• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.211-227
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• 2024

Introduction: Seaweed is a sustainable and underexplored source of bioactive compounds with potent anti-inflammatory activities. However, studies on the interaction between seaweed and genes on inflammation are limited. Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the relationships between seaweed consumption and the polygenic risk scores (PRS) and their interactions with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels. Methods: Information on seaweed consumption was collected using a food frequency questionnaire, which included laver, kelp, and sea mustard among the items consumed. A total of 31 hs-CRP-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected using genome-wide association studies and clumping analysis, and the individual PRS were calculated by weighting the effect size of each allele in the selected SNPs of 39,369 middle-aged (≥40 years) Koreans using the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES)-Health Examinees (HEXA) cohort data. To investigate the interaction between seaweed intake and the PRS on hs-CRP levels >1 mg/L, hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were assessed using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Results: During a mean follow-up period of 4.8 years, we recorded 436 patients with elevated hs-CRP levels. Women in the highest tertile of the PRS with the lowest quartile of seaweed intake had an increased incidence of elevated hs-CRP levels compared with women in the lowest tertile of the PRS with the lowest seaweed intake quartile (HR 2.34, 95% CI 1.23-4.45). No significant association was observed among the men. Conclusion: In conclusion, we identified a new interaction between the PRS, seaweed intake, and inflammation in Korean women, and this study suggests that the interaction between the identification of genetic predisposition and dietary seaweed intake may have an impact on determining the risk of developing hyperinflammation in the future.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.83-93
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• 2024

Purpose: Since the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, various variants of concern have emerged. We divided the representative COVID-19 mutation period into four waves and aimed to analyze the clinical and laboratory features of children with COVID-19 from pre-mutation wave to the middle of omicron wave. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of hospitalized patients aged ≤19 years with laboratory confirmed COVID-19. Clinical and laboratory findings during pre-mutation (February 1st 2020 to September 30th 2020), alpha/beta (October 1st 2020 to May 31st 2021), delta (June 1st 2021 to October 31st 2021), and omicron (November 1st 2021 to May 31st 2022) waves were compared. Results: Among total 827 patients, 163 (19.7%) were asymptomatic, and the frequency of fever and cough was 320 (38.7%) and 399 (48.2%), respectively. The proportion of fever ≥38.5℃ was observed to be high during the omicron wave in the age group under 12 years. Lymphopenia was observed highly in the omicron wave in the age group under 12 years, and in the delta wave in the age group older than 12 years. Neutropenia was highly observed in the delta wave in the 0-4 years age group. Conclusions: There were distinct characteristics during all epidemic waves of COVID-19. Children with COVID-19 had more frequent persistent fever during delta wave and children during the omicron wave had a higher peak fever.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.998-1008
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• 2008

This study aimed to assess the nutritional status and the nutritional risks based on the food intake frequency and health-related behaviors of middle-aged and elderly people living in Andong area. Interviews were conducted with 1,384 subjects (532 males, 852 females) aged 50 years and over. Nutrient intakes, food intake frequency, and health-related behaviors including smoking, drinking, and exercise were investigated. The average energy intakes were 1410.5 kcal for males and 1279.2 kcal for females, and the percentages of the subjects consuming below the estimated energy requirement (EER) were 92.5% and 88.4%, respectively. The least consumed nutrients compared to the estimated average requirement (EAR) were riboflavin (92.5% for males, 89.6% for females), folic acid (89.7%, 88.5%), and calcium (78.9%, 85.8%), in order. According to the food intake frequency survey, the intakes of meat, fish and vegetable (except kimchi) were very poor, and this low intakes of meat and fish showed as poor status of protein, niacin, vitamin $B_6$, and zinc intakes. Health-related behaviors data showed that the ratio of cigarette smokers, especially male, was higher, while the ratio of the person exercising regularly was lower than that of the nationwide statistics, respectively. Cigarette smoking and drinking were not significantly related to the poor nutrition intake, while regular exercise positively influenced nutrient intakes in female subjects. These results showed that the nutritional status of the subjects was likely to be severely deficient and the low intakes of meat and fish to be highly related to the increase of nutritional risk. Therefore, in order to prevent the occurrence of the secondary disease related to the food intake and health-related behaviors of the subjects, the proper educational program on balanced dietary intake and the correction of health-related behaviors should be developed and applied to this area.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.82-93
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• 2010

