• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.165-172
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• 2002

Collaborative studies have identified some genetic factors contributing to the development of severe forms of malaria and schistosomiasis. In Thailand, the $TNF-{\alpha}{\;}5'-flanking$ region shows biallelic polymorphic sites at nucleotides -238, -308, -857, -863, and -1031, and seven alleles have been identified in patients from Myanmar. We found that the TNF promoter (TNFP)-D allele was significantly associated with cerebral malaria in populations from Karen (P < 0.0001. OR ＝ 124.86) and ethnic Burma (P < 0.0001, OR = 34.50) . In China, we have identified two major genes related to the severity of liver fibrosis, one an HLA class II gene, and the other the IL-13 gene. The frequency of the HLA- DRB5*0101 allele and that of the IL-13 promoter A/A (IL- l3P- A/A) genotype were elevated in fibrotic patients, although the two genes are located on different chromosomes, chromosomes 6p and 5q, respectively Subjects with both genotypes had odds ratios (OR = 24.5) much higher than the sum of the ratios for each individual genotype (OR ＝ 5.1,95% Confidence Interval 1.3-24.7 for HLA-DRB5*0101, OR ＝ 3.1 95% CI 1.5 - 6.5 for IL-l3P-A/A). That the effects of the two susceptibility markers are synergistic rather than additive, strongly suggests that the pathogenic Th2 response directly influences the prognosis of post-schistosomal liver fibrosis.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.501-510
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• 2019

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in children. The global prevalence of pediatric NAFLD from general populations is 7.6%. In obese children, the prevalence is higher in Asia. NAFLD has a strong heritable component based on ethnic difference in the prevalence and clustering within families. Genetic polymorphisms of patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 (PNPLA3), transmembrane 6 superfamily member 2, and glucokinase regulatory protein (GCKR) are associated with the risk of NAFLD in children. Variants of PNPLA3 and GCKR are more common in Asians. Alterations of the gut microbiome might contribute to the pathogenesis of NAFLD. High fructose intake increases the risk of NAFLD. Liver fibrosis is a poor prognostic factor for disease progression to cirrhosis. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy and magnetic resonance proton density fat fraction are more accurate for steatosis quantification than ultrasound. Noninvasive imaging methods to assess liver fibrosis, such as transient elastography, shear-wave elastography, and magnetic resonance elastography are useful in predicting advanced fibrosis, but they need further validation. Longitudinal follow-up studies into adulthood are needed to better understand the natural history of pediatric NAFLD.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.385-395
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• 2022

Purpose: To support implementation of comprehensive, person-centered healthcare, this study aimed to explore immigrant women's public health center (PHC) service experiences and needs while considering Photovoice's feasibility for this purpose. Methods: This qualitative study included 15 marriage-based immigrant women. Participants were recruited from churches and multicultural family support centers using purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected through four focus group interviews and were subjected to inductive content analysis. Results: Five categories of experiences were identified: language barriers, hectic environment, affordable and practical primary healthcare, feeling ignored and discriminated against, and feeling frustrated. In addition, five categories of needs were identified: language assistance services, ease of access, healthcare across the lifespan, expansion of affordable healthcare, and being accepted as they are. This study provides preliminary evidence that the Photovoice approach can facilitate the interview process in a qualitative inquiry involving participants with limited ability to express their perspectives in the researchers' language. Conclusion: Study findings highlight the need to implement institutional policy and procedural changes within PHCs and to provide culturally competent, personcentered care for South Korea's marriage-based immigrant women and other ethnic minority populations. The findings also provide evidence-based direction for PHC service planning.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.299-324
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• 2018

This study analyzes the processes and the needs of public library services for multicultural populations based on cooperation between public libraries and local organizations. In-depth interviews with public librarians and officers of local organizations were conducted for this case study. Result shows that cooperation was inevitable because there was not enough library personnel compared to the amount of services they have to provide, and the librarians did not have proper skills to serve the diverse populations. Public libraries were cooperating with many local organizations including the Multicultural Family Support Center. Gatekeepers of ethnic communities were playing important roles in promoting and inviting participants for library programs. Many children and young adults with immigration background gained positive views on reading and libraries after participating library programs based on cooperation between public libraries and local organizations, which was recognized as the best achievement of cooperation by many interviewees. Despite many good results of cooperation, how to get to the majority of diverse populations who are not library users yet is still a question mark. Interviewees for this study all agreed that current library service has limitations and insisted a whole new method to invite immigrants and their families to public libraries should be created.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2010

