Pathological laughing and crying(PLC) is a condition that is characterized by episodic, brief, contextually inappropriate, uncontrollable outbursts of laughing and/or crying. It can be observed in patients with various neurological disorders. PLC often causes distress in interpersonal functioning and activities for patients and their families. PLC can be recognized easily with proper understanding of the condition and its nature. Also it generally shows good response to various pharmacological treatments. This review aims to encourage the diagnosis and treatment of PLC by providing definition and clinical presentation of PLC, analysis of its pathophysiology and various current treatment options.
Crying* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Nervous System Diseases

The status of health administration and medicare insurance program of 58 universities and colleges of 4-year course was studied in 1971 and the following results were obtained; 1. The average number of students of 20 universities was 4,800+/-2,600 and that of 36 colleges was 780+/-620. 2. The types of health service facilities for the students varied widely according to the institutions, from an elaborate one, university health center, to a poor one first aid room. 3. Thirty-six out of 58 institutions had some sort of health service facilities, either health center or health service room. And 14 out of 36 institutions had elaborate health service facilities such as university health center or student health center. 4. The number of full time staff of the health center and that of the health service room were 2 to more than 10 and 0 to 3 respectively. 5. The range of student health service fee varied widely according to the institutions from won50 to won550 per student, per semester. The average cost of student health service fee at the institutions with health centers was won300+/-150 and that with health service rooms was won200+/-150 per student, per semester. 6. Utility rate of the student health service facilities at the institutions with health centers and with health service rooms were 1,200 to 1,400 and 3,900 to 4,100 per 1,000 students per year. 7. There was an obvious increasing tendency of tuberculosis prevalence rate in the students. 8. The institutions which had appointed hospitals for student medicare were 24 ; where the reduction rate of medical expenses for students varied from 10 to 50 percent. 9. Students medicare insurance program was adopted by six universities which accommodated more than 2,000 students. 10. The range of student medicare insurance fee varied widely according to the institutions from won140 to won800 per student per year. Each of the six universities which had adopted the insurance program had each own's special regulations to apply for pay claims.
Fees and Charges ; First Aid ; Health Services ; Humans ; Insurance* ; Korea* ; Medicare* ; Prevalence ; Social Control, Formal ; Student Health Services ; Tuberculosis

The status of health administration and medicare insurance program of 58 universities and colleges of 4-year course was studied in 1971 and the following results were obtained; 1. The average number of students of 20 universities was 4,800+/-2,600 and that of 36 colleges was 780+/-620. 2. The types of health service facilities for the students varied widely according to the institutions, from an elaborate one, university health center, to a poor one first aid room. 3. Thirty-six out of 58 institutions had some sort of health service facilities, either health center or health service room. And 14 out of 36 institutions had elaborate health service facilities such as university health center or student health center. 4. The number of full time staff of the health center and that of the health service room were 2 to more than 10 and 0 to 3 respectively. 5. The range of student health service fee varied widely according to the institutions from won50 to won550 per student, per semester. The average cost of student health service fee at the institutions with health centers was won300+/-150 and that with health service rooms was won200+/-150 per student, per semester. 6. Utility rate of the student health service facilities at the institutions with health centers and with health service rooms were 1,200 to 1,400 and 3,900 to 4,100 per 1,000 students per year. 7. There was an obvious increasing tendency of tuberculosis prevalence rate in the students. 8. The institutions which had appointed hospitals for student medicare were 24 ; where the reduction rate of medical expenses for students varied from 10 to 50 percent. 9. Students medicare insurance program was adopted by six universities which accommodated more than 2,000 students. 10. The range of student medicare insurance fee varied widely according to the institutions from won140 to won800 per student per year. Each of the six universities which had adopted the insurance program had each own's special regulations to apply for pay claims.
Fees and Charges ; First Aid ; Health Services ; Humans ; Insurance* ; Korea* ; Medicare* ; Prevalence ; Social Control, Formal ; Student Health Services ; Tuberculosis

