• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.132-140
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• 2024

Background: This study aimed to identify exact anatomical landmarks and ideal injection volumes for safe adductor canal blocks (ACB). Methods: Fifty thighs from 25 embalmed adult Korean cadavers were used. The measurement baseline was the line connecting the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) to the midpoint of the patellar base. All target points were measured perpendicular to the baseline. The relevant cadaveric structures were observed using ultrasound (US) and confirmed in living individuals. US-guided dye injection was performed to determine the ideal volume. Results: The apex of the femoral triangle was 25.3 ± 2.2 cm distal to the ASIS on the baseline and 5.3 ± 1.0 cm perpendicular to that point. The midpoint of the superior border of the vasto-adductor membrane (VAM) was 27.4 ± 2.0 cm distal to the ASIS on the baseline and 5.0 ± 1.1 cm perpendicular to that point. The VAM had a trapezoidal shape and was connected as an aponeurosis between the medial edge of the vastus medialis muscle and lateral edge of the adductor magnus muscle. The nerve to the vastus medialis penetrated the muscle proximal to the superior border of the VAM in 70% of specimens. The VAM appeared on US as a hyperechoic area connecting the vastus medialis and adductor magnus muscles between the sartorius muscle and femoral artery. Conclusions: Confirming the crucial landmark, the VAM, is beneficial when performing ACB. It is advisable to insert the needle obliquely below the superior VAM border, and a 5 mL injection is considered sufficient.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2024

Purpose : This study aimed to determine the mortality rate among elderly patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for acute drug intoxication resulting from suicide attempts. It also compared the characteristics of survivors and decedents to identify factors associated with mortality. Methods : This retrospective descriptive study included 150 patients aged 65 years or older who were admitted to the ICU of a tertiary university hospital in Gwangju due to acute drug intoxication, with the period spanning January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, Chi-squared tests, Fisher's exact test, and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results : The mortality rate among elderly individuals admitted to the ICU for acute drug intoxication was 19.3%. The likelihood of death was significantly higher in patients with an acute physiology and chronic health examination (APACHE) III score of 70 or above (OR=23.75, 95% CI=3.78-149.46, p<.001) and those with metabolic acidosis on initial acid-base results (OR=3.73, 95% CI=1.12-12.43, p=.032). Conclusion : These findings underscore the need for developing and implementing systematic education and targeted nursing interventions for ICU nurses caring for acutely drug-intoxicated elderly adults, particularly considering the APACHE III score and the presence of metabolic acidosis.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.144-148
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• 2022

Backgrounds/Aims: Splenectomy in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is performed to relieve abdominal symptoms, treat hypersplenism or confirm diagnosis. Excision of a very large spleen is technically challenging and data on outcomes of surgery in patients with NHL are scanty. The aim of study was to evaluate the impact of spleen size on the surgical outcome of splenectomy in patients with NHL. Methods: Patients with NHL who underwent splenectomy, between 2006 and 2017, were included and divided into two groups: group 1, spleen ≤ 20 cm; group 2, spleen > 20 cm. Surgical approach, operative time, postoperative morbidity, mortality, hospital stay and re-admission rates were retrospectively compared between groups. Non-parametric data were evaluated with the Mann-Whitney U test. Differences in frequencies were analyzed with Fisher's exact test. Results: Sixteen patients were included (group 1, 6; group 2, 10). Laparoscopy was successful in three patients of group 1, none of group 2 (p = 0.035), the intraoperative time did not differ significantly between groups. One patient in each group developed postoperative complications. The patient in group 1 died of pneumonia. Median length of stay was 8 days (range, 3-16 days) for group 1, 5.5 days (range, 3-10 days) for group 2, showing no significant difference between the two groups. No patient was readmitted to hospital. Conclusions: Spleen size does not affect the outcome of splenectomy in patients with NHL. If a mini-invasive approach is to be chosen, laparoscopy may not be feasible when the spleen size is > 20 cm.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.28-34
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• 2024

Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly formidable disease. Globally, multiple vaccines have been developed to prevent and manage this disease. However, the periodic mutations of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants cast doubt on the effectiveness of commonly used vaccines in mitigating severe disease in the Indian population. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the BBV152 vaccine and ChAdOx1-S vaccine in preventing severe forms of the disease. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study, based on hospital records, was conducted on 204 vaccinated COVID-19 patients using a consecutive sampling approach. Data on their vaccination status, comorbidities, and high-resolution computed tomography lung reports' computed tomography severity scores were extracted from their medical records. Fisher's exact test and binomial logistic regression analysis were employed to assess the independent associations of various factors with the dependent variables. Results: Of the 204 records, 57.9% represented males, with a mean age of 61.5±9.8 years. Both vaccines demonstrated effective protection against severe illness (90.2%), with BBV152 offering slightly better protection compared to ChAdOx1-S. Male gender, partial vaccination, comorbid conditions, and the type of vaccine were identified as independent predictors of severe lung involvement. Conclusion: This study indicates that both vaccines were highly effective (90%) in preventing severe forms of the disease in fully vaccinated individuals. When comparing the two vaccines, BBV152 was slightly more effective than ChAdOx1-S in preventing severe COVID-19.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2004

