• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.721-728
• /
• 2004

Velopharyngeal closure is a sphincter mechanism between the activities of the soft palate, lateral pharyngeal wall and the posterior pharyngeal wall, which divides the oral and nasal cavity. It participates in physiological activities such as swallowing, breathing and speech. It is called a velopharyngeal dysfunction when this mechanism malfunctions. The causes of this dysfunction are defects in (1) length, function, posture of the soft palate, (2) depth and width of the nasopharynx and (3) activity of the posterior and lateral pharyngeal wall. The purposes of this study are to analyze the nasopharynx of cleft palate patients using cephalometry and to evaluate the degree of hypernasality using nasometry to find its relationship with velopharyngeal dysfunction. The following results were obtained : 1. In cephalometry, there were significant differences in soft palate length, soft palate thickness, nasopharyngeal depth, nasopharyngeal area, and adequate ratio between two groups. 2. In nasometry, there were significant differences between two groups in vowel /o/ and sentences including oral consonants. 3. In cleft palate patients, though no general correlation was found between Anatomic VPI and nasalance scores, vowel /i/ and sentences including oral consonants were slightly correlated. In conclusion, cephalometry and nasometer results were significantly different between the two groups. Though in the cleft palate group, Anatomic VPI and nasalance scores, which are indices for velopharyngeal closure, excluding the vowel /i/ and sentences including oral consonants show generally no significance.

• Journal of The Korean Association of Information Education
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.107-115
• /
• 2006

As the use of computers and the Internet become more commonplace, many children are using the Internet. The Internet is rapidly permeating into the daily lives of elementary school students. There are some positive effects of using the Internet: it helps children's studies and communication skills and relives stress. However, some negative effects are arising, such as aggressive behavior caused by Internet games, sleeping disorders, and Internet addiction. The goal of this disquisition was to find out how an upper class of elementary school children are using the Internet and also the degree of their Internet addictions. The effects that Internet addiction had on various aspects, such as on the individual, family, and school were observed. In the individual aspect, self-respect, self-control, awareness of stress, depression, and personal taste were observed. In the aspect of family, communication with parents, the nursing behavior of parents, family functions, friendliness within the family, and the family's emotional support were observed. In the aspect of school, relationships with teachers, relationships with friends, study activities, compliance to rules and participation in events were observed. By analyzing each cause of Internet addiction, this disquisition hopes to help prevent Internet addiction and to support educational guiding about Internet addiction of elementary school children.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.1-14
• /
• 2007

The term, "food safety", has traditionally been viewed as a practical science aimed at assuring the prevention acute illnesses caused by biological microorganisms, and only to a minor extent, chronic diseases cause by chronic low level exposures to natural and synthetic chemicals or pollutants. "food safety" meant to prevent microbiological agents/toxins in/on foods, due to contamination any where from "farm to Fork", from causing acute health effects, especially to the young, immune-compromised, genetically-predisposed and elderly. However, today a broader view must also include the fact that diet, perse (nutrients, vitamins/minerals, calories), as well as low level toxins and pollutant or supplemented synthetic chemicals, can alter gene expressions of stem/progenitor/terminally-differentiated cells, leading to chronic inflammation and other mal-functions that could lead to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, atherogenesis and possibly reproductive and neurological disorders. Understanding of the mechanisms by which natural or synthetic chemical toxins/toxicants, in/on food, interact with the pathogenesis of acute and chronic diseases, should lead to a "systems" approach to "food safety". Clearly, the interactions of diet/food with the genetic background, gender, and developmental state of the individual, together with (a) interactions of other endogenous/exogenous chemicals/drugs; (b) the specific biology of the cells being affected; (c) the mechanisms by which the presence or absence of toxins/toxicants and nutrients work to cause toxicities; and (d) how those mechanisms affect the pathogenesis of acute and/or chronic diseases, must be integrated into a "system" approach. Mechanisms of how toxins/toxicants cause cellular toxicities, such as mutagenesis; cytotoxicity and altered gene expression, must take into account (a) irreversible or reversal changes caused by these toxins or toxicants; (b)concepts of thresholds or no-thresholds of action; and (c) concepts of differential effects on stem cells, progenitor cells and terminally differentiated cells in different organs. This brief Commentary tries to illustrate this complex interaction between what is on/in foods with one disease, namely cancer. Since the understanding of cancer, while still incomplete, can shed light on the multiple ways that toxins/toxicants, as well as dietary modulation of nutrients/vitamins/metals/ calories, can either enhance or reduce the risk to cancer. In particular, diets that alter the embryo-fetal micro-environment might dramatically alter disease formation later in life. In effect "food safety" can not be assessed without understanding how food could be 'toxic', or how that mechanism of toxicity interacts with the pathogenesis of any disease.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.22-29
• /
• 2015

