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There are the national science and technology standard classification system used in Korea, the classification according to the standard classification system for educational organization units, and the Korean standard education classification by the National Statistical Office. It is not suitable for calculation or evaluation, and classification is still mixed depending on the purpose of use. Therefore, in this study, the current status of academic standard classification, issues related to the standard classification system such as research foundation associations and research institutes, and issues related to the academic standard classification through the analysis of existing prior research issues, etc. As a result of the research, first, it is necessary to maintain and strengthen the linkage of the academic classification system, such as maintaining the linkage between the relevant departmental classification systems and strengthening the linkage with the relevant classification system, as a result of analysis of major issues in the academic standard classification system, and the systematic improvement cycle of the revision process and management system and settings are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Korean Medication Algorithm Project for Depressive Disorder (KMAP-DD) first was published in 2002, and has been revised four times, in 2006, 2012, 2017, and 2021. In this review, we compared recommendations from the recently revised KMAP-DD 2021 to four global clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for depression published after 2010. The recommendations from the KMAP-DD 2021 were similar to those from other CPGs, although there were some differences. The KMAP-DD 2021 reflected social culture and the healthcare system in Korea and recent evidence about pharmacotherapy for depression, as did other recently published evidence-based guidelines. Despite some intrinsic limitations as an expert consensus-based guideline, the KMAP-DD 2021 can be helpful for Korean psychiatrists making decisions in clinical settings by complementing previously published evidence-based guidelines, especially for some clinical situations lacking evidence from rigorously designed clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In the 19 years since the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the Korean Society for Affective Disorders developed the Korean Medication Algorithm Project for Depressive Disorder (KMAP-DD) in 2002, four revisions have been conducted. Methods: To increase survey efficiency in this revision, to cover the general clinical practice, and to compare the results with previous KMAP-DD series, the overall structure of the questionnaire was maintained. The six sections of the questionnaire were as follows: 1) pharmacological treatment strategies for major depressive disorder (MDD) with/without psychotic features; 2) pharmacological treatment strategies for persistent depressive disorder and other depressive disorder subtypes; 3) consensus for treatment-resistant depression; 4) the choice of an antidepressant in the context of safety, adverse effects, and comorbid physical illnesses; 5) treatment strategies for special populations (children/adolescents, elderly, and women); and 6) non-pharmacological biological therapies. Recommended first-, second-, and third-line strategies were derived statistically. Results: There has been little change in the four years since KMAP-DD 2017 due to the lack of newly introduced drug or treatment strategies. However, shortened waiting time between the initial and subsequent treatments, increased preference for atypical antipsychotics (AAPs), especially aripiprazole, and combination strategies with AAPs yield an active and somewhat aggressive treatment trend in Korea. Conclusion: We expect KMAP-DD to provide clinicians with useful information about the specific strategies and medications appropriate for treating patients with MDD by bridging the gap between clinical real practice and the evidence-based world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sea urchin, Mesocentrotus nudus, is widely distributed in North West Pacific regions. It has a substantial impact on macroalgal communities as a generalist herbivore. This study examined various aspects of its feeding ecology, including algal preference, foraging behaviors, and possible effects of past feeding history on its algal preference. We used six common algal species (Ulva australis, Undaria pinnatifida, Sargassum confusum, Dictyopteris divaricata, Grateloupia elliptica, and Grateloupia angusta) from the east coast of Korea as food choice in a series of indoor aquarium experiments. The first choice of starved M. nudus was exclusively U. pinnatifida, followed by G. elliptica and S. confusum. Unlike large urchins, small urchins equally preferred U. pinnatifida and G. elliptica. On the other hand, Undaria-fed urchins preferred to feed only G. elliptica, although its preference slightly differed over time. We then grouped sea urchins into three categories (starved, Undaria-fed, mixed species-fed) to observe 12-days feeding preference as well as early foraging movements. Foraging behaviors of the three groups were distinctively different, although they could not completely reflect the actual consumption. For