Search

Comprehensive behavioral intervention for tics (CBIT) is effective in children with chronic tic disorders. This study aimed to assess the effect of group-based CBIT (group-CBIT) on tic severity and comorbid symptoms. We compared the efficacy of group CBIT with that of a control.Thirty children with chronic tic disorder or Tourette's disorder were enrolled in this study. Eighteen were assigned to the group-CBIT for eight sessions, and 12 were assigned to the control group. Tics and comorbid symptoms were assessed pre- and post-intervention using the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS), Premonitory Urge for Tics Scale, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder Rating Scale-IV, Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, and the Korean-Children Behavioral Checklist. We compared the pre- and post-intervention results of each group and determined the difference in the pre- and post-intervention results between intervention and the control group.The YGTSS motor and vocal tic interference, global impairment, and global severity scores decreased in the intervention group only. Group CBIT was superior in reducing the motor tic interference, impairment score, and global severity score to the control group.The group-CBIT showed an improvement in tic symptoms, especially in reducing the level of interference and impairment of tics.

Background/Aims: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is not clear. This study was performed to investigate the effect of abnormal left ventricular geometry on clinical outcomes in Korean patients with AMI.Methods: A total of 852 consecutive patients with AMI were divided into two groups: normal left ventricular geometry (n = 470; 389 males) and LVH (n = 382; 214 males) groups. Major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) were defined as cardiac death, recurrent myocardial infarction, and rehospitalization.Results: During the clinical follow-up period of 21 ± 7.8 months, MACEs developed in 173 patients (20.0%), and the rate was higher in the LVH than normal left ventricular geometry groups (25.5% vs. 16.0%, respectively, p = 0.001). According to Kaplan-Meier survival curves, the MACE-free survival rate was significantly lower in the LVH group than in the left ventricular geometry group (p = 0.008). The rates of MACEs and all-cause mortality differed among the AMI with concentric remodeling, concentric hypertrophy, and eccentric hypertrophy subgroups (11.2% vs. 15.5% vs. 22.1%, respectively, p = 0.046). Eccentric hypertrophy was a predictive factor of MACE according to Cox proportional hazards analysis (hazard ratio 1.804, confidence interval 1.034-3.148, p = 0.038).Conclusions: LVH is a predictor of poor outcomes in patients with AMI, and eccentric hypertrophy is associated with a worse prognosis compared with concentric remodeling and concentric hypertrophy. Therefore, Korean patients with AMI and LVH, especially eccentric hypertrophy, require more careful observation and intensive treatment.

Objectives: This study investigated the effect of social skills training (SST) on facial emotion recognition and discrimination in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Twenty-three children aged 7 to 10 years participated in our SST. They included 15 children diagnosed with ADHD and 8 with ASD. The participants’ parents completed the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL), the ADHD Rating Scale, and Conner’s Scale at baseline and post-treatment. The participants completed the Korean Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (K-WISC-IV) and the Advanced Test of Attention at baseline and the Penn Emotion Recognition and Discrimination Task at baseline and post-treatment. Results: No significant changes in facial emotion recognition and discrimination occurred in either group before and after SST. However, when controlling for the processing speed of K-WISC and the social subscale of K-CBCL, the ADHD group showed more improvement in total (p=0.049), female (p=0.039), sad (p=0.002), mild (p=0.015), female extreme (p=0.005), male mild (p=0.038), and Caucasian (p=0.004) facial expressions than did the ASD group. Conclusion: SST improved facial expression recognition for children with ADHD more effectively than it did for children with ASD, in whom additional training to help emotion recognition and discrimination is needed.

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the cooling performances of two different types of cross-flow indirect evaporative coolers (IECs) operated in two different operation modes: general and regenerative. The cooling performances of the IECs were tested in each operation mode in an environmental chamber. In the general mode, the secondary air stream passing through the wet channels was the return air from the conditioned zone; whereas, in the regenerative mode, a portion of the primary air leaving the dry channels was redirected to the secondary channels. The IEC performances were measured under constant primary air inlet temperature and humidity ratio with variations of the primary airflow. As indexes of the IEC performance, the wet-bulb effectiveness and cooling capacity of both IECs in each operation mode were estimated based on the measurement data. The experimental results revealed that, in the general operation mode, both IECs exhibited higher sensible cooling performances in terms of wet-bulb effectiveness than in the regenerative mode in a 100% outdoor air system application.

