• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.553-559
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• 2015

Research on micro-level assessment of the changes of socio-economic status following health interventions is very scarce. The use of household asset data to determine wealth indices is a common procedure for estimating socio-economic position in resource poor settings. In such settings information about income is usually lacking, and the collection of individual consumption or expenditure data would require in-depth interviews, posing a considerable risk of bias. In this study, we determined the socio-economic status of 213 households in a community population in an island in the north-western Tanzania before and 3 year after implementation of a participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation (PHAST) intervention to control schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections. We constructed a household 'wealth index' based housing construction features (e.g., type of roof, walls, and floor) and durable assets ownership (e.g., bicycle, radio, etc.). We employed principal components analysis and classified households into wealth quintiles. The study revealed that asset variables with positive factor scores were associated with higher socio-economic status, whereas asset variables with negative factor scores were associated with lower socio-economic status. Overall, households which were rated as the poorest and very poor were on the decrease, whereas those rated as poor, less poor, and the least poor were on the increase after PHAST intervention. This decrease/increase was significant. The median shifted from -0.4376677 to 0.5001073, and the mean from -0.2605787 (SD; 2.005688) to 0.2605787 (SD; 1.831199). The difference in socio-economic status of the people between the 2 phases was highly statistically significant (P<0.001). We argue that finding of this study should be treated with caution as there were other interventions to control schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections which were running concurrently on Kome Island apart from PHAST intervention.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2011

The recent global warming may be estimated to give lots of impacts to the human society and biosphere of influencing climate change included by the natural climate variations through the human activity which can directly and/or indirectly play a major role of total atmospheric composition overall. Therefore it currently appears evidences such as hot wave, typhoon, and biosphere disturbance, etc. over the several regions to be influenced by global warming due to increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere through inducing forest destruction, fossil fuel combustion, greenhouse gases emission, etc. since industrial revolution era. Through the working group report of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) for climate change was analyzed by the individual country's current status and figure out the important issues and problems related to the future trend of climate change science with advanced countries preparedness and research, In this study, the first working group report of IPCC focuses on those aspects of the current understanding of the physical science of climate change that are judged to be most relevant to policymakers. As this report was assessed and analyzed by including the progress of climate change science, the role of climate models and evolution in the treatment of uncertainties. This consists of the changes in atmospheric constituents(both aerosols and gases) that affect the radiative energy balance in the atmosphere and determine the Earth's climate, considering the interaction between biogeochemical cycles that affect atmospheric constituents and climate change, including aerosol/cloud interactions, the extensive range of observations snow available for the atmosphere and surface, for snow, ice, and frozen ground and for the oceans, respectively and changes in sea level, the paleoclimate perspective and assessment of evidence for past climate change and the extension, the ways in which physical processes are simulated in climate models and the evaluation of models against observed climate, the development plans and methods of improving expert and building manpower urgently and R&D fund expansion in detail for climate change science in Korea will be proposed.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.60-64
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• 2019

Swyer-James syndrome (SJS), also known as Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome and unilateral hyperlucent lung syndrome, is rare acquired pulmonary disorder develops secondary to infectious etiologies in early childhood. Viral respiratory infection such as adenoviruses or Mycoplasma pneumoniae in infancy or early childhood rarely cause Swyer-James syndrome. It is generally characterized on radiographs by a unilateral small lung with hyperlucency and air trapping on expiration. In many cases unaffected lung tissue functions normally, compensating for affected lung portion. Preoperative assessment is needed to determinate individual's pulmonary function. A 4-year-old boy with Swyer-James syndrome visited Seoul National University Dental Hospital Department of pediatric dentistry for caries treatment. Clinical and radiographic examinations revealed multiple carious lesions on deciduous teeth. Considering patient's underling disease, age, and level of cooperation, dental treatment under general anesthesia was scheduled. Dental treatment was done with composite resin and stainless-steel crown. Since ventilation of Swyer-James syndrome patients was diminished because of airway obstruction, close monitoring of ventilation is necessary during dental treatment. Considering pulmonary pathology, general anesthesia rather than sedation is recommended when special behavior management is required for dental treatment. Swyer-James syndrome patients can tolerate general anesthesia and surgery well, according to several reports.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.55-68
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• 2023