example, U. australis was highly attractive, but rarely eaten. Undaria-fed urchins seemed to stay with only S. confusum and U. australis. This study demonstrates that M. nudus shows high flexibility in food preference depending on past feeding history and body size. Its foraging behaviors are also affected by past feeding conditions, exhibiting active chemoreceptive movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intertidal community recovery and resilience were investigated with quantitative and qualitative perspectives as a function of disturbance timing. The study was conducted in a lower intertidal rock bed of the southern coast of South Korea. Six replicates of artificial disturbance of a 50 cm × 50 cm area were made by clearing all visible organisms on the rocky substrate in four seasons. Each of the seasonally cleared plots was monitored until the percent cover data reached the control plot level. There was a significant difference among disturbance timing during the recovery process in terms of speed and community components. After disturbances occurred, Ulva pertusa selectively preoccupied empty spaces quickly (in 2-4 months) and strongly (50-90%) in all plots except for the summer plots where non-Ulva species dominated throughout the recovery period. U. pertusa acted as a very important biological variable that determined the quantitative and qualitative recovery capability of a community. The qualitative recovery of communities was rapid in summer plots where U. pertusa did not recruit and the community recovery rate was the lowest in winter plots where U. pertusa was highly recruited with a long duration of distribution. In this study, U. pertusa was a pioneer species while being a dominant species and acted as a clearly negative element in the process of qualitative recovery after disturbance. However, the negative effect of U. pertusa did not occur in summer plots, indicating that disturbance timing should be considered as a parameter in understanding intertidal community resilience in temperate regions with four distinct seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Participation in a medical volunteer work positively affects some of the beliefs and perceptions of pharmacy students. However, the volunteer activities by pharmacy students have been rarely performed and studied in Korea. The objectives of this study were to introduce the volunteer activities by pharmacists and pharmacy students at the medically underserved regions without separation of prescribing and dispensing in Korea and to determine health conditions and prevalence and management of chronic diseases (CDs) in the residents of these regions. Methods: Survey instruments consisting of 23 questions were administered to the residents who visited the temporary pharmacy during the volunteer services. Results: A total of 352 residents completed the survey, and 66.3% of residents were over 70 years old. More than 12% of residents responded that their health conditions were good, and 76.5% of residents had at least 1 CD. Over 73% of residents responded that they took all doses of medications prescribed while 5.7% of residents answered that they missed all those of them. Conclusions: Through the volunteer activities, pharmacists and pharmacy students will play a meaningful role in providing a medical care in order to effectively manage CDs at the medically underserved areas in Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Antiplatelet treatment is an important component in optimizing the clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) especially in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Prasugrel, which is a new P2Y12 inhibitor, has been confirmed as efficacious in a large trial in Western countries, and a similar trial is also to be launched in Asian countries. Although a 60-mg loading dose of prasugrel followed by 10 mg per day should be acceptable, there have been no data regarding the optimal dose in Asian patients. Furthermore, serum levels of prasugrel and the rates of platelet inhibition are known to be higher in Asians than Caucasians with the same dose of the drug. Polymer, a key component of drug-eluting stents (DES), has been suggested as the cause of inflammation leading to late complications, and has driven many companies to develop biodegradable-polymer DES. Currently, there are limited data regarding the head-to-head comparison between BP-BES and the biostable polymer CoCr-EES or the newest platinum-chromium everolimus-eluting stent (PtCr-EES). Furthermore, the polymer issue may be more important in ACS where there is ruptured thrombotic plaque where polymer-induced inflammation may affect the local milieu of the stented artery. Therefore, the present study dedicated only to ACS patients, will offer important information on the optimal prasugrel dose in the Asian population by comparing a 10-mg versus a 5-mg maintenance dose beyond 1 month after PCI, as well as giving important insight into the polymer issue by comparing BP-BES versus biostable-polymer PtCr-EES.Method/design: Harmonizing Optimal Strategy for Treatment of coronary artery diseases--comparison of REDUCtion of prasugrEl dose or POLYmer TECHnology in ACS patients (HOST-REDUCE-POLYTECH-ACS) trial is a multicenter, randomized and open-label clinical study with a 2 × 2 factorial design, according