Search

Suicide is influenced by complex interactions among various psychopathological features. We aimed to examine the relationship between suicide risk and psychological risk factors such as defense mechanisms, personality, and anxiety.We established a psychiatric database by utilizing the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model. We conducted a 1:1 propensity score matching with age, sex, and depression severity, and identified a sample (n = 258) with two groups: those with suicidal behavior and those with non-suicidal behavior. Using principal component analysis, we extracted nine psychological scales and applied network analysis to compare relationships among psychological factors between the two groups.Patients with non-suicidal behaviors showed associations between trait anxiety and defense mechanisms, while those with suicidal behaviors did not. For patients with suicidal ideation there was an association between somatization and trait anxiety. Patients with suicide attempts showed associations between paranoia and dissociation connected to trait anxiety.Longitudinal research is required to fully observe transitions from suicidal ideation to attempts and recurrent suicidal events. In addition, these networks may not generalize suicidal behaviors because the group participants are not homogeneous. Lastly, data from self-report questionnaires limits the reliability of responses.We presented important new insights on suicidal behavior by estimating psychological networks. Patients with non-suicidal behavior may exhibit discrete relationships between defense mechanisms and anxiety, compared to those with suicidal behavior. Patients with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts may show distinct associations between anxiety and psychopathological features.

Purpose Soccer-related social media BigData includes complex information related to soccer players and is continuously and instantly generated. Text mining research is actively carried out for this kind of social media contents analysis, but it tends to be analyzed with limited linguistic characteristics such as understanding of language complexity and context, ambiguous terms, rhetoric, and new terms. This can be attributed to the fact that the tools commonly used for text mining use universal terminology dictionaries and packages that exclude the peculiarities of the analysis themes. The purpose of this study is to develop an Ontology model, which are representative tools for defining semantic ambiguity and relationships and systems between terms of text data. Methods In order to achieve the research objectives, we applied the 7-step development method of ‘Ontology Development 101: A Guide to Creating Your First Ontology’, which is useful for ontology development. Each step includes 1) Determine the domain and scope of the ontology 2) Consider reusing existing ontology 3) Enumerate important terms in the ontology 4) Define the classes and the class hierarchy 5) Define the properties of classes-slots 6) Define the facts of the slots 7) Create instances. In particular, the 3rd-step of this study, the glossary stage, is to extract core terms that make up he ontology, but since the goal of this study is to develop the ontology that can be used in social media contents analysis of soccer players, we conducted a social media text analysis related to actual soccer players and selected 484 core terms. Results The ontology which was developed in this research for social media contents analysis of soccer players consisted largely of four parts(General terms, performance results terms, common terms, and Characteristic term) and classified according to the content characteristics of the term. Conclusion Developed ontology in this study is object-oriented that defining classes and objects to define divisions and relationships between terms and also means a social media contents knowledge system of soccer players. In addition, it performs a function as a secondary tool which can be utilized for atypical data analysis.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a multigenic disease that occurs due to various genetic modifiers. We investigated phenotype-based clinical and genetic characteristics of HCM patients using comprehensive genetic tests and rare variant association analysis.A comprehensive HCM-specific panel, consisting of 82 nuclear DNAs (nDNAs: 33 sarcomere-associated genes, 5 phenocopy genes, and 44 nuclear genes linked to mitochondrial cardiomyopathy) and 37 mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs), was analyzed. Rare variant analysis was performed to determine the association of specific genes with different phenotypes.Among the 212 patients, pathogenic variants in sarcomere-associated genes were more prevalent in non-apical HCM (41.4%, 46/111; P = 0.001) than apical HCM (20.8%, 21/101). Apical HCM exhibits mild phenotypes than non-apical HCM, and it showed fewer numbers of sarcomere mutations than non-apical HCM. Interestingly, inverted mutation frequency of TNNI3 (35%) and MYH7 (9%) was observed in apical HCM. In a rare variant analysis, MT-RNR2 positively correlated with apical HCM (OR: 1.37, P = 0.025). And, MYBPC3 (sarcomere gene) negatively contributed to apical HCM (OR: 0.54, P = 0.027). On the other hand, both pathogenic mutation (P 0.05) and rare variants in sarcomere-associated genes (OR: 2.78-3.47, P 0.05) were related to diastolic dysfunction and left atrium remodeling, which correlated with poor prognosis in HCM patients.Our results provide a clue towards explaining the difference between the prevalence and phenotype of apical HCM in Asian populations, and a foundation for genetics-based approaches that may enable individualized risk stratification for HCM patients.

