• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.1103-1112
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• 1999

In the last few years, psychiatric nurse practitioners have shown a growing an interest in community psychosocial rehabilitation, caring for chronic psychiatric patients as case manager in South Korea. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a community psychiatric rehabilitation nursing program on self-care activity and quality of life and to suggest this program as an effective nursing intervention in a group of chronic home-based psychiatric patients in a poor town. A nonequivalent control group, pretest-posttest design was used. Of the twenty women that started the program, sixteen finished it. The data were analyzed by the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test. The program included the process of case management which consisted of four phases: the first was an active case finding and pre-test, the second was home visiting and contacted by phone. the third was group activity therapy of 12 sessions, and the fourth phase was terminal and post-test. The effects of the program were assessed by quality of life and self-care activity. The quality of life and the self-care activity, especially, area of nutrition. elimination, dressing. leisure activity, and follow-up clinic visiting showed greater improvement than those of the control group. The results of this study suggest that this program was effective in improving the quality of life of chronic home-based psychiatric patients.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.79-94
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• 2013

Purpose: Life insurance company provides insurance planners various education program to inspire service mind and to enhance its customer satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of service quality of education on service commitment and to propose the implication for the effective service education. Methods: This study is intended to identify how service quality of education from the planners in life insurance affects service commitment. The research model is tested via a survey of 307 life insurance planners. Results: This study shows that tangibles, assurance, responsiveness, and empathy in the educational service quality significantly influence education satisfaction. It also positively affect customer orientation and service commitment, but it also shows that reliability in the educational service quality has very little effect on customer satisfaction. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the service quality of education on life insurance planner and also suggests practical plan to increase the service quality of education. This study has more focused on the direction in the service quality of education for making the close long-term relationship with customer.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.355-363
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• 2016

Purpose: In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of a 12-week virtual reality exercise program using the Nintendo Wii console (Wii) in improving balance, emotion, and quality of life among patients with cognitive decline. Methods: The study included 30 patients with cognitive decline (12 female, 18 male) who were randomly assigned to an experimental (n=15) and control groups (n=15). All subjects performed a traditional cognitive rehabilitation program and the experimental group performed additional three 40-minute virtual reality based video game (Wii) sessions per week for 12 weeks. The berg balance scale (BBS) was used to assess balance abilities. The short form geriatric depression scale-Korean (GDS-K) and the Korean version of quality of life-Alzheimer's disease (KQOL-AD) scale were both used to assess life quality in patients. Statistical significance was tested within and between groups before and after treatment, using Wilcoxon signed rank and Mann-Whitney u-tests. Results: After 36 training sessions, there were significant beneficial effects of the virtual reality game exercise on balance (BBS), GDS-K, and KQOL-AD in the experimental group when compared to the control group. No significant difference was observed within the control group. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that a virtual reality-training program could improve the outcomes in terms of balance, depression, and quality of life in patients with cognitive decline. Long-term follow-ups and further studies of more efficient virtual reality training programs are needed.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.7 s.87
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• pp.1019-1022
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• 2007

Thrombolytic therapy with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) can improve the clinical outcome of ischemic stroke patients. However, its clinical application is limited by narrow therapeutic time windows and elevated risks of cerebral hemorrhage and brain injury. In part, these effects of tPA has been related to matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) dysregulation. Here, we investigate that the effects of alteplase (tPA with short half-life) and pamiteplase (a modified tPA with long half-life) on the MMP-9 regulation in neurovascualr unit. The total levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in neuronal cells are lower than astrocytes. Alteplase (1-10 ${\mu}g/ml$) induced upregulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in rat cortical neurons and astrocytes, respectively. Whereas pamiteplase in a wide range of dose did not affect the MMP-2 and MMP-9 responses in both of cells. These results suggest that pamiteplase with long half-life can be provided as a agent that overcome the side effects of alteplase.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.627-638
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• 1997

Most patients having leukemia suffer severely from emotional turmoil due to the generalized perception that cancer will be fatal. The conventional chemotherapy results in side effects such as severe bone marrow depression which interfere with self-care management, vital for improvement in their condition. Bandura's theory of the self-efficacy suggests that self- efficacy can be enforced by performance attainments, vicarious experiences, verbal per-suasion and the release of emotional arousal. Self-efficacy can be enforced by a program of vicarious experiences and verbal persuasion, while the emotional arousal can be relieved through a hope promotion program, If once self-efficacy increases, the patient's self-care behaviors and the quality of life will also increase. The purpose of this study was to empirically test the effects of a program, to promote self-efficacy and hope, on self-care behaviors and quality of life in patients having leukemia. In this study, three types of approaches to enhance self-efficacy and hope were used : 1) a 20-minute long slide /tape for vacarious experiences : 2) a 10-minute long telephone call coaching for verbal persuasion ; and 3) two booklets for information about the symptoms of leukemia and treatment modalities and hope promotion. Thirty one patients were recruited in the experimental group and 29 in the control group with a nonequivalent pretest-posttest design. The subjects were patients with leukemia undergoing chemotherapy. Sherer and Maddux's self-efficacy scale, Nowotny's hope scale, and Padilla's quality of life scale were employed with some modifications. A self-care behavior scale was developed by the researchers. Statistical analyses including paired t-test, Chi-square, ANCOVA and ANOVA, were used. The results are as follows : The levels of self-efficacy, self-care behavior and quality of life were higher in the experimental group than in the control group after four weeks of intervention(F=28.71, P=.0001 ; F=63.35, P=.0001 F=16.57, P=.0001). After ten weeks of intervention, all of the dependent variables(self-efficacy, self-care behavior, hope & quality of life) in the experimental group were higher than in the control group (F=74.12, P=.0001 ; F=108.34, P=.0001 ; F=13,11, P=.001 : F=43.52, P=.0001). In conclusion, self-care behavior and quality of life increased mainly through an increase in self-efficacy, while increases in hope took more time and effort.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.71-80
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• 2020