to the type of stent (PtCr-EES versus BP-BES) and prasugrel maintenance dose (5 mg versus 10 mg), to demonstrate non-inferiority of PtCr-EES relative to BP-BES or the reduced prasugrel dose relative to conventional dose in an Asian all-comers PCI population presenting with ACS. Approximately 3400 patients will undergo prospective, random assignment separately to either stent or prasugrel arm (1:1 ratio, respectively). When the patients have contraindications to prasugrel, they are categorized into an antiplatelet observation group after stent-randomization. The primary endpoint is the patient-oriented composite outcome, which is a composite of all-cause mortality, any myocardial infarction (MI), any repeat revascularization in the stent arm at 12 months after index PCI. In the prasugrel arm, primary endpoint is any major adverse cardiovascular event, which is a composite of all-cause mortality, any MI, any stent thrombosis (Academic Research Consortium (ARC)-defined), any repeat revascularization, stroke, or bleeding (BARC class ≥ 2).Discussion: The HOST-REDUCE-POLYTECH-ACS RCT is the first study exploring the optimal maintenance dose of prasugrel beyond 1 month after PCI for ACS in Asian all-comers. In addition, this is the largest study dedicated only to ACS patients to evaluate the polymer issue in the situation of ACS by directly comparing biostable-polymer PtCr-EES versus BP-BES.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT02193971, 13 July 2014). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urchin barrens have been a major issue of rocky coastal ecosystems in temperate regions. In South Korea, the east coast and Jeju Island have especially been a focus because the area of barren ground increases in spite of continual efforts to install artificial reefs. This study approached the urchin barrens issue in South Korea, by focusing on a correlational analysis of urchin and macroalgal abundance. Urchin density and algal species coverage were obtained using a quadrat image analysis. Subtidal sites were then classified into three groups according to the average densities of urchins to evaluate the characterization of the macroalgal community: no urchin (NU) zone; transition (TR) zone, 4 inds. m-2; and urchin (UR) zone, ⩾8 inds. m-2. The average urchin density in the study site was 4.7 inds. m-2 and 57 macroalgal species were found in the study site. From the NU zone to UR zone, total species number, species diversity index and evenness gradually decreased, whereas the dominance index increased. The algae species with negative correlations were Grateloupia divaricata, Polysiphonia morrowii, Chondracanthus intermedius, Delesseria violacea, Desmarestia viridis; and those with positive correlations were the crustose corallines, Sargassum horneri. Other species were not significantly correlated with urchin density. The significant correlations indicate that the abundance of some macroalgal species is proportionally regulated by sea urchin density. This study also shows how macroalgal vegetation changes in response to an urchin's density gradient in a natural condition; and there is a TR zone that existed with respect to an intermediate level of algal abundance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Two recent Italian studies suggested that Pegylated-interferon (PEG-IFN) alfa-2a achieves a higher sustained virological response (SVR) rate than PEG-IFN alfa-2b. We intended to compare the efficacy and safety of PEG-IFN alfa-2a with those of PEG-IFN alfa-2b in Korean patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).Methods: This retrospective, multi-center trial was conducted on 661 treatment-naïve chronic HCV patients. Patients received PEG-IFN alfa-2a (180 μg/week; n=402) or PEG-IFN alfa-2b (1.5 μg/kg/week; n=259) with ribavirin (800-1200 mg/day) for 24 or 48 weeks according to HCV genotypes.Results: Early virologic response and sustained virologic response (SVR) rates were not significantly different between two PEG-IFN groups both in patients with HCV genotype 1 (all P-values>0.05) and 2/3 (all P-values>0.05). SVR rates were not different between two groups in each categorized baseline characteristics: age (years) (≤ 50 and >50), HCV viral load (IU/mL) (≤ 7 × 10(5) and >7 × 10(5)), and hepatic fibrosis (F0-2 and F3-4) (all P-values >0.05). In additional analysis for 480 patients who sufficiently complied with treatment doses and duration (80/80/80 rule) and propensity-score matched analysis, SVR rates were not different between two groups both in patients with HCV genotype 1 and 2/3 (all P-values >0.05). Adverse event rates were similar between two groups.Conclusions: Unlike the Western data, efficacy and safety of PEG-IFN alfa-2a were similar to those of PEG-IFN alfa-2b in chronically HCV-infected Korean patients regardless of age, HCV viral load, and hepatic fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the accuracy of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in a multicenter, prospective study in South Korea. Between June 2005 and July 2009, 91 CHC patients without a previous history of antiviral treatment, clinical evidences of cirrhosis, coinfection with other viruses, and heavy alcohol consumption and with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 5x upper limit of normal, total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 mg/dL, sufficient liver biopsy quality (≥ 15 mm and more than six portal tracts), interquartile range to median liver stiffness (LS) value ratio ≤ 0.21, and more than 10 valid measurements, were recruited. The Batts and Ludwig scoring system was used for histologic assessment. Age-platelet index (API), aspartate aminotransferase (AST)-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and age-spleen-platelet ratio index (ASPRI) were calculated. