• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.205-213
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• 2009

Objectives : Cancer incidence is increasing in all countries and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) in patients undergoing chemotherapeutic agents have been a clinically serious problems. So far therapeutic options for CIPN patients are limited and no confirmed methods have yet been established for dealing with peripheral neuropathy. Therefore this review is to provide an evidence-based summary of oriental medicine and CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) neuroprotective and treatment therapies which have gone through clinical trials. Methods : An overview of the domestic and international papers of adult clinical trials relating management of only CIPN symptoms through 1990 to present were searched by electronic databases. Search key words were chemotherapy-induced neurotoxicity, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, chemotherapy toxicity & herb, chemotherapy toxicity & acupuncture, chemotherapy toxicity & CAM. Only English and Korean written papers were reviewed. Total 25 papers were reviewed in this study, 18 papers were retrieved by electronic search. Results : Clinical studies of managing CIPN were rare, two acupuncture clinical studies and four herb medicinal studies were found. Rest of 19 papers were about other CAM clinical studies. Total 25 papers were analyzed, and all interventions were focused on their pain control efficacy. Other 24 trials of potential therapies except one proved to be effective for CIPN, however some described to be inadequate positive or sufficient negative. Conclusions : As most of the studies were pilot studies, interventions for the prevention and treatment of CIPN have to go through prospective confirmatory studies, such as larger scale randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled clinical trials must be done for the safe and effective use of proposed therapies. Also standard measurement scales have to be developed for the better clinical study of CIPN.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.241-256
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Diabetes-specific oral nutritional supplements (ONS) have anti-hyperglycemic effects, while D-allulose exerts anti-diabetic and anti-obesity effects. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and safety of diabetes-specific ONS, including allulose, on glycemic and weight changes in overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). SUBJECTS/METHODS: A single-arm, historical-control pilot clinical trial was conducted on 26 overweight or obese patients with T2DM (age range: 30-70 yrs). The participants were administered 2 packs of diabetes-specific ONS, including allulose (200 kcal/200 mL), every morning for 8 weeks. The glycemic profiles, obesity-related parameters, and lipid profiles were assessed to evaluate the efficacy of ONS. RESULTS: After 8 weeks, fasting blood glucose (FBG) level significantly decreased from 139.00 ± 29.66 mg/dL to 126.08 ± 32.00 mg/dL (P = 0.007) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) improved (7.23 ± 0.82% vs. 7.03 ± 0.69%, P = 0.041). Moreover, the fasting insulin (δ: -1.81 ± 3.61 μU/mL, P = 0.017) and homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (δ: -0.87 ± 1.57, P = 0.009) levels decreased at 8 weeks, and body weight significantly decreased from 67.20 ± 8.29 kg to 66.43 ± 8.12 kg (P = 0.008). Body mass index (BMI) also decreased in accordance with this (from 25.59 ± 1.82 kg/m² to 25.30 ± 1.86 kg/m², P = 0.009), as did waist circumference (δ: -1.31 ± 2.04 cm, P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The consumption of diabetes-specific ONS with allulose in overweight or obese patients with T2DM improved glycemic profiles, such as FBG, HbA1c, and HOMA-IR, and reduced body weight and BMI.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.85-98
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• 2023

Objective : We investigated the efficacy of an artificial intelligence computerized cognitive training program using motion capture to identify changes in cognition, depression, and quality of life in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Methods : A total of seven older adults (experimental group = 4, control group = 3) participated in this study. During the COVID-19 period from October to December 2021, we used a program, "MOOVE Brain", that we had developed. The experimental group performed the program 30 minutes 3×/week for 1 month. We analyzed patients scores from the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination-2, the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Packet for Daily Life Evaluation, the short form Geriatric Depression Scale, and Geriatric Quality of Life Scale. Results : We observed positive changes in the mean scores of the Stroop Color Test (attention), Stroop Color/Word Test (executive function), SGDS-K (depression), and GQOL (QoL). However, these changes did not reach statistical significance for each variable. Conclusion : The study results from "MOOVE Brain" can help address cognitive and psychosocial issues in isolated patients with MCI during the COVID-19 pandemic or those unable to access in-person medical services.

• Korean small business review
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.57-76
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• 2017

While the unemployment rate is rising rapidly due to recent economic recession at home and abroad, university students' reluctance to apply for jobs in Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) causes instability in manpower supply and demand and social unrest. To provide insights for solving the problem, this study explores how beliefs and attitudes of university students influence their intention to apply for jobs in SME's using Theory of Planned Behavior proposed by Icek Ajzen. This study followed the 2-stage survey methodology suggested by Ajzen. In the first stage of pilot study, a small sample of university students was used to illicit readily accessible behavioral outcomes, normative referents, and control factors. In the second stage of main study, the standard questionnaire was designed and administered and data were collected and analysed using the PLS Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. PLS-SEM was used instead of Covariance Based (CB)- SEM considering the exploratory nature of this study. In overall, the results showed that TPB is very effective in explaining and predicting the university student's intention to apply for jobs in SEM's. Gender turned out to be a significant moderator variable in the relations between intention and its influence factors. Student's scholastic performance showed a negative correlation with intention. More research efforts need to be exerted to better understand university student's job seeking behavior.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.153-166
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• 2024

