• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.102-112
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• 2024

Purpose: To identify the epidemiological characteristics and risk factors of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) outbreaks depending on the type of educational facility by analyzing the COVID-19 cluster associated with educational facilities. Methods: This study is based on epidemiological investigation of COVID-19 cluster in Gangwon-do, Korea from December 10, 2020 to September 23, 2021 reported to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Integrated Disease and Health Management System. Four hundred seven patients in 19 facilities, classified as cluster related to educational facilities, were the study population. The result of preliminary epidemiology survey report, in-depth epidemiological survey by phone and the result of risk assessment derived from the field epidemiology investigation were retrospectively analyzed to evaluate infectivity and the characteristics of the risk factors. Results: There were total of 407 confirmed patients related to 19 educational facilities, with 204 students under the age of 19 (50.1%). One hundred fifty-five preceding spreaders were from families (38.1%) and 125 were the teachers (30.7%). The place exposed to confirmed patients was the highest with 139 people (34.2%) at home. Conclusions: It was confirmed that the cause of the occurrence of clusters related to educational facilities was higher due to family transmission than the risk of facilities in schools. Nevertheless, continuous efforts should be made to control infection in educational facilities, and that teachers' implementation of principles for prevention of COVID-19 personal hygiene in their daily lives should be strengthened.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.29-39
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• 2023

In this study, an analysis of medical waste generation characteristics was conducted, differentiating between ordinary situation and the outbreaks of massive infectious diseases. During ordinary situation, prediction models for medical waste quantities by type, general medical waste(G-MW), hazardous medical waste(H-MW), infectious medical waste(I-MW), were established through regression analysis, with all significance values (p) being <0.0001, indicating statistical significance. The determination coefficient(R2) values for prediction models of each category were analyzed as follows : I-MW(R2=0.9943) > G-MW(R2=0.9817) > H-MW(R2=0.9310). Additionally, factors such as GDP(G-MW), the number of medical institutions (H-MW), and the elderly population ratio(I-MW), utilized as influencing factors and consistent with previous literature, showed high correlations. The total MW generation, evaluated by combining each model, had an MAE of 2,615 and RMSE of 3,353. This indicated accuracy levels similar to the medical waste models of H-MW(2,491, 2,890) and I-MW(2,291, 3,267). Due to limitations in accurately estimating the quantity of medical waste during the rapid and outbreaks of massive infectious diseases, the generation unit of I-MW was derived to analyze its characteristics. During the early unstable stage of infectious disease outbreaks, the generation unit was 8.74 kg/capita·day, 2.69 kg/capita·day during the stable stage, and an average of 0.08 kg/capita·day during the reduction stage. Correlation analysis between generation unit of I-MW and lethality rates showed +0.99 in the unstable stage, +0.52 in the stable stage, and +0.96 in the reduction period, demonstrating a very high positive correlation of +0.95 or higher throughout the entire outbreaks of massive infectious diseases. The results derived from this study are expected to play a useful role in establishing an effective medical waste management system in the field of health care.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.66-78
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• 2014

Objectives : The specificity of acupuncture point has been a highly controversial subject. Existing researches said that ion-distribution differences are observed on the acupuncture point. This study was conducted under the assumption that multiple ionic changes induced by muscle fatigue would be different between the acupuncture point with non-acupuncture point. Methods : To induce the identical fatigue, twenty subjects performed the knee extension/flexion exercise using the Biodex System 3. ST32 and ST33 as well as adjacent non-acupuncture points were selected. We measured blood lactate and analyzed the median frequency(MF) and peak torque. To obtain the information on the extracellular fluid(ECW), intracellular fluid(ICW) and cell membrane indirectly, we used the multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis(MF-BIA) method. Results : MF, peak torque and blood lactate level of all measurement sites were gradually returned to normal. Re resistance of ST32 had a stronger response, but a non-acupuncture point adjacent to ST33 had a larger response up to 20 minutes post exercise. Ri resistances were similar for both acupoints and non-acupoints. The $C_m$ capacitance of ST32 had a stronger response after inducing fatigue, but ST33 had a smaller response than a non-acupuncture point adjacent to it. Conclusions : In comparison with before and after inducing fatigue, the specificity of acupuncture points was not clearly observed. Hence, we concluded that the body composition factors extraction method had the limitation as a method of finding the specificity of acupuncture points by inducing fatigue.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.134-144
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• 2008

