The Korean Early Childhood Education and Care Panel Study (K-ECEC panel study), commencing in 2021, aimed to collect data related to early life growth and development. In particular, based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, the study aims to collect intrinsic and extrinsic parental factors, educational and caregiving experiences in institutions, and environmental factors from the prenatal stage through infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood. This is important for understanding child development with varied dimensional aspects. The K-ECEC panel study uses a stratified sampling strategy in order to recruit pregnant women based on regions and numbers of deliveries to individual hospitals. This resulted in the participation of 3,372 women, 95 of whom were from low-income families and 72 from multicultural families. The K-ECEC panel study is based on a household survey collecting information related to pregnancy, birth, and childrearing. The survey included an annual follow-up for individual households of newborns from 2022, and the second round of the survey was conducted in 2023. A total of 2,775 children participated in the first round of the survey, 1,423 of whom were boys. As there are few birth cohort studies considering policy-oriented aspects in Korea, the K-ECEC panel study is expected to provide data to understand childhood trajectories for growth and development. Furthermore, in terms of childcare and education, it is expected to be utilized to evaluate the policy effects of early life and parenting support.

The Korean Early Childhood Education and Care Panel Study (K-ECEC panel study), commencing in 2021, aimed to collect data related to early life growth and development. In particular, based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, the study aims to collect intrinsic and extrinsic parental factors, educational and caregiving experiences in institutions, and environmental factors from the prenatal stage through infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood. This is important for understanding child development with varied dimensional aspects. The K-ECEC panel study uses a stratified sampling strategy in order to recruit pregnant women based on regions and numbers of deliveries to individual hospitals. This resulted in the participation of 3,372 women, 95 of whom were from low-income families and 72 from multicultural families. The K-ECEC panel study is based on a household survey collecting information related to pregnancy, birth, and childrearing. The survey included an annual follow-up for individual households of newborns from 2022, and the second round of the survey was conducted in 2023. A total of 2,775 children participated in the first round of the survey, 1,423 of whom were boys. As there are few birth cohort studies considering policy-oriented aspects in Korea, the K-ECEC panel study is expected to provide data to understand childhood trajectories for growth and development. Furthermore, in terms of childcare and education, it is expected to be utilized to evaluate the policy effects of early life and parenting support.

The Korean Early Childhood Education and Care Panel Study (K-ECEC panel study), commencing in 2021, aimed to collect data related to early life growth and development. In particular, based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, the study aims to collect intrinsic and extrinsic parental factors, educational and caregiving experiences in institutions, and environmental factors from the prenatal stage through infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood. This is important for understanding child development with varied dimensional aspects. The K-ECEC panel study uses a stratified sampling strategy in order to recruit pregnant women based on regions and numbers of deliveries to individual hospitals. This resulted in the participation of 3,372 women, 95 of whom were from low-income families and 72 from multicultural families. The K-ECEC panel study is based on a household survey collecting information related to pregnancy, birth, and childrearing. The survey included an annual follow-up for individual households of newborns from 2022, and the second round of the survey was conducted in 2023. A total of 2,775 children participated in the first round of the survey, 1,423 of whom were boys. As there are few birth cohort studies considering policy-oriented aspects in Korea, the K-ECEC panel study is expected to provide data to understand childhood trajectories for growth and development. Furthermore, in terms of childcare and education, it is expected to be utilized to evaluate the policy effects of early life and parenting support.

The Korean Early Childhood Education and Care Panel Study (K-ECEC panel study), commencing in 2021, aimed to collect data related to early life growth and development. In particular, based on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, the study aims to collect intrinsic and extrinsic parental factors, educational and caregiving experiences in institutions, and environmental factors from the prenatal stage through infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood. This is important for understanding child development with varied dimensional aspects. The K-ECEC panel study uses a stratified sampling strategy in order to recruit pregnant women based on regions and numbers of deliveries to individual hospitals. This resulted in the participation of 3,372 women, 95 of whom were from low-income families and 72 from multicultural families. The K-ECEC panel study is based on a household survey collecting information related to pregnancy, birth, and childrearing. The survey included an annual follow-up for individual households of newborns from 2022, and the second round of the survey was conducted in 2023. A total of 2,775 children participated in the first round of the survey, 1,423 of whom were boys. As there are few birth cohort studies considering policy-oriented aspects in Korea, the K-ECEC panel study is expected to provide data to understand childhood trajectories for growth and development. Furthermore, in terms of childcare and education, it is expected to be utilized to evaluate the policy effects of early life and parenting support.

PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness and tolerability of cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion (CsA) 0.05% in patients with moderate to severe dry eye disease in Korea. METHODS: This was a prospective, multicenter, open-label, surveillance study of 392 Korean patients with moderate to severe dry eye disease who were treated with CsA 0.05% for three months. An assessment of effectiveness was performed at baseline, and after 1, 2, and 3 months. The primary effectiveness outcomes were changes in ocular symptoms and Schirmer score. The secondary effectiveness outcomes were a change in conjunctival staining, use of artificial tears, global evaluation of treatment, and patient satisfaction. The primary safety outcome was the incidence and nature of adverse events. RESULTS: A total of 362 patients completed the study. After three months, all ocular symptom scores were significantly reduced compared to the baseline values, while the Schirmer scores were significantly increased relative to baseline (p < 0.0001). After three months, there were significant reductions from baseline in conjunctival staining (p < 0.01) and use of artificial tears (p < 0.0001). According to clinicians' global evaluations, most patients (>50%) experienced at least a 25% to 50% improvement in symptoms from baseline at each follow-up visit. The majority of patients (72.0%) were satisfied with the treatment results, and 57.2% reported having no or mild symptoms after treatment. The most common adverse events were ocular pain (11.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that CsA 0.05% is an effective and tolerable treatment for dry eye disease in Korean clinical practice.
Cyclosporine/*administration & dosage/adverse effects ; Dry Eye Syndromes/*drug therapy/epidemiology ; Emulsions ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents/*administration & dosage/adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Population Surveillance ; Prospective Studies ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: Our study aimed to examine psychometric properties and cross-cultural utility of the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2, Parent Rating Scale-Child (BASC-2 PRS-C) in Korean children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two study populations were recruited: a general population sample (n=2115) of 1st to 6th graders from 16 elementary schools and a clinical population (n=219) of 6–12 years old from 5 child psychiatric clinics and an epidemiological sample of autism spectrum disorder. We assessed the validity and reliability of the Korean version of BASC-2 PRS-C (K-BASC-2 PRS-C) and compared subscales with those used for US populations. RESULTS: Our results indicate that the K-BASC-2 PRS-C is a valuable instrument with reliability and validity for measuring developmental psychopathology that is comparable to those in Western population. However, there were some differences noted in the mean scores of BASC-2 PRS-C between Korean and US populations. CONCLUSION: K-BASC-2 PRS-C is an effective and useful instrument with psychometric properties that permits measurement of general developmental psychopathology. Observed Korean-US differences in patterns of parental reports of children's behaviors indicate the importance of the validation, standardization and cultural adaptation for tools assessing psychopathology especially when used in populations different from those for which the instrument was originally created.
Autism Spectrum Disorder ; Behavior Rating Scale ; Child* ; Cross-Cultural Comparison ; Humans ; Parents* ; Psychometrics ; Psychopathology ; Reproducibility of Results

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of this study was to assess the value of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) for predicting the extent of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by correlating the elasticity of HCC and peritumoral parenchyma (as measured by ARFI) with the extent of ablation determined by computed tomography (CT). METHODS: From September 2009 to June 2011, 158 patients underwent RFA ablation for HCC (single, < or =3 cm). We evaluated the data of a total of 38 prospectively enrolled patients who underwent both ARFI imaging and contrast-enhanced CT after one session of 12 minutes of RFA without a change in needle position. The ARFI imaging indices, including the mean shear wave velocity (SWV) of HCC, mean SWV of the peritumoral parenchyma and tumor size, were evaluated to determine the statistical correlation with RFA extent after one session of 12 minutes of RFA. RESULTS: A stiffer liver parenchyma in patients with cirrhosis results in a smaller ablation zone. CONCLUSIONS: SWV of ARFI in liver parenchyma was well correlated with RFA extent. After evaluating the correlation between ARFI and RFA extent, we suggest that the SWV in liver parenchyma might be a non-invasive supplementary tool for predicting the extent of RFA.
Acoustics ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Elasticity ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Liver ; Needles ; Prospective Studies