Objective Early detection and proper management of mental illness can help to prevent severe deterioration. However, with limited financial and human resources of community mental health services, it is not practical to carry out all conventional screening tools simultaneously. In this study, we aimed to develop and validate a brief but comprehensive screening questionnaire for four common mental illnesses of the elderly.Methods The brief screening for four mental illnesses of elderly (BS4MI-elderly) is a 14-item binary response questionnaire that covers dementia, depressive disorder, sleep disorder, and hwa-byung. To test validity, we compared conventional scale scores for three groups of participants classified using the BS4MI-elderly. The sensitivity, specificity, predictive value of positive test, likelihood ratio of positive test and internal consistency of the BS4MI-elderly were assessed. Finally, a correlation analysis between the BS4MI-elderly and general mental health scales was conducted.Results A total of 254 participants aged over 65 years were recruited. The BS4MI-elderly showed moderate to high sensitivity for the test that distinguishes the normal group from the risk and disorder groups (dementia: 0.61, depressive disorder: 0.88, sleep disorder: 0.85, hwa-byung: 0.94) and high specificity for the test that distinguishes the disorder group from the normal and risk groups (dementia: 0.91, depressive disorder: 0.93, hwa-byung: 0.84, sleep disorder: 0.84). The BS4MI-elderly also exhibited good internal consistency and significant correlations with general mental health scales.Conclusion The BS4MI-elderly, a brief but comprehensive screening tool, could be a useful instrument for screening the elderly in community mental health services.

The realm of social health has not yet been properly established in terms of fixed definitions, concepts, and research areas. This study attempts to define social health using macro and micro perspectives and explores trends in social health research by mapping their topics and fields. We used Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling, which allows the extraction of key terms and topics derived from a large volume of literature. We traced the evolution of research topics from past (the literature that "present" articles cited), present (existing journal articles on social health), to future (the literature which cited the articles) studies based on connections between citations. The datasets were collected by the query terms "social health" in the Scopus database, including title, abstract, and keywords of journal articles. We collected a total of 443 articles from recent social health literature, 6588 articles from past literature that the recent articles on social health cited, and 2680 articles from future literature in which recent social health articles were cited. We defined social health as positive interaction that increases individual engagement in social life at the micro level, and the high degree of social integration that deals with collective problems in society at the macro level. The results of LDA showed that social health research has developed into seven fields: Health Care Delivery; Vulnerable Groups; Measurement; Health Inequality; Social Network and Empowerment; Clinical/Physical Health; and Mental/Behavioral Health. Based on citation relationships, topics grounded in an individual/micro perspective have grown increasingly specialized and productive, while topics grounded in a social/macro perspective have stagnated or was underexplored. Our findings imply that social health studies should follow a more interdisciplinary approach to integrate current health models of individual-centered treatments with social science concerns on building collective capacity for social well-being.

주의력 결핍 과잉행동장애(ADHD)는 아동기에 흔한 장애이며, 아동 및 청소년, 성인기에 이르기까지 영향을 미칠 수 있다. ADHD에 대한 심리치료방법이 다양해지면서 예전에 비하면 어떤 방식의 심리치료를 시행할 것인지 정하는 것이 복잡하고 어려워졌다. 본 논문은 ADHD 치료에 대한 문헌을 고찰해 근거가 확립된 치료기법을 확인해보고자 하였다. 미국과 한국에서 이루어진 메타 연구에 따르면 ADHD에 가장 효과가 높은 심리치료는 행동수정에 기반한 부모교육, 행동수정에 기반한 교실 관리, 행동수정에 기반한 또래관계 개입 및 행동적 기법의 조합으로 확인되었다. 즉, 행동수정의 원리가 ADHD의 심리적 개입으로는 가장 우수한 방법이며, 이런 결과는 반복해서 입증되었다. 한국 연구에서는 행동수정 외에 놀이치료나 그림 치료와 같은 방법도 효과가 있는 것으로 나타났으나 연구방식이나 측정도구와 같은 요인이 영향을 미쳤을 것으로 추정되어 추후 잘 설계된 연구를 통해 확인할 필요가 있을 것 같다.

