• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.95-109
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• 2006

Objectives : There has been a considerable debate about how to best control for placebo effects in clinical trials of acupuncture. Recently several sham needles were developed and validated. This study aimed at summarising the validation studies of these needles and evaluating the outcomes of the randomised controlled trials (RCTs) using them. Methods : Computerised literature searches were performed using 'acupuncture' AND 'placebo OR sham' with a limitation of the results to RCTs in Medline via PubMed and the Cochrane Library. Only formally validated sham needle controlled studies were included. Data were extracted regarding study design, condition, sample size, credibility testing, intervention and outcomes. Methodological quality was assessed using a modified Jadad scale. Results : Three validated sham needles by Streitberger, Park, and Fink, were identified. Acupuncture's effectiveness for various conditions was tested using these needles in 12 RCTs. Real acupuncture was superior to sham acupuncture for rotator cuff tendonitis and hypertension. No significant differences between real acupuncture and sham acupuncture emerged for chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting, postoperative nausea and vomiting, menstrually related migraine, acute stroke rehabilitation, chronic/episodic tension-type headache, neutrophil respiratory burst in healthy volunteers, alcohol withdrawal symptoms and chronic poststroke leg spasticity. Conclusions : The new sham devices have been adequately validated and may be useful tools for investigating specific research question. In spite of the sham needle's limits, the results of RCTs using such devices tend to suggest that the clinical effects of acupuncture are largely due to a placebo response.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.625-634
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of an MIL instrument for adolescents. Method: The research design was a three-phase, methodological study. 1) The original 46 items of the Meaning in Life (MIL) Scale were reviewed and corrected partially by 20 adolescents. 2) The content was validated by an expert panel (n=15) and adolescents (n=5). 3) The instrument was validated by survey (n=468). Finally, 33 items were chosen for the adolescents meaning in life(AMIL) scale. Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the 33 items was .92, confirming the high internal consistency of the instrument. 2) Eight factors were extracted through factor analysis: 'experience of love', 'making efforts for goal', 'awareness of essential being', 'awareness of self limitation', 'feeling of satisfaction', 'relation experience', 'positive thinking', and 'hope'. These factors explained 58.26% of the total variance. Conclusion: AMIL Scale was identified as a tool with a high degree of reliability and validity. The tool can therefore be effectively utilized to assess the degree of meaning of life in caring areas for adolescents. Studies on AMIL of different adolescent subjects are needed for further verification.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.474-482
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• 2008

Purpose: The purposes of this study were; 1) to test the validity and reliability of the Korean version of Rantz's Observable Indicators of Nursing Home Care Quality Instrument (ONHQ) and 2) to evaluate the quality of Korean nursing homes. Methods: The study employed a three-phase methodological research design. 1) The original instrument of Rantz's. ONHQ was translated into Korean and modified by Korean nursing home experts. 2) A pilot study using the modified instrument was done in 20 nursing homes to examine inter-rater reliability. 3) The validity and reliability were tested.in 98 nursing homes. Results: Seven factors were extracted through factor analysis: 'communication', 'care delivery', 'grooming', 'odor, 'environment-basics', 'environment-access', and 'environment-homelike'. These factors explained 86.07% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the 30 items was .97 indicating a high internal consistency of the instrument. Inter-rater reliability according to Kappa was .82. The average score of nursing home quality was 112.07 indicating an average range of quality level. Conclusion: The Korean version of the ONHQ was identified as a tool with a high degree of validity and reliability. This tool can be effectively used to assess the quality of nursing homes by professions as well as family members.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.444-453
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develope a tool to assess mothers' behavior related to healt promotion if their preschool children had disabillties. Method: The research design was a methodological study. This tool was developed in 4 stages: first, a content matrix as a conceptual framework was developed using Gordon's 11 functional health promotion patterns and 5 categories (Lee, Jung & An, 1996); second,40 preliminary items were selected through references and interviews with 9 mothers of children with disabilities; third, 2 items were discarded after content validity was done by 3 experts; fourth, reliability and validity were tested with a sample of 243 mothers of children with disabilities who were of preschool age. Results: The final tool consisted of 19 items and Cronbach's alpha coefficient for internal consistency was .82. Five factors were extracted by factor analysis and they explained 55.58% of the total variance. Conclusions: This tool was identified to have a high degree of reliability and validity. So it can be utilized to assess mothers' behavior in providing health promotion for their children who have disabilities.

• Survey Research
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.117-135
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• 2000

The corporate restructuring following the economic crisis in Korea has brought about fundamental changes in the structure and practice of employment relations. However the lack of information on processes and consequences of such changes hider the appropriate policy making on shopfloor industrial relations. Correct assessment of realities and effective policy making require information on human resource management practices and structure of employment relations at the workplace level. This paper critically examines the experiences of workplace-employee integrated surveys carried out in advanced countries including Australia, Canada, and Britain, to extract methodological implications for such survey in Korea. We focus on the backgrounds of the surveys and practical issues involved in multi-level, longitudinal survey design.

