• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.179-186
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• 2023

This study investigated tooth whitening preferences among college students, evaluating their knowledge, satisfaction, aesthetic criteria, and preferences, while identifying influencing factors. Using a 28-item questionnaire covering general, tooth whitening knowledge, satisfaction, aesthetic criteria, and preference questions, 175 participants surveyed from June 7th to 10th, 2022, underwent analysis. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, analysis of variance, and regression analysis were applied. Results showed tooth whitening knowledge scored 2.90 out of 5 points, satisfaction 2.97, aesthetic criteria 3.59, and preferences 3.28. Tooth whitening knowledge was higher among female and health-related major students, while satisfaction was greater among males, non-health-related majors, and those without cosmetic procedures. Aesthetic criteria were stronger in participants with higher allowances and cosmetic procedures experience. No significant tooth whitening preference differences were found based on general characteristics. Regression analysis revealed significant impact of aesthetic criteria on tooth whitening preferences (β=0.252).

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.1496-1515
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• 2017

One of the most visible developments in Decision Support Systems (DSS) was the emergence of rule-based expert systems. Hence, despite their success in many sectors, developers of Medical Rule-Based Systems have met several critical problems. Firstly, the rules are related to a clearly stated subject. Secondly, a rule-based system can only learn by updating of its rule-base, since it requires explicit knowledge of the used domain. Solutions to these problems have been sought through improved techniques and tools, improved development paradigms, knowledge modeling languages and ontology, as well as advanced reasoning techniques such as case-based reasoning (CBR) which is well suited to provide decision support in the healthcare setting. However, using CBR reveals some drawbacks, mainly in its interrelated tasks: the retrieval and the adaptation. For the retrieval task, a major drawback raises when several similar cases are found and consequently several solutions. Hence, a choice for the best solution must be done. To overcome these limitations, numerous useful works related to the retrieval task were conducted with simple and convenient procedures or by combining CBR with other techniques. Through this paper, we provide a combining approach using the multi-criteria analysis (MCA) to help, the traditional retrieval task of CBR, in choosing the best solution. Afterwards, we integrate this approach in a decision model to support medical decision. We present, also, some preliminary results and suggestions to extend our approach.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.109-119
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• 2014

In accordance with the government's plan to expand the national health insurance (NHI) coverage for severe diseases such as cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and rare and incurable disease, the diagnostic ultrasound services have been covered by NHI from October 1, 2013. The quality is very important factor in providing diagnostic services because they influence on the diagnosis, treatment, and outcome of diseases. In particular, equipments and health care providers plays an important role in providing qualitative services. The purpose of this paper is to examine the major feature of ultrasound services covered by health security system and to review quality assurance policies in other countries such as Australia, Japan, the USA, and Canada. In addition, we assessed the implication of those policies. We especially put emphasis on the types and qualifications of healthcare professionals and measures to manage equipments. All countries have reviewed on policies to promote the quality such as educational requirements of professionals or restrictions on the duration of equipment usage. Various measures should be implemented to assure the qualitative ultrasound service.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.69-77
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• 2023

Purpose: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been many cases of converting regular hospital wards into temporary negative pressure isolation wards. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the minimum airflow differences that satisfies the pressure difference criteria(-2.5 Pa) according to airtightness of switching type wards, in preparation for utilization of aging regular wards as negative pressure isolation wards. Methods: Visual inspection and field measurements were conducted using blower door to evaluate airtightness of 5 hospital wards. CONTAM simulation was used to assess the airflow differences when pressure difference between the corridor and wards met the criteria at various levels of airtightness. Results: The ACH₅₀ of evaluated wards ranged from 19.3 to 50.1 h^-1 with an average of 37.0 h^-1, indicating more than four times leakier than other building types. The minimum airflow differences increased as the airtightness of the wards decreased and the size of the wards increased. Implications: When operating rapidly converted negative pressure isolation wards, understanding airtightness is crucial for determining the minimum airflow differences to maintain the pressure differences. The analysis of this study suggests that improving the airtightness of aging rooms is essential and the minimum airflow differences should be suggested considering both the airtightness and size of rooms.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.81 no.5
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• pp.1053-1068
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• 2020

