• Anxiety and mood
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.101-107
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• 2006

Object : Since autonomic nerve system dysfunction was known as the mechanism of panic disorder, many researchers used heart rate variability (HRV) as means of measuring autonomic nerve function of patients with panic disorder. We aimed to examine the effect of paroxetine medication for 3 months on symptom improvement and change of heart rate variability of the patients with panic disorder. Methods : The subjects were patients with panic disorder who visited the psychiatric outpatient clinic of Samsung Medical Center in Seoul. We included panic disorder patients who were aged from 20 to 50 and in normal BMI range (from 18 to 30) to minimize the effect of age and weight on HRV data. We excluded the patients with EKG abnormalities, hypertension or other major psychiatric disorders. They took 20-40 mg paroxetine medication a day for 3 months. Alprazolam was used only during the first month to control the acute panic symptoms and was tapered off after that. We measured the acute panic inventory (API), Hamilton rating scale for anxiety and depression (HAM-A & HAM-D), Spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory (STAIS, STAIT), and Beck depression inventory (BDI) in order to assess clinical improvement of the patients. And we measured time and frequency domain HRV in the resting, standing and cognitive stress states to assess the change of HRV. All measurements were done before and after paroxetine treatment. Result : After paroxetine medication, patients showed significant improvement in all psychiatric scales. In time domain of HRV, standard deviations of all R-R intervals (SDNN) were significantly increased in all states. In frequency domain of HRV, the ratio of high frequency to total power (HF/TP) in the standing state was significantly increased. Conclusion : After 3 months paroxetine medication, panic disorder patients showed significant clinical improvement and change in HRV data such as SDNN in all states and HF/TP ratio in the standing state. This result suggests that paroxetine medication is effective for the improvement of autonomic nerve system dysfunction in panic disorder patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.941-944
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• 2012

Objective: The aim of current study was to evaluate the changes of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and its clinical, demographic and socioeconomic determinants during chemotherapy and 4 months follow-up in women with breast cancer using a repeated measures framework. Methods and Materials: A double blind cohort study was performed in 100 breast cancer patients given fluorouracil, doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (FAC) or docetaxel, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide (TAC) in south of Iran. HRQoL was assessed at baseline, end of chemotherapy and four months thereafter using the QLQ-C30 questionnaire from European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). Generalized estimating equations (GEE) was applied for statistical analysis. Results: The mean of age at baseline was $48.5{\pm}10.6$. 70% and 14% of patients were married and smokers, respectively, and 20% suffered from another disease besides breast cancer. The results of GEE showed that after control for baseline scores, the HRQoL significantly improved over time. Although, the patients in FAC group had higher scores than the TAC group, the differences also diminished over time. Smoking, marital status and having child affected some scales of HRQoL. None of other variables were significantly related to HRQoL. Conclusion: Although patients in TAC groups had lower level of HRQoL over 8 months follow up, they experienced faster improvement than the FAC group. This implies that in long-term, improvements in TAC group are higher than FAC. Having children was positively correlated with HRQoL. Generally, there were no demographic and socio-economic differences in HRQoL in these patients between the chemotherapeutic regimens.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.11-29
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• 2009

Variability of sea surface temperature (SST) in the Japan/East Sea (JES) was studied using complex empirical orthogonal function (CEOF) analysis. Two daily data sets were analyzed: (1) New Generation 0.05o-gridded SST from Tohoku University, Japan (July 2002-July 2006), and (2) 0.25o-gridded SST from the Japan Meteorological Agency (October 1993-November 2006). Linkages with wind stress curl were revealed using 6-h 1o-gridded surface zonal and meridional winds from ancillary data of the Sea- WiFS Project, a special National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) product (1998-2005). SST anomalies (SSTA) were obtained by removing the seasonal signal, estimated as the leading mode of the CEOF decomposition of the original SST. Leading CEOF modes of residual SSTA obtained from both data sets were consistent with each other and were characterized by annual, semiannual, and quasi-biennial time scales estimated with 95% statistical significance. The Semiannual Mode lagged 2 months behind the increased occurrence of the anticyclonic (AC) wind stress curl over the JES. Links to dynamic processes were investigated by numerical simulations using an oceanic model. The suggested dynamic forcings of SSTA are the inflow of subtropical water into the JES through the Korea Strait, divergence in the surface layer induced by Ekman suction, meridional shifts of the Subarctic Front in the western JES, AC eddy formation, and wind-driven strengthening/weakening of large-scale currents. Events of west-east SSTA movement were identified in July-September. The SSTA moved from the northeastern JES towards the continental coast along the path of the westward branch of the Tsushima Current at a speed consistent with the advective scale.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.210-216
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• 2011

