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Comparison of Gangjihwan and Combination of Gangjihwan and Gamisochehwan in the Improvement Effects of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a High Fat Diet-Fed NAFLD Mouse Model (고지방식이 비만마우스 모델에서 강지환(降脂丸)과 강지환(降脂丸)+가미소체환(加味消滯丸)의 비알콜성 지방간질환 개선효과 비교)

  • Jang, Du Hyon;Jung, Yang Sam;Kim, Jong Hoon;Kim, Byeong Chul;Seok, Hoa Jun;Yoo, Jae Sang;Ku, Ja Ryong;Yoon, Ki Hyeon;Jo, Ju Heum;Lee, Hye Rim;Roh, Jong Seong;Yun, Ho Young;Yoon, Michung;Shin, Soon Shik
    • Herbal Formula Science
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.167-176
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    • 2014
  • Objectives : This study investigated the improvement effects of Gangjihwan (DF) and combination of Gangjihwan and Gamisochehwan (GSH) on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in a high fat diet-induced obese mouse model. Methods : Eight-week-old C57BL/6N mice were divided into five groups: a normal lean group given a standard diet, an obese control group given a high fat diet, and atorvastatin, DF, and DF+GSH groups given a high fat diet with atorvastatin (10 mg/kg), DF (40 mg/kg), and DF+GSH (80 mg/kg), respectively. After 8 weeks of treatment, body weight gain, blood lipid markers, ALT concentrations, liver weight and histology were examined. Results : 1. Body weight gain was significantly decreased in DF, DF+GSH and atorvastatin groups compared with control. The extent of decreases was eminent in DF+GSH group. 2. Circulating concentrations of total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were decreased in DF, DF+GSH and atorvastatin groups compared with control. The decreases were significant in DF+GSH and atorvastatin groups. 3. Liver weights were decreased in DF, DF+GSH and atorvastatin groups compared with control. In particular, liver weight was significantly reduced only in DF+GSH group. 4. Hepatic lipid accumulation was significantly decreased in DF, DF+GSH and atorvastatin groups compared with control, and the magnitude of which was more effective in DF+GSH group than in DF-only group. 5. Circulating ALT concentrations were decreased in DF, DF+GSH and atorvastatin compared with control, but ALS levels were significantly reduced only in DF+GSH group. Conclusions : In conclusion, these results suggest that DF decreases body weight gain, improves blood lipid metabolism, and reduces liver weight and hepatic lipid accumulation, contributing to the improvement of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In addition, these effects were more effective in DF+GSH combination group than in DF-only group.

Comparison of Pakistani and Chinese Ephedra Herba-Containing Gangjihwan in the Improvement Effects of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a High Fat Diet-Fed NAFLD Mouse Model (고지방식이 비만마우스 모델에서 파키스탄산 및 중국산 마황으로 조성된 강지환(降脂丸)의 비알콜성 지방간질환 개선효과 비교)