Background: Perceived justice after man-made disaster bereavement may involve as a protective factor in the recovery process. However, perceived justice related to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complicated grief (CG) after disaster bereavement has not been sufficiently discussed in previous studies. Aims: This study aims to assess PTSD and CG in bereaved parents of Sewol disaster and to explore whether perceived justice is related with the diagnostic groups. Methods: Bereaved parents of Sewol disaster ( N = 122) were interviewed approximately 2 years after the incident. Structured interviews for PTSD and CG were assessed, and perceived institutional justice surrounding the incident was measured. Symptom groups were identified, and multinomial logistic regression was conducted to find whether perceived justice was related with PTSD or CG. Results: Participants showed high rates of CG and PTSD, and were classified into the both PTSD and CG group, the CG-only group and the resilient group. The analysis revealed that less perceived justice and being a mother increased the likelihood of having both PTSD and CG. Less perceived justice also showed a tendency to be associated with having CG without PTSD. Conclusion: Parents bereaved by the Sewol disaster had high PTSD and CG related to lower levels of perceived justice surrounding the post-disaster period. Post-disaster environment seeking justice may facilitate the natural grieving process or encourage access to effective individual interventions.

Background Given that current unimodal strategies for treating late-life depression are insufficient, the awareness of the necessity and importance of multidomain intervention has increased. We assessed the efficacy of multidomain intervention in reducing symptoms of late-life depression. Methods This was a 12-week community-based randomized controlled trial in 78 older adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Participants were randomly assigned to the multidomain intervention or supportive therapy group. We provided four home visits and 12 telephone calls over 12 weeks. Four therapeutic approaches (physical activity, healthy diet, social activity, and brief cognitive restructuring) were incorporated into the multidomain intervention. The primary outcome was the change in depressive symptoms, as measured by the Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Secondarily, we investigated changes in resting-state functional connectivity. Results The MADRS total score was reduced more in the multidomain intervention group than in the supportive therapy group during the 12 weeks (intervention × time interaction, P = =0.007). After correction for multiple comparisons, the multidomain intervention group exhibited a lower MADRS total score at week 12 (score difference 5.117; P = =0.029). At follow-up, the multidomain intervention group also exhibited less functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and left inferior parietal lobule within the default mode network (FDR Limitations Caution is needed in the interpretation of the results, considering the small sample size and high percentage of female participants. Conclusions A 12-week multidomain intervention resulted in a greater reduction of depressive symptoms among the elderly with major depressive disorder than their counterparts who received supportive therapy.

The smartphone has many attractive attributes and characteristics that could make it highly addictive, particularly in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of young adolescents in risk of smartphone addiction and the psychological factors associated with smartphone addiction. Four hundred ninety middle school students completed a self-questionnaire measuring levels of smartphone addiction, behavioral and emotional problems, self-esteem, anxiety, and adolescent-parent communication. One hundred twenty-eight (26.61%) adolescents were in high risk of smartphone addiction. This latter group showed significantly more severe levels of behavioral and emotional problems, lower self-esteem, and poorer quality of communication with their parents. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the severity of smartphone addiction is significantly associated with aggressive behavior (β = .593, t = 3.825) and self-esteem (β = −.305, t = −2.258). Further exploratory and confirmatory studies should consider different sites, demographics, technological mobile devices, platforms, and applications.

