• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.71 no.3
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• pp.188-194
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• 2011

Background: When patients with chronic respiratory symptoms have a normal spirometry result, it is not always easy to consider bronchial asthma as the preferential diagnosis. Forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of vital capacity ($FEF_{25{\sim}75%}$) is known as a useful diagnostic value of small airway diseases. However, it is not commonly used, because of its high individual variability. We evaluated the pattern of bronchodilator responsiveness (BDR) and the correlation between $FEF_{25{\sim}75%}$ and BDR in patients with suspicious asthma and normal spirometry. Methods: Among patients with suspicious bronchial asthma, 440 adult patients with a normal spirometry result (forced expiratory volume in one second [$FEV_1$]/forced vital capacity [FVC] ${\geq}70%$ & $FEV_1%$ predicted ${\geq}80%$) were enrolled. We divided this group into a positive BDR group (n=43) and negative BDR group (n=397), based on the result of BDR. A comparison was carried out of spirometric parameters with % change of $FEV_1$ after bronchodilator (${\Delta}FEV_1%$). Results: Among the 440 patients with normal spirometry, $FEF_{25{\sim}75%}%$ predicted were negatively correlated with ${\Delta}FEV_1%$ (r=-0.22, p<0.01), and BDR was positive in 43 patients (9.78%). The means of $FEF_{25{\sim}75%}%$ predicted were $64.0{\pm}14.5%$ in the BDR (+) group and $72.9{\pm}20.8%$ in the BDR (-) group (p<0.01). The negative correlation between $FEF_{25{\sim}75%}%$ predicted and ${\Delta}FEV_1%$ was stronger in the BDR (+) group (r=-0.38, p=0.01) than in the BDR (-) group (r=-0.17, p<0.01). In the ROC curve analysis, $FEF_{25{\sim}75%}$ at 75% of predicted value had 88.3% sensitivity and 40.3% specificity for detecting a positive BDR. Conclusion: BDR (+) was not rare in patients with suspicious asthma and normal spirometry. In these patients, $FEF_{25{\sim}75%}%$ predicted was well correlated with BDR.

• Bulletin of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.9-20
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• 1989

It is important to enhance the safety of ship structures as much as possible in order to prevent the disastrous collapse of structures. In fact, the strength problem of structures is closely related with the safety problem of structures. Recently, the direct calculation method using a rational approach based on the first principle is implemented into the structural design process instead of adopting empirical approach based on the rules. The structural designer have shown increased concern with the problem of adequacy of conventional design method based on the safety factor since it does not fully take into account some degree of variability of the applied loads on and the strength of ship structures. To deal with the analysis of structures effectively, it is necessary to have three stages being equally treated. The first one is load analysis, second one response analysis, third one safety analysis. For marine structures, most of research effort has been however put into the first and second stages. The third stage is normally done by simple procedures. Hence, the various probabilistic methods are compared in order to establish the reliability analysis techniques for ship structures. As a result, the advanced level 2 method is selected as a most effective and accurate reliability method. The validity of this method is further demonstrated by comparing the results with the conventional method for the problem of the longitudinal strength of hull girder of Ro-Ro ship.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.353-360
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• 2010

The Kyunggi Bay in mid-west of Korea is a relatively large estuarine system that connects the Han River system with Yellow Sea. Due to macro-tidal range of more than 8 m, the urban estuary shows deep tidal channels and wide tidal flats. Since last 30 years, the coastal development is undergoing, yielding noticeable change in environment. Particularly the tidal flat dynamics are generally accepted as being related with tidal residual flows in this area (Kim et al., 2009). We have estimated the annual variation and vertical structure of residual currents with one-year long observed flows in two major tidal channels of Kyunggi Bay. The moving average method and tidal current harmonic analysis yield nearly the same results on residual flow. The residual flow in Jangbong channel ranges from 20 cm/s in summer to 30 cm/s in winter. It is noticeable that the residual flow in Jangbong channel is flood dominant throughout the year, while the flow in Seokmo channel is ebb-dominant residual flow with current speed range of 20-40 cm/s. Due to the baroclinic response of relatively shallow estuary, significant reduction of energy in bottom layers have been observed, indicating the importance of residual circulation to the tidal flat behavior.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.70-77
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• 2020

Background As the demand for cosmetic surgery continues to rise, plastic surgery programs and the training core curriculum have evolved to reflect these changes. This study aims to evaluate the perceived quality of current cosmetic surgery training in terms of case exposure and educational methods. Methods A 16-question survey was sent to graduates who completed their training at a U.S. plastic surgery training program in 2017. The survey assessed graduates' exposure to cosmetic surgery, teaching modalities employed and their overall perceived competence. Case complexity was characterized by the minimum number of cases needed by the graduate to feel confident in performing the procedure. Results There was a 25% response rate. The majority of respondents were residents (83%, n=92) and the remaining were fellows (17%, n=18). Almost three quarters of respondents were satisfied with their cosmetic training. Respondents rated virtual training as the most effective learning modality and observing attendings' patients/cases as least effective. Perceived competence was more closely aligned with core curriculum status than case complexity, i.e. graduates feel more prepared for core cosmetic procedures despite being more technically difficult than non-core procedures. Conclusions Despite the variability in cosmetic exposure during training, most plastic surgery graduates are satisfied with their aesthetic training. Incorporation of teaching modalities, such as virtual training, can increase case exposure and allow trainees more autonomy. The recommended core curriculum is adequately training plastic surgery graduates for common procedures and more specialized procedures should be consigned to aesthetic fellowship training.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.112-130
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• 1992

