• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.296-303
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• 2022

Background In recent years thread lift has become widespread; however, existing methods need to improve their long-term outcome, which requires considering topographic anatomy of face and neck, especially the ligamentous apparatus. This study aims to assess the effectiveness and safety of an innovative method of one-time three-step thread facelift, which provides an additional support to the ligamentous structures of the upper, middle, and lower thirds of the face and neck. Methods The study included 357 patients aged 32 to 67 years with various morphotypes of aging. The original method of thread lift was applied, and its effectiveness was followed up for to 2 years. The Wrinkle Severity Rating Score (WSRS) and Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS) scores were used for assessment by investigators, independent observers, and patients. Statistical significance was determined using paired t-test and chi-square test. Results The mean WSRS score was 3.88 ± 0.88 before the thread lift, 1.93 ± 0.81 one month after the procedure, and 2.36 ± 0.85 after 2 years of follow-up. The mean GAIS was 4.80 ± 0.04 one month after thread lift, and 4.01 ± 0.04 after 2 years, while in the patients' assessment Global Satisfaction Scale was 4.86 ± 0.02 and 4.10 ± 0.02, respectively. There were no clinically significant complications throughout the observation period. Conclusion The new method of one-time three-step thread fixation of the soft tissues of the face and neck demonstrated a high degree of satisfaction by both experts and patients after 2 years of follow-up. It showed high efficacy and safety, including in the group of patients with pronounced age-related changes of the skin of face and neck.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.327-338
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• 2022

This study determined the recent status and trend of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PcP) in the non-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (non-HIV-PcP) and HIV (HIV-PcP) infected populations using data from the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA) and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). SaTScan and Join-point were used for statistical analyses. Non-HIV-PcP cases showed an upward trend during the study period from 2010 to 2021, with the largest number in 2021 (551 cases). The upward trend was similar until 2020 after adjusting for the population. Seoul had the highest number of cases (1,597) in the non-HIV-PcP group, which was the same after adjusting for the population (162 cases/1,000,000). It was followed by Jeju-do (89 cases/1,000,000). The most likely cluster (MLC) for the non-HIV-PCP group was Seoul (Relative Risk (RR)=4.59, Log Likelihood Ratio (LLR)=825.531), followed by Jeju-do (RR=1.59, LLR=5.431). An upward trend was observed among the non-HIV-PcP group in the Jeju-do/Jeollanam-do/Jeollabuk-do/Gyeongsangnam-do/Busan/Daejeon/Daegu/Ulsan joint cluster (29.02%, LLR=11.638, P<0.001) located in the southern part of Korea. Both women and men in the non-HIV groups showed an overall upward trend of PcP during the study period. Men in the 60-69 age group had the highest annual percentage change (APC 41.8) during 2014-2019. In contrast, the HIV groups showed a falling trend of PcP recently. Men in the 60-69 age group had the most decrease (APC -17.6) during 2018-2021. This study provides an analytic basis for health measures and a nationwide epidemiological surveillance system for the management of PcP.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.153-157
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: The residue dissipation pattern of pesticides for agricultural products during the pre-harvest period after the final application is important to prevent the maximum residue limit (MRL) violations in domestic and export markets. The MRL violations of carbendazim are observed more often in chamnamul by pesticide residue management surveys by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The residue level at the pre-harvest interval (PHI) and the residue dissipation constant from the critical good agricultural practice (cGAP) trials could be estimated to meet the MRL and pose a health risk to consumers. METHODS AND RESULTS: Chamnamuls were harvested at 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 days after application of carbendazim in accordance with critical GAP. The residue analysis in chamnanul was performed by HPLC-DAD with the C₁₈ column. The limit of quantitation of carbendazim was 0.04 mg/kg, and the recoveries were 74.4 - 95.8% at the two spiked levels (LOQ and 10LOQ) of carbendazim. The dissipation rates in chamnamul were calculated from the residues at the sampling days by statistical method at a 95% confidence level. The biological half-lives of residual carbendazim in the field trials 1 and 2 were 4.9 and 4.4 days, respectively. CONCLUSION(S): In this dissipation study, the residue concentrations at the recommended PHI were higher than the established MRL in Korea. Therefore, the MRL is proposed based on the residue data sets from the trials conducted at the same cGAP and the dietary exposure assessment.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.87-93
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• 2022

