• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.7.1-7.11
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• 2019

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorder that affects mainly salivary and lacrimal glands, but its cause remains largely unknown. Clinical data indicating that SS occurs in a substantial proportion of patients with lupus points to common pathogenic mechanisms underlying the two diseases. To address this idea, we asked whether SS develops in the lupus-prone mouse strain sanroque (SAN). Owing to hyper-activation of follicular helper T (Tfh) cells, female SAN mice developed lupus-like symptoms at approximately 20 wk of age but there were no signs of SS at that time. However, symptoms typical of SS were evident at approximately 40 wk of age, as judged by reduced saliva flow rate, sialadenitis, and IgG deposits in the salivary glands. Increases in serum titers of SS-related autoantibodies and numbers of autoantibody-secreting cells in cervical lymph nodes (LNs) preceded the pathologic manifestations of SS and were accompanied by expansion of Tfh cells and their downstream effector cells. Thus, our results suggest that chronic dysregulation of Tfh cells in salivary gland-draining LNs is sufficient to drive the development of SS in lupus-prone mice.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.25.1-25.12
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• 2023

Background: In Korea, little research has focused on the relationship between discrimination in the workplace and sleep health. Thus, this study aims to investigate the association between such discriminatory experiences and insomnia, a common sleep disorder, using Korean employees' data. Methods: This study used data from the 6th Korea Working Conditions Survey. Discrimination experiences due to age, ethnic background, nationality, race, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, educational level, hometown, and employment status were investigated. The Minimal Insomnia Symptom Scale estimated insomnia symptoms. The association between discrimination experience and insomnia symptoms were analyzed using survey-weighted logistic regression analysis. Results: Based on experiences of discrimination over the past 12 months, insomnia symptoms were associated with discrimination experience due to religion (odds ratio [OR]: 3.70; 95% confidential interval [CI]: 1.58-8.69), sex (OR: 2.51; 95% CI: 1.87-3.37), age (OR: 2.30; 95% CI: 1.88-2.81), hometown (OR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.44-2.97), employment status (OR: 1.69; 95% CI: 1.37-2.10), and educational level (OR: 1.67; 95% CI: 1.31-2.14). Furthermore, the prevalence of insomnia symptoms increased with the number of discrimination experiences. Conclusions: In this study, discrimination experiences due to religion, sex, age, hometown, employment status, and educational level were significantly associated with insomnia symptoms. Furthermore, as the number of discrimination experiences increased, so did the prevalence of insomnia. Preventing workplace discrimination may improve workers' sleep health.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.55-64
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• 2024

Objectives: This study investigated the prevalence and characteristics of comorbid conditions in patients exposed to ionizing radiation and those who were involved in the Soviet-Afghan war. Methods: This study analyzed the frequency and spectrum of morbidity and comorbidity in patients over a long-term period (30-35 years) following exposure to ionizing radiation at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site or the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, and among participants of the Soviet-Afghan war. A cohort study, both prospective and retrospective, was conducted on 675 patients who underwent comprehensive examinations. Results: Numerical data were analyzed using the Statistica 6 program. The results are presented as the mean±standard deviation, median, and interquartile range (25-75th percentiles). The statistical significance of between-group differences was assessed using the Student t-test and Pearson chi-square test. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. We found a high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension (55.0%) and cardiac ischemia (32.9%); these rates exceeded the average for this age group in the general population. Conclusions: The cumulative impact of causal occupational, environmental, and ultra-high stress factors in the combat zone in participants of the Soviet-Afghan war, along with common conventional factors, contributed to the formation of a specific comorbidity structure. This necessitates a rational approach to identifying early predictors of cardiovascular events and central nervous system disorders, as well as pathognomonic clinical symptoms in this patient cohort. It also underscores the importance of selecting suitable methods and strategies for implementing treatment and prevention measures.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.8-14
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• 2023

The hepatic glycogen storage disease type 0 (GSD type 0) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by a deficiency of hepatic glycogen synthase encoded by the glycogen synthase 2 (GYS2) gene, leading to abnormal synthesis glycogen. The clinical findings of GSD type 0 are hyperketotic hypoglycemia at fasting state and accompanying postprandial hyperglycemia and hyperlactatemia. GSD type 0 has only been reported in a very small number so far, and the diagnosis is likely to be missed because symptoms are mild, severe hypoglycemia is rare or asymptomatic, or symptoms gradually disappear with age. Essential management strategies include feeding high-protein meals to stimulate gluconeogenesis, frequent meals to prevent hypoglycemia during the day and feeding complex carbohydrates such as uncooked cornstarch to slowly release glucose during nignt. GSD type 0 has a good prognosis, with appropriate treatment, normal growth can be achieved and no complications occur. Significant hypoglycemia occurs less common in adulthood, but ongoing dietary management may be necessary.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.77-89
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• 2024

