• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.183-192
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• 2018

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a trauma-induced psychiatric disorder characterized by impaired fear extermination, hyperarousal, anxiety, depression, and amnesic symptoms that may involve the release of monoamines in the fear circuit. The present study measured several anxiety-related behavioral responses to examine the effects of berberine (BER) on symptoms of anxiety in rats after single prolonged stress (SPS) exposure, and to determine if BER reversed the dopamine (DA) dysfunction. Rats received BER (10, 20, or 30 mg/kg, intraperitoneally, once daily) for 14 days after SPS exposure. BER administration significantly increased the time spent in the open arms and reduced grooming behavior during the elevated plus maze test, and increased the time spent in the central zone and the number of central zone crossings in the open field test. BER restored neurochemical abnormalities and the SPS-induced decrease in DA tissue levels in the hippocampus and striatum. The increased DA concentration during BER treatment may partly be attributed to mRNA expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and the DA transporter in the hippocampus, while BER exerted no significant effects on vesicular monoamine transporter mRNA expression in the hippocampus of rats with PTSD. These results suggest that BER had anxiolytic-like effects on behavioral and biochemical measures associated with anxiety. These findings support a role for reduced anxiety altered DAergic transmission and reduced anxiety in rats with PTSD. Thus, BER may be a useful agent to treat or alleviate psychiatric disorders like those observed in patients with PTSD.

• Korean Parent-Child Health Journal
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.78-85
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the pain reducing effects of the dextrose-coated pacifier on venipuncture in premature infants. Methods: The design of this study is a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design and a crossover trial. The analysed cases were 40 premature infants (20 in experimental group and 20 in control group) in neonatal intensive care unit of a University Hospital, Gyeongnam Province, Korea. The data were collected from April to October, 2009. The experimental treatment was carried out nursing 20% dextrose-coated pacifier on venipuncture for IV injection. The instruments were $O_2$ saturation and heart rate on pulse oxymeter monitor to measure physiologic pain responses, and NIPS to measure behavioral pain responses. Collected data were analyzed with $x_2$ test, t-test using SPSS program. Results: The effects of the 20% dextrose-coated pacifier were found in the physiologic (only heart rate) and behavioral pain response on venipuncture. Conclusion: These finding is suggested that the dextrose-coated pacifier could be an effective nursing intervention for reducing pain on venipuncture in premature infants.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.207-214
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to identify differences in physiological· psychological environmental behavioral characteristics between obese and control children participating in a health camp and to identify the factors related to childhood obesity. Methods: Two hundred eighty seven children aged 6 to 12 years were recruited from a health camp for elementary students in D city, Korea. Data collection was done on November 28 and 29, 2009. Anthropometric measurements, blood tests, and self-report surveys were conducted. Chi-square test, independent t-test, ANCOVA, and multiple logistic regression were performed using PASW statistics 18.0. Results: Obese children had adverse conditions for both physiological and psychological characteristics. In terms of environmental and behavioral characteristics, high maternal BMI and more than two hours of TV watching were significantly associated with high risk of childhood obesity (OR=1.11, 95% CI=1.02-1.21; OR=2.05, 95% CI=1.23-3.41). Conclusion: Through a multi-factorial approach, the current study identified the differences between obese and control children participating in a health camp and risk factors of childhood obesity. These findings provide preliminary data and perspectives on intervention research for prevention and management of childhood obesity.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.35-46
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• 2014

Background: This paper describes the relationship and effect of health examination on personal medical cost by identifying the difference of the cost for medical care in physician visit between the population without and with health examination. Methods: After classifying into three cohorts in which, independent variables were designed according to the Andersen's behavioral model, the association of personal medical cost for medical care and prescription drugs which is dependent variable was analyzed by t-test and Mann-Whitney test for description and gamma regression model for inference. Results: In personal average medical cost, the population with health examination paid significantly more than without health examination, 11.6% more in cohort 2008, 26.6% more in cohort 2009, and 48.0% more in combined cohort. The odds ratio on medical expenditure of outpatients with health examination was 1.067, 1.126, 1.398 significantly in cohort 2008, 2009, and combined cohort respectively, comparing to the group without health examination. In independent variables, that is female, the elderly, never married, non-working, non-metropolitan, the higher family income, the smaller family size, people with disability, the people with chronic disease, and people with health examination have significantly being paid more tendency showing positive association with medical cost. Conclusion: This result showed that medical expenditure in physician visit has been increased after taking a health examination. Therefore reasonable limitation of getting preventive medical service is suggested to avoid medical shopping around and reduce being repeated health examination by unifying control to find out easily the clinical results from various medical facilities.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.20 no.1 s.21
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• pp.67-83
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• 1987

