• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.185-193
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• 2017

Malnutrition is common and the major risk factor of mortality of end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. The aim of this study is to assess nutritional status of malnutrition patients on dialysis by various methods and compare nutritional parameters of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients with hemodialysis patients. 137 patients on dialysis from April 2009 to July 2013 were enrolled. Nutritional parameters of 66 CAPD and 71 hemodialysis patients were investigated by anthropometry, biochemical study, diet analysis and questionnaires. Malnutrition patients were selected by body mass index (BMI), serum albumin and pre-albumin based on International Society of Renal Nutrition and Metabolism (ISRNM) diagnostic criteria for protein-energy wasting and compared with non-malnutrition patients. In comparison of CAPD and hemodialysis patients, most anthropometric values showed no significant difference except total body water (TBW). TBW was lower in CAPD patients (P=0.024). Although serum albumin was slightly higher in hemodialysis patients (P=0.047), pre-albumin were significantly higher in CAPD patients (P=0.000). Serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN) was higher in hemodialysis patients (P=0.000). In diet analysis, Total calorie (P=0.000) and total cholesterol (P=0.012) intakes were higher in CAPD patients. Mean subjective global assessment (SGA) grade was higher in CAPD patients (P=0.003). Several nutritional parameters of CAPD patients were better than hemodialysis patients implying more intensive therapeutic approach may be needed for hemodialysis patients. We have to understand multiple factors contributing malnutrition of ESRD patients and individualized therapeutic approach is needed.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.213-223
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• 2023

Purpose: Pediatric patients in low-income countries are at a high risk of malnutrition. Numerous screening tools have been developed to detect the risk of malnutrition, including the Subjective Global Nutritional Assessment (SGNA), Pediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score (PYMS), Screening Tool for the Assessment of Malnutrition in Pediatrics (STAMP), and Screening Tool for Risk of Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONGkids). However, anthropometry remains the main tool for assessing malnutrition. We aimed to identify the value of four nutritional screening tools versus anthropometry for evaluating the nutritional status of children. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,000 children aged 1-12 years who visited the outpatient clinic of Cairo University Pediatric Hospital. Each participant was evaluated using anthropometric measurements (weight, length/height, and weight for length/height) as well as the PYMS, STAMP, STRONGkids, and SGNA screening tools. The sensitivities and specificities of these four tools were assessed using anthropometry as the gold standard. Results: Of the patients, 1.7% were underweight, 10.2% were wasted, and 35% were stunted. STRONGkids demonstrated the highest sensitivity (79.4%) and a high specificity (80.2%) for detecting malnutrition compared with weight for height, followed by STAMP, which demonstrated lower sensitivity (73.5%) but higher specificity (81.4%). PYMS demonstrated the lowest sensitivity (66.7%) and the highest specificity (93.5%), whereas SAGA demonstrated higher sensitivity (77.5%) and lower specificity (85.4%) than PYMS. Conclusion: The use of nutritional screening tools to evaluate the nutritional status of children is valuable and recommended as a simple and rapid method for identifying the risk of malnutrition in pediatric patients.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.45-53
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• 2013

Objectives Non-major depression with fewer symptoms than required for a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-4th edition diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) has consistently been found to be associated with functional impairment. In this study, we aim to estimate the cognitive impairment and the quality of life in elderly patients with subsyndromal depression (SSD) compared with non-depressive elderly (NDE). Methods The Korean version of Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview was administered to 194 outpatients with depression and 108 normal controls. SSD is defined as having five or more current depressive symptoms with core depressive symptoms (depressive mood or loss of interest or pleasure) during more than half a day and more than seven days over two weeks. Depression was evaluated by the Korean form of Geriatric Depression Scale of a 15-item short version. Global cognition was assessed by Mini-Mental State Examination in the Korean version of CERAD assessment packet (MMSE-KC). Subjective cognitive impairment was assessed by the Subjective Memory Complaint Questionnaire. Quality of life was evaluated by the Korean Version of Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey. Results The mean score of the MMSE-KC in the SSD group was lower than that in the NDE group with adjustment for age, gender, and education [F = 4.270, p = 0.04, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA)]. If we defined those having Z-score of MMSE-KC < -1.5 as a high risk group of cognitive impairment, the odds ratio for the high risk group of cognitive impairment was 1.86 [95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.04-3.34] in SSD and 7.57 (95% CI 3.50-16.40) in MDD compared to NDE. The scores of physical component summary (F = 9.274, p = 0.003, ANCOVA) and mental component summary (F = 53.166, p < 0.001, ANCOVA) in the SSD group were lower than those in the NDE group with adjustment for age, gender, and education. Conclusions The subjects with SSD, as well as those with MDD, showed impairment of global cognition and also experienced low quality of life in both physical and mental aspects, compared to the NDE group.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.196-202
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• 1999

