• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1677-1684
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• 2016

Background: Among the factors reported to determine the quality of life of breast cancer patients are socio-demographic background, clinical stage, type of treatment received, and the duration since diagnosis. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the quality of life (QOL) scores among breast cancer patients at a Malaysian public hospital. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study of breast cancer patients was conducted between March to June 2013. QOL scores were determined using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and its breast cancer supplementary measure (QLQ-BR23). Both the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 assess items from functional and symptom scales. The QLQ-C30 in addition also measures the Global Health Status (GHS). Systematic random sampling was used to recruit patients. Results: 223 breast cancer patients were recruited with a response rate of 92.1%. The mean age of the patients was 52.4 years (95% CI = 51.0, 53.7, SD=10.3). Majority of respondents are Malays (60.5%), followed by Chinese (19.3%), Indians (18.4%), and others (1.8%). More than 50% of respondents are at stage III and stage IV of malignancy. The mean Global Health Status was 65.7 (SD = 21.4). From the QLQ-C30, the mean score in the functioning scale was highest for 'cognitive functioning' (84.1, SD=18.0), while the mean score in the symptom scale was highest for 'financial difficulties' (40.1, SD=31.6). From the QLQ-BR23, the mean score for functioning scale was highest for 'body image' (80.0, SD=24.6) while the mean score in the symptom scale was highest for 'upset by hair loss' (36.2, SD=29.4). Two significant predictors for Global Health Status were age and employment. The predictors explained 10.6% of the variation of global health status ($R^2=0.106$). Conclusions: Age and employment were found to be significant predictors for Global Health Status (GHS). The Quality of Life among breast cancer patients reflected by the GHS improves as age and employment increases.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.1355-1364
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• 1999

Mother and infant relationship has a great influence on child's developments. In this study, nursing intervention to increase maternal sensitivity to the infant's cues was applied to 25 primiparas (Experimental Group). Mother and infant interacations of these primiparas were compared with those of 25 primiparas (Control Group) who did not receive the nursing intervention. Fifty primiparas and infants were recruited from a university hospital, a general hospital, and an OBGY clinic located in Taegu city. Mother and infant interactions were assessed at 6 weeks after birth using videotapes. Feeding situations were videotaped and two trained observers analyzed the tapes. Data were collected from March 23rd to July 27th of 1998. Mother and infant interactions during feeding were assessed by the response rating scale which was modified by the author based on NCAST feeding scale (Barnard, 1978a) and AMIS scale (Price, 1983). The validity of the modified rating scale was verified by faculty members and researchers who previously had research experience in the area. Cronbach's Alpha of the modified scale for this study was .90. The data was analyzed by SAS program, using wilcoxon rank sums test, chi square test, Fisher's exact test, and ANOVA. Findings were as follows: 1. Mothers in the experimental group were more likely to have higher scores in mother and infant interactions during feeding than mothers in the control group. 2. Mothers in the experimental group showed better sensitivity to infant's signals or cues, provided growth fostering, and had higher responsibility to the infant's distress than mothers in the control group. 3. Infants in the experimental group showed higher clarity of cues and responsibility to the mother's behaviors than infants in the control group. 4. Mothers and infants in the experimental group showed higher synchronic responses than mothers and infants in the control group. In conclusion, this study has shown that the applied nursing intervention promoted mother and infant interaction among primiparas. Therefore, this study suggests that the nursing interventions to increase maternal sensitivity to the infant's cues should be broadly applied to primiparas, which can be beneficial to the social, affective, and cognitive developments of their children.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.1392-1402
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• 1999

