• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.399-405
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• 2012

The brain is the body's most organized and controlled organ, and it governs various psychological and mental functions. A brain abnormality could greatly affect one's physical and mental abilities, and consequently one's social life. Brain disorders can be broadly categorized into three main afflictions: stroke, brain tumor, and dementia. Among these, stroke is a common disease that occurs owing to a disorder in blood flow, and it is accompanied by a sudden loss of consciousness and motor paralysis. The main types of strokes are infarction and hemorrhage. The exact diagnosis and early treatment of an infarction are very important for the patient's prognosis and for the determination of the treatment direction. In this study, texture features were analyzed in order to develop a prototype auto-diagnostic system for infarction using computer auto-diagnostic software. The analysis results indicate that of the six parameters measured, the average brightness, average contrast, flatness, and uniformity show a high cognition rate whereas the degree of skewness and entropy show a low cognition rate. On the basis of these results, it was suggested that a digital CT image obtained using the computer auto-diagnostic software can be used to provide valuable information for general CT image auto-detection and diagnosis for pre-reading. This system is highly advantageous because it can achieve early diagnosis of the disease and it can be used as supplementary data in image reading. Further, it is expected to enable accurate medical image detection and reduced diagnostic time in final-reading.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.93-99
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• 2007

Object : This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of delirium in liver transplanted patients in a hospital in Korea. Method : We reviewed the medical records of 29 liver transplanted patients who were confirmed as delirium by psychiatrists with DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria. We estimated the correlation between delirium and clinical conditions of liver transplantations. Result : Post-operative delirium duration was significantly correlated with frequency of hepatic encephalopathy, pre-operative mental status, and stay of intensive care unit. Conclusion : Although there were many limitations of this study, it seemed that pre-operative hepatic encephalopathy affected post liver transplantation delirium.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.9-25
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• 2004

Behavioral characteristics of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders among children.child psyachiatry. Inattention, Hyperactivity that is done by hyperkinesis or minimal brain dysfunction is major sypmton in ADHD, But etiology and pathological facor of ADHD is very much or unkown.. We brought to about a Study on the Oriental - medical pathologic Understanding about Inattention, Hyperactivity symptom in ADHD within Don yui bo gam Book are as follows. 1. Oriental medical pathologic concepts about Inattention, Hyperactivity are continuous with process of Yang Qi(陽氣), an unbalance of qi(氣) and shen ming(神明), excess of seven emotions(七情), pathology of Huo(火). 2. Immanent factors in inattention, Hyperactivity are improper diet, overtiredness and seven emotions, are continuous with pathological process of the heart, liver, gall bladder, spleen, stomach, kidneys. 3. In oriental medicine, considered as a child's qi of shao yang, dynamic physiological feature, excess and want of yin and yang, organs and bowels, immanently imbalance in growth rather than a child's mental disorder 4. Inattention, looseness in ADHD-PI type are continuous with forgetfulness, improper overtiredness, shortage of qi, the interior heat syndrome due to yin deficiency within Don yui bo gam Book 5. Hyperactivity, impulsive actions in ADHD-C type are continuous with sudden palpitation, severe palpitation, delirium, fidgeting due to deficiency, fidgetiness, hyperactivity of huo due to yin deficiency, fever, febrile disease with accumulation of blood.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2020