We have performed analyses using ancient DNA extracted from 25 excavated human bones, estimating around the 1st century B.C. Ancient human bones were obtained from Nukdo Island, which is located off of the Korean peninsula of East Asia. We made concerted efforts to extract ancient DNA of high quality and to obtain reproducible PCR products, as this was a primary consideration for this extensive kind of undertaking. We performed PCR amplifications for several regions of the mitochondrial DNA, and could determine mitochondrial haplogroups for 21 ancient DNA samples. Genetic information from mitochondrial DNA belonged to super-haplogroup M, haplogroup D or its sub-haplogroups (D4 or D4b), which are distinctively found in East Asians, including Koreans or Japanese. The dendrogram and principal component analysis based on haplogroup frequencies revealed that the Nukdo population was close to those of the East Asians and clearly distinguished from populations shown in the other regions. Considering that Nukdo is geologically isolated in the southern part of the Korean peninsula and is a site of commercial importance with neighboring countries, these results may reflect genetic continuity for the habitation and migration of ethnic groups who had lived in a particular area in the past. Therefore, we suggest that phylogenetic analyses of ancient DNA have significant advantages for clarifying the origins and migrations of ethnic groups, or human races.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.612-622
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• 2017

This paper is about on the most representative ethnic of China Mongolian as the research object, through the questionnaire survey to establish the understanding of national cultural symbol and the system of national identity, and lay a theoretical foundation for the application of Mongolian communication and design in the future. In order to achieve the objectivity of the data, so a questionnaire survey was conducted on 300 populations of Mongolian and other nationalities. The result is that the majority of the Mongolians believe that as the Mongolian people have a sense of pride, and the Mongolian nationality is a representative of china. Mongolian is a kind of aesthetic, creative, reliable, aggressive and like the decoration of the nation. The cultural symbols for design elements are cyan, Gen Gi Khan graphics, agate, and peaceful meaning and so on. The cultural symbols are used for celebration, as well as clothing accessories. The symbol of culture has played a positive role in the establishment of Inner Mongolia identity and the propaganda of the nation. The construction of Mongolian cultural symbol system plays an important role in the establishment of Mongolian national identity. To combine the meaning of nation and the mission of culture with national cultural resources. It is not only to help the development of minority culture, but also to promote the sense of pride of ethnic minorities.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.32-41
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• 2008

Background : Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1), one of the CC chemokines, appears to play a significant role in asthma pathogenesis. It was reported that polymorphism in the MCP-1(-2518 A/G promoter) was associated with asthma in Caucasians, but the association of this polymorphism and asthma patients in the Korean population has not yet been clarified. Objective : We investigated the possible association between 2 polymorphisms (-2518 A/G promoter and Cys35Cys) and asthma patients in a Korean population. Materials and Methods : DNA samples were obtained from 86 Korean asthma patients and 270 healthy controls. MCP-1 genomic variants (-2518 A/G promoter and Cys35Cys polymorphism) were detected by PCR-RFLP. Level of MCP-1 was measured by ELISA for each genotype (n=8) (AA, AG, GG) and allele types of -2518 A/G promoter polymorphism for control subjects. Results : The Cys35Cys polymorphism was associated with asthma patients in Korean population [genotype distribution ($X^{2}=16.011$, P<0.001)]. Comparison of the two groups revealed no detectable differences in genotype and allele frequencies of the -2518 A/G polymorphism. Haplotype frequencies analysis revealed significant difference $(X^{2}=51.70$, P<0.001). MCP-1 serum level of subjects with G genotype of -2518 A/G promoter polymorphism was statistically higher than that with AA genotype (P<0.05). Conclusion : Our data indicate that no association exists between the MCP-1 -2518 A/G polymorphism and asthma susceptibility in the Korean population. However, it is noteworthy that the high prevalence of the -2518 G allele in the Korean population suggests a potentially important ethnic variation in the regulation of MCP-1 production. This variation must be considered in gene-association studies in different ethnic populations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2269-2272
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• 2013