The digitalization of tasks for smart construction requires the smooth exchange of digital data among stakeholders to be effective, but there is a lack of digital data standardization and utilization methods. This paper proposes a digital construction information structure to transform information from road construction sites into digital formats. The study targets include significant tasks, such as work planning, scheduling, safety management, and quality control. The key to the construction information structure is separating construction information into objects and activities, defining unit works by combining these two types of information to ensure flexibility in representing and modifying construction information. The objects and activities have their respective hierarchical structures, which are defined flexibly to match the actual content. This structure achieves both efficiency and detail. The pilot structure was applied to highway construction projects and implemented digitally using general formats. This study enables the digitalization of road construction processes that closely resemble reality, accelerating the digital transformation of the civil engineering industry by developing a digital twin of the entire road construction lifecycle.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.102-108
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• 2024

In the initial stages of urban air mobility (UAM) operations, compliance with existing visual flight rules and instrument flight regulations for conventional human-crewed aircraft is crucial. Additionally, voice communication between the on board pilot and relevant UAM stakeholders, including vertiports, is essential. Consequently, very high frequency (VHF) aviation voice communication must be consistently provided throughout all phases of UAM operations. This paper presents the results of the VHF communication coverage analysis for the initial UAM demonstration areas, encompassing the Hangang River and Incheon Ara-Canal corridors, as well as potential vertiport candidate locations. By considering the influence of terrain and buildings through the utilization of a digital surface model (DSM), communication quality prediction results are obtained for the analysis areas. The three-dimensional coverage analysis results indicate that stable coverage can be achieved within altitude corridors ranging from 300 m to 600 m. However, there are shaded areas in the low-altitude vertiport regions due to the impact of high-rise buildings. Therefore, additional research to ensure stable coverage around vertiports in the lower altitude areas is required.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.114-123
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• 2024

This paper proposes AR stone tower content, an experiential content based on wearable augmented reality (AR). Although wearable augmented reality is gaining attention, the acceptance of the technology is still focused on specialized applications such as industrial sites. On the other hand, the proposed AR stone tower content is based on the material of 'stone tower' so that general users can relate to it and easily participate in it, and it is organized to utilize space in a moving environment and find and stack stones based on natural hand gestures. The proposed AR stone tower content was implemented in the HoloLens 2 environment and evaluated by general users through a pilot exhibition in a small art museum. The evaluation results showed that the overall satisfaction with the content averaged 3.85, and the content appropriateness for the stone tower material was very high at 4.15. In particular, users were highly satisfied with content comprehension and sound, but somewhat less satisfied with object recognition, body adaptation, and object control. The above user evaluations confirm the resonance and positive response to the material, but also highlight the difficulties of the average user in experiencing and interacting with the wearable AR environment.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.175-182
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different administration duration of alendronate on initial wound healing and new bone formation of extraction socket in rats. Materials and methods: Fifteen male Sprague-Dawley rats (body weight 130-140 g, 4 weeks old, male) were divided into control group (no alendronate administration) and experimental group (alendronate administration). Experimental group was subdivided into 1 week administrated group, 2 week administrated group, 4 week administrated group and 6 week administrated group according to duration of administration. For the experimental groups, during the designated time period (at the time of extraction, 1 week before extraction, 3 week before extraction and 5 week before extraction) till 1 week after extraction, rats were subcutaneously injected with Alendronate at the dose of 1.0 mg/Kg three times a week. Each specimen from 6 week experimental group and control group were used for microarray analysis, and other specimens were used for histological analysis. The rate of new bone formation within the extraction site and bone loss activity was analyzed using TRAP staining. Statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal Wallis test. (${\alpha}=.05$) Results: After one week from the time of extraction, the rate of new bone formation within extraction site for the control group ($16.77%{\pm}1.36%$) compared to the 4 week experimental group ($14.99%{\pm}6.26%$) was lower. However, no statistically significant difference was found. Increase in the number of inactive lacuna (empty lacuna) and decrease in the number of TRAP positive cell were identified with increased duration of administration. There was no significant difference. Conclusion: The results of this study showed as the duration of Alendronate administration increased the rate of new bone formation decreased with loss of bone activity and reduced number of osteoclast.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.110-116
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• 2003

This study was executed to evaluate the utilization and efficiency of the ceramic biocarrier as the promoter of decomposing on the organic matters for the composting using with pig manure by analyzing of the physico-chemical properties during composting. The treatments of this experiment were consisted of the control(C),microorganism(M), M with natural zeolite(M+Z), M with synthesized zeolite(M+SZ), and M with ceramic biocarrier(M+CZ). The process term of composting was conducted for 30days in the rapidly fermented machine(as pilot system). The results of the physico-chemical properties of the composts were as follows. The changes of temperature during composting was not relative with the microorganism and zeolite materials used in the composts. At all of the treatments were similar to changing of temp. from the initial stage to the final stage. But the added microorganism treatments were higher than control. And the entire pH value of treatments were appeared the same that above temperature result, also the M+CZ and M+SZ treatment among the treatment were higher. At the results of T-C, T-N and C/N ratio, in case of T-C value, the M+CZ treatment was highly more decreased than others. However at the T-N value, there were not the differences from the each treatment. And the C/N ratio was changed according to the changes of T-C and T-N value. Especially, at the M+CZ aud M+SZ treatments were remarkably reduced by about 21.4-23.3 value. In the result of G.I for evaluating of the compost humidity, the M+CZ and M+SZ treatments were close up approximately 110 value compared with the control(G.I value 100). Therefore, the examined ceramic biocarrier amended with compost-promoting-bacteria could be applied to the production of many high quality fertilizers. It is also expected that the results of this researches could be applied to the recycle of the organic wastes based on the experimental results of ceramic biocarrier and compost-promoting-bacteria application.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.69-98
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• 2009