Desiccant-enhanced evaporative (DEVap) cooling system have been recently introduced as an alternative to conventional air conditioning systems. This system consists of a liquid desiccant dehumidifier and a dew point evaporative cooler. In this research, workable operation strategies for the DEVap system were suggested and applied to an energy simulation for estimating the energy saving potential of the system over the conventional variable air volume (VAV) system. Four different modes of operation determined according to outdoor air conditions were suggested for annual operation of the DEVap system. Energy simulations for both DEVap and VAV systems were performed for a model office building. The results showed that 2–3% of annual primary energy could be saved by using the DEVap cooling system compared with the conventional VAV system.

The purpose of this study is to comparatively evaluate the energy performances of a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) and desiccant-enhanced evaporative air conditioner (DEVap) in building applications. The DOAS effectively accommodates latent cooling loads and some of the sensible cooling loads of the space by introducing cooled and dehumidified ventilation air into a building while integrating a parallel system aimed at reducing the remaining sensible load. The DEVap enhances the energy performance of a variable air volume system by reducing cooling coil loads through preconditioning of the supply air before it reaches a coil. The preconditioning is accomplished by using a liquid desiccant system and dew-point indirect evaporative cooler. In this paper, the operating and annual primary energy consumptions of both the DOAS and DEVap systems are compared based on detailed energy simulations. The results indicated the energy saving potential of DOAS to be greater than that of the DEVap. Specifically, a DOAS with ceiling radiant cooling panels experienced 20% less primary energy consumption compared to a DEVap.

The objective of this research is to retrofit a liquid desiccant (LD) and indirect/direct evaporative cooling-assisted 100% outdoor air system (LD-IDECOAS) to enhance its operating energy saving potential. Two retrofit cases of existing LD-IDECOAS have been considered. The first case involves replacing the indirect and direct evaporative coolers with an M-cycle or a dew-point indirect evaporative cooler (i.e., Case 1), and the other one involves adding an enthalpy exchanger before the LD unit of the system in case 1 (i.e., Case 2). By conducting detailed energy simulations for each retrofit case, the improvements in operating energy saving and the coefficient of performance (COP) over the existing LD-IDECOAS were quantitatively evaluated. The results showed that case 1 might provide enhancement in cooling capacity and thermal COP; however, the heating energy consumption for regenerating the desiccant solution increased with the higher process airflow rate when compared to the existing LD-IDECOAS. It was also found that the cooling capacity, thermal COP, and primary COP could be improved by adding a membrane enthalpy exchanger, as done in case 2, without any significant increase in the heating energy consumption for regenerating the desiccant solution.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the skin depigmentation effect of the extracts of three herbs, Carthamus tinctorius seed, Cyperus rotundus and Schizonepeta tenuifolia. Their effects on tyrosinase and melanin synthesis inhibitory action were assessed. We found that the C. tinctorius seed ethanol extracts reduced the tyrosinase activity and melanin formation of B16F10 melanoma cells. The C. tinctorius seed suppressed the expression in microphthalmia associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase, tyrosinase related protein 1 (TRP-1), and tyrosinase related protein 2 (TRP-2) in B16F10 melanoma cells. These results show that C. tinctorius seed inhibited melanogenesis on the B16F10 melanoma cell. The underlying mechanism of C. tinctorius seed whitening activity may be the inhibition of tyrisinase, MITF, tyrosinase, TRP-1, and TRP-2 expression. The results suggested that C. tinctorius seed has considerable potential as a natural functional ingredient with a depigmentation effect.

This study was carried out to search for natural anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds from 5 medicinal plants (Carthamus tinctorius seed, Cyperus rotundus, Schizonepeta tenuifolia, Polygonatum odoratum var. pluriflorum, and Paeonia lactiflora). These plants were extracted with 70% ethanol. In order to measure total antioxidant activity of flavonoids, polyphenol content was measured. Radical scavenging activities of extracts were examined using a-a-Diphenyl-βpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH·), 2,2-azino-bis 3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS·), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and superoxide anion radical assays. C. tinctorius seed extracts showed the highest polyphenol and flavonoid contents as well as strong DPPH·, ABTS·, FRAP, and superoxide anion radical scavenging activity. Also, C. tinctorius seed extracts showed the highest nitric oxide (NO) production inhibitory effect. Theses results indicate that the C. tinctorius seed extracts can be used as a functional material due to their effective anti-oxidative and antiinflammatory activities.

