• Title/Summary/Keyword: benefit groups

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Pharmacological Therapies of Obesity: A Review of Current Treatment Options

  • Bacher, H.Peter;Shepherd, Gillian M.;Legler, Udo F.
    • Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.348-352
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    • 2009
  • Over the last decade, the incidence of overweight and obesity has nearly doubled in many countries and is considered a pandemic. Obesity was identified as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease as the same level as smoking and diabetes. Visceral fat is considered one of the key contributors to outcome and certain ethnic groups such as Asians seem to be more affected than others. Weight reduction through lifestyle changes was found to be impactful to improve overall health, but weight loss and maintenance thereof is limited and difficult to sustain. Surgical intervention demonstrated a greater weight loss in the severely obese and was associated with improved all-cause mortality. Despite numerous pharmacological targets and a high medical need, only few drugs have been successfully developed. Earlier studies with amphetamine-derived compounds showed significant weight loss but their critical safety profiles led to market withdrawals and disappointment. More recent compounds; orlistat - a lipase inhibitor, rimonabant - a cannaboid-1-receptor antagonist, and sibutramine - a combined serotonin/norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor, all demonstrated similar significant efficacy; however, they carry specific safety profiles making them unsuitable for every patient. The main limitation of pharmacotherapy is the absence of clear benefit-risk assessments through outcome studies. Such a study - the SCOUT trial - was designed to compare sibutramine versus placebo and the effect on morbidity and mortality in nearly 10,000 obese patients with additional risk factors. Such studies could provide new scientific evidence for obesity treatment and may support future pharmacological approaches.

A study on Regional Disparity of Youth Cultural Welfare (청소년문화복지 지역격차연구 - 충청지역을 중심으로 -)

  • Kim Minjung;Song Jumi
    • Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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    • v.42 no.11
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    • pp.61-84
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    • 2004
  • The purpose of this study is to present foundational data to promote the cultural welfare status of youth. The actual condition of the youth's cultural welfare was investigated by investigating the degree of youth's cultural welfare satisfaction and needs by regional groups. A total of 1486 questionnaires were used for the final data analysis. The analysis revealed the following results. 1. Actual conditions of adolescents cultural welfare. 1) Among various cultural activities, adolescents find leisure and social activity, artistic, mass media and video-media activities very boring and one-sided, Instead, they have greater interest in computer- and Internet-related activities, such as getting and sharing information and communication. 2) While adolescents living in urban areas benefit from well developed social infra-structure, those living in rural areas seldom take advantage of it. 3) The obstacles against cultural welfare of the youth can be categorized as: 'lack of money,' 'lack of time,' and 'lack of cultural facilities. ' In urban areas 'lack of time' becomes an issue, whereas in rural areas 'lack of money' and 'lack of cultual facilities' are important. 2. Degree of cultural welfare satisfaction of the youths. Youths generally appear either 'unsatisfied' or 'neutral' concerning their satisfaction degree about leisure and social activity parts, and art and play-activity paris. On the other hand, they appear 'neutral' concerning their satisfaction degree about computer- and Internet-related information and communication parts, and mass- and video-media activity parts. In addition, urban youths show a higher degree of satisfaction than rural youths. 3. What the youths need To improve their culture welfare status, they need a lot of supplements for cultural activity in the form of cultural infra-structure. Regarding the cultural infra-structure, rural youths need more than urban youths.

