• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.27-36
• /
• 2010

Purpose: Pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) is a rare soft tissue tumor, which usually arises in larger joints, such as the knee. It has a high recurrence rate after surgical treatment. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and analyze the clinical results of diffuse-type pigmented villonodular synovitis cases that were treated with open total synovectomy. Materials and Methods: Between 1994 and 2006, 21 patients who had diffuse-type pigmented villonodular synovitis were selectively reviewed. Among the 21 cases studied, 14 patients presented at the knee, 5 at the ankle, and 2 at the shoulder and elbow. The mean follow up period was 5.5 years (range, 36-157 months). The average age of the patients was 34 years consist of 7 men and 14 women. Clinical outcomes were analyzed retrospectively, including range of motion and complications. Results: Open total synovectomy and adjuvant electrocautrization were done in all cases except one. During the regular follow-up period after the surgery, two patients showed symptoms of recurrence. After re-operation, only one case was pathologically confirmed as a recurrence. The patient who had partial synovectomy and the other patient who had second operation due to recur rence received additional radiation therapy. Clinical outcome scores were improved in every aspect (p<0.0001). 2 out of 14 Patients who had pigmented villonodular synovitis at the knee developed stiff knee after the surgery. Conclusion: After the open total synovectomy with electrocautrization, a low recurrence rate and satisfactory clinical outcome was achieved, observed in a minimum of 3 years of follow-up.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.99-124
• /
• 2009

Many firms in Korea have adopted and used advanced information technology in an effort to boost efficiency. The process of adapting to the new technology, at the same time, can vary from one firm to another. As such, this research focuses on several relevant factors, especially the roles of social interaction as a key variable that influences the technology adaptation process and the outcomes. Thus far, how a firm goes through the adaptation process to the new technology has not been yet fully explored. Previous studies on changes undergone by a firm or an organization due to information technology have been pursued from various theoretical points of views, evolved from technological and institutional views to an integrated social technology views. The technology adaptation process has been understood to be something that evolves over time and has been regarded as cycles between misalignments and alignments, gradually approaching the stable aligned state. The adaptation process of the new technology was defined as "appropriation" process according to Poole and DeSanctis (1994). They suggested that this process is not automatically determined by the technology design itself. Rather, people actively select how technology structures should be used; accordingly, adoption practices vary. But concepts of the appropriation process in these studies are not accurate while suggested propositions are not clear enough to apply in practice. Furthermore, these studies do not substantially suggest which factors are changed during the appropriation process and what should be done to bring about effective outcomes. Therefore, research objectives of this study lie in finding causes for the difference in ways in which advanced information technology has been used and adopted among organizations. The study also aims to explore how a firm's interaction with social as well as technological factors affects differently in resulting organizational changes. Detail objectives of this study are as follows. First, this paper primarily focuses on the appropriation process of advanced information technology in the long run, and we look into reasons for the diverse types of the usage. Second, this study is to categorize each phases in the appropriation process and make clear what changes occur and how they are evolved during each phase. Third, this study is to suggest the guidelines to determine which strategies are needed in an individual, group and organizational level. For this, a substantially grounded theory that can be applied to organizational practice has been developed from a longitudinal comparative case study. For these objectives, the technology appropriation process was explored based on Structuration Theory by Giddens (1984), Orlikoski and Robey (1991) and Adaptive Structuration Theory by Poole and DeSanctis (1994), which are examples of social technology views on organizational change by technology. Data have been obtained from interviews, observations of medical treatment task, and questionnaires administered to group members who use the technology. Data coding was executed in three steps following the grounded theory approach. First of all, concepts and categories were developed from interviews and observation data in open coding. Next, in axial coding, we related categories to subcategorize along the lines of their properties and dimensions through the paradigm model. Finally, the grounded theory about the appropriation process was developed through the conditional/consequential matrix in selective coding. In this study eight hypotheses about the adaptation process have been clearly articulated. Also, we found that the appropriation process involves through three phases, namely, "direct appropriation," "cooperate with related structures," and "interpret and make judgments." The higher phases of appropriation move, the more users represent various types of instrumental use and attitude. Moreover, the previous structures like "knowledge and experience," "belief that other members know and accept the use of technology," "horizontal communication," and "embodiment of opinion collection process" are evolved to higher degrees in their dimensions of property. Furthermore, users continuously create new spirits and structures, while removing some of the previous ones at the same time. Thus, from longitudinal view, faithful and unfaithful appropriation methods appear recursively, but gradually faithful appropriation takes over the other. In other words, the concept of spirits and structures has been changed in the adaptation process over time for the purpose of alignment between the task and other structures. These findings call for a revised or extended model of structural adaptation in IS (Information Systems) literature now that the vague adaptation process in previous studies has been clarified through the in-depth qualitative study, identifying each phrase with accuracy. In addition, based on these results some guidelines can be set up to help determine which strategies are needed in an individual, group, and organizational level for the purpose of effective technology appropriation. In practice, managers can focus on the changes of spirits and elevation of the structural dimension to achieve effective technology use.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.59-66
• /
• 2011

