• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.355-363
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• 2024

This study evaluated the clinical utility of Shear Wave Elastography(SWE) by analyzing the differences in elastic modulus and shear wave speed across various types of breast tissue and assessing inter-observer agreement. A breast phantom that included normal breast tissue, benign tumors, and malignant tumors was utilized, and ten radiologists participated, measuring the minimum, average, and maximum elastic modulus and shear wave speed for each tissue type. Analysis of differences between tissues was conducted using one-way ANOVA, and intra- and inter-observer agreement was assessed using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient(ICC). The results demonstrated significant differences in the average values of elastic modulus and shear wave speed among the tissue types(p<0.001), with malignant tumor tissues showing the highest average values. Furthermore, the ICC analysis for elastic modulus ranged from 0.75 to 0.99 and for shear wave speed from 0.89 to 0.99, indicating high reproducibility and agreement. These findings suggest that SWE is a reliable tool with high reproducibility and specificity for the diagnosis of breast cancer.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.507-516
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• 2011

Comparative studies on generalized binomial models (Moon, 2003; Ng, 1989; Paul, 1985; Kupper and Haseman, 1978; Griffiths, 1973) are restrictive in that the models compared are rather limited and MSE of the estimates is the only measure considered for the model adequacy. This paper is aimed to report simulation results which provide possible guidelines for selecting a proper model. We examine Pearson type of goodness-of-fit statistic to its degrees of freedom and AIC for the overall model quality. MSE and Bias of the individual estimates are also considered as the component fit measures. Performance of some models varies widely for a certain range of the parameter space while most of the models are quite competent. Our evaluation shows that the Extended Beta-Binomial model (Prentice, 1986) turns out to be particularly favorable in the point that it provides consistently excellent fit almost all over the values of the intra-class correlation coefficient and the probability of success.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.135-146
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• 2024

Urinalysis is a fundamental diagnostic test routinely performed in clinical laboratories. We evaluated two manual microscopy methods, including a novel protocol, against the standardized chamber method. A total of 402 specimens, comprising 201 positive each for red blood cells (RBCs) and white blood cells (WBCs) by the strip test and automated urine sediment analyzer, were selected for the analysis. The correlation coefficients between the standardized chamber method and the novel protocol RBC and WBC test were both r=0.98, indicating a high degree of correlation. The pair-wise agreement rates for the same grade between these two methods were 86.1% for RBCs and 88.6% for WBCs, with rates within one grade difference of both at 99.5%. In contrast, the agreement rates between the standardized chamber method and smaller or medium-sized laboratory methods were notably lower, with the same-grade rates at 11.9% for RBCs and 13.4% for WBCs, and within one grade difference at 67.2% and 74.1%, respectively. Additional analyses using the intraclass correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman plots confirmed that the novel protocol exhibited superior agreement compared to the other three manual microscopy methods tested. Therefore, we recommend the novel protocol as a standardized procedure for urine sediment preparation, given its high correlation and agreement with the standardized chamber method.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1751-1758
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• 2012

