• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.183-192
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• 2018

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a trauma-induced psychiatric disorder characterized by impaired fear extermination, hyperarousal, anxiety, depression, and amnesic symptoms that may involve the release of monoamines in the fear circuit. The present study measured several anxiety-related behavioral responses to examine the effects of berberine (BER) on symptoms of anxiety in rats after single prolonged stress (SPS) exposure, and to determine if BER reversed the dopamine (DA) dysfunction. Rats received BER (10, 20, or 30 mg/kg, intraperitoneally, once daily) for 14 days after SPS exposure. BER administration significantly increased the time spent in the open arms and reduced grooming behavior during the elevated plus maze test, and increased the time spent in the central zone and the number of central zone crossings in the open field test. BER restored neurochemical abnormalities and the SPS-induced decrease in DA tissue levels in the hippocampus and striatum. The increased DA concentration during BER treatment may partly be attributed to mRNA expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and the DA transporter in the hippocampus, while BER exerted no significant effects on vesicular monoamine transporter mRNA expression in the hippocampus of rats with PTSD. These results suggest that BER had anxiolytic-like effects on behavioral and biochemical measures associated with anxiety. These findings support a role for reduced anxiety altered DAergic transmission and reduced anxiety in rats with PTSD. Thus, BER may be a useful agent to treat or alleviate psychiatric disorders like those observed in patients with PTSD.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.8-29
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• 2013

Ginseng is one of the most widely used herbal medicines in human. Central nervous system (CNS) diseases are most widely investigated diseases among all others in respect to the ginseng's therapeutic effects. These include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, cerebral ischemia, depression, and many other neurological disorders including neurodevelopmental disorders. Not only the various types of diseases but also the diverse array of target pathways or molecules ginseng exerts its effect on. These range, for example, from neuroprotection to the regulation of synaptic plasticity and from regulation of neuroinflammatory processes to the regulation of neurotransmitter release, too many to mention. In general, ginseng and even a single compound of ginsenoside produce its effects on multiple sites of action, which make it an ideal candidate to develop multi-target drugs. This is most important in CNS diseases where multiple of etiological and pathological targets working together to regulate the final pathophysiology of diseases. In this review, we tried to provide comprehensive information on the pharmacological and therapeutic effects of ginseng and ginsenosides on neurodegenerative and other neurological diseases. Side by side comparison of the therapeutic effects in various neurological disorders may widen our understanding of the therapeutic potential of ginseng in CNS diseases and the possibility to develop not only symptomatic drugs but also disease modifying reagents based on ginseng.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.238-247
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• 1992

Immigration of Koreans to the United States has increased since the 1960's. Adjusting to life in the United States produces a great deal of stress for immigrants. Despite better economic opportunites, many see the U.S. culture as threatening to their family and cultural values. Differences in culture, language, expectations and social behavior can lead to misunderstandings between health care providers and clients. These misunderstanding can leaf to frustration on the part of each. The ultimate result of this is that often Korean-immigrants do not get their health care needs met and stress response symptoms can lead to disease if there is no appropriate care. To determine the health care needs and concerns of Korean-Americans, a health needs assessment is needed. Appropriate and adequate information about the health care needs of these individuals is important as it relates to American policy changes allowing greater numbers of immigrants to enter the U.S. The purpose of this prospective study was to describe Korean-American stress response. This study focused on the primary presenting problems for which subjects reported having sought care. These included a variety of stress-related symptoms, including peripheral manifestations, cardiopulmonary symptoms, central-neurological symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, muscle tension, habitual patterns, depression, anxiety, emotional irritability and cognitive disorganization. Of the 300 subjects who entered the study, 80% (N＝223) completed the questionnaire in full. Demographically, the percentage of females and males was 50% each and they ranged in age from 20 to 69 years. Ninety percent of the subjects were highly educated, 25% owners of business, 25% white collar professionals, 15% employed in sales or as skilled /unskilled labor, 30% had no occupation : and 5% were housewives or students. The SOS inventory is designed to quantify self-perception of behavioral, cognitive, and physiological components of the stress response. It consisted of 94 items divided into 10 subscales. The result of this study are as follows : The total mean 505 of all subjects (N＝223 was .8129 ; the mean 505 for male(N＝114) was .7665 and for females, (N＝108) .8594. The level of symptoms for central-neurologic and muscle tension was higher for than for males. The highest stress response of all subjects was emotional irritability symptoms(1.0644) : the lowest stress response of all subjects was peripheral manifestation symptoms.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2020