Patient care services are provided to individual patients in response to their health needs produced by illnesses or injuries. The services are often addressed to very serious conditions, and also they constitute the most expensive component of health care services. Therefore, the importance of quality is emphasized, but there are many indications that patient care quality is far from a satisfactory state in most of the countries. Based upon this observation, it is attempted to examine obstacles and approaches to quality improvement in patient care services. In doing so, following Taguchi's(1986) definition of product quality, quality of patient care services is conceived of as better when the less is the sociental loss attributalbe to variability of intended function and harmful side effects they emhibit after being delivered. Some distinguishing features of medical care sector pose difficulties in implementing effective quality improvement programs in patient care services. Nevertheless, newly proposed method of quality management, based on industrial quality management approach, seems to have a great deal of potential to effectively cope with such difficulties. This method, unlike the traditional approach to quality assurance, focuses on total organisational processes, not individuals, as the obproach to quality assurance, focuses on total organizational processes, not individuals, as the objects of quality improvement; variation, not comparison with standards, in quality measurement; and continuous improvement, not removing only bad quality care, as an ideal. Prerequisite to a successful use of any quality mangement method is motivating providers to improve quality. Conceivable approaches for such motivation are self-regulation, external controls and promotion of competition. Since these approaches are not mutually exclusive, they may be employed in an appropriate combination. In Korea, medical care providers are now functioning under the circumstances where they have little reason for making efforts to improve quality of their services. Once these circumstantial conditions are changed to exert pressures on providers to improve quality, the use of adequate quality management method becomes an issue. In this connection, much attention shoould be directed to the newly proposed method described above. In all these efforts for improving quality of patient care services, health insurance would be able to play a pivotal role. Poviders of medical care, buth indiciduals and organizations, are usually very responsive to the measures that affect their financing, and thus health insurance can be a strong instrument for motivationg providers to improve quality. Also, the insurance continuously acquires data on patient care, which could be processed to produce information required to effective quality control.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.824-835
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• 2019

In recent decades, oncolytic viruses (OVs) have extensively been investigated as a potential cancer drug. Oncolytic viruses have primarily the unique advantage in the fact that they can only infect and destroy cancer cells. Secondary, oncolytic viruses induce the activation of specific adaptive immunity which targets tumor-associated antigens that were hidden during the initial cancer progression. In 2015, one genetically modified oncolytic virus, talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), was approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of melanoma. Currently, various oncolytic viruses are being investigated in clinical trials as monotherapy or in combination with preexistent cancer therapies like immunotherapy, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The efficacy of oncolytic virotherapy relies on the balance between the induced anti-tumor immunity and the anti-viral response. Despite the revolutionary outcome, the development of oncolytic viruses for the treatment of cancer faces a number of obstacles such as delivery method, neutralizing antibodies and induction of antiviral immunity due to the complexity, variability and reactivity of tumors. Intratumoral administration has been successful reducing considerably solid tumors with no notable side effects unfortunately some tumors are not accessible (brain) and require a systemic administration of the oncolytic viruses. In order to overcome these hurdles, various strategies to enhance the efficacy of oncolytic viruses have been developed which include the insertion of transgenes or combination with immune-modulatory substances.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.67 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 2022

Roots play important roles in water and nutrient uptake and in response to various environmental stresses. Investigating diversification of cultivars through root phenotyping is important for crop improvement in adzuki beans. Therefore, we analyzed the morphological and architectural root traits of 22 adzuki bean cultivars using 2-dimensional (2D) root imaging. Plants were grown in plastic tubes [6 cm (diameter) × 40 cm (height)] in a greenhouse from July 25^th to August 28^th. When the plants reached the 2^nd or 3^rd trifoliate leaf stage, the roots were removed and washed with tap water to remove soil particles. Clean root samples were scanned, and the scanned images were analyzed using the WinRHIZO Pro software. The cultivars were analyzed based on six root phenotypes [total root length (TRL), surface area (SA), average diameter (AD), and number of tips (NT) were included as root morphological traits (RMT); and link average length (LAL) and link average diameter (LAD) were included as root architectural traits (RAT)]. According to the analysis of variance (ANOVA), a significant difference was observed between the cultivars for all root morphological traits. Distribution analysis demonstrated that all root traits except LAL followed a normally distributed curve. In the correlation test, the most important morphological trait, TRL, showed a strong positive correlation with SA (r = 0.97^***) and NT (r = 0.94^***). In comparison, between RMT and RAT, TRL showed a significantly negative correlation with LAL (r = -0.50^***); however, TRL did not show a correlation with LAD. Based on RMT and RAT, we identified the cultivars that ranked 5% from the top and bottom. In particular, the cultivar "IT 236657" showed the highest TRL, SA, and NT, while the cultivar "IT 236169" showed the lowest values for TRL, SA, and NT. In addition, the coefficient of variance for the six tested root traits ranged from (14.26-40%) which suggested statistical variability in root phenotypes among the 22 adzuki bean varieties. Thus, this study will help to select target root traits for the adzuki bean breeding program in the future, generating climate-resilient adzuki beans, especially for drought stress, and may be useful for developing biotic and abiotic stress-tolerant cultivars based on better root trait attributes.

