• Journal of The Korean Ophthalmological Society
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• v.59 no.11
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• pp.1049-1055
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• 2018

Purpose: To investigate the factors associated with glaucoma in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome by comparing features of the anterior segments and ocular biometry according to the presence or absence of open-angle glaucoma in pseudoexfoliation syndrome. Methods: We analyzed 96 patients (115 eyes) diagnosed as having pseudoexfoliation syndrome in this study. The patients were divided into two groups of simple pseudoexfoliation syndrome (64 patients, 76 eyes) and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (32 patients, 39 eyes). We compared the age, sex, underlying disease, location of pseudoexfoliative material, iris change, degree of nuclear cataract, pupil dilatation, corneal endothelial cell counts, central corneal thickness, anterior chamber depth, axial length, corneal curvature, and intraocular pressure (IOP). Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of age (p = 0.694), sex (p = 0.161), diabetes (p = 0.440), hypertension (p = 0.238), pseudoexfoliative material observed in anterior capsule (p = 0.700), pupillary margin (p = 0.210), iris depigmentation (p = 0.526), pupillary ruff loss (p = 0.708), degree of nuclear cataract (p = 0.617), pupil dilatation (p = 0.526), central corneal thickness (p = 0.097), anterior chamber depth (p = 0.283), axial length (p = 0.095), or horizontal and vertical corneal curvature (p = 0.066 and 0.306, respectively). In pseudoexfoliation glaucoma, significantly higher IOP (p = 0.026), a high frequency of membrane formation (p = 0.047), and decreased corneal endothelial cell counts (p = 0.048) were observed. Conclusions: Pseudoexfoliation syndrome with open-angle glaucoma was shown to be associated with high IOP, decreased corneal endothelial cell counts, and a high frequency of membrane formation. Therefore, when such changes are observed in pseudoexfoliation syndrome patients, a higher risk of open-angle glaucoma should be recognized, and careful attentionis required accordingly.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.91-112
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• 2021

This study aimed to explore the influence of family characteristics on the work-life balance of early adolescents. A series of data analyses was conducted on adolescents' use of time in daily life on the basis of 2018 Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS 2018). We found that the work-life balance of youth is related to their parents' health status, presence of older siblings, household income, parenting attitude, parent-child communication time, and mother's occupation. The work-life balance of the fifth graders is more likely to be influenced by family characteristics compared with that of the eighth graders. In particular, the fifth graders' sleep deprivation is affected by the mother's occupation, but there is no significant effect on the eighth graders' sleep deprivation. An important factor in skipping breakfast is household income, with adolescents from low-income families tending to skip breakfast more than five days a week. In addition, parents' health status and parenting attitude are significantly related to skipping of breakfast in early adolescents. Household income is related to the after-school private tutoring hours of both the fifth and eighth graders; however, parenting attitude and mother's occupation are also significant influencing factors of the fifth graders' after-school study. Mother's occupation is related to excessive cell phone use; specifically, the fifth graders whose mothers work white-collar jobs, sales and services or manufacturing are more likely to play with cell phones more than three hours a day than those whose mothers are full-time housewives. These results suggest that the work-life balance policies targeted at the family characteristics of adolescents can improve family environments in a manner that enhances adolescents' life balance, thus supporting the well-being of early adolescents and their families.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.551-567
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• 2018

Demographic and socio-structural information is useful to identify potential welfare recipients who are in need of disease-prevention and intervention services. Thus, the present study aims to explore the differences in grip strength among middle and old-aged adults by living conditions and by living area. The 5th wave data of Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging was utilized. The dependent variable was grip strength, and the independent variables were living alone (living alone or not) and living area (city or non-city). Covariates were age, education, log-transformed household income, spouse existence, body mass index, self-rated health conditions, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, smoking, regular exercise, frequency of meeting with friends, and the number of social participation. Regression analysis was performed for middle-aged men, middle-aged women, old-aged men, and old-aged women, respectively. ANOVA and Chi-test were additionally used to specifically discuss significant results. Cross-sectional weight was applied to all analyses. According to the results, living alone and living area did not have significant effects on grip strength among middle-aged men, old-aged men, and old-aged women. In middle-aged women, however, living alone and living area were significantly associated with grip strength. To be specific, middle-aged women who lived alone in rural areas had the lowest grip strength compared to other middle-aged women. Additional analysis showed that middle-aged women who lived alone in rural areas had risk factors, such as low education level, low income, or high depressive symptoms. It implies that middle-aged women living alone in rural areas may have physical health risks, so they might be in need of disease prevention. This study is meaningful in that it can provide reliable information on the latent welfare recipients by using representative panel data and applying weight values.