Objectives : Repetitive and stereotyped behaviors are core symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The purpose of our study was to investigate the frequency of motor stereotypes in ASD children and their clinical features. Methods : Among 171 ASD children (age range, 3-15), the ASD group with motor stereotypes was defined according to two items in the Korean version of Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (K-ADI-R). We compared the clinical features, behavior problems and severity of other domains in the K-ADI-R and executive functions between the ASD group with motor stereotypes and the ASD group without motor stereotypes. Results : Ninety (52.6%) of 171 ASD children had motor stereotypes. The ASD group with motor stereotypes had a lower intelligence quotient score (62.23 vs. 84.94, p<.001) compared to the ASD group without motor stereotypes. The ASD group with motor stereotypes had more impairments in the social interaction domain [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.11, p=.001] and communication domain (AOR 1.15, p=.008). Thought problems and lethargy were more frequent in the ASD group with motor stereotypes than the ASD group without motor stereotypes (AOR 2.059, p=.034 ; adjusted OR 1.045, p=.046). However, no significant differences in executive function were observed between the ASD group with motor stereotypes and the ASD group without motor stereotypes. Conclusion : The ASD group with motor stereotypes showed more impairment in social interaction and communication domains, which are core symptoms of autism. Motor stereotypes may indicate greater severity of ASD.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.413-418
• /
• 2019

Studies are now actively underway to confirm the degree of treatment and rehabilitation of patients with brain-related diseases (dementia, schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's disease). Among them, Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is widely used in treatment because it is a technique that is used for noninvasive brain neuron control in patients with brain disorders. It can be seen that muscle fatigue of normal people increases during Transcranial magnetic stimulation. Therefore, in this paper, our purpose is to build an EMG measurement system to measure motor neuron-induced response during transcranial magnetic stimulation and We identify a motor-neutral response system using tendency in the RMS graph. As an experimental method, the Raw Data received through the surface EMG device and analyzed by RMS technique, after the contraction and relaxation movement of the biceps brachii. As a result of the experiment, we confirmed the trend of rising RMS graph, and it will can be used to determine the self-stimulation intensity for each individual in consideration of the data of the motor-neutral response.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.119-129
• /
• 2023

Sleep apnea causes various secondary disease such as hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction, depression and cognitive impairment. Early detection and continuous management of sleep apnea are urgently needed since it causes cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. In this study, wearable device for monitoring respiration during sleep using PVDF film was developed to detect vibration through trachea caused by breathing, which determines normal breathing and sleep apnea. Variables such as respiration rate and apnea were extracted based on the detected breathing sound data, and a noise reduction algorithm was established to minimize the effect even when there is a noise signal. In addition, it was confirmed that irregular breathing patterns can be analyzed by establishing a moving threshold algorithm. The results show that the accuracy of the respiratory rate from the developed device was 98.7% comparing with the polysomnogrphy result. Accuracy of detection for sleep apnea event was 92.6% and that of the sleep apnea duration was 94.0%. The results of this study will be of great help to the management of sleep disorders and confirmation of treatment by commercialization of wearable devices that can monitor sleep information easily and accurately at home during daily life and confirm the progress of treatment.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.342-355
• /
• 2023

Background and Objectives: Osteoblasts are derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) and play important role in bone remodeling. While our previous studies have investigated the cell subtypes and heterogeneity in osteoblasts and BMMSCs separately, cell-to-cell communications between osteoblasts and BMMSCs in vivo in humans have not been characterized. The aim of this study was to investigate the cellular communication between human primary osteoblasts and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Methods and Results: To investigate the cell-to-cell communications between osteoblasts and BMMSCs and identify new cell subtypes, we performed a systematic integration analysis with our single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) transcriptomes data from BMMSCs and osteoblasts. We successfully identified a novel preosteoblasts subtype which highly expressed ATF3, CCL2, CXCL2 and IRF1. Biological functional annotations of the transcriptomes suggested that the novel preosteoblasts subtype may inhibit osteoblasts differentiation, maintain cells to a less differentiated status and recruit osteoclasts. Ligand-receptor interaction analysis showed strong interaction between mature osteoblasts and BMMSCs. Meanwhile, we found FZD1 was highly expressed in BMMSCs of osteogenic differentiation direction. WIF1 and SFRP4, which were highly expressed in mature osteoblasts were reported to inhibit osteogenic differentiation. We speculated that WIF1 and sFRP4 expressed in mature osteoblasts inhibited the binding of FZD1 to Wnt ligand in BMMSCs, thereby further inhibiting osteogenic differentiation of BMMSCs. Conclusions: Our study provided a more systematic and comprehensive understanding of the heterogeneity of osteogenic cells. At the single cell level, this study provided insights into the cell-to-cell communications between BMMSCs and osteoblasts and mature osteoblasts may mediate negative feedback regulation of osteogenesis process.

• Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.30-43
• /
• 2024

Background and Purpose: The SoUth Korea study to PrEvent cognitive impaiRment and protect BRAIN health through lifestyle intervention (SUPERBRAIN) proved the feasibility of multidomain intervention for elderly people. One-quarter of the Korean population over 65 years of age has mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Digital health interventions may be cost-effective and have fewer spatial constraints. We aim to examine the efficacy of a multidomain intervention through both face-to-face interactions and video communication platforms using a tablet personal computer (PC) application in MCI. Methods: Three hundred participants aged 60-85 years, with MCI and at least one modifiable dementia risk factor, will be recruited from 17 centers and randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to the multidomain intervention and the waiting-list control groups. Participants will receive the 24-week intervention through the tablet PC SUPERBRAIN application, which encompasses the following five elements: managing metabolic and vascular risk factors, cognitive training, physical exercise, nutritional guidance, and boosting motivation. Participants will attend the interventions at a facility every 1-2 weeks. They will also engage in one or two self-administered cognitive training sessions utilizing the tablet PC application at home each week. They will participate in twice or thrice weekly online exercise sessions at home via the ZOOM platform. The primary outcome will be the change in the total scale index score of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status from baseline to study end. Conclusions: This study will inform the effectiveness of a comprehensive multidomain intervention utilizing digital technologies in MCI.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.21-30
• /
• 2007

Unlike other common forms of speech disorder, such as phonological disorder or dysphonia, stuttering has not been studied within the context of music therapy. Most cases of stuttering display no difficulty in singing, and fluency within the musical structure does not translate to fluency in speech. Hence, musical approach has been generally considered to be ineffective to the treatment of stuttering. However, the fundamentals of music therapy assume its extensive application in treating variety of speech disorders, including the case of stuttering. Presented in this paper are the case studies designed to validate the efficacy of music therapy as a remedy for stuttering. This study enrolled 6 children with stuttering and conducted 20 individual sessions over a period of 10 weeks. The sessions focused on the Melodic Intonation Therapy, Reinforcement of speech rhythm, song writing and singing. Musical elements were structured to enhance the verbal expression and rhythmic senses, as well as to facilitate the initiation of verbal communication. The result is as follows. First, it was noticed that the disfluency had been decreased in before and after of the music therapy in every child although the result was somewhat different depending the child. The overall result of the investigation shows the significant difference statistically. And categorically speaking, the significant difference was checked in the frequency of the stuttering. In the steps of the session, the increase and decrease was happened repeatedly, and then after it was decreased little by little. Secondly, the Communication Attitude was decreased in before and after of the music therapy, and also there was significant difference statistically. although the avoidance behavior was decreased in before and after of the music therapy, the increase and the decrease was repeated irregularly in the steps of session. All the results described above shows that music therapy gives positive effect to decrease in disfluency of stuttering child and also to develop the Communication Attitude. And new possibility and effectiveness can be proposed in the musical approach to the stuttering.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.197-208
• /
• 2015

Objectives : The purposes of this study were to examine the reliability and validity of the Korean version of Social Communication Questionnaire (K-SCQ) and to determine cut-off scores for diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods : A total of 166 subjects with ASD and their 186 unaffected siblings were recruited through child psychiatry clinics of university hospitals. Board certified child psychiatrists screened all probands suspected to have ASD based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition. To confirm the diagnoses, the Korean versions of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (K-ADI-R) were administered to all the subjects. All parents completed the K-SCQ and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). The non-ASD siblings were evaluated with the same instruments as the probands with ASD. We performed a factor analysis to examine the structure of K-SCQ. For testing the validity of K-SCQ, we compared the difference in Lifetime and Current scores of probands with ASD and their non-ASD siblings using t-test and analysis of covariance. Correlations between the K-SCQ and other measurements of ASD symptomatology, including K-ADI-R totals and domain scores and SRS, were examined. Receiver operation characteristic curve analysis was performed to extract cutoff scores discriminating affection status. Results : Four factors were extracted through factor analysis of K-SCQ ; 1) social relation and play, 2) stereotyped behavior, 3) social behavior, and 4) abnormal language. Cronbach's internal consistency was .95 in K-SCQ Lifetime, and .93 in K-SCQ Current. There were significant differences in total score of K-SCQ, both in Lifetime and Current between the ASD group and non-ASD siblings group (p<.05). K-SCQ scores were significantly correlated with K-ADI-R subdomain scores and SRS total scores (p<.05). The best-estimate cut-off scores of K-SCQ for diagnosis of ASD were 12 for 48 months and over, and 10 for below 47 months. Conclusion : Our findings suggest that the K-SCQ is a reliable and valid instrument for screening autistic symptoms in the Korean population. Lower cut-off scores than the original English version might be considered when using it as a screening instrument of ASD.