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to explore attitude and belief about menopause and severity of menopausal symptoms according to menopausal status. This study conducted a cross-sectional assessment of the effects of depressive symptoms and the severity of trait anxiety on the severity of menopausal symptoms. Methods : Participants were all outpatients at the psychiatric outpatient clinic of Korea University Guro Hospital. All participants, aged 40 to 64, had depressive or anxiety disorders and were divided into the premenopause, perimenopause, premenopause, and postmenopause groups. Menopause Rating Scale(MRS) was used to measure the severity of menopausal symptoms. The attitude toward menopause was examined by a self-report questionnaire regarding menopause. Beck Depression Inventory(BDI) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI) were used to assess depressive symptoms and anxiety. Results : The severity of menopausal symptoms was not different among the groups according to menopausal status. There was a significant correlation between a negative attitude toward menopause and the severity of menopausal symptoms. Patients with moderate to severe depressive symptoms and trait anxiety had more severe menopausal symptoms. Conclusion : Negative attitude toward menopause, depressive symptoms, and anxiety had a significantly negative impact on the severity of menopausal symptoms. The results of this study suggest that treatment to relieve depressive symptoms and anxiety and intervention to reduce negative attitude toward menopause are required. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to evaluate potentially effects of depressive symptoms and anxiety on severity of menopausal symptoms in middle-aged female psychiatric patients.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.67-77
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• 1990

This study was intended to analyse the relation between the psychic traumatic experience and the psychological health of the aged. The authors carried out this study by means of the combined anxiety-depression scale(CADS) and the preadolescence traumatic experience scale(PTES) with 278 aged men and women residing in Taegu from September to October 1988. The results were as follows : 1. Based on the scores avaluated by CADS, the scores of the both groups showed that comparative group was accounted for $40.15{\pm}6.19$, while the experimental group for $57.75{\pm}6.37$, which showed significantly higher score in the experimental group(p<0.001). 2. The experimental group showed significantly higher early experience score than the comparative group in the dietary difficulty, alcoholism among family members, disunion between husband and wife, trouble between mother and children, early mother loss, parent's indifference and unwanted birth(p<0.001). 3. The experimental group showed higher early experience score than the comparative group by sex, age, marital status and grown location(p<0.001). 4. When the subjects were included in the unemployed and in the middle or low classes and their parents were engaged in agriculture and commercial business and believing in buddhism or non-religion, showed higher experience score (p<0.001).

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.101-135
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• 1968

As physical fitness measured was muscle strength (hand grips, leg extention, back lift, and arm pull and thrust), skinfold thickness (5 different sites), circulatory function (resting heart rate and blood pressure), speed (kinesiological analysis during 100m sprint, record, maximal and final speed), motor function (50 meter dash, ball throwing, standing broad jump, and pull-ups), maximal aerobic power (maximum oxygen intake by field running method), muscle power (leg and arm by inertia ergometer), and general endurance (maximum endurance running time on the treadmill at the speed of 5 MPH and grade of 15.5%) of 1131 Korean children (boys 572, girls 559) aged of 6 to 17 years, who were randomly sampled from 24 primary, middle and high schools at the two districts of Seoul and KyungKi. The results are summarized as follows: 1) The status (height and weight) of the children was almost same as that of the previously reported Korean and Japanese children of same ages. 2) Muscle strength was a gained linearly with geting age in the boys and girls but there was a little improvement in girls aged of 13 years or more. 3) The mean skin fold thickness was increased linearly with geting ages in both sexes, but the girls from 12 to 17 years of age were increased rapidly, and maximum value was 17mm, while boys was 7.0 mm. 4) In the circulatory function, the resting heart rate was decreased, but the blood pressure was increased with ages in both sexes within the normal limits. 5) The maximum and final speed during 100 meter sprint increases with age in boys but girls who are 12 years old or older, were not improved any mere. The patterns of running were same in both sexes, and maximum speed reached at about 30 meters from starting line. 6) The motor function was increased with age in both sexes, but there was no improvement in 12 years of age or older girls. More over records of all functions except standing broad jump was less than those of Japanese in the same age, respectively. 7) The maximum oxygen intake (MOI) was increased considerably with ages and maximum values were 2.93 L/min (boys) and 2.09 L/min (girls) at the age of 17years. This result was almost same as that of the Japanese and Easter Island population, but the value was lower than that of Europe. The average of the maximum oxygen intake per kg body weight per minute from 9 to 17 years of age were around 53 ml in the boys and 42 ml in the girls. 8) Muscle power was increased linearly with ages in boys while there was relatively a little increment in girls. The maximum values of leg muscle in boys and girls at the 17 years of age were 0.168 and 0.088 horse power, respectively. 9) The maximum endurance running time was increased considerably from the age of 9 in boys, while there was no improvement in girls. The maximum values were 6.0 min and 1.8 min, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2013