Purpose : This study aimed to investigate body shape perception, weight control behaviors and eating habits of adolescent girls in urban, suburban and rural areas of Korea to obtain basis for establishing adequate weight control program for adolescent. Methods : From May 2002 to November 2002, a cross-sectional questionnaire survey and physical examination were conducted to examine body shape perception, weight control behaviors, eating habits and health status of 2,891 adolescent girls and 891 boys in Seoul, Ansan and Paju. Results : The proportion of underweight adolescent girl was decreased in rural area than in urban area. 46.3% of girls considered themselves to be somehow or very obese. Notably 3.2% of underweight girls considered themselves obese. 57.9% were unsatisfied with their own body shape. The proportion of dissatisfaction increased with age and body mass index (BMI), but there were no differences among area. The experiences of weight control increased by age, BMI and dissatisfaction of own body shape. The eating attitudes test-26 (EAT-26) score of girls was significantly higher than that of boys. The girls with high risk of eating disorder were 10.9%. And risk factors of eating disorder were living in urban area, severe stress for weight control excessive expenditure for appearance and think themselves unhealthy. Conclusion : The findings of this study demonstrate that there were serious impairment of body shape perception of adolescent girls and unhealthy, inadequate weight control behaviors were widely done. Therefore adequate weight control program for adolescent girl should be established promptly.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.212-228
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• 2001

This is a cross-sectional descriptive correlation study that aimed to understand the relationship between the level of sexual contacts during the dates and psycho-social factors in teenage girls who have or had boyfriends. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between sexual contacts and self-esteem and self- assertiveness. The subjects of the study were 6,130 teenage girls who have or had boyfriends. They were selected convienently 12,733 teenage girls from 254 secondary schools located in 7 large cities and 9 provinces in Korea. A structured questionaire was used it included items one general characteristics, the levels of sexual contacts, self-esteem and self-assertiveness. Seven levels of sexual contacts were rated they were holding a hand, putting arms around each other's shoulders, kiss, french kiss, touching breast, petting genitalia, and sexual intercourse during the dates. Self-esteem and self-assertiveness were measured by the "Self-esteem scale" of Rogenberg (1971) and the questionaires developed by S. B. Chang et al(2000), respectively. The self-reported questionaires were collected from October 2, to October 28, 2000 and analyzed by using SPSS 10.0 Program. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, reliability, One-way ANOVA with Duncan method & Scheffe method. The results of the analysis were as follows. 1.An average Percentage of the respondents who have (46.1%) or had (53.9%) boyfriends was 48.1% (n=6,130) and the most common sexual contact during the dates was french kiss (26.7%, n=1,634). While 7.5%(458) of respondents had a sexual intercourse, 13.7%(842) of respondents didn't have any sexual contact during the dates. 2. Distribution of starting point of the first sexual contact demonstrates that 1,950 respondents (31.8%) held partner's hand at the first date and 1,367 respondents (22.3%) put arms around each other's shoulders at the 2nd or 3rd date. Sexual contacts such as kiss, french kiss, touching breast, petting genitalia, or sexual intercourse were experienced mostly at the later than the 10th date. However, surprisingly large number(1.7%) of respondents had genital contact and sexual intercourses at the first date. 3. The means of self-esteem and self-assertiveness socres of the respondents who have or had boyfriends are 27.43$({\pm}4.03)$ and 17.96$({\pm}2.55)$, respectively. The range of scores for self esteem was 10-40, 40 with most self esteem. The range of scores for self assertiveness was 7-21, 21 with most self assertiveness. 4. As sexual contacts proceeded, the means of self-esteem and self-assertiveness values decreased. In detail, the respondents having no or light sexual contacts (kiss, putting arms around each other's shoulder, holding a hand) had similar self-esteem values($p{\leq}0.05$). However, ones having relatively intensive sexual contacts (french kiss, touching breast) showed significantly lower self-esteem values($p{\leq}0.05$). Same trend has been obtained for self-assertiveness value. 5. The higher values of self-esteem and self-assertiveness values the respondents had, the later they started the moderate sexual contact (kiss, french kiss) during the dates. Interestingly, among the respondents having intensive sexual contacts (petting genitalia, sexual intercourse) during the dates, those who experienced the such contacts at the first date or later than 10th date have higher self-esteem and self-assertiveness values than one experienced the such contacts during the 2nd$\sim$9th dates, giving U-shape curve. 6. There was a significant relationship between self-esteem and self-assertiveness in girls who have or had boyfriends($P{\leq}.001$). In conclusion, the research shows that self-esteem and self-assertiveness values are significantly related with the sexual contacts of the teenage girls who have or had boyfriends. These results strongly suggest that proper sex education program for teenage girls should contain the program on improving the self-esteem and self-assertiveness. We believe that sex education program is the one of the best ways to prevent the unwanted sexual contacts and pregnancy of teenage girls.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.11-24
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• 1988

