• Toxicological Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.285-291
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• 2010

Recently, reproductive and neurobehavioral effects of bisphenol A (BPA) have been documented, and thus a review was requested for BPA management direction by the government. Therefore, this study was performed to establish a Korean tolerable daily intake (TDI) for BPA. An expert committee, consisting of specialists in fields such as toxicology, medicine, pharmacology, and statistics, was asked to evaluate BPA health based guidance values (HbGVs). Although many toxicological studies were reviewed to select a point of departure (POD) for TDI, rat and mouse reproductive studies by Tyl et al. (2002, 2006), which were performed according to GLP standards and OECD guidelines, were selected. This POD was the lowest value determined from the most sensitive toxicological test. The POD, a NOAEL of 5 mg/kg bw/day, was selected based on its systemic toxicity as critical effects. An uncertainty factor of 100 including interspecies and intraspecies differences was applied to calculate the TDI. According to the evaluation results, a TDI of BPA for Korean was suggested at 0.05 mg/kg bw/day. In addition, the BPA exposure level based on food consumption by the Korean population was estimated as 1.509 ${\mu}g/kg$ bw/day, and the HI was evaluated at 0.03 when the TDI of 0.05 mg/kg bw/day was applied. This HI value of 0.03 indicated that hazardous effects would not be expected from BPA oral exposures. Although highly uncertain, further studies on low dose neurobehavioral effects of BPA should be performed. In addition, it is recommended that the 'as low as reasonably achievable' (ALARA) principle be applied for BPA exposure from food packaging materials in newborn infants and children.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 1997

To understand the current status of pediatric surgical practice of the members of the Korean Association of Pediatric Surgeons, a survey of the practice of the 31 members in both 1994 and 1995. Twenty five members(80%) representing 20 hospitals responded. An average of four hundred and seventy four cases pediatric surgical operations were performed at individual institution in 1995 with 40 newborn cases. Eighteen members(72%) are currently working at university hospital. Fourteen institutions(70%) are currently classified as tertiary by the health insurance agency. The majority(15 to 60%) of members are working in the metropolitan Seoul area, while five in Taegu area. Sixteen members reported having the title of department head/director. Four members reported occasional non-pediatric surgical practice. Nine members out of 20 reported having independent pediatric surgical out-patient clinic before the establishment of the association(1985). Eight out of 15 members reported being appointed chief of pediatric surgery before 1985. In 20 institutions, 34 full time physicians(27 members, reportedly) are working in pediatric surgery. In regarding to pediatric surgical training, 16 members(64%) received an average of 16 months of training abroad, 5 members trained at home and abroad, and 4 from only at home. There are no differences in length of training periods in these groups. Twenty one members received their basic pediatric surgical training before 1985, the year of inauguration of the association. Twelve members received post-pediatric surgery refresher courses averaging 11 months' duration, after 2-11 years. Thirteen participants of this study belongs to the founding members of the association.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.470-478
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to provide basic data necessary for educating dental hygiene students by establishing a desirable sense of ethics values. In this descriptive research, 97 dental hygiene students and 100 non-dental hygiene students (in other health related fields) from Daegu Gyeongbuk City were selected. Tools used for data analysis were descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe test and correlation analysis with SPSS/WIN 17.0 version. Average scores for consciousness of biomedical ethics in dental hygiene students was 2.87, and in non-dental hygiene students, 2.82. When differences in the consciousness of biomedical ethics of dental hygiene and non-dental hygiene students were compared, dental hygiene students had significantly higher scores for prenatal diagnosis of fetus, right to life of newborn, right to life of fetus, brain death, artificial abortion, but significantly lower for organ transplantation. Variables which influenced consciousness of biomedical ethics were etihcal values in the dental hygiene students and intent to attend a class in biomedical ethics, quantity and quality of experience of hearing for biomedical ethics and religion in the non-dental hygiene students. Continuing educational programs need to be considered and attention given to the significant variables that can promote consciousness of biomedical ethics in dental hygiene students.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.776-785
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• 2008

