• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2012

Purpose: Toxic alcohols are responsible for accidental and suicide motivated poisonings, resulting in death or permanent sequelae for the afflicted patients. Major therapeutic modalities in these cases include treatment with alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitors and extracorporeal elimination. There have been a number of case reports of toxic alcohol intoxication in Korea. The purpose of this study was to review the clinical characteristics of patients suffering toxic alcohol intoxication. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who presented with toxic alcohol intoxication at 8 emergency departments (ED) from Jun 2005 to Nov 2011. Patients who ingested methanol, isopropyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, and other alcohols except ethanol, were included in this study. The clinical characteristics of these patients were analyzed to include anion and osmolar gap, and estimated concentration of alcohol in the body. Results: During the study period, 21 patients were identified who had ingested toxic alcohol (methanol; 12 patients, ethylene glycol; 9 patients). At ED arrival, the mean anion gap was $18.7{\pm}6.9$ and the osmolar gap was elevated in 13 patients. Oral and IV ethanol were administrated to 11 patients in order to inhibit alcohol dehydrogenase. Extracorporeal elimination procedures such as hemodialysis were performed in 9 patients. There were no fatalities, but the one patient suffered permanent blindness. Conclusion: This study found that ethylene glycol and methanol were the substances ingested which produced toxic alcohol intoxication. The patients presented with high anion gap metabolic acidosis and were typically treated with oral ethanol and hemodialysis.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.167-194
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• 2004

This paper examine the gender-poverty gap and the feminization of poverty in Korea with using data from the National Survey Household Income & Expenditure(1996, 2000) and the Urban Survey Household Income & Expenditure(1996-2002) by Korea National Statistical Office. The poverty rate in 2000 was 16.9 percent for female-head families and 7.9 percent for male-head families, which means that female-head families were 2.6 times more likely to be poor than male-head families. With examining impact of economic crisis in 1998 on gender-poverty gap, it show that both the poverty rate of female-head and male-head increase radically in peak of economic crisis, while, in the stage of recovering economy, the poverty rate of male-head families recovered mostly the level before economic crisis, but that of female-head families recover only the 2/3 level before and the 1/3 remain still under poverty. Thus gender-poverty gap appeared bigger during passing through economic crisis. With analyzing on influence factors of poverty, it appear that poverty is influenced by gender itself as well as education level, working condition which is reflected substantially characteristics of gender. Such an analysis results mean that the considering gender dimension is necessary to resolve poverty fundamentally because gender is a point intersection among family, labour market, and social security. Therefore it appears certain that to develop and adopt of women-friendly social policy is effective approach, which could resolve poverty and social problems related to social rights.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.440-445
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to monitor the current status of pesticide residues and to assess their risk in domestic agricultural products. The samples were rice, barley, lettuce and perilla leaf. These four types of agricultural products were those with GAP(Good Agricultural Practice) certification, organic agricultural products, pesticide-free agricultural products or general agricultural products. METHODS AND RESULTS: They were purchased from traditional markets and supermarkets of 12 regions in Korea from July to August 2010. The total number of samples was 259 for agricultural products and these were analyzed by GC/ECD, GC/NPD and GC/MSD. We used multiresidue methods to analyze for 110 different pesticides except for herbicides. CONCLUSION: In this study, residual pesticides were detected in 18 samples. Among these general agricultural products, organic agricultural products and products with GAP-certification were detected in 12, 4 and 2 samples, respectively. Detection rates of general agricultural products, organic agricultural products and products with GAPcertification were 4.6%, 1.5% and 0.8% respectively. Pesticides were not detected in pesticide-free agricultural products. Their detection levels were less than their maximum residue levels. Their estimated daily intakes ranged from 0.0003% to 0.04302% of their acceptable daily intakes, of which the values have no effect on human health.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to make a comparative analysis of the oral health knowledge, attitude and awareness of students in schools equipped with and without a dental clinic in the city of Gwacheon. The subjects in this study were 782 students in that area. Out of them, 398 students attended a school furnished with a dental clinic, and 384 attended another school that wasn't equipped with a dental clinic. It's ultimately meant in this study to contribute to boosting the managerial efficiency of a school dental clinic and stepping up the development of quality oral health programs. The findings of the study were as follows: 1. When the students from the two schools were compared in terms of oral health knowledge, there wasn't any significant gap between the two groups in general. One difference was that the students from the school furnished with a dental clinic were more aware of presentive treatment provided by a dental clinic than the others from the other school. 2. As for attitude to oral health, there was no significant difference between the two in every regard except daily mean frequency of having a snack. 3. Regarding oral health belief, the students from the school equipped with a dental clinic had a better oral health belief in every aspect including health status, importance of oral health and interest than the others, and the difference between the two was significant. 4. Concerning perception of school dental clinic, the students from the school furnished with a dental clinic were better cognizant of it. As to the necessity of it, both groups viewed it as necessary for the prevention and treatment of dental caries. In terms of preference for school dental clinic, the students from the school furnished with a dental clinic had a greater preference for that.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.493-504
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• 2020