This study investigated the frequency, amount and consumption patterns of 50 potentially hazardous foods (PHF) along with consumers' risk perceptions towards PHF in Korea. A quantitative survey was performed from May through August by trained interviewers, surveying 1,000 adults aged over 18 who were randomly selected from six major provinces in Korea. Consumers perceived seafood, including shellfish, mussel, sashimi and sushi, as the top foods with the highest risk, followed by raw sliced beef. The food with the highest frequency intake per month was leafy vegetables, which is used to wrap other foods, followed by blanched vegetables, fried chicken, etc. The group of middle aged individuals with economic stability had the highest frequency intake of sashimi and sushi. Respondents living in small regions consume greater PHF portions at once. Food safety education with regard to the risk of PHF is essential for consumers, with high frequent intake of PHF.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.487-522
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• 2016

The main purpose of this research is to investigate Korean adolescents' perception of stress experiences, and related social support. To this end, adolescents were asked about stress events, as well as stress symptoms, in their lives. Also, the adolescents were asked about the people that provided social support and the types of social support provided. The participants were 952 Korean adolescents (Primary 219; Middle 280; High 212; University 241). Among the four measures (stress events, stress symptoms, social supporters, and types of social support), the measure of stress symptoms yielded a reliability of Cronbach α=.88, while the remaining three measures yielded an inter-judger reliability of 89.6%, Kappa=.87. The results were as follows. First, for stress events, the most frequent responses were related to Academic Achievement, followed by Career/Job, Family Relations, Friend Relations, Lack of Capacity, and Financial Difficulties. For high-school students the most frequent responses were related to Academic Achievement, while for university students Career/Job. Second, for stress symptoms there were significant differences among the groups, in that the high-school students showed the highest level of symptoms, while primary school students the lowest. Third, for social supporters, the most frequent responses were related to Friends, followed by Myself, Parents, Teacher, Siblings, and Seniors/Juniors. As the groups aged (from primary to university), support from Friends and Seniors/ Juniors increased, while support from Parents decreased. Fourth, for the types of social support, the most frequent responses were related to Emotional Support, followed by None, Advice, Supporter Directly Solved Problem, and Talked with Me. The highest frequencies of responses were found for Emotional Support among all groups. As the groups aged (from primary to university), Advice increased while Supporter Directly Solved Problem decreased.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.11
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• pp.1174-1179
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• 2006

Purpose : Obesity and iron deficiency are common nutritional problems. Obese children are known to have iron deficiencies, but one presented opposite opinion in Korea. This study investigated the prevalence of obesity and iron deficiency in Incheon and the relationship between iron deficiency and obesity. Methods : Physical measurement and hematologic examinations were done a 764 healthy female students aged 14 to 15 years in May, 2005. Overweight was defined as a body mass index ${\geq}85th$ percentile. Iron deficiency was defined as serum ferritin <10 ng/mL. Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) was defined as serum Hb <12 g/dL and serum ferritin <10 ng/mL and/or transferrin saturation <16%. Results : 1) The prevalence of overweight was 24.4 percent (n=186), and that of obesity 16.5 percent (n=126). Ferritin and transferrin saturation was the lowest in the normal weight group. 2) The prevalence of iron deficiency and IDA was 18.7 percent (n=102) and 5.3 percent (n=41), respectively. 3) Iron deficiency was more common in the normal weight group compared with the overweight and underweight groups. Also, the non-obese had more iron deficiency and IDA than the obese. Conclusion : The prevalence of obesity in middle school girls could be higher in Incheon than in other regions, but there might be no difference in iron deficiency. However, iron deficiency was more prevalent in the normal weight group than in overweight group. The overweight group ate more food and gained more iron, so seemed to be less prevalent in iron deficiency than the normal weight group.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.232-241
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• 1998