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a very common musculoskeletal disorder worldwide. The assessment of knee osteoarthritis, which requires a rapid and accurate initial diagnosis, is determined to be different depending on the currently dispersed classification system, and each classification system has different criteria. Also, because the medical staff directly sees and reads the X-ray pictures, it depends on the subjective opinion of the medical staff, and it takes time to establish an accurate diagnosis and a clear treatment plan. Therefore, in this study, we designed the stenosis length measurement algorithm and Osteophyte detection and length measurement algorithm, which are the criteria for determining the knee osteoarthritis grade, separately using CNN, which is a deep learning technique. In addition, we would like to create a grading system that integrates and complements the existing classification system and show results that match the judgments of actual medical staff. Based on publicly available OAI (Osteoarthritis Initiative) data, a total of 9,786 knee osteoarthritis data were used in this study, eventually achieving an Accuracy of 69.8% and an F1 score of 76.65%.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.121-132
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• 2009

Objectives : To evaluate the current status of East-West combination treatment in joint disorders. Methods : The medical records of patients who visited the Joints & Rheumatism Center at the Kyung Hee East-West Neo Medical Center from April 2006 to June 2009 were evaluated. The general characteristics of patients who underwent combination treatment, trend in number of cross-system referrals, and disorders and involved body regions of patients referred to the Eastern medical hospital from the Western medical hospital were initially assessed. 6 major disorders were found from the initial scanning. The trend in number of cross-hospital referrals, number of visits to the Eastern medical hospital, current status of combination treatment, treatment modality, and reason for cross-system referral was evaluated. Results : 1. 1510 patients were referred from the Eastern medical hospital to the Western medical hospital, and 1065 patients were referred from the Western medical hospital to the Eastern medical hospital. First visit patients reached a peak at the second quarter of 2007 and fourth quarter of 2006 respectively, and have steadily decreased from then on. Referrals of female patients were twice as common as male patient referrals. Patients in their sixth or seventh decade of life were most commonly referred, and more outpatients were referred compared to inpatients. 2. Patients with knee joint disorders were most commonly referred from the Western medical hospital to the Eastern medical hospital, followed by hip, shoulder, ankle, wrist, and elbow joint disorders. The most common disorders for each of the above regions in referred patients were knee osteoarthritis, avascular necrosis of the hip, adhesive capsulitis, and ankle strain and sprain. The generalized disorders rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis followed. 3. Patients referred to the Eastern hospital received approximately 3 to 10 Eastern medical treatment sessions. 45 percent remained on constant combination treatment, and 98 percent of referred patients received acupuncture treatment. Conclusions : In regard to the number of patients and duration of combination treatment, combination treatment was successfully performed for knee osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis, while it was not so for avascular necrosis of the hip, adhesive capsulitis, and ankle strain and sprain. Further research on this subject is required.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.170-175
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• 2018

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common movement disorder and the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. Approximately 5~10% of PD patients are familial PD cases. Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) has been known to be a causal gene of PD when it is mutated. LRRK2 contains the functional kinase and GTPase domains as well as leucine-rich repeat (LRR) and WD40 domains that are known to play critical roles for protein-protein interaction, suggesting that LRRK2-interacting proteins are important regulators for PD pathogenesis. In an effort to identify proteins interacting with LRRK2, we carried out co-immunoprecipitation of LRRK2 antibody using extracts of NIH3T3 cells that express LRRK2 at a relatively high level. The mass spectrometry analysis of a precipitated band revealed that the co-precipitated band was methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MRS), an ancient enzyme that transfers methionin to its cognate tRNA. The interaction of MRS with LRRK2 was confirmed again by co-immunoprecipitation of endogenous proteins and GST pull-down assays. However, LRRK2 did not phosphorylate recombinant MRS protein in in vitro kinase assays, and over-expression of LRRK2 or MRS did not affect the stability of its partner protein. Our data indicate that LRRK2 interacts with but does not phosphorylate MRS, and the stability of each partner is not affected by the other.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.19-29
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• 2004

