• Title/Summary/Keyword: Blind Testing

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Safety and antifatigue effect of Korean Red Ginseng capsule: A randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled clinical trial

  • Yang, Yi;Wang, Hong;Zhang, Ming;Shi, Mengxue;Yang, Cailing;Ni, Qiang;Wang, Qi;Li, Jing;Wang, Xuemei;Zhang, Chen;Li, Zhi
    • Journal of Ginseng Research
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    • v.46 no.4
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    • pp.543-549
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    • 2022
  • Background: In physical activity or labor, the human body is in a state of high intensity stress, and all parts or physiological functions of the body respond positively to maintain or balance the need for movement. The human body has many physiological changes in the process of movement, and fatigue is the external manifestation of various complex changes inside the human body. Fatigue is also a physiological mechanism of self-protection after the body reaches a certain level of activity, which can prevent the occurrence of life-threatening excessive functional failure. The generation of fatigue is a very complex process, and its mechanism has not been concluded yet. Therefore, it is an important work to search and screen the effective components of natural plants that have anti-fatigue effect and to explore their mechanism. Methods: This was a 8-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. A total of 110 subjects who passed physical examination were included according to the scheme design, and randomly divided into a test group which was given KRG and a placebo control group. The calculation is carried out according to the standard of sub-high-intensity exercise test. Results: There was no adverse effect on safety index of subjects after taking red ginseng capsule. After KRG treatment, subjective strength grade is significant lower than placebo treatment. Blood lactic acid content is significantly get lower after trial in KRG group, and significant lower than placebo group. Creatine phosphokinase(CK) content is significantly get lower after trial in KRG group, and significant lower than placebo group. Conclusion: According to the criterion in the test scheme, the result shows that KRG is helpful on relieving physical fatigue.

Sensory Characteristics and Consumer Liking of Commercial Sojues Marketed in Korea (시판 소주 제품들의 관능적 특성 및 소비자 기호도)

  • Jee, Joo-Hee;Lee, Hye-Seong;Lee, Jin-Won;Suh, Dong-Soon;Kim, Hee-Sub;Kim, Kwang-Ok
    • Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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    • v.40 no.2
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    • pp.160-165
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    • 2008
  • This study was conducted to analyze sensory profiles of commercial sojues using a standardized sensory evaluation procedure, and to investigate the effects of sensory characteristics and brands on consumer liking for soju. Descriptive analysis and consumer taste testing were conducted for seven commercial sojues. For the descriptive analysis, eight panelists generated and evaluated 12 flavor and one pain-sensation attributes for the soju, and there were significant differences among the soju samples for all the 13 sensory attributes. For the descriptive data, principal component analysis was performed to summarize the sensory characteristics of the sojues. For the consumer testing, 224 soju drinkers (20-29 year-olds) were recruited and randomly divided into two groups; a blind group and a group with the knowledge of brand. While the hedonic ratings obtained from the blind group didn't indicate significant differences among the sojues, the ratings obtained from the brand-informed group showed significant differences. Finally, the individual preferences of the 112 consumers in each group were investigated by preference mapping techniques.

A Comparative Study on High School Students' Mathematical Modeling Cognitive Features