This study was carried out to find out stress-eating relationship in obese high school girls and to investigate the factors related to stress-induced eating. The conceptual framework used in this study was individual difference model. The research method was methodological triangulation. The data of the study were collected from purposively sampled 309 normal high school girls and 314 obese high school girls in S city. 15 volunteers, obese high school girls, enrolled in this qualitative research. Quantitative data was collected from May 6 to June 10, 1997 through questionnaires about stress and stress-related eating changes and from June 23 to August 26, 1997, qualitative data was collected. The results of the study were as follows : 1. Obese high school girls were unaffected by stress(t=-1.84, p=0.0662). 2. Through quantitative analysis, obese people divided into two groups in their response to stress. One group was composed of stress- eater. The other group was composed of non- stress eater. 3. Disinhibition(t=-3.1275, p=0.0019), cognitive restrain (t=-3.1597, p=0.0017), hunger(t=-3.5878, p=0.0004) were significantly different between stress-eaters and non-stress eaters. 4. According to the interview, 5 subjects of obese girls were stress eaters, and 10 subjects were non-stress eaters. Through qualitative research, the related factors of eating were eating attitude & behavior, stimuli situations on eating, and personality. In stress-eater group, they constantly went on a diet, however, they were prompted to eat when an uneasy feeling such as anxiety, depression, annoyance developed. Their personality were entirely optimistic. Whereas non-stress eater group had no interest in diet and didn't appear to have psychological factors to stimulate eating in stressful situations. Their personality was not only optimistic but also keenly characteristic. 5. To compare obese-normal high school girls on the effect of stress in eating. Normal weigh high school girls decreased their eating when stressed(t= -13.62, p=0.0001). In conclusion, this study suggests that there are two different groups in obese high school girls in regards to eating responses on stressful situations. As a result of these finding, clinical and school nurses can detect the stress-eaters who need stress management intervention, and can apply appropriate management program according to the individual needs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.56-66
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors associated with coping responses in Korean public high school students. Methods: This study employed a descriptive survey research design. The sample included 263 high school students who responded to a self-report questionnaire. Variables included socio-demographic characteristics, health-related characteristics, academic stress, somatization symptoms, social support, and coping responses. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson's correlations, and multiple regressions. Results: Participants, regarding their school life, reported moderate levels of academic stress ($M{\pm}SD=2.3{\pm}0.52$) and somatization symptoms ($M{\pm}SD=2.3{\pm}0.71$), and a relatively high level of social support ($M{\pm}SD=4.2{\pm}0.67$). All the variables were associated with the use of multiple coping responses. Active-cognitive coping ($M{\pm}SD=2.9{\pm}0.68$) was most frequently used, followed by active-behavioral coping ($M{\pm}SD=2.5{\pm}0.56$). and avoidant coping ($M{\pm}SD=2.3{\pm}0.75$). Significant relationships were found among the measured variables: positive relation between academic stress and somatization symptoms, but, negative between academic stress and both somatization symptoms and social support. Students who had higher stress and more somatization symptoms were more likely to use avoidant coping than the others. In multiple regression analysis, while factors associated with each coping response differed, gender appeared to be a significant factor in all methods. Variables included in the final model explained 27% of the variance in avoidant coping (F=11.40, p<.001). Conclusion: Based on the study results, schools should provide tailored educational programs to help high school students reduce multisource stress and somatization symptoms at school and cope with them in more active and effective ways.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.729-755
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• 2012

As an effort to understand alienated gifted students, we investigated learning characteristics and learning tactics of a scientifically gifted student with economic difficulty and physical disadvantage. The student we studied is attending the Saturday Physics Class which is an after school science activity offered by our university. We adopted techniques of qualitative case study. Participant observation was carried out at the field and the interview was done with the participant, his mother, and his teacher of 5th grade. Field documents and self-reports were used to understand the student synthetically. As a result, learning characteristics of the participant could be summarized as a spontaneous learning which originated from the internal motivation and struggle for learning to overcome the sense of inferiority and isolation from the peers. The participant adopted a strategic method for learning to satisfy his learning desire given the circumstance of socioeconomic and physical disadvantage: the three tactics we found were various learning routes, meta-cognitive ability and fervent response.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.57-67
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• 2015

The aim of this study was to categorize and analyze the patterns of the observation type in the experiential learning through the science museum for elementary gifted students in science. Ten science-gifted students were included and analyzed in this study and during experiential learning in the science museum, the participants freely expressed their observation of their own languages and all observations and dialogue were recorded. The results are listed below. The cognitive aspect, especially question and response activity without their personal opinion, was the most frequently used item. Among the affective aspects, item for 'recommendation' was often used. In accordance to observation type, most participants overall observed single object independently of time. Also, participants mostly observed objects visually using qualitative method without manipulation. Therefore verbal interaction through question might have a positive effect on frequency and diversity of observation. Project learning, such as particular exhibition hall, exploratory time of concentration by students, or study paper will be capable of creating a effective observation learning in order to induce a variety of observation of science gifted students in the experiential learning through the science museum.

• Journal of Korea Society of Digital Industry and Information Management
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.113-127
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• 2015

An interface in smart device environment is changing to TUI(touch user interface) environment where a system is being controlled by physical touch, differently from a system controlled through conventional mouse and keyboard. What is more important than anything else in this TUI environment is to implement interface in consideration of learn ability and cognitive constructivism according to user's experience. Therefore, now is the time when it is necessary to carry out various studies on smart content design process going a step farther together with discussing the details of user's experience factor. Hence, this study was intended to look into what effect a user's experiential traits had on the production of contents for the purpose of measures for improving TUI user satisfaction in order to effectively realize contents in smart environment. Results were yielded by using a statistical empirical analysis such as cross-tabulation analysis according to important variable and user, paired t-test, multiple response analysis, and preference frequency analysis of user preference on the basis of a survey. As a result, a system was presented for implementing DFSS(Design For Six Sigma) process. TUI experience factor can be divided into direct habitual experience, direct learning experience, indirect habitual experience, and indirect learning experience. And in the results of study, it was possible to find that the important variables of this study had a positive effect on the improvement of use satisfaction with contents on the whole according to the user convenience of smart contents. This study is expected to have a positive effect on efficient smart device-based contents production by providing objective information according to empirical analysis to smart media-based developer and designer and presenting a model for improving the changed TUI usability.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.85-94
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• 2020