Objective : This study aims to analyze the effects of visual perception intervention by systematically reviewing the studies that applied visual perception intervention to children with cerebral palsy. Methods : The databases used were PubMed, EMbase, Science Direct, ProQuest, Koreanstudies Information Service System (KISS), Research Information Sharing Service (RISS), and the National Assembly Library. The keywords used were cerebral palsy, CP, and visual perception. According to the PRISMA flowchart, 10 studies were selected from among studies published from January 1, 2012 to March 30, 2022. The quality level of the selected studies, the demographic characteristics of study participants, the effectiveness of interventions, area and strategies of intervention, assessment tools to measure the effectiveness of interventions, and risk of bias were analyzed. Results : All selected studies confirmed that visual perception intervention was effective in improving visual perception function. In addition, positive results were shown in upper extremity function, activities of daily living, posture control, goal achievement, and psychosocial areas as well as visual perception function. The eye-hand coordination area was intervened in all studies. Conclusion : In visual perception intervention, It is necessary to evaluate the visual perception function by area, and apply systematically graded customized interventions for each individual.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.77-88
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• 2022

Objective: Our study aimed to evaluate the quality of radiomics studies on brain metastases based on the radiomics quality score (RQS), Transparent Reporting of a multivariable prediction model for Individual Prognosis Or Diagnosis (TRIPOD) checklist, and the Image Biomarker Standardization Initiative (IBSI) guidelines. Materials and Methods: PubMed MEDLINE, and EMBASE were searched for articles on radiomics for evaluating brain metastases, published until February 2021. Of the 572 articles, 29 relevant original research articles were included and evaluated according to the RQS, TRIPOD checklist, and IBSI guidelines. Results: External validation was performed in only three studies (10.3%). The median RQS was 3.0 (range, -6 to 12), with a low basic adherence rate of 50.0%. The adherence rate was low in comparison to the "gold standard" (10.3%), stating the potential clinical utility (10.3%), performing the cut-off analysis (3.4%), reporting calibration statistics (6.9%), and providing open science and data (3.4%). None of the studies involved test-retest or phantom studies, prospective studies, or cost-effectiveness analyses. The overall rate of adherence to the TRIPOD checklist was 60.3% and low for reporting title (3.4%), blind assessment of outcome (0%), description of the handling of missing data (0%), and presentation of the full prediction model (0%). The majority of studies lacked pre-processing steps, with bias-field correction, isovoxel resampling, skull stripping, and gray-level discretization performed in only six (20.7%), nine (31.0%), four (3.8%), and four (13.8%) studies, respectively. Conclusion: The overall scientific and reporting quality of radiomics studies on brain metastases published during the study period was insufficient. Radiomics studies should adhere to the RQS, TRIPOD, and IBSI guidelines to facilitate the translation of radiomics into the clinical field.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.271-280
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• 2024

Objectives: This study aimed to test whether the digital competence of dental hygienists can affect their intraoral scanning potential in terms of scan time and error. Methods: Dental hygienists and dental hygiene students who had never used an intraoral scanner were surveyed to determine their digital competence. Individual data collected using an intraoral scanner was compared with reference data collected using a model scanner to identify scanning errors, and participants' scanning times were measured. Results: A significant decrease in scanning time was observed as the overall level of digital competence increased. The increase in digital skills and digital knowledge led to a decrease in scanning time by 3.73 and 3.98 minutes, respectively. Conclusions: This study found that digital competence was associated with reduced scan times, but less so with scan errors. This may be due to recent advances in scanning software, and future studies may need to develop a digital competence assessment tool that is more appropriate for the dental field.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.110-119
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• 2002

Objectives : Numbers of patients who have chronic pain seem to be increasing in the psychiatric practice. Many investigators have used models of stress and coping to help explain the differences in adjustment found among persons who experience chronic pain. Coping strategies appear to be associated with adjustment in chronic pain patients. The objectives of this study were to develop a self-report questionnaire which is the most widely used measures of pain coping strategies, Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) into Korean version and to study the different coping strategies with which chronic pain patients frequently use when their pain reaches a moderate or greater level of intensity. Methods : One hundred twenty-eight individuals with chronic pain conditions and two hundred fifty-two normal controls were administered the Korean version-Coping Strategies Questionnaire(KCSQ) to assess the frequency of use and perceived effectiveness of a variety of cognitive and behavioral pain coping strategies. We also obtained their clinical features in chronic pain patients. Reliability of the questionnaire were analyzed and evaluated differences of coping strategies between two groups. Results : Data analysis revealed that the questionnaire was internally reliable. Chronic pain patients reported frequent use of a variety of pain coping strategies, such as coping self-statements, praying and hoping, catastrophizing, and increase behavior scales which were higher compared to the normal controls. Conclusion: K-CSQ revealed to be a reliable self-report questionnaire which is useful for the assessment of coping strategies in clinical setting on chronic pain. And analysis of pain coping strategies may be helpful in understanding pain for chronic pain patients. The individual K-CSQ may have greater utility in terms of examining coping, appraisals, and pain adjustment. A consideration of pain coping strategies may allow one to design pain coping skills training interventions so as to fit the individual chronic pain patient. Further research is needed to determine whether cognitive-behavioral intervention designed to decrease maladaptive coping strategies can reduce pain and improve the physical and psycho-social functioning of chronic patients.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.159-169
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• 2008

