• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.196-206
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• 2016

Objectives: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are considered to have problems with empathy. It has recently been suggested that there are two systems for empathy; cognitive and emotional. We aimed to investigate the neural response to cognitive and emotional empathy and elucidate the neurobiological aspects of empathy in patients with ASD. Methods: We recruited patients with ASD (N=17, ASD group) and healthy controls (HC) (N=22, HC group) for an functional magnetic resonance imaging study. All of the subjects were scanned while performing cognitive and emotional empathy tasks. The differences in brain activation between the groups were assessed by contrasting their neural activity during the tasks. Results: During both tasks, the ASD group showed greater neural activities in the bilateral occipital area compared to the HC group. The ASD group showed more activation in the bilateral precunei only during the emotional empathy task. No brain regions were more activated in the HC group than in the ASD group during the cognitive empathy task. While performing the emotional empathy task, the HC group exhibited greater neural activities in the left middle frontal gyrus and right anterior cingulate gyrus than the ASD group. Conclusion: This study showed that the brain regions associated with cognitive and emotional empathy in ASD patients differed from those in healthy individuals. The results of this study suggest that individuals with ASD might have defects both in cognitive empathy and in emotional empathy.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.42-51
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• 1994

Visual features of a mushromm(Lentinus Edodes L.) are critical in sorting and grading as most agricultural products are. Because of its complex and various visual features, grading and sorting of mushrooms have been done manually by the human expert. Though actions involved in human grading look simple, it decision making underneath the simple action comes from the result of the complex neural processing of visual image. Recently, an artificial neural network has drawn a great attention because of its functional capability as a partial substitute of the human brain. Since most agricultural products are not uniquely defined in its physical properties and do not have a well defined job structure, the neuro -net based computer visual information processing is the promising approach toward the automation in the agricultural field. In this paper, first, the neuro - net based classification of simple geometric primitives were done and the generalization property of the network was tested for degraded primitives. And then the neuro-net based grading system was developed for a mushroom. A computer vision system was utilized for extracting and quantifying the qualitative visual features of sampled mushrooms. The extracted visual features of sampled mushrooms and their corresponding grades were used as input/output pairs for training the neural network. The grading performance of the trained network for the mushrooms graded previously by the expert were also presented.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.122-140
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• 2000

Somatization disorder is a chronic condition characterized by multiple somatic complaints that are not due to any apparent organic illness. Somatization disorder is related historically to hysteria and hysteria has been defined by the existence of somatic complaints for which no organic reason can be found. Therefore most theories of somatization have focused on the psychodynamic and sociological perspectives. However, the concept that the somatic presentation of emotional distress or psychiatric illness might have a neurobiological basis has also aroused considerable interest. Relative to this perspective, the case of Anna O. which has been considered the prototype of hysteria, was reformulated from a neuropsychological perspective. Several neurophysiological and neuropsychological studies, studies concerning hemispheric differences in symptom presentation of the patients with hysteria have been shown the evidences for the biological basis of somatization. Moreover, recent neuroimaging studies in somatization disorder also show that brain dysfunction in somatization. The author reviewed several candidate theories which could help to explain the process of somatization in the perspective of biological basis and proposed the new neuropsychological model of somatization. The author also examined the possible application of this model to the treatment of somatization disorder and discussed it's limitation and the future directions in this field.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.24 no.2 s.88
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• pp.91-100
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• 2006

This paper examines the situation and tasks of UK rail privatization, especially focusing on after the Hatfield rail accident. Earlier research which focused on the UK's Privatization had little knowledge of the explanations for recent changes. Moreover they had difficulty making a direct comparison between national rail and the privatized rail. Therefore we aye left without a good explanation which has a comprehensive perspective. I attempt to show the change in the rail privatization Process and its outcome, focusing on after the Hatfield rail accident. This Paper argues that the UK's vail privatization process has a regulatory framework which is too complicated with overlapping responsibilities that brought about inefficiency, increasing costs and a superficial safety regime. Especially the planning of rail and infrastructure maintenance did not come to play an appropriate role. However after 2000, the government took charge of setting the strategy for railways, and the Office of Rail Regulation covered safety performance and cost. explain that these changes present a good opportunity to solve the problem of passing the buck for poor performance. Through the analysis, I find that the passenger rail network is well-suited to deliver long distance business and commuters and that the subsidy from the government is decreasing. However, performance, for example punctuality and reliability. should be improved. Especially the Hatfield rail accident caused a reduction in the satisfaction of passengers. In future. the problems of rising costs and monopoly franchise system should be addressed.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 1996