  • Li, Mingzhen;Hu, Yuting;Yu, Ping;Cai, Zhong
    • Research in Mathematical Education
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.137-154
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    • 2012
  • Comparative studies on mathematical modeling cognition feature were carried out between 15 excellent high school third-grade science students (excellent students for short) and 15 normal ones (normal students for short) in China by utilizing protocol analysis and expert-novice comparison methods and our conclusions have been drawn as below. 1. In the style, span and method of mathematical modeling problem representation, both excellent and normal students adopted symbolic and methodological representation style. However, excellent students use mechanical representation style more often. Excellent students tend to utilize multiple-representation while normal students tend to utilize simplicity representation. Excellent students incline to make use of circular representation while normal students incline to make use of one-way representation. 2. In mathematical modeling strategy use, excellent students tend to tend to use equilibrium assumption strategy while normal students tend to use accurate assumption strategy. Excellent students tend to use sample analog construction strategy while normal students tend to use real-time generation construction strategy. Excellent students tend to use immediate self-monitoring strategy while normal students tend to use review-monitoring strategy. Excellent students tend to use theoretical deduction and intuitive judgment testing strategy while normal students tend to use data testing strategy. Excellent students tend to use assumption adjustment and modeling adjustment strategy while normal students tend to use model solving adjustment strategy. 3. In the thinking, result and efficiency of mathematical modeling, excellent students give brief oral presentations of mathematical modeling, express themselves more logically, analyze problems deeply and thoroughly, have multiple, quick and flexible thinking and the utilization of mathematical modeling method is shown by inspiring inquiry, more correct results and high thinking efficiency while normal students give complicated protocol material, express themselves illogically, analyze problems superficially and obscurely, have simple, slow and rigid thinking and the utilization of mathematical modeling method is shown by blind inquiry, more fixed and inaccurate thinking and low thinking efficiency.

A FRF-based algorithm for damage detection using experimentally collected data

  • Garcia-Palencia, Antonio;Santini-Bell, Erin;Gul, Mustafa;Catbas, Necati
    • Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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    • v.2 no.4
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    • pp.399-418
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    • 2015
  • Automated damage detection through Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) techniques has become an active area of research in the bridge engineering community but widespread implementation on in-service infrastructure still presents some challenges. In the meantime, visual inspection remains as the most common method for condition assessment even though collected information is highly subjective and certain types of damage can be overlooked by the inspector. In this article, a Frequency Response Functions-based model updating algorithm is evaluated using experimentally collected data from the University of Central Florida (UCF)-Benchmark Structure. A protocol for measurement selection and a regularization technique are presented in this work in order to provide the most well-conditioned model updating scenario for the target structure. The proposed technique is composed of two main stages. First, the initial finite element model (FEM) is calibrated through model updating so that it captures the dynamic signature of the UCF Benchmark Structure in its healthy condition. Second, based upon collected data from the damaged condition, the updating process is repeated on the baseline (healthy) FEM. The difference between the updated parameters from subsequent stages revealed both location and extent of damage in a "blind" scenario, without any previous information about type and location of damage.

Ergonomic Differences between Baby Carriers by Certain Wearing Positions

  • Cho, Sunghak;Kim, Chihwan
    • Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.1774-1778
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    • 2019
  • Background : Methods of wearing a baby carrier have suggested; however, there have been no studies suggesting ideal ways. Objective : To investigate muscular fatigue and balance of the waist during baby carrier are worn on the front, the side, and the back of the body. Design: Randomized controlled clinical trial (single blind) Methods : The subjects of this study were 20 healthy men and women in their 20s, who underwent tests of muscular fatigue and balance of the waist bones based on types of wearing baby carrier. Electromyogram (EMG) patches were attached to the L2 and the L4 for testing muscular fatigue, while a device for measuring proprioceptive senses was used to assess balance ability. The measurements were performed before wearing the baby carrier and after 30 minutes of normal walking. The methods of wearing the baby carrier included wearing on the front, the side, and the back of the body. Results : The time taken to adjust the balance was shorter than other types of wearing during the baby carrier were worn on the side, and the ratio of lumbar flexion and relaxation was shown insignificant. Conclusions : These results suggested that wearing the carriers on the side was most effective on reducing fatigue and enhancing balance ability of the waist.

