• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.555-564
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• 2021

Thalamus is known to play an important role in the regulation of nerve function. Thalamus, located in the center of the brain, is involved in sleep, arousal, and emotional regulation, and has been reported to be associated with multiple sclerosis, essential tremors, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. In addition, it has been reported that iron deposits in the thalamus can cause depressive symptoms with age. Although there are discrepancies between studies, it can be deduced that the thalamus region has a clear effect on neurological disorders due to a strong relationship between the thalamus and neurological functions such as emotional control and processing. Through tractography analysis, the connectivity between the detailed areas of each subcortical region was investigated in the form of a matrix, showing strong connectivity and weak interhemispheric connectivity. In the 59> group, the WM connectivity of thalamus was found to be weaker than those of the two groups. Comparisons between the two groups showed that the young groups (10-39 and 40-59) had higher connection intensity than the 59> group and that statistically significant differences in 3 connection pathways were found in each hemisphere. A decrease in thalamus-related connection strength in aging has shown that it can affect emotional and neurological disorders such as anxiety and depression, and network measurements can help assess cognitive impairment across clinical conditions.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.330-347
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• 2022

Folate, a water-soluble vitamin, acts as a coenzyme for one-carbon metabolism in nucleic acid synthesis and amino acid metabolism. Adequate folate nutritional status during the periconceptional period is known to prevent neural tube defects. In addition, insufficient folate intake is associated with various conditions, such as anemia, hyperhomocysteinemia, cardiovascular disease, cancer, cognitive impairment, and depression. This review discusses the rationale for the revision of the 2020 Korean dietary reference intakes for folate, and suggestions for future revisions. Based on the changes in the standard body weight in 2020, the adequate intake (AI) for infants (5-11 months) and the estimated average requirements (EARs) for 15-18 years of age were revised, but there were no changes in the recommended nutrient intakes (RNIs) and tolerable upper intake levels (ULs) for all age groups. Mean folate intake did not reach RNI in most age groups and was particularly low in women aged 15-29 years, according to the results of the 2016-2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). The percentages of folate intake to RNI were lower than 60% in pregnant and lactating women, but serum folate concentrations were higher than those in other age groups, presumably due to the use of supplements. Therefore, total folate intake, from both food and supplements, should be evaluated. In addition, the database of folate in raw, cooked, and fortified foods should be further expanded to accurately assess the folate intake of Koreans. Determination of the concentrations of erythrocyte folate and plasma homocysteine as well as serum folate is recommended, and quality control of the analysis is critical.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.119-129
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• 2023

Sleep apnea causes various secondary disease such as hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction, depression and cognitive impairment. Early detection and continuous management of sleep apnea are urgently needed since it causes cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. In this study, wearable device for monitoring respiration during sleep using PVDF film was developed to detect vibration through trachea caused by breathing, which determines normal breathing and sleep apnea. Variables such as respiration rate and apnea were extracted based on the detected breathing sound data, and a noise reduction algorithm was established to minimize the effect even when there is a noise signal. In addition, it was confirmed that irregular breathing patterns can be analyzed by establishing a moving threshold algorithm. The results show that the accuracy of the respiratory rate from the developed device was 98.7% comparing with the polysomnogrphy result. Accuracy of detection for sleep apnea event was 92.6% and that of the sleep apnea duration was 94.0%. The results of this study will be of great help to the management of sleep disorders and confirmation of treatment by commercialization of wearable devices that can monitor sleep information easily and accurately at home during daily life and confirm the progress of treatment.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.14 no.1_spc
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• pp.299-317
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• 2008

