• Title/Summary/Keyword: Mixed Methods Research

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Clinical Efficacy of Real-Time Sonoelastography for the Follow-Up of Congenital Sternocleidomastoid Muscle Torticollis (선천성 근육성 사경의 추적검사에서 실시간 탄성초음파 검사의 임상적 유용성)

  • Mi ri Jeong;In Sook Lee;Yong Beom Shin;You Seon Song;Sekyoung Park;Jong Woon Song;Jin Il Moon
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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    • v.81 no.1
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    • pp.176-189
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    • 2020
  • Purpose To evaluate the clinical efficacy of real-time sonoelastography (RTS) for the follow-up of congenital muscular torticollis, based on measurements of muscle elasticity. Materials and Methods Thirty-four infants (23 male, 11 female) with congenital sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle torticollis underwent ultrasonography and elastography between November 2012 and December 2014. We evaluated the thickness, morphology (mass-like, fusiform, or overall thickened shape), and echogenicity of the SCM muscle on grayscale images and color patterns (homogeneous blue, mixed green < 50% and ≥ 50%, and green to red) on elastography. Strain ratios were measured using Q-lab software. A clinician classified the degree of neck rotation and side flexion deficits using a 5-point grade system based on angles of neck rotation and side flexion. Correlations between the ultrasonography and clinical findings were evaluated by statistical analysis. Results Twenty-two infants had right and 12 had left SCM torticollis, respectively. Linear regression analysis showed that involved/contralateral SCM thickness differences, morphology, elasticity color scores, and strain ratios of the affected SCM muscles were significantly correlated with neck rotation and side flexion deficit scores (p < 0.05). The elasticity color score of the affected SCM muscle was the most significant factor. Conclusion RTS might provide a reliable means for evaluating and monitoring congenital muscular torticollis.

The Effectiveness of CT and MRI Contrast Agent for SUV in 18F-FDG PET/CT Scanning (18F-FDG PET/CT 검사에서 정량분석에 관한 CT와 MRI 조영제의 효과)

  • Cha, Sangyoung;Cho, Yonggwi;Lee, Yongki;Song, Jongnam;Choi, Namgil
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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    • v.10 no.4
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    • pp.255-261
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    • 2016
  • In this study, among various factors having influence on SUV, we intended to compare and analyze the change of SUV using CT(4 type) and MRI(3 type) contrast agents which are commercialized now. We used Discovery 690 PET/CT(GE) and NEMA NU2 - 1994 PET phantom as experimental equipment. We have conducted a study as follows; first, we filled distilled water to phantom about two-thirds and injected radioisotope(18F-FDG 37 MBq), contrast agent. Second, we mixed CT contrast agent with distilled water and MRI contrast agent with that water separately. And then, we stirred the fluid and filled distilled water fully not to make air bubble. In emission scan, we had 15minutes scanning time after 40 minutes mixing contrast agent with distilled water. In transmission scan, we used CT scanning and its measurement conditions were tube voltage 120 kVp, tube current 40 mA, rotation time 0.5 sec, slice thickness 3.27 mm, DFOV 30 cm. Analyzing results, we set up some ROIs in 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th slice and measured SUVmean, SUVmax. Consequently, all images mixed 3 types of MRI contrast agent with distilled water have high SUVmean as compared with pure FDG image but there was no statistical significance. In SUVmax, they have high score and there was statistical significance. And other 4 images mixed 4 types of CT contrast agent with distilled water have significance in both SUVmean and SUVmax. Attenuation correction in PET/CT has been executed through various methods to make high quality image. But we figured out that using CT and MRI contrast agents before PET/CT scanning could make distortion of image and decrease diagnostic value. In that reason, we have to sort out the priority of examination in hospital not to disturb other examination's results. Through this process, we will be able to give superior medical service to our customers.

Static and Dynamic Analysis for Railway Tunnel according to Filling Materials for overbroken tunnel bottom (철도터널 하부 여굴처리 방법에 대한 정적 및 동적 안정성 검토)

