• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.374-382
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• 2017

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains unexplained and untreated despite the high attention of research in recent years. Aside from its various characteristics is the baffling male preponderance over the female population. Using a validated animal model of ASD which is the telomerase reverse transcriptase overexpressing mice (TERT-tg), we conducted ASD-related behavioral assessments and protein expression experiments to mark the difference between male and females of this animal model. After statistically analyzing the results, we found significant effects of TERT overexpression in sociability, social novelty preference, anxiety, nest building, and electroseizure threshold in the males but not their female littermates. Along these differences are the male-specific increased expressions of postsynaptic proteins which are the NMDA and AMPA receptors in the prefrontal cortex. The vGluT1 presynaptic proteins, but not GAD, were upregulated in both sexes of TERT-tg mice, although it is more significantly pronounced in the male group. Here, we confirmed that the behavioral effect of TERT overexpression in mice was male-specific, suggesting that the aberration of this gene and its downstream pathways preferentially affect the functional development of the male brain, consistent with the male preponderance in ASD.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.874-883
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• 2011

Many studies have shown that the steamed root of Rehmannia glutinosa (SRG), which is widely used in the treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases in the context of Korean traditional medicine, is effective for improving cognitive and memory impairments. The purpose of this study was to examine whether SRG extracts improved memory defects caused by administering scopolamine (SCO) into the brains of rats. The effects of SRG on the acetylcholinergic system and proinflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus were also investigated. Male rats were administered daily doses of SRG (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, i.p.) for 14 days, 1 h before scopolamine injection (2 mg/kg, i.p.). After inducing cognitive impairment via scopolamine administration, we conducted a passive avoidance test (PAT) and the Morris water maze (MWM) test as behavioral assessments. Changes in cholinergic system reactivity were also examined by measuring the immunoreactive neurons of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and the reactivity of acetylcholinesterase (AchE) in the hippocampus. Daily administration of SRG improved memory impairment according to the PAT, and reduced the escape latency for finding the platform in the MWM. The administration of SRG consistently significantly alleviated memory-associated decreases in cholinergic immunoreactivity and decreased interleukin-$1{\beta}$ (IL-$1{\beta}$) and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) mRNA expression in the hippocampus. The results demonstrated that SRG had a significant neuroprotective effect against the neuronal impairment and memory dysfunction caused by scopolamine in rats. These results suggest that SRG may be useful for improving cognitive functioning by stimulating cholinergic enzyme activities and alleviating inflammatory responses.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.44 no.5 s.219
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• pp.99-107
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• 2006

The purposes of this study are to identify the types of teacher efficacy, to present a theoretical base for teacher efficacy among Home Economics teachers and subsequently, to improve the quality in the practices of home economics education. To achieve these purposes, 263 secondary school home economics teachers were surveyed by the prime investigator. The three research questions of this study were: 1. What are the individual characteristics, the environmental characteristics and the trends of teacher efficacy among secondary school home economics teachers? 2. What is the factor in teacher efficacy among secondary school home economics teachers? 3. What are the types of teacher efficacy among secondary school home economics teachers? For these research questions, factor analysis and cluster analysis were conducted. The factor analysis on teacher efficacy with a survey of secondary school home economics teachers produced 5 factors of efficacy: classroom management, needs assistance, instructional strategies, environmental assistance and teaming assistance. The teacher efficacy had a mean of 3.58 and the home economics teachers showed a slightly higher level in teacher efficacy. Of the 5 efficacy factors, classroom management showed the highest level (M=3.89), followed by learning assistance (M=3.81), instrumental strategies (M=3.57), environmental assistance (M=3.42) and needs assistance (M=3.19). Overall, the teachers had positive feeling in teacher efficacy. Three types of teachers were found in the types of teacher efficacy: the supreme, the average and the efforts-needy. Those types were identified based on the mean scores of the five sub-domains from the factor analysis. To enhance the teacher efficacy, the needs assessments for the students and behavioral adjustment issues should be reflected in the curriculum of teacher education and workshops. The primary investigator suggested that continuous and long-term plans for teacher education need to be developed because short-term plans may not be effective in changing attitudes such as teacher efficacy.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.269-276
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• 2013

This study was aimed of the effects of the Parent's Gestalt Speech Intervention for stuttering development of Fluency disorder Child. The Parent's Gestalt Speech Intervention was made up of a program understand phase, an awareness phase, a change phase and, finally, an arrangement and termination phase. The subjects 6 (female 2, male 4) of this research were developed a stuttering behavior without any apparent neurological damage or other speech or developmental impediments. To access their stuttering behaviors, I used methods for observing levels of behavioral in each phase. The results of the study are as follows: In regard to stuttering behavior, word repetition frequency decreased in the interim assessments, showing that the learning of fluent speech was acquired early in the therapy process. In conclusion, the results of the study show that Parent's Gestalt Speech Intervention for stuttering development of Fluency disorder Child.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.226-234
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• 2011