The school drop-out among the youth has grown to become a serious social problem since about 2000 and calls for an attention to its seriousness. Therefore, this study reviewed the statitistical reports and the previous empirical findings on the school drop-out and integrated to establish a comprehensive understanding of this social phenomenon. The main concepts and terminologies on school drop-out, the current statistics, the possible causal factors and the usual trajectory the youth take after dropping-out of school were discussed to conceptualize the issue. Analyses indicated 12 characteristics of the students who dropped out of school. Those 12 characteristics were restructured according to the ecological conceptual model. The social instability and the financial crisis in the 1990's has eroded the stability of the primary environments of adolescents such as family and school. The family breakdowns from divorce and other reasons weakened psychological and financial support for adolescents. The diminished authority of teachers and school over students exposed conflicts between teacher and students, students' loss of purpose and interest in academic attainment. The adolescents showed emotional reponses like increased level of depression, helplessness, aggression, indicated cognitive reponses such as the loss of purpose and interest in studying, a heightened sense of uncertainty of the future, and behavioral responses like sexual acting out behaviors, and bullying. The unmet psychological needs of adolescents result in run-away and school drop-out behaviors, which in turn progress into juvenile delinquency as the society fails to provide adequate and appropriate guidance and interventions. The intervention strategies at the national level were proposed and the limitations of the study were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2024

Frailty is a clinical syndrome as an increased vulnerability to stressors, leading to a decrease in physiologic reserves and a decline in the ability to maintain a good homeostasis. This condition leads to an increased risk of hospitalization, disability and mortality. Frailty occurs due to various causes and requires a multidimensional approach. It is also important to detect and manage it early. Frailty is also deeply related to neuropsychiatric problems such as pain and depression. In evaluating frailty, it is desirable to comprehensively consider not only physical areas such as disease, nutrition, movement, and sensory functions, but also psychosocial areas, and representative scales include Fried's physical frailty phenotype and Rockwood's frailty index. Physical activity and appropriate protein intake are important for frailty management, and inappropriate drug use should be reduced and oral care, cognitive function, and falls should also be noted. Frailty and pain can affect each other, and pain can promote frailty. Evidence has been published that hormone and protein abnormalities, immune system activity and inflammatory response, and epigenetic mechanisms work in common in the field of frailty and pain. More extensive and high-quality research should be conducted in the future, and the quality of life will be improved if the results are applied to the suppression and treatment of old age and pain.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.481-487
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• 2016

The elderly population with dementia is rapidly growing in South Korea. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dementia and oral health in 197 subjects aged ${\geq}65$ years. The questionnaire included questions on subjective health status, subjective health concern, subjective oral health status and behavior, mastication ability, Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14), and Korean Dementia Screening Questionnaires (KDSQ). Oral examination was conducted by a single dentist to evaluate upper or lower denture use, and determine the numbers of remaining and functioning teeth, including implant and fixed prosthesis. The subjects who required a dementia test (KDSQ-C [cognition] of ${\geq}6$) had significant differences in systemic disease prevalence rate, subjective health status, subjective health concern, KDSQ-V (vascular disease) score, KDSQ-D (depression) score, subjective oral treatment need, key food mastication ability and OHIP-14 score compared to the healthy subjects. The proportion of denture wearers, total remaining teeth, total functioning teeth, toothbrushing frequency, oral pain severity, symptoms of periodontal disease, subjective oral health status, and subjective oral health concern showed no significant differences between the two groups. KDSQ-C and OHIP-14 scores showed a strong positive relationship, while KDSQ-C score and total remaining teeth or key food mastication ability showed a weak negative relationship. In the multiple regression analysis, the KDSQ-D, KDSQ-V, and OHIP-14 scores influenced the KDSQ-C scores. We suggest a relationship between oral health and cognitive impairment.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.153-165
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• 2017

