• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.241-257
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• 2000

Rheumatoid arthritis as one of the chronic illness requiring management in long period of time puts great burden to patients, their family and society. For patients with chronic illnesses, providing a social support is important and the most important source comes from spouses. Therefore we assessed burden of husbands of female rheumatoid arthritic patients and also found out the factors affecting burden. The sample of study was 107 female rheumatoid arthritic patients and their spouses. The tool of assessing spouses' burden was the revised version of subjective and objective parameters developed by Montgomery et al.(1985). The results are as follows: 1. General characteristics of patients and spouses: The mean age of the patients was 48 years. Educational level of patients was high school 41.1%. The mean age of the spouses was 51years. Educational level of spouses was mostly high school(40.2%) and college(29.9%) graduate. The mean marital period was 23.4years. Average income per month was 1,609,000 won. The average duration since diagnosis was 9.4years. As a therapy, 67.3% chose standard drug therapy. Average rating of discomfort by patient was 3.05(range 1-5) and that of severity was 3.48 and that of dependency was 2.58. The husband's rating of their spouses disease severity was 3.68. 2. Husbands' burden: The average burden in subjective items was 21.61(range 6-36) and objective items was 35.24(range 10-60). The average of total burden was 56.59(range 16-96). 3. Husband's total burden correlated with patient's age, educational level of patients, therapy method, patient's level of discomfort, patient's severity, patient's level of dependence, husband's recognition of level of severity in statistical level. Husband's objective burden correlated with patient's age, educational level of patient, patient's level of discomfort, husband's recognition of level of severity. Husband's subjective burden correlated with patient's age, educational level of patients, therapy method, patient's severity, patient's level of dependence, husband's recognition of level of severity. 4. Linear correlation analysis on burden: The husbands' total burden is explained in 37 7% by husband's recognition of level of severity and husband's age. The husbands' objective burden is explained in 31.2% by patient's level of dependence, husband's age, husband's recognition of level of severity. The husbands' subjective burden is explained in 26.7% by husband's recognition of level of severity and patient's age. In conclusion, husbands' level of burden is affected by many factors and therefore nursing strategy for relieving burden of middle aged husbands should be individualized taking these factors into consideration.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.101-110
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate the speech intelligibility of voice disordered patients when we consider the severity and utterance level as variables. Based on the severity level, 12 patients were divided into three groups, G1, G2, and G3 group, respectively. Words, phrases and sentences produced by the speakers were judged by four listeners with normal hearing, and we compared the intelligibility scores of the three groups. As a result, the speech intelligibility was decreased as the severity level was increased, and the difference was statistically significant. However, the mean difference among words, phrases and sentences was not significant, and the variation of intelligibility according to the utterance level was not under the regular rules.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.398-403
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Atopic dermatitis (AD), a chronic inflammatory skin disease, is accompanied by disruption of the epidermal lipid barrier, of which ceramide (Cer) is the major component. Recently it was reported that vitamin C is essential for de novo synthesis of Cer in the epidermis and that the level of vitamin C in plasma is decreased in AD. The objective of this study was to determine the associations among clinical severity, vitamin C in either plasma or epidermis, and Cer in the epidermis of patients with AD. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 17 patients (11 male and 6 female) aged 20-42 years were enrolled. The clinical severity of AD was assessed according to the SCORAD (SCORing Atopic Dermatitis) system. Levels of vitamin C were determined in plasma and biopsies of lesional epidermis. Levels of epidermal lipids, including Cer, were determined from tape-stripped lesional epidermis. RESULTS: The clinical severity of patients ranged between 0.1 and 45 (mild to severe AD) based on the SCORAD system. As the SCORAD score increased, the level of vitamin C in the plasma, but not in the epidermis, decreased, and levels of total Cer and Cer2, the major Cer species in the epidermis, also decreased. There was also a positive association between level of vitamin C in the plasma and level of total Cer in the epidermis. However, levels of epidermal total lipids including triglyceride, cholesterol, and free fatty acid (FFA) were not associated with either SCORAD score or level of vitamin C in the plasma of all subjects. CONCLUSIONS: As the clinical severity of AD increased, level of vitamin C in the plasma and level of epidermal Cer decreased, and there was a positive association between these two parameters, implying associations among plasma vitamin C, epidermal Cer, and the clinical severity of AD.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.115-131
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• 2009

