• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.182-189
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• 2022

To evaluate the effectiveness of electroacupuncture treatment for primary dysmenorrhea (PD), a literature review of a randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed where electroacupuncture was used as a treatment intervention in patients diagnosed with PD. Relevant clinical studies (N = 226) were retrieved from multiple databases according to the study inclusion/exclusion criteria, and interventions and outcomes were analyzed. As a result of the review, there were 6 RCTs which met the criteria. In all 4 studies that measured pain indicators (visual analog scales), electroacupuncture showed significantly positive changes. In addition, positive changes were observed in most indicators (MMDQ, PGF2a, PGE2, 6-keto PGF1, TXB2, clinical efficacy score, uterine arterial blood flow parameters, and blood viscosity). 2 studies showed that electroacupuncture had a stronger therapeutic effect than NSAIDs. No major side effects were reported. Electroacupuncture may be an effective and safe treatment for PD however, further RCTs are required.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.142-142
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• 2023

Humans inevitably and continuously produce wastewater in daily life worldwide. To decrease the degradation of river water bodies and aquatic ecosystem therein, humans have built systems at different scales to collect, drain, and treat household-produced wastewater. Particularly, municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with centralized controls have played a key role in reducing loads of nutrients in domestic wastewater for the last few decades. Notwithstanding such contributions, impaired rivers regarding water quality and habitat integrity still exist at the whole river basin scale. It is highly attributable to the absence of dilution capacity of receiving streams and/or the accumulation of the pollutant loads along flow paths. To improve the perspective for individual WWTPs assessment, the first crucial step is to achieve systematic understanding on spatial distribution characteristics of all WWTPs together in a given river basin. By taking the initiative, our former study showed spatial hierarchical distributions of WWTPs in three large urbanized river basins in Germany. In this study, we uncover how municipal WWTPs in the contiguous United States are distributed along river networks in a give river basin. The extended spatial scope allows to deal with wide ranges in geomorphological attributes, hydro-climatic conditions, and socio-economic status. Furthermore, we identify the relation of the findings with multiple factors related to human activities, such as the spatial distribution of human settlements, the degree of economy development, and the fraction of communities served by WWTPs. Generalizable patterns found in this study are expected to contribute to establishing viable management plans for recent water-environmental challenges caused by WWTP-discharges to river water bodies.

• Medical Lasers
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2019

Background and Objectives High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) can produce small zones of thermal damage. A HIFU procedure is non-invasive and it can achieve rejuvenation of facial skin. Fractional CO₂ laser resurfacing delivers thermal damage to the pixilated columnar zone of the skin and so evoke collagen remodeling, the same as HIFU. In many cases, the patients who want rejuvenation with HIFU are also good candidates for cutaneous photorejuvenation such as can be accomplished via fractional CO₂ resurfacing. If patients are treated in a single session by remodeling both the superficial and deep compartments of skin by using both modalities, then improvement in rhytides and tightening of sagging skin will optimize the aesthetic result. Materials and Methods Between May 2014 and January 2018, a total of 44 patients were treated with combination HIFU and fractional CO₂ laser resurfacing according to our protocol. First, the HIFU was applied to the entire face with an average of 300 treatment lines. Immediately after HIFU treatment, the ultrasound gel was washed off and then fractional CO₂ laser resurfacing was performed. We evaluated the patients using 4-point grading scales. The clinician examined the skin for evidence of complications after the completion of treatment. Results All the patients' skin quality showed improvement. Further. the clinical results after duel modality treatment were substantially better than that after the use of either modality alone. The recovery times and the incidence of adverse events when quickly and consecutively performing both treatments were similar as compared to those with employing stepwise treatment. We encountered no complications whatsoever. Conclusion When compared with stepwise therapy, combination therapy with HIFU and fractional CO₂ resurfacing offers better, safer and more effective clinical results. Thus, for targeting multiple layers of aging facial skin, this combination therapy can be safely performed in a single treatment session.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_3
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• pp.909-919
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• 2023

