• 공학교육연구
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.20-34
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• 2023

This research aims to explore the factors affecting engineering students' major persistence and career decision. To achieve this goal, the experiences and perceptions of engineering students and other stakeholders regarding the factors influencing engineering students' major persistence and career decision were analyzed through online focus group interviews (FGI). The analysis of the interviews resulted in the identification of seven categories, which include meeting with older alumni, team project experiences, and internship experiences as factors influencing major persistence. Additionally, engineering interest, engineering self-efficacy, employment rates, economic factors, and limitations in women engineers' career development were identified as factors affecting career decision. Based on these findings, it is expected that engineering education will develop plans that focus on supporting the major persistence and career development of engineering students, thereby contributing to the future direction of engineering education.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.111-120
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• 2019

The output power of a crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaic (PV) module is not directly the sum of the powers of its unit cells. There are several losses and gain mechanisms that reduce the total output power when solar cells are encapsulated into solar modules. Theses factors are getting high attention as the high cell efficiency achievement become more complex and expensive. More research works are involved to minimize the "cell-to-module" (CTM) loss. Our paper is aimed to focus on electrical losses due to interconnection and mismatch loss at PV modules. Research study shows that among all reasons of PV module failure 40.7% fails at interconnection. The mismatch loss in modern PV modules is very low (nearly 0.1%) but still lacks in the approach that determines all the contributing factors in mismatch loss. This review paper is related to study of interconnection loss technologies and key factors contributing to mismatch loss during module fabrication. Also, the improved interconnection technologies, understanding the approaches to mitigate the mismatch loss factors are precisely described here. This research study will give the approach of mitigating the loss and enable improvement in reliability of PV modules.

• 대한족부족관절학회지
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.68-71
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to report the results of culture test at the time of removal of metal devices used for management of ankle fractures and for analysis of contributing factors. Materials and Methods: We reviewed medical records of 132 patients with lower tibia and ankle fracture who had their metal devices removed during the period from January 2010 to February 2014. Patients with clinical signs of infection were excluded. Culture test was performed by taking the granulation tissue around the metal device at the time of removal. We divided the subjects into two groups, culture positive and negative. We then performed a retrospective review of each medical record of multiple factors that might contribute to the culture results, including laboratory results, medical history, material and size of metal device, indwelling period, and whether or not it was open injury. Results: Among 132 cases, six were culture positive. Enterococcus was detected in two cases and the others were Staphylococcus. No significant difference in medical history of patients and laboratory results, including C-reactive protein level, was observed between the culture positive and negative group. Culture positive rate was 5.4% in titanium and 3.9% in stainless steel. In terms of metal size, culture positive rate was 5.1% in small plates, 6.7% in large plates, and culture negative in intramedullary nails. The average indwelling period of metal device was 61.5 weeks in the culture positive group, and 68.6 weeks in the negative group. Nine cases were open fractures and all were in the culture negative group. Conclusion: Whether or not the culture result was positive, there were no meaningful contributing factors. Presence of bacterium on the metal device could not be screened by any laboratory results or other factors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권12호
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• pp.4983-4988
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• 2014

Background: In Muslim majority countries (MMC) opioid use for pain management is extremely low. The underlying factors contributing to this are not well defined. Aim: The aim of this study was to survey the attitudes of cancer patients towards morphine use for pain management in a MMC and identify the factors that influence patient decisions to accept or refuse morphine as treatment for cancer pain. Settings/participants: Patients were questioned whether they had pain or not, the severity and the medications for pain management. Questions included what type of medication they thought morphine was, whether or not they would be willing to take morphine if recommended for pain management and the basis for their decision if they were against morphine use. Results: Four hundred and eighty-eight patients participated in the study. Some 50% of the patients who refused morphine use and 36.8% of the patients who would prefer another drug, if possible, identified fear of addiction as the basis for their decision. Reservation of morphine for later in their disease was the case for 22.4% of the patients who refused morphine use. Only 13.7 % of the patients refusing morphine and 9.7% of the patients who preferred another drug, if possible, cited religious reasons as the basis for this decision. Conclusions: Identifying the underlying factors contributing to low opioid use for pain management in MMC is important. Once the underlying factors were identified, all efforts should be taken to overcome them as they are barriers to improving patient pain management.