Objective: The purpose of this research was to investigate the age-related changes in whole-body motor variability during sit-to-stand (STS) task. It has been reported that children perform motor tasks less accurately with greater variability as compared to adults. However, it is still unknown how they utilize the abundant degrees of freedom and accomplish voluntary actions. Uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis has been used to partition motor variabilities into two independent variability components, task-relevant variability (V_ORT) and task-irrelevant variability (V_UCM). We investigated what differences exist between children and adults with respect to these two motor variability components in relation to motor development stages. Method: Ten 6-year-old children (height: 116.2 ± 4.3 cm, weight: 23.1 ± 3.9 kg, motor development assessment percentile score: 77.5 ± 18.6%), ten 10-year-old children (height: 138.7 ± 7.2 cm, weight: 35.8 ± 10.3 kg, motor development assessment percentile score: 73.9 ± 12.7%), and ten young adults (age: 23 ± 1.6 year-old, height: 164.3 ± 11.4 cm, weight: 60.8 ± 12.0 kg) participated in this study. Each participant performed STS ten times, and a motion capture system was used to capture the whole-body kinematics. Each segment centers of mass and the whole-body center of mass were calculated, and UCM analysis was used to quantify motor variabilities, V_ORT and V_UCM. One-way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. Results: We found that children produced more motor variabilities in V_ORT and V_UCM in all three dimensions, anterior-posterior, medial-lateral, and vertical. As age increased, both, V_ORT and V_UCM significantly decreased (p<.05). Conclusion: The greater V_ORT found in children compared to adults indicates that the repeatability over repetitions improves through development, while the greater V_UCM found in children suggests that children better utilize the abundant degrees of freedom during STS compared to adults.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.397-404
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• 2022

Accurate prediction of the undrained shaft resistance is essential for robust design of bored piles in undrained condition. The undrained shaft resistance is calculated using the undrained adhesion factor multiplied by the undrained cohesion of the soil. However, the available correlations to predict the undrained adhesion factor have been developed using simple regression techniques and the accuracy of these correlations has not been thoroughly assessed in previous studies. The lack of the assessment of these correlations made it difficult for geotechnical engineers to select the most accurate correlation in routine designs. Furthermore, limited attempts have been made in previous studies to use advanced data mining techniques to develop simple and accurate correlation to predict the undrained adhesion factor. This research, therefore, has been conducted to fill these gaps in knowledge by developing novel and robust correlation to predict the undrained adhesion factor. The development of the new correlation has been conducted using the multi-objective evolutionary polynomial regression analysis. The new correlation outperformed the available empirical correlations, where the new correlation scored lower mean absolute error, mean square error, root mean square error and standard deviation of measured to predicted adhesion factor, and higher mean, a20-index and coefficient of correlation. The correlation also successfully showed the influence of the undrained cohesion and the effective stress on the adhesion factor. Hence, the new correlation enhances the design accuracy and can be used by practitioner geotechnical engineers to ensure optimized designs of bored piles in undrained conditions.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.329-336
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• 2021

Background: In the field of dentistry, topical anesthetics play an important role in reducing pain during needle pricks. The anesthetic property of betel leaves remain unexplored, even though they have been widely used for the treatment of various ailments. The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate pain perception following topical application of lignocaine gel, clove gel, ice, and newly developed betel leaf extract gel during intraoral injection in children. Methods: Sixty children aged 6-10 years who met the inclusion criteria were divided into four groups. Topical anesthetic agents, 2% lignocaine (Lox-2% Jelly, Neon, Mumbai, India), 4.7% clove gel (Pain Out Dental Gel, Colgate Palmolive India Ltd, Solan, India), 10% betel leaf extract gel, and ice were applied to each group for one min, followed by administration of infiltration anesthesia. Pain perception was analyzed during needle insertion. The Wong Bakers FACES pain rating scale (WBFPRS) was used for subjective assessment and the Sound, Eye, Motor (SEM) scale for objective assessment. Recorded values were tabulated and subjected to appropriate statistical analysis using SPSS software with a P value set at 0.05. Results: The clove oil and betel leaf groups demonstrated the highest WBFPRS scores, followed by the ice and lignocaine groups. The clove, betel leaf extract, and ice groups showed equal and highest SEM scores, followed by the lignocaine group. The mean WBFPRS and mean SEM scores were statistically significant. Conclusion: Betel leaf extract gel is effective in reducing pain and can act as an alternative topical anesthetic agent.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.12
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• pp.2733-2742
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• 2020

