• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.203-210
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• 2011

Objectives : The aim of this study is to establish evidence-based guideline on infrared therapy on acupoints. Methods : We investigated all the articles in websites including Pubmed, China national knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI) and medical journals authorized by national research foundation of Korea. The key words are acupoints and infrared. For the first time, we withdrew some papers no relationship to key words by reading titles and abstracts. In the second, we only selected randomized clinical trials(RCT) published from 2000 to 2010. Results : Out of 62 papers, only 2 RCT were analyzed. One (RCT 1) was about depression patients with insomnia(jadad score: 1). The other(RCT 2) was about urimic pruritus patients(jadad score: 5). In RCT 1, experimental group was significantly better than control group. In RCT 2, there was not statistical signification between two groups. Conclusions : In reality, there were not many papers on infrared therapy applications. Further study just like RCTs may be needed to establish evidenced-based guideline on infrared.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.35-41
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• 2021

Purpose : It is necessary to demonstrate the effect of non-invasive and non-pharmacological interventions such as manual therapy and therapeutic exercise for the management of nonspecific neck pain. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the efficacy of myofascial release therapy plus therapeutic exercise for disability owing to neck pain and quality of life in individuals with nonspecific neck pain. Methods : Eighteen participants with nonspecific neck pain were randomly allocated to intervention (n=9) and control groups (n=9). The intervention group received a myofascial release therapy for 20 min and performed neck stabilization exercises for 30 min twice a week for 4 weeks. The control group performed neck stabilization exercises for 30 min twice a week for 4 weeks at the same time points as the intervention group. Disability owing to neck pain and quality of life were quantified using the neck disability index (NDI) and the Korean version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF), respectively. NDI and WHOQOL-BREF were assessed before and after intervention. Results : The disability owing to neck pain significantly changed between the groups over time (total score of NDI, p=.049). There were significant time and group interactions in pain (pain intensity of NDI, p=.035) and concentration (concentration of NDI, p=.049). Personal care, lifting, reading, headaches, work, driving, sleeping, and recreation did not show significant improvement between the groups over time. Total score, overall quality of life and general health, physical health domain, psychological domain, social relationships domain, and environmental domain quantified by WHOQOL-BREF did not show significant improvements between the groups over time. Conclusion : These results suggest the clinical use of myofascial release therapy in addition to therapeutic exercise for the management of nonspecific neck pain. Further studies are needed to generalize the findings of this study.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.873-879
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• 2023

This study explored the use of artificial intelligence(AI) to detect foreign bodies in chest X-ray images. Medical imaging, especially chest X-rays, plays a crucial role in diagnosing diseases such as pneumonia and lung cancer. With the increase in imaging tests, AI has become an important tool for efficient and fast diagnosis. However, images can contain foreign objects, including everyday jewelry like buttons and bra wires, which can interfere with accurate readings. In this study, we developed an AI algorithm that accurately identifies these foreign objects and processed the National Institutes of Health chest X-ray dataset based on the YOLOv8 model. The results showed high detection performance with accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score all close to 0.91. Despite the excellent performance of AI, the study solved the problem that foreign objects in the image can distort the reading results, emphasizing the innovative role of AI in radiology and its reliability based on accuracy, which is essential for clinical implementation.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.238-244
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• 2023

Background: Many patients use online resources to educate themselves on surgical procedures and make well-informed healthcare decisions. The aim of our study was to evaluate the quality and readability of online resources exploring shoulder arthroplasty. Methods: An internet search pertaining to shoulder arthroplasty (partial, anatomic, and reverse) was conducted using the three most popular online search engines. The top 25 results generated from each term in each search engine were included. Webpages were excluded if they were duplicates, advertised by search engines, subpages of other pages, required payments or subscription, or were irrelevant to our scope. Webpages were classified into different source categories. Quality of information was assessed by HONcode certification, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) criteria, and DISCERN benchmark criteria. Webpage readability was assessed using the Flesch reading ease score (FRES). Results: Our final dataset included 125 web pages. Academic sources were the most common with 45 web pages (36.0%) followed by physician/private practice with 39 web pages (31.2%). The mean JAMA and DISCERN scores for all web pages were 1.96±1.31 and 51.4±10.7, respectively. The total mean FRES score was 44.0±11.0. Only nine web pages (7.2%) were HONcode certified. Websites specified for healthcare professionals had the highest JAMA and DISCERN scores with means of 2.92±0.90 and 57.96±8.91, respectively (P<0.001). HONcode-certified webpages had higher quality and readability scores than other web pages. Conclusions: Web-based patient resources for shoulder arthroplasty information did not show high-quality scores and easy readability. When presenting medical information, sources should maintain a balance between readability and quality and should seek HONcode certification as it helps establish the reliability and accessibility of the presented information. Level of evidence: IV.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.9-21
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• 2019

This study aimed to compare the prosodic characteristics of North Korean defectors and South Koreans in three types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, and negative) in two reading tasks (short and dialogue) through acoustic analysis and auditory-perceptual evaluation. In addition, this study examined the relationship between the auditory-perceptual evaluation scores and self-assessment questionnaires on intonation for North Korean defectors. The participants were 15 North Korean defectors and 15 Korean speakers with standard Seoul accents. For statistical analysis, three-way mixed ANOVA and multivariate analysis were performed within the three types of sentences in the reading tasks through acoustic analysis and the Mann-Whitney U Test for auditory-perceptual evaluation. Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients were also used to identify the correlations between the results of the self-assessment questionnaire on intonation and the auditory-perceptual evaluation. The North Korean defectors were found to have a significantly lower pitch range and auditory-perceptual evaluation score than South Koreans in reading tasks. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between their auditory-perceptual evaluations and self-assessment questionnaires on intonation. The study findings suggest that North Korean defectors, who face many challenges with intonation, showed a tendency to think that their intonation differed from the standard Korean intonation and showed better auditory evaluation results for interrogative sentences.

