The Korean National Cancer Screening Program (KNCSP) has implemented two screening methods for gastric cancer-upper gastrointestinal series (UGIS) and endoscopy-for Koreans aged ≥40 years. We aimed to assess performance trends for both screening methods. Materials and MethodsThe KNCSP database was used to evaluate individuals who underwent screening from 2007 to 2016. The final gastric cancer diagnosis was ascertained by linking with the Korean Central Cancer Registry. We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional analysis to estimate performance indicators of gastric cancer screening by UGIS and endoscopy, stratified by sociodemographic factors. ResultsWe found that screening rates for gastric cancer increased from 28% to 51.7% between 2007 and 2016, and that the rate of endoscopy use for gastric cancer screening increased sharply.

BackgroundInhibitory antibodies to factor VIII (FVIII) are an important complication when managing patients with hemophilia A. Immune tolerance induction (ITI) has been regarded as a useful method for eradicating inhibitors. We report the results of a retrospective study in Korean patients with hemophilia A who underwent ITI.MethodsWe reviewed the records of patients with hemophilia A with inhibitors who underwent ITI from March 2004 to December 2014. ITI was started with FVIII concentrates at 100 IU/kg, 3 times per week. The dose of FVIII was reduced according to the inhibitor titer and recovery of FVIII. Inhibitor elimination was defined as the time taken to achieve a negative inhibitor assay with no anamnestic response and normal FVIII recovery and/or normal half-life.ResultsIn total, 17 patients with severe hemophilia A were evaluated. Complete tolerance was achieved in 14 of 17 patients (83%). The mean peak inhibitor titer before ITI was 38.4 BU/mL. The mean treatment duration was 26.2 months. The mean duration between inhibitor detection and ITI was 5.1 years in the complete tolerance group and 10.8 years in the partial tolerance and failed group.ConclusionThis study shows that ITI can be an effective and well-tolerated method for eradicating inhibitors. Possible influencing factors for ITI success were age at the start of ITI treatment and duration after inhibitor detection. More research to provide further insight about other factors and conditions is needed.

Forests provide many goods, Ecosystem services, and resources to humans such as recreation air purification and water protection functions. In rececnt years, there has been an increase in the factors that threaten the health of forests such as global warming due to climate change, environmental pollution, and the increase in interest in forests, and efforts are being made in various countries for forest management. Thus, existing forest ecosystem survey method is a monitoring method of sampling points, and it is difficult to utilize forests for forest management because Korea is surveying only a small part of the forest area occupying 63.7 % of the country (Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport Korea, 2016). Therefore, in order to manage large forests, a method of interpolating and spatializing data is needed. In this study, The 1st Korea Forest Health Management biodiversity Shannon;s index data (National Institute of Forests Science, 2015) were used for spatial interpolation. Two widely used methods of interpolation, Kriging method and IDW(Inverse Distance Weighted) method were used to interpolate the biodiversity index. Vegetation indices SAVI, NDVI, LAI and SR were used. As a result, Kriging method was the most accurate method.

