• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.40-48
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• 2006

Purpose: This study was done to identify the experience of stress and burn-out in caregivers of patients with senile dementia. Method: To evaluate the degree of stress and burn-out in caregivers of patients with senile dementia, 64 caregivers and matched to 64 patients with senile dementia at a Primary Health Care Post in South Kyung Sung Province were selected. The study was carried out from March 6 to March 30, 2001. Data on the degree of dementia in the patients was measured by the MMSE-K (Mini-Mental State Examination-Korea) and caregiver characteristics such as, sex, age, marital status, educational level, job, socioeconomic status, religion, number in family, relationship with patient, duration of care, and chronic disease in caregiver were collected by direct interview with a questionnaire. Results: Of 64 patients with senile dementia, 15.6% were classified as mild dementia (MMSE score 20-24) and 84.4%, as severe dementia. There were no significant characteristics of caregivers associated with the degree of stress and burn-out experience. The degree of burn-out in these caregivers of patients with severe dementia (mean value 94.3) was significantly higher than the 81.4 for those caring for patients with mild dementia (p<0.05). However, the degree of stress was not significantly related with the degree of dementia. The proportion experiencing severe burn-out (above score 4) was 54.7% in the physical domain, 90.6% in the emotional domain, and 73.4% in psychiatric domain, respectively. Conclusion: The above findings suggest that the degree of stress and burn-out experienced by caregivers of patients with senile dementia are high. Also the degree of burn-out experienced by in caregivers of patients with severe dementia was higher than for those caring for patients with mild dementia.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.592-606
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• 2015

Depression and mental illness across all age groups, and steady increasing in suicide rate are our major social problems which cause dramatically decreasing government competitiveness. While Korean government has implemented various policies to improve mental health and prevent suicide, it faces revealing issues in progress on implementation and referral management systems. The current research examined domestic and foreign cases to understand the actual status and directivity of ICT convergence plan in terms of mental health. The United States and the United Kingdom have provided convergent ICT service, telepsychiatric care to senior citizens in rural areas, children and adolescents, socially disadvantaged class, etc. In Korea, emergency-notice devices are installed to prevent suicide for single elderly people, and diverse mobile health devices are developing to cure depression and Alzheimer's disease. ICT convergent mental health care service is needed to save socioeconomic costs and realize universal welfare for an aging society. Social consensus on sharply conflict issues, medical law and medical devices about telepsychiatry service, effectiveness studies on users' unique psychiatric characteristics by life cycle, and region-specialized strategies for the least densely populated rural regions with lower access to medical care should be considered.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.11-41
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• 2011

The discovery of microRNA (miRNA) is one of the major scientific breakthroughs in recent years and has revolutionized current cell biology and medical science. miRNAs are small (19~25nt) noncoding RNA molecules that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by targeting the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of specific messenger RNAs (mRNAs) for degradation of translation repression. Genetic ablation of the miRNA machinery, as well as loss or degradation of certain individual miRNAs, severely compromises immune development and response, and can lead to immune disorders. Several sophisticated regulatory mechanisms are used to maintain immune homeostasis. Regulatory T (Treg) cells are essential for maintaining peripheral tolerance, preventing autoimmune diseases and limiting chronic inflammatory diseases. Recent publications have provided compelling evidence that miRNAs are highly expressed in Treg cells, that the expression of Foxp3 is controlled by miRNAs and that a range of miRNAs are involved in the regulation of immunity. A large number of studies have reported links between alterations of miRNA homeostasis and pathological conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, as well as psychiatric and neurological diseases. Although it is still unclear how miRNA controls Treg cell development and function, recent studies certainly indicate that this topic will be the subject of further research. The specific circulating miRNA species may also be useful for the diagnosis, classification, prognosis of diseases and prediction of the therapeutic response. An explosive literature has focussed on the role of miRNA. In this review, I briefly summarize the current studies about the role of miRNAs in Treg cells and in the regulation of the innate and adaptive immune response. I also review the explosive current studies about clinical application of miRNA.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.57-66
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• 2016

