• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.481-489
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• 1998

Injuries and infectious diseases have been the most important public health problems since the beginning of human life. Injuries result in death of about 30,000 people each year in South Korea. In terms of years of life lost, injuries are considerably more costly than either heart disease or cancer. In terms of cost - both the direct costs of care and the indirect costs to individuals, families, and societies of a diminished life-injuries are among the most expensive of all social problems. The main purposes of this study are (1) to describe the outcomes as well as treatment process of brain injured patients and (2) to identify the factors impacting on length of stay during hospitalization and hospital fees. The research method used in this study was to review the medical records of five hundreds brain injured cases using systemic random sampling. The multiple logistic regression was administered to identify the factors impacting on the outcomes. The results are as follow : (1) the consultation .ate was found to be 72.9% while referral rate was 11.2%; (2) nearly 30% of the respondents were hospitalized over 30 days; (3) multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that the determinants influencing LOS were number of consultations, number of lab tests, and surgery; (4) the determinants of hospital fee were severity of brain injury, gender of patients, number of consultations, number of lab tests, and surgery.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제45권6호
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• pp.344-352
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• 2012

Mercury is a toxic and non-essential metal in the human body. Mercury is ubiquitously distributed in the environment, present in natural products, and exists extensively in items encountered in daily life. There are three forms of mercury, i.e., elemental (or metallic) mercury, inorganic mercury compounds, and organic mercury compounds. This review examines the toxicity of elemental mercury and inorganic mercury compounds. Inorganic mercury compounds are water soluble with a bioavailability of 7% to 15% after ingestion; they are also irritants and cause gastrointestinal symptoms. Upon entering the body, inorganic mercury compounds are accumulated mainly in the kidneys and produce kidney damage. In contrast, human exposure to elemental mercury is mainly by inhalation, followed by rapid absorption and distribution in all major organs. Elemental mercury from ingestion is poorly absorbed with a bioavailability of less than 0.01%. The primary target organs of elemental mercury are the brain and kidney. Elemental mercury is lipid soluble and can cross the blood-brain barrier, while inorganic mercury compounds are not lipid soluble, rendering them unable to cross the blood-brain barrier. Elemental mercury may also enter the brain from the nasal cavity through the olfactory pathway. The blood mercury is a useful biomarker after short-term and high-level exposure, whereas the urine mercury is the ideal biomarker for long-term exposure to both elemental and inorganic mercury, and also as a good indicator of body burden. This review discusses the common sources of mercury exposure, skin lightening products containing mercury and mercury release from dental amalgam filling, two issues that happen in daily life, bear significant public health importance, and yet undergo extensive debate on their safety.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제33권9호
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• pp.1228-1237
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• 2023

The CRISPR-Cas system has emerged as the most efficient genome editing technique for a wide range of cells. Delivery of the Cas9-sgRNA ribonucleoprotein complex (Cas9 RNP) has gained popularity. The objective of this study was to develop a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based assay to quantify the double-strand break reaction mediated by Cas9 RNP. To accomplish this, the dextransucrase gene (dsr) from Leuconostoc citreum was selected as the target DNA. The Cas9 protein was produced using recombinant Escherichia coli BL21, and two sgRNAs were synthesized through in vitro transcription to facilitate binding with the dsr gene. Under optimized in vitro conditions, the 2.6 kb dsr DNA was specifically cleaved into 1.1 and 1.5 kb fragments by both Cas9-sgRNA365 and Cas9-sgRNA433. By monitoring changes in dsr concentration using qPCR, the endonuclease activities of the two Cas9 RNPs were measured, and their efficiencies were compared. Specifically, the specific activities of dsr365RNP and dsr433RNP were 28.74 and 34.48 (unit/㎍ RNP), respectively. The versatility of this method was also verified using different target genes, uracil phosphoribosyl transferase (upp) gene, of Bifidobacterium bifidum and specific sgRNAs. The assay method was also utilized to determine the impact of high electrical field on Cas9 RNP activity during an efficient electroporation process. Overall, the results demonstrated that the qPCR-based method is an effective tool for measuring the endonuclease activity of Cas9 RNP.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.20-31
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• 2022

Through a survey on dietary intake of children and adolescents with brain lesions, the present study aimed to analyze the current status of nutrient intake and examine the effect of high-protein nutrient drink on their nutritional and muscle statuses. The study participants were 90 juvenile participants aged 8-19 years, with brain lesions. The participants were provided with a protein nutrient drink for 12 weeks and a questionnaire survey on dietary intake was performed to analyze the level of nutrient intake before and after ingestion. The physical measurements were taken to determine the improvements in nutrient and muscle statuses. The results showed that, before the intake of protein nutrient drink as a supplement, the participants exhibited lower height, weight, and body mass index than those of the standard levels of healthy individuals, and the level of nutrient intake through diet was lower than those of the required and recommended levels of nutrient intake for Koreans. Conversely, after the intake of protein nutrient drink for 12 weeks, the level of nutrient intake and physical statuses such as weight showed significant improvements. In addition, the muscle status had undergone approximately 10% of change during the intervention with no significant difference. Thus, to ensure an adequate level of nutrient supply to children and adolescents with brain lesions, there is an urgent need to develop a guideline of nutrient intake. The findings in this study are expected to serve as the basic data for such guidelines.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.113-118
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• 2001