Benthic marine invertebrates, the invertebrates living on the bottom of the ocean, are an essential component of the marine ecosystem, but excessive reproduction of invertebrate grazers or pirate creatures can cause damage to the coastal fishery ecosystem. In this study, we compared and evaluated You Only Look Once Version 7 (YOLOv7), the most widely used deep learning model for real-time object detection, and detection tansformer (DETR), a transformer-based model, using underwater images for benthic marine invertebratesin the coasts of South Korea. YOLOv7 showed a mean average precision at 0.5 (mAP@0.5) of 0.899, and DETR showed an mAP@0.5 of 0.862, which implies that YOLOv7 is more appropriate for object detection of various sizes. This is because YOLOv7 generates the bounding boxes at multiple scales that can help detect small objects. Both models had a processing speed of more than 30 frames persecond (FPS),so it is expected that real-time object detection from the images provided by divers and underwater drones will be possible. The proposed method can be used to prevent and restore damage to coastal fisheries ecosystems, such as rescuing invertebrate grazers and creating sea forests to prevent ocean desertification.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.265-280
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• 2024

The collapse behavior observed in single-story beam-column assembly (SSBCA) do not accurately represent the actual overall stress characteristic of multi-story frame structure (MSFS) under column loss scenario owing to ignoring the interaction action among different stories, leading to a disconnection between the anti-collapse behaviors of "components" and "overall structures", that is, the anti-collapse performance of frame structures with two different structural scales has not yet formed a combined force. This paper conducts a numerical and theoretical study to explore the difference of the collapse behaviors of the SSBCA and MSFS, and further to reveal the internal force relationships and boundary constraints at beam ends of models SSBCA and MSFS. Based on the previous experimental tests, the corresponding refined numerical simulation models were established and verified, and comparative analysis on the resistant-collapse performance was carried out, based on the validated modeling methods with considering the actual boundary constraints, and the results illustrates that the collapse behaviors of the SSBCA and MSFS is not a simple multiple relationship. Through numerical simulation and theoretical analysis, the development laws of internal force in each story beam under different boundary constraints was clarified, and the coupling relationship between the bending moment at the most unfavorable section and axial force in the composite beam of different stories of multi story frames with weld cover-plated flange connections was obtained. In addition, considering the effect of the yield performance of adjacent columns on the anti-collapse bearing capacities of the SSBCA and MSFS during the large deformation stages, the calculation formula for the equivalent axial stiffness at the beam ends of each story were provided.

• Atmosphere
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.153-176
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• 2024

At 0843 UTC 30 May 2021, a commercial aircraft encountered severe turbulence at z = 11.5 km associated with the rapid development of Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) in the Gyeonggi Bay of Korea. To investigate the generation mechanisms of Near-Cloud Turbulence (NCT) near the MCS, Weather Research and Forecasting model was used to reproduce key features at multiple-scales with four nested domains (the finest ∆x = 0.2 km) and 112 hybrid vertical layers. Simulated subgrid-scale turbulent kinetic energy (SGS TKE) was located in three different regions of the MCS. First, the simulated NCT with non-zero SGS TKE at z = 11.5 km at 0835 UTC was collocated with the reported NCT. Cloud-induced flow deformation and entrainment process on the downstream of the overshooting top triggered convective instability and subsequent SGS TKE. Second, at z = 16.5 km at 0820 UTC, the localized SGS TKE was found 4 km above the overshooting cloud top. It was attributed to breaking down of vertically propagating convectively-induced gravity wave at background critical level. Lastly, SGS TKE was simulated at z = 11.5 km at 0930 UTC during the dissipating stage of MCS. Upper-level anticyclonic outflow of MCS intensified the environmental westerlies, developing strong vertical wind shear on the northeastern quadrant of the dissipating MCS. Three different generation mechanisms suggest the avoidance guidance for the possible NCT events near the entire period of the MCS in the heavy air traffic area around Incheon International Airport in Korea.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 2024