We investigated the clinical effects of Korean red ginseng on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. Eighteen subjects aged between 6 and 14 diagnosed with ADHD based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition diagnosis criteria were enrolled. Korean red ginseng (Panax ginseng) at 1,000 mg b.i.d. was administered to the subjects for 8 weeks. Eighteen children completed the questionnaire and clinical assessment by visiting the hospital at baseline, then in the first, fourth and eighth weeks. Clinical assessments were performed by using the ADHD Diagnostic System (ADS, a computerized attention assessment program), the abbreviated Conners' rating scale in addition to psychiatric interviews. After 8 weeks, significant differences were found in the omisssion errors of ADS ($78.56{\pm}43.33$ at baseline, $55.17{\pm}21.44$ at 8 weeks, p<0.023), Conners ADHD Rating Scale ($13.78{\pm}6.32$ at baseline, $9.50{\pm}4.80$ at 8 weeks, p<0.042) and Spielberger State Anxiety Scale ($30.94{\pm}6.25$ at baseline, $28.83{\pm}6.23$ at 8 weeks, p<0.024). In the Korean Personality Inventory for Children, a significant reduction of score was found in the physical development scale ($56.44{\pm}9.63$ at baseline, $50.94{\pm}8.91$ at 8 weeks, p<0.017) and social dysfunction scale ($56.33{\pm}6.82$ at baseline, $51.94{\pm}7.13$ at 8 weeks, p<0.025). These results suggest that Korean red ginseng may be effective in improving inattentiveness in ADHD children, but it remains uncertain if it improves the general severity of ADHD, depression, anxiety personality and behavioral changes.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.178-185
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• 2018

Purpose: We aim to assess the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, third edition (Bayley-III), Adaptive Behavior (AB) and Social-Emotional (SE) scales at 18 to 24 months of corrected age (CA) to examine their associations with school-age cognitive and behavioral outcomes in children born preterm. Methods: Eighty-eight infants born with a very low birth weight (<1,500 g) or a gestational age of less than 32 weeks who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit from 2008 to 2009 were included. Of the 88 children who completed school-age tests at 6 to 8 years of age, 37 were assessed using the Bayley-III, including the AB and SE scales, at 18 to 24 months of CA. Correlation, cross-tabulation, and receiver operating characteristic analyses were performed to assess the longitudinal associations. Results: A significant association was observed between communication scores on the Bayley-III AB scale at 18 to 24 months of CA and the Korean version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (K-WISC) full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) at school age (r=0.531). The total behavior problem scores of the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL) at school age were significantly negatively related to the Bayley-III SE and AB scales but not to the cognitive, language, or motor scales. Conclusion: Our findings encourage AB and SE assessments during the toddler stage and have important implications for the early identification of children in need of intervention and the establishment of guidelines for follow-up with high-risk infants.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2019

Self-reported difficulties in speech-in-noise (SiN) recognition are common among tinnitus patients. Whereas hearing impairment that usually co-occurs with tinnitus can explain such difficulties, recent studies suggest that tinnitus patients with normal hearing sensitivity still show decreased SiN understanding, indicating that SiN difficulties cannot be solely attributed to changes in hearing sensitivity. In fact, cognitive control, which refers to a variety of top-down processes that human beings use to complete their daily tasks, has been shown to be critical for SiN recognition, as well as the key to understand cognitive inefficiencies caused by tinnitus. In this article, we review studies investigating the association between tinnitus and cognitive control using behavioral and brain imaging assessments, as well as those examining the effect of tinnitus on SiN recognition. In addition, three factors that can affect cognitive control in tinnitus patients, including hearing sensitivity, age, and severity of tinnitus, are discussed to elucidate the association among tinnitus, cognitive control, and SiN recognition. Although a possible central or cognitive involvement has always been postulated in the observed SiN impairments in tinnitus patients, there is as yet no direct evidence to underpin this assumption, as few studies have addressed both SiN performance and cognitive control in one tinnitus cohort. Future studies should aim at incorporating SiN tests with various subjective and objective methods that evaluate cognitive performance to better understand the relationship between SiN difficulties and cognitive control in tinnitus patients.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.162-171
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• 2024