In accordance with the new healthcare policy of government (Moon Jae-In Care) to strengthen health insurance coverage, the National Health Insurance (NHI) coverage of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), brain/neck MR angiography (MRA), and head and neck MRI have been expanded since 2018 in Korea. This article has been reviewed focusing on the "Detailed matter concerning criteria and method for providing reimbursed services in the NHI. Some revisions" regarding reimbursement for MRI, which was revised from October 2018 to April 2020 and is currently in effect. It included the MRI reimbursement system in Korea, recent adjustment of the reimbursement coverage for patients with headache or dizziness, and reimbursement coverage, standard imaging, and radiologic report of brain MRI, brain/neck MRA and head and neck MRI. This article could help radiologists gain knowledge on health insurance to protect the expertise of the radiologist and to play a leading role in the hospital. As the policy changes, detailed matter concerning criteria and method for providing reimbursed services in the NHI may be revised. Therefore, radiologists should update issues related to insurance reimbursement for MRI continuously.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.238-244
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• 2023

Background: Many patients use online resources to educate themselves on surgical procedures and make well-informed healthcare decisions. The aim of our study was to evaluate the quality and readability of online resources exploring shoulder arthroplasty. Methods: An internet search pertaining to shoulder arthroplasty (partial, anatomic, and reverse) was conducted using the three most popular online search engines. The top 25 results generated from each term in each search engine were included. Webpages were excluded if they were duplicates, advertised by search engines, subpages of other pages, required payments or subscription, or were irrelevant to our scope. Webpages were classified into different source categories. Quality of information was assessed by HONcode certification, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) criteria, and DISCERN benchmark criteria. Webpage readability was assessed using the Flesch reading ease score (FRES). Results: Our final dataset included 125 web pages. Academic sources were the most common with 45 web pages (36.0%) followed by physician/private practice with 39 web pages (31.2%). The mean JAMA and DISCERN scores for all web pages were 1.96±1.31 and 51.4±10.7, respectively. The total mean FRES score was 44.0±11.0. Only nine web pages (7.2%) were HONcode certified. Websites specified for healthcare professionals had the highest JAMA and DISCERN scores with means of 2.92±0.90 and 57.96±8.91, respectively (P<0.001). HONcode-certified webpages had higher quality and readability scores than other web pages. Conclusions: Web-based patient resources for shoulder arthroplasty information did not show high-quality scores and easy readability. When presenting medical information, sources should maintain a balance between readability and quality and should seek HONcode certification as it helps establish the reliability and accessibility of the presented information. Level of evidence: IV.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.132-136
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• 2014

Objective: The presence of sperm-head vacuoles has been suspected to be deleterious to the outcomes of assisted reproductive technology (ART). It is difficult to accurately distinguish morphologically abnormal sperm with vacuoles under a light microscope. This study was performed to analyze the result of the observation of sperm-head vacuoles using Papanicolaou staining under a light microscope and whether the male partner's age affects these vacuoles. Methods: Sperm morphology with vacuoles was evaluated using Papanicolaou staining and observed under a light microscope ($400{\times)$) in 980 men. The normal morphology was divided into three categories (group A, <4% of normal morphology; group B, 4%-14% of normal morphology; and group C, >14% of normal morphology). The criteria for the sperm-head vacuoles were those given in the World Health Organization manual. For the analysis of the age factor, the participants were divided into the following groups: 26-30 years, 31-35 years, 36-40 years, 41-45 years, and 46-50 years. Results: The percentage of sperm-head vacuoles increased with normal sperm morphology (group A vs. groups B, C) (p<0.05). In the case of the age factor, a statistically significant difference was not observed across any of the age groups. Conclusion: A majority of the sperm-head vacuoles showed a statistically significant difference among normal morphology groups. Therefore, we should consider the probability of the percentage of sperm-head vacuoles not increasing with age but with abnormal sperm morphology. A further study is required to clarify the effect of the sperm-head vacuoles on ART outcomes.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.31-55
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• 2021