The purpose of this study was to determine the concentration of cadmium, nickel and chromium in the air of the work-place, blood of and urine of workers and compare the level of those heavy metals by the duration of work, work-place, process of work, smoking and other factors. In this study, 48 male dental laboratory technicans and 72 office workers as the control group were subjected. The concentration of cadmium, nickel and chromium in their blood sand urine, and that of heavy metals in the air of their work-rooms were examined and analyzed from June I 1987 to September 30, 1987. The results were as follows : 1. The concentration of cadmium in the air was the highest in the porcelain part, $0.0087{\pm}0.0016mg/m^3$, that of nickel was the highest in the crown bridge part, $0.4253{\pm}0.0052mg/m^3$, and that of chrnmium was highest in the partial denture part, $0.1063{\pm}0.0024mg/m^3$. 2. cadmium, nickel and chromium concentrations in the blood and urine of dental laboratory techincians were higher that in the office workers'. Especially the concentration of cadmium in the blood($1.92{\pm}1.23{\mu}g$/100ml) of th dental laboratory techician was about two times as high as that in the office workers'($0.90{\pm}0.73{\mu}g$/100ml), and the concentration of nickel in the urine($48.53{\pm}38.83{\mu}g$/e) of the dental laboratory thchnician was about two times as high as that in the office worker's($20.24{\pm}15.35{\mu}g$/e). 3. there was no difference in the concentration of cadmium, nickel and chromium in the blood and urine with a longer duration of work. 4. The concentration of cadmium and chromium in the blood and urine differed significantly depending upon the place of work. The concentration of cadmium was the highest in the blood of dental laboratory technicians working kin the poreclain part marking at $2.53{\pm}1.08{\mu}g$/100ml. The chromium level was the heighest in the blood of partial denture park workers with a concentration of $3.60{\pm}1.02{\mu}g$/100ml. Concerning the level of cadmium in urine, it was the highest in the porcelain part workers with a concentration of $3.41{\pm}3.15{\mu}g$/e. 5. The concentration of cadmium in the urine of metal trimming and polishing group($2.64{\pm}2.41{\mu}g$/e) was higher than that of non-metal trimming and polishing group($1.39{\pm}1.18{\mu}g$/e). 6. The concentration of chromium in the blood of smoking group($2.46{\pm}1.54{\mu}g$/100ml)was higher than that lf non-smoking group($1.54{\pm}1.25{\mu}g$/100ml). 7. The height positive correlation coefficient was shown between the concentration of nickel and chromium in the blood among the all correlations between 3metals(Cd, Ni, Cr) in the blood and those in urine. The correlation coefficient was relatively high(r=0.605,,p<0.01). In general, the higher the concentration of heavy metals in the air of work places the higher the concention lf them in the blood and urine of workers, mere attention should be paid to the working environment of dental laboratory workers, Furthermore, continuous biological monitoring and further research are required for an efficient health management for dental laboratory workers.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.21-34
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• 2014

This study examined the levels of recognition, knowledge, and intake behavior of foods containing caffeine and analyzed the factors affecting amount of caffeine intake to get basic materials for development of educational program for proper intake behavior of foods containing caffeine of high school students in Gyeongbuk region. Of 300 questionnaires that were distributed on December 27, 2013 to February 14, 2014, 255 responses were used for analysis. Frequency distributions, Cronbach's ${\alpha}$, t tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation analysis, and regression analysis were conducted by SPSS Windows V.21.0. The mean of the level of concern about foods containing caffeine was 2.76/5.00 points; male and second and third grade students showed lower concern level than female and first grade students. The respondents answered that intake of foods containing caffeine had somewhat harmful effect on health, but it did not much help to refresh and increase concentration. The mean for the percentage of correct answers about knowledge of caffeine was 54.3. Small number of the respondents were advised to reduce intake of caffeine from school teachers or parents. The average of caffeine intake amount was 71.67mg/day; the average for male was 78.98mg/day, whereas for female 61.23mg/day. Almost thirteen percentage of the respondents took caffeine over RDA(Recommended Daily Allowance). According to the result of regression analysis for amount of caffeine intake, grade, BMI, concern about health, perception of whether foods containing caffeine help with refreshment and increase of concentration or not, and experiences of having advice from school teachers to decrease caffeine intake were significant. These results imply that it is necessary for high school students to educate how to take caffeine properly.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2010

