• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8101-8105
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• 2016

Background: This study examined the psychometric properties of the Bahasa Malaysia (BM) version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Colorectal Cancer-specific Quality Of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-CR29). Materials and Methods: We studied 93 patients recruited from University Malaya and Universiti Kebangsaan Medical Centers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia using a self-administered method. Tools included QLQ-C30, QLQ-CR29 and Karnofsky Performance Scales (KPS). Statistical analyses included Cronbach's alpha, test-retest correlations, multi-traits scaling and known-groups comparisons. A p vaue ${\leq}0.05$ was considered significant. Results: The internal consistency coefficients for body image, urinary frequency, blood and mucus and stool frequency scales were acceptable (Cronbach's alpha ${\alpha}{\geq}0.65$). However, the coefficients were low for the blood and mucus and stool frequency scales in patients with a stoma bag (${\alpha}=0.46$). Test-retest correlation coefficients were moderate to high (range: r = 0.51 to 1.00) for most of the scales except anxiety, urinary frequency, buttock pain, hair loss, stoma care related problems, and dyspareunia (r ${\leq}0.49$). Convergent and discriminant validities were achieved in all scales. Patients with a stoma reported significantly higher symptoms of blood and mucus in the stool, flatulence, faecal incontinence, sore skin, and embarrassment due to the frequent need to change the stoma bag (p < 0.05) compared to patients without stoma. None of the scales distinguished between patients based on the KPS scores. There were no overlaps between scales in the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CR29 (r < 0.40). Conclusions: the BM version of the QLQ-CR29 indicated acceptable psychometric properties in most of the scales similar to original validation study. This questionnaire could be used to complement the QLQ-C30 in assessing HRQOL among BM speaking population with colorectal cancer.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.116-123
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• 2007

This experiment was conducted to investigate the distribution and burden characteristics of heavy metals in the rainwater sampled at Suwon area, in the middle part of Korea, from April 2002 to October 2003. The relationship between concentration of heavy metal and other chemical properties in the rainwater was also evaluated. Chemical properties in the rainwater were various differences with raining periods and years. It appeared that a weighted average pH of rainwater was ranged from 4.7 to 5.5. Heavy metal concentrations in the rainwater were ranked as Zn>Pb>Cu>Ni>Cr>As>Cd. As compared with heavy metal concentrations of rainwater in 2002, Cd, Cu and As were higher than other element in 2003. There were positive correlation between major ionic components, such as Ca, Mg, and K, and heavy metal concentrations of rainwater, and As, CU, Cu, Zn and Ni were relatively higher relationship than Pb and Cr in respective to correlation coefficient. For heavy metal distribution of rainwater, the order of average enrichment factors was Cd>Pb>AS>Cu>Zn>Ni>Cr, and these were relatively higher than the natural component such as Fe, Mg and Ca. The monthly enrichment factors were relatively high in the spring (from April to May) at Suwon. The monthly amount of heavy metal precipitation was high in the rainy season from June to August because of great influence of rainfall.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.675-687
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• 2019

Objective: Methyl bromide (MB) fumigant has been shown to be fatal to human when was exposed. However, it were still used the significant amount in quarantine disinfection sites. The purposes of this study were to assess the MB exposure status and characteristics by fumigation-related workers and to provide supporting data for management plan. Methods: For this study, the three groups related to fumigation work were composed. A total of 107 workers were directly exposed, 20 field inspectors were indirect, and 20 general quarantines were not exposed. The urinary bromide ion concentrations in each group were analyzed by using HPLC/ICP-MS, and the working characteristics were identified using the structured questionnaire. Results: The urinary bromide ion concentration in the exposed group of fumigation workers was higher than the indirect and non-exposed groups. In the work characteristics of workers, there was a significant tendency to increase urinary bromide ion concentrations with higher fumigation work years (≤4 years: 2.84 (1.13-7.11) mg/g cr, >4-15 years: 5.36 (4.37-6.57) mg/g cr, >15-37 years: 6.69 (5.27-8.49) mg/g cr, p=0.034). In the comparison of the average number of working days per month, the more working days, the higher the urinary bromide ion concentration was statistically significant (≤12.5 days: 2.59 (1.19-5.65) mg/g cr, >12.5-19.25 days: 5.46 (4.62-6.44) mg/g cr, >19.25-27.25 days: 7.93 (5.93-10.59) mg/g cr, p=0.002). Conclusion: This study was the first nationwide survey including biological monitoring in workers exposed to methyl bromide. The results of this study were expected to be used as a reference for workers' health rights in relation to fumigation, prevention of addiction accidents, and safe management plan.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.29-37
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• 2000