  • Seo, Jae-Won;Cho, Kook-Hwan
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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    • v.20 no.5
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    • pp.668-682
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    • 2017
  • Alignments of railways recently constructed in Korea have been straightened due to the advent of high-speed rail, which means increasing the numbers of tunnels and bridges. Overbreak during tunnel construction may be unavoidable, and is very influential on overall stability. Over-excavation in tunneling is also one of the most important factors in construction costs. Overbreak problems around crown areas have decreased with improvements of excavation methods, but overbreak problems around bottom areas have not decreased because those areas are not very influential on tunnel stability compared with crown areas. The filling costs of 10 cm thickness of overbreak at the bottom of a tunnel are covered under construction costs by Korea Railway Authority regulations, but filling costs for more than the covered thickness are considered losses of construction cost. The filling material for overbreak bottoms of tunnels should be concrete, but concrete and mixed granular materials with fractured rock are also used for some sites. Tunnels in which granular materials with fractured rock are used may have a discontinuous section under the concrete slab track. The discontinuous section influences the propagation of waves generated from train operation. When the bottom of a tunnel is filled with only concrete material, the bottom of the tunnel can be considered as a continuous section, in which the waves generated from a train may propagate without reflection waves. However, a discontinuous section filled with mixed granular materials may reflect waves, which can cause resonance of vibration. The filled materials and vibration propagation characteristics are studied in this research. Tunnel bottom filling materials that have ratios of granular material to concrete of 5.0 %, 11.5 %, and 18.0 % are investigated. Samples were made and tested to determine their material properties. Static numerical analyses were performed using the FEM program under train operation load; test results were found to satisfy the stability requirements. However, dynamic analysis results show that some mixed ratios may generate resonance vibration from train operation at certain speeds.

Structure and Tending Method for Naturally Regenerated Young Pinus Densiflora Sieb. et Zucc. Stands (천연경신(天然更新)에 의한 소나무 유령임분(幼齡林分)의 구조와 무육방법(撫育方法))

  • Bae, Sang Won
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.83 no.1
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    • pp.50-62
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    • 1994
  • This study is performed to consider the fitness of natural regenerating method and tending methods used now by surveying the stand structure and regenerating states of the 9 natural regenerated Pinus densiflora stands in Kangwon province. As a special consideration, it deals with the tending methods on the seedlings of Pinus densiflora and broad-leaved tree(Quercus mongolica) under competition. By the consideration on the number of trees, growing capacity and stand structures of Pinus densiflora stands, it reveals that Pinus densiflora is in the inferior in numbers at the competition to the broad-leaved species, and it could not occupy the stands as the dominant species if the stands were not tended. It is estimated that natural regeneration of Pinus densiflora stands by the clearcutting or seed tree system could not achieved due to the abundance of ground vegetation. Short-term shelter-wood system or strip stand method may be proposed as a successful method of natural regeneration. As the visible tending method for seedlings, the method which apply the mixed forest in group of Pinus densflora and Quercus mongolica different by the growing capacity and distribution characteristics is better thaw the one which tend the Pinus densiflora only.

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A Review of Acupuncture and Moxibustion for the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease (파킨슨병의 침구치료 동향에 대한 고찰)

  • Lee, Eun;Kang, Ki-Wan;Kim, Lak-Hyung;Kang, Sei-Young;Sun, Seung-Ho;Han, Chang-Ho;Jang, In-Soo
    • The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.12-23
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    • 2014
  • Objectives : The purpose of this study was to report possibility of acupuncture or moxibustion for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) by reviewing literature about its effectiveness. Methods : In this review, PubMed, SCOPUS, Science Direct and CINAHL of EBSCOhost were used to search medical journals, using keywords "Parkinson's disease and acupuncture" and "Parkinson's disease and moxibustion". The search range included randomized controlled trials (RCT) about Parkinson's disease combined with another disease and other treatments with acupuncture or moxibustion. Non-randomized controlled trial (nRCT), case study, animal experiment, human experiment, review, survey, essay, letter, and protocol for review were excluded. Results : From 311 studies, 111 were selected during the title and the screening. Finally, 16 RCTs (15 for acupuncture research and one for moxibustion) were included in this review, after scanning and matching the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The number of patients varied between 5 and 88. A total of 12 studies using electroacupuncture (EA) were classified into acupuncture studies. The body acupuncture studies numbered 4, scalp acupuncture 4, body and scarp acupuncture mixed studies 4, and bee venom, ear and abdomen acupuncture were each one study. In evaluation methods, total effective rate method was used in 9 studies, the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) was used in 8, and the Webster score in 2. In addition, the Berg balance scale (BBS), 30 m walking time, steps to walk 30 m, PD motor function score, and Motor Performance Series by Schoppe (MLS) method were used for evaluation. In 15 of the 16 studies, the verum acupuncture group showed significant improvement compared with the control. In 9 studies using total effective rate method, the effective rate was reported as 80.0-97.3% in verum acupuncture groups and 52.6-86.4% in controls. Conclusions : Acupuncture may be a plausible alternative method to care for the long term symptoms and treat movement impairment of Parkinson's disease. However, to confirm this result, high quality studies including randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind trials are warranted.

