The National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency (NECA), an institution for health technology assessment in Korea, has used public solicitation of research topics since its establishment in 2009. This creates a necessity for examining whether a given research topic was selected to be considered when prioritizing healthcare technology assessment and distributing healthcare resources. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the research topics suggested to NECA and the disease burden in Korea. To find the correlation between disease burden and 1,112 suggested topics and 91 performed topics that were classified by Human Research Classification System a linear auxiliary trend line and scatter plot were constructed using disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated. The results suggested that cancer was most common, followed by cardiovascular diseases, among suggested research topics and research topics performed by NECA, as well as in terms of the ratio of performed to suggested topics. The correlation between research topic and disease burden index indicated a strong correlation with DALYs and years of life lost (YLLs). However, years lived with disability and research topic had no relationship. Suggested topics showed a greater correlation with YLLs than DALYs, whereas performed topics showed a greater correlation with DALYs than YLLs, showing that despite the fact that the diseases with a high burden from morbidity were appropriately considered with respect to selecting research topics, a statistically significant difference was not found. As the first Korean study to assess the correlation between research topics and disease burden, our results will be used as base data for prioritizing the allocation of healthcare resources in the future.
Adenosine-5'-(N-ethylcarboxamide) ; Biomedical Technology* ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Classification ; Cost of Illness ; Delivery of Health Care ; Evidence-Based Practice ; Humans ; Korea ; Technology Assessment, Biomedical*

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between social exclusion and paranoid ideation, and to explore moderating and mediating effects of depression and self-esteem in that relationship. METHODS: Ninety seven neurosis patients receiving treatment in a psychiatric outpatient setting were selected. Social Exclusion Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, paranoia scale of Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were used for evaluation. RESULTS: Social exclusion showed highly positive correlation with paranoid ideation, and had significant influence. Among three types of social exclusion, contempt, bullying, and isolation, only isolation showed significant influence on paranoid ideation. Depression showed a partial mediating effect on that relationship indicating that social exclusion affects paranoid ideation not only directly, but also indirectly. On the other hand, self-esteem showed no moderating or mediating effects on that relationship. CONCLUSION: Depression mediates the influence of social exclusion on paranoid ideation. This finding provides an opportunity to decrease paranoid ideation of neurosis patients by not only prescription of antipsychotic agents but also therapeutic approach to social exclusion and depression. An experimental study to verify these findings seems to be needed.
Antipsychotic Agents ; Bullying ; Depression* ; Hand ; Humans ; Negotiating* ; Outpatients ; Paranoid Disorders ; Prescriptions ; Social Isolation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The surgical approach for the removal of inverted papilloma (IP) involving the frontal sinus (FS) depends on the site of tumor origin. This study was designed to determine the appropriate surgical approach according to the site of origin in the FS. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Eleven patients with IPs originating from the FS, who had surgery at the department of ORL-HNS, Pusan National University Hospital from 1998 to 2007, were retrospectively reviewed for the site of tumor origin, surgical approach, recurrence, mode of reoperation, and complications. The mean age was 53.8 years with a male-to-female ratio of 7:4. The average follow-up duration was 35.7 months. RESULTS: The sites of tumor origin were the whole wall (2/11), medial wall (3/11), intersinus septal cell (2/11), lateral wall (1/11), posterior wall (1/11), anterior wall (1/11) and diffuse whole wall with invasion into the opposite sinus (1/11). In the two cases with whole wall involvement, one was treated by an osteoplastic frontal sinus surgery (OPF) and the other by a modified endoscopic Lothrop operation (MEL). The case with diffuse anterior wall origin was treated by OPF. For the two cases with the intersinus septal cell origin, one was reoperated using MEL after recurrence and the other was initially treated with MEL. A recurrent case with the lateral wall origin was reoperated by MEL. IPs originating from the posterior or medial wall were successfully managed by endoscopic surgery /c or /s trephination. CONCLUSION: IPs originating from the FS were successfully managed by the integrated endoscopic-assisted approach to the FS. Especially, MEL was a safe and effective alternative treatment to OPF for IPs originating from the FS.
Endoscopy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Frontal Sinus ; Humans ; Papilloma, Inverted ; Recurrence ; Reoperation ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: Among Gram-negative pathogens in Korea, the incidence of resistance to thirdgeneration cephalosporins is becoming an ever-increasing problem. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of third-generation cephalosporins-resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from patients in a tertiary care hospital in Busan, Korea, and to characterize the mechanism of resistance. METHODS: A total of 710 E. coli and 237 K. pneumoniae non-duplicate isolates were collected from patients in Kosin Medical Center in 1999. Antimicrobial susceptibilities were tested by the disk diffusion method. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production was determined by the double disk synergy test. MICs were determined by the agar dilution method. Searches for blaTEM, blaSHV, and blaCMY genes in cefotaxime-resistant or intermediate isolates were performed by PCR amplification. PCR products were used to determine the sequence of resistance genes by the dideoxy-chain termination method. RESULTS: Seven percent of E. coli and 25% of K. pneumoniae isolates were resistant to cefotaxime. Among the isolates with decreased susceptibility to cefotaxime, 69% (18/26) of E. coli and 80% (20/25) of K. pneumoniae isolates showed positive results in double disk synergy test. Banding patterns of PCR amplification showed that the blaTEM, blaSHV, and blaCMY genes were harboured by 71% (20/28), 86% (24/28) and 14% (4/28) of isolates with decreased susceptibility to cefotaxime,respectively. Seventy-one percent (20/28) of the isolates contained more than two types of beta- lactamase genes. Nucleotide sequence analysis of PCR products revealed that blaSHV-12 and blaTEM-1b were the dominant types of beta-lactamase gene. In addition, we also identified blaTEM-52, blaSHV-5, and a new ESBL gene named blaTEM-17b. CONCLUSIONS: Third-generation cephalosporins-resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae are wide spread in Kosin Medical Center, Busan, Korea. Most of the isolates with decreased susceptibility to cefotaxime had blaTEM and/or blaSHV, and some isolates harboured blaCMY genes that may confer resistance against cephamycins. The spread of these beta-lactamase genes could compromise the future usefulness of third-generation cephalosporins for the treatment of infections caused by E. coli and K. pneumoniae.
Agar ; Base Sequence ; beta-Lactamases ; Busan ; Cefotaxime ; Cephalosporins ; Cephamycins ; Diffusion ; Escherichia coli* ; Escherichia* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Klebsiella pneumoniae* ; Klebsiella* ; Korea ; Pneumonia ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence* ; Tertiary Healthcare

PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of heat and massage application on autonomic nervous system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred thirty-nine subjects volunteered and completed this study. Heat and massage was daily applied for 40 minutes, 5 days a week for 2 weeks. Primary-dependent measures included heart rate variability, sympathetic skin response, and serum cortisol and norepinephrine levels. RESULTS: Serum cortisol levels were significantly decreased at 2 weeks compared to baseline (p=0.003). Plasma norepinephrine levels at 4 weeks were significantly decreased compared to baseline (p=0.010). Heart rate, using the power spectra, increased significantly after 2 weeks compared to baseline. Of autonomic nerve conduction measures, latency was significantly increased at 2 and 4 weeks compared to baseline (p=0.023, 0.012), and amplitude was significantly decreased at 4 weeks compared to baseline (p=0.008). There were no serious adverse events such as burns or other major complications. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that heat and massage applications provide relaxation to the autonomic nervous system without serious adverse events.
Autonomic Nervous System/*physiopathology ; Female ; Heart Rate/*physiology ; Hot Temperature/adverse effects/*therapeutic use ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone/blood ; Male ; Massage/adverse effects/*methods ; Norepinephrine/blood

We aimed to review the current data composition of the Korean Tuberculosis and Post-Tuberculosis Cohort, which was constructed by linking the Korean Tuberculosis Surveillance System (KNTSS; established and operated by the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency since 2000) and the National Health Information Database (NHID; established by the National Health Insurance Service in 2012). The following data were linked: KNTSS data pertaining to patients diagnosed with tuberculosis between 2011 and 2018, NHID data of patients with a history of tuberculosis and related diseases between 2006 and 2018, and data (obtained from the Statistics Korea database) on causes of death. Data from 300 117 tuberculosis patients (177 206 men and 122 911 women) were linked. The rate of treatment success for new cases was highest in 2015 (86.7%), with a gradual decrease thereafter. The treatment success rate for previously treated cases showed an increasing trend until 2014 (79.0%) and decreased thereafter. In total, 53 906 deaths were confirmed among tuberculosis patients included in the cohort. The Korean Tuberculosis and Post-Tuberculosis Cohort can be used to analyze different measurement variables in an integrated manner depending on the data source. Therefore, these cohort data can be used in future epidemiological studies and research on policy-effect analysis, treatment outcome analysis, and health-related behaviors such as treatment discontinuation.