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) degrade various components of the extracellular matrix and functional polymorphisms in encoding genes may contribute to genetic susceptibility to many cancers. Up to now, associations between MMP-7 (-181A>G) and digestive system cancer risk have remained inconclusive. To better understand the role of the MMP-7 (-181A>G) genotype in digestive cancer development, we conducted this comprehensive meta-analysis encompassing 3,518 cases and 4,596 controls. Overall, the MMP-7 (-181A>G) polymorphism was associated with higher digestive system cancer risk on homozygote comparison (GG vs. AA, OR=1.21, 95% CI = 1.12-1.60) and in a dominant model (GG/GA vs. AA, OR=1.16, 95% CI =1.03-1.46). On subgroup analysis, this polymorphism was significantly linked to higher risks for gastric cancer (GG vs. AA, OR=1.22, 95% CI = 1.02-1.46; GA vs. AA, OR=1.82, 95% CI =1.16-2.87; GG/GA vs. AA, OR=1.13, 95% CI =1.01-1.27; GG vs. GA/AA, OR= 1.25, 95% CI = 1.06-2.39. We also observed increased susceptibility to colorectal cancer and esophageal SCC in both homozygote (OR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.06-1.26) and heterozygote comparisons (OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.11-1.91). In the stratified analysis by controls, significant effects were only observed in population-based studies (GA vs. AA, OR=1.16, 95% CI=1.08-1.50; GA/AA vs. GG, OR=1.10, 95% CI=1.01-1.72). According to the source of ethnicity, a significantly increased risk was found among Asian populations in the homozygote model (GG vs. AA, OR=1.40, 95% CI=1.12-1.69), heterozygote model (GA vs. AA, OR=1.26, 95% CI=1.02-1.51), and dominant model (GG/GA vs. AA, OR=1.18, 95% CI=1.08-1.55). Our findings suggest that the MMP-7 (-181A>G) polymorphism may be a risk factor for digestive system cancer, especially among Asian populations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5875-5878
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• 2012

Background: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma ($PPAR{\gamma}$) is a ligand dependent transcription factor involved in various processes, including carcinogenesis. We aimed to investigate any possible association of the $PPAR{\gamma}$ Pro12Ala (rs1801282) polymorphism with risk of developing gastric cancer (GC). Patients and Methods: A hospital based case control study was designed covering 50 patients with GC and 120 healthy controls. The frequencies of $PPAR{\gamma}$ Pro12Ala (rs1801282) were determined using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay. Results: The Ala12 allele of the $PPAR{\gamma}$ Pro12Ala G gene was associated with a 1.95 fold increased risk of GC development (p: 0.022; 95% CI: 1.58-2.40). Subgroup analyses showed that the same allele was also associated with metastasis (p: 0.000; OR:4.09; 95%CI:2.273-7.368) and differentiation (p: 0.004; OR:1.95; 95%CI:1.335-2.875) in patients with GC. Conclusion: This study suggests that the $PPAR{\gamma}$ Pro12Ala G (Ala12) allele might be associated with development, differentiation and metastatic process of GC in the Turkish population. Further studies conducted in larger study groups and in different ethnic populations will be needed to clarify the exact role of the $PPAR{\gamma}$ Pro12Ala polymorphism in GC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2605-2610
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• 2012

Background: Studies investigating the association of 2R/3R polymorphism in the thymidylate synthase 5'-untranslated enhanced region (TSER) and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk have reported conflicting results. Thus, a meta-analysis was performed to summarize the data on the potential association. Methods: Pubmed, Embase and CBM databases were searched for all available studies. Links between the TSER 2R/3R polymorphism and CRC risk were estimated by odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Seven case-control studies with a total of 2723 cases and 4030 controls were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed that the 3R variant of TSER 2R/3R polymorphism contributes to CRC risk in two comparison models (OR 3R vs. 2R =1.10, 95%CI 1.02-1.18, P = 0.015; OR Homozygote comparison model = 1.22 1.04-1.43, 95%CI 1.04-1.43, P = 0.012). Subgroup analyses by ethnicity further demonstrated a contribution in Caucasians with three comparison models (OR 3R vs. 2R = 1.10, 95%CI 1.02-1.19, P = 0.015; OR Homozygote comparison model = 1.21, 95%CI 1.03-1.41, P = 0.019; OR Recessive comparison model = 1.18, 95%CI 1.05-1.33, P = 0.008). However, the association in the Asian population was still uncertain due to the limited data (all P values were more than 0.05). Conclusions: Our meta-analysis suggests that the 3R variant of Thymidylate synthase 5'-untranslated enhanced region 2R/3R polymorphism contributes to gastric cancer risk in the Caucasian population, while any association in Asian populations needs further study.