Objective The aim of this study was to determine the optimal loading conditions for pure intrusion of the six maxillary anterior teeth with miniscrews according to alveolar bone loss. Methods A three-dimensional finite element model was created for a segment of the six anterior teeth, and the positions of the miniscrews and hooks were varied after setting the alveolar bone loss to 0, 2, or 4 mm. Under 100 g of intrusive force, initial displacement of the individual teeth in three directions and the degree of labial tilting were measured. Results The degree of labial tilting increased with reduced alveolar bone height under the same load. When a miniscrew was inserted between the two central incisors, the amounts of medial-lateral and anterior-posterior displacement of the central incisor were significantly greater than in the other conditions. When the miniscrews were inserted distally to the canines and an intrusion force was applied distal to the lateral incisors, the degree of labial tilting and the amounts of displacement of the six anterior teeth were the lowest, and the maximum von Mises stress was distributed evenly across all the teeth, regardless of the bone loss. Conclusions Initial tooth displacement similar to pure intrusion of the six maxillary anterior teeth was induced when miniscrews were inserted distal to the maxillary canines and an intrusion force was applied distal to the lateral incisors. In this condition, the maximum von Mises stresses were relatively evenly distributed across all the teeth, regardless of the bone loss.

BACKGROUND This study aimed to identify pathogenic variants of PRSS1, SPINK1, CFTR, and CTRC genes in Korean patients with idiopathic pancreatitis. METHODS The study population consisted of 116 Korean subjects (65 males, 51 females; mean age, 30.4 yr, range, 1-88 yr) diagnosed with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis (ICP), idiopathic recurrent acute pancreatitis (IRAP), or idiopathic acute pancreatitis (IAP). We analyzed sequences of targeted regions in the PRSS1, SPINK1, CFTR, and CTRC genes, copy numbers of PRSS1 and SPINK1, and clinical data from medical records. RESULTS We identified three types of pathogenic PRSS1 variants in 11 patients, including p.N29I (n=1), p.R122H (n=1), and p.G208A (n=9). Sixteen patients exhibited heterozygous pathogenic variants of SPINK1, including c.194+2T>C (n=12), p.N34S (n=3), and a novel pathogenic splicing variation c.194+1G>A. A heterozygous CFTR p.Q1352H pathogenic variant was detected in eight patients. One patient carried a heterozygous CTRC p.P249L pathogenic variant, which is a known high-risk variant for pancreatitis. All patients had normal PRSS1 and SPINK1 gene copy numbers. Weight loss occurred more frequently in patients carrying the p.G208A pathogenic variant, while pancreatic duct stones occurred more frequently in patients with the c.194+2T>C pathogenic variant. CONCLUSIONS Pathogenic variants of PRSS1, SPINK1, and CFTR were associated with idiopathic pancreatitis, while pathogenic variants of CTRC were not. Copy number variations of PRSS1 and SPINK1 were not detected.

Background We sought to investigate the possible associations of rest-activity patterns with cortical amyloid burden, medial temporal lobe (MTL) neurodegeneration, and cognitive function in patients in the early stage of cognitive impairment. Methods Rest-activity patterns were assessed in 100 participants (70 with mild cognitive impairment and 30 with mild dementia) using wrist actigraphy. All participants underwent 18F-flutemetamol positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to quantify cortical amyloid burden, structural brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to quantify MTL grey matter volume, neuropsychological testing, and clinical diagnosis. We used multiple linear regression models adjusted for covariates, including demographics, diabetes, hypertension, depressive symptom, psychotropic medication, sleep medication, weekend effect, and apolipoprotein-e allele status. Findings After adjusting for possible confounders, we found that the midline estimation of statistic of rhythm (MESOR) associated positively with frontal/executive function (estimate = 1.17, standard error [SE] = 0.37, p = 0.002). The least active 5-h (L5) onset time associated positively with MTL grey matter volume and memory function (estimate = 1.24, SE = 0.33, p = 0.001, and estimate = 3.77, SE = 1.22, p = 0.003, respectively), particularly in amyloid-negative participants. Additional path analysis revealed that MTL grey matter volume partially mediated the association between L5 onset time and memory function in amyloid-negative participants. Interpretation Decreased MESOR and advanced L5 onset time may be useful as early signs of cognitive decline or MTL neurodegeneration. Furthermore, amyloid pathology may act as a moderator of the relationships between rest-activity patterns, neurodegeneration, and cognitive function. Funding Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (#4845–303); National Research Foundation of Korea (2019M3C7A1031905, 2019R1A5A2026045).