Biological activities of sarcocarp and calyx of persimmon (Cheongdo Bansi) were investigated. The electron donating ability of the calyx extract was 91% at a 500 level, which was higher than that of the sarcocarp extract (40%). The superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity of calyx extracts was about 22% at a 1,000 level. During the entire experimental period, there was no cytotoxicity found from sarcocarp and calyx up to 50 . Our results indicated that sarcocarp and calyx significantly inhibited NO production and iNOS and COX-2 expression accompanied by an attenuation of interleukin (IL)-, IL-6, and tumer necrosis factor (TNF)- formation in human keratinocyte. These results suggest that sarcocarp and calyx of persimmon may have significant effect on inflammatory factors and can be used as potential anti-inflammatory agents.

Objectives The South Korean government required the submission of economic evidence when it implemented the Positive-List System in December 2006. This study investigates the key factors that influenced actual public insurance reimbursement decisions, including the role of economic evidence, after 10 years of decision practice under compulsory health technology assessment (HTA) for new drugs. Method Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the impact of the variables involved, including cost-effectiveness ratio as a key variable, on reimbursement decisions. The latter were defined as “yes” or “no” at a submitted price and indication. Only cases (n = 91) that present a cost-effectiveness ratio, and that have been reviewed based on this ratio from January 2007 to December 2016, were included in the analysis. Results Cases with higher cost-effectiveness ratios were less likely to be accepted. In addition, drugs that were used to treat severe diseases and drugs with no substitute were more likely to be recommended. The probability of acceptance declined along with the level of uncertainty in the submitted evidence. The acceptance rate for severe-disease drugs has increased since 2013, when the government introduced several policies that lowered the existing barriers to positive reimbursement. However, such an increase was not statistically significant. Conclusions Cost-effectiveness is one of the most influential factors in drug-reimbursement decisions. However, inclusion of other explanatory variables, in addition to the cost-effectiveness ratio, predicted the results of decisions more accurately.

Objective: We analyzed information surveyed from a community-based sample of Korean women older than 40 years of age to understand the relationships between health status and screening behavior. Methods: In a cross-sectional population-based study, a two-stage, geographically stratified household-based sampling design was used for assembly of a probability sample of women aged 40‐69 years living in Gunpo in Korea, resulting in a total sample size of 503 women. The primary outcome variable for this analysis was the respondent’s intention to obtain a mammogram. Predictor variables included health status and other factors known to influence the use of cancer screening, such as age, education, income, marital status and the presence of co-morbid illnesses. Health status was assessed by using the EuroQol (EQ-5D). Results: The median EQ visual analogue scale score was 75.0, ranging from 20 to 100. In bivariate analyses, the percentage of women reporting to have intention toward mammography use decreased with worsening health status. Women who had problems with mobility or anxiety/depression showed lower intention to undergo future screening mammography. Multivariate logistic regression confirmed that health status was significantly associated with intention toward mammography use. Anxiety or depression was an independent predictor of future screening mammography use. Conclusions: Health status is significantly associated with intention regarding screening mammography use. Physicians or other health professionals should be aware that health status is an important component for health promotion, and should pay more attention to clients’ possible vulnerability in screening mammography use due to their poor health status.

Salicornia herbacea is rich in natural minerals, dietary fibers, and potentially health-promoting phenolic compounds. In this paper, an experimental design was applied for the optimization of the ultrasound-assisted extraction of phenolic compounds from lyophilized Salicornia herbacea powder. The experiments were conducted in accordance with a five-level, three-variable central composite rotatable design (CCRD), and the effects of solvent concentration, extraction time, and extraction temperature were evaluated via response surface methodology (RSM). The optimal extraction conditions were as follows: ethanol concentration, 76.80%; extraction time, 20 min; and extraction temperature, 33.21℃; and the solvent concentration was the most significant parameter in this process, under which the predicted total phenolic content was 49.91 ㎎ GAE/g sample.

In this study, radish slices were dried as single layers with thickness of 4 and 6 mm in the ranges of 40–60 °C of drying air temperature in a laboratory scale vacuum dryer. The effect of drying air temperature and slice thickness on the drying characteristics was determined. Moisture transfer from radish slices was described by applying the Fick's diffusion model, and the effective diffusivity changes between 6.92 × 10−9 and 14.59 × 10−9 m2/s within the given temperature range. Effective diffusivity increased with increasing temperature. An Arrhenius relation with activation energy values of 16.49 and 20.26 kJ/mol for the thickness of 4 and 6 mm expressed the effect of temperature and sample thickness on the diffusivity. A non-linear regression procedure was used to fit nine thin-layer drying models available in the literature to the experimental moisture loss data. The models were compared based on the coefficient of determination, mean relative percent deviation, root mean square error, and the reduced chi-square between the observed and predicted moisture ratios. The logarithmic model has shown a better fit to the experimental drying data as compared to other models.

