• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.164-171
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• 2018

Objectives : Depression is a common mental illness and a major cause of suicide. Although serum lipids have been associated with depression and suicide, there has been much debate. In this study, we investigated the relationship between depression, suicide, and serum lipids in patients admitted with depressed mood. Methods : A total of 134 subjects were divided into 86 non-suicide patients and 48 suicide attempters. The serum lipid levels and sub-scores of the Korean Symptom Checklist-95 (KSCL95) were compared. We also investigated the relationship between serum lipids and sub-scores of KSCL95 and investigated whether serum lipids were risk factors for suicide attempts. Results : There was no difference in serum lipids between the two groups. Among the sub-items of KSCL95, obsession was higher in non-suicide group. Triglyceride showed positive correlations with anxiety, phobic anxiety, agoraphobia, schizophrenia, and self-regulation problem. High triglyceride was a risk factor for suicide attempts. Conclusions : Triglyceride is associated with depression, anxiety, and self - regulation, and high serum triglyceride levels may be a risk factor for suicide attempts.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.50-65
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• 2018

Objective : The purpose of this study is to analyze researches about sex education for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities in order to provide a basic data and a direction about sex education. Methods : For the systemic review, domestic and international research articles published from August 2008 to September 2018 were searched using the electronic databases PubMed, EBSCO host (CINAHL Plus with full text), Medline (ProQuest), RISS, and KISS. Keyword used for the search was 'Disability Disorder OR Autism (AND) AND (Effect OR Effectiveness)' for international papers and 'Disability AND Sex Education' for domestic papers. Total 15 articles were collected and analyzed in terms of participant, duration, type, contents, and teaching methods with PICO format. Results : In terms of level of evidence, majority was Level III evidence(60%). Most common contents of sex education were 'physical and growth' and 'relational skills'. Special education and occupational therapy were the field that sex education is provided most frequently. Effects of sex education identified were 'sex knowledge', 'sex attitudes', and 'inappropriate sexual behavior'. Conclusion : This study intend aimed to identify content, trends, and effects of sex education for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities in order to provide a basic data for clinical trial of sex education in occupational therapy practice. This study recommend further researches on the effects of sex education on occupational participation, occupational therapists' awareness of sexual activity of clients, and development of related measurement such as sexual development scale.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.82 no.3
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• pp.234-241
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• 2019

Background: The utility of computed tomography (CT) in the differential diagnosis of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation remains uncertain. However, due to the low cost associated with CT scan along with the impact of Koreas' health insurance system, there has been a rise in the number of CT scans in the patients with initial diagnosis of COPD exacerbations. Therefore, the utility of CT in the differential diagnosis was investigated to determine whether performing CT scans affect the clinical outcomes of the patients with an initial diagnosis of COPD exacerbation. Methods: This study involved 202 COPD patients hospitalized with an initial diagnosis of COPD exacerbation. We evaluated the change in diagnosis or treatment after performing a CT scan, and compared the clinical outcomes of patient groups with vs. without performing CT (non-CT group vs. CT group). Results: After performing CT, the diagnosis was changed for two (3.0%) while additional diagnoses were made for 27 of the 64 patients (42.1%). However, the treatment changed for only one (1.5%), and six patients (9.3%) received supplementary medication. There were no difference in the median length of hospital stay (8 [6-13] days vs. 8 [6-12] days, p=0.786) and intensive care unit care (14 [10.1%] vs. 11 [16.7%], p=0.236) between the CT and non-CT groups, respectively. These findings remained consistent even after the propensity score matching. Conclusion: Utility of CT in patients with acute COPD exacerbation might not be helpful; therefore, we do not recommend chest CT scan as a routine initial diagnostic tool.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.30-42
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• 2019