  • Jo, Ju Heum;Jang, Du Hyon;Jung, Yang Sam;Kim, Jong Hoon;Kim, Byeong Chul;Seok, Hoa Jun;Yoo, Jae Sang;Ku, Ja Ryong;Yoon, Ki Hyeon;Roh, Jong Seong;Ahn, Ye Ji;Lee, Won Kyung;Yoon, Michung;Shin, Soon Shik
    • Herbal Formula Science
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.113-122
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    • 2014
  • Objectives : This study investigated the improvement effects of Pakistani (DF-a) and Chinese Ephedra herba-containing Gangjihwan (DF-b) on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in a high fat diet-induced obese mouse model. Methods : Eight-week-old C57BL/6N mice were divided into five groups: a normal lean group given a standard diet, an obese control group given a high fat diet, and atorvastatin, DF-a, and DF-b groups given a high fat diet with atorvastatin (10 mg/kg), DF-a (80 mg/kg), and DF-b (80 mg/kg), respectively. After 8 weeks of treatment, body weight gain, blood lipid markers, ALT concentrations, liver weight and histology were examined. Results : 1. Body weight gain was significantly decreased in DF-a, DF-b, and atorvastatin groups compared with control. The extent of decreases was eminent in DF-a group. 2. Circulating concentrations of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were significantly decreased in DF-a, DF-b, and atorvastatin groups compared with control. The decreases were most effective in atorvastatin group. 3. Liver weights were decreased in DF-a, DF-b, and atorvastatin groups compared with control. In particular, liver weight was significantly reduced in DF-b group. 4. Hepatic lipid accumulation was significantly decreased in DF-a, DF-b, and atorvastatin groups compared with control, and the magnitude of which was most effective in DF-b group. 5. Circulating ALT concentrations were decreased in DF-a, DF-b, and atorvastatin groups compared with control, but ALS levels were significantly reduced only in DF-b group. Conclusions : In conclusion, these results suggest that DF-a and DF-b decrease body weight gain, improve blood lipid metabolism, and reduce liver weight and hepatic lipid accumulation, contributing to the improvement of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In addition, these effects were similar between Pakistani and Chinese Ephedra herba-containing Gangjihwan.

Effect of Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ on Chest Pain and Discomfort: A Multi-center Double-blind Randomized Controlled Trial. (심적환$^{(R)}$이 흉통 흉민에 대하여 미치는 영향에 대한 다기관 무작위배정 이중맹검 임상연구)

  • Jang Insoo;Ko Changnam;Lee In;Park Jung-mi;Kim Sehyun;Kim Sangwoo
    • The Journal of Korean Medicine
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    • v.26 no.2 s.62
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    • pp.95-104
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    • 2005
  • Objectives: This was a double blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study for evaluation of safety and effective dose finding of Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ in patients with chest pain and discomfort. Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ are composed of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix (丹蔘), Notoginseng Radix (三七根) and Borneolum (龍腦). Major effects of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix and Notoginseng Radix are vasodilatation, sedation and analgesic action. Borneolum has an antibacterial effect, and can stimulate the central nervous system. All of these substances are oriental herbs that have been used for a long time in east Asia. Cardiotonic Pills fi received Investigational New Drug (IND) approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA and 40 million people in the world take this pill. We performed a phase IV clinical study to confirm its efficacy and safety in patients who have probable cardiogenic or psychogenic chest pain or chest stifling. Methods: This study was planned for a multi-center clinical trial including four university hospitals of oriental medicine in Korea. This was the first time to evaluate the 'planning treatment according to diagnosis (辨證施治)' of chest pain or chest discomfort according to oriental medical guidelines. The patients who were included in this trial were adult volunteers from 20 to 70 years old who had chest pain or chest discomfort more than twice during a recent month, and we received written consent to participate in this study from all of them. After administration of Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ for 8 weeks, number of occurrences, duration, appearance and degree of chest pain or chest discomfort was observed and degree of symptoms (severity of illness, global improvement) were measured using a patient's global assessment composite scale. Results: In the patient's global assessment scale, the severity of illness of the Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ group (n=25) was 14/25=0.56 but of the placebo group (n=25) was 7/25=0.28 (p-value=0.0449). This result indicates Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$have a positive effect on the symptoms of chest pain and discomfort. However, the global improvement of the Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$group was 23/25=0.92, and of the placebo group was 22/25=0.88 (p-value=0.6374). The total symptom score of the Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ group was $1.68\pm20.06$, and of the placebo group was $16.76\pm72.l4$(p-value=0.2285). The number of symptom events of the Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ group was $72\pm29.78$, and of the placebo group (n=25) was $10.80\pm38.42$ (p­value=0.3660). We could not find any effects on the other factors examined besides the severity of illness, beyond the difference of standard deviations. Conclusions: Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ significantly reduced chest pain and chest discomfort in patients. Therefore, we expect that Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ will be helpful for patients with chest pain and chest discomfort not only caused by heart disease but also by other diseases.

