• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.283-294
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• 2023

APro, developed in KAERI for the process-based total system performance assessment (TSPA) of deep geological disposal systems, performs finite element method (FEM)-based multiphysics analysis. In the FEM-based analysis, the mesh element quality influences the numerical solution accuracy, memory requirement, and computation time. Therefore, an appropriate mesh structure should be constructed before the mesh stability analysis to achieve an accurate and efficient process-based TSPA. A generic reference case of DECOVALEX-2023 Task F, which has been proposed for simulating stationary groundwater flow and time-dependent conservative transport of two tracers, was used in this study for mesh stability analysis. The relative differences in tracer concentration varying mesh structures were determined by comparing with the results for the finest mesh structure. For calculation efficiency, the memory requirements and computation time were compared. Based on the mesh stability analysis, an approach based on adaptive mesh refinement was developed to resolve the error in the early stage of the simulation time-period. It was observed that the relative difference in the tracer concentration significantly decreased with high calculation efficiency.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.1-15
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• 2016

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the difference of early muscle strengthening exercise(starting at 1 week) on pain, function and sleep quality for rotator cuff partial tear patients. Method : Experimental group 15 people, control group 15 people, was a total of 30 people. Group-specific arbitration method, was applied to early muscle strengthening exercise (experimental group) and general movement treatment(Starting at 6 week) (control group). Both groups were subjected to 40 minutes of basic physical therapy interventions four times a week over an six-week intervention period. In this study, Pain, function and sleep quality measured by VAS, PPT and ROM, CMS, SST and PSQI. Result : 1. The VAS and PPT in the experimental group and control group before and after treatment were significant difference(p<.01). Comparison between the two groups in the change in motion before and after treatment also showed a statistically significant(p<.01). 2. Comparison functional Assessment of the shoulder ROM, CMS and SST in the experimental group and control group before and after treatment were significant difference(p<.01). ROM was not significant differences between the groups but CMS and SST were significant differences between the groups. 3. PSQI in the experimental group and control group before and after treatment were significant difference(p<.01). Comparison between the two groups in the change in motion before and after treatment also showed a statistically significant(p<.01). Conclusion : Therefore, early muscle strengthening exercise is useful to improve the shoulder function and pain for rotator cuff tear patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.242-249
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• 2016

Background: We evaluated early and long-term results after heart transplantation (HTPL). Methods: One hundred five consecutive patients (male:female=80:25) who underwent HTPL between 1994 and 2013 were enrolled. Based on the changes in immunosuppressive regimen, the study patients were divided into two groups. Early and long-term clinical outcomes were evaluated and compared between the patients who underwent HTPL before (group E, n=41) and after July 2009 (group L, n=64). The group L patients were older (p<0.001), had higher incidence of hypertension (p=0.001) and chronic kidney disease (p<0.001), and more frequently needed preoperative mechanical ventilation (p=0.027) and mechanical circulatory support (p=0.014) than the group E patients. Results: Overall operative mortality was 3.8%, and postoperative morbidities included acute kidney injury (n=31), respiratory complications (n=16), reoperation for bleeding (n=15) and wound complications (n=10). There were no significant differences in early results except acute kidney injury between group E and group L patients. Overall survival rates at 1, 5, and 10 years were 83.8%, 67.7%, and 54.9%, respectively, with no significant difference between the two patient groups. Rejection-free rates at 1 and 5 years were 63.0% and 59.7%, respectively; rates were significantly higher in group L than in group E (p<0.001). Conclusion: Despite increased preoperative comorbidities, group L patients showed similar early and long-term outcomes and significantly higher rejection-free rates when compared with group E patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.2247-2254
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• 2016