Purpose: We wanted to evaluate the clinical and radiological outcomes and the prognosis of various surgical treatments for the distal clavicle fracture with an acromioclavicular joint injury. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of 21 patients with a minimum of 12 months follow up was done. We classified acromioclavicular (AC) injury into type I (only intra-articular fracture (IAF), 5 cases), type II (IAF with widening of the AC joint > 7 mm, 9 cases) and type III (IAF with AC joint superior subluxation > 50%, 7 cases). The distal clavicle fractures were fixed using plate (9 cases), mini screws (1 case), K wire and tension band wiring (10 cases) and transarticular pinning (1 case). Acromioclavicular or coracoacromial ligament reconstruction was not done in all the cases. Results: In 20 of 21 cases, bone union was achieved at an average of 8.4 weeks. Traumatic arthritis (5 cases), AC joint widening (4 cases) and AC joint subluxation (2 cases) were noted at the last follow up. The average UCLA score was 32.6 in the type I AC joint injuries, 34 in type II and 34.1 in type III. There was no relationship between the clinical outcomes and the preoperative AC joint injury pattern, postoperative traumatic arthritis, AC joint widening or AC joint subluxation (p>0.05). Conclusion: Satisfactory results were achieved by acute reduction and firm fixation of the distal clavicle fracture with AC joint injury. There was no relationship between the pattern of AC joint injury, the residual radiologic findings and the functional outcome.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.147-155
• /
• 2008

Medical nutrition therapy (MNT) is considered a keystone of medical treatment of chronic diseases. However, only few studies have evaluated medical and economical outcome of MNT. The study was performed on the patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus to evaluate the effect of clinical and cost-effective outcomes of MNT. Subjects from two general hospitals were randomly assigned to two different groups; One receiving basic nutritional education (BE) (n = 35), and the other receiving intensive nutritional education (IE) (n = 32) for a 6-month clinical trial. The group which received BE had a single visit with a dietitian, while the other group which received IE had an initial visit with a dietitian addition to two visits during the first 4 weeks of the study periods. Anthropometric parameters, blood components, and dietary intake were measures at the beginning of study period and after 6 month. Cost-effective analysis included direct labor costs, educational materials and medication cost difference during 6 months. After 6 month, subjects from IE group showed significant reduction of body weight (p <0.05) and systolic blood pressure (p <0.05), whereas BE group did not show any significant changes. Result from biochemical indices showed glycated hemoglobin concentration was significantly reduced by 0.7% (p <0.05) only in the IE group. The ratio of energy intake to prescribed energy intake decreased significantly in both groups (p <0.05). Mean time taken for a dietitian to educate the subject was 67.9 ${\pm}$ 9.3 min/person for BE group, while 96.4 ${\pm}$ 12.2 min/person for IE group. Mean number of educational materials was 1.9 ${\pm}$ 0.7/person for BE group and 2.5 ${\pm}$ 0.7/person for IE group. Change in glycated hemoglobin level along the 6 month period of study can be achieved with an investment of \88,510/% by implementing BE and \53,691/% by implementing IE. Considering the net cost-effect of blood glucose control and HbA Ic, IE which provides MNT by dietitian had a cost efficiency advantage than that of BE. According to this study, MNT provided by dietitian had a significant improvements in medical and clinical outcomes compared to that of BE intervention. Therefore, MNT protocol should be performed by systemic intensive nutrition care by dietitian in clinical setting to achieve good therapeutic results of DM with lower cost.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.40 no.1 s.270
• /
• pp.32-36
• /
• 2007