Objectives The rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is important for patient treatment and infection control. Current molecular diagnostic techniques for TB have insufficient sensitivity to detect samples with low bacterial loads. The sensitivity of molecular testing depends on not only the performance of the assay technique but also the nucleic acid extraction method. Here, we present a novel approach using exosomal DNA (exoDNA) and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) platforms to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in clinical samples. Methods The ddPCR platform targeting IS6110 was evaluated in parallel using total DNA and exoDNA. The clinical performance of ddPCR method was assessed with 190 respiratory samples from patients with suspected pulmonary TB. Results Compared with mycobacterial culture, sensitivity and specificity of ddPCR were 61.5% (95% CI 44.6–76.6%) and 98.0% (95% CI 94.3–99.6%) using total DNA, and 76.9% (95% CI 60.7–88.9%) and 98.0% (95% CI 94.3–99.6%) using exoDNA, respectively. Among 15 culture-positive specimens with low concentrations of target molecules (2~99 positive droplets with exoDNA), only 53.3% (8/15), 46.7% (7/15), and 26.7% (4/15) of cases were detected using ddPCR with total DNA, real-time PCR with exoDNA, and real-time PCR with total DNA, respectively. Discussion Our platform using ddPCR and exoDNA has the potential to provide sensitive and accurate methodology for TB diagnosis.

and purpose: The stress and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are intertwined and affecting each other. This pilot study evaluated the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in Korean patients with SLE.The Korean version of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were evaluated for the effect of the MBCT in 25 patients.The BDI-II, BAI, SWLS, and PSS before the MBCT were 24.2 ± 10.6, 19.1 ± 9.7, 14.7 ± 6.5, and 20.4 ± 3.8, respectively. Eighteen patients completed the MBCT. After the MBCT, BDI-II, BAI, and PSS improved to 17.4 ± 13.0 (p 0.01), 13.4 ± 7.7 (p = 0.04), and 17.9 ± 4.6 (p = 0.04), respectively. However, SWLS and SLE disease activity did not.The MBCT could reduce the anxiety, depression, and stress but not SLE disease activity.

Victimization by sexual violence is strongly associated with the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While several psychological and cognitive factors are known to be associated with PTSD prognosis, multivariable analysis is scarce. This study examined factors affecting the severity of PTSD symptoms in early stage of traumatic experience of sexual violence, including initial post-traumatic symptoms and cognitive characteristics.Participants were recruited from the center for women and children victims of violence in a university hospital. Thirty-four sexual assault victims were assessed at the baseline and the second visit one to five months after the baseline. At the baseline, an array of posttraumatic symptoms and cognitive functions were measured: at follow-up, PTSD symptoms were determined by Clinician Administered PTSD Scale.Stepwise multiple regression showed that avoidance symptoms (β = 0.551, P0.01) and delayed verbal memory (β = -0.331, P0.05) at early stage of trauma predicted the severity of PTSD symptoms one to five month later. The regression model, factoring in avoidance and delayed verbal memory, showed a 34.9% explanatory power regarding the PTSD symptom severity.This study suggests that avoidance symptoms and verbal memory at the early stage of trauma are associated with later PTSD symptoms. It is also suggested that early intervention targeting avoidance symptoms may be beneficial in decreasing PTSD symptoms.

Depression is a common disorder among women with young children. Compared to non-depressed mothers, depressed mothers tend to display less positive affection, provide less emotional support, and inconsistently respond to their child's every day and emotional needs. We examined the association between maternal depression and child (middle childhood) mental health problems according to the child's gender. This study was conducted between June and August 2006 on 3,911 subjects aged 7-12 years. The data for this study was collected through a questionnaire that included the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Korean Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL). Most of the CBCL scores were higher for children in the depressed mother group. The two way ANOVAs (depressed group by gender) found girls to have significantly higher scores than boys on somatization. Children may experience somatic complaints when they also suffer from emotional disorders, and therefore must be observed closely.