This paper attempts to show that consumers' own information processing mode can play an important role in inducing favorable product evaluations, which is the most key goal of marketing. Th elaboration likelihood model contends that consumers' motivation and knowledge, in addition to the outside marketing information, affects the evaluation process. On the other hand, The resource matching hypothesis suggests that an excessively high level of information processing may lead to negative evaluations. In this study, Need for closure exacerbated overall evaluations of consumers. Such relationship was more salient in the condition of low severity that in the condition of high severity. Also under the situation of low severity, consumers with high level of relevant knowledge made evaluations more favorable, compared to the consumers of low knowledge. On contrast under the situation of high severity, relevant knowledge leaded to less favorable evaluations. This experiment identifies the appropriateness of the elaboration likelihood model and the resource matching hypothesis. Especially This study suggests an rare example that consumers' knowledge may not paly an desirable role in making their judgments.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.185-196
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• 2017

Backgrounds: Inpatient Classification System for Korean Medicine (KDRG-KM) was developed and has been applied for monitoring the costs of KM hospitals. Yet severity of patients' condition is not applied in the KDRG-KM. Objectives: This study aimed to develop the severity classification methods for KDRG-KM and assessed the explanation powers of severity adjusted KDRG-KM. Methods: Clinical experts panel was organized based on the recommendations from 12 clinical societies of Korean Medicine. Two expert panel workshops were held to develop the severity classification options, and the Delphi survey was performed to measure CCL(Complexity and Comorbidity Level) scores. Explanation powers were calculated using the inpatient EDI claim data issued by hospitals and clinics in 2012. Results: Two options for severity classification were deduced based on the severity classification principle in the domestic and foreign DRG systems. The option one is to classify severity groups using CCL and PCCL(Patient Clinical Complexity Level) scores, and the option two is to form a severity group with patients who belonged principal diagnosis-secondary diagnosis combinations which prolonged length of stay. All two options enhanced explanation powers less than 1%. For third option, patients who received certain treatments for severe conditions were grouped into severity group. The treatment expense of the severity group was significantly higher than that of other patients groups. Conclusions: Applying the severity classifications using principal diagnosis and secondary diagnoses can advance the KDRG-KM for genuine KM hospitalization. More practically, including patients with procedures for severe conditions in a severity group needs to be considered.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.313-318
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• 2006

This paper introduces a partial discharge (PD) severity metric, S, based on the evaluation of time-sequence PD data capture and resulting Time-Sequence-Analysis Discharge (TSAD) level distributions. Basically based on an IEC60270 measurement technique, each PD event is time stamped and the discharge level noted. By evaluating the time differences between a previous and subsequent discharge, a 3D plot of time-sequence activity and discharge levels can be produced. From these parameters a measurement of severity, which takes into account dynamic or instantaneous variations in both the time of occurrence and the level of discharge, rather than using standard repetition rate techniques, can be formulated. The idea is to provide a measure of the severity of PD activity for potentially measuring the state of insulation within an item of plant. This severity measure is evaluated for a simple point-plane geometry in $SF_{6}$ as a function of gap distance and applied high voltage. The results show that as the partial discharge activity increases, the severity measure also increases. The importance of future investigations, quantifications and evaluations of the robustness, sensitivity and importance of such a severity measurement, as well as comparing it with typical repetition rate assessment techniques, and other monitoring techniques, are also very briefly discussed.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2013

This study examined the effects of phonetic complexity and articulatory severity on Percentage of Correct Consonant (PCC) and speech intelligibility in adults with dysarthria. Speech samples of thirty-two words from APAC (Assessment of Phonology and Articulation of Children) were collected from 38 dysarthric speakers with one of two different levels of articulatory severities (mild or mild-moderate). A PCC and speech intelligibility score was calculated by the 4 levels of phonetic complexity. Two-way mixed ANOVA analysis revealed: (1) the group with mild severity showed significantly higher PCC and speech intelligibility scores than the mild-moderate articulatory severity group, (2) PCC at the phonetic complexity level 4 was significantly lower than those at the other levels and (3) an interaction effect of articulatory severity and phonetic complexity was observed only on the PCC. Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated the degree of correlation between PCC and speech intelligibility varied depending on the level of articulatory severity and phonetic complexity. The clinical implications of the findings were discussed.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.146-154
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• 2005