Intracellular calcium concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$) may play a crucial role in a variety of neuronal functions. Here we report that in primary culture of mouse cerebellar granule cells nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are expressed in a specific developmental stage and involved in the regulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis. Nicotine-mediated calcium responses were measured using $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ or fluorometrically using the calcium-sensitive fluorescent dye fura-2. Maximal uptake of $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ evoked by nicotine in mouse cerebellar granule cells were revealed $8{\sim}12$ days in culture. In contrast, nicotine did not alter the basal $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ uptake in cultured glial cells. In cerebellar granule cells nicotine-evoked $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ uptake was largely blocked by the NMDA receptor antagonists. Glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT). which removes endogenous glutamate, also prevented nicotine effects, implying the indirect involvement of glutamate in nicotine-mediated calcium responses. Fluorometric studies using fura-2 showed two phases of nicotine-evoked $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ rises: the initial rising phase and the later plateau phase. Interestingly, the NMDA receptor antagonists and GPT appeared to inhibit only the later plateau phase of nicotine-evoked $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ rises. The present results imply that nicotine mediated $^{45}Ca^{2+}$ uptake and $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ rises are attributed to the calcium fluxes through both nAchRs and NMDA receptors in a time-dependent manner. Consequently, nAChRs may play an important role in neuronal development by being expressed in a specific developmental stage and regulating the intracellular calcium homeostasis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2015

Acute phase patients who are unconscious and are suffering from cerebral infarction, cranial nerve disorders, or cerebral apoplexy are susceptible to aspiration pneumonia due to dysphagia. In these cases, a nasogastric tube is inserted to supply nutrients. Although bedside screening tests are administered during recovery after rehabilitation, clinical examinations may not be able to ascertain asymptomatic aspiration. Therefore, a video fluoroscopy swallowing study (VFSS) was performed in 10 patients with dysphagia after rehabilitation therapy; these patients had nasogastric tubes inserted, and a rehabilitation specialist assessed the degree of swallowing based on the patients' diet and posture. If aspiration or swallowing difficulties were observed, dysphagia rehabilitation therapy was administered. The patients were reassessed approximately 30-50 days after administration of therapy, based on the patients' condition. If aspiration is not observed, the nasogastric tube was removed. A functional dysphagia scale was used to analyze the VFSS images, and the scores were statistically calculated. The mean score of patients with nasogastric tubes was $49.79{\pm}9.431$, thereby indicating aspiration risk, whereas the group without nasogastric tubes showed a mean score of $11.20{\pm}1.932$, which indicated low risk of aspiration. These results demonstrated that a significantly low score was associated with nasogastric tube removal. Mann-Whitney's test was performed to assess the significance of both the groups, and the results were statistically significant with a P value <0.001. In conclusion, VFSS can effectively assess the movements and structural abnormalities in the oral cavity, pharynx, and esophagus. It can also be used to determine the aspiration status and ascertain the appropriate diet or swallowing posture for the patient. Therefore, VFSS can potentially be used as a reliable standard test to assess swallowing in order to determine nasogastric tube removal.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.111-151
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• 2023

It is reported that binge drinkers show cognitive impairment similar to alcohol use disorder patients. A previous studies using neuropsychological tests and brain imaging techniques to investigate the visual perception of alcohol use disorder patients reported that they had global-local visual perception defects. Although the neurological basis for the global-local visual perception deficit in the heavy drinking group has been presented, there are no studies to date that have investigated the global-local visual perception in the heavy drinking group. This study investigated local-biased visual perception in female college students with binge drinking (BD) using event-related potentials (ERPs). Based on the scores of the Korean version of Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test and the Alcohol Use Questionnaire, participants were assigned into BD (n=25) and non-BD (n=25) groups. Local-global visual processing was assessed using a local-global paradigm, in which large stimuli (global level) composed of small stimuli (local level) were presented. The stimuli presented at global and local levels were either congruent or incongruent. The behavioral results exhibited that the BD and non-BD groups did not differ in terms of accuracy and response time. In terms of ERPs, the BD and non-BD groups did not show difference in N100, P150 and N200 amplitude. However, the BD group showed significantly smaller P300 amplitude than non-BD group especially in the local condition. In addition, a negative correlation between P300 amplitude and binge drinking score was observed, i.e., severer binge drinking smaller P300 amplitude. The P300 is known to reflect cognitive inhibition and attentional allocation. In the global-local paradigm, the local condition required to attend to local target while ignoring global non-target. Therefore, the present results indicate that female college students with BD do not have local-biased visual processing, instead they seem to have difficulties in inhibition of irrelevant stimuli.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.300-307
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• 2017