Background and Aim. This study evaluated the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the mental health of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. We quantified anxiety, depression, and medication adherence among IBD patients through a single-center survey in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. An electronic survey was made available to patients at the IBD clinic in Daejeon St. Mary’s hospital from July 2021 to September 2021. The validated Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to assess depression and anxiety. The Korean version of the Medication Adherence Rating Scale (KMARS) questionnaire was used to assess medication adherence. Results. In total, 407 patients (56.5%; ulcerative colitis, 43.5%; Crohn’s disease) participated in the survey. Among the respondents, 14.5% showed significant anxiety and 26.3% showed significant depression. Female sex, presence of mental disease, unvaccinated status, and the presence of Crohn’s disease were associated with greater risks of anxiety and depression. Among medications, immunomodulators were associated with a greater risk of anxiety. In terms of KMARS, patients reported favorable medication adherence despite the psychological burden of the pandemic. The KMARS score was 7.3 ± 1.5 (mean ± SD) of 10.0 points. High anxiety and depression were associated with a slight decrease in medication adherence. Conclusions. COVID-19 has increased anxiety and depression among IBD patients, whose medication adherence has nevertheless remained good. Furthermore, anxiety and depression were found to have a negative correlation with adherence. Our results provide insights concerning psychological response and medication adherence among IBD patients in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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INTRODUCTION Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelop-mental condition characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities [1]. The prevalence of ASD has increased markedly in the recent three decades and the median of prevalence estimates of ASD was 62/10,000 [2]. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that ASD affects approximately 1 in 68 children [3]. Although increases in public awareness and research funding have led to scientific advances in understanding ASD and its treatment, there is a huge unmet demand for mechanism-driven successful interventions of core symptoms of ASD. Pharmacological treatments such as ris-peridone and aripiprazole can be beneficial in relieving some symptoms of ASD, but drugs for improvement of the core symptoms are yet to be developed [4]. Brain stimulation and modulation has long been implemented in the treatment of psychiatric disorders and guidelines were suggested for several brain stimulation methods, such as electrocon-vulsive therapy (ECT), single-pulse or repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), deep brain stimulation (DBS), et cetera [5]. Brain stimulation, unlike systemic pharmacological treatment delivered orally or parenter-ally, involves electrical mechanisms of the brain, which in turn induces localized neurochemical changes [5]. Applications of neuro-stimulation or neuromodulation by a variety of new and old techniques might be able to improve or correct underlying dysfunc-tions. Although brain stimulation therapies have been regarded as highly invasive treatment and reserved for patients with treatment-resistant disorders, several new stimulation methods are less inva-sive and can be used in less severe patients. Therapeutic applications of these tools in ASD have been tried in some cases but clinical experience and scientific evidence are limited (Table 1). Here Hanyang Med Rev 2016;36:65-71 http://dx. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by a range of conditions including impairments in social interaction, communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviors. Pharmacological treatments can improve some symptoms of ASD, but the effect is limited and there is a huge unmet demand for successful interventions of ASD. Brain stimulation and modulation are emerging treatment options for ASD: electroconvulsive therapy for catato-nia in ASD, vagal nerve stimulation for comorbid epilepsy and ASD, and deep brain stimulation for serious self-injurious behavior. Therapeutic tools are evolving to mechanism-driven treatment. Excitation/Inhibition (E/I) imbalance alters the brain mechanism of information processing and behavioral regulation. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation can stabilize aberrant neuroplasticity by improving E/I balance. These brain stimulation and modulation methods are expected to be used for exploration of the pathophysiology and etiology ...

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a widely consumed food source, and its geographical origin has long been a subject of discussion. In our study, we collected 44 and 20 rice samples from different regions of the Republic of Korea and China, respectively, of which 35 and 29 samples were of white and brown rice, respectively. These samples were analyzed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, followed by analyses with various data normalization and scaling methods. Then, leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) and external validation were employed to evaluate various machine learning algorithms. Total area normalization, with unit variance and Pareto scaling for white and brown rice samples, respectively, was determined as the best pre-processing method in orthogonal partial least squares–discriminant analysis. Among the various tested algorithms, support vector machine (SVM) was the best algorithm for predicting the geographical origin of white and brown rice, with an accuracy of 0.99 and 0.96, respectively. In external validation, the SVM-based prediction model for white and brown rice showed good performance, with an accuracy of 1.0. The results of this study suggest the potential application of machine learning techniques based on NMR data for the differentiation and prediction of diverse geographical origins of white and brown rice.

Neonatal gastric perforation is a rare but fatal disease, occurred mainly in preterm infants. In general, primary surgical repair is the main treatment. To the best of our knowledge, there has been only one report of improvement of gastric perforation in neonates after percutaneous peritoneal drainage alone. We describe a case of gastric perforation in a premature extremely low-birth-weight infant girl of 25 +4 weeks gestational age.We present this case to emphasize that gastric perforation may improve with percutaneous peritoneal drainage.