Background: As the impact of climate change intensifies, exposure to heat stress will grow, leading to a loss of work capacity for vulnerable occupations and affecting individual labor decisions. This study estimates the future work capacity under the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 scenario and discusses its regional impacts on the occupational structure in the Republic of Korea. Methods: The data utilized for this study constitute the local wet bulb globe temperature from the Korea Meteorological Administration and information from the Korean Working Condition Survey from the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute of Korea. Using these data, we classify the occupations vulnerable to heat stress and estimate future changes in work capacity at the local scale, considering the occupational structure. We then identify the spatial cluster of diminishing work capacity using exploratory spatial data analysis. Results: Our findings indicate that 52 occupations are at risk of heat stress, including machine operators and elementary laborers working in the construction, welding, metal, and mining industries. Moreover, spatial clusters with diminished work capacity appear in southwest Korea. Conclusion Although previous studies investigated the work capacity associated with heat stress in terms of climatic impact, this study quantifies the local impacts due to the global risk of climate change. The results suggest the need for mainstreaming an adaptation policy related to work capacity in regional development strategies.

Although pork quality traits are important commercially, genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have not well considered Landrace and Yorkshire pigs worldwide. Landrace and Yorkshire pigs are important pork-providing breeds. Although quantitative trait loci of pigs are well-developed, significant genes in GWASs of pigs in Korea must be studied. Through a GWAS using the PLINK program, study of the significant genes in Korean pigs was performed. We conducted a GWAS and surveyed the gene ontology (GO) terms associated with the backfat thickness (BF) trait of these pigs. We included the breed information (Yorkshire and Landrace pigs) as a covariate. The significant genes after false discovery rate (<0.01) correction were AFG1L, SCAI, RIMS1, and SPDEF. The major GO terms for the top 5% of genes were related to neuronal genes, cell morphogenesis and actin cytoskeleton organization. The neuronal genes were previously reported as being associated with backfat thickness. However, the genes in our results were novel, and they included ZNF280D, BAIAP2, LRTM2, GABRA5, PCDH15, HERC1, DTNBP1, SLIT2, TRAPPC9, NGFR, APBB2, RBPJ, and ABL2. These novel genes might have roles in important cellular and physiological functions related to BF accumulation. The genes related to cell morphogenesis were NOX4, MKLN1, ZNF280D, BAIAP2, DNAAF1, LRTM2, PCDH15, NGFR, RBPJ, MYH9, APBB2, DTNBP1, TRIM62, and SLIT2. The genes that belonged to actin cytoskeleton organization were MKLN1, BAIAP2, PCDH15, BCAS3, MYH9, DTNBP1, ABL2, ADD2, and SLIT2.
Actin Cytoskeleton ; Gene Ontology ; Genome-Wide Association Study* ; Korea ; Morphogenesis ; Neurons ; Quantitative Trait Loci ; Red Meat ; Swine*

Despite the importance of mutation rate, some difficulties exist in estimating it. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) data yields large numbers of single-nucleotide polymorphisms, which can make it feasible to estimate substitution rates. The genetic substitution rates of Hanwoo and Holstein cattle were estimated using NGS data. Our main findings was to calculate the gene's substitution rates. Through estimation of genetic substitution rates, we found: diving region of altered substitution density exists. This region may indicate a boundary between protected and unprotected genes. The protected region is mainly associated with the gene ontology terms of regulatory genes. The genes that distinguish Hanwoo from Holstein in terms of substitution rate predominantly have gene ontology terms related to blood and circulatory system. This might imply that Hanwoo and Holstein evolved with dissimilar mutation rates and processes after domestication. The difference in meat quality between Hanwoo and Holstein could originate from differential evolution of the genes related to these blood and circulatory system ontology terms.
Animals ; Cattle* ; Diving ; Gene Ontology ; Genes, Regulator ; Genome* ; Meat ; Mutation Rate

The study was conducted to analyze the impacts of COVID-19 on the number of dental trauma patients. Based on the data provided by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service’s Healthcare Bigdata Hub, dental trauma which occurred from 2010 to 2020 was analyzed.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the incidence of dental trauma per 100,000 decreased compared to the average Incidence between 2017 to 2019. By age, it decreased by 5.4% (p = 0.017) for 0 - 4 years old, 30.3% (p < 0.001) for 5 - 9 years old, 39.5% (p < 0.001) for 10 - 14 years old, 14.5% (p = 0.002) for 15 - 19 years old, 1.3% for 20 - 29 years old, 0.2% for 40 - 49 years old, 2.7% for 50 - 59 years old, 1.2% for 60 years old or older, but it increased by 2.5% for 30 - 39 years old. Compared monthly, before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 confirmed patients, the number of dental trauma patients dropped sharply.
After the outbreak of COVID-19, the incidence of dental trauma decreased significantly for under 20 years old, but the decrease was not significant for 20 years old or older.