BACKGROUND: Beta-adrenergic receptor Kinase 1(betaARK1) is a serine/threonine kinase attached, which inhibits the coupling of beta-adrenergic receptor with G-protein. Myocardial betaARK1 level is usually elevated in heart failure and hypertrophy, but it is not known whether the circulating betaARK1 level is related with the degree of cardiac hypertrophy. This study was performed to evaluate the association of the betaARK1 level in circulating mononuclear leukocytes(MNL) in untreated hypertension with left ventricular mass in hypertensive patients. Method: Nineteen non-treated hypertensive patients were included for this study. High blood pressure was confirmed when systolic BP is over 150 mmHg or diastoli BP is over 95 mmHg. Echocardiography was performed to evaluate the degree of hypertrophy by measuring the left ventricular mass index(LVMI) and relative wall thickness(RWT), and test the LV function by measuring the ejection fraction(EF) according to ASE guideline. At the same time, blood was collected from each patient and MNL were isolated by gradient centrifuge with Ficoll-400. Total RNA was purified from MNL and semi-quantitative RT-PCR was performed. After reverse transcription, PCR was done with primers for human betaARK1 and GAPDH as external control. betaARK1 levels were expressed by ratio to GAPDH level and estimated the relations with clinical and Echocardiographic parameters. Result: We studied confirmed 19 hypertensive patients(10 men and 9 women, mean age of 50.6 years). Echocardiographically measured indices(mean+/-SD) were as follows; LVMI(137.3+/-30.6g/m2), PWT(0.53+/-0.09) and EF(54.6+/-8.5%). Ratio of betaARK1 levels to GAPDH was from 0.10 to 0.96 (0.62+/-0.25). betaARK1 levels were correlated with LVMI(correlation coefficient: r=.502, p=.029) and RWT(r=.627, p=.004). But Systolic BP(r=0.009, p=.93), diastolic BP(r=.07, p=.85) or EF(r=.045, p=.84) were not related to level of betaARK1. CONCLUSIONS: The betaARK1 level of circulating MNL was correlated well with the degree of the cardiac hypertrophy estimated by LVMI and RWT. This data suggests that activation of sympatho-adrenal system would exert a major role in developing cardiac hypertrophy and we can expect the decreased responsiveness to catecholamine in the heart of hypertensive patients. betaARK1 in circulating MNL might be used as a predictor or marker for LV hypertrophy in hypertensive patients.
beta-Adrenergic Receptor Kinases ; Cardiomegaly ; Echocardiography ; Female ; GTP-Binding Proteins ; Heart ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Hypertrophy ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear* ; Male ; Phosphotransferases ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Reverse Transcription ; RNA

Great strides have been made not only in the research of the endogenous electrical signals,but also in the clinical application on nonunions using exogenous electrical signals. We measured human skin steady state potentials on the anteromedial surface of the twenty-eight left proximal tibiae and investigated intraosseous induced potentials created by a capacitively coupled signal applied on the proximal tibia of ten rabbits' right hind limbs. Following results were observed: 1. Human skin epiphysio-metaphyseal and epiphysio-diaphyseal potential differences in resting state were 116.1±11.7µV, and 120.5±29.4µV, respectively(P> 0.05), while those in full weight bearing were 310.3±169.4µV, and 404.2±154.1µV, respectively (P<0.05). 2. Skin steady state potentials were affected by muscle contraction and load bearing. 3. Thraugh a sequence of applied voltage of 2, 5, 10, 20, and 30 volts peak to peak, linear increase in the intraosseous induced potentials were produced. 4. Intraosseous induced potentials increased, although their increasing rates being decelerated, with increasing frequencies of 2, 20, 60, 120, and 200 KHz. 5. Higher intraosseous induced potentials were produced,as conductive jelly was applied between the capacitor plates and skin.
Extremities ; Humans ; Muscle Contraction ; Skin ; Tibia ; Weight-Bearing

BACKGROUND: Epidermolysis bullosa is a group of inherited disorcier characterized by blistering of the skin as a result of minor trauma. OBJECTIVE: There exist very little epidemiologic data for most of the major and minor subsets of inherited epidermolysis bullosa in Korea. We look forward to obtaining basic data for the pathogenesis and treatment of epidermolysis bullosa. METHOD: We performed 1st and 2nd trial of survey with the help of 28 dermatologic Departments snd 28 pediatric departments of medical colleges and 14 dermatologic dipartments of general hospitals. RESULTS: 68 cases were collected and classified by disease type, sex distribution, age distribution, and regional distribution. In disease type, 42 cases of EB simplex(62%), 8 cases of junctional type(12%), 10 cases of dominant dystrophic type(15%), 8 cases of recessive dytrcphic type(12%) were reported. In most cases males predominnted, but in dominant dystrophic type both sexes were equivalent. EB simplex, junctional type, RDEB were mostly developed in the 1st decade of life, dominant dystrophic type in the 2nd decade of life. In regional distribution, the number of pi tients was outstanding in large cities such as Seoul, Pusan, Taegu, Kwanju. CONCLUSION: Due to many limitations and shortage of techniques, this epidemiologic study may be notgood enough for the total estimated number of epidermolysis bullos. patients, prevalence rate, and therapeutic modalities. Furthe evaluation should be necessary next time.
Age Distribution ; Blister ; Busan ; Daegu ; Epidemiologic Studies* ; Epidermolysis Bullosa* ; Gwangju ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male ; Prevalence ; Seoul ; Sex Distribution ; Skin