Purpose: This study was designed to identify the relationship between quality of life, perceived health status, perceived susceptibility severity to recurrence of cancer and character of object in cancer patients to provide the basic data of effective nursing interventions. Method: The subject of this study was randomly chosen from the patients diagnosed of cancer and being hospitalised or receiving chemotherapy as outpatients, at a Division of Hemato-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine of a university hospital located in Seoul. The tool used in this study was a measurement tool for quality of life (${\alpha}=.829$), perceived health status (${\alpha}=.903$), and perceived susceptibility and severity for cancer recurrence (${\alpha}=.860$). The collected data were analysed using SPSS PC 12.0 Programme for real number, percentage, average, standard deviation, Pearson's Correlation, t-test and ANOVA, according to the purpose of this study. Result: 1) The score of quality of life in cancer patients was 3.64 point, perceived health status was 2.62 and perceived susceptibility severity to recurrence of cancer was 2.41. 2) There was a significant difference in the quality of life according to general characteristics, such as level of education, occupation, level of activity, pain, medication period, diagnosis, disease stage, purpose of medication, and recurrence. There was a significant difference in perceived health status according to age, level of activity, pain, diagnosis, purpose of medication, and recurrence. There was a significant difference in perceived susceptibility severity to recurrence of cancer according to age, level of education, and pain. 3) The cancer patients' quality of life showed significant correlation with perceived health status, perceived susceptibility severity to recurrence of cancer, pain, job, treatment purpose, relapse. The perceived health status showed significant correlation with perceived susceptibility severity to recurrence of cancer, pain, treatment purpose, relapse. The perceived susceptibility severity to recurrence of cancer showed significant correlation with pain. The relapse showed significant correlation with treatment purpose. The cancer patients' quality of life, perceived health status, and perceived susceptibility and severity for cancer recurrence, as confirmed above, showed differences according to the related factors of each subject, and it was also confirmed that those factors were significantly related with general characteristics. Upon these results, I suggest further studies on the factors that affect the cancer patients' quality of life.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.72-76
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• 2004

Purpose: Dealing patients with organophosphate poisoning, cholinesterase level has been used as a diagnostic and prognostic value. But there are some controversies that the cholinesterase level is significantly related to the severity or prognosis of acute organophosphate poisoning. We evaluated the correlation between initial serum level of cholinesterase and APACHE II score as an index for severity, and we assessed cholinesterase levels for predicting value of weaning from mechanical ventilation. Method: From August 1996 to March 2003, 23 patients with organophosphate poisoning who needed ventilatory care were enrolled. Retrospective review was done for the serum level of cholinesterase, APACHE II score, and the duration of ventilatory care. The percentage of measured serum cholinesterase to median normal value was used to standardize cholinesterase levels from different laboratories. Result: There were tendencies that the lower initial serum of cholinesterase, the higher the APACHE II score (r=0.297) and the longer the duration of mechanical ventilation (r=-0.204), but they were not significant (p=0.264 and p=0.351 respectively). In 9 patients whose serum cholinesterase level were checked at the time of weaning, mean of measured cholinesterase level was $10.3\pm7.60\%$ of normal value. Conclusion: There was no significant relationship between initial level of serum cholinesterase and severity or duration of mechanical ventilation. General health status of patient, amount of ingestion, toxicity of agent should be considered as important factors for severity of poisoning. And the decision of weaning should be based not solely on the cholinesterase level but on the consideration of general and respiratory state of individual patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.164-173
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• 2015

There exists required safety integrity level (SIL) to assure safety in accordance with international standards for every electrical / electronics / control equipment or systems with safety related functions. The SIL is allocated from lowest level (level 0) to highest level (level 4). In order to guarantee certain safety level that is internationally acceptable, application of methodology for SIL allocation and demonstration based on related international standards is required. However, application standard differs from every industry in domestic or international for application on mythology for allocation and demonstration of SIL. Application or assessment is not easy since absence on clear criteria or common definition. This research studied not only fundamental concept of SIL required to guarantee safety in accordance with international standards for safety related equipment and system, but different types of methodologies for SIL allocation. Specifically, SIL allocation for Platform Screen Door system of railway is studied applying methodology of severity of accidents and risk graph among different methodologies for SIL allocation.