Objective : This study aims to examine the association between exposure to suicide events and suicide ideation by analyzing the levels of suicide ideation among the groups with exposure to suicide death, non-suicide death, and no death in their social relationships. Methods : Data were derived from Wave I of the Longitudinal Study of Suicide Survivors' Mental Health. 1,998 adults nationwide selected using a stratified sampling method based on the Korean Census Data, were categorized into 3 groups with exposure to suicidal death, non-suicidal death, and no death. The levels of depression (Brief CES-D), subjective health status, and suicidal ideation (SSI) were measured. To examine the association between exposure to suicide and the level of suicide ideation, multiple regression analysis was used after controlling the socio-demographic and clinical factors including subjective health status and depression. Results : 32% reported their exposure to suicide. Compared to the other groups, the suicide-exposed group's level of depression and suicide ideation were significantly higher but the subjective health status was lower. Multiple regression model revealed that suicide exposure had a statistically significant association with suicidal ideation at p=0.000 even after controlling the clinical characteristics. Conclusion : HThe findings suggest that exposure to suicide is a risk factor for suicidal ideation. In the clinical field, it is necessary to consider patients' experience in exposure to suicide while treating and intervening in suicide-related cases. At the policy level, a mental health system for suicide prevention should consider this risk factor for those exposed to suicide in their family and social relationships.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.86-95
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• 2008

The Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) is a modified Berg's Balance Scale developed as a balance measure for school-aged children with mild to moderate motor impairments. The purpose of this study was to determine the inter-examiner reliability of the Korean version of PBS when applied to children with developmental delays. In this study, PBS was administrated to a total of 79 children with developmental delays (17 with global developmental delay, 31 with cerebral palsy, and 31 with mental retardation) in the Seoul Community Rehabilitation Center. Two pediatric trained physical therapists with longer than 13 year of clinical experience scored the children's performance blind, while replaying videotaped data. The inter-examiner reliability was statistically determined by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). The results of this study revealed that the Korean version of PBS seems to have high inter-examiner reliability when applied to children with movement disorders such as global developmental delay (ICC=.96) and cerebral palsy (ICC=.97); however, it has relatively lower inter-examiner reliability (ICC=.78) for children with developmental delay secondary to mental retardation. therefore, the results support that the Korean version of the PBS could be a useful clinical measurement to assess the balance skills for children with developmental delay who have an adequate level of cognition to enable them to fol1ow the verbal instructions to complete the test.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2014

Background: In Japan, more than 60% of employees are reported to suffer from anxiety and stress. Consequently, Japanese society has begun to address such important issues as psychogenic disability and job-related suicide. Furthermore, given the aging of society and the surge in the number of elderly people requiring care, it is necessary to adequately and proactively support employees who care for their elderly relatives. The purpose of the present study was to investigate caregiver burden in caring for elderly relatives and work-related stress factors associated with mental health among employees. Methods: We studied 722 men and women aged 18-83 years in a cross-sectional study. The K10 questionnaire was used to examine mental health status. Results: The proportion of participants with a high K10 score was 15% (n = 106). Having little conversation with their supervisor and/or coworkers significantly increased the risk of depression [odds ratio (OR) 1.8], as did high job overload (OR 2.7) and job dissatisfaction (OR 3.8), compared with employees who frequently conversed with their supervisor and/or coworkers. Caring for elderly relatives as a prominent characteristic of an employee was a significant risk factor for depression (OR 2.1). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that employees who were caring for elderly relatives were significantly associated with an increased risk of depression. To prevent depressive disorders, it may be important to focus on reducing the work-caregiving role conflict, as well as enhancing employees' job control and better rewarding their efforts in the workplace.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.101-109
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• 2013

Depressive disorders are the most common psychiatric problem in the elderly. Most depression treatment guidelines emphasize treatment with antidepressant medication and recommend that benzodiazepine use be minimized for limited period, particularly to elderly patients. In order to evaluate appropriate use of antidepressants and benzodiazepine, retrospective review of prescriptions was performed. The study population are older than 65 years who had been newly diagnosed with major depressive disorder in specialty mental health at a community general hospital from January $1^{st}$, 2007 to October $31^{th}$, 2012 (N=373). Initial antidepressant accounted for 89.5% with SSRI, and escitalopram accounted for 60.9% of SSRI group. 79% or more of the patients were prescribed the recommended dosage. The maintenance rate for 4 weeks of initial antidepressant was 48% and 6 weeks was 39%. Treatment-discontinuation rate was 68% at 3 month. Alprazolam (short acting benzodiazepine) was prescribed the most, followed by clonazepam (long acting benzodiazepine) and then diazepam. 55% of patients received a duplicated prescription for short acting plus long acting benzodiazepine. 61% of patients used long acting benzodiazepines. Prescribed dosages of benzodiazepines were commonly within a recommended range, while no one was prescribed a appropriate period (up to 2 weeks) except for the early discontinued patients. Appropriate use of zolpidem was only 16.2%. The depressed elderly treated in specialty mental health mostly received long-term treatment with benzodiazepines in combination with antidepressants, guideline recommendations was not followed. Multidisciplinary interventions like audit and feedback of benzodiazepine use are needed and education for the elderly is needed to properly maintain antidepressant treatment.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2003