OBJECTIVE: Several important roles of 1,25(OH)2D3 have been recognized in the immune system. The availability of 1,25(OH)2D3 at the cellular level is significantly influenced by the relative abundance of enzymes to synthesize (CYP27B1) and catabolize (CYP24) 1,25(OH)2D3. In this study, we examined the effect of 1,25(OH)2D3 on the expression of the CYP24 gene and the role of MAPK for the induction of CYP24 by 1,25(OH)2D3 in activated human macrophages. METHODS: For obtaining human activated macrophages, we treated U937 cells with PMA and we cultured these cells for 24 hours to adhere. After 24 hours treatment with PMA, the differentiated cells were washed with phosphate buffered saline (PBS), and then they were used for examining the effect of 1,25(OH)2D3 on the expression of the CYP24 gene. The mRNA expressions of the vitamin-D3 inducible genes were measured by real-time PCR, and the change of the protein expression by 1,25(OH)2D3 was measured by immunoblotting. RESULTS: 1,25(OH)2D3 significantly induced the expression of CYP24 in the U937 cells and the 1,25(OH)2D3-induced expression of CYP24 was strongly augmented in the PMA-differentiated U937 cells. The 1,25(OH)2D3-induced expression of CYP24 was mediated by Erk1/2 and p38 MAPKs. Parallel to the induced expression of CYP24, 1,25(OH)2D3 induced the expression and phosphorylation of the CCAAT enhancer-binding protein (C/EBPbeta). CONCLUSION: In this study, we found that 1,25(OH)2D3 inducedthe expression of CYP24 via activation of MAPKs. These results suggest that MAPK inhibitors may be useful for the treatment of inflammatory conditions, in which active vitamin D3 can be used as the therapeutic molecule, by increasing the availability of 1,25(OH)2D3.
Cholecalciferol ; Humans ; Immune System ; Immunoblotting ; Macrophages ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; Phosphorylation ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger ; Steroid Hydroxylases ; U937 Cells

OBJECTIVE: After spinal cord injury (SCI), functional and structural reorganization occurs at multiple levels of brain including motor cortex. However, the underlying mechanism still remains unclear. The current study was performed to investigate the alterations in the expression of the main regulators of neuronal development, survival and death, in the brain following thoracic contusive SCI in a mouse model. METHODS: Eight-week-old female imprinting control region mice (n=60; 30-35 g) were used in this study. We analyzed the expression levels of regulators such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) 1 in the brain following thoracic contusive SCI. RESULTS: The expression of BDNF levels were elevated significantly compared with control group at 2 weeks after injury (p<0.05). The expression of NGF levels were elevated at 2, 4 weeks compared with control group, but these difference were not significant (p>0.05). The GDNF levels were elevated at 2 week compared with control group, but these differences were not significant (p>0.05). The difference of HDAC1 levels were not significant at 2, 4 and 8 weeks compared with control group (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that the upregulation of BDNF may play on important role in brain reorganization after SCI.
Animals ; Brain ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Epigenomics ; Female ; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Histone Deacetylases ; Humans ; Mice ; Motor Cortex ; Nerve Growth Factor ; Neurons ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; Up-Regulation

Adenosine deaminase (ADA), an enzyme essential for the differentiation of lymphoid cells, has been used for monitoring diseases with altered immunity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in serum ADA activity throughout normal pregnancy. We measured the catalytic values of serum ADA from 202 normal pregnant women using a commercial kit. Subjects were divided into four groups according to the gestational age in weeks (Gwks) (Group I: 5-9 Gwks [n=58]; Group II: 15-20 Gwks [n= 63]; Group III: 24-30 Gwks [n=34]; Group IV: 30-39 Gwks [n=47]). The serum ADA levels for the Groups I, II, III, and IV were as follows: 20.1+/-6.9 IU/L, 20.0+/-7.6 IU/L, 37.9+/-19.9 IU/L, and 24.5+/-8.6 IU/L, respectively. The serum ADA activity of group III was significantly higher than the other groups (p<0.05). However, there was no significant correlation between the Gwks and the serum ADA activity. Furthermore, other parameters, such as maternal age (p=0.29), gestational age at delivery (p=0.07), delivery mode (p=0.39), and birth weight (p=0.59) had no correlation with ADA activity. Reference values of serum ADA in normal pregnancy may provide important database for making clinical decisions in pregnancies complicated by conditions where cellular immunity has been altered.
Adenosine/metabolism ; Adenosine Deaminase/*blood/*metabolism ; Adult ; Analysis of Variance ; Birth Weight ; Female ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Inosine/metabolism ; Logistic Models ; Maternal Age ; Pregnancy ; Substrate Specificity