• Title/Summary/Keyword: second screening

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A First-principles Study on the Effects on Magnetism of Si Impurity in BCC Fe by Considering Spin-orbit Coupling (스핀-궤도 상호작용을 고려한 Si 불순물이 BCC Fe의 자성에 미치는 영향에 대한 제일원리연구)

  • Rahman, Gul;Kim, In-Gee;Chang, Sam-Kyu
    • Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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    • v.18 no.6
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    • pp.211-216
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    • 2008
  • The effects of Si impurity on electronic structures and magnetism of bcc Fe are investigated by using a first-principles method by considering spin-orbit coupling. In order to describe the Si impurity, a 27 atomic bcc Fe supercell has been considered. The Kohn-Sham equation was solved in terms of the all-electron full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) method within the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The effects of spin-orbit coupling were calculated self-consistently by considering spin-diagonal terms based on second variation method. For the ferromagnetic (FM) state without considering SOC, the spin magnetic moment of the Si impurity was calculated to be $-0.143{\mu}B$, while the magnetic moments of Fe atoms were calculated to be $2.214{\mu}B$, $2.327{\mu}B$, and $2.354{\mu}B$ in away from the Si atom, respectively. However, the FM state with considering SOC, the spin magnetic moment of the Si impurity was calculated to be $-0.144{\mu}B$, which is not affected significantly by SOC, but the spin magnetic moments of Fe atoms were calculated $2.189{\mu}B$, $2.310{\mu}B$, and $2.325{\mu}B$, respectively, which are much reduced value compared to those of the FM state without SOC. Comparing the total charge density and spin density, those features are thought to be originated by the screening distortions of the Fe $t_{2g}$ orbital, which can be obtained by considering SOC.

A Study on the Administration for the Han River Water Quality Control (漢江 水質保全 行政에 관한 硏究)

  • Kim, Kwang Hyop
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.9-40
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    • 1984
  • This thesis purports to overview the diverse administrative and organizational factors and plannings developed by the government organizations, municipal or otherwise, to tackle the Han River water pollution issues in the past years. This thesis also looks into the ever-worsening Han River water pollution problems, in particular, in terms of the various government plans ostensibly designed to reduce the pollution level but with little success. Also dealt with are the efficiencies with which the laws and decrees on water pollution the administrative organizations put to use in the prosecution of the diverse antiwater pollution projects involving the Han River basin. From the early 1960's up to the 1970's the government had concentrated on the growth-oriented economic policy with the result that little attention had been paid to the water pollution and other environmental issues that are bound to arise from the massive economic growth. Belatedly, the five-year Hah River Development Project was initiated in 1982 with emphasis on reducing the water pollution level at Hah River to the minimum. The following are the gists of the thesis and recommendations for the future antiwater pollution plans by the administrative organizations: 1. Documents to date indicate that the irrigation projects along the Han River area had been the main focus of attention during the Yi Dynasty and under the Japanese rule of the country. 2. Despite that the water pollution issue became the subject of many debates among the academic and research institutions in the 1960's and in the 1970's, the administrative organizations in charge of the Han River water quality control failed to come up with a concrete plan for the river's water quality control. 3. Nevertheless, the water pollution of the Han River area in fact began in the 1950's, with the unprecedented concentration into Seoul of population and the industrial facilities on a larger scale, in particular, enforced by the government's strong growthoriented policy in its Economic Development plans in the 1960's. 4. Starting in the 1960's, the Han River water pollution level dramatically increased, but the government was reluctant to promulgate or put into effect strong measures to curb the many factors contributing to the river water pollution, thus worsening the environmental issues along the Han River basin. 5. The environmental protection law and other laws and decrees relating to the antiwater and air pollution issues that were subsequently put into effect underwent so many changes that efficient anti-water pollution policies could not be effected for the Han River basin. The frequent organizational reshuffle within the administrative units concerned with environmental problems has resulted in the undue waste in personnel management and finance. 6. The administration on the environmental protection could not be efficiently carried out due to the organizational overlapping. Under the existing law, frequent organizational frictions and inefficiency are bound to occur among the central government offices themselves, as well as between the central government and the Seoul city administration, and among the city's administrative offices over the conservation of the Han River basin and over the river's anti-water pollution issue. 7. In the planning and prosecution of the Han River project, political influences from the president down to the lower-level politicious appear to have been involved. These political influences in the past had certainly had negative influence on the project, nevertheless, it appears that in the recent years, these political influences are not all that negative in view of the fact that they serve as a positive contributing factor in developing a better water quality control project along the Han River basin. The following are a few recommendations based on the data from the thesis: First, officials in charge of the Han River water quality control should pay attention to a careful screening of the opinions and recommendations from the academic circles and from the public should be made so that the government could better grasp the core issues in the environmental problems that require preventive and other necessary measures. Second, vigorous redistribution policies of population and industrial facilities away from the Seoul area should be pursued. Third, the government should refrain from revising or revamping too frequently the laws and decrees on the anti-water pollution, which is feared to cause undue inconveniences in the environmental administration. Fourth, a large-scale streamlining should be made to the existing administrative organization in an effort to do away with the inter- and intra-organizational friction. It is recommended that a secretariat for the Hah River basis conservation be established. Fifth, High-level administrative officials, with a thorough knowledge and vision on the Han River water quality control, should be prepared to better deal with the budgeting and personnel management for the Han River water pollution control not only at the control government, but also at the Seoul city municipal government levels. Environmental issues should be kept distinct from political issues. Environmental issues should not serve as a window-dressing for sheer political purposes. Sixth, the Hah River proiect should also include, along with the main Han River basin, those areas covering North Han River, South Han River, and the tributaries to the main river basin. The 'Han River Basin Water Quality Control Board' should be established immediately as a means of strengthening the current Han River basin water quality control policy. Seventh, in drawing up the Han River proiect, the administrative officials should be aware that Han River basin is a life line for those people in the region, providing them with not only a sheer physical space, but with a psychological living space for their everyday life.

