• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.138-146
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• 2019

Objectives : This study examined the association between depression and survival time in terminal cancer patients admitted to the palliative care unit. Emotional problems are important for terminal cancer patients in the palliative care unit, and evaluation of patients' depression plays an important role in treatment planning. Methods : From October 2015 to August 2018, we conducted a retrospective study of 291 terminal cancer patients admitted to a palliative care unit at a university hospital and evaluated depression with PHQ-9 at admission. Of the 291 patients, 146 (50.2%) completed PHQ-9 but 145 (49.8%) were not evaluated due to loss of consciousness or rejection. Results : 4-week survival rate in the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were 45.4% in the non-depressed group (PHQ-9<10) and 18.7% in the depressed group (PHQ-9≥10). According to the severity of depression, in the Cox proportional hazard model, the risk of mortality in moderate, moderately sever and severe group was 2.778, 1.882 and 3.423 times higher than minimal group, respectively. Conclusions : Of the patients with terminal cancer who were admitted to the palliative care unit, the survival time was shorter in the depressed group than in the non-depressed group. Further research is needed to determine if treatment of depression increase the survival in terminal cancer patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.335-340
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• 2010

The paper describes the objectives of Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem (YSLME) project, focusing on procedural and practical aspects. YSLME is a highly productive sea yet possibly one of the most impacted large marine ecosystems, in terms of anthropogenic stressors, due the enormous coastal population. The aim of the YSLME project is the reduction of ecosystem stress through identification of the environmental problems in the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) that are then addressed in the Strategic Action Programme (SAP). One of the major problems found to be affecting biological diversity is habitat modification through wetland reclamation, conversion and degradation. Since the early 1900's more than 40% of intertidal wetlands have been reclaimed in Korea, and 60% of Chinese coastal wetlands have been converted or reclaimed. Damaging fishing practices, pollution and coastal eutrophication have further degraded the coastal environment reducing the biological diversity. To combat this loss, the YSLME project has mounted a public awareness campaign to raise environmental consciousness targeted at all different levels of society, from politicians at parliamentary workshops, local government officer training events, scientific conferences and involvement of scientists in the project research and reporting, to university and high school students in our visiting internship programmes and environmental camps. We have also built networks through the Yellow Sea Partnership and by liaising and working with other environmental organizations and NGOs. NGO's are recognised as important partners in the environmental conservation as they already have extensive local networks that can be lacking in international organisations. Effective links have been built with many of these NGOs through the small grants programme. Working with WWF's YSESP project and other academic and research institutions we have conducted our own biodiversity assessments that have contributed to the science-based development of the SAP for the YSLME. Our regional targets for biodiversity outlined in the SAP include: Improvements in the densities, distributions and genetic diversity of current populations of all living organisms including endangered and endemic species; Maintenance of habitats according to standards and regulations of 2007; and a reduction in the risk of introduced species. Endorsement of the SAP and its successful implementation, during the proposed second phase of the YSLEM project, will ensure that biological diversity is here to benefit future generations.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.165-171
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• 2016

Purpose: Human parechovirus (HPeV) is an increasingly recognized pathogenic cause of central nervous system (CNS) infection in neonates. However, HPeV infections have not been studied in older children. This study determined the prevalence and clinical features of HPeV CNS infection in children in Korea. Methods: Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays were performed using HPeV-specific, 5' untranslated, region-targeted primers to detect HPeV in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from children presenting with fever or neurologic symptoms from January 1, 2013, to July 31, 2014. HPeV genotyping was performed by sequencing the viral protein 3/1 region. Clinical and laboratory data were retrospectively abstracted from medical records and compared with those of enterovirus (EV)-positive patients from the same period. Results: Of 102 CSF samples, six (5.9%) were positive for HPeV; two of 21 EV-positive samples were co-infected with HPeV. All samples were genotype HPeV3. Two HPeV-positive patients were <3 months of age and four others were over 1 year old. While HPeV-positive infants under 1 year of age presented with sepsis-like illness without definite neurologic abnormalities, HPeV-positive children over 1 year of age presented with fever and neurologic symptoms such as seizures, loss of consciousness, and gait disturbance. The CSF findings of HPeV-positive patients were mostly within the normal range, whereas most (73.7%) EV-positive patients had pleocytosis. Conclusions: Although HPeV is typically associated with disease in young infants, the results of this study suggest that HPeV is an emerging pathogen of CNS infection with neurologic symptoms in older childhood.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.1373-1380
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• 2002