Purpose: According to the trend of the global burden of disease, in the future our society is expected to face with gradually increasing problems related to mental health and the demand for the various types of quality mental health facilities. This study investigates whether the accreditation of Mental health facilities serves as a building evaluation tool, and contribute to environmental welfare of the mentally ill. Methods: The facility assessment items related to architectural design are extracted through the analysis about the accreditation program of KOIHA. Extracted items should review if they comply with the relevant regulations, and establish building design standard. Results: This study shows that the accreditation of KOIHA can certify psychiatric hospitals meet the legal requirements, the minimum standard of facilities. But it is not the evaluation of environmental quality. It is difficult to assess the quality of facility in terms of architectural design, because it has no specific standards or the level of assessment. Implications: The accreditation for mental health facilities should be able to provide the right and opportunity to choose a more quality facility for the customer. The introduction of a certification system for the evaluation of environmental quality is required in order to overcome the limitations of the accreditation of KOIHA. Development of design guidelines for mental health facilities that are the basis for certification should be also followed.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2016

Background: Previous research has shown that paramedics are exposed to risks in the form of injuries to the musculoskeletal system. In addition, there are studies showing that they are also at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and psychiatric diseases, which can partly be explained by their constant exposure to stress. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the use of shoulder straps decreases physical effort in the form of decreased heart rate and cortisol concentration. Methods: A stretcher with a dummy was carried by 20 participants for 400 m on two occasions, one with and one without the shoulder straps. Heart rate was monitored continuously and cortisol samples were taken at intervals of 0 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and 60 minutes. Each participant was her or his own control. Results: A significant decrease in heart rate and cortisol concentration was seen when shoulder straps were used. The median values for men (with shoulder straps) at 0 minutes was 78 bpm/21.1 nmol/L (heart rate/cortisol concentration), at 15 minutes was 85 bpm/16.9 nmol/L, and at 60 minutes was 76 bpm/15.7 nmol/L; for men without shoulder straps, these values were 78 bpm/21.9 nmol/L, 93 bpm/21.9 nmol/L, and 73 bpm/20.5 nmol/L. For women, the values were 85 bpm/23.3 nmol/L, 92 bpm/20.8 nmol/L, and 70 bpm/18.4 nmol/L and 84 bpm/32.4 nmol/L, 100 bpm/32.5 nmol/L, and 75 bpm/25.2 nmol/L, respectively. Conclusion: The use of shoulder straps decreases measurable physical stress and should therefore be implemented when heavy equipment or a stretcher needs to be carried. An easy way to ensure that staff use these or similar lifting aids is to provide them with personalized, well-adapted shoulder straps. Another better option would be to routinely sewn these straps into the staff's personal alarm jackets so they are always in place and ready to be used.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2003

Microarray technology allows the simultaneous analysis of gene expression patterns of thousands of genes, in a systematic fashion, under a similar set of experimental conditions, thus making the data highly comparable. In some cases arrays are used simply as a primary screen loading to downstream molecular characterization of individual gene candidates. In other cases, the goal of expression profiling is to begin to identify complex regulatory networks underlying developmental processes and disease states. Microarrays were originally used with ceil lines or other simple model systems. More recently, microarrays have been used in the analysis of more complex biological tissues including neural systems and the brain. The application of cDNA arrays in neuropsychiatry has lagged behind other fields for a number of reasons. These include a requirement for a large amount of input probe RNA In fluorescent-glass based array systems and the cellular complexity introduced by multicellular brain and neural tissues. An additional factor that impacts the general use of microarrays in neuropsychiatry is the lack of availability of sequenced clone sets from model systems. While human cDNA clones have been widely available, high qualify rat, mouse, and drosophilae, among others are just becoming widely available. A final factor in the application of cDNA microarrays in neuropsychiatry is cost of commercial arrays. As academic microarray facilitates become more commonplace custom made arrays will become more widely available at a lower cost allowing more widespread applications. in summary, microarray technology is rapidly having an impact on many areas of biomedical research. Radioisotope-nylon based microarrays offer alternatives that may in some cases be more sensitive, flexible, inexpensive, and universal as compared to other array formats, such as fluorescent-glass arrays. In some situations of limited RNA or exotic species, radioactive membrane microarrays may be the most practical experimental approach in studying psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, and other complex questions in the brain.

