Eunjung Kim

Age-related changes in CREB binding protein immunoreactivity in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of rats.

Although the role of cAMP-response-element-binding protein (CREB) binding protein (CBP) in the neuroprotective mechanisms has been the focus of many studies, very little is known about the expression or function of CBP in aged brains. We have therefore examined age-related changes in CBP expression in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus with an immunohistochemical technique. In the cerebral cortex, the distribution patterns were not different between adult and aged groups, but the staining intensity of CBP was significantly decreased in aged rats. In the hippocampus, a distinct immunoreactivity pattern was observed in the CA1-3 areas and dentate gyrus. CBP immunoreactivity was significantly deceased in the pyramidal layer of CA1-3 regions in aged hippocampus. In the dentate gyrus of aged rats, significant decreases were also found in the granule cell layer and polymorphic layer. The first demonstration of age-related decreases in CBP expression in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus may provide useful data for investigating the pathogenesis of age-related neurodegenerative diseases and depression.

Folate nutrition is related to neuropsychological functions in the elderly

We investigated the nutritional state of B vitamins and the neuropsychological functions in 25 subjects, aged 63.1 ± 6.3 years, residing in rural areas of Korea. Nutritional states of thiamin, riboflavin, and pyridoxine were assessed enzymatically in the erythrocytes, and folate concentrations were measured microbiologically in the plasma and erythrocytes. A battery of composite neuropsychological test was administered to the subjects. Plasma folate was correlated with the total intelligence score (p=0.049). Folate levels in the erythrocytes were correlated with the performance intelligence scores such as block design (p=0.017) and picture arrangement (p=0.016). The red cell folate was correlated with memory scores such as general memory (p=0.009) and delayed recall (p=0.000). Although it did not reach statistical significance, verbal memory (p=0.053) was highly correlated with the red cell folate. The red cell folate was also correlated positively with the percent of conceptual level response number score (p=0.029), and negatively with the grooved pegboard test score for the non-dominant hand (p=0.010). Fine motor coordination was also influenced by folate nutrition, as finger tapping scores in both hands were significantly correlated with red cell folate (dominant hand; p=0.026, non-dominant hand; p=0.004). Other B vitamins such as thiamin, riboflavin, and vitamin B6 were not as strongly correlated with neuropsychological function test scores as folate was. These results suggest that folate nutrition influences neuropsychological function test scores significantly in humans. Further studies are needed to explore the relationship between folate or other vitamin B nutrition and neuropsychological functions and the implications thereof.

The patient health questionnaire-15 and its abbreviated version as screening tools for depression in Korean college and graduate students

OBJECTIVE Over half of all suicides worldwide occur in Asia. Given the close association between suicide and depression, it is quite unexpected that depression is least frequently diagnosed in Asia. This is, in part, due to the fact that Asians somatize depression. Young adults including college and graduate students are no exceptions. Therefore, a somatic symptom-focused screening tool would be useful in detecting depression in Asian college and graduate students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) in screening for depression among Korean college and graduate students. In addition, we developed an abbreviated version of the PHQ-15 (aPHQ-15) and studied validity measures. METHODS Three-hundred and fifty Korean college and graduate students were screened with the PHQ-15. Of all participants, 176 were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV to diagnose major depressive episode, while the other 174 were evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self-Report (IDS-SR). Reliability and validity measures including the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and criterion, convergent, and divergent validity were tested. Principal component analysis was used in developing the abbreviated version of the PHQ-15. RESULTS The PHQ-15 showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability (Cronbachs alpha 0.82, intra-class correlation coefficient 0.87). The optimal cut-off point for detecting depression was estimated to be 8. There were strong correlations between the PHQ-15 total scores and self-report measures of depressive symptom severity (BDI-II: r=0.69 and p<0.001, IDS-SR: r=0.77 and p<0.001). The 5-item aPHQ-15 had comparable validity with the PHQ-15. CONCLUSIONS The somatic symptom-focused PHQ-15 and aPHQ-15 can work as effective screening tools for depression.

Multidimensional Dynamic Water Quality Modeling of Organic Matter and Trophic State in the Han River System

Multidimensional dynamic water quality model of organic matter and trophic state was applied to the Han River system. The model was calibrated using field measurement data obtained during the year of 2007. The model results showed reasonable performance in predicting temporal variations of TN, TP, Chl-a and BOD concentrations. The applied integrated modeling system can be effectively used to simulate water quality as well as hydrodynamic and water temperature for river-lake continuous system in the Han River. Utilizing the calibrated model, we analyzed the spatial and temporal distributions of TN, TP, Chl-a and BOD concentrations in the Han River system. The temporal variations of water quality at each river reach and lake were effectively simulated with the developed model and spatial distribution of water qualities in the Han River system could be compared. The multidimensional dynamic modeling system can simulate the water qualities of entire waterbody where Lake Paldang and the incoming flows are included using single modeling system. So it can be effectively used for integrated water quality management of the Han River system.

Study of the relation between proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy metabolites in the brain regions and the B vitamin status in alcoholics

Abstract This paper is to report on the experimental findings that relate the vitamin B status with the changes in the proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) metabolites in the human brain. A case-control study of fifteen alcoholics and their age, sex, and years in education-matched control was carried out among free-living volunteers in South Korea. We assessed nutritional state of thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B 6, and folate, and performed the proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to assess the brain metabolite changes in the frontal lobe, basal ganglia, and hippocampus. Alcoholics were shown to have decreased ratios of N-acetyl aspartate/creatine (NAA/Cr) in the left hippocampus. In alcoholics, myo-inositol/creatine (mI/Cr) and NAA/Cr in the hippocampus, frontal lobes, and basal ganglia were significantly correlated with the functional B vitamin status and folate nutrition. The B vitamin status was found to be strongly correlated with the proton MRS metabolite changes in the brain regions in humans.

Nurses' Perception of Flexible Working and Its Operational Guideline

The purpose of the study was to explore the nurses` perception of flexible working and present an operational guideline for implementation. The data were collected from a survey of 532 nurses conducted from 10 February to 24 February, 2015, using simple random sampling. SPSS 21.0 was used to analyze the data. This study found that the demanding for shorter hour shifts was highest (

Effects of climate change on the thermal structure of lakes in the Asian Monsoon Area

M