Background:mutation is an emerging biomarker for treatment selection in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, optimal mutation detection is hindered by complications associated with the biopsy procedure, tumor heterogeneity and limited sensitivity of test methodology. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic utility of real-time PCR using malignant pleural effusion samples.Methods:A total of 77 pleural fluid samples from 77 NSCLC patients were tested using the cobas EGFR mutation test (Roche Molecular Systems). Pleural fluid was centrifuged, and separated cell pellets and supernatants were tested in parallel. Results were compared with Sanger sequencing and/or peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-mediated PCR clamping of matched tumor tissue or pleural fluid samples.Results:All samples showed valid real-time PCR results in one or more DNA samples extracted from cell pellets and supernatants. Compared with other molecular methods, the sensitivity of real-time PCR method was 100%. Concordance rate of real-time PCR and Sanger sequencing plus PNA-mediated PCR clamping was 98.7%.Conclusions:We have confirmed that real-time PCR using pleural fluid had a high concordance rate compared to conventional methods, with no failed samples. Our data demonstrated that the parallel real-time PCR testing using supernatant and cell pellet could offer reliable and robust surrogate strategy when tissue is not available.

OBJECTIVE The tripartite model categorizes symptoms of depression and anxiety into three groups: 1) non-specific general distress that is shared between depression and anxiety, 2) depression-specific symptoms that include low positive affect and loss of interest, and 3) anxiety-specific symptoms that include somatic arousal. The Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (MASQ) was developed to measure these three factors of depression and anxiety. The purpose of the present study was to test the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the MASQ (K-MASQ) in adolescents. METHODS Community-dwelling adolescents (n=933) were randomly assigned to two groups. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted in each group to identify the factor structure of the K-MASQ. The reliability and validity of the K-MASQ were also evaluated. RESULTS Our results support the three-factor structure of the K-MASQ in adolescents. However, we found that the specific items of each factor differed from those of the original MASQ. That is, the depression-specific factor was only related to low positive affect and not loss of interest, and the anxiety-specific factor included more items related to general somatic symptoms of anxiety. The reliability and validity of the K-MASQ were found to be satisfactory. CONCLUSION The K-MASQ supports the tripartite model of depression and anxiety and has satisfactory reliability and validity among Korean adolescents. The K-MASQ can be used to distinguish unique symptoms of depression and anxiety in Korean adolescents.

This study prospectively examined the relationships among cognitive factors and severity of Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in female victims of sexual violence. Thirty-eight victims of sexual violence recruited from Center for Women Victims of Sexual and Domestic Violence at Ajou University Hospital. Cognitive factors and PTSD symptom were assessed within 4 months of sexual violence and 25 victims were followed-up 1 month after initial assessment. Repeated-measured ANOVA revealed that PTSD incidence and severity decreased over the month (F [1, 21]=6.61). Particularly, avoidant symptoms might decrease earlier than other PTSD symptoms (F [1, 21]=5.92). This study also showed the significant relationship between early negative trauma-related thoughts and subsequent PTSD severity. Shame and guilt proneness had significant cross-sectional correlations with PTSD severity, but did not show associations when depression severity is controlled. Our results suggest that avoidant symptoms might decrease earlier than other PTSD symptoms during the acute phase and that cognitive appraisals concerning the dangerousness of the world seem to play an important role in the maintenance of PTSD (r=0.499, P

In this paper, we explore underlying factors of Internet Addiction Scale (IAS) and examine how the dimensions of the IAS relate to psychiatric symptoms in Korean adolescents. Exploratory factor analysis with a sample of N = 1,722 consisted of 13–15 year old Korean adolescents identified three distinctive factors of IAS and they were labeled ‘time management’, ‘withdrawal behaviors’ and ‘neglect work’. Then, multiple regression models were applied to assess the association between each factor and eight psychological problems, which were evaluated by Youth Self Report. The overall IAS was significantly associated with Somatic, Immature, Thought, Attention, Delinquent and Aggressive behaviors. However, three factor scores showed different association patterns and indicated multidimensional aspects of problematic Internet use.