Argon laser trabeculoplasty(ALT) is commonly used in the treatment of uncontrolled open angle glaucoma. The authors retrospectively reviewed the efficacy of ALT in 52 patients(57 eyes) with primary open angle glaucoma. The mean follow-up was 28 months(range 2-48 months). The decrease in intraocular pressure 10P) was 10.1 +/- 3.5 mmHg at 1 month, 8.2 +/- 2.8 mmHg at 1 year, 6.2 +/- 5.1 mmHg at 2 years and 51% at 3 years. Failure was most common in the first 6 months after treatment(29%) and thereafter failure occurred at a rate of 5% to 15% per year. The sex and age of patients had no significant effect on success rate. The success rate was high in the patients with baseline IOP of 26 to 30 mmHg. A mild iritis in all cases, transient rise in IOP, peripheral anterior synechia and microscopic hyphema were noted as early complications of ALT.
Argon* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glaucoma, Open-Angle* ; Humans ; Hyphema ; Intraocular Pressure ; Iritis ; Retrospective Studies ; Trabeculectomy*

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to develop a dietary self-efficacy questionnaire and to determine how dietary self-efficacy is related to selected biochemical markers and health-related quality of life in hemodialysis patients. METHODS: Participants included 172 patients who had been participating in a dialysis program for at least 6 months at two teaching hospitals. A questionnaire was used to assess socio-demographic factors, dialysis-related factors, dietary self-efficacy, and kidney disease quality of life (KDQOL). Serum levels of potassium and phosphorus and interdialytic weight gain were also measured. RESULTS: The internal reliability of dietary self-efficacy was 0.944 (Cronbach's alpha). Principal component analysis resulted in two factors, situational self-efficacy of compliance with dietary guidelines and self-efficacy of food choice. The correlation analysis showed a significant association between situational self-efficacy of compliance with dietary guidelines and serum potassium and KIDQOL. The average scores of situational self-efficacy of compliance with dietary guidelines and self-efficacy of food choice in the participants were 3.52+/-0.72 and 3.61+/-0.71 respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the situational self-efficacy of compliance with dietary guidelines was significantly associated with serum potassium level and KDQOL and self-efficacy of food choice was significantly associated with KDQOL. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, the developed dietary self-efficacy questionnaire may be a suitable survey tool for hemodialysis patients, which can play a role in predicting clinical indicators of patient and health-related quality of life. We recommend further research into clarifying whether the positive effects of increased dietary self-efficacy is maintained in long-term dialysis patients.
Biomarkers ; Compliance ; Dialysis ; Diet ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases ; Linear Models ; Phosphorus ; Potassium ; Principal Component Analysis ; Quality of Life ; Renal Dialysis ; Self Efficacy ; Weight Gain

To investigate cellular proliferation pattern of pterygial tissue, eleven paraffin sections through two normal conjunctiva, six primary and three recurrent pterygia were studied immunohistochemically by finding epithelial cells and subepithelial fibroblasts staining patterns as defined by monoclonal antibody for proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA). The results showed similar epithelial cellular proliferation patterns in normal conjunctiva, primary and recurrent pterygia. But scattered patches of fibroblasts in subepithelial connective tissue staining positive with PCNA were found only in recurrent pterygium. Our results suggest that primary pterygium is not a disorder of excess cellular proliferation, but a proliferation of fibroblasts in subepithelial connective tissue have a role in pathogenesis of recurrent pterygium.
Cell Proliferation ; Conjunctiva ; Connective Tissue ; Epithelial Cells ; Epithelium ; Fibroblasts ; Paraffin ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Pterygium*

PURPOSE: Renal transplantation which allows children normal growth and development and a return to normal life. is now proven to be the best modality for children with ESRD Up to Recently, the number of renal transplantations in Asia has rapidly increased and the outcome has also improved. This investigation was planned to estimate the current status of pediatric renal transplantation in Asia and to find the keys for better improvement of outcome in pediatric renal allograft in Asian countries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The participating countries and institutions for this investigation were China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, KSPN (Korean Society of Pediatric Nephrology), KONOS (Korean Network for Organ Sharing). RESULTS: Many countries in Asia still do not have a well organized nation wide renal transplantation registration system independently in the pediatric field . So it's very difficult to evaluate the real state of pediatric transplantation among Asian countries. According to the estimation with fragmented data from each countries, in the front running countries of pediatric renal transplantation in Asia, about 40 or more transplants were performed in each country per year and the five year actuarial renal allograft survival was around 80% which is similar to that of western countries. But there were large gaps among the behind groups. CONCLUSION: Vigorous attempts to perform renal transplantation for children especially younger than 5 years old would be encouraged as well as organ donation from brain dead donor and non heart beating cadaveric donor also should be activated to cope effectively with the shortage of living donor supply. Large number of recent reports shows the favorable outcome of pre-emptive renal transplantation, we should make more efforts toward pre-emptive renal transplantation. First of all, in order to improve the outcome and to narrow the gap between Asian countries in pediatric renal transplantation, effective and continuous efforts to establish nationwide pediatric renal transplantation registration program as well as official, nation-to-nation data sharing program should be needed.
Allografts ; Asia* ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Brain Death ; Cadaver ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Growth and Development ; Heart ; Hong Kong ; Humans ; India ; Indonesia ; Information Dissemination ; Japan ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Korea ; Living Donors ; Malaysia ; Pakistan ; Philippines ; Running ; Singapore ; Thailand ; Tissue and Organ Procurement ; Tissue Donors