Fenton’s oxidation process is one of the most commonly applied processes to the wastewater which cannot be treated by conventional biological treatment processes. However, it is necessary to minimize the cost of Fenton’s oxidation treatment by modifying the treatment processes or other means of chemical treatment. So, as a method for the chemical oxidation of biorefractory or nonbiodegradable organic pollutants, the Photo-Fenton-Reaction which utilizes iron(11)salt. $H_2O$$_2$ and UV-light simultaneously has been proprosed. Therfore, the purpose of this study is to test a removal efficiency of dye-wastewater and treatment cost with Fenton’s and Photo-Fenton’s oxidation process. The Fe(11)/$H_2O$$_2$ reagent is referred to as the fenton’s reagent. which produces hydroxy radicals by the interaction of Fe(11) with $H_2O$$_2$. In this exoeriment, the main results are as followed; 1. The Fenton oxidation was most efficient in the pH range of 3-5. The optimal condition for initial reaction pH was 3.5 for the high CO $D_{Cr}$ & TOC-removal efficiency. 2. The removal efficiency of TOC and CO $D_{Cr}$ increased up to the molar ration between ferrate and hydrogen peroxide 0.2:1, but above that ratio removal efficiency hardly increased. 3. The highest removal efficiency of TOC and CO $D_{Cr}$ were showed when the mole ration of ferrate to hydrogen peroxide was 0.2:3.4. 4. Without pretreatment process, photo-fenton oxidation which was not absorbed UV light was not different to fenton oxidation. 5. And Fenton oxidtion with pretreatment process was similar to Fenton oxidation in the absence of coagulation, the proper dosage of F $e^{2+}$: $H_2O$$_2$ was 0.2:1 for the optimal removal efficiency of TOC or CO $D_{Cr}$ .6. Also, TOC & CO $D_{Cr}$ removal efficiency in the photo-fenton oxidation with pretreatment was increased when UV light intensity enhanced.7. Optimum light intensity in the range from 0 to 1200 W/$m^2$ showed that UV-intensity with 1200W/$m^2$ was the optimum condition, when F $e_{2+}$:$H_2O$$_2$ ratio for the highest decomposition was 0.2:2.5.EX>$_2$ ratio for the highest decomposition was 0.2:2.5.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.464-471
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• 2016

To investigate the effects of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on cardiopulmonary exercise capacity in both elderly and younger patients with myocardial infarction (MI). Of the MI patients who received hospital-based CR between February 2012 and December 2015, we retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who continued a follow-up through the outpatient clinic. A total of 46 patients (18 elderly patients (${\geq}60years$) and 28 younger patient (< 60)) were included in this study. The subjects visited the clinic to perform aerobic exercises with ECG monitoring based on their initial exercise tolerance test outcome. The exercise capacity was measured by symptom-limited exercise tests before and after hospital-based CR. Before CR, the elderly group had a significantly lower exercise capacity in peak VO2, METs, anaerobic threshold, exercise time, respiratory exchange ratio (RER) than the younger group. After CR, elderly groups showed a significantly improved exercise capacity in exercise time, HRmax, HRrest, peak VO2, METs, anaerobic threshold, and RER. Both elderly and younger groups showed similar improvement of cardiopulmonary exercise capacity after hospital-based CR. There is a very low cardiac rehabilitation participation and referral rates with MI patients in Korea. It is considered necessary to further expand the participation of cardiac rehabilitation in elderly MI patients.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.259-270
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• 2023