Background: There have been many studies on the associations between body mass index (BMI) and cognitive function. However, no study has ever compared the associations across the methods of categorizing BMI. In this study, we aimed to fill the gap in the previous studies and examine whether the obesity paradox is valid in the risk of cognitive function. Methods: Of the 10,254 people aged 45 and older from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing from 2006 to 2016, 8,970 people were finalized as the study population. The dependent variable was whether a person has a normal cognitive function or not, and the independent variables of interest were BMI categorized by the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office (WHO-WPRO) method, the WHO method, and a 10-group method. Covariates included sociodemographic factors, health behavior factors, and health status factors. A generalized linear mixed model analysis with a logit link was used. Results: In the adjusted model with all covariates, first, in the case of BMI categories of the WHO-WPRO method, underweight (odds ratio [OR], 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-1.17), overweight (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.35-1.36), and obese (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.33-1.34) groups were more likely to have a normal cognitive function than a normal-weight group. Next, in the case of BMI categories of the WHO method, compared to a normal-weight group, underweight (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.14-1.16) and overweight (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.06-1.07) groups were more likely to have a normal cognitive function; however, obese (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.61-0.63) group was less likely to have it. Lastly, in the case of the 10-group method, as BMI increased, the likelihood to have a normal cognitive function changed like a wave, reaching a global top at group-7 (26.5 kg/㎡ ≤ BMI <28.0 kg/㎡). Conclusion: The associations between BMI and cognitive function differed according to how BMI was categorized among people aged 45 and older in Korea, which suggests that cognitive function may be positively associated with BMI in some categories of BMI but negatively in its other categories. Health policies to reduce cognitive impairment need to consider this association between BMI and cognitive function.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.163-173
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to determine microbiological risk factors in hot pepper farms for the application of good agricultural practices (GAP). Samples were collected from cultivation environments and utensils, plants, workers, and air at 3 hot pepper farms located in Cheongsong, Korea and were tested to detect sanitary indications [aerobic plate bacteria (APC), coliform, and Escherichia coli], foodborne pathogens, and fungi. APC, coliform, and fungi were detected at the levels of 0.7~6.2, 0.2~4.7, and 0.4~4.3 log CFU, respectively, in the three farms. Four (4.4%; l leaf, l irrigation water, and 2 soil) of 90 samples collected were revealed to be E. coli positives. For foodborne pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus was only detected at $1.0log\;CFU/100cm^2$ in the worker's cloth of B farm, and Bacillus cereus was detected at the levels 1.0~2.5 log CFU in the cultivation environments and utensils and worker of B and C farms. However, other pathogens were not detected. The results demonstrated potential microbiological risks for hot pepper cultivated in the farms. Therefore, a management system to minimize the microbial risk such as GAP is required to ensure the safety of hot pepper.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5773-5779
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• 2014

Background: Since cervical cancer can be prevented and controlled through human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, it is important to train health care providers and provide them with appropriate knowledge. This study aimed to understand the level of HPV related knowledge among medical students and correlates in Southwest China in order to address any potential gap in their knowledge base. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among medical students in six selected universities across Southwest China based on a pretested questionnaire regarding HPV infection, cervical cancer, and HPV vaccines. Results: We successfully surveyed 1, 878 medical students, of whom 32.1% were males and 67.9% were females. Their mean age was 20.8 (standard deviation: 1.3) years. 91.8% of them were ethnic Han Chinese, and 43.8% were students in clinical medicine. While 76.5% had heard of HPV only 48.8% knew that the prevention of cervical cancer was possible through HPV vaccination. Only 42.9% of the male and 49.2% of the female students correctly answered over 10 out of 22 questions on HPV related knowledge. Female students appeared to know more about HPV and HPV vaccination (OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.11-1.75). In addition, the student knowledge improved with the grade (p<0.001). University courses were the most selected source of knowledge about HPV vaccination (66.4%). 83.6% of males and 91.4% of females were willing to have more HPV related education by experts (p<0.001). Only 10.1% of the students acknowledged that people had asked for their advice regarding HPV vaccination. Conclusions: Our survey indicates that medical students from Southwest China have poor knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccination, but are willing to receive more relevant information. Targeted education should be incorporated into school courses to inform these future health care providers and ensure success of programs for cervical cancer control and prevention.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.57-74
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• 2000