Total antioxidant capacity of the Korean diet

  • Han, Jeong-Hwa;Lee, Hye-Jin;Cho, Mi Ran;Chang, Namsoo;Kim, Yuri;Oh, Se-Young;Kang, Myung-Hee
    • Nutrition Research and Practice
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.183-191
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    • 2014
  • BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to measure and/or estimate the total antioxidant capacity of the Korean diet. MATERIALS/METHODS: Eighty-one plant foods that were expected to exhibit rather high antioxidant activities were selected from the Korean diet using the Fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey (KNHANES V). These foods were categorized into 11 food groups: cereals, potatoes, legumes, nuts, vegetables, kimchies, mushrooms, fruits, fruit juices, sea weeds, and oils. The foods were mixed in the proportions specified in traditional Korean recipes and analyzed. The measured indicators for antioxidant capacities were total phenolics, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC). RESULTS: Total phenolics were high in the fruit juices, nuts, vegetables, and fruits; and the average DPPH, ORAC, and TEAC values were high in the vegetables, fruits, fruit juices, and nuts. The correlation coefficient between the content of total phenolics of each food and the in vitro antioxidant capacity was relatively high at 0.851. The intake of total phenolics per capita per day in the Republic of Korea was estimated to be 127 mg. The total dietary antioxidant capacity (TDAC) values, which were obtained from the total antioxidant capacity of each food, taking into account the intake of each food, were 20,763, 54,335, and $876.4{\mu}mol$ of Trolox equivalents using the DPPH, ORAC, and TEAC methods, respectively. The food group that contributed the most to the Korean TDAC was cereals at 39.7%, followed by fruits and vegetables at 27.8% and 13.9%, respectively. The contribution of legumes, nuts, fruit juices, and mushrooms was quite minimal at less than 2% each. CONCLUSIONS: The content of total phenolics and the antioxidant capacity of the Korean diet are significantly correlated and the high contributing food groups are cereals, fruits, and vegetables.

A Study on Physical Dispersion and Chemical Modification of Graphene (Graphene의 물리적 분산과 화학적 표면 개질 연구)

  • Yim, Eun-Chae;Kim, Seong-Jun
    • Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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    • v.53 no.6
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    • pp.792-797
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    • 2015
  • Graphene has a wide spectrum on its application field due to various and excellent physical properties. However, it is very difficult to apply that graphene exists as lump or fold condition in general organic solvents. Besides, graphene was difficult to maintain as uniform condition due to chemical inert and distributions with various size and shapes. Therefore, this study was focused to study dispersion and modifying methods of aggregated graphene. The dispersion methods contain as follow: i) physical milling using glass bead, ii) co-treatment of glass bead and ultrasonic waves, iii) dispersion in organic solvents, iv) modifying with dry-ice. Milling using glass bead with size 2.5 mm was effective to be size decrease of 36.4% in comparison with control group. Mixed treatment of glass bead (size 2.5 mm) and ultrasonic waves (225W, 10 min) showed relative size decrease of 76%, suggesting that the size decrease depends on the size of glass bead, intensity of ultrasonic waves and treatment time. Solvents of Ethyl acetate (EA) and Isoprophyl alcohol (IPA) were used in order to improve dispersion by modifying surface of graphene. IPA of them showed a favorable dispersion with more -CO functional groups in the FT-IR analysis. On the other hand, the oxygen content of graphene surface modified by dry-ice was highly increased from 0.8 to 4.9%. From the results, it was decided that the favorable dispersion state for a long time was obtained under the condition of -CO functional group increase in IPA solvent.

Umbilical cord care differences in the time of cord separation and the skin condition of periumbilical area (신생아 제대관리방법에 따른 제대탈락 시기와 제대주위 피부상태 비교)

  • Park Young Ae;Kim Dong Yeon;Choi Mun Jin;Park Ho Ran
    • Child Health Nursing Research
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    • v.6 no.2
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    • pp.158-166
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    • 2000
  • The purpose of this study was to confirm the efficient umbilical cord care of healthy newborns in nursery. In order to determine the efficient care, the time of umbilical cord separation and the skin condition of periumbilical area were evaluated. The data were collected in sample of 529 normal, healthy newborns of C hospital in Seoul, from September 1st, 1999 to January 16th, 2000. The babies were randomly selected and allocated into four groups-alcohol swab/tub bath, alcohol swab/partial bath, natural dry/tub bath, natural dry/partial bath- by the methods of care. The mothers of babies were also surveyed by questionnaire about general characteristics. The data were analyzed by SAS program. The results of this study were as follows : 1. The average gestation period of newborns was 39+3 weeks. The average birth weight was 3.27Kg. In gender of babies, boys were 51.7% and girls were 48.3%. The 65% of newborns were born normal vaginal delivery, 35% were C-section. The feeding methods were 55.3% of the babies fed by mixed type, 22.9% by breast, and 21.8% by bottle. There was no significance among four groups by general characteristics. 2. The average time of umbilical cord separation was 8.27 days(SD=2.3). The time was no difference significantly among four groups(F=1.68, P=0.17). 3. The prevalence of the umbilical care complication did not show differences among four groups( 2=3.93, P=0.27). In conclusion, Nurses have preferred the traditional alcohol swab/partial bath method in care of newborns. But there was no difference among the ways to take care of umbilicus according to this study. The way to naturally is more efficient due to reduce the time and expense in umbilical care for normal babies of nursery. This also matched the change in approach to healthy population from intervention to nonintervention way. This could be suggested in education for normal and healthy babies care at home and nursery as a useful way. Endly, the further study about bacterial colony nda infection rate at umbilicus by ways of care is needed.

