Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence, status, severity, frequency, and impact on life of drooling in children with cerebral palsy. Methods: A total of 74 children with cerebral palsy, aged 2-6 years (53.68±17.33 months), who exhibited drooling symptoms were assessed using the Drooling Severity and Frequency Scale (DSFS) and the Drooling Impact Scale (DIS) to determine the status, severity, frequency, and impact of drooling in drooling group and control group. The study also examined differences in drooling-related factors based on gender, age, and prematurity status. Results: The overall prevalence of drooling was 60.8%, 35.6% in those with spastic quadriplegia, and 77.8% in children at Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level III-V. Significant differences were found in drooling severity based on gender, prematurity, and age. Higher scores were observed for drooling severity and frequency, frequency of wiping the mouth, and the impact of drooling on the child’s life compare to control group.Although a few had undergone drooling-related treatments, many parents expressed a desire to receive treatment. It was reported that treatment for drooling was primarily provided by occupational therapists through referrals to rehabilitation medicine, with dysphagia rehabilitation and oral motor therapy being the main interventions. Conclusion By utilizing standardized assessment tools, the severity of drooling according to the specific conditions of children with disabilities was assessed. It is believed that the necessary steps to be taken include identifying the cause of drooling and setting appropriate treatment goals, followed by the provision for a suitable intervention.

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence, status, severity, frequency, and impact on life of drooling in children with cerebral palsy. Methods: A total of 74 children with cerebral palsy, aged 2-6 years (53.68±17.33 months), who exhibited drooling symptoms were assessed using the Drooling Severity and Frequency Scale (DSFS) and the Drooling Impact Scale (DIS) to determine the status, severity, frequency, and impact of drooling in drooling group and control group. The study also examined differences in drooling-related factors based on gender, age, and prematurity status. Results: The overall prevalence of drooling was 60.8%, 35.6% in those with spastic quadriplegia, and 77.8% in children at Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level III-V. Significant differences were found in drooling severity based on gender, prematurity, and age. Higher scores were observed for drooling severity and frequency, frequency of wiping the mouth, and the impact of drooling on the child’s life compare to control group.Although a few had undergone drooling-related treatments, many parents expressed a desire to receive treatment. It was reported that treatment for drooling was primarily provided by occupational therapists through referrals to rehabilitation medicine, with dysphagia rehabilitation and oral motor therapy being the main interventions. Conclusion By utilizing standardized assessment tools, the severity of drooling according to the specific conditions of children with disabilities was assessed. It is believed that the necessary steps to be taken include identifying the cause of drooling and setting appropriate treatment goals, followed by the provision for a suitable intervention.

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence, status, severity, frequency, and impact on life of drooling in children with cerebral palsy. Methods: A total of 74 children with cerebral palsy, aged 2-6 years (53.68±17.33 months), who exhibited drooling symptoms were assessed using the Drooling Severity and Frequency Scale (DSFS) and the Drooling Impact Scale (DIS) to determine the status, severity, frequency, and impact of drooling in drooling group and control group. The study also examined differences in drooling-related factors based on gender, age, and prematurity status. Results: The overall prevalence of drooling was 60.8%, 35.6% in those with spastic quadriplegia, and 77.8% in children at Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level III-V. Significant differences were found in drooling severity based on gender, prematurity, and age. Higher scores were observed for drooling severity and frequency, frequency of wiping the mouth, and the impact of drooling on the child’s life compare to control group.Although a few had undergone drooling-related treatments, many parents expressed a desire to receive treatment. It was reported that treatment for drooling was primarily provided by occupational therapists through referrals to rehabilitation medicine, with dysphagia rehabilitation and oral motor therapy being the main interventions. Conclusion By utilizing standardized assessment tools, the severity of drooling according to the specific conditions of children with disabilities was assessed. It is believed that the necessary steps to be taken include identifying the cause of drooling and setting appropriate treatment goals, followed by the provision for a suitable intervention.