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was used to evaluate the performance of LSM and other noninvasive models. The mean age was 47.9 years, and the mean LS value was 7.7 kPa (44 men and 47 women). LS value was highly correlated to the fibrosis stages ( r = 0.835, P < 0.001). The AUROCs of LSM were 0.909 for ≥ F2, 0.993 for ≥ F3, and 0.970 for F = 4 and were superior to those of API (0.72, 0.858, and 0.948, respectively), APRI (0.780, 0.887, and 0.904, respectively), and ASPRI (0.713, 0.862, and 0.957, respectively). The optimal cutoff LS values were 6.2 kPa for ≥ F2, 7.7 kPa for ≥ F3, and 11.0 kPa for F = 4. Our data suggest that LSM can accurately assess liver fibrosis in patients with CHC and be applied in South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Republic of Korea, medical insurance coverage for ultrasounds began on October 1, 2013 for four major categories of illness: cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disorders, and rare and incurable diseases. However, several problems associated with this ultrasound insurance coverage have arisen: broad classification of ultrasound examination procedures, small and distorted insurance fees, and inappropriate insurance fee calculation methods. In order to prevent the deterioration of medical quality as well as confusion in the medical field, it is necessary that the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Korean Medical Association, and other ultrasound-related academic societies cooperate to subdivide the classification of ultrasound examination procedures, modify the insurance fee, and properly calculate the ultrasound insurance fee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on fertility and family planning in rural Korea. Family planning as a responsibility of the public health services is thus a new development in Korea. The creation of efficient family planning services demands knowledge and experience of what is acceptable and effective in Korean communities, especially in the rural areas, where the birth rate appears to be higher than in the cities. Accordingly, a pilot programme of research and action was begun in the rural area of Koyang, Korea, in 1962. The overall objective of the project is to demonstrate and assess the possibility of reducing the birth rate through family planning education and services. The choice of the site for the family planning experiment, in Wondang Myun, Koyang Gun, was determined largely by convenience. For several years the rural health centre at Koyang, headed by Dr. Myung Ho Kim, has been a demonstration training ground for Yonsei medical students and for the National Institute of Public Health Training. It is located 13 miles north of Seoul.

Purpose: Platelet-function suppression with antiplatelet therapy is effective in preventing and treating cardiovascular disease. Clopidogrel is a thienopyridine derivative that blocks platelet activation by adenosine diphosphate receptor binding. This study demonstrates the effects of generic clopidogrel bisulfate in comparison to branded clopidogrel bisulfate in patients with acute coronary syndromes. Methods: This prospective, 2-arm, single-center, open-label trial used 1:1 randomization to assign patients to receive generic or branded clopidogrel bisulfate. Patients with unstable angina or non-STsegment elevation myocardial infarction and scheduled to undergo coronary angiography were enrolled. Platelet function was measured with a P2Y12 assay and reported in P2Y12 reaction units (PRU) and aspirin reaction units (ARU) after randomization. Platelet function was measured at 2, 4, 8, and 24 hours after 600-mg clopidogrel loading. The clinical outcome was checked at 1 month after coronary angiography. Findings: Ninety-five patients were enrolled and randomized to the generic or branded group. Ninety patients (62 men [69%], 28 women [31%]; mean age, 58 years) completed the study protocol. The clinical characteristics were similar between the 2 groups. The difference in the baseline PRU measurements between the generic and branded groups was not significant (274.8 [59.7] vs 285.4 [62.4], respectively; P=0.414). There were significant differences in 2-hour PRU (231.1 [71.3] vs 266.9 [67.4]; P=0.017) and 4-hour PRU (227.3 [80.4] vs 265.7 [71.0]; P=0.020); however, 24-hour PRU (200.5 [82.1] vs 220.6 [75.8]; P= 0.253) was similar. No death, myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization, stent thrombosis, or Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction-defined major bleeding complications were reported during in-hospital stay or 1-month followup. Implication: In patients with ACS, loading of generic clopidogrel bisulfate was associated with an antiplatelet effect comparable to that of branded clopidogrel bisulfate. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02060786. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]