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Improvement Strategy & Current Bidding Situation on Apartment Management of Landscape Architecture (공동주택 조경관리 입찰 실태와 개선방안)

  • Hong, Jong-Hyun;Park, Hyun-Bin;Yoon, Jong-Myeone;Kim, Dong-Pil
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.48 no.4
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    • pp.41-54
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    • 2020
  • This study was conducted to provide basic data for a transparent and fair bidding system by identifying problems and suggesting improvement measures through an analysis of the bidding status for construction projects and service-related landscaping of multi-family housing. To this end, we used the data from the "Multi-Family Housing Management Information System (K-apt)" that provides the history of apartment maintenance, bidding information, and the electronic bidding system to examine the winning bid status and amount, along with the size and trends of the winning bids by year, and the results of the selection of operators by construction type. As a result, it was found that out of the total number of successful bids (36,831), 4.4% (16,631) were in the landscaping business, and the average winning bid value was found to be about 24 million won. According to the data, 73% of the landscaping cases were valued between 3 million won and 30 million won, and 58.6% of the cases were in the field of "pest prevention and maintenance". 36% of the total number of bids were awarded from February to April, with "general competitive bidding" accounting for 59.8% of the bidding methods. As for the method of selecting the winning bidder, 55% adopted the "lowest bid" and "electronic bidding method," and 45% adopted the "qualification screening system" and "direct bidding method." As an improvement to the problems derived from the bidding status data, the following are recommended: First, the exception clause to the current 'electronic bidding method' application regulations must be minimized to activate the electronic bidding method so that a fair bidding system can be operated. Second, landscaping management standards for green area environmental quality of multi-family housing must be prepared. Third, the provisions for preparing design books, such as detailed statements and drawings before the bidding announcement, and calculating the basic amount shall be prepared so that fair bidding can be made by specifying the details of the project concretely and objectively must be made. Fourth, for various bidding conditions in the 'business operator selection guidelines', detailed guidelines for each condition, not the selection, need to be prepared to maintain fairness and consistency. These measures are believed to beuseful in the fair selection of landscaping operators for multi-family housing projects and to prepare objective and reasonable standards for the maintenance of landscaping facilities and a green environment.

