• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1677-1684
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• 2016

Background: Among the factors reported to determine the quality of life of breast cancer patients are socio-demographic background, clinical stage, type of treatment received, and the duration since diagnosis. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the quality of life (QOL) scores among breast cancer patients at a Malaysian public hospital. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study of breast cancer patients was conducted between March to June 2013. QOL scores were determined using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and its breast cancer supplementary measure (QLQ-BR23). Both the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 assess items from functional and symptom scales. The QLQ-C30 in addition also measures the Global Health Status (GHS). Systematic random sampling was used to recruit patients. Results: 223 breast cancer patients were recruited with a response rate of 92.1%. The mean age of the patients was 52.4 years (95% CI = 51.0, 53.7, SD=10.3). Majority of respondents are Malays (60.5%), followed by Chinese (19.3%), Indians (18.4%), and others (1.8%). More than 50% of respondents are at stage III and stage IV of malignancy. The mean Global Health Status was 65.7 (SD = 21.4). From the QLQ-C30, the mean score in the functioning scale was highest for 'cognitive functioning' (84.1, SD=18.0), while the mean score in the symptom scale was highest for 'financial difficulties' (40.1, SD=31.6). From the QLQ-BR23, the mean score for functioning scale was highest for 'body image' (80.0, SD=24.6) while the mean score in the symptom scale was highest for 'upset by hair loss' (36.2, SD=29.4). Two significant predictors for Global Health Status were age and employment. The predictors explained 10.6% of the variation of global health status ($R^2=0.106$). Conclusions: Age and employment were found to be significant predictors for Global Health Status (GHS). The Quality of Life among breast cancer patients reflected by the GHS improves as age and employment increases.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.439-453
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• 2011

This study was performed to determine dietary and lifestyle factors associated with hypertension in Korean adolescents. Study subjects were 12~19 years (n = 521) adolescents who participated in the 2005 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES III). Subjects were divided into the hypertensive group (HG, n = 102) and normotensive group (NG, n = 419) by '2007 Korean children and adolescents growth standard' and the relationships between blood pressure and physical measurement, nutrients intakes, eating behaviors and health related factors were analyzed. HG showed significantly higher levels in weight, waist circumference and BMI than NG. The amount of nutrient intakes was not different between NG and HG. Index of nutritional quality (INQ) for phosphate was higher in HG compared with NG. In both male and female HG, INQ for iron was higher but INQ for vitamin B1 was lower than NG. HG revealed higher consumption frequencies of snack, yoghurt, and ice cream compared with NG. In eating and behavioral factors, 'dinner with family', 'eat proper amount', 'keep Korean traditional diet', alcohol drinking, and mean alcohol intake were significantly different between the two groups. By logistic regression method, risk factors for hypertension revealed in this study were gender (male), age (15~19 years), BMI (${\geq}\;85$ percentile), and not keeping Korean traditional diet. These results suggest that education program for hypertension prevention in adolescents should include eating habits improvement and lifestyle modification as well as weight control.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.757-764
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• 2011

This study is performed to clarify the fish fauna and fish habitat of downstream of Singok submerged weir within Han River estuary during April ~ December 2009. It was studied at the nine sites of Han River estuary area. The three of them were located in the mainstream of Han River and six of them were located in three wetlands which as Sannam, Janghang and Dolbangguji. Total fish fauna was identified as 9 order 15 family and 38 species (2,230 individuals). It was divided as 8 order 11 family 28 species from three sites in the mainstream of Han River and as 5 order 8 family 19 species in waterways at mud flats of three wetlands. It was made up the fish fauna as 3 order 4 family 12 species during the survey period at the waterways in the rice paddies. Hemibarbus labeo was dominant species in the whole research sites and waterways at mud flats. Carassius auratus was dominant species in the waterways between rice paddies and Chelon haematocheilus was dominant species in mainstream of Han River estuary.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.36 no.2 s.141
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• pp.88-92
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• 2005