Capillary blood sampling on the forearm reduces pain caused by skin puncture. The present study compared the blood glucose test results performed at different sampling sites of the forearm, finger, and vein to evaluate clinical validity of this alternative site blood sampling technique. Subjects numbered 555 including 61 diabetic patients participated to measure the glucose concentration on the finger ($G_F$) and the forearm ($G_A$) with a portable glucometer under overnight fasting state. Then, the venous glucose concentration ($G_V$) was measured in 514 subjects in less than 1 hour. The test results were analyzed by simple linear regression, intraclass correlation, and Passing-Bablok regression techniques. $G_A$ was highly correlated with $G_F$ or $G_V$ showing the correlation coefficients (r) of approximately 0.97 (P<0.0001) in the normal group. The patient group also resulted similarly high correlation with only slightly lower r value. The mean differences in glucose concentration were less than ${\pm}10mg/dL$ regardless of the sampling sites. Intraclass correlation coefficients were slightly smaller than r but very much similar in value in both groups. The 95% confidence intervals of the slope as well as the intercept in the Passing-Bablok regression analysis were < ${\pm}20%$ and < ${\pm}20mg/dL$, respectively, which were within the clinically acceptable ranges. These three statistical techniques introduced in the present study well demonstrated the consistency of $G_A$ with $G_F$ and $G_V$. Therefore, the forearm blood glucose test could be considered as clinically valid under fasting condition.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to assess the intra-rater, inter-rater and test-retest reliability and validity of frontal plane lower extremity alignment estimated from a rasterstereographic method using ABW-Mapper. Eighteen subjects participated in this study. The S angle (stereographic angle-frontal plane lower extremity alignment estimated from a rasterstereographic method) in standing was measured throughout the two sessions with one week interval by two different readers. In the first session, a reader measured S angle twice per subject with a short break in-between. The Q-angle (quadriceps angle) was measured using a standard goniometer from a photography taken through digital camera with the participant standing in the same position as in the S angle measurement. The HKA(hip-knee-ankle) angle was measured from a computer based digital radiograph with the computerized measurement software. Reliability was tested using intraclass correlation coefficients(ICC). Validity was tested using a Pearson's correlation coefficient. Excellent intra-rater(ICC=0.956~0.974), inter-rater(ICC=0.962), test-retest reliability (ICC=0.945) were demonstrated. There were strong negative correlations between S angle and Q-angle (r=-0.739), and between S angle and HKA angle (r=-0.702). Therefore, the S angle measured using a rasterstereographic mapper may be used to as a preliminary or supplementary tool to evaluate and study LE alignment in the frontal plane in relation to HKA angle or Q-angle.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.14-25
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• 2019

Objective : This study aims to verify the content validity and inter-rater reliability of the Korean version of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale 2 (PDMS-2) and to identify the concurrent validity by comparing it with the Korean version of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-2 (BOT-2). Methods : PDMS-2 was translated by the researcher and an eighth-year clinical occupational therapist. The content consistency of the Korean version of the PDMS-2 was verified by three professors with experience using it. After the verification of the content consistency of the PDMS-2 by the five clinical occupational therapists and the additional revision, the Korean version of the PDMS-2 was completed. The researcher and another occupational therapist evaluated the Korean version of PDMS-2 in 50 children and measured the inter-rater reliability. Concurrent validity was measured by comparing the results of the Korean version of PDMS-2 and Korean version of BOT-2. Results : The content consistency test showed overall agreement of mean 3.45, and the content understanding test showed a high level of understanding of mean 3.69. The inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity of the Korean version of the PDMS-2 showed a statistically significant correlation. Conclusion : The Korean version of the PDMS-2 showed high content understanding, reliability, and validity. It can assist clinicians and researchers who work in fields related to child treatment or development.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.135-144
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to revalidate the 'Hospital Violence Attitude Scale-18 (HVAS-18) in clinical nurses'. 150 clinical nurses from three general hospitals in two cities participated in this study. Data were collected from March to April in 2017. The collected data were analyzed using factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's alpha. The final HVAS-14 consisted of fourteen items and four factors emerged, which explained 74.1% of the total variance. These four factors were labeled: Factor 1 (3 items) 'awareness' which explained 20.3%; Factor 2 (4 items) 'response' which explained 20.2%; Factor 3 (3 items) 'reaction' which explained 15.5%; and Factor 4 (4 items) 'result' which explained 15.4%. The internal consistency and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), as measured by Cronbach's alpha, were both .87, and the reliability of the subscales ranged from .78 to .86. The results of this study indicate that HVAS-14 is a useful, reliable and valid instrument to measure the hospital violence attitude of clinical nurses.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.71-77
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• 2017

In order for the consumers of education and university to be mutually communicating well, satisfaction surveys with a correct system are essential. This study points out the causes for insincere responses found in the process of education satisfaction surveys while discussing possible methods to elicit sincere responses from the students. As a result of analyzing S University, it was observed that enforced online evaluation methods did have a high response rate but also monotonously insincere responses showed to have a high ration among them. A second study was carried out in order to improve the research method after confirming the reliability of the research. Study results sowed that through a representative sample survey, monotonous response patterns decreased and the data distribution satisfied normal distribution. Moreover, a focus group interview was carried out in order to understand the root causes and possible solutions to the problem. Lastly, this study revealed the need of diversified attempts and research in order to secure reliability in education satisfaction surveys while proposing methods of improvement.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.383-389
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• 2005