Objectives: Electroacupuncture (EA) has been demonstrated to aid stroke recovery. However, few investigations have focused on identifying the potent molecular targets of EA by comparing EA stimulation between naïve and disease models. Therefore, this study was undertaken to identify the potent molecular therapeutic mechanisms underlying EA stimulation in ischemic stroke through a comparison of mRNA sequencing data obtained from EA-treated naïve control and ischemic stroke mouse models. Methods: Using both naïve control and middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) mouse models, EA stimulation was administered at two acupoints, Baihui (GV20) and Dazhui (GV14), at a frequency of 2 Hz. Comprehensive assessments were conducted, including behavioral evaluations, RNA sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), functional enrichment analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, and quantitative real-time PCR. Results: EA stimulation ameliorated the ischemic insult-induced motor dysfunction in mice with ischemic stroke. Comparative analysis between control vs. MCAO, control vs. control + EA, and MCAO vs. MCAO + EA revealed 4,407, 101, and 82 DEGs, respectively. Of these, 30, 7, and 1 were common across the respective groups. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses revealed upregulated DEGs associated with the regulation of inflammatory immune response in the MCAO vs. MCAO + EA comparison. Conversely, downregulated DEGs in the control vs. control + EA comparison were linked to neuronal development. PPI analysis revealed major clustering related to the regulation of cytokines, such as Cxcl9, Pcp2, Ccl11, and Cxcl13, in the common DEGs of MCAO vs. MCAO + EA, with Esp8l1 identified as the only common downregulated DEG in both EA-treated naïve and ischemic models. Conclusion: These findings underscore the diverse potent mechanisms of EA stimulation between naïve and ischemic stroke mice, albeit with few overlaps. However, the potent mechanisms underlying EA treatment in ischemic stroke models were associated with the regulation of inflammatory processes involving cytokines.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.259-265
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• 2018

Since Korean housewives are responsible for the dietary practices of family at home, it is important to know what information will make them to buy safe food. This study was designed to determine the role of perceived threats, behavioral assessments, and self-efficacy factors known to promote healthy behavior in health belief models (HBM) based on food safety awareness and behavior of housewives. This study involved 191 housewives, based on key variables such as perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and purchase behavior. The results showed that higher levels of education and urbanization increased the threat perception and the likelihood of buying safe food. The correlation analysis showed that increased awareness and knowledge of safe foods and interest in health contributed to higher relative benefit or self-efficiency of food, and thus, ensured food safety. The conceptual model of food safety behavior based on the HBM was verified via structural equation analysis. The findings suggest that a suitable model showcasing knowledge levels and relative benefits resulted in a greater impact on purchasing behavior than perceived threats. This study suggests that it is more effective for housewives to provide more preventive information than risk information to purchase safe food.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.183-202
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• 1996

This study was designed out to develop a home health care service for nurses working in community care services. This study investigates actual conditions at welfare institutions related to health needs the demands of clients, and the state of home health care services we hope that this study will improve upon the current service system. In Korea home health care services are still developing and only new becoming a part of the health care supply system. The data was collected by recording the client home nursing assessments modified to the situation of UTMB home health agency. In this study 107 clients were selected for home care who needed care for physical and mental deficits. The study lasted from March to November of 1995 at one of the welfare service institutions in Chunchon city. The results show that those who most frequently needed care services were over 50 years old with a health deficit of 80.3%, followed by sex as women who needed care at 59.8%. 50.5% of the clients had very little education. 99.1% of the clients live with their family, and a medical diagnostic analysis reveals that 73.9% of the 5 year period of illnesses were the following : 38.8% - muscular -skeleton system disorder, 24.4% - hypertension and stroke, 25.7% sole disease of arthritis. For behavioral conditions 43.3% of the patients were without care services, 56.6% of the patients were taking treatment that 73.5% of those were taking medication. The most main complaint of patients were 22.4% of pain in the extremities, next were 16.8% of a limitation of body activities, 15.0% was lumbo-sacralgia. According to the investigator who was a senior student nurse, the following suggestions were made: 32.7% for curative medical services, 29.9% for physical exercise, 19.6% for emotional support. Consultation nursing services consisted of 67.2% for physical therapy, 11.2% for the maintaining healing, 9.4% for counseling. The patients at home, required assistance most frequently for muscular-skeleton problems under the category of physical systems (33.3%). But, on the other hand, 49.5% of the patients required care givers at home, 28.2% had a knowledge deficit, 21.0% had malnutrition, 18.4% had bad impaired communication. The character of health problems were devided into chronic disease(67.0%), accidents(I3.1%), and general disease(15.9%). 86% of the disabled client had an impairment of the physical system. Eating (86.9%) , Toileting(77.6%), and personal care showed much the same of ADL condition, the level and range of achievement of mobility, the most frequently self performed was 81.3% only in a room size area, and 40.2% were completely dependent when going out. Although there were a large number of home care services in th community at these welfare institutions, many clients needed a variety of curative services. As policy changes have gathered momentum, responsibility for the development of a more suitable program was demanded by the clients from the community.