Electroencephalography (EEG) is distinct from other medical imaging tests in that it is a functional test that helps to diagnosis disorders related to the brain, such as epilepsy. The most important abilities for a medical technologist when performing an EEG are knowing the exact location of the electrode and recording the EEG wave clearly, except for artifacts. Although theoretical education and practical training are both included in the curriculum for improving these abilities, sufficient practical training has been lacking due to problems like expensive equipment and insufficient practical training time. We try to solve these issues by manufacturing the training 10-20 electrode system and by estimating the efficiency and satisfaction of the training 10-20 electrode system through a questionnaire. The time required for practical training using this system was $43.58{\pm}9.647min$, which proved to be efficient. The satisfaction score of participants who experienced curriculum practical training was improved from $7.21{\pm}2.285$ to $9.46{\pm}1.166$. Based on these findings, it is considered that practical training via the use of the training 10-20 electrode system will solve the problems, such as lack of equipment and insufficient practical training time. Nonetheless, to further improve the training 10-20 electrode system, it must overcome the limitations of developing a device capable of checking the actual brain waves and validating the exact location of electrode attachment.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.81-92
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• 2010

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess bra in activation and difference by LI11 or ST36 acupuncture stimulation using functional MRI (fMRI). Methods: A total of 10 healthy right-handed volunteers were studied. LI11 acupuncture and ST36 acupuncture stimulations were applied in order on the left. The block design paradigm of RARARA was used for the task, with R representing rest and A representing stimulation, and each period lasted 30 seconds. fMRI data were analyzed using SPM2. Results: The left LI11 acupuncture stimulation activated both sides of the inferior parietal lobule, the left side of the extra-nuclear, culmen and inferior semi-lunar lobules. On the right side, the nodule and midbrain regions were activated by the left LI11 acupuncture stimulation. The left ST36 acupuncture stimulation activated the right side of the superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, superior parietal lobule, inferior semi-lunar lobule and pyramis. On the left side, the sub-gyral, middle temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, extra-nuclear, cingulate gyrus and fastigium regions were activated by the left ST36 acupuncture stimulation. Besides, both sides of the paracentral lobule, inferior parietal lobule, culmen, cerebellar tonsil and midbrain regions were activated. Conclusions: In conclusion, brain signal activation patterns according to acupoints were observed to differ, and ST36 acupuncture stimulation activated more regions than LI11. It is supposed that LI11 and ST36 acupuncture stimulations have an influence on motor function and sensory aphasia, and these stimulations thus represent potential for ocular motor dysfunction, discriminative touch or position sense disorder. Moreover, ST36 acupuncture stimulation activated the cingulate gyrus of the limbic system, so it seems to have an influence over autonomic functions.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 1997

Purpose : To evaluate the efficacy of combined treatment of surgery and chemoradiotherapy for supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (SPNET) and obtain the Prognostic factors and complications Materials and Methods .The a9e of 18 patients ranged from 1 to 27 years (median=5 years). There were 12 males and 6 females The extents of surgery were gross total (n:9), subtotal (n:8), biopsy only (n: 1). Craniospinal radiotherapy was delivered to all the patients except 2 patients who were treated only with the whole brain and primary lesion. Radiation dose were 3120-5800cGy (median=5460) to primary mass, 1500-4200cGy (median=3600cGy) to the whole brain and 1320-3600cGy (median= 2400 cGy) to the spinal axis. Chemotherapy was done in 13 patients. Median follow-up period was 45 months ranged from 1 to 89 months. Results : Patterns of failure were as follows; local recurrence (1), multiple intracranial recurrence (2), spinal seeding (3), craniospinal seeding (2) and multiple bone metastasis (1). Two of two patients who did not received craniospinal radiotherapy failed at spinal area. All the relapsed cases died at 1 to 13 months after diagnosis of progression. The 2- and 5-rear overall survival rates were $61\%\;and\;49\%$, respectively The a9e, sex, tumor location did not influence the survival but aggressive resection with combined chemotherapy showed better outcome. Among 9 survivors, complications were detected as radiation necrosis (n=1), hypopituitarism (n=2), cognitive defect(n=1), memory deficit (n=1), growth retardation (n=1). Conclusion : To improve the results of treatment of SPNET, maximal surgical resection followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy is necessary. The extended radiation field including craniospinal axis may reduce the recurrence in spinal axis.