No Abstract available.
DNA, Complementary* ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis* ; Statistics as Topic*

Erythema multiforme is an acute self-limited, usually mild, and often relapsing mucocutaneous syndrome. This disease is usually related to acute infections, most often a recurrent herpes simplex viral infection or other infectious agents such as Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection has been reported to be a cause of bullous erythema multiforme in children and Stevens-Johnson syndrome in young adults. To our knowledge, there has been no report of typical erythema multiforme associated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in adults. We report a case of erythema multiforme associated with acute infection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in a 30-year-old woman.
Adult ; Child ; Erythema ; Erythema Multiforme ; Female ; Herpes Simplex ; Humans ; Methylmethacrylates ; Mycoplasma ; Mycoplasma pneumoniae ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma ; Polystyrenes ; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Projection of future trends in disease burden can facilitate setting of priorities for health policies and resource allocation. We report here projections of disease-specific mortality and the burdens of various diseases in Korea from 2016 to 2030. METHODS: Separate age- and sex-specific projection models for 21 major cause clusters from 2016 to 2030 were developed by applying coherent functional data models based on historical trends from 2002 to 2015. The age- and sex-specific years of life lost (YLL) for each cause cluster were projected based on the projected number of deaths. Years lived with disability (YLD) projections were derived using the 2015 age- and sex-specific YLD to YLL ratio. The disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) was the sum of YLL and YLD. RESULTS: The total number of deaths is projected to increase from 275,777 in 2015 to 421,700 in 2030, while the age-standardized death rate is projected to decrease from 586.9 in 2015 to 447.3 in 2030. The largest number of deaths is projected to be a result of neoplasms (75,758 deaths for males; 44,660 deaths for females), followed by cardiovascular and circulatory diseases (34,795 deaths for males; 48,553 deaths for females). The three leading causes of DALYs for both sexes are projected to be chronic respiratory diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). CONCLUSION We demonstrate that NCDs will continue to account for the majority of the disease burden in Korea in the future.

The current multimorbidity correction method in the Global Burden of Disease studies assumes the independent occurrence of diseases. Those studies use Monte-Carlo simulations to adjust for the presence of multiple disease conditions for all diseases. The present study investigated whether the above-mentioned assumption is reasonable based on the prevalence confirmed from actual data. This study compared multimorbidity-adjusted years of lived with disability (YLD) obtained by Monte-Carlo simulations and multimorbidity-adjusted YLD using multimorbidity prevalence derived from National Health Insurance Service data. The 5 most common diseases by sex and age groups were selected as diseases of interest. No significant differences were found between YLD estimations made using actual data and Monte-Carlo simulations, even though assumptions about the independent occurrence of diseases should be carefully applied. The prevalence was not well reflected according to disease characteristics in those under the age of 30, among whom there was a difference in YLD between the 2 methods. Therefore, when calculating the burden of diseases for Koreans over the age of 30, it is possible to calculate the YLD with correction for multimorbidity through Monte-Carlo simulation, but care should be taken with under-30s. It is useful to apply the efficiency and suitability of calibration for multiplicative methods using Monte-Carlo simulations in research on the domestic disease burden, especially in adults in their 30s and older. Further research should be carried out on multimorbidity correction methodology according to the characteristics of multiple diseases by sex and age.

OBJECTIVES: The increase in the obesity rate in adult males in Korea is higher than countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and other Asian countries. We examined the trends and prevalence of major risk factors for cardiovascular disease by evaluating the weight status amongst adults from 2007 to 2015. METHODS: The study included 37,402 adults, who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The prevalence trends of cardiovascular disease risk factors were estimated for each body mass index group. RESULTS: From 2007 to 2015, significant increases in the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia were observed in normal weight adults (0.03 percentage point (%p), 0.06%p, and 0.13%p, respectively). Amongst the overweight and obese adults, a significant increase in the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was observed, During this period, the prevalence of smoking decreased amongst obese adults and no significant changes in drinking habits and physical activity were noted across all body mass index groups. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of obesity in Korean adults is increasing, and it is necessary to implement interventions to prevent further weight gain and obesity-associated cardiovascular disease.
Adult* ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases* ; Drinking ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Hypertension ; Korea* ; Male ; Motor Activity ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Obesity* ; Overweight ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors* ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Weight Gain

Dermal melanocytosis, which is histologically characterized by the presence of dermal melanocytes, is most commonly found in Asians and other darkskinned people. It is observed in various congenital conditions such as the nevus of Ota, the nevus of Ito, the Mongolian spot and the blue nevus, and typically appears at birth or in early childhood. However, several cases that have appeared in adult life have been reported as acquired dermal melanocytosis. Herein, we report a unique case of acquired dermal melanocytosis diffusely affecting the left side of the chest of a 45-year old female. Additionally, a review of Korean literature regarding reported cases of unusual acquired dermal melanocytosis will be presented.
Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Humans ; Melanocytes ; Mongolian Spot ; Nevus ; Nevus of Ota ; Nevus, Blue ; Parturition ; Thorax