Objectives: The objective of this study is to develop a specialized clinical research protocol for acupuncture treatment specifically designed for disaster survivors based on insights from an expert survey. Methods: An expert panel comprising specialists in neuropsychiatry, acupuncture, and clinical research methodology was assembled. Initial data to inform the clinical research protocol design was collected utilizing open-ended responses, multiple-choice questions, and a 5-point Likert scale to gauge agreement levels. Next, this data was disseminated to a panel of experts. A cohesive clinical research protocol was then formulated during a core panel meeting by integrating insights from a panel of 10 experts. Results: The protocol developed herein entails a non-randomized controlled study involving participants aged 19~64 years old who have been identified as high-risk or cautious according to the National Trauma Center screening test. The study design includes the establishment of an active control group, which allows for the assessment of an additional effect through comparison with conventional therapy. The selected acupuncture approach involves a combination of manual acupuncture and ear acupuncture. For clinical outcome assessment, the Clinician-Administered Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Scale for DSM-5 was proposed to gauge trauma symptoms. Representative scales for various domains such as depression, anxiety, anger, insomnia, pain, and quality of life were also provided for reference. Conclusions: The developed protocol is anticipated to streamline the swift design and initiation of clinical trials during disaster scenarios. It is also designed to be scalable, thereby enabling its application in both non-randomized control group studies and single-group before-and-after comparisons.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.391-406
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• 2024

The present research investigates the combination resonance behaviors of porous FG shallow shells reinforced with oblique stiffeners and subjected to a two-term excitation. The oblique stiffeners considered in this research reinforce the shell internally and externally. To model the stiffeners, Lekhnitskii's smeared stiffeners technique is utilized. According to the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and stress functions, a nonlinear model of the oblique stiffened shallow shell is established. With regard to the FSDT and von-Kármán nonlinear geometric assumptions, the stress-strain relationships for the present shell system are developed. Also, in order to discretize the nonlinear governing equations, the Galerkin method is implemented. To obtain the required relations for investigating the combination resonance theoretically, the method of multiple scales is applied. For verifying the results of the present research, generated results are compared with previous research. Additionally, a comparison with the P-T method is conducted to increase the validity of the generated results, as this method has illustrated advantages over other numerical methods in terms of accuracy and reliability. In this method, the piecewise constant argument is used jointly with the Taylor series expansion, which is why it is named the P-T method. The effects of stiffeners with different angles, and the effects of material parameters on the combination resonance behaviors of the present system are addressed. With the findings of this research, researchers and engineers in this field may use them as benchmarks for their design and research of porous FG shallow shells.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.37-56
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• 2001

This study was conducted to analyze the degree of changes in knowledge and attitude toward smoking and to examine the factors affecting knowledge and attitude for smoking after providing a smoking prevention program based on social influence model for a year to middle school students. Study population consists of 665 subjects of middle school students(aged 14 years) in Gumi city in Kyeongsangbukdo Province. Among them three-hundred sixty-seven students(intervention group) were educated to a smoking prevention program for 1 year from April 1999 to April 2000. School-based four-class program to prevent smoking was developed. The program provides instruction about short and long-term negative physiologic and social consequences of smoking and also discussed the health hazards of smoking, social pressure to smoke, peer norms regarding tobacco use, and refusal skill. A 45-item self-administered structured questionnaire was designed to evaluate the change of knowledge, attitude, smoking rate and the amount of smoking. The instrument was comprised of 11 knowledge items, thirteen attitude item and demographic items. Each scales were created by summing responses to each items within each scales and high scores on the knowledge, attitude, and smoking behavioral intention scales indicated positive responses. Based on the changes before and after the implementation of smoking prevention program between intervention and control group, the change of scores on knowledge were significantly different between the control group and the intervention group(p<0.05) and the change of scores on the attitude toward smoking was significantly different between intervention and control group. The change of smoking rate were not showing a significant difference between two groups but the amount of smoking were significantly reduced in intervention group than control group. In multiple regression analysis on changes of knowledge about smoking, the variables of smoking prevention program education, previous knowledge on smoking and students' school performance were selected the significant variables. In multiple regression to analysis of the factors influencing changes in attitude toward smoking, the variables of smoking prevention program education, previous knowledge on smoking were shown to be significant. The smoking prevention program was effective on change of knowledge and attitude of middle school students. In considering that the policy should be needed to extent of implementation of school-based health education curricula based on social influence model and it would contribute to reduce smoking of students.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.88-117
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• 1990

