• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.727-738
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• 2012

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of a 4 week course of Cox distraction manipulation (CDM) combined with therapeutic modalities on the treatment of patients with L4-5 herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP). A total of 15 patients with L4-5 HNP (mean age, 37.76 years; age range 20-50years) participated in the study. A 4 week course of CDM combined with therapeutic modalities was delivered to the patients for 6 days per week for the first two weeks, and three times per week for two additional weeks. The entire treatment consisted of 18 visits over 4 week period. Comparisons of changes in the muscle strengthening (MS), straight leg raise (SLR), and oswestry disability index (ODI) at pre-intervention, after two weeks treatment sessions, and at discharge (after 18 treatment sessions) were analyzed. Comparisons of changes in the disc herniation index (DHI) at pre-intervention and at discharge were analyzed using the paired t-test. There were significant improvements in the outcome measures of MS Ibs, SLR test, and ODI score after 2 weeks and 4 weeks sessions of CDM combined with therapeutic modalities as compared with the pre-intervention. However, no significant different pre-test and post-test DHI. CDM combined with therapeutic modalities appears to be a safe and efficacious, noninvasive treatment modality for patients with L4-5 HNP.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3575-3581
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• 2016

Background: Cancer survival analysis is an essential indicator for effective early detection and improvements in cancer treatment. This study was undertaken to document colorectal cancer survival and associated prognostic factors in Malaysians. Materials and Methods: All data were retrieved from the National Cancer Patient Registry-Colorectal Cancer. Only cases with confirmed diagnosis through histology between the year 2008 and 2009 were included. Retrieved data include socio-demographic information, pathological features and treatment received. Survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate analysis of all variables was then made using the Log-rank test. All significant factors that influenced survival of patients were further analysed in a multivariate analysis using Cox' regression. Results: Total of 1,214 patients were included in the study. The overall 3- and 5-year survival rates were 59.1% and 48.7%, respectively. Patients with localized tumours had better prognosis compared to those with advanced stage cancer. In univariate analysis, staging at diagnosis (p<0.001), primary tumour size (p<0.001), involvement of lymph nodes (p<0.001) and treatment modalities (p=0.001) were found to be predictors of survival. None of the socio-demographic characteristics were found to exert any influence. In Cox regression analysis, staging at diagnosis (p<0.001), primary tumour size (p<0.001), involvement of lymph nodes (p<0.001) and treatment modalities (p<0.001) were determined as independent prognostic factors of survival after adjusted for age, gender and ethnicity. Conclusions: The overall survival rate for colorectal cancer patients in Malaysia is similar to those in other Asian countries, with staging at diagnosis, primary tumor size, involvement of lymph node and treatment modalities having significant effects. More efforts are needed to improve national survival rates in future.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.41-60
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• 2011

The use of a practice perspective in the analysis of information literacy represents a shift in attention towards the enactment of information literacy as a social practice, and away from the information skills approach that has dominated information literacy research and education. The sociocultural perspective that underpins a practice-oriented approach highlights the role of practice and co-participation of the community in shaping the production, reproduction and circulation of knowledge, including knowledge about the appropriateness of information skills in relation to the context in which the skills are practised. This emerging view contrasts with the conventional approach to information literacy that has focused on the information skills of individuals as something that can be learned and transferred independently of context. This paper explores two questions: what is information literacy and, how does it happen? It then goes on to identify the implications of this approach for librarians and researchers.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.604-611
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• 2006

Purpose. Koreans are one of the fastest growing Asian populations in the U.S. since 1960s. In Korean immigrant women (KIW), breast cancer was reported as the most frequently diagnosed cancer. However, their screening rates for breast cancer are lower than national guidelines; it is assumed that underlying cultural schemas of breast, breast cancer, and its screening modalities exist and need to be studied. This study was aimed to investigate cultural meanings of breast, breast cancer, and breast cancer screenings in KIW. Methods. Using cultural models theory from cognitive anthropology, naturalistic qualitative methodology was utilized. Three focus group interviews with fifteen KIW were conducted. Thematic analysis with constant comparison technique was performed eliciting units of meaning, categories, and themes. Results. The cultural schema of the meaning of breast is 'mother who is breast-feeding her baby,' with two themes of 'balance in size,' and 'shyness.' Regarding breast cancer, three themes, i.e., 'indifference,' 'fear,' and 'uncertainty' are emerged. 'Lack of information about screening modalities' is the overarching schema with reference to breast cancer screenings. Conclusions. The findings of this study demonstrate unique cultural models of KIW related to breast cancer and its screenings, which are critical to understand and penetrate their barriers to breast cancer screening.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.88-95
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• 2020