Subsyndromal depression (SSD) is found to be more prevalent than major depressive disorder (MDD) and minor depressive disorder (MnDD). SSD is also associated with adverse clinical outcomes, increased risk of suicide, increased social dysfunction and disability, increased risk for future mood disorders, and increased uses of medical and mental health services. DSM-IV diagnostic criteria are not suitable for capturing SSD. Although there is no agreement on gold standard to define SSD so far, three definitions of SSD are available. First, SSD is defined as having two or more current depressive symptoms without core depressive symptoms (depressive mood or loss of interest) and with time threshold (most of the day and nearly every day over at least two weeks). Second, SSD is defined as having two or more current depressive symptoms with core depressive symptoms and without time threshold. Third, SSD is defined by using cutoff points of depression rating scales. SSD may represent a prodromal, residual, or interepisode symptomatic state in the course of MDD and MnDD. More than a half of SSD patients became any type of depressive disorders (SSD, MnDD and MDD) at 1 year. SSD may represent a discrete category of its own, without prior or consequent episodes of MDD. Considering clinical significance of SSD such as its high prevalence, significant psychosocial impairment and chronicity and serious outcomes, researchers and clinicians should be more vigilant in capturing and caring for patients with SSD.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.839-847
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• 2012

Numerical simulations for channel flows with $Re_{\tau}$ = 180, 395 and 590 have been performed to investigate the hairpin packet formation process in wall-bounded turbulent flows. Using direct numerical simulation databases, the initial flow fields are given by the conditionally averaged flow field with the second quadrant event specified at the buffer layer. By tracking the initial vortex development, the change in the initial vortex to an ${\Omega}$-shaped vortex and th generation of a secondary hairpin vortex were found to occur with time scales based on the wall units. In addition, at the time when the initial vortex has grown to the channel center, the inclination angle of the hairpin vortex packet is approximately $12{\sim}14^{\circ}$, which is similar for all three Reynolds numbers. Finally, numerical simulations of the evolution of two adjacent hairpin vortices have been performed to examine the interaction between the adjacent vortex packets.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.685-694
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• 2016

This paper presents a reliability assessment model for the power semiconductors used in wind turbine power converters. In this study, the thermal loadings at different timescales of wind speed are considered. First, in order to address the influence of long-term thermal cycling caused by variations in wind speed, the power converter operation state is partitioned into different phases in terms of average wind speed and wind turbulence. Therefore, the contributions can be considered separately. Then, in regards to the reliability assessment caused by short-term thermal cycling, the wind profile is converted to a wind speed distribution, and the contribution of different wind speeds to the final failure rate is accumulated. Finally, the reliability of an actual power converter semiconductor for a 2.5 MW wind turbine is assessed, and the failure rates induced by different timescale thermal behavior patterns are compared. The effects of various parameters such as cut-in, rated, cut-out wind speed on the failure rate of power devices are also analyzed based on the proposed model.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2014

