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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the utility of using the Personal Assistance Services classification system (PAS-CS) that examines individuals with disabilities for services and government funding. To this end, this study also tests for significant differences in PAS-CS scores across disability grades and disability types. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the 2014 National Survey on People with Disabilities (NSPD) data set. We selected patients with three types of disabilities (physical disabilities, brain lesions, and visual impairments). We compared the average PAS-CS scores of patients with different disability types and grades using general linear models with multiple comparisons. RESULTS: A total of 4,810 patients were included in the analysis. Patients with brain lesions had the highest average PAS-CS scores in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) domains. Patients with visual impairments had the highest average scores in ‘Disease-specific disability’ and ‘Social-environment’ domains. For patients with physical disabilities and visual impairments, no PAS-CS domains were significantly different between patients with disability grade III and those with disability grade IV (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The PAS-CS scores of disability grades were not equivalent among individuals with different disability types. The Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare currently only considers certain disability grades for PAS preeligibility, as a result disregarding the characteristics of different disability types. Thus, the current PAS-CS requires modifications.
Activities of Daily Living ; Brain ; Classification* ; Dataset ; Disability Evaluation ; Disabled Persons ; Financial Management ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Public Assistance ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Social Welfare ; Vision Disorders

Data mining differs primarily from traditional data analysis on an important dimension, namely the scale of the data. That is the reason why not only statistical but also computer science principles are needed to extract information from large data sets. In this paper we briefly review data mining, its characteristics, typical data mining algorithms, and potential and ongoing applications of data mining at biopharmaceutical industries. The distinguishing characteristics of data mining lie in its understandability, scalability, its problem driven nature, and its analysis of retrospective or observational data in contrast to experimentally designed data. At a high level one can identify three types of problems for which data mining is useful: description, prediction and search. Brief review of data mining algorithms include decision trees and rules, nonlinear classification methods, memory-based methods, model-based clustering, and graphical dependency models. Application areas covered are discovery compound libraries, clinical trial and disease management data, genomics and proteomics, structural databases for candidate drug compounds, and other applications of pharmaceutical relevance.
Classification ; Data Mining* ; Dataset ; Decision Trees ; Disease Management ; Drug Discovery* ; Genomics ; Proteomics ; Retrospective Studies ; Statistics as Topic

Early gastrointestinal cancers are defined as lesions limited to the mucosa or submucosa without invading the muscularis propria, regardless of the presence of lymph node metastases. Although the natural history of these diseases is basically alike worldwide, its management is quite different between the East and West; aggressive surgery is frequently adopted by Western surgeons, while less invasive techniques are adopted by Asian colleagues. These techniques include endoscopic mucosal resection and endoscopic submucosal dissection which are now accepted as treatments for early gastrointestinal cancers in selected cases. Recent advances in endoscopic detection and treatment techniques, especially in Japan and Korea, have prompted Western endoscopists to learn these techniques. This review addresses recent advances regarding endoscopic resections of early gastrointestinal cancers, which promoted its use in Western countries. In addition, prospective studies on endoscopic resection in Western countries are also described.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms* ; Humans ; Japan ; Korea ; Lymph Nodes ; Mucous Membrane ; Natural History ; Neoplasm Metastasis

Lysosomal dysfunction is a common pathological feature of neurodegenerative diseases. GTP-binding protein type A1 (GBA1) encodes beta-glucocerebrosidase 1 (GCase 1), a lysosomal hydrolase. Homozygous mutations in GBA1 cause Gaucher disease, the most common lysosomal storage disease, while heterozygous mutations are strong risk factors for Parkinson's disease. However, whether loss of GCase 1 activity is sufficient for lysosomal dysfunction has not been clearly determined. Here, we generated human neuroblastoma cell lines with nonsense mutations in the GBA1 gene using zinc-finger nucleases. Depending on the site of mutation, GCase 1 activity was lost or maintained. The cell line with GCase 1 deficiency showed indications of lysosomal dysfunction, such as accumulation of lysosomal substrates, reduced dextran degradation and accumulation of enlarged vacuolar structures. In contrast, the cell line with C-terminal truncation of GCase 1 but with intact GCase 1 activity showed normal lysosomal function. When alpha-synuclein was overexpressed, accumulation and secretion of insoluble aggregates increased in cells with GCase 1 deficiency but did not change in mutant cells with normal GCase 1 activity. These results demonstrate that loss of GCase 1 activity is sufficient to cause lysosomal dysfunction and accumulation of alpha-synuclein aggregates.
Cell Line ; Enzyme Activation/genetics ; Gene Knockout Techniques ; Gene Order ; Genetic Loci ; Glucosylceramidase/genetics/*metabolism ; Humans ; Lysosomes/*metabolism ; Mutation ; *Protein Aggregation, Pathological/genetics ; Protein Binding ; Zinc Fingers ; alpha-Synuclein/chemistry/*metabolism

No abstract available.
Chronic Disease ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/economics ; Humans ; Insurance, Health, Reimbursement/*economics ; Korea ; Liver Diseases/*economics ; *Prejudice ; Social Support ; Social Welfare/*economics ; *Societies, Medical ; Socioeconomic Factors