Clinical and Economic Benefit Evaluation of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Service on Vancomycin (반코마이신의 임상약동학 모니터링 서비스에 대한 임상적 및 경제적 손익의 평가)

  • Bae, S. M.;Ann, H. L.;Hong, K. J.;La, H. O.;Cho, H. K.
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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    • v.11 no.1
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    • pp.1-6
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    • 2001
  • This research is conducted to evaluate the clinical and economic benefits from therapeutic drug monitoring(TDM) service on vancomycin in a tertiary general hospital. Total 99 pairs of steady state peak and trough concentrations of vancomycin were obtained from 73 patients. To see the clinical benefits, the appropriateness of vancomycin dosing before TDM was evaluated. In 72 pairs of vancomycin blood concentrations obtained prior to TDM consultation, $47.2\%$ of the cases had reached within therapeutic range. Serum vancomycin levels in patients with $40{\leq}CLcr<60$ (ml/min) were higher and than the levels in patients with 40>CLcr and $60{\leq}CLcr$ (ml/min). Dose reduction rate in patients with creatinine clearance $40{\leq}CLcr<60$ (ml/min) were also significantly higher than those of compared groups ($61.5\%$, p=0.0138). Serum vancomycin concentrations were re-obtained from 21 patients who received modified dose through TDM service. Ninety percent (19/21cases) of them were within the target therapeutic range. For the evaluation of economic benefits from TDM consultation, estimated cost savings were calculated in those patients. The total drug saving were 586 vials in 21 patients. The calculated mean cost saving from the drugs was 314,570 won (range: $11,273\sim473,466)$ per patient. The study revealed that TDM service for vancomycin is necessary because empirical dosing is not effective for obtaining therapeutic drug level, especially patients with mild renal insufficiencies. The cost saving from TDM is also beneficial for the patients.

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Content Categories of Special Selling Events and Unplanned Purchase Stimulations in Internet Shopping Malls (인터넷 쇼핑몰 기획전의 내용 유형과 소비자 비계획 구매 자극)

  • Kim, Sae-Hee
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.37-50
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    • 2011
  • This study analyzed the content of special selling events in internet shopping malls to establish academic standards for special selling events as tools for sales promotions and to suggest systematic guidelines for marketers designing special selling events. Based on a content analysis, the titles of special selling events from four internet shopping malls selling women's apparel were analyzed. A total of 692 titles were analyzed. The results are as follow. First, the contents categories of special selling events could be classified into two groups such as 'theme' and 'tool'. Season, product characteristics, style, advice/information, brand, annual/social events, and marketing events were the main content categories that came under the 'theme' group; in addition, the price benefit, free offers, product mix, and marketing technique were the main content categories that came under the 'tool' group. Each main content category was subdivided into several segment content categories. Second, most of the titles were composed of more than two segment content categories that involved various information and benefits; however, the portion of titles composed of only theme related content categories or only tool related content categories was substantial. Furthermore, the theme related content categories were more than the tool related content categories. Third, the usage frequencies of the contents categories were analyzed. The upcoming season, single brand, sale/discount, item/material/color, special price/lowest price, and period/time/quantity limits were the segment content categories that held a high rank. Forth, most of the factors that evoked the unplanned purchases of consumers were related to the content categories of special sale events.

Comparison of nutrient intake, life style variables, and pregnancy outcomes by the depression degree of pregnant women

  • Bae, Hyun-Sook;Kim, Sun-Young;Ahn, Hong-Seok;Cho, Yeon-Kyung
    • Nutrition Research and Practice
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    • v.4 no.4
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    • pp.323-331
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    • 2010
  • The aim of this study was to analyse effects that the degree of depression have on the life style variables, nutrient intake, iron indices and pregnancy outcome. Subjects were 114 pregnant women who were receiving prenatal care at a hospital in Seoul. We collected data for general characteristics and lifestyle variables from general survey instrument and for depression score from the questionnaire on depression. Dietary intakes of subjects were estimated by 24 hour dietary recall method. Also we analysed iron indices and pregnancy outcomes. We classified subjects by 10 point, which was the average depression score, into two groups [Low depression score group (LS) : High depression score group (HS)]. As to the intakes of total calcium, plant-calcium, plant-iron, potassium, total folate and dietary folate, LS group was far higher than HS group (P < 0.05, P < 0.05, P < 0.01, P < 0.001, P < 0.05, and P < 0.01, respectively). As to pre-pregnancy alcohol drinking, LS group had 41.9% in non-drinker, which was far higher than 28% in HS group in non-drinker (P < 0.05). As for drinking coffee during pre-pregnancy, pregnant women who don’ drink coffee in LS group took 43.6%, which was higher than 38% in HS group (P < 0.01). Regarding delivery type, the cesarean section in LS group (18%) was significantly lower than that in HS group (45%) (P < 0.01). Bivariate analysis showed that birth weight was significantly associated with the gestational age (P < 0.01). The pregnant women with higher depression score tended to have undesirable life habit, which might affect negative pregnancy outcomes. A better understanding of how depression and intake of nutrients work together to modulate behavior will be benefit nutritional research.