• 한국노년학
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.569-592
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• 2018

This study purported to investigate the current state of human rights of older adults residing in rural areas of Korea. The study utilized, as an analytic framework, 4 priority directions (1. "older persons and development", 2. "rural area development", 3. "advancing health and well-being into old age", and 4. "ensuring enabling and supportive environments") with 13 task actions recommended by Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA). Furthermore, the study examined gender differences in all items included in the analytic framework. Data was collected by the face-to-face survey on 800 subjects aged 65 and over. Statistical analyses were conducted using STATA 13.0 program. The main results were summarized in order of 4 priority directions as follows. First, average working hours per day were 6.2, and men reportedly participated in economic activities and needed job training more than women, while women participated in lifelong education programs more than men. Awareness of fire and disaster prevention facilities was low in both genders. Second, accessibility to the support center for the elderly living alone as well as protective services for the vulnerable elderly was found to be low. IT-based services and networking were used more by men than women, and specifically, IT-based financial transactions and welfare services were least used. Third, medical check-ups and vaccinations were well received, while consistent treatments for chronic illnesses and long-term care services were relatively less given. In addition, accessibility to mental health service centers was considerably low. Fourth, although old house structures and the lack of convenience facilities were found to be circumstantial risk factors for these elders, experiences of receiving housing support services were scarce. The elderly were found to rely more on informal care, and concerns for their care were higher in women than men. Plus, accessibility to elderly abuse services was markedly low. Based on these results, discussed were implications for implementing policies and practical interventions to raise the levels of the human rights for this population.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.942-953
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• 2019

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of L-arginine supplementation on muscle damage and fatigue indices and athletic performance improvement of canoe athletes after conducting a high-intensity training program. To achieve the objective, this study applied a high-intensity training program to seven high school canoe athletes. The high-intensity training program is composed of aerobic exercise sessions (twice per week; Tuesday and Thursday), anaerobic exercise sessions (three times per week; Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), and flexibility exercise sessions (five times per week). During the 6 week high-intensity training program, drug ingestion (L-arginine or placebo) was conducted in the first two weeks, wash out (two weeks) followed it, and drug ingestion (L-arginine or placebo) was carried out again in the last two weeks. The crossover design was used for the experiment so all study subjects were assigned to either the L-arginine intake group (the treatment group) or the placebo group (the control group). Each subject ingested 3g per day. This study confirmed the significant effects of L-arginine supplementation on muscle damage indices, fatigue indices, and antioxidants using blood samples. Additionally, FMD was analyzed to evaluate vascular endothelial cell functions and canoe performance was examined using the canoe ergometer. The results of this study showed that L-arginine intake did not have direct effects on the levels of ammonia, IP, and CK. The level of LDH decreased significantly more in the ARG group than in the PLA group due to L-arginine supplementation. Moreover, L-arginine supplementation did not change total NO, d-ROMs, BAP, and FMD significantly. Lastly, the results of the 500m canoe ergometer, which was conducted to evaluate the canoe performance, revealed that L-arginine did not have direct effects on total time, stroke distance, and mean velocity. However, L-arginine supplementation significantly improved muscle damage indices, fatigue indices, antioxidants, FMD, and canoe performance. Therefore, it is believed that additional studies are needed for examining the potential effects of L-arginine supplementation athletic performance enhancement.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.629-647
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• 2020

