• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.77-88
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• 2003

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare reliability and validity of three Korean versions of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia scale and to confirm the most reliable and validated Korean translation of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale for both clinical and research purpose in Korea. The first one was a Korean version of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale developed by Lee YH et al in 1996 which was designated as TAS-20K(1996) in this study. This scale had a problem with one item due to the cultural difference regarding the word 'analyzing' between western culture and Korean culture. The second one was the revised version of TAS-20K(1996) on that point by Lee YH et al in 1996 without validation which was designated as TAS-20K(2003) in this study. The third one was a 23-item Korean version developed by Sin HG and Won HT in 1997, which was somewhat different from the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale(TAS-20) in the number of total item, the content of some items and the scoring method. This scale was designated as S-TAS here. Methods: 408 medical students were tested with one scale composed of all the different items randomly arranged from the three versions. We evaluated goodness-of-fit and Cronbach $\alpha$ coefficients of three scales for reliability. We used confirmatory factor analysis to compare validity. Results: TAS-20K(2003) showed that it had better internal consistency than TAS-20K(1996), which implied that the cultural difference should be considered in the Korean translation. Both TAS-20K(2003) and S-TAS replicated three-factor structures and had adequacy of fit, good internal consistency and acceptable validity. However, S-TAS had one item with poor item-factor correlation and didn't show high correlation between item 2 and factor 1 as before in 1997. Conclusion: Although S-TAS had added 3 items and changed the content of two items, it didn't show better reliability and validity than TAS-20K(2003). Therefore it is proposed to use TAS-20K (2003) as the Korean version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale(TAS-20K) for international communication of results of Alexithymia research. It has good internal consistency and validity and maintains original items, the same construct and scoring method as the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.113-122
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• 2000

In order to understand the psychological charateristics of Sasang Constitution. the Korean version of 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale(TAS-20K) was completed by 59 sixth grade students of oriental medical college of KyungHee university who defined as one of Sasang constitution from June 2000 to August, and the mean scores of Yangin versus Eumin and Sasang constitution on TAS-20K was compared. The results of this study were as follows.1. Comparison between male and female on Means of TAS-20K ScoreMann-Whitney U test detected no significant differences between mean ranks of TAS-20K scores of male and those of female in F1, F2 and Total, but significant difference in F3(Mann-Whitney U test, t=2.493. p=.018)2. Comparison between Yangin and Eumin on Means of TAS-20K ScoreMann-whitney U test detected no significant differences between mean ranks of TAS-20K scores of Yangin and those of Eumin in F1. F3 and Total, but significant difference in F2(Mann-Whitney U test. t=-2.805. p=.008)3. Comparison among Sasang constitution on Means of TAS-20K ScoreAlthough mean of TAS-20K score of Taeyangin. Soyangin and Soeumin, there were no significant differences among Sasang constitution in F1, F2 and F3 as well as Total when mean ranks of TAS-20K scores of Sasang constitution were compaed by one-way ANOVA.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.19-22
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• 2015

Objective : Posttraumatic cerebral infarction (CI) is a well-known complication of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the causation and apportionment of trauma in patients with CI after TBI is not easy. There is a scoring method, so-called trauma apportionment score (TAS) for CI, consisted with the age, the interval, and the severity of the TBI. We evaluated the reliability of this score. Methods : We selected two typical cases of traumatic CI. We also selected consecutive 50 patients due to spontaneous CI. We calculated TAS in both patients with traumatic and spontaneous CI. To enhance the reliability, we revised TAS (rTAS) adding three more items, such as systemic illness, bad health habits, and doctor's opinion. We also calculated rTAS in the same patients. Results : Even in 50 patients with spontaneous CI, the TAS was 4 in 44 patients, and 5 in 6 patients. TAS could not assess the apportionment of trauma efficiently. We recalculated the rTAS in the same patients. The rTAS was not more than 11 in more than 70% of the spontaneous CI. Compared to TAS, rTAS definitely enhanced the discriminating ability. However, there were still significant overlapping areas. Conclusion : TAS alone is insufficient to differentiate the cause or apportionment of trauma in some obscure cases of CI. Although the rTAS may enhance the reliability, it also should be used with cautions.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.88-92
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• 2007