An Empirical Study on Online Game Players' Characteristics in Japan : Hardcore versus Casual Gamers (일본 온라인 게임시장에의 성공적 진출을 위한 기반 연구 - 게이머 유형별 특성 차이를 중심으로 -)

  • Um, Myoung-Yong;Kim, Tae-Ung;Kim, Young-Ki
    • THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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    • v.26
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    • pp.285-313
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    • 2005
  • Online game business has emerged as the most lucrative entertainment industry, with over 10 million players in South Korea and over 30 million in Japan in 2005. The popularity of online games can be attributed to the availability of broadband network, pushing online games into the mainstream entertainment culture. The age distribution of online game players is expanding and a variety of new games are under development to target certain age groups. While the interactive entertainment market continues to expand, with many new online game publishers entering Japan, relatively little is known about which factors influence online game players' behavioral intentions to play continuously in this area. It appears that in this extremely attractive and growing services segment, academics, as well as practitioners, would benefit from investigating the difference, among the types of players, in demographic and social trends, perceptions related to game-design factors, and attitude toward the games. Based on data collected from online questionnaire survey, the differences between hardcore and casual players have been analyzed, and interesting conclusions have been provided concerning the online-game design and development strategies for Japan online-game players.

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Current Guidelines on the Management of Dyslipidemia (이상지질혈증의 국내 및 국외 치료 가이드라인 비교)

  • Choi, Yunjeong;Lee, Song;Kim, Ju Young;Lee, Kyung Eun
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.276-283
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    • 2017
  • Objective: Dyslipidemia is recognized as a prominent risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases but it is manageable through therapeutic and lifestyle intervention. Interpreting the latest guidelines is essential for an application of recommendation from guidelines into clinical practice. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the most recent guidelines on dyslipidemia treatment recommendations in Korea and USA. Methods: This study analyzed and compared 2015 Korean guidelines for the management of dyslipidemia, 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guideline and 2016 supportive guidelines from ACC. Results: A comparison was made focused on the following: target patients based on cardiovascular risk assessment, target goal, and treatment strategies including statin and non-statin therapies. Four target patient groups by risk were suggested in 2015 Korean guideline and cardiovascular risk factors were also considered for initiation of lipid lowering therapy. Titrated statin regimen was recommended by Korean guideline to reach LDL cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol target level. In 2013 ACC/AHA guideline, four statin benefit group was introduced considering ASCVD risk and high intensity statin or intermediate intensity statin use were recommended without dose titration. 2016 update was to support non-statin therapy based on updated evidence and new consideration of ezetimibe, PCSK9-inhibitor and bile acid sequestrant was brought up. Conclusion: Guidelines are continuously updating as new and important clinical data are constantly released along with the advent of newly approved drugs for lipid disorder. This article provides resources that facilitates uptake of these recommendations into clinical practice.

