• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.147-157
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• 1989

To investigate the blood lead concentration, their interrelation, correlation factor and influence on pregnant women and newborn, lead concentration in the maternal blood and umbilical cord blood were determined. Samples were collected from 130 mothers who were living in the Taegu City, during March, 1989. Blood lead concentration was estimated using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer(IL. 551) equipped with Flameless Furnace Atomizer (IL. 665). The mean lead concentration of maternal and cord blood were $17.47{\pm}7.92{\mu}g/d{\ell}$, $15.31{\pm}7.98{\mu}g/d{\ell}$, respectively. A significant correlation was observed between the lead concentration of maternal and cord blood, r=0.663, Y=0.667X+3.646. No significant correlation was observed between previous spontaneous abortion and obstetric complication of mother and maternal blood lead concentration. Similarly, no significant correlation was observed between the sex, gestational age of neonate and cord blood lead concentration. But the birth weight of neonate had some negative correlation with cord blood lead concentration. The blood lead concentration of mother who had engaged in manufactures were higher than others and the longer working years were, the higher blood lead concentration were. Significant correlation was observed between husband's occupational exposure to lead and maternal blood lead concentration.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.585-592
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• 2017

Objective: The present study investigates pre- and post-implantation developmental competence of nuclear-transferred porcine embryos derived from male and female fetal fibroblasts. Methods: Male and female fetal fibroblasts were transferred to in vitro-matured enucleated oocytes and in vitro and in vivo developmental competence of reconstructed embryos was investigated. And, a total of 6,789 female fibroblast nuclear-transferred embryos were surgically transferred into 41 surrogate gilts and 4,746 male fibroblast nuclear-transferred embryos were surgically transferred into 25 surrogate gilts. Results: The competence to develop into blastocysts was not significantly different between the sexes. The mean cell number of female and male cloned blastocysts obtained by in vivo culture ($143.8{\pm}10.5$ to $159.2{\pm}14.8$) was higher than that of in vitro culture of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) groups ($31.4{\pm}8.3$ to $33.4{\pm}11.1$). After embryo transfer, 5 pregnant gilts from each treatment delivered 15 female and 22 male piglets. The average birth weight of the cloned piglets, gestation length, and the postnatal survival rates were not significantly different (p<0.05) between sexes. Conclusion: The present study found that the sex difference of the nuclear donor does not affect the developmental rate of porcine SCNT embryos. Furthermore, postnatal survivability of the cloned piglets was not affected by the sex of the donor cell.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1177-1180
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• 2014

Background: Anogenital warts (AGWs) are common results of sexually transmitted infection (STI). Human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6 and 11, which are non-oncogenic types, account for 90% of the clinical manifestations. Although the quadrivalent HPV vaccine has been launched, AGW remains prevalent in some countries and shows association with abnormal cervical cytology. Objectives: To study the prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology (low grade squamous intraepithelial lesions or worse; LSIL+) in immunocompetent Thai women newly presenting with external AGWs. Materials and Methods: Medical charts of all women attending Siriraj STI clinic during 2007-2011 were reviewed. Only women presenting with external AGWs who were not immunocompromised (pregnant, human immunodeficiency virus positive or being on immunosuppressant drugs) and had not been diagnosed with cervical cancer were included into the study. Multivariate analysis was used to determine the association between the characteristics of the patients and those of AGWs and LSIL+. Results: A total of 191 women were eligible, with a mean age of $27.0{\pm}8.9$ years; and a mean body mass index of $20.6{\pm}8.9kg/m^2$. Half of them finished university. The most common type of AGWs was exophytic (80.1%). The posterior fourchette appeared to be the most common affected site of the warts (31.9%), followed by labia minora (26.6%) and mons pubis (19.9%). The median number of lesions was 3 (range 1-20). Around 40% of them had recurrent warts within 6 months after completing the treatment. The prevalence of LSIL+ at the first visit was 16.3% (LSIL 12.6%, ASC-H 1.1%, HSIL 2.6%). After adjusting for age, parity and miscarriage, number of warts ${\geq}5$ was the only factor associated with LSIL+(aOR 2.65, 95%CI 1.11-6.29, p 0.027). Conclusions: LSIL+ is prevalent among immunocompetent Thai women presenting with external AGWs, especially those with multiple lesions.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 1988

