Neuroinflammation is an important process underlying a wide variety of neurodegenerative diseases. Carvacrol (CAR) is a phenolic monoterpene commonly used as a food additive due to its antibacterial properties, but it has also been shown to exhibit strong antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects. Here, we sought to investigate the effects of CAR on inflammation in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects. In our study, lipopolysaccharide was injected into the lateral ventricle of rats to induce memory impairment and neuroinflammation. Daily administration of CAR (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) for 21 days improved recognition, discrimination, and memory impairments relative to untreated controls. CAR administration significantly attenuated expression of several inflammatory factors in the brain, including interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and cyclooxygenase-2. In addition, CAR significantly increased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA, and decreased expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) mRNA. Taken together, these results show that CAR can improve memory impairment caused by neuroinflammation. This cognitive enhancement is due to the anti-inflammatory effects of CAR medicated by its regulation of BDNF and TLR4. Thus, CAR has significant potential as an inhibitor of memory degeneration in neurodegenerative diseases.
Animals ; Brain ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; Cytokines ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Food Additives ; Hippocampus ; Inflammation ; Lateral Ventricles ; Lipopolysaccharides ; Memory ; Necrosis ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Phenol ; Prefrontal Cortex ; Rats ; RNA, Messenger ; Toll-Like Receptor 4

0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) was 0.922 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.89–0.95]. In external validation, the discrimination was good, with an AUC value of 0.833 (95% CI 0.70–0.92) for this model. Nomogram calibration plots indicated good agreement between the predicted and observed outcomes, exhibiting close approximation between the predicted and observed probability.CONCLUSION: We constructed a scoring model for predicting massive transfusion during cesarean section in women with placenta previa. This model may help in determining the need to prepare an appropriate amount of blood products and the optimal timing of blood transfusion.]]>
Area Under Curve ; Blood Transfusion ; Calibration ; Cesarean Section ; Cohort Studies ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Early Intervention (Education) ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Maternal Age ; Nomograms ; Placenta Previa ; Placenta ; Placentation ; Postpartum Hemorrhage ; Pregnancy ; ROC Curve ; Ultrasonography

PURPOSE: This study aimed to propose a common scope of practice (SOP) for 13 specialties of Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) in Korea.METHODS: The first draft of a common SOP was extracted from domestic and international laws with a literature review by 17 experts from the Korean Association of Advanced Practice Nurses (KAAPN). Then, the common SOP was finalized after comparing the activities of APNs in clinical settings.RESULTS: A total of 70 duties were identified and six categories were suggested for the common SOP. The SOP proposed by the KAAPN featured the following: 1) identification of and discrimination between health problems; 2) prescription and implementation of diagnostic tests; 3) treatment of injuries and diseases while implementing measures to prevent exacerbation; 4) prescription of medicinal products in line with 1) to 3); 5) referral and consultation; and 6) education and counseling. It was then confirmed that the proposed six categories in the common SOP reflected all the duties performed by APNs in clinical practice, including all 40 activities.CONCLUSION: The results of this study can be used as evidence for the legalization of a common SOP for APNs. Given the increasing multidisciplinary team approach adopted in Korean hospitals, it may be desirable to establish a broader SOP to reflect the diverse duties of APNs.
Counseling ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Education ; International Law ; Korea ; Prescriptions ; Professional Practice ; Referral and Consultation

PURPOSE: This study investigated the relationship between the item response time (iRT) and classic item analysis indicators obtained from computer-based test (CBT) results and deduce students' problem-solving behavior using the relationship. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the results of the Comprehensive Basic Medical Sciences Examination conducted for 5 years by a CBT system in Dankook University College of Medicine. iRT is defined as the time spent to answer the question. The discrimination index and the difficulty level were used to analyze the items using classical test theory (CTT). The relationship of iRT and the CTT were investigated using a correlation analysis. An analysis of variance was performed to identify the difference between iRT and difficulty level. A regression analysis was conducted to examine the effect of the difficulty index and discrimination index on iRT. RESULTS: iRT increases with increasing difficulty index, and iRT tends to decrease with increasing discrimination index. The students' effort is increased when they solve difficult items but reduced when they are confronted with items with a high discrimination. The students' test effort represented by iRT was properly maintained when the items have a 'desirable' difficulty and a 'good' discrimination. CONCLUSION: The results of our study show that an adequate degree of item difficulty and discrimination is required to increase students' motivation. It might be inferred that with the combination of CTT and iRT, we can gain insights about the quality of the examination and test behaviors of the students, which can provide us with more powerful tools to improve them.
Discrimination (Psychology) ; Humans ; Motivation ; Reaction Time ; Retrospective Studies