This study is conducted to compare how the Western.Oriental medical practitioners and health professionals perceive reciprocal development strategies respectively of Western.Oriental Medicine in Korea. A total of 3,273 persons were questioned by direct distribution, e-mail, and mail with a self-developed questionnaire. Of those questioned, 362 responded (the response rate of 11.1%), and of them n persons (Western medical practitioners 206, Oriental medical practitioners 90, and health professionals 64) were analyzed with SPSS for Windows. The results were as follows： The need for legislation on the mutual development system for Western.Oriental Medicine was recognized by 66.9% (218 persons) of respondents. Among them, largest group who agreed with this need was the health professionals. Western medical practitioners chose the "the difference of approach methods on the diseases between Western.Oriental Medicine" as their response, and Oriental medical practitioners ＆ health professionals selected "the indifference or bias of Western medical practitioners"as the reasons for the inactivity in developing a mutual system of Western.Oriental Medicine. Therefore, Western medical practitioners and health professionals selected the category of "the reformation of educational system", while Oriental medical practitioners selected the category of "the activation of joint research on Western.Oriental medical care" as the most important condition for setting a precedent. Also, Western medical practitioners preferred "cooperative health care system for Western medical care supported by Oriental medical care", but Oriental medical practitioners and health professionals preferred “cooperative health care system of Western.Oriental medicine on equal terms" In conclusion, Western '||'&'||' Oriental medical practitioners have to make every effort to close the gap between differing views through mutual understanding and respect if joint research of Western.Oriental medical care is to become a reality. The government should continuously enforce the health policy on development of a legal and systematic infrastructure for mutual development strategy of Western.Oriental Medicine in Korea.strategy of Western.Oriental Medicine in Korea.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.935-945
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• 2010

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge of dental hygienists on infection control in dental office and their attitude toward that in a bid to provide some information on ways of enhancing the level of infection control in dental office. Methods : The subjects in this study were 220 dental hygienists who worked in dental hospitals and clinics in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province. A survey was conducted from May 17 to June 17, 2010, and the answer sheets from 183 respondents were analyzed with a SPSS WIN 12.0 program. Statistical data on frequency, percentage and mean were obtained, and t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and one-way ANOVA were utilized. Results : They got a mean of $4.59{\pm}.68$ in six categories of infection control knowledge. They had the best knowledge on dental waste disposal, followed by hand washing, post-sterilization management, instrument disinfection and sterilization, surface management of dental equipment and wearing personal protective equipment. They got a mean of $3.99{\pm}.54$ in attitude, and they scored lowest in practice of surface management of dental equipment. Overall, they scored higher in every aspect of knowledge than in attitude(t=11.410, p=.0.000). There was the greatest gap between their knowledge and practice in surface management of dental equipment (t=13.885, p=0.000), and there was the smallest gap between their knowledge and practice in hand washing(t=5.460, p=0.000). And a positive correlation was found between knowledge and attitude, as better knowledge of infection control led to better attitude toward that(p<.001). Finally, concerning infection control knowledge and attitude by general characteristics, the presence or absence of infection control guidelines made differences to infection control knowledge, and infection control attitude was statistically significantly different according to infection control education experiences(t=6.501, p=.012) and the presence or absence of infection control guidelines(t=22.836, p=.000). Conclusions : In order to bolster infection control in dental office, the related system should be improved to legally require dental personnels to implement infection control. Every dental office must be furnished with infection control guidelines, and sustained education should be provided for dental hygienists to carry out infection control.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to discover the changes in obesity prevalence and dietary habits in Korean adults residing in various residential areas during the last 10 years. Methods: Data on Korean adults aged 19 years and above was obtained from the 4th (2007-2009) and the 7th (2016-2018) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The subjects were classified into metropolitan (4th: n=5,977, 7th: n=6,651), urban (4th: n=4,511, 7th: n=5,512) and rural (4th: n=3,566, 7th: n=2,570) based on their residence. The general characteristics, nutrient intake, intake amount, food groups, and healthy dietary factors were analyzed. The association between residential areas and obesity prevalence were analyzed by multiple logistic regression. Results: In urban and rural areas, the obesity rate increased in the 7th survey compared to the 4th survey, excluding the metropolitan area. The carbohydrate intake decreased, and lipid intake increased in the 7th survey compared to the 4th survey. Over the same period, the intake of cereals and vegetables decreased, and the intake of meat and processed foods increased. Rural residents had a higher intake of cereals and vegetables, and a lower intake of milk and processed foods than those in metropolitan areas and urban residents. The proportion of subjects who practiced a healthy diet increased in the 7th survey compared to the 4th survey. In the 4th survey, there was no relationship seen between the prevalence of obesity and the subject's residential area, but in the 7th survey, the odds ratio of obesity was higher in rural areas than in the metropolitan areas, confirming the regional gap (OR: 1.16, 95% CI=1.00-1.36, P=0.044). Conclusions: This study showed that the obesity prevalence increased in rural residents compared to metropolitan residents, indicating a gap between the regions. The nutrient intake and intake of food groups changed in the 10 years under consideration, and there were differences seen between regions. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate a policy that will reduce obesity prevalence and health inequalities between regions.