• Journal of Audiology & Otology
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.15-19
• /
• 2019

Background and Objectives: To determine the efficacy of filling the external auditory meatus with 1% clotrimazole at a single visit for the treatment of otomycosis. Subjects and Methods: This prospective study included 40 patients who were referred to our clinic with complaints of ear itching, pain, and fullness, and were diagnosed with unilateral otomycosis. After cleaning the mycotic hyphae from the external auditory meatus, the ear canal was filled with 1% clotrimazole, using an intravenous catheter and syringe. The patients received follow-up examinations on post-treatment days 7, 15, and 45. Results: The follow-up otomicroscopic examinations revealed that 95% of the ear canals were entirely clean and that all symptoms had resolved. The post-treatment scores of pain, aural fullness and itching were significantly lower than the pre-treatment scores (p<0.01). Conclusions: Filling the external auditory meatus with 1% clotrimazole at a single visit is an easy, efficient, and cost-effective treatment for otomycosis. Additionally, high patient compliance makes this treatment superior to long-term topical therapy.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.5
• /
• pp.1672-1678
• /
• 2024

We introduce a creative approach combining machine learning with optimization techniques to enhance the optimization of the loading pattern (LP). Finding the optimal LP is a critical decision that impacts both the reload safety and the economic feasibility of the nuclear fuel cycle. While simulated annealing (SA) is a widely accepted technique to solve the LP optimization problem, it suffers from the drawback of high computational cost since LP optimization requires three-dimensional depletion calculations. In this note, we introduce a technique to tackle this issue by leveraging neural networks to filter out inappropriate patterns, thereby reducing the number of SA evaluations. We demonstrate the efficacy of our novel approach by constructing a machine learning-based optimization model for the LP data of the Korea Standard Nuclear Power Plant (OPR-1000).

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.111-118
• /
• 2008

Purpose: Neonatal screening tests are increasingly being used forearly diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) in the hope of avoiding the severe developmental delay, acute illness, and death that may result from these diseases. In this study, a cost-benefit analysis was performed on the neonatal screening of maple syrup urine disease, homocystinuria, galactosemia, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia in Korea. Materials and Methods: This study included 1,259,220 Korean newborns born between January 2005 to December 2007, who were screened for maple syrup urine disease, homocystinuria, galactosemia, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. We calculated and compared the total costs in cases where these four screening tests were implemented, and those where they were not. Results: There were no benefits to screening for maple syrup urine disease or homocystinuria due to their low prevalence for these two tests, the costs exceeded the benefits at benefit:cost ratios of 0.5:1 and 0.6:1, respectively. In contrast, benefits far exceed costs at a ratio of 4.1:1 for galactosemia and 2.9:1 for congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The average benefit:cost ratio for all four tests was 2.0:1. Conclusion: Neonatal screening tests for maple syrup urine disease, homocystinuria, galactosemia, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia are financially viable.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
• /
• v.49 no.4
• /
• pp.77-84
• /
• 2012

Face classification has wide applications in intelligent video surveillance, content retrieval, robot vision, and human-machine interface. Pose and expression changes, and arbitrary illumination are typical problems for face recognition. When the face is captured at a distance, the image quality is often degraded by blurring and noise corruption. This paper investigates the efficacy of multi-classifier decision level fusion for face classification based on the photon-counting linear discriminant analysis with two different cost functions: Euclidean distance and negative normalized correlation. Decision level fusion comprises three stages: cost normalization, cost validation, and fusion rules. First, the costs are normalized into the uniform range and then, candidate costs are selected during validation. Three fusion rules are employed: minimum, average, and majority-voting rules. In the experiments, unfocusing and motion blurs are rendered to simulate the effects of the long distance environments. It will be shown that the decision-level fusion scheme provides better results than the single classifier.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.49-65
• /
• 2013

The purpose of this study is to investigate the longitudinal impact of the engagement of private tutoring on student achievement and the influence of the engagement of gifted education on the effect of private tutoring by applying hierarchical linear growth modeling technique on the KELS (Korean Education Longitudinal Study) data. For the analysis, we used KELS data including the score of Mathematics achievement from 2005 to 2007 in order to get useful variables like whether or not to engage private tutoring, weekly time and monthly cost of private tutoring, the experience of gifted education, gender, prior achievement of 6th grade, parents' monthly income, internal motivation and self-efficacy. The sample consisted of 4,435 7th graders from Korean middle schools who were included in the KELS and have the data available to a significant dataset having no missing values include. The result suggest that the private tutoring experience predicted students' high Mathematics achievement and the interaction between grade and private tutoring time and cost has negative impact on the mathematics achievement. In contrast, it was found that the experience of gifted education has negative impact on the growth of mathematics achievement, but positive impact on the effect of private tutoring cost on the mathematics achievement. In other words, the experience of gifted education shows affirmative impact on the effect of private tutoring cost on the mathematics achievement indirectly. On the basis of this results, we discussed deeply the effect of private tutoring on the Mathematics achievement and the influence and its meaning of the experience of gifted education on the effect of private tutoring.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.13-23
• /
• 2015

In order to reduce public medical expenses as well as to provide effective medical services, telemedicine between doctors and patients is considered as an alternative to the conventional hospital visit. But the medical community has been protesting the introduction of telemedicine for the efficacy and safety reasons. Korean government has been conducting a number of pilot projects to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of telemedicine for more than 10 years. However, still the system is not yet legalized. In this study, we have conducted a telemedicine pilot project in Cambodia for one year, where telemedicine can be more freely exercised. After the project, we conducted a survey based on the 'Rogers diffusion' theory. Survey results show that both physicians and patients are positive about the relative advantage of the telemedicine. However, the complexity and high cost of the equipment used in telemedicine has been found to be a possible obstacle. In addition, we found that there is no problem for providing telemedicine services under challenged environment, such as in Cambodia.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.1-15
• /
• 2011