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The Existence and Role of Ji-chong for Medical Exchange in Ancient Korea (지총(知聰)의 실존(實存)과 고대 한국 의학 교류(古代 韓國 醫學 交流)에 대한 역할(役割))

  • Kim, Jae-Hyo;Kim, Seong-Chul;Chung, Heon-Young;Kim, Ryong;Kwon, Oh-Sang;Kim, Kyung-Sik;Sohn, In-Chul
    • The Journal of Korean Medicine
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    • v.28 no.3 s.71
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    • pp.70-85
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    • 2007
  • Objectives : Considering the indigenousness of Korean medicine, the historical record was first introduced in 1946 as follows; a Chinese person, Ji-chong (知聰), brought 164 volumes of medical books to Japan via Goguryeo (高句麗) in A.D. 562. Since this event happened, Korean Oriental Medicine has been derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine because ancient Korean Medicine originated and was developed in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the existence and role of Ji-chong in the history of medical exchanges between ancient Korea and Japan. Methods : We studied Ji-chong through ancient and modern historical literatures such as Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), the record of $Shinsen-sh{\bar{o}}jiroku$ (新撰姓氏錄), Korean Medical History (韓國醫學史), Japanese Medical History (日本醫學史), Samguk Sagi (三國史記), etc. Results : We found indications of the existence of Ji-chong and the import of Chinese medical literature to the ancient Korean peninsula by examining domestic and foreign historical literature. Especially, he was closely related to historical assumptions about the Japanese conquest of Goguryeo in A.D. 562, although without objective historical evidence and described only in modern Japanese historical records and Korean Medical History. However, substantial medical exchange toward Japan was accomplished by Korean medicine of either Goguryeo, Baekje (百濟), or Silla (新羅) dynasty until the late A.D. 6 century. Conclusions : Based on the above investigation, the idea that Ji-chong carried medical literature via Goguryeo in A.D. 562 needs to be reconsidered and the role of Ji-chong as recorded in a variety of literature and databases should be amended., Korean Oriental Medicine has been derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine because ancient Korean Medicine originated and was developed in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the existence and role of Ji-chong in the history of medical exchanges between ancient Korea and Japan. Methods : We studied Ji-chong through ancient and modern historical literatures such as Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), the record of Shinsen-$sh{\bar{o}}jiroku$ (新撰姓氏錄), Korean Medical History (韓國醫學史), Japanese Medical History (日本醫學士), Samguk Sagi (三國史記), etc. Results : We found indications of the existence of Ji-chong and the import of Chinese medical literature to the ancient Korean peninsula by examining domestic and foreign historical literature. Especially, he was closely related to historical assumptions about the Japanese conquest of Goguryeo in A.D. 562, although without objective historical evidence and described only in modern Japanese historical records and Korean Medical History. However, substantial medical exchange toward Japan was accomplished by Korean medicine of either Goguryeo, Baekje (百濟), or Silla (新羅) dynasty until the late A.D. 6 century. Conclusions : Based on the above investigation, the idea that Ji-chong carried medical literature via Goguryeo in A.D. 562 needs to be reconsidered and the role of Ji-chong as recorded in a variety of literature and databases should be amended.

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The Effect of Antipsychotic Drug Treatment on Serum VEGF, sVEGFR-1, and sVEGFR-2 Level in Schizophrenia - A Preliminary Study - (정신분열병 환자에서 항정신병약물 치료가 혈청 VEGF, sVEGFR-1 및 sVEGFR-2의 농도에 미치는 영향 - 예 비 연 구 -)

