• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.722-728
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• 2004

Purpose: This study was designed to determine the predictors of postpartum depression. Method: One hundred-sixty one women within one year after delivery from one public health center located in the northern area of Seoul were used in this study. The instruments were a survey of general characteristics, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, recent life events index, perceived social support from family, Quality of marriage index, parenting stress index, and Rosenberg's self-esteem inventory. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients, and logistic regression. Result: The average item score of the EPDS was 6.67. 12.4% of respondents, who scored above a threshold 12, were likely to be suffering from a depression of varying severity. The fitness of the model for explaining postpartum depression from six variables, plan for pregnancy, family support, quality of marital relation, perceived social support, life events, childcare stress, and self-esteem, was statistically significant and the predictive power of these variables was 90.9%. The significant predictors of postpartum depression were family support and child care stress. Conclusion: Further research is needed to identify the prevalence rate of postpartum depression using more reliable sampling methods from a large general population. Nursing interventions need to be developed for promoting family support and reducing childcare stress.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.129-133
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• 2007

There are growing evidences suggesting a pivotal role of oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. We investigated oxidative stress in the rat model of preeclampsia, and in clinical cases. Pregnant female rats were injected intraperitoneally with deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) and given 0.9% saline as drinking water during their pregnancy. We assessed plasma $F_2-isoprostane(8-iso-PGF_{2{\alpha})$ and malondialdehyde (MDA) in a rat model, and the same markers in the plasma of maternal blood and fetal cord blood in pregnant women with preclampsia. Blood samples from the umbilical arteries and veins were collected separately. The concentrations of MDA were increased in the preeclampsia groups of animal and humans, compared with the control group; it was significantly increased in the umbilical artery and vein of the preeclampsia group. The concentrations of $F_2-isoprostane$ were elevated in the preeclampsia groups of animal and humans, compared with the control group, and the increase in $F_2-isoprostane$ concentration was prominent in the umbilical vein than umbilical artery of the preeclampsia group. Therefore, it appears that the placenta has an important role in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia, and the $F_2-isoprostane$ of the umbilical vein may serve as a relatively reliable marker for ischemic/hypoxic injury to the fetus during the perinatal period.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine the oral health care aware-ness of pregnant women and their actual oral health care in an effort to provide information on how to assist pregnant women to have the right knowledge on oral health and improve their oral health care. The subjects in this study were pregnant women who used obstetrics and gynecology hospitals or participated in pregnancy/child-rearing programs in the region of P. After a self-administered survey was conducted in July and August 2008, the following findings were given: 1. As for the best case of oral health care, the largest number(77.2%) of the pregnant women investigated brushed all the teeth, gums and tongue when they did toothbrushing. The smallest number of the women(6.8%) spent three minutes or more brushing their teeth. 2. As to dental treatment experience during pregnancy by age, 27.0 percent of the age 26-30 group had ever received dental treatment during pregnancy, which was higher than the rates of the other age groups with the same experience. 3. Regarding the necessity of oral health education geared toward pregnant women, 94.1 percent of the age 26-30 group and 96.3 percent of the group of age 31 and up felt the need for that, which were significantly higher than 72.7 percent of the age 20-25 group who agreed to the necessity of that education. 4. As to connections between oral health status and oral health care, the women who were in good oral health got 6.60 on oral health care. They scored significantly higher than those who were in a moderate state of oral health and who were in bad oral health, as the latter two groups respectively got 5. There was a significant correlation between oral health state and oral health care and between oral health knowledge and oral health care. The better oral health status led to better oral health knowledge, and the better oral health knowledge was followed by better oral health care. 6. As for factors affecting oral health care, oral health knowledge had the largest impact on that, followed by age, oral health status, experience of receiving oral health education for pregnant woman, dental treatment experience during pregnancy, monthly income and stress caused by oral diseases. Given the findings of the study, oral health education should be provided in light of the special physical and mental state of pregnant women. They should be encouraged to receive possible dental treatment during pregnancy if necessary, and they should learn about how to cope with a dental disease in case of develop it.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.200-206
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• 2008