Effect of Dance/Movement Therapy on Mental Health in In-patient with Schizophrenia (무용/동작치료가 입원중인 정신분열증 환자의 정신건강 변화에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Hong-Ja;Kim, In-Suk;Kim, Do-Hyung
    • The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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    • v.11 no.4
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    • pp.458-467
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    • 2011
  • The purpose of this study was examine the effects of dance / movement therapy on anger and anger expression, depression and anxiety, and positive as well as negative symptoms in in-patient with schizophrenia. Among inpatients with schizophrenia in J Dajeon psychiatric hospital, 38 patients were allocated to either dance and movement therapy (DMT) group (n=18), which included 24 sessions of DMT and medical treatment over 12 weeks, or a control group (n=20), which included only medical treatment. State anger and anger control of DMT group were improved after 12 weeks, and there was a significant difference in anger control after 12 weeks between two groups. Depression of DMT group was improved, and there was significant difference in depression after 12 weeks between DMT and control group. There was a significant difference in negative symptoms after 12 weeks between DMT and control group. These finding demonstrates that DMT has benefit on the reduction of state anger by increasing anger control and depression as well as may improve negative symptoms in in-patient with schizophrenia.

A Synbiotic Infant Formula with High Magnesium Content Improves Constipation and Quality of Life

  • Xinias, Ioannis;Analitis, Antonis;Mavroudi, Antigoni;Roilides, Ioannis;Lykogeorgou, Maria;Delivoria, Varvara;Milingos, Vasilis;Mylonopoulou, Mayra;Vandenplas, Yvan
    • Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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    • v.21 no.1
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    • pp.28-33
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    • 2018
  • Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of synbiotic formula with partial whey hydrolysate and high magnesium content in infants presenting with functional constipation. Methods: Sixty-five infants with functional constipation were included. Forty infants were treated during one month with parental reassurance and the intervention formula and were compared to a control group of 25 infants treated with parental reassurance only. Parents completed a quality of life (QoL) questionnaire at baseline and during the last week of the study. Results: At inclusion, stool characteristics and QoL were similar in both groups. The control group was slightly older than the intervention group ($7.5{\pm}3.9$ vs. $6.2{\pm}3.6$ weeks). At onset, stool composition was "hard and tight" (Bristol stool scale 1 and 2) in all infants. After one month, stool composition remained unchanged in the control group except in two infants that developed "creamy" stools (Bristol stool scale type 3 and 4). In the intervention group, stools remained "hard and tight" in 27.5%, and became "creamy" in 47.5%, "loose" (Bristol stool scale type 5) in 22.5% and "watery" (Bristol stool type 6 and 7) in 2.5%. The benefit of the intervention formula was estimated to be "very important" in 70%. The median scores for QoL improved significantly in the intervention group for all parameters and for one in the control group. Conclusion: The intervention formula significantly improved functional constipation resulting in a better QoL of the parents and infants.

Online Community Design: Review of Frameworks and Developing Online Community Construct

  • Oh Ki-Tae;Lee Kun-Pyo
    • Archives of design research
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    • v.19 no.3 s.65
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    • pp.131-142
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    • 2006
  • The purpose of this study is to develop an online community construct, which proposes an inclusive illustration of the structure of online communities, for online community designers. This study reviewed researches from psychology, sociology, management engineering, and practical reports to understand the characteristics and dynamics of online communities. The proposed online community construct visualizes the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of online community. As the notion of community originates from geographical groups, and with the assumption that geographical community shares identical characteristics with online community, this study reviewed researches about geographical communities as a starting-point. Then the study went through three main perspectives (1) online community attributes, (2) sense of online community and (3) challenges of online community. Then this study proposed an online community construct that encompasses the reviewed frameworks. The online community can be seen as a congregation of members from two sources. One is from the 'Shared Goal' that meets the personal needs. Given the shared goal, members gather into the community without personal relationship and have more chances to feel the sense of belonging to their needs fulfillment or benefit. This befitting tendency leads to strengthening of membership. Public online forums fall under this classification. The other source is from the emotional connections that are already initiated by personal and casual contacts in the real world. The network of emotional connection can evolve into an online congregation of people under faint boundaries. Although there is no (or weak) shared goal, members are strongly bound to other members. Personal homepage or web log (blog) can be classified as an example of relationship-oriented community.

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