PURPOSE: This study analyzed a path through which factors influencing death anxiety in the community-dwelling elderly, assuming personal organismic factors and microsystemic factors based on the ecology model purported by Belsky (1980). METHODS: This study was performed with 189 elderly people. Data were collected through a self-report questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the SPSS and AMOS programs. RESULTS: The factors influencing death anxiety in the elderly were depression, family support, social network, and familism value, and the explanatory power of these variables was 22%. Death anxiety increased with higher depression, higher familism value, larger social network, and lower family support. Spiritual well-being and elderly discrimination experience had indirect effects on death anxiety, and these effects were mediated by depression. CONCLUSION: Depression, family support, social network, and familism value were found to influence death anxiety in the elderly, and the strongest effect came from depression. To reduce death anxiety in the elderly, it is important to improve their relationship with their family and friends. Moreover, support should be provided by establishing local systems, and intervention should be provided to alleviate depression.
Aged ; Anxiety ; Depression ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Ecology ; Friends ; Humans

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) are an increasing group of patients thanks to the survival of over 85% of children with CHD. 20% of these patients shall warrant a surgical procedure during their life span. However, currently there is no one risk score that assess correctly the mortality of these procedures. Thus, we analyse the risk scores used at our institution. METHODS: From May 1991 till June 2017, 608 procedures in adults with CHD were performed. The 3 risk scores (risk adjustment for congenital heart surgery [RACHS-1], Aristotle, and Euroscore I) of each procedure were analysed. We used area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (c-index) to measure model discrimination, and Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) statistic along with calibration plots to measure calibration. RESULTS: There was no statistical difference between the area under the curve for the 3 scores (χ²=0.58 with 2 df, p=0.750). There was no evidence of lack of fit for RACHS-1 (H-L, χ²=2.61; p=0.271) and Aristotle score (H-L, χ²=5.69; p=0.459). However, there was evidence in lack of calibration in the Euroscore I scoring system (H-L, χ²=33.69; p<0.001). The calibration slope for RACHS-1 was 0.912, for Aristotle (stratified in risk groups) was −0.14 and for Euroscore 1 (stratified in risk groups) was 0.46. CONCLUSIONS: RACHS-1 seems to be best risk scoring system for calculating mortality applied to surgery in adults with CHD.
Adult ; Calibration ; Child ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Humans ; Mortality ; ROC Curve ; Thoracic Surgery

We reviewed past studies on the identification of familial relationships using 22 short tandem repeat markers. As a result, we can obtain a high discrimination power and a relatively accurate cut-off value in parent-child and full sibling relationships. However, in the case of pairs of uncle-nephew or cousin, we found a limit of low discrimination power of the likelihood ratio (LR) method. Therefore, we compare the LR ranking method and data mining techniques (e.g., logistic regression, linear discriminant analysis, diagonal linear discriminant analysis, diagonal quadratic discriminant analysis, K-nearest neighbor, classification and regression trees, support vector machines, random forest [RF], and penalized multivariate analysis) that can be applied to identify familial relationships, and provide a guideline for choosing the most appropriate model under a given situation. RF, one of the data mining techniques, was found to be more accurate than other methods. The accuracy of RF is 99.99% for parent-child, 99.44% for full siblings, 90.34% for uncle-nephew, and 79.69% for first cousins.
Classification ; Data Mining ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Forests ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Methods ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Siblings ; Support Vector Machine ; Trees

“Yong-yi” means “quack” in English, which generally refers to a doctor who does not have good medical skills. In the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, various criticism about “Yong-yi” became popularized, and by the late Qing period, “quacks” had become a serious social issue. The theory of traditional Chinese medicine was developed during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and local medical resources also increased. Moreover, the prevalence of medical book publishing led to the openness and generalization of medical knowledge. As a result, not only the number of doctors increased, but also the number of doctors who lack medical knowledge and clinical experience increased. However, at the outset, “Yong-yi” did not only mean doctors with poor medical skills. “Yong-yi” also reflected conflicts and contradictions between doctors. Doctors consistently criticized quacks in an attempt to maintain their identity as a “good” doctor or a Confucian doctor. In this sense, “Yong-yi” was used among physicians as an expression of discrimination and exclusion. The concept of “quackery” was also determined by the relationship between patients and doctors. In general, itinerant doctors, midwives and shaman doctors were regarded as “Yong-yi”; however, they served the medical needs of various patients. Thus, to some extent, “Yong-yi” were also useful medical resources. On the contrary, in certain situations, “shiyi,” physicians who serviced a family for generations and were generally believed to be reliable and as trustworthy doctors, were also labelled as quacks, especially when the patient did not trust them or was not satisfied with the treatment. Therefore, doctors' thoughts about “Yong-yi” did not always coincide with patients' thoughts about “Yong-yi.” However, by the late Qing period, the description of quacks in media reports found a singular connotation, and the divergent social image of quacks disappeared. By this time, quacks were uniformly described as ignorant and irresponsible Chinese medicine practitioners. Specifically, in one murder case in which a “Yong-yi” was accused as the murderer, the report unilaterally reported the patient's claims. Consequently, Chinese medicine practitioners who failed in their treatment of patients became labeled as “quack” doctors. In newspaper reports, “Yong-yi” no longer simply referred to individual cases of “quacks” but had come to represent the entirety of the Chinese medicine practitioner community. On the contrary, Western medical doctors who replaced the status of traditional doctors were positively portrayed. Pictorials also had similar perspectives with newspapers, supporting the narrative of the news with ironic drawings and articles. Overall, media reports regarding “Yong-yi” did not focus on reporting facts, but they had the purpose of making quacks a serious social problem.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; China ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Family Characteristics ; Generalization (Psychology) ; Homicide ; Humans ; Iron ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Midwifery ; Periodicals ; Prevalence ; Social Perception ; Social Problems

