• Asian Spine Journal
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.1010-1016
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• 2018

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Purpose: To report on spinal fusion assessment using computed tomography (CT) after adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery using ultra-low dose recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (RhBMP-2). Overview of Literature: The reported dose of RhBMP-2 needed for successful spinal posterolateral fusion in ASD ranges from 10 to 20 mg per spinal level. This study reports the use of ultra-low dose of RhBMP-2 (0.07 mg per facet) to achieve spinal fusion in multilevel ASD surgery. Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent ASD surgery using ultra-low dose RhBMP-2 were recruited. Routine postoperative CT analysis for spinal fusion was performed by two spine surgeons. Inter-observer agreement was calculated for facet fusion (FF) and interbody fusion (IBF) at 6 and 12 months after the procedure. Results: Six consecutive ASD patients with a mean age of 62 years (28-72 years) were examined. Each patient received a total dose of 12 mg with an average dose of $0.69{\pm}0.2mg$ (0.42-1 mg) per single FF and $1.38{\pm}0.44mg$ (0.85-2 mg) for IBF. Total 131 FF and 15 IBF were examined in the study, with 88 FFs and nine IBFs being analyzed specifically at 6 months after the surgery. FF and IBF reported by surgeons A and B at 6 months were 97.7% vs. 91.9% FF, respectively (${\kappa}=0.95$) and 100% vs. 100% IBF, respectively (${\kappa}=1$). Two patients underwent longitudinal follow-up CT at 12 months, and the FF rates reported by surgeons A and B were 100% vs. 95.8%, respectively (${\kappa}=0.96$). Five out of nine facet (56%) non-unions were identified at the cross-links. The remaining four facet pseudarthrosis were noted at 1-2 spinal levels caudal to the cross-links. At the final clinical follow-up, there was no rod breakage, deformity progression, neurological deficit, or symptom recurrence. The Oswestry Disability Index improved by an average of $32.8{\pm}6.3$, while the mental component summary of the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey improved by an average of $4.7{\pm}2.1$, and physical component summary improved by an average of $10.5{\pm}2.1$. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to report a CT that defined 92%-98% FF and 100% IBF using the lowest reported dose of RhBMP-2 in multilevel ASD surgery. The use of ultra-low dose RhBMP-2 reduces the RhBMP-2 related complications and healthcare costs.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.405-412
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• 2011

Knowledge of genetic diversity and genetic relationships among inbred lines gives a significant impact on the selection of parental lines for hybrid maize varieties. Genetic diversity and genetic relationships among 86 popcorn inbred lines were analyzed using 50 SSR markers distributed over the whole genome. A total of 256 alleles were identified at all the SSR loci with an average of 5.1 and a range between two and sixteen per locus. The gene diversity values varied from 0.21 to 0.831 with an average of 0.579. The cluster tree generated using the described SSR markers recognized three major groups at 35.8% genetic similarity. Groups I, II, III respectively included 40, 39 and 7 inbred lines. The present study indicates that the SSR markers chosen for this analysis are effective for the assessment of genetic diversity and genetic relationships among 86 popcorn inbred lines in Korea.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.409-424
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• 2019

Objectives: This research aimed to confirm the efficacy of oriental medicine in sixth cranial nerve palsy and to evaluate the quality of the studies. Methods: Using the medical subject heading (MeSH) keywords "abducens nerve palsy", "abducens nerve paralysis", "sixth nerve palsy", "herbal medicine", "Chinese medicine", "oriental medicine" and "acupuncture", we collected the research papers through an electronic database search in Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), National Discovery for Science Leaders (NDSL), PubMed, Cochran Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Results: A total of 136 papers were searched from the databases. Among these, 15 case reports and 8 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) met our criteria. 17 articles were found on the use of acupuncture as the main intervention, 11 on the use of herbal medicine as the main intervention, and 9 on the use of electroacupuncture as the main intervention. The frequently used acupoints were LI4, EX-HN5, GB1, BL2, TE23, LR3, BL1, ST2, GB20, and ST36. All 23 studies confirmed the efficacy of Korean medicine. According to the assessment using the risk of bias, the overall quality of the RCTs was low. Conclusions: Twenty-three papers suggested that Korean medicine treatment for abducens nerve palsy was effective in many cases. Analyzing the potential bias was difficult.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.205-210
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• 2010