Fire Detection using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for Assisting People with Visual Impairments in an Emergency Situation (시각 장애인을 위한 영상 기반 심층 합성곱 신경망을 이용한 화재 감지기)

  • Kong, Borasy;Won, Insu;Kwon, Jangwoo
    • 재활복지
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.129-146
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    • 2017
  • In an event of an emergency, such as fire in a building, visually impaired and blind people are prone to exposed to a level of danger that is greater than that of normal people, for they cannot be aware of it quickly. Current fire detection methods such as smoke detector is very slow and unreliable because it usually uses chemical sensor based technology to detect fire particles. But by using vision sensor instead, fire can be proven to be detected much faster as we show in our experiments. Previous studies have applied various image processing and machine learning techniques to detect fire, but they usually don't work very well because these techniques require hand-crafted features that do not generalize well to various scenarios. But with the help of recent advancement in the field of deep learning, this research can be conducted to help solve this problem by using deep learning-based object detector that can detect fire using images from security camera. Deep learning based approach can learn features automatically so they can usually generalize well to various scenes. In order to ensure maximum capacity, we applied the latest technologies in the field of computer vision such as YOLO detector in order to solve this task. Considering the trade-off between recall vs. complexity, we introduced two convolutional neural networks with slightly different model's complexity to detect fire at different recall rate. Both models can detect fire at 99% average precision, but one model has 76% recall at 30 FPS while another has 61% recall at 50 FPS. We also compare our model memory consumption with each other and show our models robustness by testing on various real-world scenarios.

An exploratory study for an evidence of electroencephalographic changes in isolated subjects for distant mental intention

  • Kim, Dae-Keun
    • Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.51-60
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    • 2014
  • This double-blind study, as a human experiment of nonlocality, investigated the effects of senders' intention on the central nervous system of a distant human receiver and it explored the roles that motivation might have in modulating these effects. Whole brain activity was measured in the receiver whom was asked to relax in a distant room for 16 minutes; the sending person directed intention of oneness toward the receiver during repeated variable-second epochs separated by variable-second non-intention epochs. The total length of intention epochs and that of nonintention epochs were balanced. Eighteen sessions were conducted. In 9 of those sessions, the sender was the receiver's lover. In another 9 of those sessions, the sender was just acquainted with the receiver before the session. The receiver's whole brain activity recorded during the intention epochs were compared with the same measures recorded during the nonintention epochs used as controls. The statistical difference between the intentions versus controls across 18 sessions was examined by paired-t test. In addition, subgroup analysis for the 9 couple sessions and 9 non-couple sessions were additionally examined by the same test. The effect of distant intentionality decreased slow waves or increased EEG fast waves mainly in frontal regions, and increased EEG coherence during the intention epochs. The effects was not statistically significant after Bonferroni correction, but the couple sessions combined showed the largest effect followed by all sessions combined. Non-couple sessions combined showed the smallest effect. The changes in EEG power mean that receiver participants became more alert during the intention epochs and the change in EEG coherence might be evidence of coherent heart influence on EEG activity. Planned comparison with specific hypothesis testing for the suggested changes in this study have to be followed for an evidence of electroencephalographic changes in isolated subjects for the distant mental intention.

Effects of body weight-supported treadmill training combined with ball-kicking on balance and gait of subacute stroke patients

  • Cho, Juchul;Lee, Eunsang;Lee, Seungwon
    • Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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    • v.4 no.2
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    • pp.73-78
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    • 2015
  • Objective: This study focused on subacute stroke patients who were asked to kick a ball while walking on a treadmill. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of a body weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT) combined with ball-kicking on muscle strength, balance, and gait. Design: Single blind, randomized controlled trial. Methods: Twenty stroke patients who volunteered to participate in this study were randomly assigned to either the BWSTT combined with ball-kicking (BWSTT-BK; 10 participants) group or the BWSTT group (10 participants). Participants in the BWSTTBK group performed treadmill walking combined with simultaneous ball-kicking for 30 minutes daily for 5 weeks. Participants from the BWSTT group performed only treadmill walking. The muscular strength, balance, and gait ability were measured before and after the 5-week training. To assess for muscular strength, a digital muscle tester was used to measure hip flexor, knee extensor, and dorsiflexor strength. To assess for balance, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) was used. To assess for gait, the 10 meter walk test (10MWT) and Functional Gait Assessment (FGA) was used. Results: The BWSTT-BK group showed significantly improved muscular strength, balance, and gait according to BBS, TUG, 10MWT, FGA, and digital muscle testing scores compared to the BWSTT group (p<0.05). In addition, within-group comparison showed significant improvement in all variables (p<0.05). Conclusions: These findings suggest that BWSTT-BK results in more favourable outcomes for stroke patients. Therefore, BWSTT-BK may be useful for the recovery of gait ability of stroke patients.