  • Kim, Tae Hyun;Kim, Do Hoon;Lee, Sang Kyu;Son, Bong Ki;Jung, Jun Sub
    • Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.232-240
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    • 2007
  • Objectives : Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF), one of potent cytokines, and its receptors were related with various biological functions and pathological conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of serum level of free VEGF, soluble VEGFR-1, and soluble VEGFR-2 after treatment with atypical antipsychotic drug in schizophrenia. Method : The schizophrenic patients were diagnosed with DSM-IV and were prospectively followed up for 4 and 8 weeks. Thirteen schizophrenic patients were evaluated their clinical assessment with serum levels of free VEGF, sVEGFR-1, sVEGFR-2, and positive and negative symptom scale(PANSS) at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks after treatment with atypical antipsychotic drug. Thirteen normal control subjects were recruited and matched with the patient group by age and sex. Result : The serum level of free VEGF($295.2{\pm}43.7$pg/ml)and sVEGFR-2($8259{\pm}336.7$) at baseline(before treatment) in schizophrenic patients were not significantly different, compared with the control group($199.0{\pm}28.8$ and $8481{\pm}371.9$) respectively. However, the serum level of sVEGFR-1($86.2{\pm}10.3$, p<0.05) was significantly increased in the schizophrenic patients compared with the control group($59.0{\pm}6.4$). After treatment with antipsychotic drug, the serum levels of free VEGF at 4 weeks($338.9{\pm}56.5$) and 8 weeks($309.5{\pm}58.7$) were not significantly, different compared with baseline. But the serum levels of sVEGFR-1 was significantly decreased at 8 weeks ($57.3{\pm}6.3$, p<0.05) after antipsychotic drug treatment. The serum levels of sVEGFR-2 were decreased at 4 weeks ($7761{\pm}403.0$, p<0.05) and 8 weeks($7435{\pm}333.5$, p<0.05) compared with baseline. Conclusion : The decreased serum level of sVEGFR-1 and sVEGFR-2 might be affected by dopaminergic system which was influenced by antipsychotic drug.

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A Meta-analysis of Ambient Air Pollution in Relation to Daily Mortality in Seoul, $1991\sim1995$ (메타분석 방법을 적용한 서울시 대기오염과 조기사망의 상관성 연구 (1991년$\sim$1995년))

  • Dockery, Douglas W.;Kim, Chun-Bae;Jee, Sun-Ha;Chung, Yong;Lee, Jong-Tae
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.32 no.2
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    • pp.177-182
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    • 1999
  • Objectives: To reexamine the association between air pollution and daily mortality in Seoul, Korea using a method of meta-analysis with the data filed for 1991 through 1995. Methods: A separate Poisson regression analysis on each district within the metropolitan area of Seoul was conducted to regress daily death counts on levels of each ambient air pollutant, such as total suspended particulates (TSP), sulfur dioxide $(SO_2)$, and ozone $(O_3)$, controlling for variability in the weather condition. We calculated a weighted mean as a meta-analysis summary of the estimates and its standard error. Results: We found that the p value from each pollutant model to test the homogeneity assumption was small (p<0.01) because of the large disparity among district-specific estimates. Therefore, all results reported here were estimated from the random effect model. Using the weighted mean that we calculated, the mortality at a $100{\mu}g/m^3$ increment in a 3-day moving average of TSP levels was 1.034 (95% Cl 1.009-1.059). The mortality was estimated to increase 6% (95% Cl 3-10%) and 3% (95% Cl 0-6%) with each 50 ppb increase for 9-day moving average of SO2 and 1-hr maximum O3, respectively. Conclusions: Like most of air pollution epidemiologic studies, this meta-analysis cannot avoid fleeing from measurement misclassification since no personal measurement was taken. However, we can expect that a measurement bias be reduced in a district-specific estimate since a monitoring station is hefter representative cf air quality of the matched district. The similar results to those from the previous studios indicated existence of health effect of air pollution at current levels in many industrialized countries, including Korea.

