• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.400-403
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: By the year 2050, thirty-eight percent of the Korean population will be over the age of 65. Health care costs for Koreans over age 65 reached 15.4 trillion Korean won in 2011, accounting for a third of the total health care costs for the population. Chronic degenerative diseases, including coronary heart disease (CHD), drive long-term health care costs at an alarming annual rate. In the elderly population, loss of independence is one of the main reasons for this increase in health care costs. Korean heath policies place a high priority on the prevention of CHD because it is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This evidence-based study aims to the estimate potential health care cost savings resulting from the daily intake of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation. Potential cost savings associated with a reduced risk of CHD and the medical costs potentially avoided through risk reduction, including hospitalizations and physician services, were estimated using a Congressional Budget Office cost accounting methodology. RESULTS: The estimate of the seven-year (2005-2011) net savings in medical costs resulting from a reduction in the incidence of CHD among the elderly population through the daily use of omega-3 fatty acids was approximately 210 billion Korean won. Approximately 92,997 hospitalizations due to CHD could be avoided over the seven years. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that omega-3 supplementation in older individuals may yield substantial cost-savings by reducing the risk of CHD. It should be noted that additional health and cost benefits need to be revisited and re-evaluated as more is known about possible data sources or as new data become available.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.316-323
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• 2014

We previously identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) for body weight and average daily gain in a common region between ADL0198 (chr 1: 171.7 Mb) and ABR0287 (chr 1: 173.4 Mb) on chicken chromosome 1 in an $F_2$ resource population produced by crossing low- and high-growth lines of the Hinai-dori breed. Motilin receptor (MLNR) is a candidate gene affecting growth traits in the region. In this study, we genotyped polymorphisms of the MLNR gene and investigated its association with growth traits in a Hinai-dori $F_2$ intercross population. All the exons of the MLNR gene in the parental population were subjected to PCR amplification, nucleotide sequenced and haplotypes identified. To distinguish resultant diplotype individuals in the $F_2$ population, a mismatch amplification mutation assay was performed. Three haplotypes (Haplotypes 1-3) were accordingly identified. Six genotypes produced by the combination of three haplotypes (Haplotype 1, 2, and 3) were examined in order to identify associations between MLNR haplotypes and growth traits. The data showed that Haplotype 1 was superior to Haplotype 2 and 3 in body weight at 10 and 14 weeks of age, average daily gain between 4 and 10 weeks, 10 and 14 weeks, and 0 and 14 weeks of age in female in $F_2$ females. It was concluded that MLNR is a useful marker of growth traits and could be used to develop strategies for improving growth traits in the Hinai-dori breed.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.13-26
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• 1975

Seven aspects of attitude toward marriage in Korea are examined to better understand present and future marriage patterns. Also, various facets of current marriage practice are compared with attitudes. The study comprises three groups of roughly 600 women each, selected by random sampling from a rural, an urban, and a semi-urban area. A carefully designed and pretested questionnaire was checked for reliability by a reinterview in a 15% subsample. The great majority of Korean women support traditional attitudes that one must or should marry. The small group who recommend that one should not marry are mostly the very young or the never married, whose attitudes still may change. However, there are important and probably predictive shifts in favor of more individual decision, especially among the better educated, the young, and the more urban. Traditional reasons for marriage such as "custom" and procreation are ranked first by a majority, but there is a large shift to more contemporary or liberal desire for companionship and love, also primarily among the better educated, the urban, the young, and the never married. The traditional attitude that parents should have the sole or major role in mate selection is still held by a bare majority; the educated, urban, young, and never married are more liberal. Only 6% opt for each of the two extremes: That the parent alone or the respondent alone should decide. The remainder prefer one of the two middle-of-the-road positions where parent and child together decide. The proportions of respondents who classed specified criteria as moat important for selecting a husband, arranging the criteria in order from traditional to contemporary were: Lineage, etc., 23%; personal attributes, 40%; health and education, 27%; and love, 10%. The changing attitudes are suggested by the fact that love was ranked first by only 3% of the poorly educated rural poulation versus 23% of urban college level and 31% of the urban never married. There has been a substantial rise in the ideal age of marriage over the past twelve or more years, but there also is evidence that the ideal age is at or near a ceiling. Knowledge about legal age of marriage is minimal; the implications of this for proposed legislation are discussed. Three-fifthes to four-fifths of all respondents married husbands of the same religious, residential, and economic backgrounds as themselves. Almost all of them married men of the same or higher educational level. These evidences of traditional influences in mate selection are contrasted with the low priority given some of those items in earlier questions on reasons for marriage and criterion for selecting husband. Contrary to the expressed attitudes as to who should select the husband, we find that marriages of the study sample were stated to be arranged by parents alone in 62%; and in another 23%, the parents made the decision but asked the respondent's views. Such arrangements were most frequent among the rural, the less educated, and the older respondents and less common in the urban and more educated. The implications of these and related findings are discussed.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.112-117
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• 2019

