• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.126-135
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• 2022

Background: Pollinators are important ecological elements due to their role in the maintenance of ecosystem health, wild plant reproduction, crop production and food security. The pollinator-plant interaction supports the preservation of plant and animal populations and it also improves the yield in pollination dependent crops. Having knowledge about the plant-pollinator interaction is necessary for development of pesticide risk assessment of pollinators and conservation of endangering species. Results: Traditional methods to discover the relatedness of insects and plants are based on tracing the visiting pollinators by field observations as well as palynology. These methods are time-consuming and needs expert taxonomists to identify different groups of pollinators such as insects or identify flowering plants through palynology. With pace of technology, using molecular methods become popular in identification and classification of organisms. DNA metabarcoding, which is the combination of DNA barcoding and high throughput sequencing, can be applied as an alternative method in identification of mixed origin environmental samples such as pollen loads attached to the body of insects and has been used in DNA-based discovery of plant-pollinator relationship. Conclusions: DNA metabarcoding is practical for plant-pollinator studies, however, lack of reference sequence in online databases, taxonomic resolution, universality of primers are the most crucial limitations. Using multiple molecular markers is preferable due to the limitations of developed universal primers, which improves taxa richness and taxonomic resolution of the studied community.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.13.1-13.24
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• 2023

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the most consequential global health crises in over a century. Since its discovery in 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to mutate into different variants and sublineages, rendering previously potent treatments and vaccines ineffective. With significant strides in clinical and pharmaceutical research, different therapeutic strategies continue to be developed. The currently available treatments can be broadly classified based on their potential targets and molecular mechanisms. Antiviral agents function by disrupting different stages of SARS-CoV-2 infection, while immune-based treatments mainly act on the human inflammatory response responsible for disease severity. In this review, we discuss some of the current treatments for COVID-19, their mode of actions, and their efficacy against variants of concern. This review highlights the need to constantly evaluate COVID-19 treatment strategies to protect high risk populations and fill in the gaps left by vaccination.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.2675-2680
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• 2014

Background: To investigate differentiated thyroid cancer risk factors in natives of French Polynesia is of interest because of the very high incidence of this cancer in the archipelago. Materials and Methods: To assess the role of various potential risk factors of thyroid cancer in the natives of French Polynesia we performed a case-control study. The study included almost all the French Polynesians diagnosed with differentiated thyroid carcinoma between 1981 and 2003 (n=229) and 373 French Polynesian control individuals from the general population without cancer. Results: Thyroid radiation dose received from nuclear fallout before the age of 15, a personal history of neck or/and head medical irradiation, obesity, tallness, large number of children, an artificial menopause, a familial history of thyroid cancer, a low dietary iodine intake, and having a spring as the main source of drinking water were found to be significant risk factors. No roles of smoking habits, alcohol consumption, iodine containing drugs, and exposure to pesticides were evidenced. Conclusions: Except for smoking, differentiated thyroid carcinoma risk factors in natives of French Polynesia are similar to those in other populations. Our finding on the role of having a spring as a drinking water origin is coherent with some other studies and could be due to geological factors.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제35권11호
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• pp.785-791
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• 2002

판막재치환술의 결과는 재수술의 위험에 대한 적절한 분석으로 개선될 수 있다. 본 연구의 목적은 판막 재치환술의 결과를 통해 위험 인자를 분석하여 수술의 결과를 개선하고자 한다. 대상 및 방법 : 1993년 6월부터 2001년 8월까지 판막 재치환술을 시행한 46명의 환자를 대상으로 하였다. 대상 환자의 평균연령은 42 $\pm$ 12세였고 평균 체표면적은 1.52 $\pm$ 0.15 $m^2$였다. 재수술은 승모판막치환술 36예, 다중판막치환술 8예, 그리고 대동맥판막치환술 2예를 시행하였고 첫 판막치환술에서는 승모판막치환술이 43예, 다중판막치환술이 2예, 대동맥판막치환술이 1예였다. 판막 재치환술 후 결과의 예견인자로 분석한 인자들은 성별, 고령(60세 이상), 첫 수술이 30세 미만, 첫 수술과 재수술간의 기간이 15년 이상, 수술 전 NYHA functional class 3 이상, 수술 전 좌심실 구출율 45% 이하, 8시간 이상의 수술시간, 심내막염으로 재치환이 필요한 경우, 병행된 다른 수술의 유무, 신기능 부전 등이었다. 결과 : 사망률은 2예로 4.3% 였다. 수술 후 합병증과 그 외의 좋지 않은 예후와 관련이 있는 위험 인자들은 술전 저심박출증이 있던 경우(p＝0.012), 60세 이상의 고령(p＝0.045), 심내막염에 의한 재치환술(p＝0.023), 8시간 이상의 긴 수술시간(p＝0.027)이었다. 수술 사망에 영향을 주는 통계적으로 유의한 인자는 없었다. 결론 : 판막 재치환술에서 수술사망에 영향을 주는 인자는 없었다. 심기능이 나쁜 경우, 고령의 환자, 심내막염으로 인한 재수술에서 이환율을 줄이기 위한 주의를 기울여야 하며, 수술 시간을 단축하려는 노력이 수술 후 결과를 호전시키는 데 도움될 것으로 사료된다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.1083-1087
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• 2013