Objectives : This study was planned to find the character type of enneagram in patients with Bell's palsy. Methods : Author gave the 26 patients with Bell's palsy the Korean Enneagram Personality Type Indicator(KEPTI). After making out the questionnaire, we got back them. Then author graded questionnaire papers, and classified according to characte type. We finded that type 1 and type 9 show a higher ratio than any other charicter type. Results : The cause of Bell's palsy onset were over work 34.5%, stress 23.1%, over work and stress 19.2%, cold exposure 7.7%, dental treatment 3.8% pregnancy 3.8%, unknown 7.7%. We finded that type 1 and type 9 show higher ratio than any other charicter type. Conclusion : To find the interrelation between the character type of enneagram and Bell's palsy, further reseach is needed continuosly.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to make sure what the stress causes of women's EMTs within the firehouse are, and is to suggest ideas (plans) that are possible to resolve this problem. The reasons are because of difficulties such as not only the overwork at one's tasks, the uncomfortable working environment and circumstances, women's pregnancy, but also shift work or the shift system. It's own ideas about the way to resolve these difficulties are as follows: a separate operation of first-aid department, environmental improvement within a fire house (fire station) via remodeling, activation of substitute man power, alterating women's EMT services into daywork system, mutual encouragement and solicitude among co-workers, reinforcement of the number of the working force to be mobilized, and adoption about the rest year system in employment.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.112-119
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• 2015

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the prenatal, perinatal and developmental risk factors of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), compared to unaffected siblings (SIB), and typically developing children (TC). Methods : Subjects with ADHD, their SIB, and TC were recruited from the child psychiatry outpatient clinic of the Asan Medical Center Children's Hospital. The parents of the children completed questionnaires on perinatal and developmental risk factors. Results : Fifty-eight subjects with ADHD (41 boys, $7.7{\pm}1.3years$), 21 SIB (8 boys, $8.2{\pm}1.8years$), and 22 TC (8 boys, $8.5{\pm}2.1years$) were included. The ADHD group showed higher rates of maternal stress during pregnancy than the SIB group (p=.002), and the ADHD group showed higher rates of familial psychiatric history than the TC (odds ratio, 8.76 ; 95% confidence interval, 1.69 to 45.45). Conclusion : These findings suggest that among perinatal and developmental factors, maternal stress during pregnancy contribute to the development of ADHD. Future prospective studies will be needed in order to determine the causal relationship between perinatal risk factors and development of ADHD.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.93-112
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• 2017

The adolescent birth rate has doubled in the recent decade. As a result, the Korean government has implemented support for adolescent single-parent families by expanding the scope of coverage of the Single-parent Family Support Act in 2010. In order to understand whether experiences of facility entry programs and the Single-parent Family Support Act for adolescent single-parents were helpful or not, this study verified the relationship to mental health. This study utilized a part of the National Youth Policy Institute's 'Research on the Actual Condition of the Adolescent Pregnancy, Birth and Rearing Children.' Participants of the study were 218 adolescent single-parents at the age of 24 and younger. This study used the research methods of descriptive statistical analysis, ${\chi}^2$test, t-test, and one-way analysis of variance. The findings and discussion of this study are as below: Firstly, the depression level of adolescent single-parents who had been raised by grandparents was higher than other family types to a meaningful standard and adolescent single-parent's cognition of the original family's economic level was related to self-esteem and parenting efficacy. Secondly, the practical single-parent family support policy for adolescent single-parent's pregnancy, birth and rearing children has shown a higher reception rate, and medical service of facility entry programs has a higher satisfaction level. However, some of the facility entry programs and the Single-parent Family Support Act have a low reception rate and it should be considered whether to maintain them or not.Lastly, parts of facility entry programs and the Single-parent Family Support Act for adolescent single-parents have increased self-esteem and parenting efficacy and reduced parenting stress and depression's levels.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.446-453
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• 2021