Objectives: In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we aimed to investigate the differences in brain activation between individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) individuals during perspective taking. We also examined the association between brain activation and empathic and interoceptive abilities. Methods: During scanning, participants from the ASD (n=17) and TD (n=22) groups were shown pain stimuli and asked to rate the level of the observed pain from both self- and other-perspectives. Empathic abilities, including perspective taking, were measured using an empathic questionnaire, and three dimensions of interoception were assessed: interoceptive accuracy, interoceptive sensibility, and interoceptive trait prediction errors. Results: During self-perspective taking, the ASD group exhibited greater activation in the left precuneus than the TD group. During other-perspective taking, relative hyperactivation extended to areas including the right precuneus, right superior frontal gyrus, left caudate nucleus, and left amygdala. Brain activation levels in the right superior frontal gyrus while taking other-perspective were negatively correlated with interoceptive accuracy, and those in the left caudate were negatively correlated with perspective taking ability in the ASD group. Conclusion Individuals with ASD show atypical brain activation during perspective taking. Notably, their brain regions associated with stress reactions and escape responses are overactivated when taking other-perspective. This overactivity is related to poor interoceptive accuracy, suggesting that individuals with ASD may experience difficulties with the self-other distinction or atypical embodiment when considering another person’s perspective.

This study aimed to compare brain structural connectivity using graph theory between patients with alcohol dependence and social drinkers. The participants were divided into two groups; the alcohol group (N=23) consisting of patients who had been hospitalized and had abstained from alcohol for at least three months and the control group (N=22) recruited through advertisements and were social drinkers. All participants were evaluated using 3T magnetic resonance imaging. A total of 1000 repeated whole-brain tractographies with random parameters were performed using DSI Studio. Four hundred functionally defined cortical regions of interest (ROIs) were parcellated using FreeSurfer based on the Schaefer Atlas.The ROIs were overlaid on the tractography results to generate 1000 structural connectivity matrices per person, and 1000 matrices were averaged into a single matrix per subject. Graph analysis was performed through igraph R package. Graph measures were compared between the two groups using analysis of covariance, considering the effects of age and smoking pack years. The alcohol group showed lower local efficiency than the control group in the whole-brain (F=5.824, p=0.020), somato-motor (F=5.963, p=0.019), and default mode networks (F=4.422, p=0.042). The alcohol group showed a lower global efficiency (F=5.736, p=0.021) in the control network. The transitivity of the alcohol group in the dorsal attention network was higher than that of the control (F=4.257, p=0.046). Our results imply that structural stability of the whole-brain network is affected in patients with alcohol dependence, which can lead to ineffective information processing in cases of local node failure.

Background: This study explored the effect of anger on suicidality by dividing participants into a group with major depressive disorder (MDD) and a non-MDD group, and also investigated whether the anger expression affects suicidality in participants without clinical depression. Methods: A total of 1,015 residents responded to anonymous questionnaires in our survey. The survey included scales, such as the Patients Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Korean State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, and Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Plus. Participants were categorized into the MDD and non-MDD groups or depression group and non-depression group following the PHQ-9 score. Logistic regression analysis was performed to confirm the association between anger and suicidality in the non-MDD and non-MDD groups. Results: Anger suppression and higher PHQ-9 appeared as risk factors for suicidality in the non-MDD group. The depression level in the non-MDD group mediates the relationship between anger suppression and suicidality. Higher PHQ-9 was no longer a risk factor and anger suppression remains a risk factor in the non-depression group. Conclusion Not only depression evaluation, but also anger evaluation is important when assessing suicidality. Implementing anger management programs for people with high anger suppression can help lower suicidality in Korean society, where negative emotional expression is suppressed.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find out the current status of toxicology laboratory operated by six locations nationwide and to investigate the satisfaction of emergency medical professionals who working at local and regional emergency medical centers. Methods: This survey was conducted prospective. It was conducted on 665 emergency medical professionals working at regional and regional emergency medical centers across the South Korea. Among them, the analysis was conducted with data that 510 emergency medical professionals who respond to this survey. The questionnaire was conducted on an online basis for a month. To ensure statistical significance, consider a dropout rate of 10% based on a minimum response recovery rate of 70%. 506 people were selected for the survey. Results: According to a survey on the status of addiction analysis room usage, the average monthly usage of addiction test rooms among respondents were 406 cases.71.0 cases (17.4%) of toxicology laboratory in Seoul and 71 cases (17.4%) in Gwangju. 32 cases (7.8%), 118 cases (29.0%) requested by toxicology laboratory in Busan, and the toxicology laboratory in Daegu. Eighty two cases (20.1%), Daejeon area 25 cases (6.1%), Wonju area toxicology laboratory was 78 (19.6%). According to a survey on the satisfaction of the addiction analysis room,Seoul (4.9±2.71) and Gwangju (4.8±2.52) showed high satisfaction. Conclusion Due to the limited operation time of the four addiction analysis rooms currently in operation, the satisfaction level of addiction analysis by emergency medical professionals in the area is low due to the delay until the result is notified.