Background: The incidence of breast cancer is rising in Oman, and the disease is diagnosed at late stages, when treatment success is limited. Omani women might benefit from better awareness, so that breast cancer can be detected early and treated. This study was conducted to assess Omani women's levels of breast cancer awareness and early detection practice, and explore factors which might influence these levels. Materials and Methods: A mixed methods study was conducted in 2014, including a quantitative survey of 1,372 and a qualitative assessment of 19 Omani women, aged ${\geq}20years$ from five Omani governorates using convenient sampling. Demographic information and scores for awareness levels were used in a multivariate regression model to investigate factors associated with awareness. Thematic analysis and interpretive description were used to analyse the qualitative data. Results: The overall means for early detection and general awareness scores were 0.58 (SD 0.24) and 0.46 (SD 0.21), respectively. General awareness was significantly associated with age, education, income and familiarity with cancer patients (p<0.05), while early detection was significantly associated with age, marital status and education. A majority of women (59.5%) agreed with a belief in 'evil eye' or envy as a risk factor for breast cancer. Women discussed various factors which may empower or inhibit awareness, including the cultural-religion-fatalistic system, personal-familial-environmental system, and healthcare-political-social system. Conclusions: The overall low scores for awareness and early detection, and the survey of local beliefs highlight a severe necessity for a contextually-tailored breast cancer awareness intervention programme in Oman.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.155-163
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• 2004

In our country, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Coronary heart diseases (CHD) are the leading causes of death. It is well known that CHD is multifactorial, involving environmental factors such as diet, level of exercise and cigarette smoking, and inherited factors. According to the statistical data in 2003, the cause of death with the highest mortality was including hypertension, ischemic heart disease and atherosclerosis, which accounted for $24.7\%$ of total mortality. In spite of, there have been few study reports on the change of biochemical markers and mechanisms concerned. The development of biochemical markers is required for an early diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases that are related with dietary habits of Korean people enjoying mixtures of traditional dietary style and westernized food-styles. Therefore, the most efficient cost-saving biochemical marker was established in this study, through analysis of biochemical markers related with dietary habits which are susceptibly being changed in association to cardiovascular diseases from the pre-disease phase, and through reanalysis and assessment of early diagnosis of and preventive effects of diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases by demographical character including sex, age, and socioeconomic level with use of biochemical markers that are identified and selected among the parameters in consideration of the effectiveness and appropriateness of early diagnosis of diseases. The appropriateness of biochemical markers was reviewed by professionals (medical, pharmaceutical area and food/ nutrition area) and CRP(C-Reactive Protein) and was identified to be possible in Korea. It is thought that these biochemical markers may be used as the basic data for early diagnosis and prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) which may be used for Korean people.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.107-121
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to develop a sexuality education program for early adolescents. The overall goals of the program were to not only increase knowledge and skirts, but also to improve the awareness of healthy sex in order to promote premarital abstinence, parent-teen communication and parental awareness of the importance of parental roles and responsibilities in prevention of sexual problems of the early adolescent. The program consisted of six sessions: puberty changes during adolescence, the meaning of sexuality, sexual drives in dating relationships, understanding of the risks associated with early sexual involvement and support for postponing sexual activities, managing and avoiding sexually risky situations, the importance of communications with parents about issues related to sexuality. The program evaluation had three steps: pre-test, immediate post-test and two month follow-up post test. The results showed that the program had a significantly positive effect on the improvement of adolescent's knowledge about sex, and attitudes and behaviors toward sex, particularly in the immediate post-test. At the two month follow-up assessment, the effect of the program still remained strong, though there was a sight and partial reduction which was not statistically significant. Most of the program participants expressed a high level of satisfaction with the program. Parental involvement appeared to be effective as well. Recommendations for further study include: to re-evaluate the curriculum for various other participants. In addition, further study which would compare post-test results of these participants with a comparison group of peers who did not receive the program would be valuable. The author believes that the program can be used in implementing specific subjects (sessions) in new settings, as well as implementing the entire package of the program.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.356-365
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• 2021

The nationwide expansion of the agricultural early warning service for agrometeorological disaster would require assessment of geographical and agricultural environmental characteristics by individual region. The development of an efficient computing environment would facilitate such services for the area of study region to deal with various crops and varieties for many farms. In particular, the design of the computing environment would have a considerable impact on the service quality of agriculture meteorology when the scale of computing environments increases for extended service areas. The objectives of this study were to derive the issues on the current computing environment under which services are provided by each region and to seek the solutions to these problems. The self-evaluation through experimental operation for about a year indicated that integration of the early warning service system distributed over different regions would reduce redundant computing procedures and ensure efficient storage and comprehensive management of data. This suggested that the early warning service for agrometeorological disaster would become more stable even when the service areas are to be expanded to the national scale. This would contribute to higher quality services for individual farmers.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.193-202
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• 2024

This research delves into the evaluation of the suitability of ultrasonic pulse velocity as a diagnostic tool for early detection of frost damage in concrete. The investigation involves the measurement of compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity concerning the depth of freezing for individual mortar specimens, followed by an analysis of their microstructure and their interrelation. The findings indicate a consistent decrease in both compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity with increasing freezing depth. Furthermore, a correlation between compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity concerning the depth of early frost damage is established. Consequently, the study asserts the potential of utilizing the ultrasonic pulse velocity method for early detection of frost damage in concrete, with prospects for quantifying the depth of damage through further research endeavors.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 1993

Most developing countries are experiencing rapid urbanization and the associated growth of industry and services. Cities are currently absorbing two-thirds of the total population in the developing world. Korea has about 85 percent of urban dwellers. World population will shift from being predominantly rural to predominantly urban around the turn of the century. Although cities play a key role in development process and make more than a proportionate contribution to national economic growth, especially cities are also the main catalysts of economic growth in developing countries, they can also be unhealthy, inefficient, and inequitable places to live. Most developing countries are increasingly unable to provide basic environmental infrastructure and services, whether in the megacities or in secondary urban centers. Of particular concern is the strain on natural resources brought by the increasing number of people, cars, and factories. They are generating ever greater amounts of urban wastes and emissions. They also exceed the capacity of regulatory authorities to control them and of nature to assimilate them. The environmental consequences are translated into direct negative impacts on human health, the quality of life, the productivity of the city, and the surrounding ecosystems. Environmental degradation threatens the long tenn availability and quality of natural resources critical to economic growth. Cities, with their higher and growing per capita energy use for domestic, industrial, and transport purpose also contribute a disproportionate share of the emission leading to global warming and acid rain. An important priority is to develop strategic approaches for managing the urban environment. The design of appropriate and lasting strategic responses requires first an understanding of the underlying causes of urban environmental deterioration, it is necessary that longer tenn objectives should be set for urban area to avoid irreversible ecological damage and to ensure lasting economic development. As a means to the preventive policies against the adverse effect, environmental impact assessment (EIA) serve to identify a project's possible environmental consequences early enough to allow their being taken into consideration in the decision making process for urban planning. This paper describes some considerations of EIA for urban planning-scoping, assessment process, measurement and prediction of impacts, pollution controls and supervision, and system planning for environmental preservation.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.225-233
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• 2008

An Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB) is an archive for samples that can be used to document and assess the quality of the environment in which we live. An ESB program looks at changes in the concentration of human and environmental specimens over long periods of time through retrospective analysis of archived samples of a particular area collected at regular intervals. The idea of ESB was first proposed by German and American scientists in the early 1970s and has been established since 1979 in Germany, USA, and Japan. Korea plans to establish a National Environmental Specimen Bank (NESB) in 2010. The NESB will be able to assess and improve the quality of analytical measurements as well as to compare the past and current environmental quality as a time capsule. The concept and design for the NESB facility was developed and its Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) are being developed based on an evaluation of ESBs and SOPs of Germany, USA, and Japan. Environmental specimens proposed for banking are based on typical representatives of every level of the food chain from each type of ecosystem that are widely distributed thus enabling comparisons between different sampling areas. Through retrospective analysis of environmental specimens, the NESB will improve the reliability of environmental monitoring, ecological risk assessment, and health impact assessment.