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is caused by various factors, such as cholinergic dysfunction, regulation of neurotrophic factor expression, and accumulation of amyloid-beta. We investigated whether or not a combination of Carthamus tinctorius L. seed and Taraxacum coreanum (CT) has a protective effect on scopolamine-induced memory impairment in a mouse model. Methods and Results: Mice were orally pretreated with CT (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day) for 14 days, and scopolamine (1 mg/kg/day) was injected intraperitoneally before subjecting them to behavior tests. CT-administered mice showed better novel object recognition and working memory ability than scopolamine-treated control mice. In T-maze and Morris water maze tests, CT (100 and 200 mg/kg/day) significantly increased space perceptive ability and occupancy to the target quadrant, respectively. In addition, 100 and 200 mg/kg/day of CT attenuated cholinergic dysfunction through inhibition of butyryl cholinesterase in brain tissue. Furthermore, CT-administered mice showed higher cyclic adenosine monophosphate-response element-binding protein (CREB) levels and lower amyloid precursor protein (APP) levels compared to scopolamine-treated control mice. Conclusions: CT improved scopolamine-induced memory impairment through inhibition of cholinergic dysfunction, up-regulation of CREB, and down-regulation of APP. Therefore, CT could be a useful therapeutic agent for AD with protective effects on cognitive impairment.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2020

Background: Pain during the developmental period may adversely affect developing neuronal pathways and result in adverse neurodevelopmental, cognitive, and behavioral effects in later life. Immunizations, e.g., hepatitis B vaccine (HBV), administered at birth are painful experiences to which neonates are universally subjected. Purpose: Here we aimed to study and compare the effectiveness of various nonpharmacological pain management methods in newborns to enable the development of safe and effective analgesic methods for newborns. Methods: This prospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in the Himalayan region. Three hundred term healthy neonates were divided into 6 groups of 50 each. Groups 1-5 were intervention groups, patients of which received a nonpharmacological intervention (breastfeeding, nonnutritive sucking, rocking, 25% sucrose, or distilled water) before the intramuscular HBV, while patients in group 6 received no intervention. The pain response in each group after the HBV injection was assessed and compared using cry duration and Douleur Aigue Nveau-ne (DAN) score, a behavioral acute pain rating scale for newborns. Results: Cry duration was decreased in all intervention groups, significantly so in the sucrose (19.90 seconds), breastfeeding (31.57 seconds), and nonnutritive sucking (36.93 seconds) groups compared with controls (52.86 seconds). DAN scores decreased significantly (P<0.05) at one or more points i.e. 30, 60, or 120 seconds in the breastfeeding and 25% sucrose intervention groups compared with controls. Conclusion: Oral sucrose and nonnutritive sucking are simple yet underutilized nonpharmacological interventions that effectively reduce pain in newborns.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.579-589
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• 2017

Anesthetics are used extensively in surgeries and related procedures to prevent pain. However, there is some concern regarding neuronal degeneration and cognitive deficits arising from regular anesthetic exposure. Recent studies have indicated that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) are involved in learning and memory processes. Genistein, a plant-derived isoflavone, has been shown to exhibit neuroprotective effects. The present study was performed to examine the protective effect of genistein against isoflurane-induced neurotoxicity in rats. Neonatal rats were exposed to isoflurane (0.75%, 6 hours) on postnatal day 7 (P7). Separate groups of rat pups were orally administered genistein at doses of 20, 40, or 80 mg/kg body weight from P3 to P15 and then exposed to isoflurane anesthesia on P7. Neuronal apoptosis was detected by TUNEL assay and FluoroJade B staining following isoflurane exposure. Genistein significantly reduced apoptosis in the hippocampus, reduced the expression of proapoptotic factors (Bad, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3), and increased the expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. RT-PCR analysis revealed enhanced BDNF and TrkB mRNA levels. Genistein effectively upregulated cAMP levels and phosphorylation of CREB and TrkB, leading to activation of cAMP/CREB-BDNF-TrkB signaling. PI3K/Akt signaling was also significantly activated. Genistein administration improved general behavior and enhanced learning and memory in the rats. These observations suggest that genistein exerts neuroprotective effects by suppressing isoflurane-induced neuronal apoptosis and by activating cAMP/CREB-BDNF-TrkB-PI3/Akt signaling.