Aging has become a global problem, and the interest in healthy aging is growing. Healthy aging involves a focus on the maintenance of the function and well-being of elderly adults, rather than a specific disease. Thus, the management of frailty, which is an accumulated decline in function, is important for healthy aging. The adaptation method was used to develop clinical practice guidelines on frailty management that are applicable in primary care settings. The guidelines were developed in three phases: preparation (organization of committees and establishment of the scope of development), literature screening and evaluation (selection of the clinical practice guidelines to be adapted and evaluation of the guidelines using the Korean Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II tool), and confirmation of recommendations (three rounds of Delphi consensus and internal and external reviews). A total of 16 recommendations (five recommendations for diagnosis and assessment, 11 recommendations for intervention of frailty) were made through the guideline development process. These clinical practice guidelines provide overall guidance on the identification, evaluation, intervention, and monitoring of frailty, making them applicable in primary care settings. As aging and “healthy aging” become more and more important, these guidelines are also expected to increase in clinical usefulness.

Background: Ultrasonography is an effective noninvasive imaging modality for the diagnosis of subcutaneous masses. To date, few studies have reported skin ultrasonography using deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs).We investigated the accuracy of DCNNs for the diagnosis of epidermal cysts, lipomas, and other subcutaneous masses. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether DCNNs could diagnose subcutaneous masses with ultrasonographic images at level of competence comparable to dermatologists. Methods: We created a dataset of 1,361 skin ultrasonography images obtained from 202 patients diagnosed with epidermal cysts, lipomas, and other subcutaneous masses, to train the DCNNs using ResNet18. Performance was compared with another set of 93 ultrasonographic images (24 epidermal cysts, 25 lipomas, and 44 other subcutaneous masses) from open-access articles. Results: The DCNNs yielded 87.10% classification accuracy and 86.10% F1-scores. The area under the curve, sensitivity, and specificity were 0.92 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.86∼0.98), 75.00%, and 98.55% for epidermal cysts; 0.93 (95% CI 0.88∼0.98), 80.00%, and 94.12% for lipomas; and 0.97 (95% CI 0.93∼1.00), 97.73%, and 85.71% for other subcutaneous masses, respectively. Analysis using gradient-weighted class activation mapping revealed that the DCNNs could detect specific ultrasonographic findings of epidermal cysts and lipomas. Conclusion We propose that DCNNs combined with ultrasonography may aid in the diagnosis of subcutaneous masses in outpatient settings.

BACKGROUND: The delivery of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP2) by using various carriers has been used to successfully induce bone formation in many animal models. However, the effect of multiple administration of rhBMP2 on bone formation and BMP2 antibody production has not been determined. Our aim was to examine the bone formation activity of rhBMP2 and serum levels of anti-BMP2 antibodies following the repeated administration of rhBMP2 in mice. METHODS: Absorbable collagen sponges or polyphosphazene hydrogels containing rhBMP2 were subcutaneously implanted or injected into one side on the back of six-week-old C57BL/6 mice. Three or 4 weeks later, the same amount of rhBMP2 was administered again with the same carrier into the subcutaneous regions on the other side of the back or into calvarial defects. The effects of a single administration of rhBMP2 on the osteoinductive ability in the ectopic model were compared with those of repeated administrations. In vivo ectopic or orthotopic bone formation was evaluated using microradiography and histological analyses. Serum concentrations of anti-rhBMP2 antibodies were measured by ELISAs. RESULTS: Re-administration of the same amount of rhBMP2 into the subcutaneous area showed a comparable production of ectopic bone as after the first administration. The bone forming ability of repeated rhBMP2 administrations was equal to that of single rhBMP2 administration. The administration of rhBMP2 into calvarial defects, following the first subcutaneous administration of rhBMP2 on the back, completely recovered the defect area with newly regenerated bone within 3 weeks. Repeated administration of rhBMP2 at 4-week intervals did not significantly alter the serum levels of antiBMP2 antibodies and did not induce any inflammatory response. The serum obtained from rhBMP2-exposed mice had no effect on the ability of rhBMP2 to induce osteogenic gene expressions in MC3T3-E1. CONCLUSION We suggest that the osteoinductive ability of rhBMP2 is not compromised by repeated administrations. Thus, rhBMP2 can be repeatedly used for bone regeneration at various sites within a short duration.