• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.198-204
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• 2021

Background: Cardiovascular (CV) disease is known as one of the major causes of death from disease worldwide. Statin therapy plays a pivotal role in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) lowering the LDL-cholesterol level effectively. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of the intensity of statin therapy in adult patients of Korea and the risk of ASCVD of the patient group. Methods: We used data from sample of patients from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA-NPS-2018). We analyzed the patterns of prescribing statins including types of statin, statin intensity, and number of patients with ASCVD or risk of ASCVD. Results: 155,512 patients were included in the analysis, and 27,950 patients (18.0%) was over 75 years. High-intensity statin usage was increased in ASCVD patients compared with the low-intensity statin use. The OR (odds ratio) of high-intensity statin were increased in myocardial infarction patients compared with low-intensity statin use showing the highest OR; 12.40 (95% CI; 9.48-16.22). At patient groups of angina, ischemic heart disease and carotid disease, high-intensity statin prescription rate was increased compared with low-intensity statin. However, there was no statistical significance between both statin prescription rates in patients of peripheral arterial disease, abdominal aneurysm, diabetic mellitus and atherosclerosis. Conclusion: The statin prescription rate showed intensity increasing tendency according to the risk of ASCVD. More aggressive statin therapy might be beneficial for the ASCVD patients based on the recent guidelines of dyslipidemia.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.263-274
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• 2021

This study presents the achievements and limitations of the voluntary-based Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) through statistical analysis of water quality monitoring data and performance assessments of TMDL plans implemented in the Gyeongan watershed. The results clearly showed that responsible local governments complied the allocated TMDL and the designated water quality goals were successfully achieved in the required period. This was possible because the Ministry of Environment provided innovative incentives, such as, relaxations of the existing tight land-use regulations and full-scale financial aids for constructing and operating public treatment facilities to draw local government voluntary participation. However, a couple of problems which decreased the effectiveness and efficiency of the voluntary TMDL were identified. The different TMDL implementation schedules between upstream (Yongin) and downstream (Gwangju) governments caused delay in water quality improvement and exaggerated TMDL allocation to the local development which made excessive investment in the treatment facilities. Although it is not directly related to the voluntary scheme, technical methods for establishing and assessing the water quality goals should be improved so that the effects of flow conditions on water quality are properly assessed. We expect that results of this case study contribute to developing a more effective voluntary-based scheme for the implementation of the so-called 'tributary TMDL' in the future.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.185-193
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• 2021

Students must be familiar with clinical skills before starting clinical practice to ensure patients' safety and enable efficient learning. However, performance is mainly tested in the third or fourth years of medical school, and studies using the validity framework have not been reported in Korea. We analyzed the validity of a performance test conducted among second-year students classified into content, response process, internal structure, relationships with other variables, and consequences according to Messick's framework. As results of the analysis, content validity was secured by developing cases according to a pre-determined blueprint. The quality of the response process was controlled by training and calibrating raters. The internal structure showed that (1) reliability by generalizability theory was acceptable (coefficients of 0.724 and 0.786, respectively, for day 1 and day 2), and (2) the relevant domains had proper correlations, while the clinical performance examination (CPX) and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) showed weaker relationships. OSCE/CPX scores were correlated with other variables, especially grade point average and oral structured exam scores. The consequences of this assessment were (1) making students learn clinical skills and study themselves, while causing too much stress for students due to lack of motivation; (2) reminding educators of the need to apply practical teaching methods and to give feedback on the test results; and (3) providing an opportunity for faculty to consider developing support programs. It is necessary to develop the blueprint more precisely according to students' level and to verify the validity of the response process with statistical methods.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.661-670
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• 2019