Objective: It is unknown whether artificial intelligence-based computer-aided detection (AI-CAD) can enhance the accuracy of chest radiograph (CR) interpretation in real-world clinical practice. We aimed to compare the accuracy of CR interpretation assisted by AI-CAD to that of conventional interpretation in patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) with acute respiratory symptoms using a pragmatic randomized controlled trial. Materials and Methods: Patients who underwent CRs for acute respiratory symptoms at the ED of a tertiary referral institution were randomly assigned to intervention group (with assistance from an AI-CAD for CR interpretation) or control group (without AI assistance). Using a commercial AI-CAD system (Lunit INSIGHT CXR, version 2.0.2.0; Lunit Inc.). Other clinical practices were consistent with standard procedures. Sensitivity and false-positive rates of CR interpretation by duty trainee radiologists for identifying acute thoracic diseases were the primary and secondary outcomes, respectively. The reference standards for acute thoracic disease were established based on a review of the patient's medical record at least 30 days after the ED visit. Results: We randomly assigned 3576 participants to either the intervention group (1761 participants; mean age ± standard deviation, 65 ± 17 years; 978 males; acute thoracic disease in 472 participants) or the control group (1815 participants; 64 ± 17 years; 988 males; acute thoracic disease in 491 participants). The sensitivity (67.2% [317/472] in the intervention group vs. 66.0% [324/491] in the control group; odds ratio, 1.02 [95% confidence interval, 0.70-1.49]; P = 0.917) and false-positive rate (19.3% [249/1289] vs. 18.5% [245/1324]; odds ratio, 1.00 [95% confidence interval, 0.79-1.26]; P = 0.985) of CR interpretation by duty radiologists were not associated with the use of AI-CAD. Conclusion: AI-CAD did not improve the sensitivity and false-positive rate of CR interpretation for diagnosing acute thoracic disease in patients with acute respiratory symptoms who presented to the ED.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.233-239
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• 1999

Recently, a second generation composite resin system(ceromer) was introduced with significantly improved mechanical properties. The purpose of this study was to compare a ceromer with the other restorative materials and to assess its clinical usefulness. In this study, we used four restorative materials : amalgam (BESTALOY$^{(R)}$), indirect composite resin (Clearfil CR Inlay$^{(R)}$), ceromer (Targis$^{(R)}$) and ceramic (Vintage$^{(R)}$). And then we devided into four groups. The materials of each group were as follows : Amalgam group : BESTALOY$^{(R)}$ (Dong Myung Dental Industrial Co.) Composite Resin group : Clearfil CR Inlay$^{(R)}$ (Kuraray) Ceromer group : Targis$^{(R)}$ Dentin (Ivoclar-Vivadent) Ceramic group : Vintage$^{(R)}$ (Shofu Inc.) According to the above classification, we made samples through the polymerization of BESTALOY$^{(R)}$, Clearfil CR Inlay$^{(R)}$ and Targis$^{(R)}$ with separable cylindrical metal mold and firing of Vintage$^{(R)}$ in a investment mold. And then, we measured and compared the value of compressive strength, diametral tensile strength and Vicker's microhardness of each sample. The results were as follows : 1. Amalgam showed the highest value of compressive strength (390.37${\pm}$42.22MPa) and the value of ceromer was somewhere between ceramic and indirect composite resin. There were significant differences among the experimental groups(p<0.001). 2. Indirect composite resin showed the highest value of diametral tensile strength (74.21${\pm}$15.33MPa) and there was no significant difference with ceromer. Ceromer was higher diametral tensile strength than amalgam and ceramic (p<0.001). 3. Ceramic showed the highest value of microhardness (538.44${\pm}$37.38Hv) and the value of ceromer was somewhere between ceramic and indirect composite resin. There were significant differences among the experimental groups (p<0.001).

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.40-49
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• 2016

Flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) of the carbon steel piping has been a significant problem in nuclear power plants. FAC occurs under certain hydrodynamic, environmental, and material conditions, and extensive research into the factors of FAC has been conducted. The basic process of FAC is now relatively well understood; however, a full mechanistic model has not yet been established. Recently, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has built a large experiment loop system for FAC. To produce significant experimental results using this system, the factors affecting on FAC should be analyzed quantitatively, and a model needs to be developed. In this work, a statistical modeling methodology to develop an empirical model is described in detail, and a preliminary model is suggested. Firstly, FAC data were collected from the research literature in Japan and the results of domestic experiments. The flow rate, water temperature, pH at room temperature, and the Cr content are selected as major factors, and nonlinear regression is used to find the best fit of the available data. An iterative procedure between suggesting and evaluating a model is used until an optimum model is obtained. The developed model gives the FAC rate comparable to the measured FAC rate. The developed model is going to be refined using additional laboratory data in the future.

