• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.235-243
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• 2007

Our goal was to examine the effects of early denudation on the enucleation efficiency and developmental competence of embryos following somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and parthenogenetic activation (PA). Oocytes were denuded following 30 h of in vitro maturation (IVM) and then cultured with (D+) or without (D-) their detached cumulus cells for additional $10{\sim}14$ h. Control oocytes were denuded after $40{\sim}44$ h of IVM. The size of the perivitelline space was larger at 40 h of IVM ($11.7{\sim}11.8{\mu}m$) than at 30 h ($8.9{\mu}m;$ p<0.01). The distances between the metaphase II (M II) plates and the polar bodies (PBs) were shorter in D+ ($19.4{\mu}m$) and D- oocytes ($18.9{\mu}m$) than in control oocytes ($25.5{\mu}m;$ p<0.01). Enucleation rates following blind aspiration at 40 h of IVM were higher (p<0.01) in D+ (92%) and D- oocytes (93%) compared to controls (82%). Early denudation did not affect oocyte maturation or the in vitro development of SCNT and PA embryos. When SCNT embryos from D+ oocytes were transferred to four gilts, pregnancy was established in two pigs, and one of them farrowed three live piglets. In conclusion, early denudation of oocytes at 30 h of IVM could improve the enucleation efficiency by maintaining the M II plate and the PB within close proximity and support the in vivo development of SCNT embryos to term.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.337-341
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• 2007

This study determined the effect of postpartum intrauterine infusion of povidone-iodine solution on the subsequent reproductive performance in dairy cows. Six hundred and fifty-eight dairy cows that were around week 4 postpartum were randomly divided into two groups: (1) Cows in treated group received an intrauterine infusion of 100 to 150 ml 2% povidone-iodine solution (treated group, n=269), or (2) Cows that received no treatment were served as the controls (control group, n=389). The cows were bred at observed estrus more than 50 days after calving. Artificial insemination (AI) was done according to the a.m.-p.m. rule. The conception to AI was determined per rectum 60 days after AI by both ultrasonographical observation and manual palpation. The intervals from calving to first service and conception ($94.2{\pm}2.7$ and $144.1{\pm}4.1$ days vs. $88.0{\pm,}2.1$ and $143.5{\pm}4.6$ days, respectively), number of services per conception ($2.0{\pm}0.1$ vs. $2.1{\pm}0.1$), and cumulative pregnancy rates within 90 and 150 days postpartum (31.9 and 61.7% vs. 29.7 and 62.1%) did not differ between the control and treated groups (P>0.05), while conception rate at first service was lower (P<0.05) in the treated group (40.5%) than in the control group (49.4%). Additionally, we could not find any effect of intrauterine infusion of povidone-iodine solution according to cow parity or calving season on the reproductive performance. These results indicate that intrauterine infusion of povidone-iodine solution at week 4 postpartum does not affect the subsequent reproductive performance in dairy cows.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2019

Objective: As paternal age increases, the quality of sperm decreases due to increased DNA fragmentation and aneuploidy. Higher levels of structural chromosomal aberrations in the gametes ultimately decrease both the morphologic quality of embryos and the pregnancy rate. In this study, we investigated whether paternal age affected the euploidy rate. Methods: This study was performed using the medical records of patients who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures with preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) from January 2016 to August 2017 at a single center. Based on their morphological grade, embryos were categorized as good- or poor-quality blastocysts. The effects of paternal age were elucidated by adjusting for maternal age. Results: Among the 571 total blastocysts, 219 euploid blastocysts were analyzed by PGS (38.4%). When the study population was divided into four groups according to both maternal and paternal age, significant differences were only noted between groups that differed by maternal age (group 1 vs. 3, p= 0.031; group 2 vs. 4, p= 0.027). Further analysis revealed no significant differences in the euploidy rate among the groups according to the morphological grade of the embryos. Conclusion: Paternal age did not have a significant impact on euploidy rates when PGS was performed. An additional study with a larger sample size is needed to clarify the effects of advanced paternal age on IVF outcomes.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.85-90
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• 2019

Background: Variation exists in the initial treatment for the first episode of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP), and no definitive consensus exists due to a lack of high-quality evidence. This study examined the outcomes of needle aspiration and closed thoracostomy in first episodes of PSP requiring intervention. Methods: This study was a randomized, prospective, single-center trial conducted between December 2015 and August 2016. Patients of all ages with a documented first episode of PSP who were unilaterally affected, hemodynamically stable, and had a pneumothorax measuring over 25% in size were included. Patients with underlying lung disease, severe comorbidities, bilateral pneumothorax, tension pneumothorax, recurrent pneumothorax, traumatic pneumothorax, and pregnancy were excluded. Patients were randomly assigned to the needle aspiration or closed thoracostomy group using a random number table. Results: Forty patients with a first episode of PSP were recruited, and 21 and 19 patients were included in the needle aspiration group and the closed thoracostomy group, respectively. The hospital stay of each group was $2.1{\pm}1.8days$ and $5.4{\pm}3.6days$, respectively (p<0.01). However, no significant differences were found in the success rate of initial treatment or the 1-month and 1-year recurrence rates. Conclusion: Needle aspiration is a favorable initial treatment in patients experiencing a first episode of PSP.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.40-48
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• 2021