• Atmosphere
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.625-635
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• 2021

South Korea established the 2050 Carbon Neutral Plan in response to the climate crisis, and to achieve this policy, it is very important to monitor domestic carbon emissions and atmospheric carbon concentration. Both CO₂ and CO are emitted from fossil fuel combustion processes, but the relative ratios depend on the combustion efficiency and the strength of local emission regulations. In this study, the relationship between CO₂ and CO was analyzed using ground observation data for the period of 2018~2020 at Anmyeon-do site and the CO/CO₂ ratio according to regional origin during high CO₂ cases was investigated based on the footprint simulated from Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (STILT) model. CO₂ and CO showed a positive correlation with correlation coefficient of 0.66 (p < 0.01), and averaged footprints during high CO₂ cases confirmed that air particles mainly originated from eastern and north-eastern China, and inland of Korean Peninsula. In addition, it was revealed that among the cases of high CO₂ concentration, when the CO/CO₂ ratio is high, the industrial area of eastern China is greatly affected, and when the ratio is low, the contribution of the domestic region is relatively high. The ratio of CO₂ and CO in this study is significant in that it can be used as a useful factor in determining the possibility of domestic and foreign origins of climate pollutants.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.43-65
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• 2023

The healthcare industry is a digital healthcare that combines technology based on the 4th Industrial Revolution, dealing with information on individual health and medical care, and is a fusion of health care services and medical science and technology. It is questionable whether digital healthcare according to the paradigm change can be discussed by the concept of medical practice under the existing Medical Act. There is no clear definition of the concept of medical practice in the Medical Service Act, but the concept is established through precedents. In addition, under the Medical Service Act, the subject of medical practice is limited to medical personnel. However, digital healthcare sometimes diagnoses and treats diseases using digital technology by medical personnel. On the other hand, what is possible by non-medical personnel is digital healthcare. This is because digital healthcare is understood as a concept that includes health care such as exercise, eating habits, and weight control. For this reason, if the concept of medical practice under the "Medical Act" on digital healthcare is included, it is subject to criminal punishment for "unlicensed medical practice" prescribed in Article 27 of the "Medical Act". In the health and medical industry, digital transformation and convergence with information and communication technology are rapidly progressing. As a result, there is a need to newly define it as 'digitalized medical practice' or 'information and communication technology (ICT)-based medical practice' separately from existing medical practices. The concept of medical practice has variability, not a fixed and invariable concept. However, in response to this demand, it is not an infinite expansion of the concept of medical practice, but a request to reset its scope. Therefore, the concept of medical practice should be legislated by reflecting the demand of consumers for the medical service system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.90-90
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• 2022

Nicaragua is located in Central America, climatic conditions are considered tropical dry forest. Statistics reflex that in Nicaragua exits 24,000 rice farmers. National rice production only covers 73% of the national consumption. It exists two sowing system: irrigation and rainfed. Varieties used in both systems are mid-late maturity (120-135 days), there are 14 released varieties for irrigation, eight for rainfed, and eight landraces used in rainfed. The current breeding system (introduction of lines from Colombia) has increased the national production, however, has some limitation due to the lack of enough variability, reducing the proability of finding good genotypes and therefore the possibility of satisfying 100% of the demand. The purpose of this study was to analyze the problems that must be resolved in the short and long term to improve rice productivity in Nicaragua. In this paper we explain some proposal for an improvement plan. The selection of varieties with high adaptability to various cultivation environmental conditions it is necessary, also to thoroughly manage seed purity to supply certified seeds. In rice cultivation technology, it needs to improve seedling standing and weeding effect by improving soil leveling and water-saving cultivation technology. Also, proper fertilization and planting density must be established in irrigated and rain-fed areas. Furthermore, capacity must be strengthened by collecting and training with the most recent agricultural technology information, as well as by revitalizing the union rather than the individual farmer. It is necessary to develop varieties highly adaptable to the Nicaraguan cultivation environment, as well as to expand irrigation facilities and cultivation technology suitable for weather conditions in rain-fed areas. Last, it is necessary to maintain the consistency of agricultural policy for continuous and stable rice production in response to climate change events such as drought or intermittent heavy rain.