The Motor Vessel Sewol accident was a horrible accident, and it had complex ripple effects in various areas such as politics, economy, and culture. In particular, the psychological impact of each individual in Korean society was great, and various explanations for the causes of such psychological mass trauma would be possible. One of these important causes is the historical memory about common cultural custom. Therefore, the historical and cultural memory of the school trips shared by members of Korean society may be one of the causes of the psychological trauma. This paper aims to explain the cultural and social functions of school trips in East Asian societies from a historical point of view. In addition, we will also analyse the reasons why shared cultural memories contributed to the formation of collective trauma of the accident from a cultural, anthropological and psychiatric point of view.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Humans ; Memory ; Politics ; Psychological Trauma ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

The impact of maternal mental health on parenting and infant development is significant. Infants of mothers who have experienced perinatal mental health problems have genetic risks as well as risks in establishing a stable mother-child relationship, which interferes with the infants’ emotional, cognitive, and social development. Biological, psychological, and inpatient treatments, such as mother-baby unit at the highest risk after childbirth, have been attempted to minimize the negative consequences of perinatal mental disorder. Mother-child psychotherapy is also helpful in improving a mother-child relationship and strengthening the parenting ability.

With the development of the attachment theory and perinatal psychiatry, the joint admission of the mother and her baby in hospitals began in the 1950s, and this has developed into the establishment of specialized Mother-Baby Units (MBUs). MBUs were operated mainly in the United Kingdom and France. Subsequently, the concept gradually expanded to Belgium, Australia, and the United States, and recently, it is also spreading to Hungary, Sri Lanka, and India. The MBU is a specialized inpatient ward that operates 24 hours a day and comprises multidisciplinary personnel who can give specialized care to mothers with mental illnesses and their babies. Various psychosocial interventions, as well as pharmacotherapy, are used to achieve the MBU’s goal. These include a secure attachment bond between a mother and her baby and psychiatric care for the mother’s mental problems. According to most previous studies about MBU, the outcomes relating to clinical symptoms and the mother-baby interaction have been promising. Currently, there is no MBU in South Korea even though the obvious benefits have been identified. Further studies for the establishment of MBUs in our clinical environment are desperately and urgently needed.

BACKGROUND: Because of a lack of substances for platelet (PLT) metabolism and preservation, normal saline (NS) washed PLTs can only be stored for short lengths of time. However, the use of platelet additive solutions (PAS) could help solve this problem. In this study, the in vitro quality of NS washed platelets (wPLTs) stored in two types of PAS were compared with those of wPLTs stored in NS. METHODS: Five units of NS washed apheresis platelets were pooled aseptically and separated into five aliquots for storage in NS only as well as T-PAS+ (Terumo BCT, Lakewood, CO, USA) and CompoSol PS (Fenwal, Lake Zurich, IL, USA) with or without 15 mM glucose. The parameters of wPLTs quality were assessed up to 48 hrs after washing and the whole experiment was repeated 10 times independently. RESULTS: wPLTs in two kinds of PAS had better quality than wPLTs in NS, and wPLTs in T-PAS+ showed better quality than those in CompoSol PS. PAS-stored wPLTs with added glucose maintained stable CD62P and Annexin V expression during storage, but exhibited increased lactate accumulation. Evaluation of in vitro quality revealed that all wPLTs had a rating of 4 immediately after washing. However, only T-PAS+-stored wPLTs with glucose maintained a rating of 4 up to 48 hrs of post-washing. CONCLUSION: Using PAS storage for wPLTs may be beneficial compared to NS. The results presented herein suggest that T-PAS+ containing glucose has the potential to extend storage time by up to 48-hours.
Annexin A5 ; Blood Component Removal ; Blood Platelets* ; Blood Preservation ; Glucose ; In Vitro Techniques ; Lactic Acid ; Lakes ; Metabolism

This study's aim was to investigate whether the incidence of neutropenia was higher in subjects who received a combination pharmacotherapy with valproate (VPA), antipsychotics (APs), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication than in those administered only VPA and APs combination pharmacotherapy. We conducted this study through retrospective review of medical records. We collected the records of 231 children admitted to the National Center for Mental Health. The incidence of neutropenia was significantly higher in the VPA–APs–ADHD combination group than in the other groups (55.2% vs. 25% vs. 12%, VPA + AP + ADHD vs. VPA + AP vs. AP). The presence of the combination of VPA, APs, and ADHD medication was a powerful predictor of neutropenia occurrence after adjusting for age, gender, and body mass index (odds ratio, 6.43; 95% confidence interval, 2.26–18.26; P < 0.001) The combination of VPA, APs, and ADHD medication in children with psychiatric disease appears to increase the incidence of drug-induced neutropenia.

OBJECTIVES: To identify recent prescription patterns, as well as the demographic and clinical correlates of antidepressants (ADs) usage in schizophrenic patients. METHODS: A total of 297 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia enrolled at Seoul National Hospital in 2013. Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was used to evaluate current psychiatric symptoms. Bivariate comparisons were used to assess the usage of concomitant psychotropics, demographic and clinical characteristics of ADs users compared with non-users. Multivariate analysis of covariance was performed consecutively. RESULTS: The rate of ADs usage was 26.3% and the most commonly used ADs were selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. ADs users more often took benzodiazepine than ADs non-users (p=0.005), whereas there were no significant demographic and other clinical difference between the two groups. Regarding BPRS, somatic concern (p=0.022), anxiety (p=0.001) and depressive mood (p=0.009) scores were higher, and excitement (p=0.006) and hostility (p=0.04) scores were lower among ADs users compared to non-users, although there was no significant difference in the other scores of BPRS between the two groups. Moreover, among 5 components of BPRS, scores of affective symptoms (p < 0.001) were significantly higher, and scores of activation symptoms (p=0.014) were significantly lower in ADs users compared to non-users. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the usage of ADs could be related to affective symptoms regardless of positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Further studies are required in order to confirm the clinical correlates of ADs usage and the interactions between affective symptoms and psychotic symptoms.
Affective Symptoms ; Antidepressive Agents* ; Anxiety ; Benzodiazepines ; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale ; Hostility ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prescriptions* ; Schizophrenia* ; Seoul ; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors

Objective: This study aimed to examine personality profiles and behavioral problems of children with nail biting (NB) to gain insight into the developmental trajectory of pathological NB. Methods: 681 elementary school students were divided into non NB (n=436), occasional NB (n=173) and frequent NB group (n=72) depending on the frequency of NB reported in Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL). Children’s personality was assessed using the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI), and behavioral problems were assessed using the CBCL. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was performed using JTCI profiles to classify personalities of the children with NB (belonging to frequent and occasional NB group, n=245). Results: For subscale scores of CBCL, the total, internalizing, externalizing, anxious/depressed withdrawn/depressed, depression, thought, rule-breaking, and aggressive behavior problems, were most severe in the frequent NB group followed by occasional NB and non NB group. LPA of personality profile in children with NB revealed four classes (‘adaptiveness,’ ‘high reward dependence,’ ‘low self-directedness,’ and ‘maldaptiveness’). The four personality classes demonstrated significant group differences in all of the CBCL subscales. Children who showed low self-directedness and cooperativeness and high novelty seeking and harm avoidance personality profiles demonstrated highest tendency for problematic behavior irrespective of the frequency of NB. Conclusion Children with NB reported significantly more problematic behaviors compared to children without NB. Children with specific personality profile demonstrated higher tendency for problematic behavior irrespective of the frequency of NB. Therefore, accompanying personality profiles should be considered when assessing behavioral problems in children with NB.

The Republic of Korea has been using malaria antibody assays to screen blood donors and reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM). This study examined the effectiveness of the current malaria antibody test for screening blood donors and calculated the positive predictive value (PPV) with the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as the reference. The reactive rate and PPV of the malaria antibody screening assay during particular period from 2020 to 2021 were 0.82% (248/30,309) and 0.40% (1/248), respectively. The low PPV of current malaria antibody screening in blood donors suggests that the effectiveness of this test is limited in terms of balancing blood safety and supply in low-prevalence situations.

Objective: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria causes poor uterine receptivity by inducing excessive inflammation at the maternal-fetal interface. This study aimed to investigate the detrimental effects of LPS on the attachment and outgrowth of various types of trophoblastic spheroids on endometrial epithelial cells (ECC-1 cells) in an in vitro model of implantation. Methods: Three types of spheroids with JAr, JEG-3, and JAr mixed JEG-3 (JmJ) cells were used to evaluate the effect of LPS on early implantation events. ECC-1 cells were treated with LPS to mimic endometrial infection, and the expression of inflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The attachment rates and outgrowth areas were evaluated in the various trophoblastic spheroids and ECC-1 cells treated with LPS. Results: LPS treatment significantly increased the mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines (CXCL1, IL-8, and IL-33) and decreased the protein expression of adhesion molecules (ITGβ3 and ITGβ5) in ECC-1 cells. The attachment rates of JAr and JmJ spheroids on ECC-1 cells significantly decreased after treating the ECC-1 cells with 1 and 10 μg/mL LPS. In the outgrowth assay, JAr spheroids did not show any outgrowth areas. However, the outgrowth areas of JEG-3 spheroids were similar regardless of LPS treatment. LPS treatment of JmJ spheroids significantly decreased the outgrowth area after 72 hours of coincubation. Conclusion An in vitro implantation model using novel JmJ spheroids was established, and the inhibitory effects of LPS on ECC-1 endometrial epithelial cells were confirmed in the early implantation process.

Objective: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria causes poor uterine receptivity by inducing excessive inflammation at the maternal-fetal interface. This study aimed to investigate the detrimental effects of LPS on the attachment and outgrowth of various types of trophoblastic spheroids on endometrial epithelial cells (ECC-1 cells) in an in vitro model of implantation. Methods: Three types of spheroids with JAr, JEG-3, and JAr mixed JEG-3 (JmJ) cells were used to evaluate the effect of LPS on early implantation events. ECC-1 cells were treated with LPS to mimic endometrial infection, and the expression of inflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The attachment rates and outgrowth areas were evaluated in the various trophoblastic spheroids and ECC-1 cells treated with LPS. Results: LPS treatment significantly increased the mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines (CXCL1, IL-8, and IL-33) and decreased the protein expression of adhesion molecules (ITGβ3 and ITGβ5) in ECC-1 cells. The attachment rates of JAr and JmJ spheroids on ECC-1 cells significantly decreased after treating the ECC-1 cells with 1 and 10 μg/mL LPS. In the outgrowth assay, JAr spheroids did not show any outgrowth areas. However, the outgrowth areas of JEG-3 spheroids were similar regardless of LPS treatment. LPS treatment of JmJ spheroids significantly decreased the outgrowth area after 72 hours of coincubation. Conclusion An in vitro implantation model using novel JmJ spheroids was established, and the inhibitory effects of LPS on ECC-1 endometrial epithelial cells were confirmed in the early implantation process.