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Exploring Influence of Network Structure, Organizational Learning Culture, and Knowledge Management Participation on Individual Creativity and Performance: Comparison of SI Proposal Team and R&D Team (네트워크 구조와 조직학습문화, 지식경영참여가 개인창의성 및 성과에 미치는 영향에 관한 실증분석: SI제안팀과 R&D팀의 비교연구)

  • Lee, Kun-Chang;Seo, Young-Wook;Chae, Seong-Wook;Song, Seok-Woo
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.101-123
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    • 2010
  • Recently, firms are operating a number of teams to accomplish organizational performance. Especially, ad hoc teams like proposal preparation team are quite different from permanent teams like R&D team in the sense of how the team forms network structure and deals with organizational learning culture and knowledge management participation efforts. Moreover, depending on the team characteristics, individual creativity will differ from each other, which will lead to organizational performance eventually. Previous studies in the field of creativity are lacking in this issue. So main objectives of this study are organized as follows. First, the issue of how to improve individual creativity and organizational performance will be analyzed empirically. This issue will be performed depending on team characteristics such as ad hoc team and permanent team. Antecedents adopted for this research objective are cultural and knowledge factors such as organizational learning culture, and knowledge management participation. Second, the network structure such as degree centrality, and structural hole is used to analyze its influence on individual creativity and organizational performance. SI (System Integration) companies are facing severely tough requirements from clients to submit very creative proposals. Also, R&D teams are widely accepted as relatively creative teams because their responsibilities are focused on suggesting innovative techniques to make their companies remain competitive in the market. SI teams are usually ad hoc, while R&D teams are permanent on an average. By taking advantage of these characteristics of the two kinds of teams, we will prove the validity of the proposed research questions. To obtain the survey data, we accessed 7 SI teams (74 members), and 6 R&D teams (63 members), collecting 137 valid questionnaires. PLS technique was applied to analyze the survey data. Results are as follows. First, in case of SI teams, organizational learning culture affects individual creativity significantly. Meanwhile, knowledge management participation has a significant influence on Individual creativity for the permanent teams. Second, degree centrality Influences individual creativity significantly in case of SI teams. This is comparable with the fact that structural hole has a significant impact on individual creativity for the R&D teams. Practical implications can be summarized as follows: First, network structure of ad hoc team should be designed differently from one of permanent team. Ad hoc team is supposed to show a high creativity in a rather short period, implying that network density among team members should be improved, and those members with high degree centrality should be encouraged to show their Individual creativity and take a leading role by allowing them to get heavily engaged in knowledge sharing and diffusion. In contrast, permanent team should be designed to take advantage of structural hole instead of focusing on network density. Since structural hole can be utilized very effectively in the permanent team, strong arbitrators' merits in the permanent team will increase and therefore helps increase both network efficiency and effectiveness too. In this way, individual creativity in the permanent team is likely to lead to organizational creativity in a seamless way. Second, way of Increasing individual creativity should be sought from the perspective of organizational culture and knowledge management. Organization is supposed to provide a cultural atmosphere in which Innovative idea suggestions and active discussion among team members are encouraged. In this way, trust builds up among team members, facilitating the formation of organizational learning culture. Third, in the ad hoc team, organizational looming culture should be built such a way that individual creativity can grow up fast in a rather short period. Since time is tight, reasonable compensation policy, leader's Initiatives, and learning culture formation should be done In a short period so that mutual trust is built among members quickly, and necessary knowledge and information can be learnt rapidly. Fourth, in the permanent team, it should be kept in mind that the degree of participation in knowledge management determines level of Individual creativity. Therefore, the team ought to facilitate knowledge circulation process such as knowledge creation, storage, sharing, utilization, and learning among team members, which will lead to team performance. In this way, firms must control knowledge networks in permanent team and ad hoc team in a way mentioned above so that individual creativity as well as team performance can be maximized.

