• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.487-495
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• 2020

This study examined the effects of auricular acupressure on female college students with functional constipation to propose auricular acupressure as an effective and evidence-based nursing intervention. This is an experimental study designed with randomization and single-blind in a Sham-control approach. The subjects included 44 female college students with functional constipation whose symptoms met the Rome IV criteria. In this study, five different acupressure sites were applied to each group; the experimental group (n=23) received auricular acupressure on rectum, large intestine, lung, san jiao, and shenmen, whereas the Sham control group (n=21) received acupressure on ankle, helix, tooth, jaw, and external ear. The intervention was implemented once a week for a total of six weeks. After six weeks, the severity of constipation, stool form, and quality of life regarding constipation in the experimental group significantly improved compared to that of the Sham control group (p<.001). Consequently, the study showed that auricular acupressure can be used as an effective nursing intervention to alleviate constipation in female college students.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.363-389
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• 2016

Deficient modes that cannot be always identified from different sets of measurement data may exist in the application of operational modal analysis such as the stochastic subspace identification techniques in large-scale civil structures. Based on a recent work using the long-term ambient vibration measurements from an instrumented cable-stayed bridge under different wind excitation conditions, a benchmark problem is launched by taking the same bridge as a test bed to further intensify the exploration of mode identifiability. For systematically assessing this benchmark problem, a recently developed SSI algorithm based on an alternative stabilization diagram and a hierarchical sifting process is extended and applied in this research to investigate several sets of known and blind monitoring data. The evaluation of delicately selected cases clearly distinguishes the effect of traffic excitation on the identifiability of the targeted deficient mode from the effect of wind excitation. An additional upper limit for the vertical acceleration amplitude at deck, mainly induced by the passing traffic, is subsequently suggested to supplement the previously determined lower limit for the wind speed. Careful inspection on the shape vector of the deficient mode under different excitation conditions leads to the postulation that this mode is actually induced by the motion of the central tower. The analysis incorporating the tower measurements solidly verifies this postulation by yielding the prevailing components at the tower locations in the extended mode shape vector. Moreover, it is also confirmed that this mode can be stably identified under all the circumstances with the addition of tower measurements. An important lesson learned from this discovery is that the problem of mode identifiability usually comes from the lack of proper measurements at the right locations.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.147-168
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to present suggestions for Korean libraries for disabled person after collecting and analyzing qualitative data upon library policies of national libraries, public libraries and libraries for disabled person in European countries including Sweden, UK and France. Korean national library support center for the disabled should be independent in order to have consistent policy and ability for its execution. It should also support private libraries for the disabled in inheriting professionalism and accumulated history. Developing alternative material, integrated catalogue and professional service is required by cooperative and systematic arrangements among national and public libraries for disabled person including schools and university libraries. Also, it should be able to grow not only on the basis of internal cooperation among libraries but also with the help of external organizations like social and legal systems, organizations related with the disabled and regional self governing bodies.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.195-204
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• 1997

Objectives : The behavioral and physiological effects following low doses and high doses of melatonin have not been fully explored. In this study the authors investigated the nature and extent of the hypnotic effects, oral temperature, blood pressure effects, performance effects and subjective feelings following the acute administration of low pharmacological oral doses of melatonin at mid-day. Methods : Thirty-five healthy young medical students were randomly assigned to receive 6mg of oral melatonin(N=11), 12mg of oral melatonin(N=12) or a placebo(N=12) in a double-blind, placebo controlled trial. Measures of the behavioral and physiological effects used in the study were Stanford Sleepiness Scale, Digit Symbol Substitution Test, Trail test and visual analogue scale for subjective feelings. Oral temperature and blood pressure were measured. The subjects were studied between 10:00 and 16:00 hours. Data were analyzed by using repeated-measures analyses of variance(ANOVA). Results: Melatonin produced statistically significant effects on oral temperature, but there were no significant effects on time and the $dose{\times}time$ interaction. There was a significant difference on oral temperature between the 12mg oral melatonin group and the placebo group at 12:00 and 16:00 hours, but no significant difference between the 12mg and the 6mg oral melatonin groups. Melatonin produced a dose-related increase in subjective sleepiness and had significant effects on time, the $dose{\times}time$ interaction. There was a significant difference on subjective sleepiness among the placebo, 6mg, 12mg oral melatonin groups at 13:00-16:00 hours. Melatonin did not produce statistically significant dose-related effects on subjective fatigue but produced significant effects on time and the $dose{\times}time$ interaction. There was a significant difference on subjective fatigue between the 12mg, the 6mg oral melatonin groups and the placebo group at 13:00 hour. Conclusions : These data indicated that acute administration of melatonin at mid-day increased subjective sleepiness and fatigue but decreased oral temperatures. These effects were shown especially in 12mg oral melatonin group.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 1998