Objective : There have been limited scientific studies differentiating those who attempt suicide from those who think about suicide but do not attempt suicide. Altered event-related potential (ERP) performance, such as GoNogo ERP has been regarded as the neurocognitive processes associated with behavioral inhibition and poor impulse control. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between Nogo ERP and suicide attempt. Methods : A total of 63 participants (33 participants with suicide ideation and 30 with suicide attempt) were recruited, and performed GoNogo tasks during the electroencephalogram measurement. Depression, anxiety, emotional regulation and impulsivity were evaluated by self-rating scales. The clinical measures and Nogo P3 component were compared between the groups. The correlational analyse was conducted to evaluate the relationship between the clinical characteristics and the Nogo P3 component. Results : Participants with suicide attempt significantly decreased the Nogo P3 amplitudes at the frontal-central electrode than participants with suicide ideation (p=0.004, FDR adjusted p=0.032). In the correlation analysis, the Nogo P3 amplitude at frontal-central electrode was correlated with the total score of the Barrett impulsivity scale (r=-0.383, p=0.002), attentional impulsivity (r=-0.365, p=0.003) and motor impulsivity (r=-0.389, p=0.002) subscales of the Barrett impulsivity scale. Conclusion : These findings suggest that the decreased Nogo P3 amplitude may be one of the candidates of biological marker for poor impulse control in those who attempt suicide.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.75-92
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• 1999

In this study, the present state of fiscal crisis for local governments after IMF is analyzed, firstly. its implications Characteristics of structural reform of finance after IMF bailout in Korea are examined, secondly. Since Korea was shocked by the currency crisis at the end of 1997, its local governments have also faced fiscal difficulties. The Depression of national and local economies led to decreases in tax revenues of local governments. And these shrunken revenues led to their expenditure cuts. Many investment plans were curtailed, and ordinary expenditures were also reduced sharply. The negative influences of the currency crisis on local government's finances can be examined in terms of fiscal revenue, fiscal spending, and debt burden. As a result many local governments are now experiencing fiscal stress, and some of them are even faced with fiscal crisis although the possibility of extreme measures, such as moratoriums or bankruptcies, is very slim. This is due in part to the weight of debt in local governments' budgets having remained small since the debt of local governments has been controlled by the central government. Another reason is that, central government, which functions as a lender of last resort for the local governments, will pay the debt for them. Also, without a legal system which stipulates the adjudication of bankruptcy for municipalities in Korea, local Korean governments have no legal right to declare bankruptcy. Although not a single municipality has fallen into insolvency, yet, this trend will continue to deepen as the recession continues and may lead to a situation where manu local governments fall into virtual bankruptcy in the near future, and its effects on society, as a whole, will be serious. Therefore, measures to prevent and overcome such an extreme situation are necessary, but both short-and long-term policies should be to cope with the current fiscal crisis and to prevent the deepening of the current situation.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.127-140
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• 2015

In this study, we aim to analyze the relationship between the centrality in the social network and the sentiment of medial web forum users. In recent, many people use online resources to obtain health and wellness information especially social media resources. In the medial web forum, people give and receive informational supports and emotional supports and this interaction forms the social network. We analyze the social network, derive node characteristics in terms of centrality and compare the centrality index and the sentiment score derived from users' messages. We found that as more people express their emotion, they possess higher central position in the network. Further, people who express positive emotion in their messages have higher central position in the network than people who have negative emotion. This study will help to identify influentials of emotional supports to others and finally to control the depression of Alzheimer's disease patients and their related ones.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.119-136
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• 2019

Objectives: People often fail to maintain their weight even though they have succeeded in weight loss. The purpose of this study was to review previously published study results with regards to the predictive factors associated with weight loss maintenance after successful weight loss. Methods: The authors searched for the articles related to weight loss maintenance after successful weight loss, published up until June 2019 on PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Embase, Research Information Sharing Service (RISS), and Koreanstudies Information Service System (KISS). A total of 76 articles were finally selected. From the study results, changeable and unchangeable predictors were extracted, and these predictors were examined according to detailed categories. Results: The changeable predictors of weight loss maintenance included behavioral factors, psychological factors and treatment process-related factors, whereas the unchangeable predictors included genetic and physiological factors, demographic factors, history of treatment on obesity-related factors. The main factors of weight loss maintenance were changeable predictors such as healthy eating habits, dietary intake control, binge eating control, regular exercise and physical activity, depression and stress control, social supports, self-regulation, self-weighing and initial weight loss and unchangeable predictors such as low initial weight and maximum lifetime weight. Conclusions: The results of our review results suggest that changeable and unchangeable predictors of weight loss maintenance should be carefully examined during treatments of obesity.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.570-574
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• 2005