The effect of maternal low protein diets during gestation and lactation on growth and development of young rats was investigated. Pregnant and/or lactating rats were fed the diet containing 20% or 11.7%casein. DNA, RNA and total protein were determined in liver, muscle and brain of 21-day-old young rats and lipid contents and acetylcholinesterase activity in brain. Body and organ weight of young rats were measured. DNA, RNA and protein contents of liver, muscle and brain of young rats were less in maternal low protein group than that of control group. Total lipid and cholesterol contents in brain were less(p<0.01) in low protein group than that of control group than that of control group. And also brain acety;cholnesterase activity of low protein group was significantly (p<0.01) lower than those of control group, but their each organ weight ratios in relation to body weight was higher than that of control group. It could be suggested that the maternal low protein during gestation and lactation has influenced on cell number, cell size, protein content, brain lipid content and acetyl-cholinesterase activity of the offsprings.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.467-475
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• 2006

The necessity of adequate pregnancy weight gain for optimal pregnancy outcome has been recognized. However, the specific components of pregnancy weight gain that might be critical for fetal growth and development have not been elucidated clearly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation of pregnancy weight gain and birth weight with serum leptin levels in women delivered newborns. The subjects were recruited from K university hospital. The subject's characteristic data (age $32.1\;{\pm}\;4.3\;y$, gestational age $39.5\;{\pm}\;1.1wk$, pre-pregnancy weight $58.0\;{\pm}\;8.6\;kg$, pregnancy weight gain $12.7\;{\pm}\;5.5\;kg$, newborn's birth weight $3.5\;{\pm}\;0.5\;kg$) were gathered. Maternal dietary assessment was carried out at the end of pregnancy. After delivery, blood samples were collected from 20 mother-newborn pairs. Serum levels of various lipids and leptin were analyzed. Maternal daily consumption of iron, zinc, folate were lower than the RDA of each nutrient and index of nutritional quality was less than 1 showing that the quality of maternal diet was low. The levels of serum leptin of mothers and infants were $10.2\;{\pm}\;6.7\;ng/ml$ and $1.7\;{\pm}\;0.6\;ng/ml$, respectively. The serum leptin concentrations of male infants $(1.9\;{\pm}\;0.7\;ng\;ml)$ were not different from that of females $(1.7{\pm}0.5\;ng/ml)$. A negative correlation was found between the maternal pre-pregnant BMI and weight gain during pregnancy (r = -0.54, p < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between the pregnancy weight gain and the newborn's birth weight (r=0.59, p < 0.01 There were also positive correlation between newborn's birth weight and newborn's serum leptin levels (r = 0.57, p < 0.01). No correlations were found between maternal serum leptin levels and that of newborn's. Efforts should be made to attain adequate diet and weight gain during the pregnancy to reduce the likelihood of low or over birth weight of newborns.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.786-794
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to establish an association between the consumption of ready-to-eat cereal (RTEC), milk, and calcium within the context of the most current population dietary practice in Korea. Inadequate calcium intake among Korean children and adults is one of the important public health concern. Milk is one of the best calcium sources because or its bioavailability, and RTEC is one or the foods commonly consumed with milk. The most recent Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey, 2001 dataset was used as the source of data for this research. Subjects excluding pregnant women, were categorized according to gender and age ($1{\sim}5,\;6{\sim}11,\;12{\sim}19,\;20{\sim}49,\;50+$ years) and then by consumption of RTEC and milk. SAS and SUDAAN were used for statistical analyses. Sample weighted means, standard errors, and population percentages were calculated, and multiple regression model with adjustment for covariates were used to determine the predictability of total daily calcium intake from inclusion of RTEC and milk compared to the meal without RTEC and milk. RTEC was consumed by 2.4% or Korean people. Average calcium intake was 17 times greater when RTEC was consumed with milk than when RTEC was consumed without milk. Respondents who consumed RTEC with milk had significantly higher mean daily calcium and other nutrient intakes than respondents who consumed neither. in the multiple regression analysis, milk consumption with or without RTEC predicted total daily calcium intake after adjusting for age, income, and alcohol consumption (p<0.0001). The percentage of respondents below the estimated average requirement (EAR) level for calcium was lower for RTEC consumers than for RTEC non-consumers in all age-gender groups, especially significant differences were in children aged $1{\sim}5$, boys and girls aged $12{\sim}19$, men aged $20{\sim}49$, and women older than 50 years of age. RTEC consumption was not associated with intake in excess of the tolerable upper intake level (UL) for calcium. In conclusion, RTEC consumption was positively associated with both milk and calcium intakes in all age and gender groups in Korean population.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.23-33
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• 1987