• Journal of Endocrine Surgery
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.219-227
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• 2018

Purpose: The primary objective of the present study was to investigate the course of anxiety and depression in thyroidectomy. The second objective was to investigate the association between somatic symptoms and psychological symptoms, and the final objective was to identify the sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors that affect psychiatric morbidity. Methods: This prospective study, 101 patients who were admitted to the Endocrine Surgery Clinic of the Department of General Surgery, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, University of Istanbul, with thyroid pathology were included in the study. Data were collected before surgery, and in the early, and late periods after surgery. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview form, a visual analogue scale, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: The average scores of anxiety and depression before surgery were statistically significantly higher compared with the early and late periods after surgery (P<0.001). Psychological morbidity was identified about 10% of patients before surgery and remained after thyroidectomy. A poor positive correlation founded between somatic symptoms and psychological condition in period surgery (P<0.05). Various sociodemographic features and psychosocial parameters affected anxiety and depression level (P<0.05). Conclusion: Anxiety and depression level in thyroid diseases decreased after thyroidectomy. These patients may express psychologic distress through somatic symptoms. Screening of psychological morbidity is suggested in patients planned thyroid surgery, especially in women, low-educated, inadequate social support, attributed to psychological causes.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.64-73
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• 2020

Suicidality is the most serious complication of mood disorders and psychosis; effective treatment should reduce suicide rates. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development age-standardized suicide rate in Korea was 22.6 in 2018, much higher compared to other countries worldwide. As mental and psychiatric problems are the main reasons for suicide attempts, accounting for 31.6% in 2018, targeting such problems should be the focus of efforts to reduce suicide rates. However, the ability of current pharmacotherapeutic and psychotherapeutic interventions to reduce suicide rates is limited due to their delayed effects. Therefore, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been proposed as an alternative treatment. This approach is effective for treating most mental disorders associated with high suicide rates, including severe depression, bipolar disorder, and intractable psychotic disorders; ECT is also effective for Parkinson's disease, which has the highest suicide rate among all disorders in Korea. The acute, long-term, and prophylactic effects of ECT on suicidality have been reported in the literature, and treatment guidelines outside of Korea recommend that ECT be used at an early stage for rapid reduction of suicide rates, as opposed to being applied as a treatment of last resort. However, only ~0.092 of every 10000 members of the Korean general population received ECT in 2018; this is much lower than the average rate worldwide, of 2.2 per 10000. Elimination of obstacles to the use of ECT, early crisis intervention involving administration of ECT for rapid stabilization, and maintenance ECT to prevent recurrence should reduce suicide rates.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.289-299
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• 2020

Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate current research trends of Four Pillars of Destiny and verify its values and potential in the counselling scene, as the Four Pillars of Destiny's territory has been expanding to counselling, medical and psychiatric realm nowadays. Methods: The studies were searched from psychotherapy to general consultation, directly or indirectly related to counseling and Four Pillars of Destiny. Twenty-one published research studies were selected for analysis. The studies were categorized into 7 groups, meta-analysis, comparison with other personality tests, user's trend analysis, utilization in job counseling, disease prediction study, utilization in treatment counseling, and use in Korean medicine. Results: The selected studies attempted to expand Four Pillars of Destiny's usage through combination with other fields such as artificial intelligence, Korean medicine, and personality test. Furthermore by analyzing Four Pillars of Destiny itself to extract its key elements in counseling, such as therapeutic counseling factors and occupational counseling factors. Conclusions: At present, there are no standard use of Four Pillars of Destiny in counseling scene, for no large-scale research has been conducted or completed on this subject. This current status quo leads this paper to end up just understanding the counseling factors and possibilities of Four Pillars of Destiny rather than its psychological theory and clinical effect. However, this research trend analysis will be helpful in preparing future studies investigating Four Pillars of Destiny's counseling effect, application in the counseling scene and its psychological theory. Also, further studies, including confirmation of the theory through the operational definition, prospective research, control study, statistical technique are required in order to evaluate Four Pillars of Destiny's psychological theory and its effects to verify its use in clinical scenes.

• 한국노년학
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.773-784
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• 2008

This paper is to suggest policy issues to be done in the future health policy for the elderly, analyzing contents of results suggested in academic papers published in Journal of the Korean Gerontological Society. Number of Papers published in the Journal is 61, occupying most of papers related with chronic disease, medical expenditures and health delivery system except dental and psychiatric health. Method used to be analyzed is mostly random sampling among community inhabitants or hospital patients. Policy issues are as follows in case of being based in the above analysis results. Firstly, it is necessary that the development of health promotion specialized for the elderly be developed and activated. Secondly, it is necessary that the primary health care system specialized for the elderly be constructed. Thirdly, it is necessary that the subacute care system specialized for the elderly be constructed after acute care services. Finally, it is necessary that the health care system specialized for the elderly in need of long-term care be constructed also.