The infection status of zoonotic trematode metacercariae was investigated in a total of 2,293 freshwater fish collected from 11 rivers or streams in 9 administrative regions of Gangwon-do, Korea for 5 years (2009-2013). All fish were collected by netting methods and examined using the artificial digestion methods. Clonorchis sinensis metacercariae were detected in 4 fish species, i.e., Pungtungia herzi, Squalidus japonicus coreanus, Acheilognathus rhombeus, and Ladislabia taczanowskii, from only Hantangang in Cheorwon-gun. Metagonimus spp. metacercariae were found in 1,154 (50.3%) fish and their average number per infected fish was 55.8. Among the positive fish species, especially Tribolodon hakonensis from Namdaecheon in Yangyang-gun and Plecoglossus altivelis from Osipcheon in Samcheok-si were most heavily infected. Centrocestus armatus metacercariae were detected in 611 (26.7%) fish and the average metacercarial burden per infected fish was 1,032. Two chub species, Zacco platypus and Zacco temminckii were highly and heavily infected with C. armatus metacercariae in almost all regions surveyed. Echinostoma spp. metacercariae were also found in 24 fish from a few localities, but their numbers per fish infected were very low. From the above results, it is confirmed that the metacercariae of intestinal flukes, especially Metagonimus spp. and C. armatus, were heavily infected, while C. sinensis metacercariae were rarely found in fish from Gangwon-do, Korea.
Animals ; Biodiversity ; Fish Diseases/*epidemiology/*parasitology ; Fishes ; Fresh Water ; Korea ; Parasite Load ; Prevalence ; Trematoda/*classification/*isolation & purification ; Trematode Infections/epidemiology/parasitology/*veterinary

OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted to evaluate the mobile transposon-like element, clone MTi7 (MTi7) expression in the mouse ovary and to determine its role(s) in the mouse oocytes by RNA interference (RNAi). METHODS: MTi7 mRNA expression was localized by in situ hybridization in day5 and adult ovaries. Double stranded RNA (dsRNA) was prepared for c-mos, a gene with known function as control, and the MTi7. Each dsRNA was microinjected into the germinal vesicle (GV) stage oocytes then oocyte maturation and intracellular changes were evaluated. RESULTS: In situ hybridization analysis revealed that MTi7 mRNA localized to the oocyte cytoplasm from primordial to preovulatory follicles. After dsRNA injection, we found 43-54% GV arrest of microinjected GV oocytes with 68%-90% decrease in targeted c-mos or MTi7 mRNA. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of the oocyte-specific expression of the MTi7 mRNA. From results of RNAi for MTi7, we concluded that the MTi7 is involved in the germinal vesicle breakdown in GV oocytes, and MTi7 may be implicated with c-mos for its function. We report here that RNAi provides an outstanding approach to study the function of a gene with unknown functions.
Adult ; Animals ; Clone Cells* ; Cytoplasm ; Female ; Genes, vif ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Mice ; Oocytes ; Ovary ; RNA Interference* ; RNA* ; RNA, Double-Stranded ; RNA, Messenger

PURPOSE: Circadian rhythm affects learning process, memory consolidation, and long-term memory. In this study, the alleviating effect of exercise on circadian rhythm disruption-induced memory deficits was investigated. METHODS: BMAL1 knockdown transgenic mice (BMAL1 TG) were used as the BMAL1-TG group and the BMAL1-TG with treadmill exercise group. Female C57BL/6J mice of the same age were used as the wildtype group and the wildtype with treadmill exercise group. The mice in the treadmill exercise groups performed running on a motorized treadmill under the dark-dark conditions for 8 weeks. Short-term memory, nonspatial object memory, and spatial learning memory were determined using stepdown avoidance test, novel object-recognition test, and radial 8-arm maze test. Immunohistochemistry for doublecortin and 5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine was conducted for the determination of hippocampal neurogenesis. Using the western blot analysis, we determined the expressions of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and factors related to the neurogenesis and memory consolidation, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, tyrosine kinase B, p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase, cyclic AMP-responsive element binding protein, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, protein kinas B, protein kinase C alpha, early-growth-response gene 1. RESULTS: Circadian rhythm disruption impaired memory function through inhibiting the expressions of GR and the factors related to neurogenesis and memory consolidation. Treadmill exercise improved memory function via enhancing the expressions of GR and above-mentioned factors. CONCLUSIONS Treadmill exercise acts as the zeitgeber that improves memory function under the circadian rhythm disrupted conditions.