Purpose: The common features of brain metastases from gastric cancer are unknown because brain metastasis is an uncommon pattern of metastasis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical features of and the prognosis for patients with brain metastases after a curative resection for gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one (21) cases of patients with brain metastases of gastric cancer, who had been treated at the Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, were assessed retrospectively. Results: The mean age was $55.8\pm9.6$ years (range: $34\~70$ years), and the male-to-female ratio was 2.5 : .1. The most common neurologic symptom was headache ($38.5\%$), and no patient was free from the neurologic symptoms. The incidence of parenchymal metastasis (PM: $76.2\%$) was higher than that of leptomeningeal metastasis (LM: $19.0\%$). Patients with gastric cancer and brain metastasis showed high rates of blood and lymphatic vessel invasion (lymphatic vessel invasion: $85.7\%$; blood vessel invasion: $80.9\%$). According to Lauren's classification, the incidence of intestinal types was 14/21 ($66.7\%$), that of diffuse types was 3/21 ($14.3\%$) and that of mixed types was 4/21 ($19.0\%$). The mean interval between the gastrectomy and the diagnosis of brain metastasis was $24.7\pm4.0$ months (PM: 26.8 months; LM: 20.3 months). The median period of survival after diagnosis of brain metastasis was 2 months for paren chymal metastasis and 0 months for leptomeningeal metastasis. Conclusion:.. During a follow-up period, patients with neurologic symptoms should be suspected of having brain metastasis. Early diagnosis and treatment is the only hope to prolong survival in such patients.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.135-139
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare EEG topographical maps in patients with chronic stroke after action observation physical training. Methods: Ten subjects were recruited from a medical hospital. Participants observed the action of transferring a small block from one box to another for 6 sessions of 1 minute each, and then performed the observed action for 3 minutes, 6 times. An EEG-based brain mapping system with 32 scalp sites was used to determine cortical reorganization in the regions of interest (ROIs) during observation of movement. The EEG-based brain mapping was comparison in within-group before and after training. ROIs included the primary sensorimotor cortex, premotor cortex, superior parietal lobule, inferior parietal lobule, superior temporal lobe, and visual cortex. EEG data were analyzed with an average log ratio in order to control the variability of the absolute mu power. The mu power log ratio was in within-group comparison with paired t-tests. Results: Participants showed activation prior to the intervention in all of the cerebral cortex, whereas the inferior frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, and inferior parietal cortex were selectively activated after the training. There were no differences in mu power between each session. Conclusion: These findings suggest that action observation physical training contributes to attaining brain reorganization and improving brain functionality, as part of rehabilitation and intervention programs.

• 가정∙방문간호학회지
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.37-45
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was conducted in order to identify the brain injury patients's disability degree and educational needs of family caregivers. Methods: A convenience sample of 94 families with brain injury patients, who have been receiving treatment at the neurological intensive care unit and neurosurgery ward, were used. Data was collected with a self-report questionnaire from September 5 to November 28, 2011, and was analyzed using SAS program. Results: 'Defecation/urination' disability was the highest score of patient's physical disability and the next ranking was 'paralysis'. 'Memory impairment' disability was the highest score of patient's cognitive disability, and the next ranking was 'personality changes'. Overall, educational needs of family caregivers scored 4.15 out of the perfect score of 5. The factor, which scored highest, was 'information related with disease'. In addition, educational needs of family caregivers were positively related with patient's degree of. Conclusion: Educational needs of family caregivers are distinct, according to the disability degree of brain injury patient. Therefore, the study suggests the development of individualized educational program for family with brain injury patient.

• 지역사회간호학회지
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.389-398
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• 2011

Purpose: This study of this study was to identify factors influencing the burden of main family caregivers who take care of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases. Methods: This was conducted as descriptive research and data were collected from 255 main family caregivers who were taking care of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases from 4 hospitals in Daegu and Gyeongbuk Province. Stepwise-multiple regression was used to identify the influencing factors of burden felt. Results: As the score of burden felt by the main family, economic, social, physical, interdependent and emotional burdens were high in order. Factors influencing burden felt by main family care givers taking care of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases were changed relation with patient after hospitalization, daily life ability, marital status, education and family caregiver's personality (explanatory power of 24.6%). Family caregivers felt a heavier burden when their relation with the patient was changed negatively or when the patient's activity of daily living was low. Conclusion: Based on these results, we need to develop coping measures and interventional programs for reducing the burden felt by the main family caregivers of elderly patients with brain and spinal diseases.

• 대한치주과학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한치주과학회 2003년도 제43회 종합학술대회 연제초록
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• pp.102-103
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• 2003

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• 제7권3호
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• pp.114-118
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• 2018

Objective: The left and right sides of the brain has different roles. This study investigated the differences in cognitive driving ability between stroke survivors with damage to the left brain and right brain. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the driving cognitive ability of left and right hemispheric drivers following stroke. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: The Stroke Drivers' Screening Assessment (SDSA) from the UK was translated to the Korean Stroke Drivers' Screening Assessment (K-SDSA) to meet the specific traffic environments of Korea. The SDSA is composed of 4 tasks :1) a dot cancellation task that measures concentration and visuospatial abilities necessary for driving, 2) a directional matrix task to measure spatio-temporal executive function required for driving, 3) a compass matrix task to measure accurate direction determination ability required for driving, and 4) recognition of traffic signs and reasoning ability to understanding traffic situation. The SDSA assessment time is about 30 minutes. The K-SDSA was used to compare the cognitive driving abilities between 15 stroke survivors with left and 15 stroke survivors with right brain damage. Results: There were significant differences between the persons with stroke patients with left brain lesions (right hemiplegia) compared to the persons with stroke with right brain lesions (left hemiplegia) (p<0.05). It was found that the cognitive driving ability of those with right brain damage was lower than that of the group of left brain damage. Conclusions: This research investigated the driving cognitive ability of persons with stroke. The therapists can use this information as basis for the driving test and training purposes. It could also be used as a basis to understanding if the cognitive ability of not only stroke survivors but also those with brain damage is adequate to actually drive.