• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.163-173
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• 2014

This study investigates the dietary risk factors in elderly individuals in rural Korea by focusing on the development of service programs that can improve their health. The sample included 1,000 free-living elderly individuals aged 65 and over in rural Korea. A three-stage stratified random sampling method based on 2010 Korean census data was employed. Data on the dietary status and the need for assistance in meal management were collected through face-to-face interviews. The dietary status was evaluated based on the Nutrition Screening Initiative (NSI) checklist, and the outcomes for three groups classified base on their family type were examined. According to NSI scores, more than 70% of the subjects faced some nutritional risk. The activities most requiring assistance in meal management included preparing meals (18.3%) and purchasing food items (11.7%). More than half of the subjects reported that having meals at community senior centers at least once a week. The results indicate that those subjects from single-individual households were most likely to face some nutritional risk and require, assistance in purchasing food items and preparing meals. In addition, these subjects were least likely to be satisfied with their health and dietary management. To improve the dietary status of elderly individuals in rural Korea, any service programs should facilitate their daily activities by focusing on improving their diet, particularly that of those from low-income, single-individual households.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1994.02a
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• pp.440-449
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• 1994

Current risk assessment practices largely reflect the need for a consistent set of relatively rapid, first-cut procedures to assess 'plausible upper limits' of various risks. These practices have important roles to play in 1) screening candidate hazards for initial attention and 2) directing attention to cases where moderate-cost measures to control exposures are likely to be warranted, in the absence of further extensive (and expensive) data gathering and analysis. A problem with the current practices, however, is that they have led assessors to do a generally poor job of analyzing and expressing uncertainties, fostering 'One-Number Disease' (in which everything from one's social policy position on risk acceptance to one's technical judgment on the likelihood of different cancer dose-response relationships is rolled into a single quantity). At least for analyses that involve relatively important decisions for society (both relatively large potential health risks and relatively large potential economic costs or other disruptions), we can and should at least go one further step - and that is to assess and convey both a central tendency estimate of exposure and risk as well as our more conventional 'conservative' upper-confidence-limit values. To accomplish this, more sophisticated efforts are needed to appropriately represent the likely effects of various sources of uncertainty along the casual chain from the release of toxicants to the production of adverse effects. When the effects of individual sources of uncertainty are assessed (and any important interactions included), Monte Carlo simulation procedures can be used to produce an overall analysis of uncertainties and to highlight areas where uncertainties might be appreciably reduced by further study. Beyond the information yielded by such analyses for decision-making in a few important cases, the value of doing several exemplary risk assessments in. this way is that a set of benchmarks can be defined that will help calibrate the assumptions used in the larger number of risk assessments that must be done by 'default' procedures.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.27-40
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• 2014

Dyslipidemia is a component of the metabolic syndrome and a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Nutrition counseling is important to improve dyslipidemia. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition counseling in adults with risk factors for dyslipidemia diagnosed by the national health screening program. The nutrition counseling for adults with risk factors for dyslipidemia was carried out at a public health center in Gyeonggi-do. Thirty four patients out of forty five participants in the program completed the nutrition counseling program. The nutrition counseling was provided 3 times during a 12-week period. Individualized nutrition counseling to improve dietary habits was conducted after examining participants' dietary intake through questionnaires about dietary habits and whether they practice dietary guidelines. Data about serum lipid profiles, body composition, nutrition knowledge, the practice of dietary guidelines, and dietary behavior were collected before and after nutrition counseling to evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition counseling. All data were statistically analyzed by SPSS program (Korea ver.18.0) and significant difference was evaluated by paired t-test and ${\chi}^2$-test. Body weight, body fat and WHR were significantly decreased after nutrition counseling. Total-cholesterol, TG, and LDL-cholesterol were significantly decreased but HDL-cholesterol did not show significant changes. Both scores of nutrition knowledge and the practice of dietary guidelines improved significantly (p < 0.001). This study shows that nutrition counseling helps to encourage healthy eating practices and to improve serum lipid profiles of adults with risk factors for dyslipidemia. Overall, results indicated that nutrition counseling resulted in positive changes to lower the reliance on medications. Therefore, nutrition counseling should be considered for the initial treatment of dyslipidemia.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1143-1147
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• 2014

