• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 1977

This study was made with 1394 clinical records obtained by a mobile charity health team in a rural Korea for 10 days from July 23 to Aug. 1, 1977 to see the disease pattern of the rural population in Korea. The health team consisted of 7 physicians in different clinical departments of the St. Mary's Hospital tried to cover as many as patients in that area by giving full informations and instructions before starting health services. which supposed to minimize the omissions of patients visits in that area. The proportion of each disease as well as its order in terms of the number of patients was reviewed by matching with age and sex distribution of patients, and with the duration of illness (complaints). Major findings obtained in this analysis were as follows; 1. Among 1394 patients, 536 (38.5%) was male and 858(61.5%) was female. As to the age distribution of the patients. those who are in the age group of 10-19 showed the highest proportion of 15.6% and those who are in the age group of 5-9 and 40-49 was the next with the proportion of 15.4% and 15.2% respectively. 2. The most prevalent cause of general morbidity were diseases of digestive system, diseases of nervous system and sensory organs, diseases of respiratory system, and diseases of skin and subcutaneous tissue in order. And their proportions among all patients were 21.8%, 20.7%, 14.5%, and 12.4% in respectively. The order of the diseases ranked by the number of patiens was slightly different in female population from that of total population, i. e. diseases of nervous system and sensory organs was the first. diseases of digestive system was the second, and the diseases of circulatory system was the third. 3. 23.2% of all patients were found to have had symptoms relating to their illness for more or less 5 years, and 18.3%, for more or less 6 months. Looking at the duration of illness by diseases, 28.6% of digestive tract disease patients and had the relating symptoms for about 1 week while 24.3% had had the symptoms for about 5 years, and in diseases of nervous system and and sensory organs, many(33.7%) had had symptoms for relatively long period (more than one year). On the other hand, in diseases of respiratory system, those who had had the relating symptoms for about 1 month was 24.3 % among all patients in this category and those who had had the symptoms for less than 1 week was 32.2%. 4. The duration of illness (complaints) was longer in females than in males and shorter in younger age groups than in older age groups.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.143-166
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• 2016

This study aims to consider spiritual therapeutic landscapes thought the case of catholic sacred places in Korea. The catholic sacred places, which have been a series of persecution, are distributed in 300 all over the country and can be divided into a formational type, a selective type, and a participatory type. In the formational type, the catholic sculptures are scattered here and there; but it seems that there are limits somewhat to feel the emotional stability and the experience of caring by God. Because the formational type is deserted or is built up in unnoticeable urban areas. The religious factors, for example, museums, special pray, Station of the Cross, Rosary way, statues of the Virgin Mary, catholic sculptures, etc. in the selective type are placed in the corners of the catholic sacred places to provide the opportunity of holy experience to pilgrims. But the level and the intensity of healing depends on the matter as to how much pilgrims experience religious factors voluntarily. Lastly, the participatory type means the experience of various religious factors following scheduled programs. The experience is for the group of pilgrims, not a person; and the human relationship via the religious experience spiritualizes the network of interest towards other participants. Furthermore, the spiritualized open mind towards other people becomes the power that can arrive at the emotional stability, the relief of stress, and the in-depth and authentic healing. Ultimately, the spiritual healing through religious factors is to realize human finitude and dedicate one's own self to God; in addition, the spiritual therapeutic landscapes are the place that can carry out such a spiritual ritual without any restraint.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.28-38
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• 2018

Purpose: To evaluate the medical expenditures for prostate cancer patients, including out-of-pocket costs, and compared the costs between androgen deprivation therapy and radical prostatectomy treatment. Methodology: This study combined clinical data from 357 prostate cancer patients from the Smart Prostate Cancer Database and the medical expenditure data from the claims and cost databases. We used the independent two-sample t-tests to compare androgen deprivation therapy and radical prostatectomy. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify determining factors for androgen deprivation therapy and radical prostatectomy treatments. Findings: The medical costs of androgen deprivation therapy treatment were much lower than radical prostatectomy treatment at the one year and remained lower until the fourth-year. However, after four years, the accumulated medical expenditures of androgen deprivation therapy become significantly higher than radical prostatectomy treatment. Patients with a higher cancer stage and older age had higher chances of being treated using androgen deprivation therapy treatment than radical prostatectomy treatment. Practical Implications: Our results show that early detection of cancer reduces the treatment cost for both patients and insurance payers. It also demonstrates that cost comparisons should be conducted over long periods of time in order to most accurately assess the costs.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.51 no.10
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• pp.213-220
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• 2014