The subjects of this study were patients at scaling practice, the total number of the subjects was 249 of 138 men and 111 women. The results were analyzed using SPSS 12.0. 1. In oral health care, among tooth brushing methods, scrub method was found to be 65.9%(164 patients), and 83.9%(209 patients) did not use oral care aids. 2. Mean calculus index was $0.57{\pm}0.22$. 3. For calculus index per tooth brushing method, there was statistically significant difference in all of the upper jaw, the lower jaw, the anterior portion, and the posterior portion(p < 0.05). 4. For calculus index per frequency of tooth brushing, there was statistically significant difference in the upper jaw, the lower jaw, and the posterior portion(p < 0.05). 5. For calculus index per time of tooth brushing and per use of oral care aids, there was statistically significant difference in all of the upper jaw, the lower jaw, the anterior portion, and the posterior portion(p < 0.05). 6. For factors influencing calculus index, as a result of applying stepwise method based on 0.05 of significance level, age, use of oral care aids, sex, and time of tooth brushing were found to influence calculus index. Final regression model was calculus index = $0.362^*age+0.216^*$use of oral care aids - $0.161*sex-0.127^*$time of tooth brushing, and explanatory power of the model was 23.4%. $0.362^*age+0.216^*$use of oral care aids - $0.161^*sex-0.127^*$time of tooth brushing, and explanatory power of the model was 23.4%.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.337-349
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• 2015

This study has focused on investigation of correlation for As and heavy metals in paddy soil and rice crops sampled in the vicinity of the abandoned Munmyung Au-Ag mine. Soil samples extracted by various methods including aqua regia, 1 M $MgCl_2$, 0.01 M $CaCl_2$ and 0.05 M EDTA were analyzed for As and heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn). Rice grain samples grown on the soils were also analyzed for the same elements to evaluate the relationships between soils and rice crops. According to soil extraction methods, As and heavy metal contents in the soils were decreased in the order of aqua regia > 0.01 M $CaCl_2$ > 1 M $MgCl_2$ > 0.05 M EDTA. In addition to correlation analysis, statistically significant correlation with the four extraction methods (p<0.01) were found in the soil and rice samples. As calculation of biological accumulation coefficients (BACs) of the rice crops for As and heavy metals, the BACs for Cd, Zn and Cu were relatively higher than those for As and Pb. This study also carried out a stepwise multiple linear regression analysis to identify the dominant factors influencing metal extraction rates of the paddy soils. Furthermore, daily intakes of As and heavy metals from regularly consumed the rice grain (287 g/day) grown on the contaminated soils by the mining activities were estimated, and found that Cd and As intakes from the rice reached up to 73.7% and 51.8% for maximum allowance levels of trace elements suggested by WHO, respectively. Therefore, long-term consumption of the rice poses potential health problems to residents around the mine, although no adverse health effects have yet been observed.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2012

Objectives: To survey the awareness of patient to scrub typhus to provide data for education and communication concerning scrub typhus. Methods: Patients with scrub typhus (case group, n=299) and people without scrub typhus within the previous 2 years (control group, n=598) were matched for age (within 5 years), gender, and occupation (farmer or non-farmer). The participants were recruited from 15 study areas between October and December 2006. Results: The awareness rate of scrub typhus was 75.1%, and was significantly higher than in the case group (79.4% vs. 66.6%, respectively; p<0.01). The major routes of awareness were from 'past history of scrub typhus in family members or neighbors' (54.9%), 'television' (28.3%), and their past history of scrub typhus (5.5%). The average correct rate of scrub typhus was 48.4%, and the correct response rate of cases was significantly higher than controls (p<0.01). Especially, the correct rate of etiology, incubation period, route of transmission, and acquired immunity was <40%. Through conditional logistic regression test, the factor significantly associated with awareness in case group was age (odds ratio [OR], 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94-0.98). And the factors associated with awareness in control group were female (OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.03-2.36) age (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-0.99), family history of scrub typhus (OR, 10.18; 95% CI, 1.37-75.99), history of receiving prevention education (OR, 8.47; 95% CI, 1.14-63.00). Conclusions: The rate of awareness was relatively low in study population. Thus, effective working guidelines and educational program to prevent scrub typhus must be developed, and publicity activities about the prevention of scrub typhus are needed for high-risk groups.