• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5455-5459
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• 2013

Background: The risk of malignancy index (RMI) for the evaluation of adnexal masses is a sensitive tool in certain populations. The best cut off value for RMI 1, 2 and 3 is 200. The cut off value of RMI-4 to differentiate benign from malignant lesions is 450. Our aim was to evaluate the efficiency of four different malignancy indexes (RMI1-4) in a homogeneous population. Materials and Methods: We evaluated a total of 153 non-pregnant women with adnexal masses who did not have a history of malignancy and who were above 18 years of age. Results: A cut-off value of 250 for RMI-1 provided 95.9% inter-observer agreement, yielding 95.9% specificity, 93.5% negative predictive value, 75.0% sensitivity and 82.8% positive predictive value. A cut-off value of 250 for RMI-1 showed high performance in preoperative diagnosis of invasive malignant lesions than cut-off value of 200 in our population. A cut-off value of 350 for RMI-2 provided 94.5% inter-observed agreement, yielding 94.2% specificity, 93.4% negative predictive value, 75.0% sensitivity and 77.4% positive predictive value. RMI-2 showed the higher performance when the cut-off value was set at 350 in our population. A cut-off value of 250 provided 95.2% inter-observer agreement, yielding 95.0% specificity, 93.2% negative predictive value, 75.0% sensitivity, and 88.0% positive predictive value. RMI-3 showed the highest performance to diagnose malignant adnexal masses when the cut-off value was set at 250. In our study, RMI-4 showed similar statistical performance when the cut-off value was set at 400 [(Kappa: 0.684/p=0.000), yielding 93.8% inter-observer agreement, 93.4% specificity, 93.4% negative predictive value, 75.0% sensitivity, and 75.0% negative predictive value]. Conclusions: We showed successful utilization of RMIs in preoperative differentiation of benign from malignant masses. Many studies conducted in Asian and Pacific countries have reported different cut-off values as was the case in our study. We think that it is difficult to determine universally accepted cut-off values for RMIs for common use around the globe.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.798-806
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• 2024

Objective: Dual-layer CT (DLCT) can create virtual monochromatic images (VMIs) at various monochromatic X-ray energies, particularly at low keV levels, with high contrast-to-noise ratio. The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical feasibility of contrast-enhanced chest DLCT with a low keV VMI for preoperative breast cancer staging, in comparison to breast MRI. Materials and Methods: A total of 152 patients with 155 index breast cancers were enrolled in the study. VMIs were generated from contrast-enhanced chest DLCT at 40 keV and maximum intensity projection (MIP) with three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction was performed for both bilateral breast areas. Two radiologists reviewed in consensus the 3D MIP images of the chest DLCT with VMI and breast MRI in separate sessions with a 3-month wash-out period. The detection rate and mean tumor size of the index cancer were compared between the chest DLCT with VMI and breast MRI. Additionally, the agreement of tumor size measurement between the two imaging modalities were evaluated. Results: Of all index cancers, 84.5% (131/155) were detected in the chest DLCT with VMI, while 88.4% (137/155) were detected in the breast MRI (P = 0.210). The Bland-Altman agreement between the chest DLCT with VMI and breast MRI was a mean difference of -0.05 cm with 95% limits of agreement of -1.29 to 1.19 cm. The tumor size in the chest DLCT with VMI (2.3 ± 1.7 cm) was not significantly different from that in the breast MRI (2.4 ± 1.6 cm) (P = 0.106). Conclusion: The feasibility of chest DLCT with VMI was demonstrated for preoperative tumor staging in breast cancer patients, showing comparable cancer detectability and good agreement in tumor size measurement compared to breast MRI. This suggests that chest DLCT with VMI can serve as a potential alternative for patients who have contraindications to breast MRI.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.19-19
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• 2011