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of vitamin B complex on stress-induced immune alteration. 21 medical students participated in the study 4 weeks before an academic examination period(baseline), 2 weeks before the exam period and during the exam period. Among them, 10 subjects were given vitamin B complex for 4 weeks, and 11 were not given vitamin B during the whole period. Cell-mediated immune function was measured by lymphocyte proliferative response to phytohemagglutinin(PHA) and interleukin-2(IL-2) production. Global assessment of recent stress(GARS) scale and symptom checklist-90-revised(SCL-90-R) were used to measure the level of subjective stress and psychopathology. Vitamin group had significantly lower scores of anxiety scale on SCL-90-R than non-vitamin group. No significant differences were found in lymphocyte proliferative response to PHA and IL-2 production between vitamin and non-vitamin groups during each period. There were no significant differences in change of of each of the two immune parameters over time as well as between vitamin and non-vitamin groups. However, lymphocyte proliferative response to PHA was significantly increased over time. In conclusion, it was suggested that vitamin B complex is likely to decrease anxiety level, and that exam stress might enhance lymphocyte proliferation regardless of vitamin B.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.166-175
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• 2017

Objectives: Shiftwork is known to be one of the common causes of sleep and health problems and finally causes the decreased quality of life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the sleep patterns of shift-working and daytime psychiatric nurses using actigraphy and compare it with subjective assessment for sleep. Methods : Twenty-three shift-working and 25 daytime nurses were enrolled. They rated their sleep quality using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI) and other self-rating scales were measured for psychosocial aspects. Actigraphy was applied to the subjects for a total of 7 days to measure the sleep parameters. They also wrote sleep diaries during the period of wearing actigraphy. Sleep-related parameters of actigraphy, global score and components of PSQI, and the results of other self-rating scales were compared between shift-working and daytime nurses. Results : Although the global score of PSQI did not show significant difference, the PSQI components showed significant differences between two groups: the shift-working nurses showed lower sleep quality, more sleep disturbance and hypnotic medication use, and worsened daytime dysfunction than daytime nurses. The shift-working nurses showed significantly shorter total time in bed and total sleep time, lower sleep efficiency, and longer average awakening time than those of daytime nurses in actigraphy. Conclusions : The results showed that shift-working nurses experienced more sleep disturbances in both subjective and objective aspects of sleep than daytime nurses. This study also suggests that actigraphy may be useful to measure the objective aspects of sleep that are difficult to assess with subjective questionnaires alone.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7749-7755
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• 2013

Nutritional status and dietary intake play a significant role in the prognosis of breast cancer and may modify the progression of disease. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of nutritional status on the quality of life of Iranian breast cancer survivors. Cross-sectional data were collected for 100 Iranian breast cancer survivors, aged 32 to 61 years, attending the oncology outpatient clinic at Golestan Hospital, Ahvaz, Iran. Nutritional status of subjects was assessed by anthropometric measurements, Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and three non-consecutive 24-hour diet recalls. The European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life form (EORTC QLQ-C30) was used to assess quality of life. Ninety-four percent of the survivors were well-nourished, 6% were moderately malnourished or suspected of being malnourished while none were severely malnourished. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was 86%. Overall, participants had an inadequate intake of vitamin D, E, iron and magnesium according to dietary reference intake (DRI) recommendations. Survivors with better nutritional status had better functioning scales and experienced fewer clinical symptoms. It appears important to provide educational and nutritional screening programs to improve cancer survivor quality of life.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.390-398
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• 2013

Objective : We determined whether the relationship between the neuropsychological performance of patients with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their psychopathological characteristics measured by disability evaluation are interrelated. In addition, we assessed which psychopathological variable was most influential on neuropsychological performance via statistical clustering of the same characteristics of mild TBI. Methods : A total of 219 disability evaluation participants with mild brain injury were selected. All participants were classified into three groups, based on their psychopathological characteristics, via a two-step cluster analysis using validity and clinical scales from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and Symptom Checklist-90-revised (SCL-90-R). The Korean Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (K-WAIS), Korean Memory Assessment Scale (K-MAS) and the Korean Boston Naming Test (K-BNT) were used to evaluate the neurocognitive functions of mild TBI patients. Results : Over a quarter (26.9%) experienced severe psychopathological symptoms and 43.4% experienced mild or moderate psychopathological symptoms, and all of the mild TBI patients showed a significant relationship between neurocognitive functions and subjective and/or objective psychopathic symptoms, but the degree of this relationship was moderate. Variances of neurocognitive function were explained by neurotic and psychotic symptoms, but the role of these factors were different to each other and participants did not show intelligence and other cognitive domain decrement except for global memory abilities compared to the non-psychopathology group. Conclusion : Certain patients with mild TBI showed psychopathological symptoms, but these were not directly related to cognitive decrement. Psychopathology and cognitive decrement are discrete aspects in patients with mild TBI. Furthermore, the neurotic symptoms of mild TBI patients made positive complements to decrements or impairments of neurocognitive functions, but the psychotic symptoms had a negative effect on neurocognitive functions.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.163-175
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• 2008