The Personal Information Protection Act, one of the revised 3 Data Laws, established a special cases concerning pseudonymous data. As a result, a personal information controller may process pseudonymized information without the consent of data subjects for statistical purposes, scientific research purposes, and archiving purposes in the public interest, etc. In addition, as a follow-up to the revised Personal Information Protection Act, a 'Guidelines for Utilization of Healthcare Data' was prepared, which deals with the pseudonymization in the medical sector. The guidelines are meaningful in that they provide practical criteria for accomplices by defining specific interpretations and examples that take into account the characteristics of healthcare data. However, the guidelines need to clarify the purpose of using pseudonymous data and strengthen the fairness of the composition of the data deliberation committee. The guidelines also require establishing a healthcare data compensation framework and strengthening the protection of rights for vulnerable subjects. In addition, the guidelines need to be adjusted for inconsistency with the Bioethics and Safety Act and the Medical Service Act. It is expected that this study will contribute to the creation of a safe environment for the utilization of healthcare data as well as the improvement of related laws and systems.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.320-329
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• 2023

Background: Oral frailty has garnered considerable interest following its identification as a risk factor for physical frailty. The Korean oral frailty diagnosis criteria have emphasized the need for extensive research on oral frailty diagnostic items and interventions. Our study performed an in-depth analysis of the tongue-palate pressure patterns in healthy community-dwelling older adults. Methods: Of the 217 older adults aged ≥60 years who visited a senior center in Wonju, 205 participants who completed tongue pressure measurement were included in the final analysis. Pressure changes over time were recorded by instructing the participants to press their tongue against the hard palate with for 7 seconds per cycle. The participants were divided into the normal and abnormal tongue pressure (NTP and ATP, respectively) groups based on whether they achieved the target tongue pressure at least once; tongue pressure patterns were compared between the groups. Furthermore, the average time taken to achieve the standard tongue pressure value was calculated for the participants in the NTP group and used to evaluate the decrease in tongue pressure in the ATP group. Results: Among the 205 participants, 40.5% had ATP. The tongue pressure graph revealed a gentle and consistent incline that was maintained even after achieving standard tongue pressure in the NTP group. The graph was more extreme in the ATP group, and the changes in the pressure type varied across individuals; the tongue pressure was only 48.4%, 40.7%, 31.9%, and 22.6% of the NTP in the participants in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and ≥90s, respectively (p<0.05). Conclusion: Tongue pressure weakness was observed in 40.5% of the healthy community-dwelling older adults. Furthermore, ATP graphs were observed in the patients with tongue pressure weakness. Thus, activities improving the oral function in community-dwelling older adults and systematic oral rehabilitation programs should be devised to promote normal swallowing.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.63-71
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to find the complementary idea of the psychological elements in aesthetic expression of architectural space in the sense of healing. Marks $L\ddot{u}scher$, the swiss psychologist suggested reasonable categories of emotional character according to the couple combinations among Content, Self-Esteem, Confidence, and Liberty. His theory on healing is not only the concept but the practical method to understand and control the conflict between contrary elements of emotion. Compared to the Freud's objective theory of cause and consequence, his idea is focused on the subjective and autonomous harmony. This theory based on complementary idea is applied to psychological attitude of architects on Spatial Expression in this study. Refuge, Prospect, Flow and Void are assumed as equivalent spatial elements to the four major emotional conditions suggested by $M.L\ddot{u}scher$. The couple combinations among them also characterize the architectural characters definitely and it is expected to be the reasonable criteria in analysing aesthetic value and motive of creating human space.