Ornithine transcarbamylase(OTC) deficiency is the most common of all the urea cycle disorders. In this X-linked disorder, the hemizygote males are more severely affected than heterozygote females. The Heterozygote female may have mild episodic hyperammonemia symptoms in late infancy or childhood(late onset) or no clinical manifestations. Here we report a 6 year-old girl with late onset OTC deficiency who showed recurrent episodic lethargy, mental confusion and ataxia. On mutation analysis using DNA sequencing after PCR amplification of the 10 exons of OTC gene, G to T transversion in codon 221, causing substitution of asparagine for lysine was detected in exon 6.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 2010

Objectives : Indirect contact with trauma may occur when a person empathically listens to detailed descriptions, exposing the person to intense emotional pain from trauma victims. Although less severe than direct trauma, indirectly traumatized persons may experience the same fear, rage, and despair as direct trauma victims. This phenomenon has been variously termed vicarious trauma, traumatic countertransference, burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress. Using a psychiatric symptoms questionnaires, this study investigated the effects of indirect exposure to co-worker's trauma on the mental health of firefighters who had not directly experienced traumatic events in the previous year. Methods : We administered self-report questionnaires, such as the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IESR) and Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), to firefighters working at two fire stations in a metropolitan city. We analyzed 188 of 232 collected surveys, after excluding falsely entered data (28 cases) and questionnaires by directly-traumatized victims (16 cases). Results : Alcohol consumption and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, as determined by the AUDIT and IES-R, were significantly higher in the indirectly-traumatized group. The ratio of high-risk members scoring higher than 23 in IES-R was larger in the indirectly traumatized group, although this was not statistically significant. Conclusion : Alcohol consumption was significantly higher in the indirectly traumatized group. This group also included more members at high risk for PTSD. Further research, with a larger group of indirectly traumatized firefighters and ongoing investigation of PTSD development and other psychiatric symptoms, is needed.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.49
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• pp.314.1-314.15
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• 2018

Background: Despite its growing significance, studies on the burden of disease associated with natural disasters from the perspective of public health were few. This study aimed at estimating the national burden of disease associated with typhoons and torrential rains in Korea. Methods: During the period of 2002-2012, 11 typhoons and five torrential rains were selected. Mortality and morbidities were defined as accentual death, injury and injury-related infection, and mental health. Their incidences were estimated from National Health Insurance Service. Case-crossover design was used to define the disaster-related excess mortality and morbidity. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were directly assessed from excess mortality and morbidity. Results: The burden of disease from typhoons increased with the intensity, with 107.7, 30.6, and 36.6 DALYs per 100,000 per event for strong, moderate, and weak typhoons, respectively. Burden of disease from torrential rains were 56.9, 52.8, and 26.4 DALYs per 100,000 per event for strong, moderate, and weak episodes, respectively. Mental disorders contributed more years lived with disability (YLDs) than did injuries in most cases, but the injury-induced YLDs associated with strong typhoon and torrential rain were higher than those of lower-intensity. The elderly was the most vulnerable to most types of disaster and storm intensities, and males younger than 65 years were more vulnerable to a strong torrential rain event. Conclusion: The intensity of torrential rain or typhoon was the strongest determinant of the burden of disease from natural disasters in Korea. Population vulnerable may vary depending on the nature and strength of the disasters.