This study relates to the problems of organizational performance in the Christian hospitals. In this study, quality of working life (QOWL), which harmonizes individual as well as organizational goals, was used as an indicator of organizational performance from the open systems view. In order to identify the behavioral factors influencing QOWL in hospitals, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 1,926 employees who were randomly selected from fifteen Christian hospitals from August 1 to August 30, 1986. The following results were obtained: 1) All correlation coefficients between QOWL and behavioral variables were statistically significant even though their magnitude varied according to hospital size. 2) Using factor analysis, 32 variables were parsimoniously grouped into four factors: individual conflicts, group behavior, organizational characteristics and situation, and job characteristics. The proportion of variance explained by these factors ranged from 33.5% to 38.6% according to hospital size. 3) The overall effects of the four factors in the multiple logistic models ranged from 0.85 to 3.12 according to hospital size. Among three hospital models, the model for small hospitals showed the best statistical fit. 4) The most influential factor was organizational characteristics and situation with an odds ratio ranging from 1.99 to 3.02. Again, the odds ratio was the highest for small hospitals. 5) For large hospitals, the two main factor effects were statistically significant: organizational characteristics and situation, and job characteristics. For medium hospitals, all main factor effects except job characteristics were statistically significant. For small hospitals, all main factor effects except group behavior were statistically significant. However, a factor interaction effect was shown only for large hospitals where it was statistically significant. 6) To examine whether the four factors influence financial performance, the four factor scores from the two financial performance groups were compared using Mann-Whitney test. The test results showed that the organizational characteristics and situation factor score was significantly different only for small hospitals.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.305-314
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine quality of life (QOL) related factors in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members based on PRECEDE Model. Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted with participants (N=203) from AA meeting in 11 alcohol counsel centers all over South Korea. Data were collected using a specially designed questionnaire based on the PRECEDE model and including QOL, epidemiological factors (including depression and perceived health status), behavioral factors (continuous abstinence and physical health status and practice), predisposing factors (abstinence self-efficacy and self-esteem), reinforcing factors (social capital and family functioning), and enabling factors. Data were analyzed using t-test, one way ANOVA, Tukey HSD test and hierarchical multiple regression analysis with SPSS (ver. 21.0). Results: Of the educational diagnostic variables, self-esteem (${\beta}=.23$), family functioning (${\beta}=.12$), abstinence self-efficacy (${\beta}=.12$) and social capital (${\beta}=.11$) were strong influential factors in AA members' QOL. In addition, epidemiological diagnostic variables such as depression (${\beta}=-.44$) and perceived health status (${\beta}=.35$) were the main factors in QOL. Also, physical health status and practice (${\beta}=.106$), one of behavioral diagnostic variables was a beneficial factor in QOL. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed the determinant variables accounted for 44.0% of the variation in QOL (F=25.76, p<.001). Conclusion: The finding of the study can be used as a framework for planning interventions in order to promote the quality of life of AA members. It is necessary to develop nursing intervention strategies for strengthening educational and epidemiological diagnostic variables in order to improve AA members' QOL.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for the Gifted Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.137-138
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• 2003

Understanding how and why people differ is a fundamental, if distant, goal of research efforts to bridge psychological and biological levels of analysis. General fluid intelligence (gF) is a major dimension of individual differences and refers to reasoning and novel problemsolving ability. A conceptual integration of evidence from cognitive (behavioral) and anatomical studies suggeststhat gF should covary with both task performance and neural activity in specific brain systems when specific cognitive demands are present, with the neural activity mediating the relation between gF and performance. Direct investigation of this possibility will be a critical step toward a mechanistic model of human intelligence. In turn, a mechanistic model might suggest ways to enhance gF through targeted behavioral or neurobiological intervent ions, We formed two different groups as subjects based on their scholarly attainments. Each group consists of 20 volunteers(aged 16-17 years, right-handed males) from the National Gifted School and a local high school respectively. To test whether individual differences in general intelligence are mediated at a neural level, we first assessed intellectual characteristics in 40 subjects using standard intelligence tests (Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking) administered outside of the MR scanner. We then used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRl) to measure task-related brain activity as participants performed three different kinds of computerized reasoning tasks that were intended to activate the relevant neural systems. To examine the difference of neural activity according to discrepancy in general intelligence, we compared the brain activity of both extreme groups (each, n=10) of the participants based on the standard intelligence test scores. In contrast to the common expectation, there was no significant difference of brain region involved in high-g tasks between both groups. Random effect analysis exhibited that lateral prefrontal, anterior cingulate and parietal cortex are associated with gF. Despite very different task contents in the three high-g-low-g contrasts, recruitment of multiple regions is markedly similar in each case, However, on the task with high 9F correlations, the Prodigy group, (intelligence rank: >99%) showed higher task-related neural activity in several brain regions. These results suggest that the relationship between gF and brain activity should be stronger under high-g conditions than low-g conditions.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.603-610
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• 2020