Background: Preoperative analgesia may prevent nociceptive inputs generated during surgery from sensitizing central neurons and therefore may preempt postoperative pain. Although preemptive analgesia has shown to decrease postinjury pain in animals, studies in human are not consistent. We studied whether epidural morphine injection before surgical incision could affect postoperative pain and analgesic demands, compared with injection after removal of specimen. Methods: Forty patients scheduled for radical subtotal gastrectomy were randomly assigned to one of two groups for prospective study in a double-blind manner. Group 1 received an epidural injection of 3 mg of morphine in 8 ml of 0.9% saline before surgical incision, and Group 2 after removal of specimen. Postoperative pain relief was provided with I.V. patient controlled analgesia (PCA) system. Numerical rating scales for pain and mood, Prince Henry Hospital scores for pain, cumulative PCA analgesic consumptions, and incidence of side effects were assessed at 2, 6, 12, 24, 48 hours after operation. Results: Cumulative PCA analgesic consumption in group 1 was significantly less than in group 2 at 2, 6 hours after surgery. Pain scores and the incidence of side effects were similar in both groups. Conclusions: Preoperative analgesia with epidural morphine showed little difference in patient controlled analgesic consumption after upper abdominal surgery compaired to intraoperative morphine.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.54-59
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• 1998

Background: Tramadol administered epidurally is known to have one-thirtieth the potency of morphine for treatment of pain following abdominal surgery. We designed a prospective, randomized, controlled study to evaluate the analgesic efficacy and safety of combined epidural infusion of bupivacaine and tramadol with 2-day infusor as ompared to bupivacaine and morphine combined epidural infusion. Methods: Sixty healthy women scheduled for Cesarean delivery were assigned randomly in double- blind fashion: Group 1 (n=20) were given a mixture of morphine 10 mg(1 ml), 0.5% bupivacaine 40 ml and normal saline(NS) 40 ml; Group 2(n=20) a mixture of tramadol 300 mg(6 ml), 0.5% bupivacaine 40 ml and NS 54 ml; Group 3(n=20) or a mixture of tramadol 500 mg(10 ml), 0.5% bupivacaine 50 ml and NS 50 ml, of continuous dose via epidural route following 1% lidocaine 6 ml as bolus dose for 48 hours postoperatively. We evaluated the analgesic efficacy and side effects of these three groups using visual analogue pain scale (VAPS) and verbal rating scale (VRS). Results: VAPS of group 1 and 3 were lower than group 2, and VAPS of group 1 was lower than group 3(12, 24, 36, 48 hours). VRS of group 1 and 3 were lower than group 2 (12, 24, 36 hours). There were incidences of pruritus was 16 patients in group 1. Conclusions: Tramadol does possess the analgesia effect of morphine, but has the added analgesia following increment. Further research to determine the most effective administration method and reguired dosage of tramadol is further needed.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2018

Background: Magnesium is one of the effective, safe local anesthetic adjuvants that can exert an analgesic effect in conditions presenting acute and chronic post-sternotomy pain. We studied the efficacy of continuous infusion of presternal magnesium sulfate with bupivacaine for pain relief following cardiac surgery. Methods: Ninety adult patients undergoing valve replacement cardiac surgery randomly allocated into three groups. In all patients; a presternal catheter was placed for continuous infusion of either 0.125% bupivacaine and 5% magnesium sulfate (3 ml/h for 48 hours) in group 1, or 0.125% bupivacaine only in the same rate in group 2, versus conventional intravenous paracetamol and ketorolac in group 3. Rescue analgesia was iv $25{\mu}g$ fentanyl. Postoperative Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and fentanyl consumption during the early two postoperative days were assessed. All patients were followed up over two months for occurrence of chronic post-sternotomy pain. Results: VAS values showed high significant differences during the first 48 hours with the least pain scale in group 1 and significantly least fentanyl consumption ($30.8{\pm}7{\mu}g$ in group 1 vs. $69{\pm}18{\mu}g$ in group 2, and $162{\pm}3$ in group 3 respectively). The incidence of chronic pain has not differed between the three groups although it was more pronounced in group 3. Conclusions: Continuous presternal bupivacaine and magnesium infusion resulted in better postoperative analgesia than both presternal bupivacaine alone or conventional analgesic groups.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.11-17
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• 2009

