• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.80-85
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• 2008

Microsporum gypseum is a geophilic fungus abundant in soil throughout the world. M. gypseum has been identified for the first time in Korea at 1976. The purpose of this study was to investigate epidemiologic aspects of M. gypseum. We performed the epidemiologic study an 198 patients with M. gypseum infections in from January 1976 to December 2005. From 100,012 patients, dermatophytes were isolated as follows; Trichophyton rubrum was isolated from 86,553 (86.5%), T. interdigitale 3,991 (4.0%), Epidermophyton floccosum 1.021 (0.1%), T. tonsurans 141 (0.1%). T. mentagrophytes 3.930 (3.9%), T. verrucosum 220 (0.2%), Microsporum canis 3.879 (3.9%), and M. gypseum 198 (0.2%). Number of patients with M. gypseum by site and age were as follows; most patients infected with tinea corporis were young people under 10 years. M. gypseum were most frequently isolated in summer and autumn.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.520-528
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• 1997

This study was conducted to develop a food frequency questionnaire for an epidemiological study of dietary patterns and nutrient intake among Koeran American. A random sample of 101 Korean Americans between the ages of 17 and 71 residing in New York and New Jersey was interviewed by the method of 24-hour dietary recall. The foods Korean Americans consumed most frequently were rice (91% of the population), kimchee (81%), coffee(59%), bread(49%), apple(45%), bean sprouts (33%), milk (30%), dried anchovies (27%), eggs(27%), juice (26%), bulgogi, and soybean paste soup (24%, equally. The classification of food items standardized portion sizes were according to both Block's questionnaire and the standardized portion sizes by the Korean Nutrition Association. The value of this food frequency questionnaire is that it can accurately estimate dietary food patterns and nutrient intake among Korean Americans for epidemiological studies. It could also potentially be modified to study the relationship between specific diseases and food intake in the future.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.823-827
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• 1971

The auther has made an epidemiological study on the oral examination and oral health in 226 Korea Military Nursing School Students. The following results was obtained: 1. The prevalance rate of dental caries was 71.23%. 2. The prevalance rate of D.M.F. was 45.82%. 3. The tooth health index was 77.87%. 4. The prevalance distribution of dental caries was 63.87% in the mandibular and 36.13% in the maxila. 5. Of examined students, 94.0% was brushing twice per day and 6.0% once per day. 6. Of examined students, 98.2% was using the paste form on dentifrice and tooth brush. 7. Of examined students, 22.1% was ignorant of causes of dental caries.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.57-61
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• 2009

Epidermophyton floccosum was known to be a frequently isolated dermatophyte agent of dermatophytosis in Korea, which regularly responsible for a small percentage of tinea cruris, tinea pedis, tinea corporis and onychomycosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate epidemiologic aspects of E. floccosum isolated in 71 patients from January 1998 to December 2007. The incidence of E. floccosum. was 0.07% out of a total of 107,026 dermatophytosis. The ratio of male to female patients was 6.9:1. Involved tinea were tinea cruris 44 (62.0%), tinea pedis 20 (28.2%), tinea corporis 2 (2.8%), tinea manus 2 (2.8%), tinea unguium 2 (2.8%), tinea faciale 1 (1.4%).

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.202-213
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• 2017

Objectives: HRA (Health Risk Assessment) is an important tool for measuring the health impacts of air pollution. HRA is already being used widely as an important reference for crafting air pollution policies. However, the absence of a domestic CRF (Concentration Response Function) standard, which is a main component for HRA, could cause confusion amongst policy-makers. The purpose of this study is to tabulate a domestic CRF standard for a PM (Particulate Matter)-related HRA. Methods: This study suggested a domestic CRF standard for HRA thorough a literature review. The literature review for meta-analysis was limited to the English language for epidemiological studies published from January 1980 to March 2016. This meta-analysis was conducted by assuming both fixed- and random-effects of CRF. In addition, studies that reported HRA of air pollution for WHO (World Health Organization), the EC (European Commission), and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) were reviewed to compare the CRFs of South Korea to the recommended CRFs of WHO, the EC, or the EPA. Additionally, a domestic CRF standard was supplemented by these. Results: Nineteen studies were selected for the CRF for South Korea. Fifty-three CRFs were derived for meta-analysis. CRFs with a standard for PM-related HRA were divided according to the following four criteria: air pollution, exposure characteristics, type of health impact, and age group. Finally, a domestic CRF standard was created comprised of 21 CRFs. Among these, six CRFs were derived from the results of foreign HRA studies. Conclusions: This study is important in that a domestic CRF standard is first suggested. In addition, this study suggests a further area of study for using HRA as a policy tool and a direction of epidemiological study.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5427-5432
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• 2015

Background: Oral cancer stands among the 10 top causes of cancer death in the world. Considering the role of epidemiologic information on planning and effective interventions, the present study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of oral cancer in Iran. Materials and Methods: The required information for this systematic review study was obtained from PubMed, Google Scholar, CINAHL,SID, Medlib, Magiran and Iranmedex databases, using key words "cancer", "oral cancer", "squamous cell carcinoma", "oral cavity carcinoma" and their Persian equivalents in combination with keywords of epidemiology, prevalence, etiology, frequency, and Iran from 1990 to 2014. From 1,065 related studies found, finally 25 were included to the study. Results: The mean age of 8,248 patients in 25 studies was $54.0{\pm}15.1years$. The male/female ratio for oral cancer was 1.91. Tongue with average percentage of 29.9 was the most involved site. Regarding microscopic grade, 65.7% of cases were grade 1. SCCs, accounting for an average of 70.0%, was the most common among all types of oral cancer. In the majority of studies, smoking including cigarette, hookah, and tobacco consumption was found to be a risk factor. Conclusions: The epidemiological pattern of oral cancer in Iran is somewhat similar to that of other countries. Yet the information on hand in this field is limited and considering the role of epidemiological data we suggest conducting more accurate studies to catch data that is required for effective programs and interventions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.5029-5034
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• 2014