Objective : Social Phobia is associated with extensive disability and reduced quality of life. The concept of 'social self' is a representation of the self-reflected in the eyes of others, and is recruited during self-face recognition, which is closely related to self-esteem. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship of face recognition for self and others using measures of social anxiety and self-esteem in patients with social phobia. Methods : Twenty-seven patients with social phobia and twenty-three normal controls were evaluated with scales of self-esteem, depression, anxiety and other psychiatric symptoms. All participants completed the self-face recognition task. Nine self-faces, nine other faces and eighty-one morphed faces were presented randomly for each trial. The participants were instructed to make a decision as to whether the stimuli were self-face or not. The responses and reaction times were recorded during the task. Results : There were no group differences of the morphing composition at the recognition start point as self-face. In patients with social phobia, the mean reaction time at the start point of recognizing as a self-face was 1,037.6 ms, which was significantly longer than that of normal controls (911.3 ms, p<0.05). Patients with social phobia showed a significant negative correlation between the mean reaction time and the severity of depression when the stimuli were recognized as a self-face (r=-0.421, p<0.05). Conclusion : A difficulty in attention rather than avoidance may be an important factor of face recognition in patients with social phobia. When considering self-face recognition in such patients, many factors, such as anxiety, depression, working memory and theory of mind, need to be considered.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.655-669
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• 2018

In this study, we developed a hybrid forecasting model based on a four-parameter distribution which allows a simultaneous season-ahead forecasting for both seasonal rainfall and sub-daily rainfall in Han-River and Geum-River basins. The proposed model is mainly utilized a set of time-varying predictors and the associated model parameters were estimated within a Bayesian nonstationary rainfall frequency framework. The hybrid forecasting model was validated through an cross-validatory experiment using the recent rainfall events during 2014~2017 in both basins. The seasonal precipitation results showed a good agreement with the observations, which is about 86.3% and 98.9% in Han-River basin and Geum-River basin, respectively. Similarly, for the extreme rainfalls at sub-daily scale, the results showed a good correspondence between the observed and simulated rainfalls with a range of 65.9~99.7%. Therefore, it can be concluded that the proposed model could be used to better consider climate variability at multiple time scales.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.693-702
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate the effects of a support group intervention on the burden of primary family caregivers of stroke patients. Method: A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. The subjects were 36 primary family caregivers of stroke patients [experimental(N=18) and control(N=18) groups] in a neurosurgery ward of a university hospital. The experimental group members participated in six sessions of a support group intervention for two weeks and the degree of their caregiving burden was evaluated. Data was analyzed by Chi-square tests, t-tests, and paired t-tests using SPSS 10.0. Result: The experimental group had a significantly lower total burden score (t=2.06l, p= .047)and sub-scales of emotional(t=-3.319, p= .002), time-dependent(t=-2.045, p= .049) and developmental(t=-2.656, p= .012) burden scores than the control group, while no significant differences were found in physical, social or financial burden scores between the two groups. Within the experimental group, there was a significant decrease in physical(t=2.507, p= .023), emotional(t=4.754, p= .000), social(t=2.932, p= .009), time- dependent(t=5.015, p= .000) and developmental(t=7.541, p= .000) burden scores but not the financial burden score. Conclusion: The results suggest that a support group intervention can be utilized as an effective nursing program to reduce the burden of primary family caregivers of stroke patients.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.1149-1153
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• 2014

Real-time monitoring of hourly atmospheric radon (Rn-222) concentration was performed throughout 2011 at Gosan station, Jeju Island, one of the least polluted regions in Korea, in order to characterize the background levels, and temporal variations on diurnal to seasonal time-scales. The annual mean radon concentration for 2011 was $2527{\pm}1356$ mBq $m^{-3}$, and the seasonal cycle was characterized by a broad winter maximum, and narrow summer minimum. Mean monthly radon concentrations, in descending order of magnitude, were Oct > Sep > Feb > Nov > Jan > Dec > Mar > Aug > Apr > Jun > May > Jul. The maximum monthly mean value (3595 mBq $m^{-3}$, October), exceeded the minimum value (1243 mBq $m^{-3}$, July), by almost a factor of three. Diurnal composite hourly concentrations increased throughout the night to reach their maximum (2956 mBq $m^{-3}$) at around 7 a.m., after which they decreased to their minimum value (2259 mBq $m^{-3}$) at around 3 p.m. Back trajectory analyses indicated that the highest radon events typically exhibited long-term continental fetch over Asia before arriving at Jeju. In contrast, low radon events were generally correlated with air mass fetch over the North Pacific Ocean. Radon concentrations typical of predominantly continental, and predominantly oceanic fetch, differed by a factor of 3.8.