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the thickness of the roof of the glenoid fossa (RGF) in Korean adult population without symptoms of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Methods: CBCT Data from 111 Korean adult patients aged ${\geq}25years$ (55 males and 56 females) without signs and symptoms of TMD were analyzed retrospectively in this study. The thickness of the RGF was determined as the perpendicular distance between the 'glenoid fossa line' and 'middle cranial fossa line' on parasagittal and paracoronal reconstructions, respectively. The thickness of the RGF according to sex and age was analyzed using t-tests (p<0.05). Differences were also examined between the right and left sides, and between the paracoronal and parasagittal sides. Results: The mean thickness of the RGF in all subjects was $0.75{\pm}0.39mm$; there was no significant difference in thickness between male ($0.78{\pm}0.36mm$) and female ($0.72{\pm}0.30mm$). We found no correlation between age and the mean thickness of the RGF, when age was grouped by decade. However, when subjects were divided into >40 years and ${\leq}40years$ age groups, the thickness of the RGF was significantly different between the groups. Conclusions: We found that the thickness of the RGF did not differ by sex, but might be affected by aging. Further studies with larger numbers of subjects are needed to confirm the results of this study.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.213-223
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• 2015

Objectives : Seventh-day Adventists is well known to place a strong doctrinal emphasis on healthy life style that do not consume tobacco, alcohol or pork, and many adhere to a lacto-ovo-vegetarian lifestyle. This study aimed to investigate the difference of mortality between Korean Seventh-day Adventists and the general Korean population. Methods : We got 592 mortality data of Adventist cemetery in Seoul city and Kyunggi provincce of Korea, which contains information on causes of death for 2000-2004. Also we used mortality data of the general Korean population in Korea National Statistics Office for 2000-2004. Results : The mean age at death was 70.45 in Korean Adventists, 65.63 in the general Korean population. Higher neoplasm cause of death, such as of stomach, liver and breast, were observed in Korean Adventists than the general population. The death cause of injury, poisoning and external causes, and cerebrovascular disease were higher in the general population than Korean Adventists. The death cause of stomach cancer was lower in Korean Adventists who had above 10 years religious period than general population above age 50 years. In male, the death cause of lung cancer was lower in Korean Adventists than the general population. Conclusions : The results point to the importance of healthy life-style in Korean peoples, and indicate that lifestyle changes in the population might change the causes of death.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.216-223
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• 2018

Objective: This study is performed to investigate the trend of health care (HC) utilization among cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) during 2007-2016 by using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service (KNHIS). Methods: The KNHIS data were reorganized to count a specific patient only once for a specific year. Cleft type (cleft lip [CL], cleft palate [CP], and cleft lip and palate [CLP]), sex, and age at HC utilization were investigated. The study period was divided into the first half (2007-2011) and the last half (2012-2016). The utilization number and rate per 1,000 population were calculated for the total population and for new-born patients. Independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance were used for statistical analyses. Results: The total CL/P population (n = 48,707) comprised 19.2% CLP, 35.5% CL, and 45.3% CP (CLP < CL < CP; p < 0.001). Their HC utilization rate increased from 0.066 in 2007 to 0.118 in 2016. The new-born patient population (n = 7,617) comprised 18.6% CLP, 30.4% CL, and 51.0% CP (CLP < CL < CP; p < 0.001). Their HC utilization rate increased from 1.12 in 2007 to 1.74 in 2016. An examination of the utilization number and rate among new-born patients revealed CP exhibited a female-dominant pattern (all p < 0.01), while CL and CLP exhibited a male-dominant pattern (all p < 0.01). However, utilization number showed no difference by sex and cleft type between 2007-2011 and 2012-2016. Conclusions: These results might serve as a guideline for HC utilization among patients with CL/P.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.91-99
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• 2017