Chronic expanding hematoma (CEH) is a hematoma that increases in size, usually occurring after trauma or surgery, more than a month after initial bleeding. Thighs and upper limbs are the most common sites of CEH. Only a few cases of CEH have been reported in the amputation stump site since CEH itself is a rare disease.We experienced a case of a 59-year-old man who underwent transtibial amputation and suffered from recurrent non-infectious hematoma. For the treatment of CEH, the patient underwent an open bursectomy, followed by bony spur removal surgery. However, CEH recurred, and the pain was only managed by intermittent aspiration and compression. We report a long journey of managing painful CEH of the transtibial amputation stump.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of national dental screening for children in Korea in the aspects of prevention of dental caries, the number of treatments related to dental caries, and cost of dental care. The study used the national cohort data on children health screening provided by National Health Insurance Service, and analyzed 32,937 1st dental screening, 22,608 2nd dental screening, 13,708 3rd dental screening, and 241,043 cases from the dental care of 27,944 children born in year 2008 and 2009. The decayed-filled teeth index and decayed-filled person rate, calculated from the results of the 2nd and 3rd dental screening, decreased as the number of preceding dental screening increased. Glass ionomer and amalgam restoration, pulp treatment of primary teeth and extraction of primary canine and molar were shown to decrease as the number of examined dental screening increased, and the total cost of dental care covered by national health insurance also decreased as the number of dental screening increased. In conclusion, national dental screening for children is an efficient and economical oral health care method that prevents dental caries and lowers the possibility of dental caries related treatment, thereby reducing cost of dental care.

Background: Korea’s health screening program has been faced the need for changes as the population and diseases structure are changing. In addition to Korea, many countries operate state-led health check-up programs to improve the health level of the people, and the operating methods of the program appear in various forms according to each country’s health insurance system. This study examines other state-led health screening programs and proposes a direction for the development of Korea’s health screening program. Methods: The study was conducted using the literature review method, and the “country” was set as a unit for the case analysis. The operating method of the health screening programs and the financial resources were compared according to the health insurance system. Five countries were selected as Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Taiwan. Results: The analyzed countries mainly operate the health screening program as a management method for chronic diseases, but there were differences in the operating method, financing, and targeted subjects and examination items. In most countries, a risk assessment was performed prior to the examination (screening), and the subjects who needed the examination were first selected, and a follow-up management service was provided in accordance with the risk each individual exposed. Conclusion Rather than applying the same screening method to populations with different risk levels, a health screening program will be constructed in consideration of the individual’s health level and exposure risk, and the healthcare delivery system will be reorganized so that screening and treatment services can be linked.

PURPOSE: This study compared serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentration between patients given the bilateral and unilateral intravitreal injections of bevacizumab. METHODS: In a prospective manner, serum VEGF levels in treatment-naive patients with age-related macular degeneration who underwent bilateral or unilateral intravitreal injections of bevacizumab were investigated. After informed consent, peripheral blood was collected from in patients who underwent bilateral or unilateral intravitreal injection of bevacizumab before and 1 month after the injection. Serum VEGF levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay after centrifugation. In addition, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) before and 1 month after the injection were compared between each group. RESULTS: Twenty patients received bilateral injections (40 eyes) and 20 patients received unilateral injections. The VEGF concentrations (pg/mL) before the bilateral injection were 235.75 +/- 183.16 and 252.53 +/- 233.52 for the unilateral injection. They were significantly reduced to 153.88 +/- 113.26 and 189.42 +/- 251.72 after 1 month, respectively (p = 0.037 and 0.019), which are showing no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.771). And there were no significant intergroup difference in pre- and postoperative BCVA and CRT. CONCLUSIONS: The bilateral simultaneous intravitreal injection of bevacizumab did not differ greatly from unilateral intravitreal injection in the influence on serum VEGF levels and the therapeutic outcome.
Angiogenesis Inhibitors/administration & dosage ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized/*administration & dosage ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Follow-Up Studies ; Intravitreal Injections ; Macula Lutea/*pathology ; Macular Degeneration/blood/diagnosis/*drug therapy ; Prospective Studies ; Tomography, Optical ; Treatment Outcome ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/antagonists & inhibitors/*blood ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: This study compared serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentration between patients given the bilateral and unilateral intravitreal injections of bevacizumab. METHODS: In a prospective manner, serum VEGF levels in treatment-naive patients with age-related macular degeneration who underwent bilateral or unilateral intravitreal injections of bevacizumab were investigated. After informed consent, peripheral blood was collected from in patients who underwent bilateral or unilateral intravitreal injection of bevacizumab before and 1 month after the injection. Serum VEGF levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay after centrifugation. In addition, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central retinal thickness (CRT) before and 1 month after the injection were compared between each group. RESULTS: Twenty patients received bilateral injections (40 eyes) and 20 patients received unilateral injections. The VEGF concentrations (pg/mL) before the bilateral injection were 235.75 +/- 183.16 and 252.53 +/- 233.52 for the unilateral injection. They were significantly reduced to 153.88 +/- 113.26 and 189.42 +/- 251.72 after 1 month, respectively (p = 0.037 and 0.019), which are showing no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.771). And there were no significant intergroup difference in pre- and postoperative BCVA and CRT. CONCLUSIONS: The bilateral simultaneous intravitreal injection of bevacizumab did not differ greatly from unilateral intravitreal injection in the influence on serum VEGF levels and the therapeutic outcome.
Angiogenesis Inhibitors/administration & dosage ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized/*administration & dosage ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Follow-Up Studies ; Intravitreal Injections ; Macula Lutea/*pathology ; Macular Degeneration/blood/diagnosis/*drug therapy ; Prospective Studies ; Tomography, Optical ; Treatment Outcome ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/antagonists & inhibitors/*blood ; Visual Acuity