• 구강회복응용과학지
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.43-57
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• 2005

Temporomandibular disorders have been defined as a collective term embracing a number of clinical problems that involve the temporomandibular joint, the masticatory nuscles, and associated structures. There have been many different contributing factors of TMDs which were traumatic, occlusal, pathophysiological and psychosocial. Among there factors, the effect of occlusion on TMDs have been a controversy for a long time. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of occlusal factors and oral habits on TMDs. In this study, 140 subjects with signs and symptoms of TMDs and diagnosed of TMD in the Orofacial Pain clinic of Yonsei University Dental Hospital though March to July 2004 were selected for the TMDs group and 50 subjects without any signs and symptoms of TMDs as the control group. The subjects were evaluated clinically in TMDs' Occlusal and Prosthodontic Restoration examinations. TMDs' examination was composed of the TMJ pain, sound, locking, temporal or masseter muscle palpation, mandibular movement, oral habits and headache. Occlusal examination was made of overjet, overbite, lost teeth number, nonfunctional interference, midline shift, then pattern of lateral movement and attrition. prosthodontic restoration examination had the existence of restoration, placement, then number of crown or bridge and Satisfiable index which estimated the quality of occlusal state of prosthodontic restorations. Following results were obtained : 1. The prevalence of TMDs was higher in their 20s & 30s, female of the TMD patients group. 2. The clenching frequency in the TMDs group(40.71%) was higher than those in the control group(18.00%), and there was a significant statistical difference(p<0.05). 3. The frequency of Nonfunctional interference in the TMDs group(10.00%) was higher than those in then Control group(2.00%), and there was a significant statistical difference(p<0.05). The result of this study indicated TMDs prevalence was higher in their 20s, 30s, female group of TMDs patients similar to the previous studies. Clenching and nonfunctional interference were estimated as the contributing factors of TMDs.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제39권4호
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• pp.133-139
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• 2014

Purpose: There have been reports regarding the various factors associated with the level of discomfort and recovery from neurosensory symptoms in patients with trigeminal nerve injury. However, the contributing factors remain uncertain and poorly understood. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the possible association between various factors expected to affect neurosensory discomfort and recovery in patients with mandibular nerve injury after dental implant surgery. Methods: Eighty-nine post-dental implant surgery patients with mandibular nerve injury were enrolled in this retrospective analysis. A medical records review of the patients was done to determine if the patients' improvement was related to pain intensity, the length of time between the injury and removal of the implant or the depth of penetration of the implant into the mandibular canal as determined by cone-beam computed tomography. Results: There was no significant linear relationship between pain intensity and symptomatic improvement (p=0.319). There was no significant linear relationship between the level of mandibular canal penetration and either pain intensity (p=0.588) or symptomatic improvement (p=0.760). There was a statistically significant linear relationship between length of time before the injury was treated, both with pain intensity (p=0.004), and symptomatic improvement (p=0.024). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the length of time between nerve injury and initiation of conservative treatment is more closely related to the pain intensity and symptomatic improvement than other factors, including the level of mandibular canal invasion. Additionally, increased pain intensity and decreased symptomatic improvement can be expected over time, because of this linear trend. Therefore, although direct injury to the nerve is the most important factor contributing to a neurosensory disturbances, early neurosensory assessment and initiation of conservative treatment should be done to optimize recovery.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.179-191
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• 1993

Generally fatty liver is attributed either to chronic alcoholism, diabetes mellitus, or obesity. Based upon this commonly held clinical brief, this study was conducted to investigate the contributing factors of fatty liver and odds ratio (OR) of known contributing factors. A sample of 310 male participants, who visited at Seoul Paik Automated Multiphasic Health Testing System from November 1991 to December 1991, was separated into 112 cases and 198 controls by ultrasonographic fin ding. There were statistically significant difference between fatty liver and normal in triglyceride (TG), body mass index (BMI), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), fasting blood sugar (FBS), alcohol consumption, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol, gamma-glutamyl transferase ($\gamma$-GT), duration of alcohol intake and alkaline phosphatase (Alk.P)(P<0.01, P<0.05). The statistically significant elevated odds ratio were noted for TG (4.48, confidence interval (CI) 2.66-7.55, P=0.000), alcohol consumption(3.24, CI 1.56-6.23, P=0.002), BMI(3.05, CI 1.87-4.97, P=0.000), and FBS (2.59, CI 1.53-4.40, P=0,000). In summary, it is suggested that the fatty liver could be preventive by avoiding such deleterious factors as high fat diet, alcohol and obesity.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.325-331
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• 2023