• Proceedings of the KSAR Conference
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• 2001.03a
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• pp.88-88
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• 2001

소 난포란을 체외에서 성숙, 수정시킨 후, 2~8 세포기 수정란을 체외배양액인 CR$_1$aa에 일정량의 nitric oxide scavenger, Hb와, inhibitor인 L-nitro - L- arginine methyl ester (L-NAME)를 첨가 배양하여 체외발육에 미치는 영향을 검토하고자 실시하였다. 체외수정 후 체외배양 48시간에 난구세포의 제거 유.무에 따라 CR$_1$aa 배양액에 hemoglobin을 0, 1, 5$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$를 첨가한 구의 상실배기이상 체외발육성적은 난구세포를 제거한 구에서 23.8%, 33.3% 및 26.8%였으며, 난구세포를 제거하지 않은 구에서는 각각 39.5%, 54.8% 및 48.8%로써 난구세포를 제거하지 않은 구에 Hb를 1$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$를 첨가한 구가 여타구 보다 통계적으로 높은 결과를 얻었다(P<0.05). 체외수정 후 체외배양 96시간 후 난구세포를 제거 유.무에 따라 Hb를 0, 1, 5$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$를 첨가하였을 때, 상실배기 이상 체외발육성적은 난구세포를 제거한 구에서 각각 28.6%, 46.2% 및 39.1%였으며, 난구세포를 제거하지 않은 구에서는 각각 33.9%, 67.2% 및 46.0%로써, 난구세포를 제거하지 않은 구에 Hb를 1$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$첨가구가 여타구에 비해 통계적으로 유의하게 높게 나타났다( P<0.05).CR$_1$aa배양액에 L-NAME를 0, 10, 50 및 100mM을 첨가한 구에서 상실배이상 발육된 체외발육성적은 각각 55.6%, 64.9%, 58.8% 및 66.7%로써 L-NAME 첨가구가 무첨가구에 비해 커다란 차이가 나타나지 않았다(P>0.05). 본 실험의 결과로 볼 때, nitric oxide scavenger인 hemoglobin의 첨가는 체외수정 후 체외배양 96시간에 1$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ 첨가하는 것이 체외수정란의 체외 발육율을 향상시켰으며, nitric oxide inhibitor인 L-NAME는 첨가 농도에 관계없이 체외수정란의 체외발육율에 영향을 미치지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 본 실험에서 생산된 배반포기 체외수정란의 세포수에는 커다란 차이가 인정되지 않았다.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.794-805
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• 2020

Objective : Teriparatide is known as an effective anabolic agent not only for severe osteoporosis but also for bone healing and union. We explored the possibility of teriparatide as an alternative treatment option for osteoporotic thoracolumbar (TL) burst fracture. Methods : This retrospective study enrolled 35 female patients with mean age of 73.77±6.71 years (61-88) diagnosed as osteoporotic TL burst fracture with ≥4 of thoracolumbar injury classification and severity (TLICS) score and no neurological deficits. All patients were treated by teriparatide only (12 of group A), teriparatide plus vertebroplasty (12 of group B), or surgical fixation with fusion (11 of group C), and followed up for 12 months. Radiological outcomes were evaluated using radiological parameters including kyphotic angle (KA), segmental vertebral kyphotic angle (SVKA), compression ratio (CR), and vertebral body height (anterior [AH], middle [MH], posterior [PH]). Functional outcomes were evaluated using visual analog scale (VAS) and Macnab classification (MC). Results : There were no statistical significant differences in age, bone mineral density (-3.36±0.73), and TLICS score (4.34±0.48) among the three groups (p>0.05). Teriparatide was administered during 8.63±2.32 months in group A and B. In 12-month radiological outcomes, there were significant restoration in SVKA, CR, AH, and MH of group B and KA, SVKA, CR, AH, and MH of group C compared to group A with no radiological changes (p<0.05). All groups showed similar significant improvements in 12-month functional outcomes, although group B and C showed a better 1-month VAS, 1-month MC, 3-month MC compared to group A (p<0.05). Conclusion : Non-surgical treatment with teriparatide showed similar 12-month functional outcomes compared to surgical fixation with fusion. The additional vertebroplasty to teriparatide and surgical fixation with fusion were more helpful to improve short-term functional outcomes with structural restoration compared to teriparatide only.