Onion slices were dehydrated in a single layer at drying air temperatures ranging from 50～70℃ in a laboratory scale convective hot-air dryer at an air velocity of 0.66 m/s. The effect of drying air temperature on the drying kinetic characteristics were determined. It was found that onion slices would dry within 210～460 min under these drying conditions. Moisture transfer during dehydration was described by applying the Fick's diffusion model and the effective diffusivity changed between 1.345×10?? and 2.658×10?? ㎡/s. A non-linear regression procedure was used to fit 9 thin layer drying models available in the literature to the experimental drying curves. The Logarithmic model provided a better fit to the experimental drying data as compared to other models. Temperature dependency of the effective diffusivity during the hot-air drying process obeyed the Arrhenius relationship with estimated activation energy being 31.36 kJ/㏖. The effect of the drying air temperature on the drying model constants and coefficients were also determined.

Response surface methodology (RSM) was used for the analysis and optimization of the production process of strawberry Kochujang. Experiments were carried out according to a central composite design, selecting strawberry puree content and red pepper powder content as independent variables and soluble solids content, moisture content, water activity, color characteristics (L*-, a*-, and b*-values) as response variables. The polynomial models developed by RSM were highly effective for describing the relationships between the study factors and the responses. Kochujang containing a higher amount of red pepper powder had a higher soluble solids content; on the contrary, soluble solids content decreased with the increase in the strawberry puree content in the sample. Moisture content increased with increased strawberry puree content but decreased with increased red pepper powder content. Water activity increased with the increase in strawberry puree content in the sample but was less affected by the amount of red pepper powder content. Decreases in L*-values with increasing amount of red pepper powder were noted. a*-values decreased with the increases in red pepper powder content but increased with the increase in strawberry puree content in the Kochujang formulation. b*-values decreased with the increases in red pepper powder content but was less affected by the strawberry puree content. Overall optimization, conducted by overlaying the contour plots under investigation, was able to point out an optimal range of the independent variables within which the six responses were simultaneously optimized. The point chosen as representative of this optimal area corresponded to strawberry puree content=14.36% and red pepper powder content= 11.33%, conditions under which the model predicted soluble solids content=59.31oBrix, moisture content=45.30% (w.b.), water activity=0.758, L*-value=24.81, a*-value=7.250, and b*-value=10.19.

Quality characteristics of kochujang prepared with strawberry puree (10, 20, and 30% on a total weight basis) were investigated at 30 and 300 days of fermentation. The highest L*-value was found in 30% strawberry kochujang at 300 days of fermentation. In contrast, the highest degree of redness (a*) was observed in 30% strawberry kochujang at the early stage of fermentation. During the fermentation, values of L*, a*, and b* increased except a*-value of 30% strawberry kochujang, indicating proper substitution of strawberry puree could preserve the desired color of kochujang. After 300 days of fermentation, hardness, gumminess, and chewiness increased while adhesiveness decreased significantly (p＜0.05). Taste score and Pearson coefficient between sensory and strawberry concentration revealed that 10% strawberry kochujang was more acceptable than the others, due to color and the formation of flavor compounds during the fermentation and these compounds enhanced the flavor of kochujang.

Quality characteristics of kochujang prepared with strawberry puree (10, 20, and 30% on the total weight basis) were investigated after 30 and 300 days of storage. The moisture content of strawberry kochujang at 300 days was considerably higher than that of strawberry kochujang at 30 days and increasing strawberry content from 0 to 30% significantly increased moisture content of kochujang progressively (p＜0.05). Water activity and titratable acidity also showed similar trends, but pH showed the reverse trend with the highest value in control at 30 days and the lowest value in 30% strawberry kochujang at 300 days. As the strawberry puree content increased, amino-nitrogen content consistently and correspondingly decreased. Amino-nitrogen content at 300 days was higher than that of strawberry kochujang at 30 days. Soluble solids content also showed a similar trend, but soluble solid content at 300 days was considerably lower than that of strawberry kochujang at 30 days. Reduction in soluble solids content with increasing strawberry concentration was more evident at 30 days than at 300 day.