Purpose: This study compared maternal age at childbirth, the number of live births, and the weight of live births between Korean women and immigrant women using statistical data from the Republic of Korea for the period of 2008-2018. Methods: The analysis was conducted using data from the Microdata Integrated Service of Statistics Korea (https://mdis.kostat.go.kr/index.do). Results: Korean women and immigrant women showed a higher age at childbirth in 2018 than in 2008. The percentage of newborns of Korean women with a birth weight of less than 2.5 kg increased slightly for 3 consecutive years from 2016 to 2018, whereas for immigrant women, this percentage increased in 2017 compared to 2016 and then decreased again in 2018. Very low birth weight (less than 1.5 kg) became more common among immigrant women from 2016 to 2018. Birth at a gestational age of fewer than 37 weeks increased both among Korean and immigrant women from 2016 to 2018. In both groups, the percentage of women who had their first child within their first 2 years of marriage decreased from 2008 to 2018. Conclusion: Immigrant women had higher birth rates than Korean women, while both groups showed an increasing trend in preterm birth. Greater attention should be paid to the pregnancy and birth needs of immigrant women, and steps are needed to ensure health equity and access in order to prevent preterm births. It is also necessary to identify factors that affect preterm birth and birth of very low birth weight infants among immigrant women in the future.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.330-347
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• 2023

Purpose: This study identified words closely associated with the keyword "dietary supplement" (DS) using big data in Korean social media and investigated consumer perceptions and trends related to DSs before (2019) and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (2021). Methods: A total of 37,313 keywords were found for the 2019 period, and 35,336 keywords were found for the 2021 period using blogs and cafes on Daum and Naver. Results were derived by text mining, semantic networking, network visualization analysis, and sentiment analysis. Results: The DS-related keywords that frequently appeared before and after COVID-19 were "recommend", "vitamin", "health", "children", "multiple", and "lactobacillus". "Calcium", "lutein", "skin", and "immunity" also had high frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) values. These keywords imply a keen interest in DSs among Korean consumers. Big data results also reflected social phenomena related to DSs; for example, "baby" and "pregnant woman" had lower TD-IDF values after the pandemic, suggesting lower marriage and birth rates but higher values for "joint", indicating reduced physical activity. A network centered on vitamins and health care was produced by semantic network analysis in 2019. In 2021, values were highest for deficiency and need, indicating that individuals were searching for DSs after the COVID-19 pandemic due to a lack an awareness of the need for adequate nutrient intake. Before the pandemic, DSs and vitamins were associated with healthcare and life cycle-related topics, such as pregnancy, but after the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer interests changed to disease prevention and treatment. Conclusion: This study provides meaningful clues regarding consumer perceptions and trends related to DSs before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and fundamental data on the effect of the pandemic on consumer interest in dietary supplements.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.133-145
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• 2004

Serum-contain is commoly used for the production of in vitro-derived bovine embryos. However, were biological activity of serum varies from lot to lot, time consuming to choose better serum with good quality and risks of virus, bacteria and mycoplasma infection. This study established serum-free culture systems of in vitro embryo development to efficiently obtain a large number of blastocysts from ovaries of Hanwoo and oocytes maturation, cell number, tlerance of cryopreservation. Secondly, serum-contain medium is suspected of contributing to the large calf size, dystocia, cersarean sections, calf mortality and confirmed these blastocysts are high quality in terms of cyotolerance, high rates of pregancy and normal birth. For these reasons, Culture media (IVMD101 and IVD101) designed specifically for the preimplantation bovine embryo are rather simplistic, being based on salt solutions with additional energy substrates and growth factors. An improved serum-free medium (IVMD101) was developed for bovine oocytes maturation in vitro. Proportions of embryos developing to the blastocyst stage cultured in both IVD101(32.4%) and IVD101(34.5%) serum-free media were higher than in TCM199+10% FBS(12.4%) serumcontaining medium. Futhermore, the cell numbers per blastosyst obtained in the serum-free media were superior to those of blastocysts developed in serum-supplemented medium. Also, cell numbers of blastocysts obtained in the serum-free media were similar with blastocysts derived in vivo. Survival rate blastocysts after 24 hr incubation after thawing, the blastocysts cultured in both IVD101(94.5%) and IVD101(95.8%) serum-free media were higher than in TCM199+10% FBS (52.5%) serum-containing medium. After 72 hr incubation after thawing, hatching rates of blastocysts developed in IVD101(78.4%) and IVMD101(83.7%) were sighnificantly higher than that developed in the serum-supplemented medium(32.0%). The pregnancy rates almost not different between fresh blastocysts(38.2%) and frozen blastocysts(34.9%). The results suggested that the improved serum-free media(IVMD101 and IVD101) offer several advantages over culture in serum-cotaining medium, including increased rates of blastocyst formation and high cel numbers. Additionally, the survival and hatching rates of embryos product in serum-free media after post-thaw culture were superior to those of embryos produced in the serum-containg medium and useful for the production of high quality bovine embryos for cryo-preservation. These improved serum-free media are beneficial not only for the study of the mechanisms of early embryogenesis but also for mass production of good quality embryos for embryo transfer, cloning and transgenesis.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2009