Background: The purpose of this study was designed to find out the effectiveness of reposition sense, muscle fatigue response on lumbar spine after apply lumbosacral stabilization exercise program to 4 patients with chronic low back pain and for 12 weeks. Method: In this study the reposition sense was measured in 3 angle(60, 30, 12) of the lumbar spine motion with blind by MedX test machine and the difference of instability to lumbar vertebra segments in flexion, extension test of standing position and spinal load test Mattress Test by Spinal Mouse. The stabilization exercise program was applied 2 times a week for 12 weeks in hospital and 2 times a day for 20 minutes at home. Result: The results of the present study were that the repositioning sense was appeared the most error in 12 angles of lumbar flexion and Men was appeared to decrease an error more than female in average value of 4 angles after 12 weeks. And average error of male was decrease more than female. Thus the effects of lumbosacral stabilization exercise was improved repositioning sense of prorioceptor. Fatigue response test(FRT) results, in male, was raised muscle fatigue rate during increase weight, on the other hand female appeared lower than male. Conclusion: As a results, lumbosacral stabilization exercise was aided to improvement of lumbar spine repositioning sense and vertebra segments stabilization. It was showed the rate of decrease in typically 12 degree angle point of each 3 angle(60, 36, 12). Especially, that spine instability patients will have a risk when in lifting a load or working with slight flexion posture around 12 degree during the daily of living life and it is probably to increase recurrence rate. Thus, not only lumbar extension muscle strength but also stability of vertebra segments in lumbar spine may be very important.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.89-99
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• 1996

The purpose of this study was to develop the diagnosis techniques for sex determination of rabbit embryos at preimplantation stage. To detect male specific sequences using polymerase chain reaction, two genes functional on sex determination including SRY and ZFX/Y genes were targeted using multiple oligonucleotide primer sets. Three of them for conserved SRY gene were used for appropriate amplification pattern, and then only one primer set #3 proved to be most efficient, showing male-specific strong signal ofamplified sequences. Using this male specific bandsfrom human, cattle, pig and mouse, the gender of rabbit was determined. As an another system for sex determination system, amplified 910bp fragment from ZFX/Y was digested with several restriction endonuclease and showed gender specific restriction fragments only by Hinf I. Using two different system for sex identification of rabbit in this study, blind tests for 17 samples was conducted and showed identical results from two different methods. And then, amplification limit of PCR reaction for template DNA was estimated using various amounts of DNA for both SRY and ZFX/Y systems, resulted as 20pg and 800pg, respectively. With this results, test for gender identification of rabbit embryos were performed using SRY derived amplification system. From total 22 embryos selected for its developmental state 18 were identified as male embryos, showing significant difference from expected sex ratio 1:1. This biased sex ratio was interpreted as to have been caused by the fact, reported by the fact, reported by several researchers, that male embryos develop more rapidly and are more resistant against the in vitro manipulation than female embryos.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.116-124
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• 2018

This study aimed to interpreting the view of current media by artificial intelligence(AI) with the case of a TV show Person of Interest, which was broadcasted until 2016 in US. In this study, we first attempted to find how AI reflects the three laws of robotics, which often appear in Science Fictions. In addition, we paid attention to how the society looks according to the change of the manipulator of the AI, and as a result we derived the distinguishes of the show from other content dealing with robots or AI in terms of narrative. Through this study, we classified the messages in accordance of AI into three categories- importance of data sovereignty, potential of intelligence explosion, and blind faith in high technology. This study suggested that the show emphasizes the consciousness and attitude that should be possessed as a citizen who meets the era of AI prior to raising issue of 'what artificial intelligence is should be developed for our convenience?'