Accurate localization of the seizure onset zone is important for better seizure outcomes and preventing deficits following epilepsy surgery. Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have increased our understanding of the underlying etiology and improved our ability to noninvasively identify the seizure onset zone. Using epilepsy-specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols, structural MRI allows better detection of the seizure onset zone, particularly when it is interpreted by experienced neuroradiologists. Ultra-high-field imaging and postprocessing analysis with automated machine learning algorithms can detect subtle structural abnormalities in MRI-negative patients. Tractography derived from diffusion tensor imaging can delineate white matter connections associated with epilepsy or eloquent function, thus, preventing deficits after epilepsy surgery. Arterial spin-labeling perfusion MRI, simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG)-functional MRI (fMRI), and magnetoencephalography (MEG) are noinvasive imaging modalities that can be used to localize the epileptogenic foci and assist in planning epilepsy surgery with positron emission tomography, ictal single-photon emission computed tomography, and intracranial EEG monitoring. MEG and fMRI can localize and lateralize the area of the cortex that is essential for language, motor, and memory function and identify its relationship with planned surgical resection sites to reduce the risk of neurological impairments. These advanced structural and functional imaging modalities can be combined with postprocessing methods to better understand the epileptic network and obtain valuable clinical information for predicting long-term outcomes in pediatric epilepsy.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.59 no.8
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• pp.313-318
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• 2016

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a phrase used to describe additional health care methods such as mind/body practices and natural products not regarded as treatments by conventional medicine. The use of CAM in children with common neurologic diseases is more frequent than its use in healthy children (24%-78% vs. 12%). However, less than half of patients report such use to their physicians. The preferred modalities of CAM vary in different countries due to their different cultures and traditions. The most common factor significantly associated with the use of CAM is parental CAM use in most studies. The frequency of the use of CAM in children and adults with neurologic diseases is similar, and both rates are higher than the rates in those without these conditions. The preferred modalities of CAM in adults are diverse, and megavitamins and mind/body therapy (prayer and chiropractic care) are included. The most common factor significantly associated with the use of CAM in adults with neurologic diseases is high educational level. Physicians need to be concerned with patients' use of CAM and provide correct information about CAM so that patients may make the right decisions. Further study is needed to determine the evidence-based efficacy of CAM use in children with common neurologic diseases.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.306-312
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• 2001

Achieving an aesthetic implant-supported restoration in the single tooth missing case can be challenging when the implant site is in e anterior region. The objective of this report is to focus on presurgical evaluation of implant site and systematic development of related prosthetic modalities. An accurate diagnostic evaluation, a systematically developed pesurgical plan, and knowledge and clinical skill of the various related therapeutic modalities are indispensible. Collection of patient's information, appropriate abutment selection, soft tissue contour, implant axis, and occlusion need to be discussed for aesthetic clinical outcome. For aesthetic restoration, such as surgical guide stent for precise implant positioning customized provisional restoration for development of optimal periimplant soft tissue contours, and fabrication customized abutment (mesiostructure) for veriable emergence profile, are recommended.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2014

Recent technological advances provide the opportunity to use large amounts of multimedia data from a multitude of sensors with different modalities (e.g., video, text) for the detection and characterization of criminal activity. Their integration can compensate for sensor and modality deficiencies by using data from other available sensors and modalities. However, building such an integrated system at the scale of neighborhood and cities is challenging due to the large amount of data to be considered and the need to ensure a short response time to potential criminal activity. In this paper, we present a system that enables multi-modal data collection at scale and automates the detection of events of interest for the surveillance and reconnaissance of criminal activity. The proposed system showcases novel analytical tools that fuse multimedia data streams to automatically detect and identify specific criminal events and activities. More specifically, the system detects and analyzes series of incidents (an incident is an occurrence or artifact relevant to a criminal activity extracted from a single media stream) in the spatiotemporal domain to extract events (actual instances of criminal events) while cross-referencing multimodal media streams and incidents in time and space to provide a comprehensive view to a human operator while avoiding information overload. We present several case studies that demonstrate how the proposed system can provide law enforcement personnel with forensic and real time tools to identify and track potential criminal activity.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.30 no.11C
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• pp.1116-1124
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• 2005

We investigated the mean and variance of the MSE and the MI-based image registration methods that have been widely applied for image registration. By using the first order Taylor series expansion, we have approximated the mean and the variance for one-dimensional image registration. The asymptotic results show that the MSE based method is unbiased and efficient for the same image registration problem while the MI-based method shows larger variance. However, for the different modality image registration problem, the MSE based method is largely biased while the MI based method still achieves registration. The results imply that the MI based method achieves robustness to the different image modalities at the cost of inefficiency. The analytical results are supported by simulation results.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• summer
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• pp.395-399
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• 2004

We present modality conversion as an effective means for QoS management. We show that modality conversion, in combination with content scaling, would give a wider range of adaptation to support QoS at media level. Here, we consider modality conversion with respect to resource constraint and human factor. To represent modality conversion as well as content scaling, we present the overlapped content value (OCV) model that relates the content value of different modalities with resources. The specification of user preference on modality conversion is divided into qualitative and quantitative levels. The user preference is then integrated into the OCV model so that modality conversion correctly reflects the user's wishes. For the conversion of multiple contents, an optimization problem is formulated and solved by dynamic programming. The experiments show that the proposed approach is efficient to be applied in practice.