Keratoacanthoma is a benign, self-limited epithelial lesion that closely resembles Squamous cell carcinoma(SCC). Keratoacanthoma occur primarily exposed skin in male patients over 45 years of ages. although etiology is unknown, sunlight, genetic, and human papillomavirus factor have been considered. in clinical feature, rapid enlargement occurs over 4$\sim$8 weeks, resulting ultimately in a hemispheric, firm, elevated, asymptomatic nodule that contains a central plug of keratin. When fully developed, the keratoacanthoma contains a core of keratin surrounded by a concentric collar of raised skin. Over the next 4$\sim$8 weeks, static lesion persists. Then undergoes spontaneous regression over the next 6$\sim$8weeks period by expulsion of the keratin core with resorption of the mass. In histologic feature, Keratoacanthoma consists of hyperplastic squamous epithelium growing into the underlying connective tissue. The surface is covered by a thickened layer of parakeratin with central plugging. Epithelium cell shows dysplastic features and the margins the normal adjacent epithelium is elevated. The differential diagnosis includes SCC. Keratoacanthoma present as a exophytic lesion with horny keratin occupying a depression on the top of the lesion, persists static period and undergoes rapid growth compared with SCC. Keratoacanthoma is usually treated by surgical excision or curettage of the base, spontaneous regression does not occur in every case. A 60 years old male who present facial lesion visit our hospital and surgical excision was done. Biopsy result was keratoacanthoma. We report case with review of literatures.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.261-276
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• 1991

The main aspect of this study are to clarify igneous activity of igneous rocks, which is a member of various intrusives and volcanics exposed in Naju-Namchang area of southern central zone of Ogcheon Geosynclinal Belt, southern part of Youngdong-Kwangju depression zone of tectonic provinces in Korea. Naju-Namchang area are subdivided into three rock belts based on occuring of Cretaceous granites. Three rock belts consist of foliated granites, Jurassic granites and Cretaceous granites in central granitic rock belt (C-C), and acidic tuff and lavas in northwest volcanic rock belt(C-NW) and southeast volcanic rock belt(C-SE). Chemical composition of these igneous rocks show mostly similar trend to the Daly's values on Harker diagram and correspond to VAG + Syn-COLG region on Pearce's discrimination diagram. These igneous rocks vary wide range in total REE amount(37.4-221.3ppm) characterized by enriched LREE content and steep negative slope in Eu(-) anomaly. It is concluded each synchronous granites which composed of serveral rock facies is considered to formed by differentiation of co-magma at continental margin, and igneous activity of study area are two more Pre-Cambrian Orogenies, Songrim Disturbance, Daebo Orogeny and Bulkuksa Disturbance.

• CELLMED
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1.1-1.13
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• 2019

Background: Contents of bioactive substances extractable from different parts of terrestrial plants vary enormously. Aim: To ascertain that parts of Withania somnifera other than its roots can also be used for prevention and cure of unavoidable stress triggered central hypersensitivity to pain. Material and Methods: Groups of male or female mice treated either with Withania somnifera extracts or with metformin, aspirin, imipramine, diazepam and niacin for 11 consecutive days were subjected to "foot-shock stress-induced hyperthermia" and "hot plate" tests on the 1st, 5th, 7th, and 10th days of the experiments. On the 11th day, they were subjected to tail suspension test and on 12th day pentobarbital hypnosis test. Results: Except for diazepam and imipramine, protective effects of all other tested drugs as well as of the Withania somnifera extracts against stress-induced central hypersensitivity to pain were accompanied by their preventive effects against foot-shock stress-induced body weight losses. All observed stress response suppressing effects of all test agents increased with increasing numbers of treatment days. However, mean duration of pentobarbital-induced sleep was shorter in the extracts treated groups and longer in the diazepam treated ones only. Conclusions: Reported observations reveal that pharmacological activity profile of Withania somnifera extracts in male and female mice are almost identical, and are not like those of several drugs currently often prescribed for the treatment of diabetes-associated comorbidities. Withanolides are not the only extractable bioactive constituents of Withania somnifera. The described bioassay system is well suited for pharmacological standardization of diverse types of Withania somnifera extracts.