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A Study on the Reinforcement Effect Analysis of Aging Agricultural Reservoir using Surface Stabilizer (표층안정재를 사용한 노후 농업용 저수지의 보강효과 분석에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Jae-Hong;Kim, You-Seong;Cho, Dae-sung
    • Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.13-21
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    • 2020
  • In Korea, small reservoirs have been constructed for the supply of agricultural water, but most of them have been over 50 years from the year of construction. Aging agricultural reservoirs are being investigated for serious defects such as leaks and movements in slope, which are very vulnerable to safety. Accordingly, grouting methods are used to reinforce aging agricultural reservoirs in Korea. However, cement used as a grouting injection material consumes natural resources and generates a large amount of greenhouse gases during production. In addition, there is a problem that sufficient reinforcement is not made due to various factors such as the injection amount, the compounding ratio, the injection pressure, and etc. Therefore, due to these problems, the development of new materials and methods that can replace the grouting method and cement is required. In order to solve these problems, this study conducted an laboratory test on the surface stabilizer used to secure the stability of road and rail slopes. In addition, the program was analyzed and the reinforcing effect was examined when the surface stabilizer was used as reinforcement material for aging agricultural reservoir. As a result of the laboratory test, when the surface stabilizer is mixed, the increase of cohesion is possible up to 9% and there is no change in the friction angle. The results of the program analysis showed that the 1.0m reinforcement of slopes increased the factor of safety by 1.4 times, making it possible to reinforce the aging agricultural reservoir using surface stabilizers. And as a reinforcement method, it was analyzed that it is most appropriate to reinforce the slope and the bottom of slope simultaneously.

Drying seaweeds using hybrid hot water Goodle dryer (HHGD): comparison with freeze-dryer in chemical composition and antioxidant activity

  • Nagahawatta, D.P.;Asanka Sanjeewa, K.K.;Jayawardena, Thilina U.;Kim, Hyun-Soo;Yang, Hye-Won;Jiang, Yunfei;Je, Jun-Geon;Lee, Tae-Ki;Jeon, You-Jin
    • Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.19-31
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    • 2021
  • Seaweeds are a potential source of minerals, essential amino acids, fatty acids, proteins, and various bioactive compounds such as antioxidants. The higher water content of seaweeds reduces the shelf life and this requires the appropriate drying method. The drying conditions play a major role in the conservation of nutrient composition in dried seaweeds. In recent years, the seaweed industry has used many different drying methods with advantages and limitations. Hybrid hot-water Goodle dryer (HHGD) which is a special dryer mixed with hot-water and a Korean traditional heating system (Goodlejang) might be a solution to avoid these limitations. The present study evaluated the effect of drying conditions in HHGD on nutrient composition and bioactivities of brown seaweeds. Moreover, freeze-dryer (FD) and HHGD were employed in this study to compare the dried outputs obtained from four brown seaweed species. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of the hybrid hot-water Goodle drying method (HHGDM) on the nutritional composition and antioxidant activity of dried seaweeds. AOAC standard methods were used to analyze the proximate composition of dried samples and their 70% ethanol extract. The intracellular and extracellular antioxidant activities were evaluated using Vero cells and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometer respectively. High performance liquid chromatography, apoptotic body formation, and in-vivo experiments were used for further confirmation of the quality of dried output. The proximate composition results obtained from drying in HHGD and FD did not exhibit any significant difference. Moreover, the seaweed extracts from the dried seaweeds by HHGD and FD dryings were also not different and both significantly down-regulated in-vivo and in-vitro oxidative stress. Furthermore, the high performance liquid chromatography results revealed that the two dryers did not make the major peaks different in the chromatograms. Freeze-drying method (FDM) provides elevated quality for dried output, but there are limitations such as high cost and low capacity. The results from a novel HHGD did not provide any significant difference with the results in FD and expressed a potential to avoid the limitations in FD. Overall, these findings solidified the applicability of HHGD over FD.