Purpose: Many diagnostic modalities have been used for diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Feeding materials during esophageal pH monitoring may interfere the result of examination and esophageal pH monitoring can not diagnose GER in case of alkaline reflux. The purpose of our study is to evaluate whether scintigraphy can substitiute 24 hr pH monitoring in children with GERD. Methods: From March 2002 to June 2003, 23 patients (12 boys and 11 girls, mean age 27 months) who have been admitted to Hanyang University Hospital presented with GER symptoms (recurrent vomiting, cough, chest pain, irritability) were included in the study. Scintigraphy and 24 hr pH monitoring were performed in all patients. Results: Six out of the 23 patients (26.1%) had evidence of GER on 24 hr pH monitoring, whereas nine of 23 patients (39.2%) exhibited GER by scintigraphy. Two out of the 23 patients could not be tested because of irritability. Three (14.3%) patients had evidence of GER on both 24 hr pH monitoring and scintigraphy, three (14.3%) patients on only 24 hr pH monitoring, six (28.6%) patients on only scintigraphy, and nine (42.9%) patients had no evidence of GER on both methods. No correlation was observed between 24 hr pH monitoring and scintigraphic results by Fisher's exact test (p=0.523) or Kendal's tau (t=0.678). Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that there was no correlation between 24 hr pH monitoring and scintigraphy. Therefore these modalities could be used as complementary tests to diagnose GERD.

• Journal of KIISE:Computer Systems and Theory
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.512-522
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• 2003

For a time-multiplexed FPGA, a circuit is partitioned into several subcircuits, so that they temporally share the same physical FPGA device by hardware reconfiguration. In these architectures, all the hardware reconfiguration information called contexts are generated and downloaded into the chip, and then the pre-scheduled context switches occur properly and timely. Typically, the size of the chip required to implement the circuit depends on both the maximum number of the LUT blocks required to implement the function of each subcircuit and the maximum number of micro-registers to store results over context switches in the same time. Therefore, many partitioning or synthesis methods try to minimize these two factors. In this paper, we present a new estimation technique to find the lower bound on the number of micro-registers which can be obtained by any synthesis methods, respectively, without performing any actual synthesis and/or design space exploration. The lower bound estimation is very important in sense that it greatly helps to evaluate the results of the previous work and even the future work. If the estimated lower bound exactly matches the actual number in the actual design result, we can say that the result is guaranteed to be optimal. In contrast, if they do not match, the following two cases are expected: we might estimate a better (more exact) lower bound or we find a new synthesis result better than those of the previous work. Our experimental results show that there are some differences between the numbers of micro-registers and our estimated lower bounds. One reason for these differences seems that our estimation tries to estimate the result with the minimum micro-registers among all the possible candidates, regardless of usage of other resources such as LUTs, while the previous work takes into account both LUTs and micro-registers. In addition, it implies that our method may have some limitation on exact estimation due to the complexity of the problem itself in sense that it is much more complicated than LUT estimation and thus needs more improvement, and/or there may exist some other synthesis results better than those of the previous work.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2000

A large scale field test of prefabricated vertical drains is performed to analyze the effect of parameters of the very soft clay at a test site. Compression index and the coefficient of horizontal consolidation obtained by back-analysis from the settlement data were compared with those obtained by means of laboratory tests. The Hyperbolic, Asaoka's and The Curve fitting methods are used to estimate final settlements and coefficients of consolidation. 1. Final settlement predicted with the Hyperbolic method was the largest, and the settlements predicted with the Asaoka's and the Curve fitting methods were nearly the same range, and it was concluded that smear effect has to be considered on design in the case that spacing of drains is small 2. The relationships of the measured consolidation ratio (Urn) and the designed consolidation ratio($U_t$) were showed as $U_m$ = (1.13~1.17)$U_t$, $U_m$ = (1.07~1.20)$U_t$, $U_m$ = (1.13~1.17)$U_t$ on the Hyperbolic, Asaoka's and the Curve fitting methods, respectively. The relations on the Asaoka's and the Curve fitting methods were nearly the same range. 3. The relationships of the field compression index($C_{cfield}$) and virgin compression index($V_{cclab}$) were showed as $C_{cfield}$ = (1.26~1.45)$V_{cclab}$, $C_{cfield}$ = (1.08~1.15) $V_{cclab}$, $C_{cfield}$ = (1.04~1.21)$V_{cclab}$, on the Hyperbolic, Asaoka's and the Curve fitting methods, respectively. 4. The ratio ($C_h/C_v$) of the coefficient of vertical consolidation and the coefficient of horizontal consolidation that is obtained by back-analysis from the settlement data was $C_h$=(0.7~0.9)$C_v$, $C_h$=(0.9~1.5)$C_v$, $C_h$=(2.4~3.0)$C_v$ on the Hyperbolic, Asaoka's and the Curve fitting methods, respectively. 5. It was concluded that the exact consolidation coefficient must be determined after the final settlement is predicted again when the consolidation is finished, because the field consolidation coefficient is decreased as the time allowed to be alone is increased.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.492-500
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• 2014