Objective: This study was performed to investigate the effectiveness of minimal stimulation using rhFSH and GnRH antagonist compared with GnRH antagonist multidose protocol (MDP) in IVF treated patients with aged 40 and above. Methods: Seventy-five patients with aged 40 and above were equally randomized to minimal stimulation group (n=37) or GnRH antagonist MDP group (n=38). For minimal stimulation group, ultrasound monitoring was started on cycle day 7 or 8. Daily injections of 0.25 mg cetrorelix together with 150 IU rhFSH were started from the day at 13${\sim}$14 mm of a leading follicle diameter. For GnRH antagonist MDP group, daily injections of 225 IU rhFSH were initiated from cycle day 2 and GnRH antagonist was started at a dose of 0.25 mg/day on rhFSH stimulation day 6 or the day at 13${\sim}$14 mm of leading follicle diameter. In both groups, transvaginal ultrasound-guided oocyte retrieval was performed. According to cleavage and morphologic characteristics of embryos, embryos were transferred 3 to 5 days after oocyte retrieval. Results: There were no differences in patients' characteristics and cycle cancellation rate between the two groups. Total dose and duration of rhFSH used were significantly fewer and shorter in minimal stimulation group than those in GnRH antagonist MDP group. The numbers of oocytes retrieved, mature oocytes and transferred embryos were also lower in minimal stimulation group. However, there were no significant differences in the clinical pregnancy rate and miscarriage rate between the two groups. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that minimal stimulation protocol provides comparable pregnancy rates to GnRH antagonist MDP with fewer dose and days of rhFSH used, and thus can be a cost-effective alternative in women aged 40 and above.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.9-23
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• 1968

A survey was conducted by the staff of the College of Medicine and School of Public Health, Seoul National University in cooperation with Seoul Special City from 1 December 1967 through 28 February 1968, on such events as delivery, death, abortion and pregnancy. The survey directed to a total population of 47,811 residing in 9,157 households led us to the following findings: 1. Two year averages of crude birth rate, crude death rate and natural increase rate were 30.1, 5.6 and 24.5, respectively. 2. Of all deliveries, home and hospital deliveries constituted 61.1 per cent and 35.5 per cent, respectively. 3. Deliveries other than hospital deliveries were found to be attended more often by mother-in-laws (26.5 per cent) than by doctors or midwives(23.4 per cent). 4. About 51 per cent of all women having experiences in pregnancy during the last two years had an experience of consulting a doctor at least one time throughout whole period of pregnancy. 5. In most cases scissors were used to cut umbilical cords, of which 71.0 per cent were not sterilized and only 20.3 per cent sterilized. 6. In many cases placenta was incinerated(48.2 per cent) and on many other occasions it was thrown away into water(28.3 per cent). 7. Cement bags(37.4 per cent), gauze and absorbent cotton(29.8 per cent) were found to be most frequently used to receive new-born babies. 8. In 1966 8. 8 per cent of the women had at least one abortion induced and in 1967 the percentage was 9.2 per cent. 9. Nearly all(95.8 per cent) of the induced abortions reportedly were done at doctor's clinics. 10. Of all the abortions induced 65.3 per cent were done by specialists in obstetrics, 30.3 per cent by general practitioners and 2.7 per cent by midwives. 11. Those who experienced spontaneous abortions were 1.9 per cent of all women both in 1966 and 1967. 12. About 9.2 per cent of women investigated were found to be currently pregnant. 13. Age specific death rate turned out to be highest among those under 1 year of age. 14. Ten major causes of death in their order of frequency were: 15. Places of death can be classified into homes(75.3 per cent) and hospitals(13.2 per cent). 16. Method of disposing of corpses comprised burials(54.2 per cent) and cremations(44.6 per cent). 17. Infant, neonatal and hebdomadal mortality rates have been computed at 32.2, 18.9 and 13.7, respectively. 18. Infants were found to have died either at homes(81.5 per cent) or at hospitals(18.5 per cent). 19. Birth registrations had been done for about 18.5 per cent of the dead infants.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.925-936
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• 2005

The present study evaluated whether pentoxifylline added to the freezing extender could improve the sperm characteristics and function in canine frozen semen. Also the conception rate following AI with frozen-thawed semen was investigated. The beneficial effects of pentoxifylline supplementation were visible in motility, viability, acrosome reaction, and tail swelling patterns. Especially, highest sperm viability and function were obtained in the forzen semen supplemented with 1mM pentoxifylline. The follicle size measured by ultrasonography was 6.48 mm, 11.52 mm and 8.9 mm on 11, 13 and 15 days after the onset of natural estrus, respectively and ovulation occurred on 13 and 15 days. The pregnancy rates in bitches inseminated with frozen semen on natural and induced estrus were 71.4% and 75.0%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the pregnancy rates in bitches inseminated with frozen semen following natural and induced estrus, but the litter size was slightly increased in natural cycle.