Objectives: We describe the development of a smoking and drinking prevention program for adolescents, using intervention mapping. Methods: The study sample consisted of 1,000 high school second-grade students from 6 high schools in Seoul. The PRECEDE model was applied for the needs assessment. We carried out a social diagnosis by assessing the factors such as the quality of life, happiness level, and satisfaction with school life; an epidemiological diagnosis on the perceived health status, stress levels, and priority of health issues; a behavioral diagnosis on the smoking and drinking rate and the intention to smoke and drink; and an educational diagnosis on knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, social norms and life skills. Results: The development process included a needs assessment, identifying factors that influence smoking and drinking among adolescents. Intention, knowledge, perceived norms, perceived benefit, perceived cost, perceived susceptibility, self-efficacy, and life skills were identified as determinants. Three performance objectives were formulated to describe what an individual needs to do in order to avoid smoking and drinking. Subsequently, we constructed an intervention matrix by crossing the performance objectives with the selected determinants. Each cell describes the learning objectives of the smoking and drinking prevention program. The program used methods from the transtheoretical model, such as consciousness raising, outcome expectations, self-reevaluation, self-liberation, counterconditioning, environmental reevaluation, and stimulus control. The program deals with the effects of smoking and drinking, self-improvement, decision making, understanding advertisements, communication skills, social relationships, and assertiveness. Conclusions: By using the process of intervention mapping, the program developer was able to ensure a systematical incorporation of empirical and new data and theories to guide the intervention design. Programs targeting other health-related behavior and other methods or strategies can also be developed using this intervention mapping process.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2011

Background: The purpose of this study was to systematic review the effect of exercise programs for chronic low back pain patients. We needs systematic development of low back pain exercise program to reduce economic cost further doing great service to public health promotion. Methods: We searched to the effects of exercise programs for chronic low back pain patients by Dankook University electronic library databases of DBPIA, KSI KISS, CINAHL, MEDLINE and PEDro combined with a hand search of papers published in relevant journals. Any type of study relevant to the topic published during time period from 1970 to 2007 was included. Results: The literature search identified 30 studies. 1.Performing the flexion exercise increased abdominal muscle activity but acute herniated intervertebral disc should be avoided. 2.The general lumbar extension exercise used lumbar extension machine and the muscle power increases, significant probability the change. 3.The spinal segments exercise for the patients offered significant efficacy and appeared to be a reasonable therapeutic option. 4.Spinal stabilization exercises appear to improve trunk endurance and balance to patients with chronic low back pain. This exercise programs had effective decrease pain and disability. Conclusion: The review suggests that although the exercise programs for chronic low back pain patients, and we expected the efficacy of the exercise programs for chronic low back pain patients used in this study should be further investigated in a long period study and objective outcomes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.1743-1745
• /
• 2015

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and adverse effects of three dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) with tamoxifen in treating patients with postoperative malignant glioma. Patients and Methods: 60 patients of postoperative malignant glioma were randomly assigned into two groups, 30 patients were treated with 3D-CRT plus tamoxifen (treatment group), and the other 30 patients with 3D-CRT plus temozolomide (control group). All patients were radiated by 6MV X-ray, 2.0Gy per fraction, once daily, with a total dose (DT) of 56~60Gy. Tamoxifen was delivered at $60mg/m^2/d$, temozolomide was given at $75mg/m^2/d$. All patients were treated with concurrent radiotherapy. Results: One, 2, 3 year survival rates of treatment and control group were 63.3%, 30.0%, 23.0% and 70.0%, 33.3%, 26.7%, respectively (${\chi}^2=0.01$, 0.23, 0.09, P>0.05). The rate of thromboembolism in treatment group was 6.7%. Conclusion: Therapeutic efficacy of two groups was similar, but it was more cost-effective in treatment group, and toxicity did not increase.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.114-121
• /
• 2016

Objectives: Lung cancer remains a deadly disease with unsatisfactory overall survival. Cisplatin, a standard platinum (Pt)-based chemotherapeutic agent, has the potential to inhibit the growth of lung cancer. Its use, however, is occasionally limited by severe organ toxicity. However, until now, no systematic study has been conducted to verify its efficacy with proper experimental support in vivo. Therefore, we examined whether biosynthesized Pt nanoparticles (NPs) inhibited human lung cancer in vitro and in vivo to validate their use in alternative and complementary medicine. Methods: We evaluated the in vitro and the in vivo anticancer efficiencies of biosynthesized Pt NPs in a subcutaneous xenograft model with A549 cells. Severe combined immune deficient mice (SCID) were divided into four groups: group 1 being the vehicle control group and groups 2, 3 and 4 being the experimental groups. Once the tumor volume had reached $70-75mm^3$, the progression profile of the tumor growth kinetics and the body weights of the mice were measured every week for 6 weeks after oral administration of Pt NPs. Doses of Pt NPs of 500, 1,000 and 2,000 mg/kg of body weight were administered to the experimental groups and a dose of honey was administered to the vehicle control group. The efficacy was quantified by using the delay in tumor growth following the administration of Pt NPs of A549 human-lung-cancer xenografts growing in SCID mice. Results: The in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation indicated that Pt NPs, in a dose-dependent manner, inhibited the growth of A549 cells, and the in vivo evaluation showed that Pt NPs at the mid and high doses effectively inhibited and delayed the growth of lung cancer in SCID mice. Conclusion: These findings confirm the antitumor properties of biosynthesized Pt NPs and suggest that they may be a cost-effective alternative for the treatment of patients with lung cancer.