Comparative Evaluation of 25-OH-VitD and 25-OH-VitD3 by Radioimmunoassay (방사면역 측정법에 의한 25-OH-VitD와 25-OH-VitD3의 비교 평가)

  • Lee, Young-ji;Park, Ji-hye;Lim, Soo-yeon;Cheon, Jun-hong;Lee, Sun-ho
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.33-38
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    • 2020
  • Purpose Vitamin D is essential for maintaining bone health, controling cell proliferation or differentiation, strengthening immune function by controlling calcium metabolism in the body. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to increase the risk of rickets, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. Especially, South Korea is one of the highest population proportion of vitamin D deficiency. Accurate determination of levels of 25-OH-VitD or 25-OH-VitD3 in blood serum is required for the diagnosis and treatment of vitamin D deficiency. In this study, radioimmunoassay of 25-OH-VitD and 25-OH-VitD3 was performed and compared to evaluate the effectiveness of Vitamin D radioimmunoassay. Materials and Methods Serum 25-OH-VitD and 25-OH-VitD3 levels were measured using radioimmunoassay. The interrelationship, reproducibility and population distribution rate were evaluated. In addition, the internal quality control was performed at Asan Medical Center from April 2017 to June 2019 and the result of external quality control (Interagency proficiency evaluation) of first and second half of 2018 hosted by the Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine Technology (KSNMT). Both tests were measured by same manufacturer's reagent. Results 25-OH-VitD showed a strong positive correlation on 97 samples, as 25-OH-VitD3 x 0.9 + 0.3 (R>0.9). In repeated measurement, the average Diff(%) value of the reproducibility evaluation of 25-OH-VitD and 25-OH-VitD3 were 7.7% and 7.4%, respectively. Population distribution results showed no statistically significant differences(p>0.05). The resultant value of internal quality control, which measured from April, 2017 to June 2019 in Blood test room of Nuclear Medicine at Asan Medical Center, showed average (CV%) 6.2% and 6.8%, respectively. As a result of the external quality control (interagency proficiency evaluation) Z value obtained under 2.0, as shown below; Conclusion The interrelationship, reproducibility, population distribution rate, internal quality control and external quality control between 25-OH-VitD and 25-OH-VitD3 radioimmunoassay shows superior outcome. Radioimmunoassay, which can be alone measured in the blood as 25-OH-VitD or 25-OH-VitD3, is considered suitable screening tests for the diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency.

Evaluation of Bioassay Methods to Assess Bacterial Soft Rot Resistance in Radish Cultivars (무 품종의 세균성 무름병 저항성 생물검정법 평가)

  • Afroz, Tania;Hur, Onsook;Ro, Nayoung;Lee, Jae-eun;Hwang, Aejin;Kim, Bichsaem;Assefa, Awraris Derbie;Rhee, Ju Hee;Sung, Jung Sook;Lee, Ho-sun;Hahn, Bum-Soo
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.31 no.7
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    • pp.609-616
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    • 2021
  • Bacterial soft rot, caused by Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (Pcc), is one of the destructive diseases of radish (Raphanus sativus) in Asian countries. The objective of this study was to establish an efficient bioassay method for the evaluation of bacterial soft rot resistance in commercial radish cultivars. First, an efficient bioassay method for examining resistance to bacterial soft rot in commercial radish cultivars was investigated. Six commercial radish cultivars were tested under various conditions: two temperatures (25℃ and 30℃), three inoculations methods (drenching, spraying, and root dipping), and two growth stages (two- and four-leaf stages). The results suggested that spraying with 1×106 cfu/ml of bacterial inoculums during the four-leaf stage and incubating at 30℃ could be the most efficient screening method for bacterial soft rot resistance in commercial radish cultivars. Second, we investigated the degree of resistance of 41 commercial radish cultivars to five Pcc isolates, namely KACC 10225, KACC 10343, KACC 10421, KACC 10458, and KACC 13953. KACC 10421 had the strongest susceptibility in terms of moderately resistant disease response to bacterial soft rot. Out of the 41 radish cultivars, 13 were moderately resistant to this pathogen, whereas 28 were susceptible. The moderately resistant radish cultivars in this investigation could serve as resistance donors in the breeding of soft rot resistance or could be used to determine varietal improvement for direct use by breeders, scientists, farmers, researchers, and end customers.