This study was carried out to investigate the characteristics of lithium concentration difference between maternal and fetal plasma and the effect of previous lithium loading on rapid transplacental transport of large amounts of lithium. Pregnant rabbits at $20{\sim}22\;days$ of gestation were divided into two groups: chronic $Li^+$ injection group and chronic plus acute $Li^+$ injection group. Small amounts of LiCl (1 mmol/kg per day) were given intraperitoneally to all rabbits of both group, for 5 days before sacrifice. The rabbits of chronic plus acute injection group, received additional intravenous injections of large amounts of LiCl (2 mmol/kg) one hour before sacrifice. Maternal arterial blood, placental sinus blood, fetal blood and amniotic fluid were drawn and analyzed for the plasma concentrations of $Li^+$, $Na^+$ and $K^+$ and for osmolartiy. Followings are the results obtained. 1) There was no difference in the $Li^+$ concentration between maternal plasma and placental sinus plasma in chronic lithium group, although the $Li^+$ concentration of placental sinus plasma was slightly lower than that of maternal arterial plasma in the chronic plus acute lithium group. 2) The $Li^+$ concentration of fetal plasma was much lower than that of placental sinus plasma in both groups, the ratio being $0.76{\pm}0.250$ ($mean{\pm}95%$ confidence interval) for the chronic $Li^+$ group and $0.78{\pm}0.366$ for the chronic plus acute $Li^+$ group. 3) The ratio of $Li^+$ concentration of fetal plasma to maternal arterial plasma was $0.71{\pm}0.196$ in the chronic group and $0.59{\pm}0.261$ in the chronic plus acute group. 4) $Li^+$ concentration of amniotic fluid was much higher than that of fetal plasma in the chronic $Li^+$ group but not significantly different in the chronic plus acute $Li^+$ group. 5) An acute loading of $Li^+$ did not produce any detectable changes in $Na^+$ and $K^+$ concentrations and osmolarity of the maternal plasma. The above results may suggest that: (a) The placental barrier maintains steady state lithium concentration gradient between placental sinus plasma and fetal plasma. (b) In rabbits chronically treated with $Li^+$ the steady state $Li^+$ gradient is established within one hour after an acute $Li^+$ loading, provided that the $Li^+$ concentration in the maternal plasma is less than 4 mmole/l.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.36-45
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• 2001