Objective : Tellegen Absorption Scale(TAS) is an instrument intended to assess hypnotizability and designed to sample absorbing and self-altering experiences, including dissociative experiences. The present study attempted to identify the internal structure of TAS. Methods : One hundred and thirty nine undergraduates completed the Korean version of Tellegen Absorption Scale(TAS-K). Cronbach's alpha was calculated and factor analyses were done. Results : An exploratory principal-components analysis yielded three factors accounting for 31.06% of variance. Factor 1 included dissociative(dissociation-like) experiences, factor 2 tapped imaginative involvements, and factor 3 had to do with perceptual sensitivity. Conclusion : TAS-K may include absorbing and self-altering experiences.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.335-340
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• 2007

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation of total antioxidant status (TAS) to metabolic risk factors in Korean adults. Anthropometric measures, blood pressure, serum lipids and fasting glucose were determined in 406 men and women. TAS was measured by using commercially available Randox kit. Serum TAS was significantly positively correlated with body weight (p=0.004), body mass index (BMI) (p=0.033), waist circumference (p=0.017), total cholesterol (p=0.038) and triglyceride (TG) (p<0.001). The mean TAS of hypertriglyceridemic subjects (TG ${\geq}$150 mg/dl) was significantly higher than that of subjects whose TG was lower than 150 mg/dl (p=0.001). When central obesity, TG, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting glucose and blood pressure were considered as metabolic risk factors, TAS was shown to be elevated with increased number of metabolic risk factors (p=0.004). The positive association between TAS and a number of metabolic risk factors suggests that increased TAS may not always indicate one's healthier condition. In order to help understand TAS as a marker of total antioxidant capacity in humans with various metabolic conditions, it is needed to clarify the factors affecting TAS in relation to changes in metabolic risk factors.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.338-341
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• 2006

The growth characteristics of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans AZ11, MET, and TAS were investigated in mineral salt media supplemented with elemental sulfur of 1$\sim$50 g $L^{-1}$. The sulfur oxidation rates of A. thiooxidans. MET and TAS increased highly with increasing sulfur concentration up to 10 g L$^{-1}$, but the rates increased slowly in sulfur concentration over 10 g L$^{-1}$. A. thiooxidans AZ11 showed the parallel increase of sulfur oxidation rate until sulfur concentration increased up to 40 g L$^{-1}$. The maximum sulfur oxidation rates (V$_{max}$) of AZl1, MET and TAS were 1.88, 1.38 and 0.43 g S L$^{-1}$ d$^{-1}$, respectively. The maximum specific growth rates (${\mu}_{max}$) of AZ11, MET, and TAS were 0.33 d$^{-1}$, 0.30 d$^{-1}$ and 0.45 d$^{-1}$, respectively. Although MET and TAS couldn't grow at sulfate concentration of 40 g L$^{-1}$, AZ11 could grow in the presence of 58 g L$^{-1}$ sulfate, the final oxidation product of elemental sulfur.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.42-50
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• 1999

Alexithymia refers to a specific disturbance in psychic functioning characterized by difficulties in the capacity to verbalize affect and to elabolate fantasies. Although it was initially described in the context of psychosomatic illness, alexithymic charateristics may be observed in patients with a wide range of medical and psychiatric disorders. This study was designed to investigate alexithymic characteristics in the patients with alcoholism using Scored Archetypal 9 Test(SAT9) and Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 Korea version(TAS-20K). Twenty patients with alcoholism and twenty-four normal controls completed these tests. The results were as follows. 1) Patient group with alcoholism were significantly more alexithymic than normal control group in both SAT9 and TAS-20K. 2) No significant difference in the alexithymic measures was found between genders of both group. 3) No significant correlation was found between alexithymic measures and age or education level in both group. 4) Measures between SAT9 and TAS-20K showed significant correlation in the patient group.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.462-465
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• 2010