Xerostomia is defined as a subjective complaint of dry mouth that may be perceived when there is insufficient mucosal wetting. However, the diagnosis and treatment of xerostomia is not that simple because of the fact that the subjective awareness of dry mouth is not always correlated with a diminution in the flow of saliva and there is always a difference between individuals in salivary flow rates needed for normal oral function. In the present study, the aim was to develop a questionnaire to evaluate the dry mouth symptoms and to analyze its reliability and usability as a diagnostic and analytic tool for xerostomia. The questionnaire which consists of 6 Visual Analogue Scale(VAS) type questions to evaluate the subjective oral dryness and 4 questions to evaluate behavior to avoid oral dryness was developed and administered twice with 1 week's interval to the healthy 88 young adults without dry mouth symptoms(44 males and 44 females; mean age was $25.6{\pm}3.1$ years in male and $24.3{\pm}2.1$ years in female). The results were as follows. 1 The intraclass correlation coefficients of 6 questions to evaluate the subjective oral dryness were as significantly high as 0.767 for the degree of oral dryness at other times of the day, 0.850 for the amount of saliva in the mouth, and 0.791 for the degree of effect on daily life due to oral dryness and as high as 0.563 for the degree of oral dryness at night or on awakening, 0.674 for the degree of oral dryness during eating, and 0.641 for the degree of difficulty in swallowing foods. 2. Cronbach's alpha value of 6 questions was 0.982. It can be concluded that the series of questions to evaluate the subjective oral dryness has high internal consistency. 3. Cohen's kappa values of 4 questions to evaluate behavior to relieve oral dryness were as significantly high as 0.850 for the frequency of keeping a glass of water at the bedside and as high as 0.506 the frequency of awakening during sleeping due to oral dryness, 0.419 for the frequency of sipping liquids to aid in eating dry foods, and 0.407 for the frequency of using a candy or chewing gum due to oral dryness. From the results, it can be concluded that the questionnaire consisting of 6 VAS type questions to evaluate the subjective oral dryness and 4 questions to evaluate behavior to relieve oral dryness has reliability of good to excellent level, and that the series of 6 VAS type questions has significantly high internal consistency to evaluate the subjective oral dryness.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.83-91
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• 2008

Objectives : Neurological soft signs have been regarded as endophenotypes associated with the genetic basis of schizophrenia. This study was to investigate the intra-familial correlations of the neurological soft signs according to their genetic loading. Methods : Schizophrenic patients(N=14) were included, who had one parent with a family history of schizophrenia and the other without it. Genetic loading was determined by the patient's family history of schizophrenia using the Family Interview for Genetic Studies(FIGS). These parents were subdivided into two groups. The first group was designated as 'presumed carriers'(N=9) of genetic loading, who had one or more schizophreic firstor second-degree relatives. The second group was designated as 'presumed non-carriers'(N=11) of genetic loading, who had no schizophrenic first- or second-degree relatives. Normal controls(N=12) consisted of people without schizophrenic relatives. NSS were evaluated using the Neurological Evaluation Scale-Korean Version (NES-K), and the intra-familial correlations of NSS were tested using the Intra-Class Coefficients(ICC) method. Results : The scores of Motor Coordination subdimension of NES-K were significantly correlated between the patients and their presumed carriers(ICC=.804, p=.016), but not significantly correlated between the patients and their presumed noncarriers. In other subdimensions of NES-K, no significant correlation were found between the patients and their parents regardless of the genetic loading. But, there were no statistically significant differences in the scores of Motor Coordination subdimension of NES-K between the patients and controls. Conclusion : This study did not prove that the neurological soft signs might be an endophenotype of schizophrenia that cosegregate with the genetic loading. The future study using more subjects than this would be needed.