A Longitudinal Validation Study of the Korean Version of PCL-5(Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5) (PCL-5(DSM-5 기준 외상 후 스트레스 장애 체크리스트) 한국판 종단 타당화 연구)

  • Lee, DongHun;Lee, DeokHee;Kim, SungHyun;Jung, DaSong
    • Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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    • v.28 no.2
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    • pp.187-217
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    • 2022
  • The aim of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5(PCL-5). For this purpose, online surveys were conducted for two times with a one year interval using the data from 1,077 Korean adults at time 1, and 563 Korean adults at time 2. First, from the result of the confirmatory factor analysis, comparing the model fit of the 1, 4, 6, and 7-factor model, the 4, 6, and 7-factor model showed a acceptable fit, and the best fit was seen in the order of the 7, 6, 4-factor model. Second, the internal consistency, omega coefficient, construct validity, average variance extracted, and test-retest reliability results were all satisfactory.. Third, a correlation analysis with the K-PC-PTSD-5 and the sub-factors of BSI-18 was conducted to check the validity of the Korean Version of PCL-5. As a result, a positive correlation was seen with both K-PC-PTSD-5 and BSI-18. Fourth, a hierarchical multiple regression was performed to examine whether the Korean Version of PCL-5 predicts future PTSD, depression, anxiety, and somatization. As a result, the Korean Version of PCL-5 measured at time 1 significantly predicted PTSD, depression, anxiety, and somatization symptoms at time 2. Fifth, by analyzing the ROC curve, the discriminant power of PCL-5 for screening PTSD symptom groups was confirmed, and the best cut-off score was suggested. As a result of the longitudinal validation of Korean version of PCL-5, it was found that this scale is a reliable and valid measure for Korean adults. By looking into the predictive validity of the scale, it was found that the Korean version of PCL-5 can predict not only PTSD symptoms but also PTSD-related symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and somatization. Also, this study differs from previous validation studies measuring PTSD symptoms in that it suggested a cut-off score to help differentiate PTSD symptom groups.

A Study on Oriental Medical Diagnosis of Musculoskeletal Disorders using Moire Image (Moire 영상을 이용한 근골격계 질환의 한의학적 진단에 관한 연구)

  • Lee Eun-Kyoung;Yu Seung-Hyun;Lee Su-Kyung;Kang Sung-Ho;Han Jong-Min;Chong Myong-Soo;Chun Eun-Joo;Song Yung-Sun;Lee Ki-Nam
    • Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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    • v.4 no.2
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    • pp.72-92
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    • 2000
  • This research has conducted studies on an Oriental medicine-based method of diagnosing of occupational musculoskeletal system diseases. This researcher has searched through existing relevant medical literature. Also, this researcher has worked on a moire topography using moire topography. In this course, this researcher has reached the following conclusion in relation to the possibility of using a moire topography as a diagnosing device of musculoskeletal system diseases under Oriental medicine . 1 The Western medicine outlines its criteria of screening occupational musculoskeletal system diseases as follows A. The occupational musculoskeletal diseases must clearly include one or more of the subjective symptoms characterized by pain, hypoesthesia dysaesthesia, anaesthesia. etc . B, There should be clinically admitted objective observations and diagnosis outlining that the disease concerned shows symptoms such as tenderness, induration. and edema that can appear with occupational musculoskeletal system diseases. dyscinesia should be admitted with the disease concerned, or there should be observations and diagnosis outlining that abnormality exists in electric muscular or nervous diagnosis and examination . C. It should be admitted that prior to the occurrence of symptoms or observations and diagnosis on musculoskeletal system-related diseases, a patient has been engaged in works with conditions requiring improper work posture or work movement. That is, this is an approach whereby they see abnormality in the musculoskeletal system come from material and structural defect, and adjust and control abnormality in the musculoskeletal system and secreta . 2. The Oriental medicines sees that a patient develops the pain of occupational musculoskeletal diseases as he cannot properly activate the flow of his life force and blood thus not only causing formation of lumps in the body and blocking the flow of life force and blood in some parts of the body. Hence, The Oriental medicine focuses on resolving the cause of weakening the flow of life force and blood, instead of taking material approach of correcting structural abnormality Furthermore , Oriental medicine sees that when muscle tension builds up, this presses blood vessels and nerves passing by, triggering circulation dyscrasia and neurological reaction and thus leading to lesion. Thus, instead of taking skeletal or neurophysiological approach. it seeks to fundamentally resolve the cause of the flow of the life force and blood in muscles not being activated. As a result Oriental medicine attributes the main cause of musculoskeletal system diseases to muscle tension and its build-up that stem from an individual's long formed chronicle habit and work environment. This approach considers not only the social structure aspect including companies owners and work environment that the existing methods have looked at, but also individual workers' responsibility and their environmental factors. Hence, this is a step forward method. 3 The diagnosis of musculoskeletal diseases under Oriental medicine is characterized by the fact that an Oriental medicine doctor uses not only photos taken by himself, but also various detection devices to gather information and pass comprehensive judgment on it. Thus, it is the core of diagnosis under Oriental medicine to develop diagnosing devices matching the characteristics of information to be induced and to interpret information so induced from the views of Oriental medicine. Diagnosis using diagnosing devices values the whole state of a patient and formal abnormality alike, and the whole balance and muscular state of a patient serves as the basis of diagnosis. Hence, this method, instead of depending on the information gathered from devices under Western medicine, requires devices that provide information on the whole state of a patient in addition to the local abnormality information that X-ray. CT, etc., can offer. This method sees muscle as the central part of the abnormality in the musculoskeletal system and thus requires diagnosing devices enabling the muscular state. 4. The diagnosing device using moire topography under Oriental medicine has advantages below and can be used for diagnosing musculoskeletal system diseases with industrial workers . First, the device can Provide information on the body in an unbalanced state. and thus identify the imbalance and difference of height in the left and right stature that a patient can not notice at normal times. Second, the device shows the twisting of muscles or induration regions in a contour map. This is not possible with existing shooting machines such as X-ray, CT, etc., thus differentiating itself from existing machines. Third, this device makes it possible for Oriental medicine to take its unique approach to the abnormality in the musculoskeletal system. Oriental medicine sees the state and imbalance state in muscles as major factors in determining the lesion of musculoskeletal system, and the device makes it possible to shoot the state of muscles in detail. In this respect, the device is significant. Fourth, the device has an advantage as non-aggression diagnosing device.