This study was performed to determine the changes of maternal iron status during pregnancy cross sectionally, and to evaluate the appropriateness of the cut-off points of hemoglobin (Hb). hematocrit (Hct), serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) and sTfR : ferritin ratio for assessing iron deficiency status based on serum ferritin level (< 12${\mu}g$/L). Serum Hb concentrations in the first trimester were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those in the second and third trimester. Serum levels of iron and ferritin in the third trimester were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than those in the first and second trimester. On the other hand, sTfR:ferritin ratios in the third trimester were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those in the first and second trimester. sTfR concentrations did not change significantly during pregnancy. The appropriate cut-off points of Hb were 11.5g/dL for whole period of pregnancy. 12.0g/dL for 1st trimester. and 11.5g/dL for both 2nd and 3rd trimester. The good cut-off points of Hct were 34% for whole period of pregnancy. 36% for 1st trimester. and 34% for both 2nd and 3rd trimester The suitable cut-off points of TIBC were 400${\mu}g$/dL for whole period of pregnancy. 360${\mu}g$/dL for 1st trimester, and 400${\mu}g$/dL for both 2nd and 3rd trimester. Any cut-off point of sTfR could not be selected because of its low sensitivity and specificity. The proper cut-off point of sTfR : ferritin ratio was 600 or 650 for all the periods determined except the first trimester. In conclusion, there were no reliable cut-off levels of sTfR and those of sTfR : ferritin ratio showed low specificity. The cut-off values of Hb and Hct for assessing iron deficiency were slightly higher than the values used to evaluate anemia. Thus, if appropriate cut-off levels were applied, Hb. Hct, or TIBC might be useful indices for evaluating iron deficiency as well as anemia.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.119-130
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to serve as a basis for more effective sex education, by examining the influence of obscene media on elementary school student's sex consciousness. For attaining the purpose, the research questions were posed as follows: 1) What's general characteristics of elementary school students? 2) How much are elementary school students exposed to obscene media? 3) Is their sex consciousness different according to the degree of being exposed to obscene media and the appearance of secondary sex characteristic? The subject of study were the 400 male and female students who were in the sixth grade at elementary school in the city of Paju. The questionnaire survey was conducted to find out their general characteristics, sex consciousness and degree of being exposed to obscene media. The conclusions were as follows; 1) Basic Information 94% of the students investigated were living with their parents. The greatest number of their parents were in their fourties. Concerning the religion of their families, 47.5% belonged to Christianity or Catholicism. 47.3% got in touch with obscene media, which indicated that the harmful influence of that media was great. Their basic knowledge of pregnancy was very poor, as 27.2% weren't sure whether being pregnant could be caused only by shaking hands, hugging or kissing. 34.7% considered it a natural behavior to contact the other sex. Regarding their practice of sexual behavior, they'd have an experience of hugging or kissing. 2) Group Comparison The female students underwent the appearance of secondary sex characteristic faster than the male students. As a result of examining if their degree of being exposed to obscene media was affected by the presence or absence of secondary sex characteristic, no statistically significant difference existed in all the groups: the entire group, male student group and female student group. There appeared, however, statistically significant differences between male and female students, as the number of male student who hadn't yet been exposed to obscene media was less than that of female student who hadn't. And the number of male student who had been much exposed to obscene media was more than that of female student who had. 3) Sex Knowledge, Sex Attitude and Sex Practice The extent of making contact with obscene media didn't make statistically significant difference to the sex knowledge of all the groups. But more extent of getting in touch with obscene media led to more sex attitude and sex practice in the entire group. However, as a result of analyzing these things by the presence or absence of secondary sex characteristic, it's found in general that the group that had secondary sex characteristic possessed statistically better sex knowledge than the other group that hadn't. For the male students, there appeared little disparities in three subareas of sex knowledge, sex attitude and sex practice. For the female students, however, the group that had secondary sex characteristic owned better sex knowledge than the other group that hadn't, and the former group looked upon sex attitude as more natural.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.3029-3034
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• 2015

Background: While the perinatal outcomes of active maternal smoking are well documented, results of the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure during pregnancy are inconsistent. We aimed to examine the effect of ETS exposure, assessed by maternal hair nicotine levels at $35^{th}$ week of gestation, on birth weight and the risk of small for gestational age (SGA) and low birth weight (LBW). Materials and Methods: A total of 871 non-smoking healthy pregnant women were recruited by one Korean hospital between 1 October 2006 and 31 July 2007. Hair samples were collected and anthropometric questionnaires administered at $35^{th}$ week of gestation. The primary outcome was birth weight and secondary outcomes were the risk of babies being SGA and LBW. Results: Log-transformed hair nicotine concentrations were inversely related with birth weight after adjusting for confounding variables (${\beta}=-0.077$, p=0.037). After stratifying hair nicotine levels by tertiles (T1, low [0.0-0.28 ng/mg]; T2, medium [0.29-0.62 ng/mg]; and T3, high [0.63-5.99 ng/mg]), the mean birth weight in each groups were 3,342g (T1) 3,296g (T2) and 3,290 g (T3), respectively. However the difference between groups was not statistically significant by analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) adjusting for covariates (p=0.062). In logistic regression analysis, the risk of SGA was higher in the T3 (OR=1.59, 95%CI 1.05-2.42) than in the reference group (T1), after controlling for confounding variables. The risk of low birth weight (<2,500g, LBW) was not significantly higher (OR=1.44, 95%CI 0.95-2.19), but the risk of babies being below 3,000g birth weight was increased in the T3 group (OR=1.53, 95%CI 1.00-2.36) compared with that in the T1 group. Conclusions: Maternal ETS exposure during pregnancy was inversely related with birth weight. The risk of SGA increased in the highest ETS exposure group compared with in the low exposure group. To prevent ETS exposure during pregnancy, more comprehensive tobacco control policies are needed.