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is considered to play a critical role in the development of cervical carcinoma, which is the third most common cancer among Korean females. Here, we performed a baseline study of HPV infection and genotyping using an HPV DNA chip, which is a type of oligonucleotide microarray. A total of 6,855 cervical swab specimens from 5,494 women attending Dankook University Hospital Health Improvement Center in Cheonan, Korea between 2006 and 2012, originally collected for HPV infection screening, were genotyped for HPV. The extracted DNA from the cervical specimens was investigated by an HPV DNA chip designed to detect 41 different HPV types. HPV was identified as positive in 1,143 (16.7%) of the 6,855 samples. The most frequently detected HPV genotypes were HPV types 16, 53, 56, 58, 39, 52, 70, 84, 68, 62, 35, 54, 81, 18, and 30, in descending order of incidence. The proportions of single and multiple HPV infections in the HPV-positive specimens were 78.1% and 21.9%, respectively. The average age of HPV-positive patients was 39.9 years, with the positive rate of HPV being the highest in the 10-29 age group (20.6%). We report here on the prevalence and distribution of 41 different genotypes of HPV according to age among women in Cheonan, Korea. These data may be of use as baseline data for the assessment of public health-related issues and for the development of area-specific HPV vaccines.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.347-351
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• 2013

Food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIAn) is induced by different types and various intensities of physical activity, and is distinct from food allergies. It has been shown that consumption of allergenic food followed by exercise causes FDEIAn symptoms. Intake of allergenic food or medication before exercise is a major predisposing factor for FDEIAn. Urticaria and severe allergic reactions are general symptoms of FDEIAn. Dermatological tests and serum IgE assays are the typical prescreening methods, and have been used for several decades. However, these screening tests are not sufficient for detecting or preventing FDEIAn. It has been found that exercise may stimulate the release of mediators from IgE-dependent mast cells that can result in FDEIAn when a certain threshold level has been exceeded. Mast cell degradation might be a major factor to induce FDEIAn but this has not been determined. A number of foods have been reported to be involved in the onset of FDEIAn including wheat, eggs, chicken, shrimp, shellfish, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. It is also known that aspirin increases the occurrence of type I allergy symptoms when combined with specific foods. Moreover, high intensity and frequent exercise are more likely to provoke an attack than low intensity and less frequent exercise. In this paper, we present the current views of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying FDEIAn within the context of exercise immunology. We also present a detailed FDEIAn definition along with etiologic factors and medical treatment for cholinergic urticaria (UC) and exercise-induced anaphylaxis (EIA).

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.239-248
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the inter-rater reliability and intra-rater reliability of medical record review for the detection of hospital adverse events. Methods: We conducted two stages retrospective medical records review of a random sample of 96 patients from one acute-care general hospital. The first stage was an explicit patient record review by two nurses to detect the presence of 41 screening criteria (SC). The second stage was an implicit structured review by two physicians to identify the occurrence of adverse events from the positive cases on the SC. The inter-rater reliability of two nurses and that of two physicians were assessed. The intra-rater reliability was also evaluated by using test-retest method at approximately two weeks later. Results: In 84.2% of the patient medical records, the nurses agreed as to the necessity for the second stage review (kappa, 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54 to 0.83). In 93.0% of the patient medical records screened by nurses, the physicians agreed about the absence or presence of adverse events (kappa, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.97). When assessing intra-rater reliability, the kappa indices of two nurses were 0.54 (95% CI, 0.31 to 0.77) and 0.67 (95% CI, 0.47 to 0.87), whereas those of two physicians were 0.87 (95% CI, 0.62 to 1.00) and 0.37 (95% CI, -0.16 to 0.89). Conclusions: In this study, the medical record review for detecting adverse events showed intermediate to good level of inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. Well organized training program for reviewers and clearly defining SC are required to get more reliable results in the hospital adverse event study.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.180-190
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• 2016

Purpose: This study examined the influence of occupational type and lifestyle habits on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among Korean male workers. Methods: Through secondary analysis of their four-year health examination data, 3,892 subjects were divided into four subgroups according to the presence of MetS now and four years ago. Results: Nineteen percent (n=739) suffered from MetS and these 739 subjects were classified into following occupations: 7.1% were office workers, 17.6% were non-office workers, and 42.2% were drivers. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that when the data adjusted for age, the predicting factors on the prevalence of MetS were heavy drinking (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.09~1.64) and the occupation of non-office workers (OR 2.99, 95% CI 2.13~4.18) and drivers (OR 7.97, 95% CI 4.89~10.83) among workers without MetS four years ago. Among workers already with a history of MetS, the predicting factors were less exercise (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.02~2.35) and drivers (OR 2.21, 95% CI 1.03~2.94). Conclusion: Heavy drinking and less exercise and drivers were reported as influencing factors on the prevalence of MetS by this sample. The findings suggest that employers need to provide their employees with screening and management program for those at risk of MetS.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.1963-1969
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• 2012