Objectives : Recent neuroimaging studies focus on dysfunctions in connectivity between cognitive circuits and emotional circuits: anterior cingulate cortex that connects dorsolateral orbitofrontal cortex and prefrontal cortex to limbic system. Previous studies on pediatric depression using DTI have reported decreased neural connectivity in several brain regions, including the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, superior longitudinal fasciculus. We compared the neural connectivity of psychotropic drug naïve adolescent patients with a first onset of major depressive episode with healthy controls using DTI. Methods : Adolescent psychotropic drug naïve patients(n=26, 10 men, 16 women; age range, 13-18 years) who visited the Korea University Guro Hospital and were diagnosed with first onset major depressive disorder were registered. Healthy controls(n=27, 5 males, 22 females; age range, 12-17 years) were recruited. Psychiatric interviews, complete psychometrics including IQ and HAM-D, MRI including diffusion weighted image acquisition were conducted prior to antidepressant administration to the patients. Fractional anisotropy(FA), radial, mean, and axial diffusivity were estimated using DTI. FMRIB Software Library-Tract Based Spatial Statistics was used for statistical analysis. Results : We did not observe any significant difference in whole brain analysis. However, ROI analysis on right superior longitudinal fasciculus resulted in 3 clusters with significant decrease of FA in patients group. Conclusions : The patients with adolescent major depressive disorder showed statistically significant FA decrease in the DTI-based structure compared with healthy control. Therefore we suppose DTI can be used as a bio-marker in psychotropic drug-naïve adolescent patients with first onset major depressive disorder.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.39-51
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• 2003

Objectives: The Profile of Mood States (POMS) has been used broadly and frequently in various medical studies with various subjects. For the development and application of the Korean edition of POMS, called K-POMS, we translated POMS into Korean and then evaluated the reliability and validity of K-POMS. Methods: The subjects were 161 male students with a mean age of 18.1 years (15-30) and 244 female students with a mean age of 16.6 years (14-23). They were requested to perform K-POMS and SCL-90-R (Korean version) at the same time. Means, reliability coefficients, and test-retest correlations of K-POMS were calculated. Content validities, correlations with SCL-90-R, and discrimination validities in comparison with 76 depressive patients were obtained, and factor analyses were carried out. Results: Mean scores of Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) and some subscales (T, F, C, V factor) showed a significant difference between male and female students. The internal consistency coefficient ($\alpha$) of the total 65 items was 0.93, and ranged from 0.67 to 0.90 for subscales. Test-retest correlations of 43 subjects ranged from 0.27 to 0.63. Seven psychiatrists rated the properness of the content of each item as more than moderate degree (mean scale points=2.66, in the range of 0 to 4). Every subscale of KPOMS exhibited significant correlation with the matching subscale of SCL-90-R. Mean scores of K-POMS of the total 405 subjects were significantly different from those of the 76 depressive subjects after age correction. Six factors were extracted, accounting for 51.2% of total variance. Factor 6 consisted of 6 items which came from various subscales of POMS and represented "uncertainty and helplessness," which may be somewhat different to depression or sadness proper. Conclusion: The validity and reliability of K-POMS could be confirmed. The significant difference in K-POMS scores between depressive subjects and normal subjects suggests that K-POMS can be used clinically for the evaluation and screening of depression. The main structure of K-POMS is very similar to that of POMS, except the Confusion-Bewilderment factor which shows weak factor consistency in K-POMS. This may reflect some emotional characteristic of Koreans such as an undifferentiated aspect of cognitive efficiency. The sixth factor newly extracted from K-POMS also may be indicative of an unique emotional aspect of young Koreans.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.29 no.2 s.53
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• pp.239-254
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• 1996