Improving mental health and reducing the burden of mental illness are complementary strategies which, along with the treatment and rehabilitation of people with mental disorders, significantly improve population health and well-being. A Institute of Medicine report describes a range of interventions for mental disorders that included treatment and maintenance, reserving the term "prevention" for efforts that occur before onset of a diagnosable disorder. Mental health problems affect 10-20% of children and adolescents worldwide. Despite their relevance as a leading cause of health-related disability and their long lasting consequences, the mental health needs of children and adolescents are neglected. Early intervention can help reduce the significant impacts that children and adolescents with serious mental health problems may experience. Screening is the first step in early intervention, recognizing emotional and behavioral problems and providing help at an early stage. It is essential to implement early intervention in a sensitive and ethical manner to avoid any of the negative outcomes.

Weissella confusa is a catalase-negative and gram-positive coccobacillus that is intrinsically resistant to vancomycin [1]. This species can cause infections, such as bacteremia, endocarditis, and abscess in immunocompromised patients [2-7]. Until now, reports on infections caused by W. confusa have been limited as this species has been frequently misidentified as Lactobacillus or Leuconostoc when identified using commercial kits [8]. Herein, we report the second case of W. confusa bacteremia in an immunocompetent patient from Korea, who had intramural hematomas of the aorta.

Objectives : It is known that children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience significant difficulty in recognizing facial emotion, which involves processing of emotional facial expressions rather than speech, compared to children without ADHD. This objective of this study is to investigate the differences in facial emotion recognition between children with ADHD and normal children used as control. Methods : The children for our study were recruited from the Suwon Project, a cohort comprising a non-random convenience sample of 117 nine-year-old ethnic Koreans. The parents of the study participants completed study questionnaires such as the Korean version of Child Behavior Checklist, ADHD Rating Scale, Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version. Facial Expression Recognition Test of the Emotion Recognition Test was used for the evaluation of facial emotion recognition and ADHD Rating Scale was used for the assessment of ADHD. Results : ADHD children (N

Objectives This study was conducted to determine whether or not newly proposed high-resolution activity features could provide a superior analytic foundation compared to those commonly used to assess transitions in children's activities, under circumstances in which the types of courses attended exert different situational effects on activity levels. Methods From 153 children at a local elementary school, 10 subjects with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 7 controls were recruited. Their activity data was collected using an actigraph while they attended school. Ratios of partitioned activity ranges (0.5-2.8 G) during the entire activity were extracted during three classes: art, mathematics, and native language (Korean). Extracted activity features for each participant were compared between the two groups of children (ADHD and control) using graphs and statistical analysis. Results Activity distributions between ADHD and control groups for each class showed statistically significant differences spread through the entire range in art class compared to native language and mathematics classes. The ADHD group, but not the control group, experienced many significantly different intervals (> 50%) having low to very high activity acceleration regions during the art and languages courses. Conclusions Class content appears to influence the activity patterns of ADHD children. Monitoring the actual magnitude and activity counts in a wide range of subjects could facilitate the examination of distributions or patterns of activities. Objective activity measurements made with an actigraph may be useful for monitoring changes in activities in children with ADHD in a timely manner.

In this study, we present theoretical and experimental analyses on the waveguide mode properties of prism-coupled Au:SiO2 nanocomposite films with the near infrared laser of 1550 nm wavelength where the optical absorption diminished enough for the generation of guided mode. The evolution of guided mode in the nanocomposite waveguide and its propagation properties were also evaluated. As an effective way of utilizing the surface plasmon resonance properties for the application to optical switching devices, we employed an attenuated total internal reflection type optical switch geometry and tested its effectiveness for the absorptive opto-functional materials system using a cross-modulation technique with 532-nm pump and 1550-nm probe beams. The index change probe beam experiences was found to be purely refractive in nature and negative in sign, presumably due to the photo-thermal effect induced in the nanocomposite film by the irradiation of pump beam.

This study examined the degree of perceived need and use of child mental health services in Korea, as well as the factors associated therewith. The sample consisted of 3,477 children aged 8-13 years. Overall, 10.4% of the parents demonstrated a perceived need for mental health services regarding their children's emotional or behavioral problems, while 1.9% used mental health services. Although the perceived need for mental health services is high, only a small proportion of children receive them. Whether a child receives mental health care is influenced by the child's psychopathology, especially when social and/or thought problems exist.