Objectives: Recent data show that the metabolic syndrome may play a role in several cancers, but the etiology for biliary tract cancer is incompletely defined. The present aim was to evaluate risk factors for biliary tract cancer in China. Methods: A case-control study in which cases were biliary tract cancer patients referred to Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH). Controls were randomly selected from an existing database of healthy individuals at the Health Screening Center of PUMCH. Data on the metabolic syndrome, liver diseases, family history, and history of diabetes and hypertension were collected by retrospective review of the patients' records and health examination reports or by interview. Results: A total of 281 patients (102 intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), 86 extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ECC) and 93 gallbladder carcinoma (GC)) and 835 age- and sex-matched controls were enrolled. $HBsAg^+/anti-HBc^+$ (P=0.002), history of diabetes (P=0.000), cholelithiasis (P=0.000), TC (P=0.003), and HDL (P=0.000) were significantly related to ICC. Cholelithiasis (P=0.000), Tri (P=0.001), LDL (P=0.000), diabetes (P=0.000), Apo A (P=0.000) and Apo B (P=0.012) were significantly associated with ECC. Diabetes (P=0.017), cholelithiasis (P=0.000) and Apo A (P=0.000) were strongly inversely correlated with GC. Conclusion: Cholelithiasis, HBV infection and metabolic symptoms may be potential risk factors for the development of biliary tract cancer.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2020

Objective : The purpose of our study was to investigate the relationship between job stress and depressive disorder among emotional laborers in a city. Methods : A total of 677 emotional laborers living in Jeonju-city participated in this study. The participants completed survey questions regarding demographic characteristics, job stress (using the Korean Occupational Stress Scale-24, KOSS-24), and depression (the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, PHQ-9). Logistic regression was performed to estimate the association between job stress and depression. Results : Our results indicated that 34.9% of the participants had a high risk of total job stress and 21.7% of participants had depression. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, female sex (OR=1.66, 95% CI=1.01-2.72) and total job stress (OR=3.84, 95% CI=2.57-5.75) were significantly associated with depression after adjusting for confounding factors. Among the subscales of job stress, job demand (OR=3.06, 95% CI=1.99-4.72) and occupational climate (OR=1.88, 95% CI=1.19-2.97) were significantly associated with depression. But insufficient job control, interpersonal conflict, job insecurity, the organizational system and lack of rewards were not. Conclusion : Among the emotional laborers, job stress, particularly job demand and occupational climate, were major contributing factors associated with depression. Early screening and preventive strategies focusing on job stress could reduce the impact of depression in emotional laborers.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.226-234
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• 2009

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects on shape and size, compressive strength, water absorption and heavy metals leaching with various weight mixing ratios in waste ash brick products using waste recycling MSWI(Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator) bottom ash, steel slag and waste building material. The manufacturing processes for the waste ash brick consist of screening, mixing, conveyor transmission, compaction.forming, and curing steps of raw materials. The weight mixing ratios of steel slag around bottom ash were adjusted within the ranges of 10% to 30%. The reported results show that the width and thickness of the manufactured waste ash brick could be satisfied with $90{\pm}2mm\;and\;57{\pm}2mm$, respectively which are K.S. standards of products qualities. And in case of length, only 20-Ba50Ss30, 20-Ba60Wb20 and 20-Ba50Wb30 for the mixing ratios could be satisfied with $190{\pm}2mm$ that is K.S. standards of products quality. The compressive strength and water absorption for 20-Ba50Ss30 and 20-Ba70Wb10 were over $8N/mm^2$ and below 15% respectively that are K.S. standards of manufactured waste ash brick. The results of tests for the heavy metals leaching in the all manufactured waste ash bricks are also passed to the wastes management regulations. The cost analysis of 20-Ba50Ss30 is evaluated. The manufacturing cost is evaluated 34.3 won/brick with 8 hours and 20tons of raw material per day. Incinerators with problems in bottom ash disposal can therefore derive significant benefits from the application of waste ash brick production.