Health services on industrial noisy environment have been provided only for noise-induced hearing loss management until now. But gradually, modem diseases and death have come to be related to stress and mental health deeply, therefore noise-induced mental disorder, like a stress became very important. In this point, the purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between noise exposure level in worksite and workers' stress symptoms. This study included a survey of 786 manual workers selected from 89 worksites in 21 factories in Puchon. The results were as follows: 1. For demographic characteristics, most of the workers were males(80.8%), the $20\sim29years$ old were 34.5% and those who graduated from high school were 65.3%. The workers whose monthly income ranged from 100,000 to 800,000 won were 37.5% and who have a religion were 47.9%. 2. For occupational characteristics, workers who had worked $1\sim5$ years in the factories were 33.0%. Those who were much for them workload were 43.9% and who worked more than 8 hours a day were 73.9%. Those who were disatisfied with their job and pay were 31.9% and 50.6%. The workers who responsed ventilation condition of their worksites were bad were 51.9% and the dissatisfed with working environment of their worksites were 45.9%. 3. Workers who were suffering from tinnitus were 53.3% and those who perceived hearing loss were 50.1%. Persons who reported they always wore earplugs at work were 35.4%. Those who felt earplugs bigger than their ears were 30.6% and those who experienced eardiseases caused by earplugs were 25.6%. 4. For the noise exposure level in worksite, workers who were exposed to $80\sim90dB$ were 30.3%, $90\sim100dB$ were 26.4% and $50\sim70dB$ were 19.2%. 5. Workers' stress symptoms were significantly related to marital status and their monthly income(p<0.05). Workers who were single and had lower monthly income showed higher PSI (Psychiatric Symptom Index) scores than those who were married and had higher monthly income. Higher PSI scores were also significantly related to $1\sim2$ days hight-work per week, much for them workload, dissatisfaction with their job, and bad relationship with their bosses and coworkers. 6. Higher PSI scores were significantly related to severe tinnitus and perceived hearing losso(p<0.001). Workers who felt the earplugs they use did not fit their ears showed significantly higher PSI scores(p<0.01). Workers who reported that they did not feel they need earplugs showed. significantly higher PSI scores (p<0.05). Increased experience of eardisease caused by earplugs that did not fit were also significantly related to higher PSI scores(p<0.01). 7. The higher noise exposure level in worksite from 80dB was, the more severe stress symptoms including PSI subparts were reported; Anxiety, Anger, Depression, and Cognitive disorder(p<0.001). 5. According to the results of stepwise multiple regression analysis, factors affecting workers' PSI scores were perceived hearing loss$(R^2=0.160)$, noise exposure level in worksite$(R^2=0.110)$, realtionship with coworkers, amount of workload, monthly income and relationship with bosses orderly and the total $R^2$ of this 6 factors was 0.371. 9. The most significant factors that have impact on manual workers' stress symptoms were perceived hearing loss and noise exposure level in worksite, especially noise exposure level in the worksite was the most affective factor on the depression symptom.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.72-87
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• 2000

Objectives : This study was to provide normative data of Korean version of DSI(K-DSI), a sensitive measure of relatively minor stressors that could be administered daily. Methods : K-DSI was administered in 524 adults, age of 19 or over, daily for 1 week. On the seventh day, Becks Depression Inventory(BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI), and Social Readjustment Rating Scale(SRRS) were also given to test the convergent validity. Analyses(ANOVA or t-test) were conducted to examine the potential effects of demographic variables on K-DSI score. Internal consistency for reliability and Pearson's corelation coefficient with BDI, STAI, SRRS for convergent validity were computed. Percentile scores were calculated for daily and weekly K-DSI Event, Impact and I/E Ratio scores. Results : K-DSI scores in women were higher than those in men. According to age and educational level, the younger and the higher educational level the normative groups were, the higher were K-DSI scores. Among the 5 categories of the inventory, the category of cognitive stressors was highest. Internal consistency of K-DSI(Cronbach's $\alpha$) was .99. Daily and Weekly events and impacts scores were significantly correlated with the scores of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Social Readjustment Rating Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory. 75 percentile scores of the daily/weekly Events, Impacts, and I/E ratio were 17/118 - 124, 57/368 - 389 and 3.48 - 3.49/3.47 - 3.48 respectively. And 95 percentile scores of daily/weekly Events, Impacts, and I/E ratio were 57/151- 161, 405/1038 - 1122, and 4.72 - 4.86/4.46 - 4.56 respectively. Conclusion : Reliability and validity of K-DSI were tested satisfactorily. Authors presented the normative data of K-DSI for Koreans. K-DSI could be a useful measure in clinical settings or researches to assess the minor stressors frequently experienced in everyday life.