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2018

Objectives: To evaluate the evidence supporting the effectiveness of Chuna manual therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: We conducted a search across 9 electronic databases to find all randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) that used Chuna manual therapy as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. The methodological quality of each RCT was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: Our inclusion criteria were met by 5 RCTs. The meta-analysis showed positive results for the use of Chuna manual therapy combined with oriental usual care (UC) in terms of the efficacy rate, pain, and duration of morning stiffness when compared to western UC. Positive results were also obtained in terms of the efficacy rate, when Chuna manual therapy combined with medication was compared to medication treatments alone. Conclusions: Our systematic review found encouraging, but limited evidence of Chuna manual therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. However, to obtain stronger evidence without the drawbacks of trial design and the quality of studies, we recommend a comparative research to test the effectiveness of Chuna manual therapy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.913-927
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• 2010

This study investigates the influence of Likert scale formats such as the number of response categories and the inclusion of a mid-point from a methodological point of view using instruments that measure a fashionmarketing-related subject. Using a self-administered questionnaire, 201 respondents rated their economic clothing shopping orientation on three formats of scales that differed only in the number of response categories (ranging from 5 to 7) from February 8 to February 12, 2010. Descriptive statistics, Spearman's rank order correlation, t-test, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson's correlation, and Cronbach's alpha were used in the analysis. The results are as follows. First, three scale formats were generally suitable for use due to validity and reliability. Second, the response results varied with the number of categories and the inclusion of a mid-point, although the differences were statistically insignificant (with only a few cases that differed). Third, construct validity was more secure in scales with fewer categories, whereas convergent and discriminant validity was generally good in all scale formats. Fourth, reliability coefficients were higher in scales with more categories. Fifth, the number of categories was of greater importance to instrument design than the inclusion of a mid-point. Implications for appropriate scale designs are suggested in this study.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.149-174
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• 2017

Objectives: The aim of this study is to establish a base for further research by reviewing studies on electroacupuncture (EA) for stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Methods: Clinical studies concerning the effects of EA for SUI, were obtained from Cochrane Library, PubMed, CNKI, RISS, NDSL, KISS and OASIS. Results: Forty-five studies met the criteria, which included 33 RCTs, 1 pilot RCT, 4 non-randomized Clinical Trials, 6 Case studies and 1 Orthogonal design study with 3638 patients. There was only one article published in Korea. In these study, the most common primary outcome measurement was the pad test. Most of the studies showed the group treated by EA effects compared to the control group. Also, many interventions that combined with EA were found and all complex therapy group had significantly better than control group. 7 studies observed adverse events (AEs), four of which referred to EA related AEs among them. And 4 studies reported no AEs associated with EA. Conclusions: Despite several limitations, various studies to prove limited yet effective EA on SUI provides much significance. Subsequent studies conducted by the complementary systematic review of the studies and well-designed clinical trials using the methodological quality will be needed to more firmly validate the therapeutic effect of EA on SUI.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.582-595
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• 2021

Researchers have endeavored to identify the etiology of inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Though the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases remains unknown, dysregulation of the immune system in the host gastrointestinal tract is believed to be the major causative factor. Omics is a powerful methodological tool that can reveal biochemical information stored in clinical samples. Lipidomics is a subset of omics that explores the lipid classes associated with inflammation. One objective of the present systematic review was to facilitate the identification of biochemical targets for use in future lipidomic studies on inflammatory bowel diseases. The use of high-resolution mass spectrometry to observe alterations in global lipidomics might help elucidate the immunoregulatory mechanisms involved in inflammatory bowel diseases and discover novel biomarkers for them. Assessment of the characteristics of previous clinical trials on inflammatory bowel diseases could help researchers design and establish patient selection and analytical method criteria for future studies on these conditions. In this study, we curated literature exclusively from four databases and extracted lipidomics-related data from literature, considering criteria. This paper suggests that the lipidomics approach toward research in inflammatory bowel diseases can clarify their pathogenesis and identify clinically valuable biomarkers to predict and monitor their progression.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.21 no.12spc
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• pp.469-472
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• 2021

The article discusses theoretical and methodological issues of modern pedagogical technologies: the essence, structure, functions, principles, conditions for successful functioning in educational process of the university. The article reflects the results of the analysis of publications on the following grounds: 1) levels of presentation of scientific information (theoretical, theoretical and experimental, empirical); 2) signs and properties of educational technologies; 3) approaches to the choice of grounds for classifications of educational technologies; 4) the possibilities of educational technologies in the formation of the academic, communicative and professional competence of a specialist; 5) criteria for assessing the effectiveness of their application in university educational practice; 6) the readiness of university teachers to develop and implement educational technologies.