Objective : The purpose of this study is to analyze non-medication interventions for self-injurious behavior of individuals with autism spectrum disorders, using a systematic review, and to provide evidence of appropriate services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders with self-injury behaviors in the clinical practice of occupational therapy. Methods : Using the electronic databases PubMed, Medline (ProQuest), DBpia, RISS, KISS, and NDSL, we searched for articles published in Korean and international journals from December 2004 to November 2018. The main search term were "Autism OR Autism Spectrum Disorder AND Therapy OR Treatment Or Intervention AND Self Injurious Behavior." Qualitative analysis was performed, and the results are presented in the PICO format. Results : A total of 12 articles were selected. The quality of the evidence was highest in level IV and level V. Single studies with an experimental design were the most common. Behavior therapy was the most common type of intervention. The next most common interventions were behavioral therapy, brain stimulation and control, and sensory integration therapy with behavioral therapy. The self-injury behaviors of individuals autism spectrum disorders were decreased, and was statistically significant. Conclusion : This study investigated the use of non-medication interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders who showed self-injury behavior. Future research should use higher-level designs, and investigate differences between various non-medication interventions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.605-611
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to manufacture a multi-function device (MFD) which can be applied to various types of weight-bearing view of the lower leg, and to compare the results with the images from the existing weight-bearing platforms (WBPs), thereby suggesting a clinical utilization. The MFD was manufactured, by considering the minimum adjustable heights of the platform for weight-bearing foot/ankle, platform for hindfoot alignment view, and X-ray tube of the X-ray device. A foot/ankle phantom was used to take the images of weight-bearing lateral foot in MFD and WBPs to compare the resolutions of the X-ray images using a quick modulation transfer function (MTF) program. Between both the images taken from the MFD and WBPs, there was no statistically significant difference found in the mean cycles per pixel (C/P) and the lines per image height (LPH) of the 50%-Contrast Spatial Frequency (MTF50), and 10-90% of Maximum Energy Rise Distance (10-90%), where p>0.05. The MFD is suggested for its clinical trial as a useful positioning device that can secure the patient's safety and manifoldly perform various inspections. Also, the recommendation of the positioning device as a policy can activate dedicated manufacturers, while also improving the quality of medical services.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.106-121
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• 2019

Sustainable development in society has become the center of focus in many fields such as industry, environment, health, culture, etc. Considering that the concept of heritage involves understanding it as a 'resource' to improve the quality of people's lives, sustainability is an important goal that heritage policy has to achieve. Adopting the definition of sustainability in the 1987 Brundtland Report, this paper defines the concept of sustainability with respect to heritage, as well as their respective roles. Following that, three action principles are presented: value-based conservation, rational decision-making, and community involvement. Two cases demonstrating how the three principles should be practiced in managing change are then illustrated. Considering that heritage can play its role as a resource once its significance is protected, this paper argues that value-based rational decision-making is of paramount importance and the first principle. Conservation aims to manage change by practicing a cyclic process of value identification, value sustaining, and value dissemination. Therefore, this paper argues that all processes should be connected in the context of heritage values. A rational decision-making process practicing value-based conservation is then suggested. This paper argues that rational decision-making can only be practiced once values are identified by objective criteria and managed by rational judgment upon impact assessment. Community involvement, the third principle, is necessary to realize value-based conservation and rational decision-making. Recognizing that a community is a beneficiary of heritage and a creator of a beneficial process at the same time, it discusses the role of community and the importance of this role in policies for the sustainability of heritage. This paper concludes with a set of recommendations to improve policies after examining the two decision-making cases.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.173-185
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• 2019

Causal questions are prevalent in scientific research, for example, how effective a treatment was for preventing an infectious disease, how much a policy increased utility, or which advertisement would give the highest click rate for a given customer. Causal inference theory in statistics interprets those questions as inferring the effect of a given intervention (treatment or policy) in the data generating process. Causal inference has been used in medicine, public health, and economics; in addition, it has received recent attention as a tool for data-driven decision making processes. Many recent datasets are observational, rather than experimental, which makes the causal inference theory more complex. This review introduces key concepts and recent trends of statistical causal inference in observational studies. We first introduce the Neyman-Rubin's potential outcome framework to formularize from causal questions to average treatment effects as well as discuss popular methods to estimate treatment effects such as propensity score approaches and regression approaches. For recent trends, we briefly discuss (1) conditional (heterogeneous) treatment effects and machine learning-based approaches, (2) curse of dimensionality on the estimation of treatment effect and its remedies, and (3) Pearl's structural causal model to deal with more complex causal relationships and its connection to the Neyman-Rubin's potential outcome model.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1120-1125
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• 2019