Purpose : Acute measles encephalitis(ME) is characterized by an abrupt onset of fever and obtundation, frequently accompanied by seizures and multifocal neurological signs. The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical manifestation, progression and the brain SPECT patterns in patients with acute ME. Methods : This study included 11 children with acute ME admitted to Chonbuk National University Hospital. Ten patients received a first dose of measles vaccine, one patient did not receive a first dose, and no patients received a second dose. ME was diagnosed based on characteristic clinical pictures, measles antibodies by ELISA and abnormal CSF findings. Brain MRI and brain SPECT were performed in 11 patients with acute ME. Results : There were four males and seven females whose ages at onset ranged between 18 months and 14 years(mean : 10.5 years). The main clinical neurologic pictures were loss of consciousness( 10) and seizure(five). The titer of IgG and IgM antimeasles antibodies in serum were positive in 10 patients. In CSF, nine patients had IgG antibodies and one patient had IgM antibodies. The concentration of protein(mean : $124{\pm}60mg/dL$) and WBC counts(mean : $158{\pm}157/{\mu}L$) in CSF were elevated in all patients. In electroencephalographic examination, nine patients showed increased slow waves. Seven of 11 patients(63.6%) revealed high signal intensity on the brain MRI. In contrast, all patients showed hypoperfusion in brain SPECT examination. According to brain SPECT, the perfusion deficits were frequently observed in the frontal lobe(nine), temporal (nine), parietal(eight) and thalamus(eight). Conclusion : Brain SPECT is more sensitive than MRI for the evaluation of brain damage in early stages of acute ME.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.45
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• pp.219-243
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• 2016

The life of Antonin Artaud exactly reproduces a very cruel drama. He lived in constant anguish and suffered from severe mental pain. This research will trace his thoughts in his writings while he was a prisoner of language. Artaud was a poet filled with anxiety about language, things, being, and thought. Whenever he tried to explain the mystery of being by means of mundane language, he experienced psychological agony. His poetic thoughts began to break down, because of his identity loss. Nevertheless, he was destined to grasp the world through language. Artaud had suffered from mental illness during his youth. His mental illness was associated with his difficulty in creating poetry. In this research, the letter, Correspondance avec Jacques $Rivi{\grave{e}}re$, is analyzed. The poet refers to "the collapse of the spirit's core, and the erosion of the fundamental thought that slips away" to convey his linguistic incompetence. Hereafter, he constantly demonstrated anxious mental symptoms. Even though he became mentally deranged, he maintained his consciousness, as is apparent in his writings. Also, his spiritual belief is reflected in his mental uneasiness. While he was traveling through the Tarahumaras area in Mexico, he was obsessed with its primitive belief in the Peyote rituals, and he immersed himself in performing them. His unchristian belief was the product of his mystical personality. Until his last breath, he did not give up writing. Artaud's mental derangement does not mean lunacy, but if one insists in calling it so, that is a metaphor. His derangement comes from his refusal to accept his limitations and from his aspiring to regard his body in the same light as his intellectual perceptions. His intellect could manifest more easily when his mind was elevated to the extreme. Artaud's lunacy is no different from that of a profound philosopher. The lives of poets who suffer from mental derangement are more poetic than the lives of those who do not. Artaud's atypical emotions provide a way of to measure our own limitations, helplessness, and resignation. His scream is nonsegmental but different from that of a mental patient. That difference is why people are interested in his works and wish to delve into his writings.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.24 no.2 s.34
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• pp.232-242
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• 1991

To determine the incidence rate of child battering and related factors, a questionnaire survey was Conducted on 1,255 children in 4th and 5th grades of two elementary schools (one in the upper economic class area with 519 students and the other in the lower economic class area with 504 students) in Taegu and two schools in rural areas of Kyungpook province (120 and 112 students, respectively) from 1st May to 10th May 1990. Total number of children who were battered during one-month period (1-30 April 1990) prior to the survey was 918 (73.1%). Among the battered children 87 (6.9%) were severely battered (twice or more in a month by kicking or more severe method) and 831 children (66.2%) were moderately battered (all other battering than severe battering). The percentage of battered children and degree of battering were not significantly different between two schools in Taegu and between urban and rural areas. Common reasons for battering were disobediance (61.9%), making troubles (34.9%), and poor school performance (33.3%). However, 16.1% of severely battered children responded that the perpetrators battered them to wreak their anger and 5.7% of them did not know the reason why they were battered. A majority of the battered children (65%) regretted their fault after being battered but 20.7% of the severely battered children wanted to run away and 9.2% of them had an urge to commit suicide. While most of the physical injuries due to battering were minor as bruise (52.7%) but some of them were severe, e.g., bone fracture (2.5%), skin laceration (1.5%), and loss of consciousness. (0.2%). The common psycho-behavioral complaints of the severely battered children were unwillingness to study (31%), unwillingness to live (17.2%), and reluctance to go home (13.8%). The incidence rate of severe battering was significantly higher (p=0.018) among the children living in a quarter attached to a store (14.0%) than the children living in an apartment (6.6%) and individual house (6.2%). The incidence rate of severe battering was higher among children living in a rental house (8.4%) than children living in their own house 6.3%) (p=0.005). The children of father only working (5.1%) and mother only working (4.5%) had a lower incidence rate of severe battering than the children of both parents working (9.1%) and both parents unemployed (20.7%) (p=0.006). More children were battered when there was a sick family member (80.8%) compared with the children without a sick family member (71.4%) (p=0.001). The incidence rates of severe and moderate battering increased as the frequency of quarreling between mother and father increased (P=0.000). The percentage of unbattered children was higher among children whose father's occupation was professional (39.4%) than that of the total study subjects (26.9%) (p<0.001).