Background: Plastic particles less than 5 mm in diameter (microplastics) are well-known for causing various toxicities such as lung inflammation, oxidative stress, genotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity. As microplastics become smaller, they can move across cell membranes, the placenta, and the blood-brain barrier. Objectives: We evaluated the toxicities of polyethylene microplastics (PE-PMs) in dams and neonates through intragastric intubation of pregnant ICR mice. Methods: Low concentrations (0.01 mg/mouse/day) and high concentrations (0.1 mg/mouse/day) of polyethylene microplastics were administered from the ninth day of pregnancy to postnatal day seven. The control group was administered with distilled water. On the day of sacrifice, the weight of dams and neonates and the organ weight of neonates was measured. Further, acetylcholinesterase levels and glutathione peroxidase levels were evaluated by using a blood sample obtained on the sacrifice day. Results: No significant difference in the number of neonates was found, but the body weight gain of dams was seen to be lower in the low-dose group. On the other hand, we observed a consecutively declining trend in the weight gain and organ weight of neonates among the high-, control, and low-dose groups. Meanwhile, the serum acetylcholinesterase and glutathione peroxidase level were higher in the low-dose group compared to the control group. Further, the dose-dependent accumulation of microplastics in the organs of neonates revealed the transport of plastic particles from dams to their offspring. Conclusions: Although the exact mechanism of toxicity caused by microplastics could not be confirmed, it was validated that exposure to microplastics during pregnancy and lactation causes its migration between generations and accumulation throughout the body. Hence, it is necessary to evaluate the systemic toxicity of microplastics and assessment of co-morbidities such as second-generation toxicity, neurotoxicity, and depression following long-term exposure.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.218-225
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• 2022

High levels of proinflammatory cytokines have been observed in obese pregnancies. Obesity during pregnancy may increase the risk of various pregnancyrelated complications, with pathogenesis resulting from excessive inflammation. Palmitic acid (PA) is a saturated fatty acid that circulates in high levels in obese women. In our previous study, we found that PA inhibited the proliferation of trophoblasts developing into the placenta, induced apoptosis, and regulated the number of cleaved halves derived from transfer RNAs (tRNAs). However, it is not known how the expression of tRNA-derived stress-induced RNAs (tiRNAs) changes in response to PA treatment at concentrations that induce inflammation in human trophoblasts. We selected concentrations that did not affect cell viability after dose-dependent treatment of HTR8/SVneo cells, a human trophoblast cell line. PA (200 μM) did not affect the expression of apoptotic proteins in HTR8/SVneo cells. PA significantly increased the expression of inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. In addition, 200 μM PA significantly increased the expression of tiRNAs compared to 800 μM PA treatment. These results suggest that PA impairs placental development during early pregnancy by inducing an inflammatory response in human trophoblasts. In addition, this study provides a basis for further research on the association between PA-induced inflammation and tiRNA generation.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.26
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• pp.6.1-6.8
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• 2011

Objectives: The present study investigated the potential adverse effects of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on pregnant dams and embryonic development following maternal exposure in rats. Methods: MWCNTs were orally administered to pregnant rats from gestational day (GD) 6 through 19 at dose levels of 0, 8, 40, 200, and 1000 mg/kg/day. During the test period, clinical signs, mortality, body weights, food consumption, serum biochemistry, oxidant-antioxidant status, gross findings, organ weights, and Caesarean section findings were examined. Results: All animals survived to the end of the study. A decrease in thymus weight was observed in the highest dose group. However, maternal body weight, food consumption, serum biochemical parameters, and oxidant-antioxidant balance in the kidneys were not affected by treatment with MWCNTs. No treatment-related differences in gestational index, embryo-fetal mortality, or fetal and placental weights were observed between treated and control groups. Conclusions: The results show that 14-day repeated oral dosing of MWCNTs during pregnancy induces minimal maternal toxicity at 1000 mg/kg/day in rats. Under these experimental conditions, the no-observed-adverse-effect level of MWCNTs is considered to be 200 mg/kg/day for dams and 1000 mg/kg/day for embryonic development.