Background: Colorectal cancer has several modifiable behavioural risk factors but their relationship to the risk of colon and rectum cancer separately and between countries with high and low incidence is not clear. Methods: Data from participants in the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration (APCSC) were used to estimate mortality from colon (International Classification of Diseases, revision 9 (ICD-9) 153, ICD-10 C18) and rectum (ICD-9 154, ICD-10 C19-20) cancers. Data on age, body mass index (BMI), serum cholesterol, height, smoking, physical activity, alcohol and diabetes mellitus were entered into Cox proportional hazards models. Results: 600,427 adults contributed 4,281,239 person-years follow-up. The mean ages (SD) for Asian and Australia/New Zealand cohorts were 44.0 (9.5) and 53.4 (14.5) years, respectively. 455 colon and 158 rectum cancer deaths were observed. Increasing age, BMI and attained adult height were associated with increased hazards of death from colorectal cancer, and physical activity was associated with a reduced hazard. After multiple adjustment, any physical activity was associated with a 28% lower hazard of colon cancer mortality (HR 0.72, 95%CI 0.53-0.96) and lower rectum cancer mortality (HR 0.75, 95%CI 0.45-1.27). A 2cm increase in height increased colon and all colorectal cancer mortality by 7% and 6% respectively. Conclusions: Physical inactivity and greater BMI are modifiable risk factors for colon cancer in both Western and Asian populations. Further efforts are needed to promote physical activity and reduce obesity while biological research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which they act to cause cancer mortality.

• 한국임상수의학회지
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.227-230
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• 2008

To determine the distribution of feline blood types and then to estimate the risk of neonatal isoerythrolysis (NI) in non-pedigree cats, we typed blood of 482 cats of both genders and various breeds (336 domestic shorthair cat and 146 pedigree) from August 2005 through July 2007. Blood samples from Seoul and Kangwon province were typed within 5 days after collection by the simple tube method. High-titer anti-A antiserum and anti-B reagent, prepared with Triticum vulgaris lectin, were used to determine type A and type B blood, respectively. The majority of cats were type A (n = 465, 96.5%) and only 3.5% (n = 17) were type B. No type AB blood were detected. Blood type distributions among the non-pedigree and pedigree cats were similar: for non-pedigree cats, 96.4% were type A and 3.6% were type B, whereas for pedigree cats, 96.6% were type A and 3.4% were type B. All type B cats had a very strong agglutination reaction to anti-A antiserum: 8 sample for 3+ and 9 for 4+. Assuming 19% of estimated frequency for the type-B allele in domestic cats, the calculated proportion of random mating from this population at risk for developing NI was 3.4%. Based on this finding, it is strongly recommended that blood typing be performed prior to any blood transfusion or breeding to minimize blood type incompatibilities. Further comprehensive studies on the titer of naturally occurring antibodies in cat populations in Korea and the prevalence of possible NI in practice are clearly required.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제51권1호
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• pp.41-50
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• 2018