Background: Heat stress is a harmful physical hazard in many occupational settings. However, consequences of occupational heat exposure among workers in a sugarcane factory in Ethiopia are not well characterized. This study aimed to assess the level of occupational heat exposure-related symptoms and contributing factors. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, five workstations were selected for temperature measurement. Heat stress levels were measured using a wet-bulb globe temperature index meter. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 1,524 participants. Heat-related symptoms were assessed using validated questionnaires. Results: The level of occupational heat exposure was 72.4% (95% CI: 70.2%-74.8%), while 71.6% (95% CI: 69.3%-74.9%) of participants experienced at least one symptom related to heat stress. The most common heat-related symptoms were swelling of hands and feet (78%), severe thirst (77.8%) and dry mouth (77.4%). The identified risk factors were a lack of reflective shields (AOR: 2.20, 95% CI: 1.53, 3.17), not-enclosed extreme heat sources (AOR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.23, 2.51), a lack of access to shade (AOR: 9.62, 95% CI: 6.20, 14.92), and inappropriate protective clothing provision (AOR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.27, 2.71). Conclusions: The burden of occupational heat exposure and heat-induced symptoms was high. Lack of reflective shields, the absence of enclosed extreme heat sources, a lack of access to shade, and inappropriate protective clothing provision were considerable attributes of heat stress. Therefore, the use of mechanical solutions to stop heat emissions at their sources and the key factors identified were areas for future intervention.

• Journal of Medicine and Life Science
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.158-165
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• 2023

This study prospective randomized controlled trial aims to test the impact of adding health education, awareness of some contributing factors and clinical guidance to therapeutic cabergoline given to infertile women with unexplained resistant hyperprolactinemia. It comprised 120 infertile women with unexplained persistent hyperprolactinemia not responding to therapeutic doses of cabergoline 1.5-2 mg/week who were subjected to proper history taking to exclude concomitant drug intake or possible brain problems in all cases. They were classified into group A (60 cases) who received health education and clinical guidance to search for possible contributing factors and were instructed to avoid them in addition to proper therapeutic doses of cabergoline, while group B (60 cases) received proper therapeutic doses of cabergoline only without clinical guidance. After 1 month, serum prolactin (PRL) was measured for all cases. All cases had high PRL level at the start of the study (79.9±28.4 [39-195] and 78.2±19.9 [42-189] in group A and B, respectively) without any significant difference. Pretreatment counselling revealed that lifestyle factors, sexual behaviors or feeding habits may contribute to resistant hyperprolactinemia in all cases without a significant difference between both groups. Serum PRL dropped significantly more in group A (20.14±10.31 [11-45] vs. 49.32±37.03 [12-100]) after combined health education, clinical guidance of the couple and proper treatment. It is concluded that lifestyle factors, sexual behaviors, and feeding habits would affect the response of hyperprolactinemia to treatment. Health education and clinical guidance with some advice to avoid them, would concomitantly improve the response of resistant hyperprolactinemia to therapeutic doses of dopamine agonists.

• 대한간호학회지
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.16-26
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• 1991

In this prospective study, factors contributing to the development of decubitus ulcers were examined. Factors were identified by a literature review and a conceptual framework was developed. Regular observations were made during the subjects' hospitalization to determine the incidence of decubitus ulcers, and to assess other decubitus ulcer risk factors. Seventeen out of 146 admitted for neurological problems patients developed decubitus ulcers during the three month study period. There were no significant differences in the level of serum albumin, hemoglobin or age between those who developed decubitus ulcers and those who did not. There also was no difference in incidence between patient who were paralyzed and those not paralyzed. Mean hospitalization days until decubitus ulcer development was 6.5 days. According to the results of discriminant analysis, four factors -1) friction and shear, 2) sensory perceptual impairment, 3) low diastolic pressure, and 4) multiple use of sedative medications - predicted 84.93% of decubitus ulcer Incidence.