Purpose: This thesis study aimed to examine the effects of elastic-band resistance exercise on physical fitness, activities of daily living (ADLs), falls efficacy, and quality of life among older women receiving home nursing care under long-term care insurance. Methods: We used an equivalent control group pre-test/post-test design. We assigned older women at the nursing care center J to the experimental group (n=21), and older adult women at the nursing care center H to the control group (n=21). The experimental group engaged in an elastic band resistance exercise twice per week from February 18 to April 12, 2019. Results: There were significant differences in the Short Physical Performance Battery score (t=4.15 p<.001), left grip strength (t=0.57, p<.569), right grip strength (t=1.38 p<.177), flexibility test scores (t=2.34, p<.024), ADLs (t=6.86, p<.001), falls efficacy (t=5.16, p<.001), and quality of life (t=3.87, p<.001). Grip strength was increased slightly in the experimental group, but the increase was not significant. Conclusion: Elastic band resistance exercise is an effective nursing intervention to enhance physical fitness, flexibility, ADLs, falls efficacy, and quality of life among older women receiving home nursing care under long term care insurance.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.149-158
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• 2019

This study investigated the effects of replacing fish meal (FM) with a mixture of four protein sources (wheat gluten, soy protein concentrate, tankage meal, and poultry byproduct meal) in an extruded pellet (EP) diet for olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus. Five experimental diets were formulated with alternative proteins replacing 0%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% of FM. Taurine and betaine were added as attractants in the diets. Triplicate groups of fish (initial body weight: $196{\pm}2g$) were fed the diets to apparent satiation. Over the course of a 6-month feeding trial, there were no significant differences between the groups in growth performance, feed utilization, survival, or villus height. The dry matter and protein digestibility of FM50 diet were significantly lower than those of the control diet at water temperatures below $18.5^{\circ}C$ in months 4 and 6. This is a highly significant first report on FM replacement in an EP diet given to olive flounder over a 6-month-long feeding period. It shows that the proper mixture of protein sources can replace up to 50% of FM in olive flounder EP diets with taurine and betaine supplementation. It also shows that 40% of FM could be safely replaced in EP diets during periods of low water temperature.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.995-1015
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• 2016

In the design and condition assessment of bridges, it is usually necessary to take into consideration the extreme conditions which are not expected to occur within a short time period and thus require an extrapolation from observations of limited duration. Long-term structural health monitoring (SHM) provides a rich database to evaluate the extreme conditions. This paper focuses on the extrapolation of extreme traffic load effects on bridges using long-term monitoring data of structural strain. The suspension Tsing Ma Bridge (TMB), which carries both highway and railway traffic and is instrumented with a long-term SHM system, is taken as a testbed for the present study. Two popular extreme value extrapolation methods: the block maxima approach and the peaks-over-threshold approach, are employed to extrapolate the extreme stresses induced by highway traffic and railway traffic, respectively. Characteristic values of the extreme stresses with a return period of 120 years (the design life of the bridge) obtained by the two methods are compared. It is found that the extrapolated extreme stresses are robust to the extrapolation technique. It may owe to the richness and good quality of the long-term strain data acquired. These characteristic extremes are also compared with the design values and found to be much smaller than the design values, indicating conservative design values of traffic loading and a safe traffic-loading condition of the bridge. The results of this study can be used as a reference for the design and condition assessment of similar bridges carrying heavy traffic, analogous to the TMB.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.213-219
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• 1996

Addition of reducing agents during extrusion markedly affected physical and chemical properties of wheat flour and gluten extrudates. Expansion at the die was increased for wheat flour and gluten extrudates. Organic materials containing sulfur were evaporated as a flavor from gluten at the die and total sulfur contents were decreased. Physical shape was different for gluten extrudates without reducing agents. It was difficult to form the long strand of gluten extrudate without cooling die. Hydroquinone accelerated cell breakdown and produced more irregular shape of extrudate. However, addition of cysteine decreased the cell breakdown and produced the long strand of gluten extrudates. Chemical reactions of reducing agents such as cysteine and hydroquinone were different for high content (＜80%) of wheat gluten. It was assumed that reducing agents donated hydrogen to inhibit the formation of disulfide crosslinking, decreased the dough strength and produced the broken cell and irregular shape of extrudates. Whereas, cysteine reacted as a binder as well as reducing agent and formed long strands. The evidence of reaction of reducing agents was shown from the fact that non-protein disulfide was increased and protein disulfide was slightly decreased from cysteine added gluten extrudate.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.229-235
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• 2015

Nicotinamide (NAM) has been shown to suppress reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in primary human fibroblasts, thereby extending their replicative lifespan when added to the medium during long-term cultivation. Based on this finding, NAM is hypothesized to affect cellular senescence progression by keeping ROS accumulation low. In the current study, we asked whether NAM is indeed able to reduce ROS levels and senescence phenotypes in cells undergoing senescence progression and those already in senescence. We employed two different cellular models: MCF-7 cells undergoing senescence progression and human fibroblasts in a state of replicative senescence. In both models, NAM treatment substantially decreased ROS levels. In addition, NAM attenuated the expression of the assessed senescence phenotypes, excluding irreversible growth arrest. N-acetyl cysteine, a potent ROS scavenger, did not have comparable effects in the tested cell types. These data show that NAM has potent antioxidative as well as anti-senescent effects. Moreover, these findings suggest that NAM can reduce cellular deterioration caused by oxidative damage in postmitotic cells in vivo.