This study aimed to summarize published epidemiological evidence for the relationship between pancreatitis and subsequent risk of pancreatic cancer (PC). We searched Medline and Embase for epidemiological studies published by February $5^{th}$, 2014 examining the risk of PC in pancreatitis patients using highly inclusive algorithms. Information about first author, year of publication, country of study, recruitment period, type of pancreatitis, study design, sample size, source of controls and attained age of subjects were extracted by two researchers and Stata 11.0 was used to perform the statistical analyses and examine publication bias. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with the random effects model. A total of 17 articles documenting 3 cohort and 14 case-control studies containing 14,667 PC cases and 17,587 pancreatitis cases were included in this study. The pooled OR between pancreatitis and PC risk was 7.05 (95%CI: 6.42-7.75). Howeever, the pooled ORs of case-control and cohort studies were 4.62 (95%CI: 4.08-5.22) and 16.3 (95%CI: 14.3-18.6) respectively. The risk of PC was the highest in patients with chronic pancreatitis (pooled OR=10.35; 95%CI: 9.13-11.75), followed by unspecified type of pancreatitis (pooled OR=6.41; 95%CI: 4.93-8.34), both acute and chronic pancreatitis (pooled OR=6.13; 95%CI: 5.00-7.52), and acute pancreatitis (pooled OR=2.12; 95%CI: 1.59-2.83). The pooled OR of PC in pancreatitis cases diagnosed within 1 year was the highest (pooled OR=23.3; 95%CI: 14.0-38.9); and the risk in subjects diagnosed with pancreatitis for no less than 2, 5 and 10 years were 3.03 (95%CI: 2.41-3.81), 2.82 (95%CI: 2.12-3.76) and 2.25 (95%CI: 1.59-3.19) respectively. Pancreatitis, especially chronic pancreatitis, was associated with a significantly increased risk of PC; and the risk decreased with increasing duration since diagnosis of pancreatitis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7149-7152
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• 2014

A large number of epidemiological studies have demonstrated that obesity is a risk factor for several human cancers. Several animal studies using rodents with diet-induced or genetic obesity have also demonstrated that obesity can promote tumor development. However, the effects of obesity on the early stages of carcinogenesis, and especially on the spontaneous occurrence of somatic gene mutations, remain unclear. To investigate the effects of obesity on the rate of spontaneous gene mutations, we performed reporter gene mutation assays in liver, kidney, and colon, organs in which obesity appears to be associated with cancer development on the basis of epidemiological or animal studies, in mice with high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. Six-week-old male and female C57BL/6 gpt delta mice were fed HFD or standard diet (STD) for 13 or 26 weeks. At the end of the experiments, reporter gene mutation assays of liver, kidney, and colon were performed. Final body weights and serum leptin levels of male and female mice fed HFD for 13 or 26 weeks were significantly increased compared with corresponding STD-fed groups. Reporter gene mutation assays of liver, kidney, and colon revealed that there were no significant differences in gpt or $Spi^-$ mutant frequencies between STD- and HFD-fed mice in either the 13-week or 26-week groups. These results indicate that HFD treatment and consequent obesity does not appear to influence the spontaneous occurrence of somatic gene mutations.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 2021

There is a growing body of literature on the adverse health effects of ambient air pollution. Children are more adversely affected by air pollution due to their biological susceptibility and exposure patterns. This review summarized the accumulated epidemiologic evidence with emphasis on studies conducted in Korea and heterogeneity in the literature. Based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses, there is consistent evidence on the association between exposure to ambient air pollution and children's health, especially respiratory health and adverse birth outcomes, and growing evidence on neurodevelopmental outcomes. Despite these existing studies, the mechanism of the adverse health effects of air pollution and the critical window of susceptibility remain unclear. There is also a need to identify causes of heterogeneity between studies in terms of measurement of exposure/outcome, study design, and the differential characteristics of air pollutants and population.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.129-139
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• 2000

Acinetobacter baumannii strains are emerging pathogens of the nosocomial infection with an increasing frequency in recent years. The therapeutic difficulty due to the wide spread of multiple resistant strains was major problem in A. baumannii infection. It seems likely that high frequency of A. baumannii infection will be increasing epidemiological importance in the future. However, the current limited understanding of the epidemiology of A. baumannii infections is caused by lack of a rapid and practical method for the molecular characterization of A. baumannii strains. This study was undertaken to determine molecular types and genetic similarity among A. baumannii strains isolated from four hospitals by RAPD analysis. Eighty-five strains, including 40 from Chunnam University Hospital, 27 from Dankook University Hospital, 15 from Yonsei University Hospital, and 3 from Seonam University Hospital, were classified into three molecular types. Molecular type II was the most common pattern and included 72 strains. All strains from Dankook University Hospital and 40 strains from Chunnam University Hospital belonged to molecular type I or II. A. baumannii strains form Yonsei University Hospital were very distant similarity values. The range of genetic similarity values among 85 strains of A. baumannii was 0.26 to 1.00. Although phenotypes including biotype and antimicrobial resistance pattern of A. baumannii strains were same or very similar to each other, their RAPD patterns were quite different. Typing with phenotypes was found to be less reliable than molecular typing by RAPD analysis. These results suggest that RAPD analysis provides rapid and simple typing method of A. baumannii strains for epidemiological studies. This work is the first epidemiological report of A. baumannii infections in Korea and it is hoped that results of this work may contribute to a better understanding of the clinical importance and epidemiology of A. baumannii strains.