Development of test for Korean functional health literacy in dentistry (국내거주 외국인을 위한 한국형 치과정보 이해능력 평가도구의 개발)

  • Kim, Hyun-Kyung;Noh, Hie-Jin;Jung, Im-Hee;Chung, Won-Gyun;Lee, Yun;Mun, So-Jung;Jeon, Hyun-Sun;Han, Sun-Young;Choi, Eun-Hee;Ki, Jun-Sung;Koo, Min-Ji;Jeong, Ju-Hui
    • Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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    • v.16 no.3
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    • pp.355-362
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    • 2016
  • Objectives: This study aimed to develop a tool for assessing foreigners' understanding of oral health information in Korea called the Test of Korean Functional Health Literacy in Dentistry(TOKFHLiD) and examined validity and reliability of the tool. The TOKFHLiD consists of two literacy assessment parts: Dental Information Sentence(DIS) aims to assess one's literacy of sentences containing oral health information. Dental Information Document(DID) aims to assess one's numeracy and literacy of documents containing oral health information. Methods: Twenty eight preliminary questions were developed based on various medical care literature such as the agreement to diagnosis and treatment and the treatment precautions. DID using 14 preliminary questions was developed based on the appointment card, the treatment schedule, and labels on oral care products. The 42 preliminary questions in the DIS and the DID were subsequently put through four separate expert reviews, in which questions with content validity score of less than 0.8(13/15 points) were corrected and modified by five dental experts and then were corrected for language errors by two Korean language experts. The preliminary assessment tool was tested on 153 Koreans, and ${\chi}^2$ test was performed on the ratio of respondents who comprehended each question, the ratio of respondents who chose the correct answer for each question with a significance level of 0.05. Results: Of the 42 preliminary questions, 1 question in DIS and 1 question in DID, for which the ratio of Korean respondents who chose the correct answers did not exceed the acceptable level of 80%, were excluded and a final assessment tool was completed with 40 questions. Conclusions: Following the development and application of the tool, examination of the TOKHLiD for validity and reliability revealed that this assessment tool is adequate for assessing oral health information literacy of foreigners who are using oral hygiene medical services in Korea.

The Effect of Psychological Factors on Postoperative Pain in Gastric Tumor Patients after Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (내시경 점막하 박리법을 시술 받은 위종양 환자에서 심리적 요인이 시술 후 통증에 미치는 영향)

  • Lee, Joon-Hyub;Jeon, Han Ho;Lee, San;Lee, Hyeok;Oh, Seung-Taek;Chang, Jhin Goo;Im, Woo Young;Park, Jaesub;Choi, Won-Jung
    • Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.68-75
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    • 2018
  • Objectives : Since pain in cancer patients is an important factor that greatly affects the quality of life and prognosis, many attempts have been actively made to reduce the pain. Despite continuous effort on reducing pain after Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), research has not been done on psychological factors as much as on biological factors affecting pain. The objective of this study is to investigate the psychological factors affecting postoperative pain in gastric tumor patients who underwent gastric ESD. Methods : 91 gastric tumor patients who visited National Health Service Ilsan Hospital in Korean between May 2015 and June 2016, and received ESD were evaluated. Baseline characteristics including sociodemographic factors, anxiety, depression, and resilience were evaluated before the procedure. Multivariate logistic regression was done to analyze factors affecting postoperative pain. Results : The group with high postoperative pain showed lower alcohol consumption and higher depressive symptom scores than the group with low postoperative pain. Also, the group with high postoperative pain showed lower total resilience score with lower subtotal scores in self-control and positive item. Multivariate logistic regression analysis of the postoperative pain showed that patients with lower score in self-control of resilience [odd ratio (OR), 0.911 ; 95% CI, 0.854-0.971, p=0.004) reported more pain after ESD. Conclusions : This study showed that patients with lower self-control ability of resilience felt more pain after ESD. Among the psychological factors evaluated in this study, resilience of an individual seems to have effect on pain.

Biodiversity Conservation and the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem Project (생물다양성 보전과 황해 광역 해양생태계 관리계획)

  • Walton, Mark
    • 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.