The appraisals of hydrology model behavior for flow and water quality are generally performed through comparison of simulated data with observed ones. To perform appraisal of hydrology model, some criteria are often used, such as coefficient of determination ($R^2$), Nash and Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient (NSE), index of agreement (d), modified forms of NSE and d, and relative efficiency criteria NSE and d. These criteria are used not only for hydrology model estimations also for various comparisons of two data sets; This NSE has been often used for SWAT calibration. However, it has been known that the NSE value has some limitations in evaluating hydrology at watersheds under monsoon climate because this statistic is largely affected by higher values in the data set. To overcome these limitations, the SWAT auto-calibration module was enhanced with K-means clustering and direct runoff/baseflow modules. However the NSE is still being used in this module to evaluate model performance. Therefore, the SWAT Auto-calibration module was modified to incorporate alternative efficiency criteria into the SWAT K-means/direct runoff-baseflow auto-calibration module. It is expected that this enhanced SWAT auto-calibration module will provide better calibration capability of SWAT model for all flow regime.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 2004

Objectives : Cotinine, the major metabolite of nicotine, is a useful marker of exposure to tobacco smoke and self-reporting of smoking status is thought not to be reliable. This study aimed to evaluate the agreement between the smoking self-report among adolescents and the urinary cotinine test. Methods : The study subjects were 1226 middle and high school students in Hanam city, who were selected by stratified random sampling. The self-report about smoking behavior was compared with urine cotinine value measured with PBM $AccuSign^{\circledR}fi$ Nicotine(Princeton BioMeditech Corporation, USA). The percentage agreement, kappa and 95% confidence interval(CI) were calculated. Results : The overall percentage agreement was 88.6%, and those for boys, girls, middle school, general school and vocational school students were 87.3%, 90.1%, 93.7%, 85,5%, 90.7%, and 78.4%, respectively. The overall kappa index was 0.46(95% CI=0.39-0.54)for overall, .and those for boys, girls, middle school, general school and vocational school students were 0.56(95% CI=0.48-0.65), 0.20(95% CI=0.07-0.32), 0.21(95% CI=0.09-0.34), 0.55(95% CI=0.47-0.64), 0.42(95% CI=0.33-0.52), and 0.48(95% CI=0.36-0.60), respectively. Conclusion : The percentage agreement was relatively high but the kappa values very low for girls, and middle school students. Though the prevalence bias can be influenced by these results, the self-report was not a sufficient tool for the evaluation of adolescents' smoking status, especially in girls or middle school students.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.89-97
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• 2018

Purpose - The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) among 16 countries including South Korea, the largest free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region, will be concluded next year. The participating countries decided to pursue a comprehensive and high -quality agreement, while ensuring flexibility considering development level of each country. In this study, trade structures between nations from 2005 through 2016 were examined to see the impact that this agreement will have on Korea and to come up with effective countermeasures. Research design, data, and methodology - The method of analysis includes the analysis of the trade matrix, which is useful for identifying the dependency of the individual countries on the market in the region and the reciprocal dependency of the member countries on the market, and the index of intensity of trade, which is useful for figuring out the share of trade between the parties in total trade. Results - The results showed that first, the international trade coefficients of Vietnam and Philippines are higher than those of China and Japan. Secondly, the international inducement coefficients between China and Japan were high, and that between Indonesia and Burma were low, indicating that Korea's exports did not have much effect on export increase of these countries. Third, as a result of analyzing Korea's trade intensity, it was found that export intensity and import intensity were greater than 1 in Vietnam and Philippines, which shows that there is a high degree of relational bond with these countries. India and Laos countries still have a low level of relational bond, which indicates that there is room for improvement in economic relations when the agreement is concluded. After the signing of the agreement in the future, more diverse industrial structures should be continuously studied. Conclusions - The analysis of trade matrix, trade structure, trade inducement coefficient and trade intensity between Korea and RCEP participating countries shows that the majority of the countries have the high level of economic relationship with Korea. Korea should drive a harder bargain when negotiating the terms of the RCEP, in comparison with the level of the existing FTA agreement excluding Japan.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.269-279
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• 1998