Sweetness plays an important role in providing calories and promoting appetite for food. Since it has been known that genetic factor(s) is involved in individual differences in taste sensitivity in humans, this study aimed to examine genetic variations of the TAS1R2 gene, one of the components for tasting sweet compounds, by using DNA sequencing analysis from 98 unrelated Korean subjects. As a result, 12 different single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in the hTAS1R2 gene and most of them were nonsynonymous. Also, two novel SNPs were found for the first time in this study. It was noted that the frequencies of these SNPs were common in the Korean population. 20 different haplotypes with coding SNPs (cSNPs) were also found in this study. Three out of these haplotypes were common, showing frequencies of > 10%. The repertoire and frequencies of cSNPs and haplotypes in the hTAS1R2 gene will provide information that will help identify a functional ligand receptor common in the Korean population.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.255-260
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• 2014

Objective : The purpose of this study was to compare the radiological and neurological outcomes between two atlantoaxial fusion method for atlantoaxial stabilization; C1 lateral mass-C2 pedicle screws (screw-rod constructs, SRC) versus C1-2 transarticular screws (TAS). Methods : Forty-one patients in whom atlantoaxial instability was treated with atlantoaxial fixation by SRC group (27 patients, from March 2005 to May 2011) or TAS group (14 patients, from May 2000 to December 2005) were retrospectively reviewed. Numeric rating scale (NRS) for pain assessment, Oswestry disability index (ODI), and Frankel grade were also checked for neurological outcome. In radiologic outcome assessment, proper screw position and fusion rate were checked. Perioperative parameters such as blood loss during operation, operation time, and radiation exposure time were also reviewed. Results : The improvement of NRS and ODI were not different between both groups significantly. Good to excellent response in Frankel grade is shown similarly in both groups. Proper screw position and fusion rate were also observed similarly between two groups. Total bleeding amount during operation is lesser in SRC group than TAS group, but not significantly (p=0.06). Operation time and X-ray exposure time were shorter in SRC group than in TAS group (all p<0.001). Conclusion : Both TAS and SRC could be selected as safe and effective treatment options for C1-2 instability. But the perioperative result, which is technical demanding and X-ray exposure might be expected better in SRC group compared to TAS group.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.412-416
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• 2011

Taste sensation plays a crucial role in selecting and ingesting foods with different qualities which convey information about their nutrient content and/or safety. Sweetness is one of the five modalities in humans and serves as an energy resource for metabolism. There are reports on allelic polymorphisms which influence perception of sweetness in mice and humans. Since the influence of genetic factors on taste disorder has not been studied, we investigated the association of genetic polymorphisms in TAS1R3 and guanine nucleotide binding protein, alpha transducing 3 (GNAT3) genes and taste disorder. A total of 150 individuals composed of 50 patients with taste disorder and 100 healthy controls were recruited for the study and PCR-mediated directing sequencing method was used to genotype for two different single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) - rs307355 (T>C) and rs35744813 (T>C) in the TAS1R3 gene, and rs7792845 (T>C) and rs1524600 (C>T) in the the GNAT3 gene. The allele and genotype frequencies of rs307355 and rs35744813 in the TAS1R3 gene showed a significant association between patients with taste disorder (p=0.022 and p=0.013 in both of SNPs, respectively). In addition, the frequency of T-T haplotype in the TAS1R3 gene was higher in taste disorder cases than in the controls (OR, 1.93: 95%. CI, 1.09-3.39, p=0.022). In the GNAT3, the genotype frequency of rs7792845 in the patients was also different from the controls (p=0.048), but allele frequency was not significantly associated in either group. Our result provides the frequencies of SNPs and haplotypes of the TAS1R3 and GNAT3 genes for the fundamental information of nutrigenetics in perception of the taste of sweetness in the Korean population. Also, the study suggests that the allelic polymorphisms of TAS1R3 and GNAT3 genes may be useful as a molecular marker for evaluating patients with taste disorder. Further studies with large samples are required to clarify our observation.