter, the extracts of the above selected herbs increased the population of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus while they reduced the numbers of Cl.perfringens and E.coli.

• CELLMED
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.27.1-27.13
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• 2013

Epilepsy has now become the most serious brain disorder. A number of synthetic antiepileptic drugs are available in practice, however their effectiveness does not grip true with the entire population suffering from epilepsy. Traditional systems of medicine are popular in developing countries and most of the population relies on traditional medicines for their primary health care need. Medicinal plants to be an important source of traditional medicines. Various plants are used for the treatment of epilepsy in traditional system of medicines and various plants are yet to be scientifically investigated. Phytoconstituents have been the basis of treatment of human diseases including epilepsy. Herbal products are extensively used for the treatment of many diseases worldwide and where allopathic fails or has severe side effects. Psycho neural drugs are also have very serious side effects like physical dependence, tolerance, deterioration of cognitive function and effect on respiratory, digestive and immune system. So the treatments through herbal medicines are widely used across the world due to their wide applicability and therapeutic efficacy with least side effects, which in turn has accelerated the research regarding natural therapy. In this review we have summarized some herbal antiepileptics.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.756-761
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• 2006

Curcumin has been known for its anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on several cancer cells. We examined the inhibitory effects of curcumin on cancer cell adhesion, motility, invasion and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) activity in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. MDA-MB-231 cells were cultured with 0, 5, 10 or $20{\mu}M$ of curcumin. Curcumin significantly inhibited the adhesion of cancer cells to the fibronectin at $20{\mu}M$ and suppressed the motility and invasion of cancer cells at all concentrations. Also, the MMP-9 activity was inhibited by curcumin, but MMP-9 protein amounts were not affected. Our data indicate that curcumin inhibits motility, invasion and MMP-9 activity of MDA-MB-231 cells. Therefore, curcumin may contribute to the potential beneficial food component to prevent the cancer metastasis in human breast cancer.