• International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.21-34
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• 2020

The paper looks at protecting copyright owners in Nigeria: a panacea for intellectual development. A descriptive survey design was adopted in carrying out the study. The sample size for the study was 112. Three research objectives guided the study. The study utilized a self-developed questionnaire for data collection. A total of 112 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to librarian and lecturers, out of which 108 copies were duly filled and returned, representing 96.4%. The collected data was arranged in frequency and analyzed using percentage and mean score. The findings revealed that protection of copyright will encourage creators of intellectual works, and that if authors are well remunerated there is likelihood of adequate availability of various publications to meet information needs of Nigerians. The result showed that the right to intellectual properties is one of the ways to encourage intellectual development. The finding revealed that copyright protection provides security for intellectual product and does not negatively affect the availability of intellectual materials. Based on the research findings, it was recommended that owners of intellectual property deserve good earnings for their intellectual works in order to promote Knowledge proliferation and availability so as to meet the reading needs of the citizens at the various levels. The study also recommended that all cases relating to copyright violation in our courts should be summarily dealt with. The study advocated that the provision on the punishment should be reviewed such that it could deter people from infringing on authors rights.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2015

This study was performed for the purpose of establishing proper dietary behaviors and improving sodium intake status by investigating nutrition knowledge, dietary behaviors, and food intake frequency related to sodium in 398 university students living in Gyeonggi-do and Incheon. Female students showed a higher rate of eating out more than five times a week as well as daily snack intake than male students. Female students showed a higher score for sodium-related nutrition knowledge than male students, whereas male students showed higher sodium intake than female students. Subjects who showed a higher frequency of eating out and snack intake also showed a higher salt intake ratio and sodium-related nutrition knowledge. Subjects with higher scores related to sodium-related nutrition knowledge showed a higher low salt intake ratio and incidence of low sodium food intake. From this research, depending on the level of nutrition knowledge related to sodium university students showed differences in dietary behavior related to sodium intake. This result would be helpful to develop lower sodium training materials specific to low sodium food selection tips, reading nutrition labels, and so on.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.2 s.70
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• pp.13-21
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• 2007

Objective : Halitosis, or bad breath, is a common concern for many people. The aim of this study was to investigate clinical characteristics of halitosis patients and correlation with their various associated elements. Methods: We surveyed 169 halitosis patients by reviewing questionnaires from the Halitosis Clinic in the Hospital of Oriental Medicine, Kyunghee University from January 2004 to March 2006. The questionnaires contained various items including sex, age, history of smoking and alcohol intake, duration of symptoms in a week, time and condition of severe halitosis, suggestive origin of halitosis, taste abnormality, oral hygiene, self-assessed halitosis severity, dry mouth, postnasal drip, tonsillolith, globus pharyngeus, reflux sensation, too much gas and Winkel tongue coating index. Volatile sulfur compounds were measured with a $Halimeter^{\circledR}$. Results : The halitosis patients actively carried out management methods such as non-smoking, moderation in drink, teeth brushing and tongue scraping in order to decrease their oral malodor. Tongue coating significantly affected the $Halimeter^{\circledR}$ reading score, and tongue coating and dry mouth significantly affected self-assessed halitosis severity. Conclusions: Our results suggest that tongue coating and dry mouth should be treated to improve satisfaction in halitosis patients.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.202-212
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• 2012

Purpose: As Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) has increasingly been proven as a means of cost-effective and higher-quality healthcare, its successful implementing are challenging. This study done to identify EBP beliefs, knowledge and performance among nurses experienced as a preceptor. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 249 preceptor nurses working in 9 general hospitals in Korea. Reliable and valid questionnaires (EBP beliefs scale, Evidence Based Practice Questionnaire, Research-related activities) were used and the data were analyzed using SPSS win 17.0. Result: Perceived beliefs on EBP were relatively positive (mean score 3.57 out of 5), and the level of knowledge was moderate (4.21 out of 7). However, performance of EBP was low (3.82 out of 7). Regularity in reading research journals and searching evidences using core web-database were rarely conducted. Statistically significant correlations were found between beliefs, knowledge and performance of EBP (all p<.05). Conclusions: This result indicates that education and training programs to facilitate EBP performance are needed among preceptor nurses.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.68-76
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to establish reliability and validity of the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) translated into Korean for neck pain patients. Sixty-two subjects (35 males, 27 females) with neck pain enrolled in the study. They completed a standardized self-administered questionnaire that included pain intensity, sleeping, sensory at night, duration of symptoms, carrying, reading and watching television, working, social activities, and driving. Reliability was determined by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cronbach's alpha by internal consistency. Validity was examined by correlating the NPQ scores to the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score. Test-retest reliability of the translated versions of the NPQ was good ICC(2,1)=.83 (95%CI=.85~.95). Cronbach's alpha value for NPQ was found to be .87 and this was statistically significant (p<.05). The criterion-related validity coefficients was .75 (p<.01). We concluded that the Korean version NPQ was shown to be a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of neck pain.