The purposes of this study are to delineate a profile of the state of a stroke patient's adaptation at 3 months after hospitalization and to explore the relationship between the level of adaptation and the variables which influence the adaptation of hemiplegic patients. To these ends, theoretical framework was derived basically from the stress adaptation model. The basic assumption underlying the level of adaptation is influenced by the presenting focal, contextual and residual stimuli. This group of stimuli is further operationalized and represented by a perception of stress. which is the perceived effect of the disability and by the mediating variables such as sociodemographic factors as an external conditioning variables and perceived social support and hardiness personality characteristics as an internal intervening variables. The dependent varibales in this study is the level of physical, psychological and social adaptation and is hypothesized to be a function of the interaction between 3 sets of variables namely, the perceived disability effect, external conditioning variables and internal intevening varibles. A total of fourty three subjects from 3 general hospitals in Seoul were observed and interviewed with the aid of 7 structured instruments. The data were collected twice on each subject : first at the pre-discharge period arid at 3 months post-discharge from hospital for the second time. The study was carried out for the period from February to August, 1988. The instruments used for the study include 4 existing scales and 3 scales developed by the researcher for this study. They are : 1) The ADL dependency scale and the scale of the clinical physical functions for the assessment of physical adaptation. 2) the SDS(self report of depression) to measure the level of psychological adaptation. 3) The scale for the amount of social activities for the measurement of the level of social adaptation. 4) The scale for the perceived effect of disability for the measurement of the focal stimuli. 5) The health related hardiness scale and the perceived interpersonal support self evaluation list(ISEL) for the measurement of the hardiness personality character and the perceived social support. The data obtained were analyzed using percentage, oneway ANOVA, Pearson coefficients correlation and stepwise multiple regression. The findings provide valuable information about the present level of physical adaptation at 3 months after discharge. The patient revealed a decreased ADL dependency and lowered limitation of physical function as compared with pre - discharge state. Psycholcgically, the average degree of depression at follow up was within normal range of depression. Socially, the amount of social activities was very low. The one way ANOVA and the correlational analysis revealed the relationship between the 3 sets of variables and the adaptation level as follows : 1) The perceived disability effect was related to the degree of the depression and the amount of social activities but was not related to the physical adaptation. 2) Among the sociodemographic variables, sex and education were related to the difference of ADL dependency and the change of physical function. These factors indicate that women more than men and educated more than the less educated were found more independent. The education was also related to the degree of depression suggesting that the higher the educational level, the more well adapted the patients were both physically and psychologically. Age, marital status and job state were not found to be related to the patient's adaptation level. 3) Among the internal intervening variables, the health related hardiness characteristic was related to the differences of ADL dependency, physical functions and the social activities, indicating that the higher the hardiness character the higher the level of physical and social adaptation. 4) The perceived social support, another internal intervening variable, was related to the degree of depression and the social activities. This data suggest that the higher the perception of social support, the better adapted the patients were psychogically and socially. In summarizing the results of the correlational analysis, the level of physical adaptation was influenced by sex, the years of education and the hardiness character. The level of psychological adaptation was influenced by the years of education, the perceived disability effect and the perceived social support. And the level of social adaptation was influenced by the perceived disability effect, the hardiness character and the perceived social support. The stepwise multiple regression analysis shows findings as follows : 1) The most important factor to explain the difference of ADL dependency was sex, indicating females were more independent than males. 2) The most important factor to explain the difference of physical function and the degree of depression was the patient's education level. 3) The strongest explaining factor for the amount of social activities was perceived self esteem(one of the subconcepts of perceived social support). Thus the most important factors influencing the level of adaptation were found to be sex, education, the hardiness character and self esteem. From the above findings, the significance of this study can be delineated as follows : 1) Corroboration of the assumed relationship between the various variables and the adaptation level as suggested in the conceptual model. 2) Support for the feasibility of the cognitive approach for nursing intervention such as hardness character training, counselling and teaching for self-care in the chronic patients.