OBJECTIVES: A citation analysis of biomedical and health sciences journals was conducted based on their enlistment in journal databases to identify the factors contributing to the citation metrics. METHODS: Among the 1,219 academic journals managed by the National Center for Medical Information and Knowledge at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 556 journals were included for analysis as of July 2016. The characteristics of the journals include history years, publication media, language, open-access policy as well as the status enlisted in international and domestic databases, such as Science Citation Index (SCI), Scopus, Medline, PubMed Central, Embase, and Korea Citation Index (KCI). Six bibliometric measures were collected from SCI, Scopus, and KCI as of 2015, the most recent disclosure year. Analyses of group differences and influential factors were conducted using t-tests, Mann-Whitney tests, and multiple regression. RESULTS: Journal characteristics, such as history years, publication media, and open-access policy, were not significant factors influencing global or domestical citation of the journals. However, global citations were higher for SCI and Medline enlisted journals than for their counterparts. Among KCI journals, the KCI impact factors of journals published in English only were lower. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts by journals to be enlisted in international databases, especially in SCI and Medline, are critical to enhance their global circulation. However, articles published in English only hinder the use of domestic researchers. Different strategies are required for enhancing international and domestic readerships.
Access to Information ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Disclosure ; Journal Impact Factor ; Korea* ; Medical Subject Headings ; Publications ; Regression Analysis ; Republic of Korea

Interleukin-7 (IL-7) is an essential cytokine for T cells. However, IL-7 is not produced by T cells themselves such that T cells are dependent on extrinsic IL-7. In fact, in the absence of IL-7, T cell development in the thymus as well as survival of naive T cells in the periphery is severely impaired. Furthermore, modulating IL-7 availability in vivo either by genetic means or other experimental approaches determines the size, composition and function of the T cell pool. Consequently, understanding IL-7 expression is critical for understanding T cell immunity. Until most recently, however, the spatiotemporal expression of in vivo IL-7 has remained obscured. Shortage of such information was partly due to scarce expression of IL-7 itself but mainly due to the lack of adequate reagents to monitor IL-7 expression in vivo. This situation dramatically changed with a recent rush of four independent studies that describe the generation and characterization of IL-7 reporter mice, all utilizing bacterial artificial chromosome transgene technology. The emerging consensus of these studies confirmed thymic stromal cells as the major producers of IL-7 but also identified IL-7 reporter activities in various peripheral tissues including skin, intestine and lymph nodes. Strikingly, developmental and environmental cues actively modulated IL-7 reporter activities in vivo suggesting that IL-7 regulation might be a new mechanism of shaping T cell development and homeostasis. Collectively, the availability of these new tools opens up new venues to assess unanswered questions in IL-7 biology in T cells and beyond.
Animals ; Biology ; Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial ; Consensus ; Cues ; Homeostasis ; Indicators and Reagents ; Interleukin-7 ; Intestines ; Lymph Nodes ; Mice ; Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; Skin ; Stromal Cells ; T-Lymphocytes ; Thymus Gland ; Transgenes

Cutaneous pseudolymphoma refers to a heterogeneous group of benign reactive T- or B-cell lymphoproliferative diseases of the skin that resembles cutaneous lymphoma both clinically and histologically. Although most pseudolymphomas develop from unknown causes, various stimuli can induce pseudolymphomas. Pseudolymphomas have developed followed medications, infections, insect bites, ear piercing, and gold. To date, no case of pseudolymphoma developing after gold acupuncture has been reported in the Korean dermatologic literature. We report a case of a 49-year-old female who presented with multiple skin-colored papules on the left lower eyelid that showed features of a pseudolymphoma based on histopathologic assessment.
Acupuncture ; B-Lymphocytes ; Body Piercing ; Eyelids ; Female ; Humans ; Insect Bites and Stings ; Lymphoma ; Middle Aged ; Pseudolymphoma ; Skin

With society's increasing interest in weight control and body weight, we investigated the association between psychological factors and body image misperception in different age groups of adult Korean women with a normal weight. On a total of 4,600 women from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2009, a self-report questionnaire was used to assess body weight perception and 3 psychological factors: self-rated health status, stress recognition, and depressed mood. Through logistic regression analysis, a poor self-rated health status (P = 0.001) and a higher recognition of stress (P = 0.001) were significantly associated with body image misperception and this significance remained after controlling for several sociodemographic (Model 1: adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.62; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31-2.00), health behavior and psychological factors (Model 2: aOR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.29-1.96; Model 3: aOR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.01-1.84). Especially, highly stressed middle-aged (50-64 yr) women were more likely to have body image misperception (Model 2: aOR, 2.85; 95% CI, 1.30-6.26). However, the correlation between depressed mood and self-reported body weight was inconsistent between different age groups. In conclusion, self-rated health status and a high recognition rate of severe stress were related to body weight misperception which could suggest tailored intervention to adult women especially women in younger age or low self-rated health status or a high recognition rate of severe stress.
Adult ; Age Distribution ; Aged ; Aging/psychology ; Body Dysmorphic Disorders/*epidemiology/*psychology ; Body Image/*psychology ; *Body Weight ; Comorbidity ; Depression/*epidemiology/*psychology ; Female ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Psychology ; Reference Values ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Self Report ; Women's Health/statistics & numerical data ; Young Adult