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to estimate the applicability of regional sample collection of environmental samples. The concentration of asbestos fibers were analyzed with two devices. One was an existing commercial air sampling pump that has been proved to be accurate and exact, and the other is a remodeled pump for sample collection which was made from an electric bubble generator originally designed for aquarium fish. Samples were collected with the two devices under the same environmental conditions and collection equipment. A comparative analysis of the concentration of ambient asbestos fiber was then performed. Methods: Based on previous research, six farmhouses with asbestos fiber slate roofs known to have high concentrations of asbestos fiber were selected. Using the existing commercial air sampling pump and the remodeled electric bubble generator, four to seven samples were collected each day one meter downwind from the edge of the slate roof at high volume (about 4 L/min) and low volume (about 1.4 L/min). The analyzer responsible for sample quality control of asbestos fibers counted the number of asbestos fibers with a phase microscope. Results: The rates of flow change of the existed sampler and the remodeled pump at high volume were 0.82% and 0.17%, respectively. The rates of flow change at low volume were 3.83% and 1.09%, but there was not significant difference. The rates of flow change are within the error range (${\pm}5%$) of OSHA analyzing methods. For the high volume sampler, the average asbestos fiber concentration in the air collected by the existed sampler is 6.270 fibers/L and for the remodeled one 5.527 fibers/L, not a significant difference. For the low volume sampler, the average asbestos fiber concentration in the air collected by the existed sampler is 7.755 fibers/L and for the remodeled one 7.706 fibers/L, not a significant difference. The total area of the slate roof of the targeted farmhouse has an effect on the concentration of asbestos fibers in the air from the existing pump and the remodeled one (p<0.01). Conclusions: The sampling function between the existing commercial pump and the remodeled one shows little difference. Therefore, the remodeled pump is considered a pump with a good availability for collecting ambient air asbestos samples.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.73-78
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• 2007

Efficient pollination needs abundant fertile pollen in rose breeding. This study was performed to find out efficient staining methods for the detection of fertile pollen. Aceto-carmine and Alexander's stain gave similar results in terms of percentage of normal pollen. Fluorochromatic reaction (FCR) showed the lowest normal pollen percentage because FCR stained only fertile pollen while others stained cytoplasm. Toluidine blue O (TB) showed similar percentage of normal pollen to Aceto-carmine and Alexander's, but could not clearly distinguish the clustered abnormal pollens. Alexander's stain was easy and simple, but difficult to distinguish fertile and infertile pollen. FCR showed only fertile pollen. Alexander's stain showed approximate fertility and FCR showed exact pollen fertility.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.443-451
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was done to compare the rates of hemolysis and repeated sampling in blood samples obtained by a syringe needle versus a vacuum tube needle. Methods: A randomized, prospective study was used to evaluate the differences between the two blood sampling methods. The study group consisted of patients seen in the emergency department (ED) for blood sampling to determine electrolyte level. ED patients were randomly assigned to either the syringe group or the vacuum tube group. All blood samples were collected by experienced ED nurses and hemolysis was determined by experienced laboratory technologists. Data were analyzed using Fisher's exact test and binary logistic regression. Results: One hundred forty-five valid samples were collected (74 in the syringe group versus 71 in the vacuum tube group). 5 of 74 (6.8%) blood samples in the syringe group and 8 of 71 (11.3%) in the vacuum tube group hemolyzed. Repeated blood sampling occurred for 2 of 74 (2.7%) and 3 of 71 (4.2%) in each group respectively. There were no significant differences in rates of hemolysis and repeated sampling between two groups (B=1.97, p=.204; B=2.36, p=.345). Conclusion: Venipuncture with syringe needles can be recommended for ED nurses to obtain blood samples.