In nursing research that the data is collected through clinical observation, analysis of clinical recording or coding of interpersonal interaction in clinical areas, testing and reporting interrater reliability is very important to assure reliable results. Procedures for interrater reliability in these studies should follow two steps. The first step is to determine unitizing reliability, which is defined as consistency in the identification of same data elements in the record by two or more raters reviewing the same record. Unitizing reliability have been rarely reported in previous studies. Unitizing reliability should be tested before progressing to the next step as precondition. Next step is to determine interpretive reliability. Cohen's kappa is a preferable method of calculating the extent of agreement between observer or judges because it provides beyond-chance agreement. Despite its usefulness, kappa can sometimes present paradoxical conclusions and can be difficult to interpret. These difficulties result from the feature of kappa which is affected in complex ways by the presence of bias between observers and by true prevalence of certain categories. Therefore, percentage agreement should be reported with kappa for adequate interpretation of kappa. The presence of bias should be assessed using the bias index and the effect of prevalence should be assessed using the prevalence index. Researchers have been reported only global reliability reflecting the extent to which coders can consistently use the whole coding system across all categories. Category-by-category reliability also need to be reported to inform the possibility that some categories are harder to use than others.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.73-79
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• 2014

The purposes of the current study were to (1) estimate the inter-rater agreement for visual assessment of scapular downward rotation (SDR), (2) develop the scapular downward rotation index (SDRI) as a method to measure SDR objectively and quantitatively, and (3) analyze the intra- and inter-rater reliability of the SDRI. Twenty subjects with scapular downward rotation syndrome (SDRS) were recruited for this study. The visual assessment and the measurement for the SDRI were conducted by two examiners in two sessions each. The SDRI [$(a-b){\div}a{\times}100$] is calculated with the measurement of two linear distances: One is a perpendicular distance from the root of the scapular spine to the thoracic mid-line (a), and the other is a perpendicular distance from the inferior angle of the scapula to the thoracic mid-line (b). Cohen's kappa coefficient was calculated to estimate the inter-rater agreement for visual assessment. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) with a 95% confidence interval (CI), the standard error of measurement, and minimal detectable differences were calculated to assess intra- and inter-rater reliability of SDR measurement using the SDRI. The results indicated that the kappa coefficient of inter-rater agreement for visual assessment was fair (${\kappa}=.21$). The intra-rater reliability of SDR measurement using the SDRI was excellent for examiner 1 (ICC=.92, 95% CI=.78~.97) and good for examiner 2 (ICC=.82, 95% CI=.55~.93). The inter-rater reliability was moderate (ICC=.73, 95% CI=.32~.89). These findings showed that SDR measurement using the SDRI for subjects with SDRS may be considered reliable and better than the visual assessment.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1046-1050
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• 2004

Six physical properties (enthalpy, density, decomposition temperature, solubility in water, pKa values, and hydronium potential) were examined by molecular modeling techniques. The molecular connectivity index, Wiener distance index, and Ad hoc descriptor are employed as structural parameters to encode information about branching, size, cyclization, unsaturation, heteroatom content, and polarizability. This paper examines the correlation of the molecular modeling techniques parameters and the physicochemical properties of amino acids. As a results, calculated values were in agreement with experimental data in the above six physical properties of amino acids and the molecular connectivity index was superior to the other indices in fitting the calculated data.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.89-94
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• 1999

The paper first proposes an empirical algorithm for detecting dust-loaded airmass observed by Sea Wide Field-of-view Scanner (SeaWiFS). The proposed dust index formula is based on the curvature of the spectral reflectance estimated from the SeaWiFS band 4 (510 nm band) through band 8 (865 nm band) data, assuming "clear ocean water" reflectance. Evaluation of the algorithm is made over several typical Asian dust images including the ones over the Pacific in April, 1998, when a major dust event was reported. The study analyzes the performance and the characteristics of the algorithm by comparing the satellite-derived dust index images with contemporaneous columnar concentration of dust particles predicted by a numerical dust transport model. The comparison reveals several small-scale differences although their dust distribution patterns show good agreement generally.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.1-6
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• 2003

Numerical simulations are conducted at atmospheric pressure in order to understand the effect of the oxygen enrichment level on structure of $CH_4/O_2/N_2$ premixed flames. Under several equivalence ratios the flame speeds are calculated and compared with those obtained from the experiments, the results of which are in good agreement. The effects of the oxygen enrichment are investigated on flames under fuel-rich conditions. As the oxygen enrichment level is increased from 0.21 to 1, the flame speed and the temperature are increased. The emission index of $CO_2$ is decreased in cases of flames for fuel rich mixtures, so the efficiency of combustion may be decreased. The maximum emission index of NO is obtained for 0.6 of the oxygen enrichment level.