Lee Kap-Soo (April 23, 1889–December 5, 1973) graduated from Gyeongseong Medical College in 1920, went to Germany to study, and returned to Korea after graduating from Berlin University in 1924. On September 14, 1933, he played a leading role in the founding of the Joseon Eugenics Society, and he contributed eugenic ideas through written publications and lectures. He was a leading eugenicist who continued his activities related to eugenics, such as re-establishing the Korean National Eugenics Society and making efforts to enact the Eugenics Act after Korea's liberation from Japanese occupation. His ideas on eugenics were then a rapid acceptance of the world's times and science, and his ideas were an expanded eugenics that emphasized the nation. He actively carried out the campaign for eugenics and maintained a consistent stance before and after liberation. His eugenic ideas and activities show that Korean society was not free from the influence of eugenics that was gaining popularity around the world. His eugenic ideas were related to enlightenment, but the basis of eugenics was the logic of discrimination and exclusion. In particular, his eugenic ideas and activities have caused pain to Hansen's patients through forced isolation and discontinuation. In addition, his doctrine of eugenics still holds sway in Korean society. The history of Lee Kap-Soo's life and eugenics-related activities shows the important points and characteristics of the history of eugenics in Korean society before and after the liberation from Japan, and furthermore provides an important clue in understanding and explaining the colonial vestige in Korean society, economic growth first ideology, enthusiasm for scientific development, and competitive social culture.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Berlin ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Economic Development ; Eugenics ; Germany ; Humans ; Japan ; Korea ; Lectures ; Leprosy ; Logic ; Occupations

The purpose of this research is to describe how Hansen's disease patients experienced the modern system of control of Hansen's disease introduced by Japan, and the inimical attitude of society against them in colonial Korea. The study also seeks to reveal the development of the system to eliminate Hansen's disease patients from their home and community to larger society and leprosarium in this era. Sorokdo Charity hospital (SCH), a hospital for Hansen's disease patients, was built in 1916, and vagrant Hansen's disease patients began to be isolated in this hospital beginning in 1917 by the Japanese Government-General of Korea (JGGK). Once the police detained and sent vagrant Hansen's disease patients to SCH, stigma and discrimination against them strengthened in Korean society. Because of strong stigma and discrimination in Korean society, Hansen's disease patients suffered from daily threats of death. First, their family members were not only afraid of the contagiousness of Hansen's disease but also the stigma and discrimination against themselves by community members. If a family had a Hansen's disease patient, the rest of community members would discriminate against the entire family. Furthermore, because Hansen's disease patients were excluded from any economic livelihood such as getting a job, the existence of the patients was a big burden for their families. Therefore, many patients left their homes and began their vagrancy. The patients who could not leave their homes committed suicide or were killed by their family members. The victims of such deaths were usually women, who were at the lower position in the family hierarchy. In the strong Confucian society in Korea, more female patients were killed by themselves than male patients. Moreover, all of patients victims in the murder were women. This shows that the stigma and discrimination against Hansen's disease patients within their families were stronger against women than men. Strong stigma and discrimination made the patients rely on superstition such as cannibalism. Patients believed that there were not any effective medicine. There were a few reports of patients who were cured, and many were treated with chaulmoogra oil in the modern Hansen's disease hospitals. Eating human flesh was known as a folk remedy for Hansen's disease. As such, patients began to kill healthy people, usually children, to eat their flesh. Increased stigma led to increased victims. Hansen's disease patients who left their homes faced many threats during their vagrancy. For survival, they established their own organizations in the late 1920's. The patients who were rejected to be hospitalized in the Western Hansen's disease hospital at Busan, Daegu, and Yeosu organized self-help organizations. The purpose of these organizations was first to secure the medicine supply of chaulmoogra oil. However, as stigma and discrimination strengthened, these organizations formed by Hansen's disease patients demanded the Japanese Government-General of Korea to send and segregate them on Sorok island. They did not know the situation of the inside of this island because news media described it as a haven for patients, and very few patients were discharged from this island to tell the truth. On this island, several hundreds of patients were killed by compulsory heavy labor, starvation, and violence. They were not treated as patients, but as something to be eliminated. Under strong suppression on this island, the patients resisted first by escaping this island. However, in 1937, some patients tried to kill a Korean staff but failed. Attempted murderers were all put in the jail, also located on this island. In 1941, a patient murdered another patient who had harassed other patients, and in 1942, Chunsang Lee, a patient, killed the director of Sorok island. These instances show that there was a system to eliminate Hansen's disease patients in colonial Korea.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Busan ; Cannibalism ; Charities ; Child ; Daegu ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Eating ; Female ; Homicide ; Humans ; Japan ; Jeollanam-do ; Korea ; Leprosy ; Male ; Medicine, Traditional ; Police ; Starvation ; Suicide ; Superstitions ; United Nations ; Violence