In this study, we constructed a model of an area where the production and production amount of wild vegetables which are designated as short term income forest products for the whole country are self-sufficient for the representative Eastern Braken fern(Pteridium aquilinum)and Edible aster(Aster scaber). The difference between the existing cultivation site and the model result was examined, and the distribution of the cultivable area was simulated according to the near future climate change by the 2050s. The degree of agreement between the cultivated area and the actual native area was very low at 14.5% for Eastern Braken fern and 12.9% for Edible aster. Using the Maxent model, which has already been proven by many research examples, the cultivation maps through the model can guarantee statistical accuracy by considering many variables. To analyze future location changes, the RCP 4.5 scenario and the RCP 8.5 scenario were applie Edible aster d to predict potential future cultivable areas and compare them to the present. There was no decrease in the cultivable area due to climate change nationwide. However, in the RCP 8.5 scenario for Eastern Braken fern and the RCP 4.5 scenario for Edible aster, declining areas such as Gangwon-do, Jeollabuk-do and Gyeongsangbuk-do showed prominence according to the scenarios. The result of this study suggests that various models can be used for the production of short-term forest productivity maps and it will be used as a climate change impact assessment data for competitive forest products considering the influence of future climate change.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.331-344
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• 2015

A long-term gridded historical data at 3 km spatial resolution has been generated for practical regional applications such as hydrologic modelling. However, overly high or low values have been found at some grid points where complex topography or sparse observational network exist. In this study, the Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) method was applied to properly smooth the overly predicted values of Improved GIS-based Regression Model (IGISRM), called the IDW-IGISRM grid data, at the same resolution for daily precipitation, maximum temperature and minimum temperature from 2001 to 2010 over South Korea. We tested various effective distances in the IDW method to detect an optimal distance that provides the highest performance. IDW-IGISRM was compared with IGISRM to evaluate the effectiveness of IDW-IGISRM with regard to spatial patterns, and quantitative performance metrics over 243 AWS observational points and four selected stations showing the largest biases. Regarding the spatial pattern, IDW-IGISRM reduced irrational overly predicted values, i. e. producing smoother spatial maps that IGISRM for all variables. In addition, all quantitative performance metrics were improved by IDW-IGISRM; correlation coefficient (CC), Index Of Agreement (IOA) increase up to 11.2% and 2.0%, respectively. Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) were also reduced up to 5.4% and 15.2% respectively. At the selected four stations, this study demonstrated that the improvement was more considerable. These results indicate that IDW-IGISRM can improve the predictive performance of IGISRM, consequently providing more reliable high-resolution gridded data for assessment, adaptation, and vulnerability studies of climate change impacts.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.123-135
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• 2018

The objective of this paper is to investigate the issues related to the supply chain management in plant engineering industry, and propose the framework to improve the project efficiency. The preliminary case study shows that EPC's fragmented nature, lack of coordination and information sharing, and lack of proper risk and change management contribute to project delay and cost overrun. To examine the level of informatization and information sharing in supply chain, survey responses from the suppliers and subcontractors have been collected. The statistical results show that information sharing, early involvement in design process and awareness in SCM have influenced the level of collaboration, but supplier assessment and informatization have no impact on the collaboration. A conceptual model is proposed in order to facilitate the integration of design, procurement and construction functions. Implications from the study are also provided.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.451-460
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a modified constraint induced movement therapy (mCIMT) using proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) on the upper extremity function and activities of daily living (ADLs) in patients with subacute stroke. Methods: Fourteen participants with subacute stroke were randomly assigned to a group using both mCIMT and PNF or a group using mCIMT alone. Each group underwent twenty sessions (1 h/d, 5 d/wk) for 4 weeks. Patients were assessed with the action research arm test (ARAT), the Fugl-Meyer assessment for the upper extremities (FMA-UE), the Modified Barthel Index (MBI), and motor activity logs (MALs; amount of use [AOU] and quality of movement [QOM]). Results: Both the experimental group and the control group showed significant intragroup improvement in the ARAT, FMA-UE, MBI, and MAL-AOU (p<0.05). The group using both mCIMT and PNF exhibited greater improvement in the ARAT, FMA-UE, MBI, and MAL-AOU than did the group using mCIMT alone. Statistical analyses showed significant differences in the ARAT (p=0.01), FMA-UE (p=0.01), MBI (p=0.00), and MAL-AOU (p=0.01) between the groups. Conclusion: This study applied mCIMT combined with PNF for subacute stroke patients, and the results showed significant improvements in the patients' upper extremity function and ADLs. Therefore, mCIMT using PNF may be more effective than mCIMT alone in improving upper limb function and ADLs in patients with subacute stroke.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.262-266
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• 2017

