The Effects of Air Pollution on Mortality in South Korea

AbstractIt is well known that air pollution has the negative effect on human health. This study is dealt with the relationship between air pollutant level and standardized mortality between 2005 and 2013 in Korea. The standardized mortality are collected by the 251 administrative districts using KOSIS (Korean Statistical Information Service) and the air pollutant data collected from air pollutant monitoring sites. The statistical interpolation technique is adapted to solve the problem of spatial misalignment between air pollutant and administrative districts. In addition, SaTScan is used to detecting the high relatively risk area based on spatial and temporal characteristics. It can help determining other external factors to mortality

Decision-Making Deficits Are Associated With Learning Impairments in Female College Students at High Risk for Anorexia Nervosa: Iowa Gambling Task and Prospect Valence Learning Model

This study investigated deficits in decision-making ability in female college students at high risk for anorexia nervosa (AN) using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the prospect valence learning (PVL) model. Based on scores on the Korean version of the Eating Attitude Test-26 (KEAT-26), participants were assigned to either the high risk for AN group (n = 42) or the control group (n = 43). The high risk for AN group exhibited significantly lower total net scores and block net scores on the third, fourth, and fifth blocks of the IGT than the control group did. The high risk for AN group selected cards significantly more often from the disadvantageous A and B decks and less often from the advantageous D deck than the control group did. In addition, the block net scores of the high risk for AN group did not differ across the five blocks, whereas those of the control group increased as the trials progressed. There was a significant negative correlation between IGT total net score and total score on the KEAT−26. The high risk for AN group had significantly lower values than the control group on the learning and response consistency parameters of the PVL model. These results indicate that female college students at high risk for AN have deficits in decision-making ability, and that these deficits are related to difficulties in remembering experience obtained from earlier trials and applying it to later trials. These difficulties further lead them to make decisions randomly

Effects of Maxillary Sinus Graft on the Survival of Endosseous Implants: A 10-Year Retrospective Study

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the survival rates of implants placed in grafted maxillary sinuses and compare the results obtained with graft materials, implant surfaces and timing of implant placement. Materials and Methods: Between January 1996 and December 2005, 391 implants are placed in 161 patients who underwent sinus grafting treatment simultaneously or separately at Ewha Womans University Hospital. According to inclusion critieria, 272 impants were placed in 102 patients with 112 sinus grafts (30 females, 72 males), aged 26 to 88 years (mean age 49.0±9.7). The follow-up period ranged from 12 to 134 months (mean F/U 47±32). Survival rates were evaluated according to graft material, implant surface and timing of implant placement, The Kaplan-Meier procedure and the log rank (Mantel-Cox) test were used to estimate survival rates and test for equality of survival rates between different groups of patients. Results: Ten-year cumultative survival rate for implants placed in the grafted sinuses was 90.1%. The survival rates for autogenous bone, combination and bone substitutes were 94.6%, 85.9% and 100% respectively (p\u3e0.05). According to implant surface, survival rates were 84.8% in machined group and 97.5% in rough group (p0.05). Conclusion: Ten-year cumultative survival rate for implants placed in the grafter sinuses was 90.1% Rough-shaped implants have a higher survival rate than machined-surface implants when placed in grafted sinuses. (p\u3c0.05)

Dysfunction in Configural Face Processing in Patients With Schizophrenia

Background: Face recognition has important implications for patients with schizophrenia, who exhibit poor interpersonal and social skills. Previous reports have suggested that patients with schizophrenia have deficits in their ability to recognize faces, and because face recognition relies heavily on information about the configuration of faces, we hypothesized that patients with schizophrenia would have specific problems in processing configural information. Methods: We measured the performance of 20 patients with schizophrenia and 20 normal subjects in a face-discrimination task, using upright and inverted pairs of face photographs that differed in featural or configural information. Results: The patients with schizophrenia showed disproportionately poorer performance in discriminating configural compared with featural face sets. Conclusion: The result suggests that the face-recognition deficit in schizophrenic patients is due to specific impairments in configural processing of faces

Experimental Study on the Acellular Demal Matrix Graft for the Root Coverage in Dog

Mucogingival surgery is a plastic surgical procedure designed to correct defects in the morphology, position, and dimensions of the gingiva surrounding the teeth. Many surgical techniques have been reported in mucogingival surgery. Since these procedures also include the soft tissue esthetic approach, the term periodontal plastic surgery has been proposed to be more appropriate.1 Root coverage is a procedure that falls with this definition, and it has attracted more interest than others

Stress-induced Cardiomyopathy during Pulmonary Resection (Takotsubo Syndrome) - A case report -

Stress-induced cardiomyopathy is caused by emotional or physical stressors and mimics acute myocardial infarction, though Stress-induced cardiomyopathy is characterized by reversible left ventricular (LV) apical ballooning in the absence of significant coronary artery disease. We describe a 51-year-old male who underwent left upper lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer, and during which cardiogenic arrest occurred due to stress-induced cardiomyopathy, successfully managed by intra-aortic balloon pumping and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation