• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.30-38
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• 2022

Purpose: The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) in South Korea initiated a quality assessment (QA) program for blood transfusion healthcare services in 2020 to ensure patient safety and appropriate blood use. This study examines the quality of blood transfusion services since the first national QA program for blood transfusion services in Korea. Methods: We analyzed HIRA claims and QA investigation data based on inpatient medical records from all tertiary, general, and primary hospitals between October 2020 and March 2021. The target population was patients aged 18 years and older who received either total knee arthroplasty or red blood cell transfusion. The QA indicators for transfusion healthcare service consisted of four quality indicators and four monitoring indicators. Results: We analyzed the results of QA indicators for transfusion service from the medical records of 189,668 patients from 1,171hospitals and expressed indicators as proportions. The average results for evaluation indicators were as follows: transfusion checklist presence, 64.8%; irregular antibody tests, 61.8%; transfusions in which the hemoglobin levels before transfusion met the transfusion guidelines for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, 20.6%, and transfusions in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, 59.3%. The average results for monitoring indicators were as follows: transfusion management implementation in medical institutions, 56.9%; preoperative anemia management in anemia patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, 43.9%; one-unit transfusions, 82.5%; and the transfusion index. Conclusion: The quality of blood transfusion healthcare varied and the assessment revealed that there is scope for improvement. Hospitals require more effective blood transfusion management and this can be facilitated by providing feedback on the QA results about blood transfusion healthcare services to medical institutions, and by disclosing the results to the public.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.875-885
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• 2018

This study analyzed the major issues of the Candlelight Rally and Taegukgi Rally registered in news comments of the politics section of the portal site from October 24, 2016 to March 19, 2017. We examined the political recognition of the two rallies with the Named Entity Recognition. The main analytical items are the responsibility for impeachment, the subject and method of settlement, and other major issues. As a result of the analysis, the comments of the Candlelight Rally focused on the impeachment support and the legal penalties of the regime ministers, and insisted on resolving the political situation through the next election after impeachment. The comments of the Taegukgi Rally focused on the rejection of the impeachment to maintain the regime and insisted on rejecting the impeachment of the Constitutional Court. The conflicts between the group that supported Candlelight Rallis and the group that supported Taegukgi rallies are predicted to last at least for the time being (Park Geun-hye's trial period) after the presidential election. After the impeachment of the President and replacement of the regime this conflict will develop into the confrontation between the pursuit of liquidation and new politics and the attempt to influence the trial of Park Geun-hye. Therefore, the efforts to integrate society in the aftermath are necessary.

• Journal of Convergence Korean Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.5-13
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• 2022

Objectives: Smoking had a long negative impact on public health. The ingredients of a cigarette are major risk factors for several diseases. Owing to the problems about economic and quality of life, we need to ensure smoking cessation (SC). There are several approaches for SC including pharmacological therapy, nicotine replacement therapy, education, and behavioral intervention. However, due to some limitations, other alternative approaches are gaining popularity. Acupuncture has been reported to have few side effects and be more effective than some conventional treatments in several articles. However, there are no systematic reviews on the comparison of acupuncture combination treatment with other conventional monotherapies. Methods: Randomized controlled trials that used acupuncture as an adjunct treatment for SC will be searched and data will be summarized according to the predefined criteria. The primary outcome will be the abstinence rate, and secondary outcomes will be adverse events and biochemical indicators. We will use Review Manager to perform a meta-analysis, Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias tool for the risk of bias assessment, and the Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach to determine the quality of evidence. We will investigate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture combination treatment for SC with this study. Ethics and dissemination: This study will provide reliable clinical evidence on additional effect of acupuncture on smoking cessation. We will publish our results in a peer-review journal.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.3A
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• pp.555-563
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• 2006

Recently, many bridges become not only functionally obsolete of bridge deck due to inadequate width but also structurally deficient of substructure due to erosion. In these cases, widening is almost always more economical than complete replacement, and therefore there is a need to make available the results of research and field experience pertaining to the widening of bridge substructure. But, an experimental study for the guarantee of unification between existing and new substructure with adhesive anchor is so insufficient that the development of adhesive anchor system for the unification should be settled promptly. The purpose of the present study is to explore pull out and shear characteristics of adhesive anchor system. For this purpose, several series of concrete specimens have been tested. Major test variables were the bonded length, anchor diameter and anchor slope. The pull out strength, bond stress and shear strength of adhesive faces were measured for the specimens. The present study indicates that the pull out strength increased with more bonded length and more anchor diameter, and that the bond stress decreased with more bonded length and more anchor diameter. The pull out strength and the bond stress increases with more anchor slope and it is considered that the slope of $5^{\circ}$ was more efficient. From the shear tests, it is supposed that anchor diameters more than D19 was proper to the adhesive anchor. Finally, it is expected that both experimental data in these tests and further study including mock-up tests will contribute to the establishment of the unification between existing and new substructure with adhesive anchor.

• Journal of the Korean Burn Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2019

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN)-defined nephrotoxicity in patients undergoing intravenous colistimethate sodium (CMS) therapy for major burns. Methods: This retrospective study included burn patients who received more than 48 h of intravenous CMS between September 2009 and December 2015. Data collection was performed using the institution's electronic medical record system. Patients assigned to the developed nephrotoxic group experienced aggravation of current AKIN stage during CMS treatment; those assigned to the non-nephrotoxic group experienced no change in current or exhibited improved AKIN stage during CMS therapy. Results: A total of 306 patients were included in this study. All patients were grouped according to AKIN stage: AKIN 0 (n=152); AKIN 1 (n=6); AKIN 2 (n=9); AKIN 3 (n=139). The baseline creatinine (Cr) level was 0.73 mg/dL. The incidence of nephrotoxicity was 50.3% according to AKIN stage; overall mortality was 45.8%. The non-nephrotoxic group consisted of 127 (74.7%) patients and 43 (25.3%) were in the developed nephrotoxic group. In patients requiring continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), baseline Cr level was 0.83 mg/dL, pre-CMS Cr level was 1.17 mg/dL, and post-CMS Cr level was 1.34 mg/dL. Conclusion: CMS can be administered without signs of nephrotoxicity for a certain period (approximately 1 week), it can be used relatively safely for 2 weeks. Application of CMS is a reasonable option for treating infections caused by multi-drug resistant gram-negative bacteria in patients with major burns. The caution should be exercised nevertheless.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.951-970
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• 2023

This study utilized Italian ryegrass silage (IRGS) - based total mixed ration (TMR) as feedstuff and evaluated its effects on rumen fermentation, growth performance, blood parameters, and bacterial community in growing Hanwoo heifers. Twenty-seven Hanwoo heifers (body weight [BW], 225.11 ± 10.57 kg) were randomly allocated to three experimental diets. Heifers were fed 1 of 3 treatments as follows: TMR with oat, timothy, and alfalfa hay (CON), TMR with 19% of IRGS (L-IRGS), and TMR with 36% of IRGS (H-IRGS). Feeding high levels of IRGS (H-IRGS) and CON TMR to heifers resulted in a greater molar proportion of propionate in the rumen. The impact of different TMR diets on the BW, average daily gain, dry matter intake, and feed conversion ratio of Hanwoo heifers during the growing period did not differ (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the blood metabolites, total protein, albumin, aspartate aminotransferase, glucose, and total cholesterol of the heifers were not affected by the different TMR diets (p > 0.05). In terms of rumen bacterial community composition, 264 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were observed across the three TMR diets with 240, 239, and 220 OTUs in CON, L-IRGS, and H-IRGS, respectively. IRGS-based diets increased the relative abundances of genera belonging to phylum Bacteroidetes but decreased the abundances of genus belonging to phylum Firmicutes compared with the control. Data showed that Bacteroidetes was the most dominant phylum, while Prevotella ruminicola was the dominant species across the three TMR groups. The relative abundance of Ruminococcus bromii in the rumen increased in heifers fed with high inclusion of IRGS in the TMR (H-IRGS TMR). The relative abundance of R. bromii in the rumen significantly increased when heifers were fed H-IRGS TMR while P. ruminicola increased in both L-IRGS and H-IRGS TMR groups. Results from the current study demonstrate that the inclusion of IRGS in the TMR is comparable with the TMR containing high-quality forage (CON). Thus, a high level of IRGS can be used as a replacement forage ingredient in TMR feeding and had a beneficial effect of possibly modulating the rumen bacterial community toward mainly propionate-producing microorganisms.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.1057-1063
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• 2023

The urban railway sleeper floating track, the subject of this study, is an anti-vibration track to reduce vibration transmitted to the structure. currently, the replacement cycle of resilience pad for sleeper floating tracks is set and operated based on load. however, most previous studies were conducted on load-based structural safety aspects, such as fatigue life evaluation of sleeper anti-vibration pads and increase in track impact coefficient and track support stiffness due to increase in spring stiffness. therefore, in this study, we measure the vibration acceleration of the ballast for each analysis section and use the results of 7 million fatigue tests to calculate the spring stiffness of the resilience pad for each section. the spring stiffness of the resilience pad calculated for each section was set as the analysis data and the concrete vibration acceleration was derived analytically. the adequacy of analysis modeling was verified as the analyzed concrete bed vibration acceleration for each section was within the field-measured concrete bed vibration acceleration range. using the vibration acceleration curve according to the derived spring stiffness change, the spring stiffness of the resilience pad is estimated from the measured vibration acceleration. therefore, we would like to present a technique that can estimate the spring stiffness of resilience pad of a running track using the vibration acceleration of the measured concrete bed.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aims to identify SUV, SNR, spatial resolution, and axial uniformity under the same reconstruction conditions and to find out the differences between equipment models. Materials and Methods: The equipment was GE's Discovery 600, 710, IQ, MI(GE Healthcare, USA), and the Phantom used ACR(American College of Radiology) Flangeless Esser Phantom and PET/SPECT Performance Phantom. The PET/SPECT Performance Phantom injected 18F-FDG at a concentration of 3.8 kBq/mL, and the ACR Flangeless Esser Phantom made the conditions for Hot Spot and Background activity for 4 : 1. Image evaluation was compared and evaluated for SUV, SNR, spatial resolution, and axial uniformity with the same reconstruction that added SharpIR of VPHD. Results: The SUV_max showed a difference up to 4.6% with an average of 2.71, 2.35, 1.89, and 1.43 from Hot Spot 1 to 4, and the SUV_mean showed a difference up to 4.7% with 2.06, 1.75, 1.49, and 1.27. There was a difference up to 5% between equipment, and there was no significant difference between both SUV_max and SUV_mean. SNR showed a difference up to 0.04 with an average of 0.37, 0.26, 0.18, and 0.11. FWHM showed a difference up to 0.27. Lastly, COV of axial uniformity was up to 0.018. Conclusion: SUV showed differences within 5% between equipment and showed no significant difference. This is considered to be used as basic data that can be used for the development and replacement of equipment because it has the advantage of being able to observe with a large number of equipment.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.351-368
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• 2024

Purpose: In general, traffic accidents occur sporadically, so there are various limitations in terms of time and cost when conducting field investigations to prepare prevention and prevention measures. In particular, with the transition to a non-face-to-face society after the COVID-19, there is a greater need to prepare a replacement for field surveys. Therefore, in this study, Roadview provided by various websites was used as an alternative to field surveys in Sasang-gu, Busan City. The possibility was evaluated. Method: The research method was to extract vulnerable points for traffic accidents that occurred between 2016 and 22 and analyze road views based on the field survey evaluation items provided in the Traffic Safety Diagnosis Guidelines. Result: The main result was that Sasang-gu was most vulnerable to accidents involving elderly pedestrians at Sasang-ro, Daedong-ro, and Hakjang-ro. As a result of a detailed analysis of vulnerable points through Road View, Sasang-ro needed control of commercial vehicles and protection of the transportation vulnerable in the market commercial area. Daedong-ro was vulnerable to illegal on-street parking and slope merging sections, and Hakjang-ro was vulnerable to roads that were prone to speeding. When evaluating the possibility of replacing Roadview's field survey based on the results of this analysis, Roadview was able to effectively evaluate most items, such as separation of sidewalks and the location and spacing of safety facilities. However, there were limitations in items such as actual measurement performance. Conclusion: In other words, the road view can replace most field surveys, and the actual measurement evaluation items can be judged to be useful as auxiliary data, resulting in time and cost savings and high efficiency.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.17.1-17.16
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• 2024

We have reported that anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury leads to the differential dysregulation of the complement system in the synovium as compared to meniscus tear (MT) and proposed this as a mechanism for a greater post-injury prevalence of post traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). To explore additional roles of complement proteins and regulators, we determined the presence of decay-accelerating factor (DAF), C5b, and membrane attack complexes (MACs, C5b-9) in discarded surgical synovial tissue (DSST) collected during arthroscopic ACL reconstructive surgery, MT-related meniscectomy, osteoarthritis (OA)-related knee replacement surgery and normal controls. Multiplexed immunohistochemistry was used to detect and quantify complement proteins. To explore the involvement of body mass index (BMI), after these 2 injuries, we examined correlations among DAF, C5b, MAC and BMI. Using these approaches, we found that synovial cells after ACL injury expressed a significantly lower level of DAF as compared to MT (p<0.049). In contrast, C5b staining synovial cells were significantly higher after ACL injury (p<0.0009) and in OA DSST (p<0.039) compared to MT. Interestingly, there were significantly positive correlations between DAF & C5b (r=0.75, p<0.018) and DAF & C5b (r=0.64 p<0.022) after ACL injury and MT, respectively. The data support that DAF, which should normally dampen C5b deposition due to its regulatory activities on C3/C5 convertases, does not appear to exhibit that function in inflamed synovia following either ACL injury or MT. Ineffective DAF regulation may be an additional mechanism by which relatively uncontrolled complement activation damages tissue in these injury states.