Effect of 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl-3-acetyl-rac-glycerol on Immune Functions in Healthy Adults in a Randomized Controlled Trial

  • Hwang, Hee-Jin;Sohn, Ki-Young;Han, Yong-Hae;Chong, Saeho;Yoon, Sun Young;Kim, Young-Jun;Jeong, Jinseoun;Kim, Sang-Hwan;Kim, Jae Wha
    • IMMUNE NETWORK
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    • v.15 no.3
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    • pp.150-160
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    • 2015
  • We previously reported that 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl-3-acetyl-rac-glycerol (PLAG) accelerates hematopoiesis and has an improving effect on animal disease models such as sepsis and asthma. The effects of PLAG supplementation on immune modulation were assessed in healthy men and women. The objective was to evaluate the effects of PLAG supplementation on immune regulatory functions such as activities of immune cells and cytokine production. A randomized double blind placebo-controlled trial was conducted. Seventy-five participants were assigned to one of two groups; all participants had an appropriate number of white blood cells on the testing day. The PLAG group (n=27) received oral PLAG supplements and the control group (n=22) received oral soybean oil supplements. IL-4 and IL-6 production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were lower (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively) with PLAG than with soybean oil. However, the production of IL-2 and IFN-$\gamma$ by PBMC was unaltered with PLAG supplementation. The B cell proliferation decreased significantly in the PLAG group compared to the soybean oil control (p<0.05). The intake of PLAG in healthy adults for 4 weeks was deemed safe. These data suggest that PLAG has an immunomodulatory function that inhibits the excessive immune activity of immunological disorders such as atopic and autoimmune diseases. PLAG could improve the condition of these diseases safely as a health food supplement.

The efficacy of an elevated concentration of lidocaine HCl in impacted lower third molar surgery

  • Ping, Bushara;Kiattavorncharoen, Sirichai;Saengsirinavin, Chavengkiat;Im, Puthavy;Durward, Callum;Wongsirichat, Natthamet
    • Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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    • v.15 no.2
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    • pp.69-76
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    • 2015
  • Background: There have been few studies on the effect of an elevated concentration of lidocaine hydrochloride in the surgical removal of an impacted lower third molar. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of 4% lidocaine along with 1:100,000 epinephrine compared to 2% lidocaine along with 1:100,000 epinephrine as inferior alveolar nerve block for the removal of an impacted lower third molar. Methods: This single-blind study involved 31 healthy patients (mean age: 23 y; range: 19-33 y) with symmetrically impacted lower third molars as observed on panoramic radiographs. Volunteers required 2 surgical interventions by the same surgeon with a 3-week washout period. The volunteers were assigned either 4% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine or 2% lidocaine with 1:100,000 epinephrine as local anesthetic during each operation. Results: We recorded the time of administration, need for additional anesthetic administration, total volume of anesthetic used. We found that the patient's preference for either of the 2 types of local anesthetic were significantly different (P < 0.05). However, the extent of pulpal anesthesia, surgical duration, and duration of soft tissue anesthesia were not significantly different. Conclusions: Our study suggested that inferior alveolar nerve block using 4% lidocaine HCl with 1:100,000 epinephrine as a local anesthetic was clinically more effective than that using 2% lidocaine HCl with 1:100,000 epinephrine; the surgical duration was not affected, and no clinically adverse effects were encountered.