Purpose: This study was undertaken to develop a nutrition quotient for elementary school children (NQ-C) for evaluating the overall dietary quality and eating behaviors. Methods: The NQ-C was developed by implementing 3 stages: item generation, item reduction, and validation. Candidate food behavior checklist (FBC) items of the NQ-C were derived from systematic literature reviews, expert in-depth interviews, statistical analyses of the fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, and national nutrition policies and recommendations. For the pilot survey, 260 elementary school students (128 second graders and 132 fifth graders) completed self-administered questionnaires as well as 24-hour dietary intakes, with the help of their parents and survey team staff, if required. Based on the pilot survey results, expert reviews, and priorities of national nutrition policy and recommendations, checklist items were reduced from 41 to 24. A total of 20 items for NQ-C were finally selected from results generated from 1,144 nationwide samples surveyed. Construct validity of the NQ-C was assessed using the confirmatory factor analysis, LInear Structural RELations. Results: Analyses of the exploratory factors of NQ-C identified that 5 dimensions of diet (balance, diversity, moderation, practice and environment) accounted for 46.2% of the total variance. Standardized path coefficients were used as weights of the items. The NQ-C and 5-factor scores of the subjects were calculated using the obtained weights of the FBC items. Conclusion: Our data indicates that NQ-C is a useful and suitable instrument for assessing nutrition adequacy, dietary quality, and eating behaviors of Korean elementary school children.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 2022

The aim of this study is to establish a new QC method that can simultaneously evaluate the resolution of the x/y plane and the z-axis by producing a phantom that can reflect exposure and reconstruction parameter of MDCT system. It was used with Aquilion ONE(Cannon Medical System, Otawara, Japan), and the examination was scanned using of 120 kV, 260 mA, and the D-FOV of 300 mm². It produced new SSP phantom modules in which two aluminum plates inclined at 45° to a vertical axis and a transverse axis to evaluate high contrast resolution of x/y plane and z axis. And it changed factors such as the algorithm, distance from gantry iso-center. All images were reconstructed in five steps from 0.6 mm to 10.0 mm slice thickness to measure resolution of x/y plane and z-axis. The image data measured FWHM and FWTM using Profile tool of Aquarius iNtusion Edition ver. 4.4.13 P6 software(Terarecon, California, USA), and analysed SPQI and signal intensity by ImageJ program(v1.53n, National Institutes of Health, USA). It decreased by 4.09~11.99%, 4.12~35.52%, and 4.70~37.64% in slice thickness of 2.5 mm, 5.0 mm, and 10.0 mm for evaluating the high contrast resolution of x/y plane according to distance from gantry iso-center. Therefore, the high contrast resolution of the x/y plane decreased when the distance from the iso-center increased or the slice thickness increased. Additionally, the slice thicknesses of 2.5 mm, 5.0 mm, and 10.0 mm with a high algorithm increased 74.83, 15.18 and 81.25%. The FWHM was almost constant on the measured SSP graph for evaluating the accuracy of slice thickness which represents the resolution of x/y plane and z-axis, but it was measured to be higher than the nominal slice thickness set by user. The FWHM and FWTM of z-axis with axial scan mode tended to increase significantly as the distance increased from gantry iso-center than the helical mode. Particularly, the thinner slice thickness that increased error range compare with the nominal slice thickness. The SPQI increased with thick slice thickness, and that was closer to 90% in the helical scan than the axial scan. In conclusion, by producing a phantom suitable for MDCT detectors and capable of quantitative resolution evaluation, it can be used as a specific method in the management of research quality and management of outdated equipment. Thus, it is expected to contribute greatly to the discrimination of lesions in the field of CT imaging.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.181-188
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• 2022

Objectives: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus was approximately 16% in populations of over age 30 years, and deaths from diabetes mellitus became the sixth most prevalent cause of death by disease. To assess the relationship between HbA1c and heavy metal level in blood and urine, targeted residents were evaluated in a vast steel industrial complex. Methods: We selected 414 subjects for analysis after applying the following exclusion criterion: 18 persons with diabetes mellitus. They took part in a questionnaire survey and underwent blood and urinary assessments. HbA1c and lead (Pb) level were measured in blood and, cadmium (Cd), inorganic arsenic (iAs) and mercury (Hg) were evaluated in urine. Two subgroups were divided by HbA1c 6.5%. Each subgroup was divided by 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th and 90th percentile levels of biological exposure index of the heavy metals for logistic regression. Results: Odd ratios have a tendency to increase as they go from the 90th to the 10th percentile of cadmium. However, lead, arsenic and mercury did not have significant relationships with HbA1c. In correction of age, region, gender and smoking history, a higher distribution in the subgroup with cadmium above 0.8318 ㎍/g creatinine (30th percentile) was demonstrated in the subgroup with HbA1c levels above the 6.5%, with an odds ratio of 5.26 (95% C.I. ; 1.44~19.17). Conclusion: This study found a significant correlation between urinary levels of cadmium and HbA1c in correction of several factors. It is meaningful that this outcome may be used as a basis for a study to establish the acceptable limit of urinary cadmium in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.231-242
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• 2023

This study aims to provide basic data to reduce the incidence of radiation dermatitis and improve patient satisfaction by investigating the management status and satisfaction level of radiation dermatitis in patients undergoing radiation therapy. From October 28, 2022, to April 4, 2023, a survey was conducted on 137 breast cancer patients who received radiation therapy at G Hospital in Busan. The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) cutaneous acute radiotherapy toxicity score was used as the standard for measuring skin reactions, and the association between cancer stage and RTOG was analyzed. SPSS program (ver. 18.0) was used for statistical analysis. The frequency of radiation dermatitis occurrence was relatively low, with 73% in the RTOG 0-1 group and 27% in the 2-3 group. Patient satisfaction after radiation therapy varied significantly depending on the RTOG group, with lower levels of dermatitis resulting in higher satisfaction and higher levels resulting in dissatisfaction (p=0.001). Although there was no statistically significant difference in RTOG group and skin satisfaction depending on the frequency of aloe mist use (p=0.065), the group that used it 1-2 times a day (69.3%) showed a higher satisfaction level. The perceived effects of aloe mist use were statistically significant for decreasing heat sensation (p=0.001), pain (p=0.033), itching (p=0.001), and psychological stability (p=0.027), especially in the higher RTOG groups. Additionally, as cancer stage increased, the severity of radiation dermatitis also increased, which was statistically significant (p=0.001). In conclusion, radiation dermatitis is the most common side effect of radiation therapy, and it can appear in various forms depending on individual skin sensitivity and external factors during treatment. Adequate education before treatment and the use of MD Cream and aloe vera mist are recommended to reduce the incidence and manage radiation dermatitis effectively.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.84-98
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• 2022

Estuary is important in terms of biodiversity because it has the characteristics of transition waters, created by the mixing of fresh- and seawater. The estuarine water circulation provides a variety of habitats with different environments by inducing gradients in the chemical and physical environment, such as water quality and river bed structure, which are ultimately the main factors influencing biological community composition. If the water circulation is interrupted, the loss of brackish areas and the interception of migration of biological communities will lead to changes in the spatial distribution of biodiversity. In this study, among the sites covered by the Estuary Aquatic Ecosystem Health Assessment, we selected study sites where changes in biodiversity can be assessed by spatial gradient from the upper reaches of the river to the lower estuarine area. The α-, γ- and β-diversity of diatom, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish communities were calculated, and they were divided into open and closed estuary data and compared to determine the trends in biodiversity variation due to estuarine circulation. As results, all communities showed higher γ-diversity at open estuary sites. The benthic macroinvertebrate community showed a clear difference between open and closed estuaries in β-diversity, consequently the estuarine transects were considered as a factor that decreases spatial heterogeneity of their diversity among sites. The biodiversity trends analyzed in this study will be used to identify estuaries with low γ- and β-diversity by community, providing a useful resource for further mornitoring and management to maintain estuarine health.