Background: Depression is a common neuropsychiatric disease that shows astrocyte pathology. Ginsenoside Rf (G-Rf) is a saponin found in Panax ginseng which has been used to treat neuropsychiatric diseases. We aimed to investigate antidepressant properties of G-Rf when introduced into the L-alphaaminoadipic acid (L-AAA)-infused mice model which is representative of a major depressive disorder that features diminished astrocytes in the brain. Methods: L-AAA was infused into the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of mice to induce decrease of astrocytes. Mice were orally administered G-Rf (20 mg/kg) as well as vehicle only or imipramine (20 mg/kg) as controls. Depression-like behavior of mice was evaluated using forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). We observed recovery of astroglial impairment and increased proliferative cells in the PFC and its accompanied change in the hippocampus by Western blot and immunohistochemistry to assess the effect of G-Rf. Results: After injection of L-AAA into the PFC, mice showed increased immobility time in FST and TST and loss of astrocytes without significant neuronal change in the PFC. G-Rf-treated mice displayed significantly more decreased immobility time in FST and TST than did vehicle-treated mice, and their immobility time almost recovered to those of the sham mice and imipramine-treated mice. G-Rf upregulated glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression and Ki-67 expression in the PFC reduced by L-AAA and also alleviated astroglial change in the hippocampus. Conclusion: G-Rf markedly reversed depression-like behavioral changes and exhibited protective effect against the astrocyte ablation in the PFC induced by L-AAA. These protective properties suggest that G-Rf might be a therapeutic agent for major depressive disorders.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 2016

Background: A number of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases share impaired cognition as a common symptom. Therefore, the development of clinically applicable therapies to enhance cognition has yielded significant interest. Previously, we have shown that activation of lysophosphatidic acid receptors (LPARs) via gintonin application potentiates synaptic transmission by the blockade of $K^+$ channels in the mature hippocampus. However, whether gintonin may exert any beneficial impact directly on cognition at the neural circuitry level and the behavioral level has not been investigated. Methods: In the current study, we took advantage of gintonin, a novel LPAR agonist, to investigate the effect of gintonin-mediated LPAR activation on cognitive performances. Hippocampus-dependent fear memory test, synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal brain slices, and quantitative analysis on synaptic plasticity-related proteins were used. Results: Daily oral administration of gintonin for 1 wk significantly improved fear memory retention in the contextual fear-conditioning test in mice.We also found that oral administration of gintonin for 1 wk increased the expression of learning and memory-related proteins such as phosphorylated cyclic adenosine monophosphate-response element binding (CREB) protein and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). In addition, prolonged gintonin administration enhanced long-term potentiation in the hippocampus. Conclusion: Our observations suggest that the systemic gintonin administration could successfully improve contextual memory formation at the molecular and synaptic levels as well as the behavioral level. Therefore, oral administration of gintonin may serve as an effective noninvasive, nonsurgical method of enhancing cognitive functions.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.115-135
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to develop a "Family Play Therapy Program" using puppets to decrease attachment problems for families with children having attachment problems and to examine its effectiveness. The participants were an experimental group of 16 individuals(8 children with attachment problems whose ages ranged from 4 to 5 and 8 mothers) and a control group of 16 individuals (8 children with attachment problems whose ages ranged from 4 to 5 and 8 mothers). The experimental group was treated through the Family Play Therapy Program, which involved the use of puppets and was held for twelve sessions twice a week. The changes in the participants were measured in order to examine the effects of the program. The researcher measured children's emotional and behavioral expression(TBP), the mothers' sense of self(Self-Differentiation Scale), personal relationships(ECR-R), and the perception of family functions(ICPS-FFS) both before and after the FPT program and compared their differences. The MIM Rating Scale and Marschak Behavior Rating Scale were administered to examine the interactions between mothers and children, and 1:1 interviews were also conducted. The data thus gathered were used for non-parametric analysis(Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon rank sum test)using SPSS WIN 17.0. The results of this study were as follows: First, the program had a positive effect on children's emotional expression. After the problem were over, negative emotional and behavioral expression in the experimental group decreased. Second, the program had a positive effect on mothers' self-differentiation and personal relationships. Third, the program had a positive effect on changes in the interaction behaviors between the mother and child. Fourth, the program had a partially positive effect on the responses from their group developmental stages, especially on the subscale of both a program for the reinforcement of mothers' emotions and family play program utilizing puppets.