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Product Community Analysis Using Opinion Mining and Network Analysis: Movie Performance Prediction Case (오피니언 마이닝과 네트워크 분석을 활용한 상품 커뮤니티 분석: 영화 흥행성과 예측 사례)

  • Jin, Yu;Kim, Jungsoo;Kim, Jongwoo
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.49-65
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    • 2014
  • Word of Mouth (WOM) is a behavior used by consumers to transfer or communicate their product or service experience to other consumers. Due to the popularity of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and online communities, electronic WOM (e-WOM) has become important to the success of products or services. As a result, most enterprises pay close attention to e-WOM for their products or services. This is especially important for movies, as these are experiential products. This paper aims to identify the network factors of an online movie community that impact box office revenue using social network analysis. In addition to traditional WOM factors (volume and valence of WOM), network centrality measures of the online community are included as influential factors in box office revenue. Based on previous research results, we develop five hypotheses on the relationships between potential influential factors (WOM volume, WOM valence, degree centrality, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality) and box office revenue. The first hypothesis is that the accumulated volume of WOM in online product communities is positively related to the total revenue of movies. The second hypothesis is that the accumulated valence of WOM in online product communities is positively related to the total revenue of movies. The third hypothesis is that the average of degree centralities of reviewers in online product communities is positively related to the total revenue of movies. The fourth hypothesis is that the average of betweenness centralities of reviewers in online product communities is positively related to the total revenue of movies. The fifth hypothesis is that the average of betweenness centralities of reviewers in online product communities is positively related to the total revenue of movies. To verify our research model, we collect movie review data from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), which is a representative online movie community, and movie revenue data from the Box-Office-Mojo website. The movies in this analysis include weekly top-10 movies from September 1, 2012, to September 1, 2013, with in total. We collect movie metadata such as screening periods and user ratings; and community data in IMDb including reviewer identification, review content, review times, responder identification, reply content, reply times, and reply relationships. For the same period, the revenue data from Box-Office-Mojo is collected on a weekly basis. Movie community networks are constructed based on reply relationships between reviewers. Using a social network analysis tool, NodeXL, we calculate the averages of three centralities including degree, betweenness, and closeness centrality for each movie. Correlation analysis of focal variables and the dependent variable (final revenue) shows that three centrality measures are highly correlated, prompting us to perform multiple regressions separately with each centrality measure. Consistent with previous research results, our regression analysis results show that the volume and valence of WOM are positively related to the final box office revenue of movies. Moreover, the averages of betweenness centralities from initial community networks impact the final movie revenues. However, both of the averages of degree centralities and closeness centralities do not influence final movie performance. Based on the regression results, three hypotheses, 1, 2, and 4, are accepted, and two hypotheses, 3 and 5, are rejected. This study tries to link the network structure of e-WOM on online product communities with the product's performance. Based on the analysis of a real online movie community, the results show that online community network structures can work as a predictor of movie performance. The results show that the betweenness centralities of the reviewer community are critical for the prediction of movie performance. However, degree centralities and closeness centralities do not influence movie performance. As future research topics, similar analyses are required for other product categories such as electronic goods and online content to generalize the study results.