Objective : The purpose of this study is to present the epidemiological data on patients with a stroke admitted to Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Oriental Medical Hospital Kyung Hee University and to investigate the difference between preceding diseases of stroke. Methods : We reviewed medical records of 700 patients with a stroke admitted to Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Oriental Medical Hospital, Kyung Hee University. Results: The incidence of cerebral infarction was 6.7 times that of cerebral hemorrhage. The incidence in males was 1.28 times of that in females. The incidence of stroke increased with aging and more cerebral hemorrhage occured in lower age group than cerebral infarction. There was higher morbidity in October, during the changing of the seasons, than any other months. Hypertension was the most common preceding disease followed by diabetis mellitus, heart disease, hyperlipidemia, and according to Odds's ratio for Male/Female, the probability of having preceding diseases was higher in females than males. In cerebral infarction, MCA territory was the most frequent lesion sites. Of the cerebral hemorrhage, basal ganglia (60%) was the most commonly involved site which was followed by thalamus(33.3%), cortex (3.3%) and subcortex (2.2%). The most common symptom accompanied by stroke was motor dysfunction which was followed by verbal disturbance, urination disorder and dysphagia. Conclusion : This study showed the trends of stroke in Oriental medical center. We expects that Multicenter cooperative and prospective study including Oriental Medicine will be inspired by this study for establishing more accurate chacteristics of stroke in Korea in the future.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.61-72
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• 2010

Objective : This study tried to identify evaluation tools and intervention approaches that have been used regarding visual motor skills of children, in order to suggest the best evaluation method and intervention strategy. Methods : This study employed a systemic review. Papers researched for the review were selected from the PubMed which is a web engine to search academic articles. For search, time period of publication was limited from January 2001 to Jun 2010, and key words used were "visual motor and occupational therapy", "visuomotor and occupational therapy", and "perception and motor and occupational therapy". 13 papers among total 161 findings were selected for data analysis. Results : Through literature review, followings were founded. For population targeted in studies, children with developmental disorder are majority(20.00%) and those with handwriting problems are another major group(13.33%). DTVP(33.33%) and VMI(26.67%) are most common tools used to evaluate visual motor skills. Most frequently used intervention method is developmental skill based program(58.82) and the second common method is sensory integration therapy and sensory-based intervention(23.53%). Regarding the effectiveness of occupational therapy for visual motor skill, positive evidences with statistical power take 72.73%. Conclusion : The results imply that occupational therapy is effective for visual motor skill in children. It is suggested that further studies are needed to encompass effectiveness of occupational therapy in terms of children's occupational performance.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.173-182
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• 1996

This study was performed to provide the information on the clinical characteristics of the most common paroxysmal pain disorder in maxillofacial region, trigeminal neuralgia, and the effects and side effects of carbamazepine. The patients who visited Orofacial Pain Clinic, Dept. of Oral Diagnosis, Seoul National University Dental Hospital for treating paroxysmal pain were studied by history taking, clinical examination, and radiography. Sixty-two patients(male 20, female42) without any clinical and radiological abnormalities were Included. The change of pain, blood tests, and side effects were investigated periodically after administration of carbamazepine. The obtained results were as follows : 1. Almost all patient with trigeminal neuralgia were over the age of forties and it was more common in women. 2. Trigeminal neuralgia was more right sided and the involved nerve was in the order of maxillary n., mandibular n., and ophthalmic n. 3. The mean duration of suffering was 20.7 months. Eighty percent of patients had apparent trigger area. 4. The duration of pain attack was in the older of several seconds, 1 min. to 5 min., more than 10 min., and 5 min. to 10 min. The frequency of pain attack was in the order of more than 10 per day, 6-10 per day, and 1-5 per day. 5. The clinic the patients had visited for reducing neuralgic pain was in the order of dental clinic, neurology, oriental medicine, otolaryngology, and pharmacy. 6. Unnecessary dental treatments for reducing neuralgic pain were performed in 41.9% of the patients. Almosit all treatments were irreversible ones such as endodontic treatment and tooth extraction. 7. The initial mean VAS was 8.6, but it was decreased to 3.8 after 1 month, to 2.7 after 2 months. Almost all patients showed decreased pain with 200-600mg/day of carbamazepine to 6 months. 8. WBC counts, especially neutrophil counts, was decreased in 1 week after administration of carbamazepine but reached initial level after 1 month. SGOT, SGPT, and creatinine did not show any significant change. 9. Blood pressure was not changed significantly after administration of carbamazepine. 10. Almost patients did not show any apparent side effects, but drowsiness, dizziness, skin itching, constipation, and gastric irritation were occurred in some patients.