The short-lived nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been used as a model organism for many studies, including lifespan extension. To screen common seaweeds for natural anti-aging agents, the lifespan of C. elegans (N2 wild-type strain) was measured by its hatch rate, growth rate, survival rate, chemotaxis, brood size, and egg-laying time after exposure to nematode growth medium (NGM) containing seaweed extracts. Approximately 30 animals synchronized at the first larval stage were incubated until they reached their adult stages before laying their eggs and were transferred to fresh NGM every 3 days. We also identified the major active compound from the seaweed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and tested its optimal dose for longevity. Of 13 common seaweed species, an ethanol extract of the brown seaweed Hizikia fusiformis showed the greatest effect on hatching, growth, and survival rates. The lifespan of C. elegans was significantly expanded 1.54-fold and 1.23-fold in the presence of the ethanol extract (0.05 mg/ml) and the main active component, fucosterol (0.05 mg/ml), respectively. Exposure to the ethanol extract also increased chemotaxis 1.13-fold, decreased brood size 0.74-fold, and shortened egg-laying time 0.96-fold. These results suggest that the aquaculturable H. fusiformis may be a promising source of a diet supplement to support health care.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.954-965
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• 2019

This study was a quasi-experimental study of a non-equivalence comparison group to investigate an effect of adaptation of group counseling program based on MMTIC (Murphy-Meisgeier Type Indicator for Children) on improvement of psychological well-being, self-esteem and depression for elementary school students from low income families. Data were collected from August 3 to August 31, 2016. The group counseling program based on MMTIC was applied to the experimental group 10 sessions (twice a week, 60minutes), participants were 56 elementary school students from low income families (experimental group = 28, control group = 28) live in J city. The effects of this study were evaluated with the scales for psychological well-being, self-esteem and depression. As a result, it was found that well-being and self-esteem had significantly improved, depression had noticeably decreased with the program. Therefore, It is should that the group counseling program based on MMTIC will be used for effective psychiatric nursing intervention.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.221-221
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• 2015

Sustainable use of water resource and conservation of water quality are essential problems in the world. Especially, problems of water quality are serious one for human health as well as ecological system of all creatures on the earth. Recently, the importance of total effluent load as well as the concentrations of pollutant materials has been recognized not only for the conservation of water quality but also for sustainable water use in watersheds. However, the measurement or estimation of total effluent load from non-point source area such as farm lands or forests may be more difficult because both of concentration and discharge of the water are greatly changed depending on various factors especially metrological conditions such as rainfall, while the measurement from a point source area may be easy because the concentration of pollutant materials and amount of discharge water are relatively steady. Therefore, the total effluent load from a non-point source is often estimated by statistical relationships between concentration and discharge, which is called as L-Q equation. However, a lot of work and time are required to collect and analyze water samples and to get the accurate relationship or regressive equation. So, we proposed a new system for direct measurement of total effluent load of water quality from non-point source areas to solve the problem. In this system, the overflow depth at a hydraulic weir is measured with a pressure gage every hourly interval to calculate the amount of hourly discharge at first. Then, the operating time of a small electric pump to collect an amount of water which is proportional to the discharge is calculated to intake the water into a storage tank. The stored water is taken out a few days later in a case of storm event or several weeks later in a case of non-rainfall event and the concentrations of water quality such as total nitrogen and phosphorous are analyzed in a laboratory. Finally, total load of the water quality can be calculated by multiplying the concentration by the total volume of discharge. The system was installed in a small experimental forestry watershed to check the performance and know the total load of water quality from the forest. It was found that the system to collect a proportional amount of water to actual discharge operated perfectly and a total load of water quality was analyzed accurately. As the result, it was expected that the system will be very available to know the total load from a non-point source area.