Korean magnetoencephalography (MEG) system had been developed and installed to hospital. The Korean MEG system contains helmet-shaped arrays of 152 first-order double relaxation oscillation SQUID (DROS) sensor. As a clinical application we have measured and analyzed evoked responses in patients with functional brain disease by outer stimulation as follows; 1) auditory evoked field in patients with hemifacial spasm, 2) somatosensory evoked fields in patients with tumor. We confirm that neuromagnetic data by Korean MEG system can provide useful information for pre-surgical planning or functional brain research.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.273-283
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• 2010

This study evaluated the effect of 3 different compatible screws on the detorque values in a multiple implant-supported superstructure and single implant abutments. An implant superstructure directly connected to 4 implants was screwed to 6 experimental dental stone casts made by acrylic resin splinted impressions, using 20 Ncm. The detorque values of screws were measured twice. Three compatible abutment screws used in this study were TorqTite screw, Gold-Tite screw, and, Titanium screw. And, using single implant abutments (GoldAdapt Engaging abutments), the detorque values of 3 different screws were measured twice on 2 implants of 5 experimental casts. According to statistical analysis of detorque values using mixed model at a .05 level of significance, no statistically significant differences among 3 different compatible screws were found in a multiple implant-supported superstructure (p>0.05). But, in single implant abutments, statistically significant differences among 3 different compatible screws were found (p=0.0175). The detorque values of TorqTite(p=0.0462) and Titanium(p=0.0348) screws were significantly higher than those of Gold-Tite screw, but no statisticantly significantlydifferences were found between TorqTite and Titanium screws(p>0.05). Therefore, various compatible screws showed significant effects on the detorque values for single implant abutment, but, showed no significant effects for a multiple implant-supported superstructure.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.79 no.3
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• pp.111-120
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• 2016

Asthma is a prevalent and serious health problem in Korea. Recently, the Korean Asthma Guideline has been updated by The Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (KATRD) in an effort to improve the clinical management of asthma. This guideline focuses on adult patients with asthma and aims to deliver up to date scientific evidence and recommendations to general physicians for the management of asthma. For this purpose, this guideline was updated following systematic review and meta-analysis of recent studies and adapting some points of international guidelines (Global Initiative for Asthma [GINA] report 2014, National Asthma Education and Prevention Program [NAEPP] 2007, British Thoracic Society [BTS/SIGN] asthma guideline 2012, and Canadian asthma guideline 2012). Updated issues include recommendations derived using the population, intervention, comparison, and outcomes (PICO) model, which produced 20 clinical questions on the management of asthma. It also covers a new definition of asthma, the importance of confirming various airflow limitations with spirometry, the epidemiology and the diagnostic flow of asthma in Korea, the importance and evidence for inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and ICS/formoterol as a single maintenance and acute therapy in the stepwise management of asthma, assessment of severity of asthma and management of exacerbation, and an action plan to cope with exacerbation. This guideline includes clinical assessments, and treatment of asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome, management of asthma in specific conditions including severe asthma, elderly asthma, cough variant asthma, exercise-induced bronchial contraction, etc. The revised Korean Asthma Guideline is expected to be a useful resource in the management of asthma.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.75 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2013