A Comparison of Tiotropium 18㎍, Once Daily and Ipratropium 40㎍, 4 Times Daily in a Double-Blind, Double-Dummy, Efficacy and Safety Study in Adults with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (만성폐쇄성폐질환 환자에서 Tiotropium 1일 1회, 1회 18㎍ 요법과 Ipratropium 1일 4회, 1회 40㎍ 요법의 치료효과 및 안전성 비교)

  • Kim, Seung Joon;Kim, Myung Sook;Lee, Sang Haak;Kim, Young Kyoon;Moon, Hwa Sik;Park, Sung Hak;Lee, Sang Yeub;In, Kwang Ho;Lee, Chang Youl;Kim, Young Sam;Kim, Hyung Jung;Ahn, Chul Min;Kim, Sung Kyu;Kim, Kyung Rok;Cha, Seung Ick;Jung, Tae Hoon;Kim, Mi Ok;Park, Sung Soo;Choi, Cheon Woong;Yoo, Jee Hong;Kang, Hong Mo;Koh, Won Jung;Ham, Hyoung Suk;Kang, Eun Hae;Kwon, O Jung;Lee, Yang Deok;Lee, Heung Bum;Lee, Yong Chul;Rhee, Yang Keun;Shin, Won Hyuk;Kwon, Sung Yeon;Kim, Woo Jin;Yoo, Chul Gyu;Kim, Young Whan;Shim, Young Soo;Han, Sung Koo;Park, Hye Kyung;Kim, Yun Seong;Lee, Min Ki;Park, Soon Kew;Kim, Mi Hye;Lee, Won Yeon;Yong, Suk Joong;Shin, Kye Chul;Choi, Byoung Whui;Oh, Yeon Mok;Lim, Chae Man;Lee, Sang Do;Kim, Woo Sung;Kim, Dong Soon;Jung, Sung Soo;Kim, Ju Ock;Ko, Young Chun
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.58 no.5
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    • pp.498-506
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    • 2005
  • Background : This study compared the bronchodilator efficacy and safety of tiotropium inhalation capsules ($18{\mu}g$ once daily) with a ipratropium metered dose inhaler (2 puffs of $20{\mu}g$ q.i.d.) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Method : After the initial screening assessment and a two-week run-in period, patients received either tiotropium $18{\mu}g$ once daily or ipratropium $40{\mu}g$ four times daily over a period of 4 weeks in a double blind, double dummy, parallel group study. The outcome measures were the lung function, the daily records of the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), the patients' questionnaire, and the use of concomitant salbutamol. The forced expiratory volume in one second ($FEV_1$) and the forced vital capacity (FVC) were measured 5 minutes before inhalation, and 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 hours after inhaling the study drug on days 0, 14 and 28. Result : In 16 centers, 134 patients with a mean (SD) age of 66 (7) years and a predicted $FEV_1$ of 42 (12)% were analyzed. The trough $FEV_1$ response was significantly higher in the tiotropium group than in the ipratropium group after a four-week treatment period. The weekly mean morning PEFR of the tiotropium group was consistently higher than that of the ipratropium group during the 4-week treatment period with differences ranging from 12.52 to 13.88 l/min, which were statistically significant. Tiotropium was well tolerated by the COPD patients during the 4-week treatment period and had a similar safety profile to ipratropium. Conclusion : This study shows that tiotropium administrated once daily has a superior bronchodilator effect with a similar safety profile in treating COPD patients compared with ipratropium, inhaled four times daily.