Maternal stress was one of the common symptoms that pregnant women could have experienced during pregnant period. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation of maternal stress with maternal nutrients intake and pregnancy outcome. Subjects were 248 pregnant women and were recruited at two hospitals in Seoul area. Individual stress levels were divided by the stress scores (total 41 scores), as low stressed group (< 12) and high stressed group (${\geqq}12$). The social characteristics, nutrient intake, anthropometric measurements and pregnancy outcome were compared between low stressed group (LSG) and high stressed group (HSG) to recognize risk factor of maternal stress. We found that subjects experience stress by various factors which were concern about newborn (40.4%), concern about health (28.8%), economic difficulties (13.2%), depress (10.1%), family relationship (2.9%), concern of house work (2.5%), human relationship (2%). In HSG, unemployed rate (p < 0.05) and pre-pregnancy BMI (p < 0.05) were higher than in LSG. Family size in HSG was larger than that in LSG (p < 0.01). Doing regular exercise with the light activity level was significantly higher in LSG (p < 0.05). The nutrient intake in LSG was slightly higher than that in HSG, but not statistically significant. Pregnancy outcome was not significantly affected by the maternal stress. In conclusion, the risk of maternal stress may be related with a life style during pregnancy. Therefore, life style for maternal stress control, such as weight control and regular exercise is recommended to prevent maternal stress.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.25-35
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• 2009

Purpose: The characteristics of hospitalized patients in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), including hospitalization costs (HC) and National Health Insurance (NHI) status were studied. Methods: We gathered the following data from 7 hospitals in Korea during 2006: the distribution of patients according to birth weight (BW), and the duration of the hospital stay according to BW and He. Results: The patients who were admitted to the NICU consisted of high-risk neonates, including low birth weight or premature neonates, which comprised 50% of all neonates admitted to the NICU. The duration of hospitalization was 75-90 days for neonates with BW <1,000 g, 45-60 days for neonates with BW between 1,000 and 1,499 g, and approximately 15 days for neonates with BW between 2,000 and 2,499 g. The portion of the HC covered by the NHI was 77.1%, 22.9% of the total HC was not covered by the NHI (19.5% was included in the list, but not covered by the NHI and 3.4% was not listed, but covered by the NHI). The average total HC per person was 4,360,000 won, and the HC covered and not covered by the NHI were 3,677,000 won and 1,007,000 won, respectively. The mean HC were as follows; 35,000,000 won for a BW <500 g, 18,000,000 won for a BW between 500 and 999 g, 16,000,000 won for a BW between 1,000 and 1,499 g, and 4,200,000 won for a BW between 1,500 and 1,999 g. Conclusion: Not only premature, but also ill neonates were under the care of the NICU. The HC increased as the BW decreased and the hospitalization period increased. The proportion of the patient's financial burden is >25% of the total He. For this matter, additional NHI is needed.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.213-220
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• 2009

Purpose: Hearing loss is one of the common birth defects in humans, with a reported prevalence of 1-3 per 1000 newborns. We investigated the incidence of hearing loss and evaluated the use of neonatal hearing screening test in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) graduates who are at greater risk for hearing loss than normal newborns. Methods: The neonates admitted to the NICU of Asan Medical Center from 1 March, 2003 to 30 March, 2008 who were available for follow-up were included. Those who failed the first auditory brainstem response prior to discharge were retested with the stapedial reflex test, auditory brainstem response and tympanometry in the Otolaryngology department. Results: Of 2,137 neonates, 2,000 (93.5%) neonates were tested prior to discharge. Sixty-seven neonates (3.4%) failed the first newborn hearing screening test. Of 67 infants, 52 infants were retested for a second hearing test. Excluding 10 infants (19.2%) who were lost during follow-up, 16 infants were confirmed to have hearing impairment of which 12 and 4 infants had unilateral and bilateral hearing loss, respectively. Of 16 infants, 5 did not meet the criteria set by the Korean National Health Insurance Corporation. Conclusion: The prevalence of hearing impairment in NICU graduates is about 0.8%, excluding those who were lost for follow up, necessitating a systemic and effective hearing assessment program among these high risk infants and more generous national insurance coverage.