Purpose: This study aimed to define the relationship among self-care, symptom experiences, and health-related quality of life(HRQoL) according to the severity of disease in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) patients. Methods: The participants, 195 COPD patients, were recruited at a pulmonology clinic of a universityaffiliated medical center in B metropolitan city. Inclusion criteria were patients who were diagnosed as COPD and had less than 0.7 of $FEV_1$/FVC(Forced Expiratory Volume for 1 second/Forced Vital Capacity) ratio. The severity was classified with GOLD(Global initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease) stages, $FEV_1%$ predicted value from mild to very severe. The data were gathered by the medical records and self-reported questionnaires. Results: The self-care, symptom experience, and HRQoL were all significantly different by COPD severity based on pulmonary function(p<.05). There were significant moderate negative relationships between symptom experiences and self-care(r=-.54, p<.001) and between symptom experiences and HRQoL(r=-.64, p<.001). There was a moderate positive correlation between self-care and HRQoL(r=.63, p<.001). Conclusion: It suggests that the assessment of disease severity based on pulmonary function and subjective symptom experience in patients with COPD may be a key component to develop a tailored self-management program and to improve their quality of life.

• Journal of vocational education research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.23-40
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• 2010

Career guidance refers to services intended to assist students to make educational and occupational choices and to manage their careers. Young students, specially enrolled in vocational high schools, need programs to help them make transitions to the working world and to re-engage with further learning, and career guidance needs to be part of such programs. Teachers assume the critical roles in planning and organizing the career guidance programs in vocational high schools. The program includes career information provision, assessment and self-assessment tools, career counseling, work search, etc. In this study, we developed a research model based upon TRA(theory of reasoned action) developed by Ajzen and Fishbein to investigate the factors influencing the intention to provide career guidance services to students in vocational high schools. Based on 155 survey responses from vocational high school teachers, we show that attitude and subjective norm motivate teachers to provide career guidance services, and that attitude toward career guidance is directly influenced by self-efficacy for career guidance and burden from extra work. It was also confirmed that facilitating condition is the antecedent of self-efficacy. But contrary to our expectation, self-efficacy for career guidance has no significant effect on the intention for providing career guidance services at 5% significance level. In light of these findings, implications for theory and practice are discussed.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.65-73
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• 2004

Objective : This study was to review on the prostate disease-related studies with Acupuncture therapy in renowned medical internet site of PubMed, and to make master plan of the study, especially, on Bee Venom Acupuncture(BVA) of Prostate disease and then to devise the idealistic therapeutic ways of it. Method : We made the internet search with the key words of bee venom(bee venom therapy, apitoxin, apitherapy, bee sting, bee sting therapy), acupuncture, prostate, prostatitis, prostrate cancer in Pubmed, from June 1st to July 1st,2004. Results : 1.25 papers were found in 19 publised jounals. of which two named'Urology'and Prostate' had three papars, two called 'JUrology' and 'Cancer Immunol Immunother' had two papers, and the others had a paper respectively. 2. In the classification by papers' types, Review papers were 8 and Original were 17 where there were 5 clinical trials, 11 experimental studies and 1 epidemiologic paper. Of 5 clinical trials, 2 belonged to Randomized Control Study, and of 11 experimental studies, 4 belonged to in vitro and 7 belonged to in vivo with in viro studies, and 1 epidemeologic belonged to meta-analysis. 3. In the classification by prostate diseases, 4 were about prostatitis, 3 were about prostate related symptoms, 16 were about prostate cancer, and two were about the others. 4. In the classification by applied treatment methods, 5 were related with Acupuncture, 10 were related with BVA(Bee Venom, Bee), and 10 were related with the others. Of 5 related with Acupuncture, 3 used general acupuncture, 1 used electrical acupuncture, and 1 used general acupuncture and electrical acupuncture at the same time. 5. In 2 RCTs of Clinical trials, Control group was set up to the group using different compatible treatment method or using meridians not related with treating prostate disease. Single or double blind methods couldn't be found. 6. In the clinical trials, IPSS, NIH, CPSI or subjective global assessment were used as the Index of Evaluation. 7. The Leg Greater Yang Bladder Meridian(B), The Leg Lesser Um Kidney Meridian(K) and Conception Vessel Meridian(CV) were used as major meridians, and B10(Taejo, Dazhu), B23(Shinsu, Shenshu), B28(Panggwangsu, Pangguangshu), B35(Hoeyang, Huiyang), B39(Wiyang, Weiyang), B40(Wijung, Weizhong), B54(chilbyon, Zhibian), K1(Yongchon, Yongquan), K10(Umgok, Yingu), CV3(Chungguk, Zhongji), CV4(Kwanwon, Guanyuan),S6(Hyopko, Jiache) were used as acupoints. Electrical acupuncture(EA) was considered to be more important and CV3(Chungguk, Zhongji), CV4(Kwanwon, Guanyuan) were mainly selected as EA applied acupoints. 8. It is mostly said that Acupuncture appeared to be a safe, effective, and durable treatment alternative in improving symptoms of patients with prostate diseases, refractory to conventional medicine. A larger controlled study was required to confirm these encouraging initial results. Conclusion : Papers about BVA of Prostate cancer or Prostatitis were not found, and low permeability of Prostate is concerned, BVA with the anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effect can be adopted as a new alternatives of Prostate disease treatment, so it is thought that Study of how to make access to prostate, animal experiment including in vivo and in vitro and more clinical trials with using acupoints on related meridian should be followed.