LED light has various advantages such as an energy saving effect of over 80% compared to existing lighting and environmentally friendly characteristics; however, there has been no affordable market for LED lighting because of its expensive price. This study discussed the validity of the expansion of distribution of LED lighting through an assessment of economic efficiency concerning LED lightening in order to analyze its efficiency in terms of energy savings and maintenance and repair, which will be generated as a result of the change from existing incandescent bulbs to LED lighting in the public sector. As to the target of analysis, the paper reviewed the validity of change to LED lighting as a result of the elimination of existing incandescent bulbs, by referring to 'the current incandescent bulb use and elimination performance' published by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy based on the "Elimination management system" executed by Korea Energy Management Corporation. The paper considered expenses for change, annual power savings amount and electric charges savings amount, repair and maintenance cost, $CO_2$ reduction volume, and the profit from the sale of CER (certified emission reduction). As a result of analyzing economic efficiency, when the discount rate during the change of existing incandescent bulb lighting to LED lighting is 3.26%, the profit was 8,648,400,000 won. Accordingly, NPV was analyzed to have a 'positive (+)' value, which means that this change is profitable.

• Stress
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.268-276
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• 2018

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of the Motivational Interviewing (MI) based communication training for third-year nursing students. Methods: This study use a quasi-experimental design with pre and post-test to evaluate a 4-hour MI based communication training. This training was offered to 35 third-year nursing students who were participating in elective psychiatric nursing clerkship course. Each student completed pre and post questionnaire which includes assessment of motivational interviewing skills as measured by Helpful Response Questionnaire (HRQ). Also confidence (5 items) in using MI based communication knowledge and core skills were included. Data were independently analyzed by two coders and blindly rated the pre and post HRQ self-reported responses. Data were analyzed using paired t-test, descriptive analysis. Results: Nursing students showed increasing use of reflection (4.10~5.67, p<.001), decreasing use of closed-ended question (2.00~0.73, p<.001), road blocks (2.94~0.64, p<.001), and improve in depth of reflection (12.79~20.86 p<.001). But they did not show significant changes in open-ended question (2.01~2.33, p=.257). Confidence in the interview has increased overall, except for reflecting. The overall satisfaction with the training was quite high, and the most helpful training method was group and individual feedback. Conclusions: This study provides evidences that 4 hour-training is effective in core skills such as reflection and depth of reflection, and also confidence in interviews. It is necessary to develop step-by-step training modules to enhance undergraduate communication skills. It is necessary to develop an effective training strategy focused on students' confidence in open-ended questions and reflection.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.187-195
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• 2019