Background: Although acute renal failure (ARF) after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is relatively rare, but devastating complication with high mortality. Our study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of early application of CRRT in patients with ARF which developed after on-pump CABG. Material and Method: Two hundred and eighty seven patients underwent isolated on-pump CABG between May 2002 and Feb. 2006 at our institution, of whom 15 (5.2%) needed CRRT (11 patients for postoperatively developed ARF and the remaining 4 patients with preexisting dialysis-dependent chronic renal failure (CRF) for postoperative hemodynamic and metabolic control). Criteria for early application of CRRT were as follows; decreased urine output less than 0.5cc/h/kg for 2 consecutive hours and elevated serum creatinine level greater than 2.0 mg/dL. Result: The incidence of ARF requiring CRRT after on-pump CABG was 3.9% (11/283) and the overall hospital mortality of patient with CRRT was 33.3% (5/15). Of 5 deaths, 4 were patients with postoperatively developed ARF, and 1 was a patient with pre-existing dialysis-dependent CRF patient. The mean time between the operation and the initiation of CRRT was $25.8{\pm}5.8$ hours and the mean duration of CRRT was $62.1{\pm}41.2$ hours. Of the 7 survivors who were not on dialysis-dependent preoperatively, 6 patients fully recovered renal function during hospital stay and 1 patient required permanent renal supportive treatment after discharge from hospital. Conclusion: Early application of CRRT could maintain stable postoperative hemodynamic status and make outcomes better than those of previous reports in patients with ARF which developed after on-pump CABG.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.40 no.2 s.271
• /
• pp.83-89
• /
• 2007

Background: The surgical repair of an isolated coarctation of the aorta, without complex cardiac anomalies, has improved, with very good results. However, despite the success of surgical repair, many long-term complications, such as hypertension, re-coarctation and an aortic aneurysm, still exist. Material and Method: Between 1991 and 2006, 50 patients diagnosed with an isolated coarctation of the aorta were reviewed retrospectively. The incidence of re-coarctation and hypertension were compared with respect to age and surgical methods. Result: There were no early & late mortality, or post operative aortic aneurysms. Hypertension developed in 11 patients (22%). A greater number of patients in the child/adult group had hypertension (52.4%) than in the neonate/infant group (0%). With respect to the surgical methods, the patients in the graft interposition group suffered more hypertension (88.9%) than those in the EEEA (extended end to end anastomosis) group (5.3%). Post operative re-coarctation developed in 2 out of the 29 patients (6.9%) in the neonate/infant group and 2 out of the 21 patients (9.5%) in the child/adult group, but without any statistical difference. There were no statistical differences between the operative type-related groups. Conclusion: Even though the surgical outcomes have greatly improved, an isolated coarctation of the aorta still has many long-term problems, such as hypertension and re-coarctation. An isolated coarctation is accepted as a systemic vascular dysfunction, and often progresses to other cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, patients with a coarctation of the aorta have to be carefully followed-up, and aggressive management must be given when required.

• Neonatal Medicine
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.67-74
• /
• 2008

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to assess the natural history and perinatal outcomes of twin gestations according to chorionicity. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 99 monochorionic (MC) and 206 dichorionic (DC) twin gestations delivered at Il Sin Christian Hospital in Busan between January 2002 and December 2007. The incidences of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTS) and selective intrauterine growth restriction (sIUGR), as well as perinatal morbidity and mortality, were evaluated. Results : MC twins had a lower gestational age (35.7 vs. 36.6 weeks, P=0.03) at birth and a higher incidence of intrauterine fetal loss (10% vs. 1.5%, P<0.001) than DC twins. The incidence of intrauterine fetal loss was higher in MC sIUGR than in DC sIUGR (19% vs. 2.5%, P=0.025) twins. The number of admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU; 31% vs. 16%, P=0.042), and the incidence of periventricular leukomalacia (7% vs. 0%, P=0.031), and respiratory distress syndrome with surfactant treatment (27% vs. 11%, P=0.049) were higher in MC than DC twins. The incidences of sIUGR and TTS were 21 and 9% among the MC twins. The incidences of intrauterine fetal loss were higher in MC twins with TTS [6 of 9 (67%)] or sIUGR [4 of 21 (19%)] than uncomplicated MC twins (P<0.001). The frequency of admission to the NICU (P=0.001), the length of hospital stay (P=0.033), the prevalence of periventricular leukomalacia (P=0.011), and intraventricular hemorrhage (P=0.007) were also higher in MC with TTS or sIUGR than in uncomplicated MC twins. Conclusion : The incidence of neonatal complications was higher in MC twins, especially those gestations complicated by TTS or sIUGR.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.374-390
• /
• 2021