음주습관과 심혈관계 질환 위험요인사이의 관련성을 파악하기 위하여, 1996년 한국 경북에 있는 도시지역 한 철강회사에서 40-50대(40-59세) 남자 근로자 3444명으로부터 공복시 혈액을 10m1 채취하여 혈청지질, 혈당, Uric acid를 측정하고 신장, 체중, 혈압(10-20분 휴식후 측정)과 EKG를 측정하였다. 과거병력, 현재 건강상태, 음주량과 기간 및 음주종류를 포함한 생활습관, 흡연량/일, 운동시간/주 등의 설문지를 작성하였다. 알콜 소비량은 양-빈도의 Index에 의해 측정되었다. 한국 중년 남자에 대한 음주량, 음주기간, 알콜종류등에 따른 심혈관계 질환의 위험요인 유무 정도를 알아보기 위해, 비음주자를 기준으로하여 비교대상군은 금주자와 음주량(2군) 등에 의해 3군으로 분류하였으며, 음주기간에 따른 심혈관계 질환의 위험요인 유무정도를 알아보기 위해 비음주자을 기준으로하여 비교 대상군은 금주자와 음주기간(4군)에 따라 5군으로 분류하였다. 알콜종류에 따른 심혈관계 질환의 위험요인 유무정도를 알아보기 위해 비음주자을 기준으로하여 비교 대상군은 금주자와 음주알콜종류(3군)에 따라 4군으로 분류하였다. 심혈관계 질환 위험요인은 기준되는 범주를 2개(Table 1)로 분류하여 2*2표를 이용하여 odds ratio(dummy variable로 처리), ${\beta}$-coefficient와 표준오차를 이용해서 신뢰구간(95% C.I.)을 구하여 유의성 검정을 하였다. 금주자의 정의는 과거 3달 이상 술을 마시지 않는 사람을 말한다. 연구 집단의 평균 연령은 $44.4{\pm}3.9$세 이며, 비음주자는 649명으로 18.9%, 금주자는 70명(2.0%)이며 음주자는 2725명(79.1%)이다. 음주자중 에타놀 섭취를 평균 100.5g/주(median) 미만인 군은 1239명으로 연구집단 3444명중 35.7%이며, 평균 100.5g/주(median) 이상 음주군은 1276명으로 44.5%이었다. 3444명중 1532명(44.5%) 이 맥주와 소주를 섞어서 마시는 사람이었다. 음주 양에서, 연령, 흡연 양, 흡연 기간, 운동, 음주기간, 알콜종류 등을 통제하여 logistic regression한 결과, 비음주자에 비해 중정도 음주자(${\ge}$100.5gm/week ethanol)의 확장기 혈압의 Odds ratio는 1.33배로 유의하게 높았다(P<0.05). 다른 요인들은 통계적으로 유의한 차이를 보이지 않았다. 알콜종류에서도 연령, 흡연 양, 흡연 기간, 운동, 음주양, 음주기간, 등을 통제한, 비음주자에 비해 맥주와 소주를 섞어 마시는 음주자의 확장기 혈압의 Odds ratio는 1.38배로 유의하게 높았다(P<0.01). 다른 요인들은 통계적으로 유의한 차이를 보이지 않았다. 반면에 음주 습관 중 음주기간에서는 연령, 흡연양, 흡연 기간, 운동, 음주양, 알콜종류 등을 통제한 logistic regression 분석 결과 유의한 차이를 보인 것은 없었다. 그러나 음주기간과 심혈관계 질환 위험요인중 수축기와 확장기 혈압과의 관계는 J 모양을 나타내었다 . 수축기 혈압의 금주자군은 비차비가 1.0보다 약간 낮고(Odds ratio=0.88) 음주기간이 2-10년인 군의 Odds ratio=1.14, 음주기간이 11-20 년인군의 Odds ratio =1.18, 21년 이상인 군의 Odds ratio=1.20로 비음주자의 odds ratio=1에 비해 점차적으로 위험이 높아졌다. 확장기 혈압의 금주자군은 비차비가 1.0보다 약간 낮고(Odds ratio=0.91), 음주기간이 1년 이하인 군의 Odds ratio=1.18, 음주기간이 2-10 년인 군의 Odds ratio=1.23, 음주기간이 11-20 년인 군의 Odds ratio=1.27, 21년 이상인 군의 Odds ratio=1.27로 비음주자의 odds ratio=1에 비해 점차적으로 위험이 높아졌다.