The needs for precise diagnostics and farm management-decision aids have increased to reduce the risk of climate change and environmental stress. Crop simulation models have been widely used to search optimal solutions for effective cultural practices. However, limited knowledge on physiological responses to environmental variation would make it challenging to apply crop simulation models to a wide range of studies. Advanced research facilities would help investigation of plant response to the environment. In the present study, the sunlit controlled environment chambers, known as Korean SPAR (Soil-Plant-Atmosphere-Research) system, was developed by renovating existing SPAR system. The Korean SPAR system controls and monitors major environmental variables including atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, temperature and soil moisture. Furthermore, plants are allowed to grow under natural sunlight. Key physiological and physical data such as canopy photosynthesis and respiration, canopy water and nutrient use over the whole growth period are also collected automatically. As a case study, it was shown that the Korean SPAR system would be useful for collection of data needed for understanding the growth and developmental processes of a crop, e.g., soybean. In addition, we have demonstrated that the canopy photosynthetic data of the Korean SPAR indicate the precise representation of physiological responses to environment variation. As a result, physical and physiological data obtained from the Korean SPAR are expected to be useful for development of an advanced crop simulation model minimizing errors and confounding factors that usually occur in field experiments.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.209-223
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to stimulate the online word-of-mouth advertising by developing the concept of word-of-mouth constraint factors and measurement tools in connection with the SNS advertising on social networks. To achieve the objective of this study, this study was conducted in 3 phases. First, the exploratory investigation(target group interview, in-depth interview, and expert interview) was performed to determine the concept and scope of the word-of-mouth constraint based on literature study and qualitative investigation method. Second, the reliability and validity of the measurement questions were verified through the survey in order to refine the developed measurement items. Third, the predictive validity of measurement items was verified by examining the relationship with other major construct concept for which the developed measurement items were different. Based on the results of study, 6 components and a total of 23 measurement questions for those components were derived. Each was called intrapersonal and interpersonal constraint(psychological sensitivity, compensatory sensitivity, and other person assessment), structural constraint(reliability, informativity, and entertainment). We developed the measurement questions related to word-of-mouth constraint based on qualitative study and quantitative study and holistically examined the social and psychological, environmental interruption factors acting as the word-of-mouth constraint factors for SNS advertising in terms of SNS achievements and evaluation from the perspective of word-of-mouth constraint. The results will lead to creation of basic framework for systematic and empirical research on the online word-of-mouth constraint and to achievement of effective SNS word-of-mouth advertising.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.25-40
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• 2019

Many companies are executing big data analysis and utilization projects to legitimize the development of new business areas or conversion of management or technical strategies. In Korea and abroad, however, such projects are failing because they are not completed within specified deadlines, which is not unrelated to the current situation in which the knowledge base for big data project risk management from an engineering perspective is grossly lacking. As such, the current study analyzes the risk factors of big data implementation and utilization projects, in addition to finding risk factors that are highly important. To achieve this end, the study extracts project risk factors via literature review, after which they are grouped using affinity methodology and sifted through expert surveys. The deduced risk factors are structuralize using factor analysis to develop a table that categorizes various types of big data project risk factors. The current study is significant that in it provides a basis for developing basic control indicators related to risk identification, risk assessment, and risk analysis. The findings from the study contribute greatly to the success of big data projects, by providing theoretical basis regarding efficient big data project risk management.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.295-305
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• 2019

In previous study, visual representation competence taxonomy (VRC-T), which is composed of two dimensions, was developed for the purpose of promoting effective visual representation use and research in science education. In this study, elementary school students' visual representation competence for shadow phenomenon was investigated using VRC-T. In terms of visual representation competence, 'interpretation' was the highest score, followed by 'construction' and 'integration'. It also showed that students' visual representation competence was not high even after learning shadow-related units in the regular curriculum. On the other hand, text-based scientific knowledge was not correlated with all categories of visual representation competence. This indicates that there is a need to emphasize visual representation more in science class. Finally, hierarchical relationship among cognitive processes of VRC-T was explored according to ordering theory. If the tolerance level is somewhat loosened, a linear hierarchical relationship was found between the six cognitive processes. This suggests that VRC-T is an analytical framework that can be useful when designing assessment tools, tasks, and science class activities to enhance visual representation competence.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.167-183
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• 2021

It is essential to understand the complex thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) coupled behavior in the engineered barrier system and natural barrier system to secure the high-level radioactive waste repository's long-term safety. The heat from the high-level radioactive waste induces thermal pressurization and vaporization of groundwater in the repository system. Groundwater inflow affects the saturation variation in the engineered barrier system, and the saturation change influences the heat transfer and multi-phase flow characteristics in the buffer. Due to the complexity of the coupled behavior, a numerical simulation is a valuable tool to predict and evaluate the THMC interaction effect on the disposal system and safety assessment. To enhance the knowledge of THMC coupled interaction and validate modeling techniques in geological systems. DECOVALEX, an international cooperation project, was initiated in 1992, and KAERI has participated in the projects since 2008 in Korea. In this study, we introduced the main contents of all tasks in the DECOVALEX-2023, the current DECOVALEX phase, to the rock mechanics and geotechnical researchers in Korea.