Growth and yield of field vegetable crops would be affected by climate conditions, which cause a relatively large fluctuation in crop production and consumer price over years. The yield prediction system for these crops would support decision-making on policies to manage supply and demands. The objectives of this study were to compile literatures related to onion and garlic and to perform data-mining analysis, which would shed lights on the development of crop models for these major field vegetable crops in Korea. The literatures on crop growth and yield were collected from the databases operated by Research Information Sharing Service, National Science & Technology Information Service and SCOPUS. The keywords were chosen to retrieve research outcomes related to crop growth and yield of onion and garlic. These literatures were analyzed using text mining approaches including word cloud and semantic networks. It was found that the number of publications was considerably less for the field vegetable crops compared with rice. Still, specific patterns between previous research outcomes were identified using the text mining methods. For example, climate change and remote sensing were major topics of interest for growth and yield of onion and garlic. The impact of temperature and irrigation on crop growth was also assessed in the previous studies. It was also found that yield of onion and garlic would be affected by both environment and crop management conditions including sowing time, variety, seed treatment method, irrigation interval, fertilization amount and fertilizer composition. For meteorological conditions, temperature, precipitation, solar radiation and humidity were found to be the major factors in the literatures. These indicate that crop models need to take into account both environmental and crop management practices for reliable prediction of crop yield.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.38-45
• /
• 2020

Purpose: To examine the clinical and structural outcomes of an at least two-year follow-up of arthroscopic full-thickness rotator cuff repairs with a single-row or suture-bridge technique in patients more than 65 years of age. Materials and Methods: Patients diagnosed with a full-thickness rotator cuff tear who were more than 65 years of age, underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair after at least six months of conservative treatment, agreed to take a follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) six months postoperatively, and visited outpatient for at least two years were enrolled in this study. Clinical evaluations were done using The University of California Los Angeles score, Constant Shoulder Score, and visual analogue scale evaluated two years after the surgery. The structural integrity was analyzed using follow-up MRI. During surgery, a suture-bridge technique was used if the rotator cuff tendon could cover half of the footprint under constant tension. Otherwise, single-row repair was performed. Results: The samples were 158 cases, consisting of 93 single-repairs and 65 suture-bridge repairs. A preoperative comparison of the age distribution, fatty degeneration of supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscle, medial retraction of torn cuff tendon, and tear size between the two groups were not significant. The clinical scores were improved significantly in all cases. The distribution of the structural integrity by Sugaya classification were 49 cases in type 1 (31.0%), 62 cases in type 2 (39.2%), 30 cases in type 3 (19.0%), 11 cases in type 4 (7.0%), and six cases in type 5 (3.8%). The re-tear rate of the single-row group was 9.7% (nine out of 93 cases) and 12.3% (eight out of 65 cases) for the suture-bridge group. Conclusion: Satisfactory clinical and radiological outcomes were achieved after arthroscopic full-thickness rotator cuff repair in patients more than 65 years of age. Both single-row and suture-bridge techniques would be beneficial for the elderly.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.43 no.6
• /
• pp.1105-1121
• /
• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness and safety of frequently used clinical herbal medicines (Yijung-tang [Lizhong-tang, LJT], Pyeongwi-san [Pingwei-san, PWS], and Shihosogan-tang [Chaihu Shugan-tang, SST]) in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) when administered according to herbal medicine and Korean medicine pattern identification. The results of this study will be used to standardize the diagnostic instrument used in Korean medicine and to investigate biomarkers of Korean medicine pattern identification. Methods: This study will be a randomized, assessor-blind, 3-arm, parallel, open-label, multi-center clinical trial. A total of 300 FD participants will be recruited from 3 Korean medical hospitals and assigned to the LJT (n=100), PWS (n=100), and SST (n=100) groups according to FD pattern identification. The patients will take the medication for 8 weeks, 3 times a day, before or between meals. The primary outcome will be total dyspepsia symptom (TDS) and the secondary outcomes will be adequate relief (AR) for dyspepsia, overall treatment effect (OTE), visual analogue scale (VAS), functional dyspepsia-related quality of life (FD-QoL), gastrointestinal symptom score (GIS), and pattern identification questionnaires. For the exploratory outcomes, we will analyze blood and fecal metabolome profiles, microbiota from fecal and saliva samples, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), and results of Korean medicine diagnosis device measurements (heart rate variability, and tongue, pulse, and abdominal diagnosis). Conclusions: The results of this study will prove objectivity for Korean medicine pattern identifications, and the effectiveness and safety of herbal medicines for the population with FD.