Background: We investigated the prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among the health care workers (HCWs) and analyzed its risk factors in South Korea. Methods: A standard questionnaire regarding the baseline demographics and risk factors for LTBI was given to each participant and tuberculin skin test (TST), QuantiFERON-TB GOLD In-Tube (QFT-GIT) assay, and chest radiography were performed. Results: A total of 493 participants, 152 (30.8%) doctors and 341 (69.2%) nurses were enrolled in eight tertiary referral hospitals. The mean age of the subjects was 30.6 years old, and 383 (77.7%) were female. Of the 152 doctors, 63 (41.4%) and 36 (23.7%) were positive by TST and by QTF-GIT, respectively, and among the 341 nurses, 119 (34.9%) and 49 (14.4%) had positive TST and QFT-GIT results, respectively. Overall, the agreement between the two tests was 0.22 by the chance corrected proportional agreement rate (kappa coefficient) in 493 subjects. Experience of working in tuberculosis (TB)-related departments was significantly associated with positive LTBI test results by QFT-GIT assay, not by TST. In multivariate analysis, only age was independently associated with increased risk of a positive TST result, while age and experience of working in TB-related departments (odds ratio, 2.29; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-5.12) were independently associated with increased risk of a positive QFT-GIT result. Conclusion: A high prevalence of LTBI was found among South Korean HCWs. Considering the association between the experience of working in TB-related departments and high risk of LTBI, QFT-GIT may be a better diagnostic test for LTBI than TST in HCWs.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.45-59
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of ultrasound on adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Adjuvant arthritis was induced in 26 female Sprauge-Dawley rats by the subcutaneous injection of a single dose of .1 mL of Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) (1 mg of Mycobacterium Butyricum suspended in .1 $m{\ell}$ paraffin oil) into the right hind paw. After confirming inflammatory edema and arthritis in the paw 2 weeks later, the arthritic rats were divided into 3 groups, i.e., a control group, a pulsed ultrasound group (Group A), and a continuous ultrasound group (Group B) with 8 rats placed in each group. The rats in Group A were treated with pulsed ultrasound at 1 MHz frequency with .5 $W/cm^2$ intensity in 1 : 4 mode for 3 minutes. The rats in Group B were treated with continuous ultrasound at 1 MHz frequency with 2 $W/cm^2$ intensity in the continuous mode for 3 minutes. The ultrasound treatment was done in the left and right ankles for 2 weeks. Clinical, radiographic and histopathologic findings were then evaluated before and after treatment and yielded the following results. 1. No significant difference was present in body weight between the control group and the treated groups. 2. A statistically significant decrease in the edema of the paw was seen in the rats in Group A that was treated with pulsed ultrasound by 26~29 days after the treatment started (p<.05). 3. According to radiological examination, Group A showed the lowest score in arthritis scale which means it showed a tendency to suppress arthritic inflammation of the left and right hind paws. However, no statistically significant difference was present in the score between the control group, Group A and Group B. 4. According to histopathologic findings, the degree of infiltration by inflammatory cells and hypertrophy of the synovium were less in Group A compared with the control group and Group B. The results of the study show that rats that were treated with the pulsed ultrasound effectively suppressed adjuvant arthritis. However, more effort is needed to objectively prove the effectiveness of ultrasound by developing more sensitive testing methods that could quantitatively evaluate the treatment effects of acute rheumatoid arthritis and by trying out different ultrasound treatment methods.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2016

Objectives Firefighters and rescue workers are likely to be exposed to a variety of traumatic events; as such, they are vulnerable to the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The psychometric properties of the Korean version of the PTSD Checklist (PCL), a widely used self-report screening tool for PTSD, were assessed in South Korean firefighters and rescue workers. Methods Data were collected via self-report questionnaires and semi-structured clinical interviews administered to 221 firefighters. Internal consistency, item-total correlation, one-week test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and divergent validity were examined. Content validity of the PCL was evaluated using factor analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to estimate the optimal cutoff point and area under the curve. Results The PCL demonstrated excellent internal consistency (${\alpha}=0.97$), item-total correlation (r = 0.72-0.88), test-retest reliability (r = 0.95), and convergent and divergent validity. The total score of PCL was positively correlated with the number of traumatic events experienced (p < 0.001). Factor analysis revealed two theoretically congruent factors: re-experience/avoidance and numbing/hyperarousal. The optimal cutoff was 45 and the area under the ROC curve was 0.97. Conclusions The Korean version of the PCL may be a useful PTSD screening instrument for firefighters and rescue workers, further maximizing opportunities for accurate PTSD diagnosis and treatment.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.223-228
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• 2015

Double-focused micro-Multileaf Collimator (${\mu}MLC$) is able to create radiation fields having sharper dose gradients at the field edges than common MLC. Therefore, ${\mu}MLC$ has been used for the stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Radiotherapy (SRT). We evaluated the dosimetric characteristics of a doublefocused Dynamic-${\mu}MLC$ (DMLC) attached to the Elekta Synergy linear accelerator. For this study, the dosimetric parameters including, Percent Depth Dose (PDD), Leaf leakage and penumbra, have been measured by using of the radiochromic films (GafChromic EBT2), EDGE diode detector and three-dimensional water phantom. All datas were measured on 6 MV x-ray. As a result, The DMLC shows transmission below to 1% and because of double-focused construction of the DMLC, the penumbras of fields with DMLC are independent from the field sizes. In this paper, the resulting dosimetric evaluations proved the applicability of the DMLC attached to the Elekta Synergy linear accelerator.