Apoptosis plays an important role in autoimmune chronic (Hashimoto's) thyroiditis, a disorder that often results in hypothyroidism. The goal of this study was to induce apoptosis by the combination of inflammatory cytokines, interferon $(IFN)-{\gamma}$ and tumor necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$, and to investigate a potential role of medicinal plants in the thyroid follicular cells (FRTL) in vitro. The apoptosis was evaluated by cellular viability, DNA fragmentation, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxy-UTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Extract of Gamgung-tang (GGT, Glycyrrhizae Radix, black beans, Angelicae Radix, and Cnidii Rhizoma) $(0.3{\sim}9.0mg/ml)$ was shown to maintain the viability of cells treated with $IFN-{\gamma}(100U/ml)$ and $TNF-{\alpha}$ (0.5 ng/ml). FRTL cells were found to undergo DNA fragmentation with the inflammatory cytokines. The extract of GGT inhibited DNA fragmentation in dose-dependent manner. The cells with TUNEL-positive nuclei were detected with $IFN-{\gamma}$ and $TNF-{\alpha}$ treatment. The number of TUNEL-positive cells decreased with the treatment of extract of GGT. These results indicate that medicinal plants inhibit the occurrence of apoptosis in thyroid follicular cells, therefore, may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of autoimmune chronic thyroiditis.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.623-627
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• 2005

Abnormal thyroid cell proliferation has a very important role in hypothyroidism. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) stimulates proliferation and maintains differentiated function in thyroid follicular cells. A functioning rat thyroid cell line (FRTL) was used to study the effect of Gamgung-tang (GGT, Glycyrrhizae Radix, black beans, Angelicae Radix and Cnidii Rhizoma) on proliferation and cAMP accumulation of thyrocytes. Proliferation of cell was assessed by DNA synthesis and incorporation of $[^3H]thymidine$ into DNA. The concentration of cAMP was measured simultaneously with growth assessment. Extract of GGT ($0.15{\sim}0.9\;mg/ml$ increased DNA synthesis in a dose-dependent manner. GGT at 0.6 (p<0.05) and 0.9 mg/ml (p<0.01) significantly increased $[^3H]thymidine$ incorporation. A comparable effect was observed with TSH. GGT also enhanced cAMP accumulation. These results indicate that GGT increases the proliferation of thyrocytes and may be considered a promising agent for the treatment of autoimmune thyroid disease.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.934-937
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• 2005

Inflammatory cytokine, abundantly produced in Hashimoto's thyroiditis, induced Fas expression in normal thyrocytes. We determined that susceptibility to Fas-activated apoptosis could be influenced by inflammatory cytokine and investigated a potential role of Gamgung-tang (GGT, Glycyrrhizae Radix, black beans, Angelicae Radix and Cnidii Rhizoma) in the thyroid follicular cells. $IL-1\beta$ was able to induce Fas expression in normal thyrocytes. GGT inhibited $IL-1\beta-induced$ Fas expression. Thyroid follicular cells were found to undergo DNA fragmentation with the inflammatory cytokines. GGT inhibited DNA fragmentation in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that GGT inhibit Fas-mediated apoptosis in thyroid follicular cells, therefore, may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of autoimmune chronic thyroiditis.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2009