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare Plaque Percent Index (PPI), calculated by Patient Hygiene Performance Index (PHPI), Rustogi's modification of the Navy Plaque Index (RMNPI), and the Quigley & Hein Plaque Index (QHPI), with visual assessment. Methods: Ninety-six subjects, aged between 30-65 years, were examined; twenty subjects were included in the final analysis. The subjects' teeth were stained and photographed. Dental coloring and intraoral camera photography were performed by a single examiner. The oral images obtained were analyzed using Image J to measure the area of dental plaque. The values of PHPI, RMNPI, and QHPI were calculated twice. Statistical analyses were performed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The results of the correlation analyses of PPI with PHPI, QHPI, and RMNPI were as follows: for PHPI, the correlation coefficient (r)=0.584; for QHPI, r=0.689; and for RMNPI, r=0.729. Further, the kappa indices of PHPI, QHPI, and RMNPI were 0.810, 0.677, and 0.590 respectively. Conclusions: Among RMNPI, QHPI, and PHPI dental plaque indices, RMNPI and QHPI showed a high degree of correlation with the actual stained dental plaque area; on the other hand, PHPI showed the highest kappa index.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.32-40
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• 2019

BACKGOUND/OBJECTIVES: This study investigated nutritional status of the elderly with dementia in a care facility with the aim of improving the meal quality of the facility. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Data were collected from 30 dementia patients aged more than 65 years in a long-term care facility in Hongseong. The data were obtained from questionnaires and medical records. The food intake data was obtained using food photographs and the nutrient intakes were calculated using the CAN-Pro 5.0. The data were compared with the dietary reference intakes for Koreans (KDRIs). The nutrient density, diet quality such as nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR), mean adequacy ratio (MAR), and index of nutritional quality (INQ), as well as dietary diversity score (DDS) were evaluated. The data were analyzed using SPSS statistical programs. RESULTS: The average daily energy intakes for men and women were much lower than the estimated energy requirements of the KDRIs. The average intakes of energy and most nutrients in the general diet group were significantly higher than those of the other two groups. Significant differences in diet quality and diet diversity were observed according to the meal type groups. The NARs of some minerals (calcium, iron, and zinc) and vitamins (vitamin $B_6$ and folic acid) were less than 0.5 in all study groups. The NARs of protein, iron and MAR of the general diet group were significantly higher than those of the liquid diet group. The DDS scores of meats, fruits and diary food group were very low in all meal type groups, meaning that the diet qualities of the study subjects were not appropriate in all meal type groups. CONCLUSIONS: The food intakes of the study groups showed some limitations by a direct comparison with KDRIs because of the very low physical activities of the study subjects. The diet quality and diet diversity indices suggest the need for improvements in the nutritional quality in all types of diet. Overall, new intervention strategies targeting facility residents with dementia in Korea are needed as soon as possible.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.255-266
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• 2018

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of Pattern Identifications Tool for Cognitive Disorders (PIT-C) and verify the correlation with other related scales. Methods: The study in this protocol is a single group, prospective, observational one. The subjects of the study were men and women between the ages of 45 and 85, diagnosed with neurocognitive disorders by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (fifth Edition) criteria (n=60, Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR)=0.5, Korean Version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment $(MoCA-K){\leq}22$). The reliability of PIT-C was evaluated as test-retest and inter-rater reliability. And correlation between PIT-C and other related scales was also assessed. Results: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Dunsan Korean Medicine Hospital of Daejeon University and registered in the Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS), and was made public in advance to ensure transparency of the research process and conduct ethical clinical trials. Conclusions: The results of this study can be used to classify neurocognitive disorders as Korean medicine and PIT-C will be helpful tool for primary health care.