This paper presents an assessment of applicability of the multigroup cross sections generated with Monte Carlo tools to the fast reactor analysis based on transport calculations. 33-group cross section sets were generated for simple one- (1-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) sodium-cooled fast reactor problems using the SERPENT code and applied to deterministic steady-state and depletion calculations. Relative to the reference continuous-energy SERPENT results, with the transport corrected P₀ scattering cross section, the k-eff value was overestimated by 506 and 588 pcm for 1-D and 2-D problems, respectively, since anisotropic scattering is important in fast reactors. When the scattering order was increased to P₅, the 1-D and 2-D problem errors were increased to 577 and 643 pcm, respectively. A sensitivity and uncertainty analysis with the PERSENT code indicated that these large k-eff errors cannot be attributed to the statistical uncertainties of cross sections and they are likely due to the approximate anisotropic scattering matrices determined by scalar flux weighting. The anisotropic scattering cross sections were alternatively generated using the MC²-3 code and merged with the SERPENT cross sections. The mixed cross section set consistently reduced the errors in k-eff, assembly powers, and nuclide densities. For example, in the 2-D calculation with P3 scattering order, the k-eff error was reduced from 634 pcm to -223 pcm. The maximum error in assembly power was reduced from 2.8% to 0.8% and the RMS error was reduced from 1.4% to 0.4%. The maximum error in the nuclide densities at the end of 12-month depletion that occurred in ²³⁷Np was reduced from 3.4% to 1.5%. The errors of the other nuclides are also reduced consistently, for example, from 1.1% to 0.1% for ²³⁵U, from 2.2% to 0.7% for ²³⁸Pu, and from 1.6% to 0.2% for ²⁴¹Pu. These results indicate that the scalar flux weighted anisotropic scattering cross sections of SERPENT may not be adequate for application to fast reactors where anisotropic scattering is important.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.539-548
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• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the organizational effectiveness of the introduction of a healthcare information system (electronic medical records and databases) in healthcare in Kazakhstan. Methods: The authors used a combination of 2 methods: expert assessment and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. SWOT analysis is a necessary element of research, constituting a mandatory preliminary stage both when drawing up strategic plans and for taking corrective measures in the future. The expert survey was conducted using 2 questionnaires. Results: The study involved 40 experts drawn from specialists in primary healthcare in Aktobe: 15 representatives of administrative and managerial personnel (chief doctors and their deputies, heads of medical statistics offices, organizational and methodological offices, and internal audit services) and 25 general practitioners. Conclusions: The following functional indicators of the medical and organizational effectiveness of the introduction of information systems in polyclinics were highlighted: first, improvement of administrative control, followed in descending order by registration and movement of medical documentation, statistical reporting and process results, and the cost of employees' working time. There has been no reduction in financial costs, namely in terms of the costs of copying, delivery of information in paper form, technical equipment, and paper.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.10-17
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• 2023

Dairy products are extensively used as carriers of probiotic strains that have potential health benefits. Assessment of the viability of probiotic strains during manufacturing is important to ensure that products meet recommended levels. Hence, the method for accurately quantifying lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in probiotic or dairy products is required. The present study aims to examine the performance of de-Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS), plate count agar with bromocresol purple (PCA with BCP), and glucose blood liver (BL) agars recommended in the Korea Food Code guidelines for counting LAB. Analysis of the performance of culture media containing 19 lactic acid bacterial species commonly encountered in probiotic and dairy products showed no statistically significant difference between 18 reference strains and three culture media (p > 0.01). Furthermore, the suitability of three culture media was verified for the quantitative assessment of LAB in 25 probiotic and dairy products. The number of LAB in three culture media was determined to be more than 10⁷ colony-forming unit (CFU)/ml for fermented milk products and 10⁸ CFU/ml for condensed fermented milk and probiotic products, indicating that they all satisfied the Korea Food Code guidelines. Moreover, there was no statistically significant difference in the amount of LAB counted in all three culture media, suggesting that they can be used to isolate or enumerate LAB in commercial products. Finally, three culture media will be useful for isolating and enumerating LAB from fermented foods as well as gut microflora.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.329-342
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• 2023

Turbid water and suspended sediment (SS) load are having negative consequences such as water quality degradation and ecological damage, thus necessitating the establishment of management guidelines to reduce their impact. The present work investigates the spatio-temporal distribution of fish species and the effects of turbid water from 2011-2016 in the upper reaches of Soyang-Dam. The family Cyprinidae is the largest population in the study area, among which Zacco platypus and Zacco koreanus are the dominant species. The diversity of species is relatively abundant in the upper watershed, while the seasonal effect on the population distribution remains unclear. Using two main common components of the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis, the distribution characteristics of 27 species at five survey sites are revealed. Zacco koreanus is found to be predominant at the upstream A-Naerincheon, while Zacco platypus and Rhinogobius brunneus are found to be predominant at the upstream B-Bukcheon. Disturbance of an aquatic ecosystem has a relatively greater impact in the downstream, as-compared to the upper area-the high proportion of forest area is decreased whereas that of agricultural and urbanized areas is increased. The patterns of representative species are changed according to the mid- to long-term effects of turbid water and SS. Accordingly, the significant correlation between the SS load and fish distribution EOF analysis indicates that it should be considered as a potential alternative that can overcome the limitations of impact assessment on turbid water to the Fish Assessment Index (FAI). A comprehensive study examining the long-term effects of SS load to the fish ecosystems with a systematic statistical analysis of sufficiently accumulated data at the national level is needed as future research.