Objectives: To explore alcohol perceptions and their association hazardous alcohol use in the populations of Alberta, Canada and Queensland, Australia. Methods: Data from 2500 participants of the 2013 Alberta Survey and the 2013 Queensland Social Survey was analyzed. Regression analyses were used to explore the association between alcohol perceptions and its association with hazardous alcohol use. Results: Greater hazardous alcohol use was found in Queenslanders than Albertans (p<0.001). Overall, people with hazardous alcohol were less likely to believe that alcohol use contributes to health problems (odds ratio [OR], 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.27 to 0.78; p<0.01) and to a higher risk of injuries (OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.33 to 0.90; p<0.05). Albertans with hazardous alcohol use were less likely to believe that alcohol contributes to health problems (OR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.26 to 0.92; p<0.05) and were also less likely to choose a highly effective strategy as the best way for the government to reduce alcohol problems (OR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.43 to 0.91; p=0.01). Queenslanders with hazardous alcohol use were less likely to believe that alcohol was a major contributor to injury (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.77; p<0.01). Conclusions: Our results suggest that people with hazardous alcohol use tend to underestimate the negative effect of alcohol consumption on health and its contribution to injuries. In addition, Albertans with hazardous alcohol use were less in favor of strategies considered highly effective to reduce alcohol harm, probably because they perceive them as a potential threat to their own alcohol consumption. These findings represent valuable sources of information for local health authorities and policymakers when designing suitable strategies to target alcohol-related problems.

• 한국화재소방학회논문지
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.98-103
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• 2006

통계청에서 매년 발간하고 있는 사망원인통계년보를 통해 화재로 인한 사망자를 분석하였다. 화재로 인한 사망자 수, 전체 사망자 중 화재로 인한 사망자가 차지하는 비율 모두 1993년을 정점으로 감소추세에 있다. 고령세대보다 젊은 세대에서 화재로 인한 사망자가 많이 발생하고 있다. 화재로 인한 사망자는 어린이세대(10세 미만)는 감소, 고령세대(65세 이상)는 증가경향에 있고, 남자 쪽이 여자보다 모든 연령대에서 많다. 연령별 인구 10만명당 화재로 인한 사망자는 고령세대에서 아주 높다. 사고로 인한 사망자 중 화재로 인한 사망자가 차지하는 비율은 큰 변동은 없으나 유아(0세, 1-4세)와 75세 이상 후기고령세대에서 높다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제13권7호
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• pp.3123-3127
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• 2012

Objective: Experimental studies have suggested green tea to be a chemopreventive agent for colorectal cancer, and many studies have examined possible associations. However, the conclusions were inconsistent or even contradictory, so we performed a meta-analysis based on published case-control studies to explore if green tea is indeed a protective factor. Methods: PubMed was searched up to May $10^{th}$, 2012 for relevant studies, and references of included studies were manually searched. Finally 13 eligible studies, involving 12,636 cases and 38,419 controls were identified. After data extraction, a meta-analysis was performed using CMA v2 software. Results: The results indicated there may be a weak but not statistically significant reduced risk of colorectal cancer with high dose of green tea intake (OR=0.95, 95% CI:0.81-1.11, p=0.490.69-0.98). This protective effect was also found in all subgroups, except in American and European populations. Sensitivity analysis indicated the result to be robust. Publication bias was not detected by either funnel plot or Egger tests. Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis indicate a weak lower tendency for colorectal cancer development with green tea consumption, but available epidemiologic data are insufficient to conclude that green tea may protect against colorectal cancer in humans.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제17권12호
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• pp.5159-5164
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• 2016

Objective: The dynamics of morbidity, disability and death rates due to malignant neoplasms in the population in Uralsk city of the Republic of Kazakhstan were studied for 2011-2015, with a focus on age and sex, as well as tumor location. Methods: Statistics for total morbidity, primary disability and mortality from cancer in the adult population of the city of Uralsk for 2011-2015 were calculated per 100 thousand. Estimation of morbidity was based on data from form - $N{\underline{o}}12$ ${\ll}$Report on the number of diseases registered in patients living in the area of health care organizations and patient population under medical observation". Evaluation of primary disability was based on form $N{\underline{o}}7$ ${\ll}$The distribution of newly recognized disabled by disease class, age, sex and disability groups" for 2011-2015 in Ural city and analysis of cancer was carried out using annual form 7 "Report on the sick, and diseases of malignant neoplasms". Result: The most common localizations of cancer were the trachea, bronchi, lungs, stomach and mammary glands. High death rates were noted for patients with cancer of the trachea, bronchi, lung, as compared to stomach and esophagus. Conclusion: The results of our investigation and data in the literature indicate that regional characteristics influence the impact of risk factors associated with cancer. An unfavorable environmental background contributes to ill health of urban populations, contributing to development of cancer. Moreover behavioral risk factors are very important, such as smoking, alcohol drinking, and an unhealthy diet. All these factors require urgent adoption of a package of measures for prevention, early detection and timely treatment. Detailed study of cancer is necessary to develop national programs and activities for prevention and control.