This study was aimed to classify the intertidal macrozoobenthic community status after 2 years of Sea Prince oil spill, and oil spill effects along oil spreading track from heavily impacted to unaffected reference site. Field sampling was initiated in late February and continued through November 1998 seasonally, after 2.5 years of oil spill. 7 rocky sampling sites were selected among coastal regions coated and/or affected by the Sea Prince spilled oil. Identified species was 158 species, 65 family, 24 order, 9 class, 5 phylum. Mollusca was the dominant faunal group comprising 100 species (63.3%), and followed by 38 species of Crustacea (24.1%), 12 species of Echinodermata (7.6%), 5 species of Porifera (3.2%), and 3 species of Cnidaria (1.9%). On Dugpo of Sori Island, the fewest species was collected from 28 species to 35 species seasonally among sampling stations. But far away Dugpo toward Gamak Bay, the number of species increased, collecting the maximum on Sohwoenggan Island. At the wreck site of Sori Island, especially the species number of attached animals such as poriferans and anthozoans was very low compared to another site. The density and biomass on the higher tidal zone increased toward the low affected sites, but biomass on middle tidal zone decreased. The invertebrate biomass of study area was dependent on the sessile animals. The major dominant species were small-sized barnacles, Chthmallus challengeri, periwinkles, Littorina brevicula, mussels, Septifer virgatus, and so on. The biomass of C. challengeri and L. brevicula on the higher tidal zone was highest in the wreck site of Sori Island and decreased further and further. However, mussels on the middle tidal zone showed the inverse trends because of the larger individual size of mussel inhabited in Sori Island than those of another sites. As a result of community analysis, the effect of oil spill was not found distinctly. Several ecological indices and cluster analysis did not show the meaningful variation with oil track despite of the conspicuous differences among tidal heights. These indicate that the macrozoobenthic community level of oil spreaded zone recovered in some degree after the Sea Prince oil spill accident, but population or individual levels of dominant sessile animals took more recovery times.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.317-325
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• 1994

The accuracy of dipyridamole stress/rest $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI myocardial imaging for detection of ischemia depends on reproducible image interpretation. To evaluate the reproducibility of visual assessment, agreement in interpretation among two independent observers, blind-ed to clinical data, was evaluated in SPECT images of 131 patients (94 males, 38 females; mean age $58{\pm}7yr$) with suspected coronary artery disease who underwent both dipyridamole stress/rest $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI myocardial SPECT and coronary angiography. The left ventricle was divided into twenty-nine segments in stress and rest SPECT images and each segment was visually graded according to a five-point scale (segmental score : 0=normal, 1=equivocal, 2=mild decrease, 3=severe decrease and 4=absent uptake). Overall concordance of segmental scoring between the two observers was 80%. The Pear-son's correlation coefficient (r) of the segmental scores for stress and rest images were 0.67 and 0.65, respectively, while the difference in score between the two images showed a correlation of 0.45 (all p<0.001). Agreement between two observers in final SPECT diagnosis as absence or presence of disease was 93%. The degree of agreement in segmental scoring showed no difference between patients with or without agreement as to the presence of disease. Therefore it appeared that cases with inconcordant diagnosis between the 2 observers were mainly due to a difference in individual threshold for interpretating the significance of a particular decreased uptake area rather than to a difference in perceiving the degree of the hypoactivity Thus, establishment of individual optimum thresholds in visual interpretation of myocardial SPECT may be helpful to improve reproducibility and accuracy of scan diagnosis.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.61-73
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• 2011

The aim of this study was to develop a reliable dietary questionnaire to assess human exposure to food-borne hazards. Eleven food-borne hazards were chosen as a priority control list through a literature review and advisory committees. The 11 food-borne hazards were phthalate, aflatoxin, bisphenol A, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxin, polychlorinated biphenyls, mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, and acrylamide. The characteristics, exposure level, and paths of these hazards were reviewed, and questionnaire items were identified to assess human exposure from the literature. A questionnaire was developed for each selected food based on its characteristics. Based on the items in the individual questionnaires, a comprehensive questionnaire, which contained demographic characteristics, job information, socioeconomic factors, health related lifestyles, and dietary behaviors, was developed. A 99-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess food-borne hazard exposure was also developed. The FFQ included frequency of food intake during the previous year, container type for purchasing and storing food, and cooking method. The questionnaire developed in this study could be applied to assess dietary factors during an exposure assessment of food-borne hazards in a large population. A validation study for the questionnaire is needed before applying it to surveys.