Objectives: As in many low-income and middle-income countries, out-of-pocket (OOP) payments by patients or their families are a key healthcare financing mechanism in Bangladesh that leads to economic burdens for households. The objective of this study was to identify whether and to what extent socioeconomic, demographic, and behavioral factors of the population had an impact on OOP expenditures in Bangladesh. Methods: A total of 12 400 patients who had paid to receive any type of healthcare services within the previous 30 days were analyzed from the Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey data, 2010. We employed regression analysis for identify factors influencing OOP health expenditures using the ordinary least square method. Results: The mean total OOP healthcare expenditures was US dollar (USD) 27.66; while, the cost of medicines (USD 16.98) was the highest cost driver (61% of total OOP healthcare expenditure). In addition, this study identified age, sex, marital status, place of residence, and family wealth as significant factors associated with higher OOP healthcare expenditures. In contrary, unemployment and not receiving financial social benefits were inversely associated with OOP expenditures. Conclusions: The findings of this study can help decision-makers by clarifying the determinants of OOP, discussing the mechanisms driving these determinants, and there by underscoring the need to develop policy options for building stronger financial protection mechanisms. The government should consider devoting more resources to providing free or subsidized care. In parallel with government action, the development of other prudential and sustainable risk-pooling mechanisms may help attract enthusiastic subscribers to community-based health insurance schemes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.2945-2950
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• 2014

Background: This study compared risk factors for depression and suicidal ideas among cancer patients for comparison with the general population, and identified influencing factors. Materials and Methods: We analyzed data from 2,472 cancer patients in the National Cancer Center and nine Regional Cancer Centers and frequency-matched data for age and sex from 2,349 members of the general population who completed the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2008. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors affecting depression and suicidal ideas. Results: Cancer patients were not likely to have more depression (OR=0.96, 95%CI=0.79-1.18) and were less likely to have suicidal ideas (OR=0.64, 95%CI=0.53-0.79) compared to the general population. Female sex, more stress, and lower quality of life were influencing factors. The additional risk factors for suicidal ideas among cancer patients included income (OR=0.62, 95%CI=0.43-0.91), smoking (OR=1.63, 95% CI=1.06-2.50), recurrence (OR=1.50, 95%CI=1.15-1.95), and chemotherapy (OR=1.66, 95%CI=1.26-2.19). Conclusions: No differences appeared in depression rates between cancer patients and the general population, and cancer patients were less likely to have suicidal ideas. However, cancer patients were likely to have more risk factors than the general population, and those classified as being at high risk of suicide should receive distress management and social economic support, from early in the treatment process.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.287-291
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for growth and carcass quality traits on BTA6 in a population of Hanwoo cattle. Three hundred and sixty one steers were produced from 39 sires that were sired by 17 grandsires in the two Hanwoo farming branches of the National Livestock Research Institute of Korea, between Spring 2000 and Fall 2002. DNA samples were collected for all of the steers, sires and grandsires, and the phenotypes for six growth and carcass quality traits were measured at 24 months of age. Twelve microsatellite markers were chosen on BTA6 and a linkage map was constructed by using seven of the twelve markers. Then, a chromosome-wide QTL scan was performed by applying an Animal Model, in which effects of QTL alleles within the grand sires were fitted as a random term. Three QTL were detected at the 5% chromosome-wise level for backfat thickness, average daily gain, and final weight. The most likely positions for the QTL were in the proximal region, i.e. 0 cM, 35 cM, and 63 cM, respectively. Also, another QTL for longissimus dorsi muscle area was detected at the 10% chromosome-wise level at 67 cM. These results were, in general, consistent with our previous report, in which candidate gene analyses showed that a SNP near ILSTS035 flanked by BM4621 (62.5 cM) and BMS2460 (81.3 cM) was associated with final weight, carcass weight, average daily gain, and longissimus dorsi muscle area in the same Hanwoo population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5299-5303
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• 2014

Background: To explore etiology for providing scientific clues for the prevention of lung cancer. Materials and Methods: Data for lung cancer incidence and meteorological geographic factors from 25 counties in Zhejiang province of China during 2011 were studied. Stepwise multiple regression and correlation analysis were performed to analyze the geographic distribution and epidemiology of lung cancer. Results: 8,291 new cases (5,998 in males and 2,293 females) of lung cancer during 2011 in Zhejiang province were reported in the 25 studied counties. Reported and standardized incidence rates for lung cancer were 58.0 and 47.0 per 100,000 population, respectively. The incidence of lung cancer increased with age. Geographic distribution analysis shows that the standardized incidence rates of lung cancer in northeastern Zhejiang province were higher than in the southwestern part, such as in Nanhu, Fuyang, Wuxing and Yuyao counties, where the rates were more than 50 per 100,000 population. In the southwestern Zhejiang province, for instance, in Yueqing, Xianju and Jiande counties, the standardized incidence rates of lung cancer were lower than 37 per 100,000 population. Spearman correlation tests showed that forest coverage rate, air quality index (AQI), and annual precipitation level are associated with the incidence of lung cancer. Conclusions: Lung cancer in Zhejiang province shows obvious regional differences. High incidence appears associated with low forest coverage rate, poor air quality and low annual precipitation. Therefore, increasing the forest coverage rate and controlling air pollution may play an important role in lung cancer prevention.