The volatile compounds of dried sancho (Zanthoxylum schinifolium), an aromatic plant were extracted by simultaneous distillation and extraction (SDE) method and identified by gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Selected chiral constituents of sancho oil were characterized by enantiodifferentiation using multidimensional gas chromatograph (MDGC)-MS. A total of 57 compounds were identified and quantified, and the major compounds were identified estragole, nonanoic acid, octanoic acid, $\beta$-phellandrenene, and limonene. Among them, estragol (63.9%) was found as the predominantly abundant component of sancho. $\alpha$-pinene and nerolidol, and $\beta$-pinene and linalool were determined to be enantiomerically pure (100%) for their (S)-form and (R)-form, respectively. The enantiomeric composition of limonene in sancho revealed 83.9% purity for the (S)-enantiomer, whereas (E)- and (Z)-rose oxides showed mixtures of both enantiomers. The enantiomeric excess (%) for citronellal was 22.6% with the (R)-enantiomer as major enantiomer. The enantiomeric composition of these compounds can be used as parameter for authenticity control of sancho.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.191-199
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to develop a method to simultaneously quantify vitamins A and E in infant formula. To determine the vitamin A and E content, vitamin A and four different vitamin E isomers (${\alpha}$-, ${\beta}$-, ${\gamma}$-, and ${\delta}$-tocopherol) were separated by high performance liquid chromatography with a photodiode array detector using a Develosil RPAQUEOUS RP-$C_{30}$ column ($4.6{\times}250$ mm, 5 ${\mu}M$). The vitamin A and E contents in the certified reference material determined using this method were within the certified range of standard values. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) for vitamin A were 0.02 and 0.06 ${\mu}g/L$, respectively. LODs and LOQs for the vitamin E isomers ranged from 0.20 to 0.55 and from 0.67 to 1.81 ${\mu}g/L$, respectively. Linear analyses indicated that the square of the correlation coefficient for the vitamin A and E isomers was 0.9997-0.9999. The recovery of vitamins ranged from 96.69 to 97.79%. The results demonstrate that this novel method could be used to reliably analyze vitamin A and E content in infant formula.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2009

Purpose: Though caustic injury of the upper digestive tract can lead to severe sequelae, there are few clinical studies on this subject. This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical characteristics, the endoscopic findings and the risk factors of the upper digestive lesions in patient with caustic ingestion injury. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 137 patients who ingested caustic materials and who visited to our emergency room from January, 2000 to June, 2009. Results: The most common ingested agent was sodium hypochlorite (44.5%), followed by acetic acid (19.7%), hydrochloric acid (11.7%) and lye (8.0%). Ingestion for suicidal attempt (62.0%) was more frequent than accidental ingestion (30.7%). Grade IIa injury was the most frequent finding on endoscopy of the esophagus and Grade 1 injury was the most frequent finding on endoscopy of the stomach. For the late sequelae, there were 9 cases (6.6%) of esophageal stricture and 2 cases (1.5%) of gastric outlet obstruction. The initial signs and symptoms did not correlate with the development of stricture, but leukocytosis, and grade III injury were related to the risk of developing stricture. Conclusion: Caustic injury of the upper gastrointestinal tract is frequently observed on early endoscopy and it can cause significant late sequelae such as stricture. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate these patients with regular follow up endoscopic examinations for the management of late sequelae.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.325-335
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• 2015

Concerns about water quality in the Nakdong River have been raised because the Nakdong River will change from a lotic environment to a lentic environmental due to the installation of eight weirs to be constructed as part of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. The rapid urbanization and industrialization of the middle and the lower reaches of Nakdong River causes the indiscreet discharge of uncleanly living sewage and industrial wastewater. And the water quality of lower reaches of Nakdong River is getting seriously worse. Owing to the water shortage of Nakdong River and the closing of reaches because of the estuary dyke in the dry season, the velocity of a moving fluid is almost accumulated under 0.03m/sec. Then a pollutant is piled up on the bottom of the river. Polluted sediment is formed and nutrition level of water is increased more and more. The eutrophication state propagated to dark brown or green from eutrophication often comes out. Therefore in this study, we measured Chl. a of chlorophyll sensor (YSI6600V2) and aceton extraction through field observation in the Nakdong River and Samrangjin. And we evaluated the reliability of chlorophyll sensor. In correlation analysis between chlorophyll sensor and aceton extraction, it shows high relation in general. And it also shows high relation among the chlorophyll sensor and aceton extraction of the dominant diatom (Skeletonema costatum), Dinophyta (Prorocentrum minimum) in the Nakdong River estuary by laboratory analysis results.