We investigated what factors motivate gamers to participate in a guild and why they continue to be engaged as members of the guild. We find that, based on the result of focus group interviews with MMORPG gamers, social support and self-esteem factors play important roles. Considering both prior research and the focus group interviews we have conducted, we define social support and character control as independent variables. Character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem are proposed as mediating variables while guild flow and game loyalty as dependent variables. Accordingly, we develop the research model and hypotheses, and verify them empirically. Based on our experiences of playing the WoW game, we proposed a research model and conducted focus-group interviews (FGIs). FGIs involve formulating a hypothesis and then collecting some relevant data. FGIs were conducted face-to-face with students of C University in Korea. We formulated structured interview schedules, and the questions were based on our research variables and personal experiences. The questions for the interviews encompassed the following areas: (a) the demographic characteristics of the focus group; (b) the number of years for which respondents had played online games; (c) the motive for starting a game; (d) the number of game-characters assumed by each gamer; (e) the type of game played; and (f) other issues such as the reasons for involvement in the play, the willingness to reuse the game in case new versions were released, etc. On average, it took two hours to interview each of three groups. A primary set of FGIs was conducted with three groups on the premise that there would be some differences caused by character race (Horde vs. Alliance) or by playable server (Normal vs. Combat). With respect to the manner of playing, we found that guild members shared information, felt a sense of belonging, and played computer games for quite a long time through the guild; however, they did not undergo these experiences when playing alone. Gamers who belonged to a specific guild helped other players without expecting compensation for that, freely shared information about the game, gave away items for free, and more generous with other members who made mistakes. The guild members were aware of the existence other members and experienced a sense of belonging through interactions with, and evaluations from, other players. It was clear that social support was shown within the guild and that it played an important role as a major research variable. Based on the results of the first FGIs, a second set of in-depth FGIs was carried out with a focus on the psychology of the individual within the guild and the social community of the guild. The second set of FGIs also focused on the guild's offline meetings. Gamers, over all, recognize the necessity of joining a community, not only off-line but also online world of the guild. They admit that the guild is important for them to easily and conveniently enjoy playing online computer games. The active behavior and positive attitudes of existing guild members can motivate new members of the guild to adapt themselves to the guild environment. They then adopt the same behaviors and attitudes of established guild members. In this manner, the new members of the guild strengthen the bonds with other gamers while feeling a sense of belonging, and developing social identity, thereby. It was discovered that the interaction among guild members and the social support encouraged new gamers to quickly develop a sense of social identity and increase their self-esteem. The guild seemed to play the role of socializing gamers. Sometimes, even in the real world, the guild members helped one another; therefore, the features of the guild also spilled over to the offline environment. We intend to use self-esteem, which was found through the second set of FGIs, as an important research variable. To collect data, an online survey was designed with a questionnaire to be completed by WoW gamers, who belong to a guild. The survey was registered on the best three domestic game-sites: 'WoW playforum,' 'WoW gamemeca,' and 'Wow invent.' The selected items to be measured in the questionnaire were decided based on prior research and data from FGIs. To verify the content of the questionnaire, we carried out a pilot test with the same participants to point out ambiguous questions as a way to ensure maximum accuracy of the survey result. A total of 244 responses were analyzed from the 250 completed questionnaires. The SEM analysis was used to test goodness-of-fit of the model. As a result, we found important results as follows: First, according to the statistics, social support had statistically significant impacts on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Second, character control had significant effects on character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity shows its clear impact on self-esteem and game loyalty. Fourth, guild identity affected self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Fifth, self-esteem had a positive influence on the guild flow. These days, the number of virtual community is rising along with its significance largely because of the nature of the online games. Accordingly, this study is designed to clarify the psychological relationship between gamers within the guild that has been generally established by gamers to play online games together. This study focuses on the relationships in which social support influences guild flow or game loyalty through character control, character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem, which are present within a guild in the MMORPG game environment. The study results are as follows. First, the effects of social support on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem are proven to be statistically significant. It was found that character control improves character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Among the seven variables, social support, which is derived from FGIs, plays an important role in this study. With the active support of other guild members, gamers can improve their ability to develop good characters and to control them. Second, character identity has a positive effect on self-esteem and game loyalty, while guild identity has a significant effect on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Self-esteem affects guild flow. It was found that the higher the character and guild identities become, the greater the self-esteem is established. Contrary to the findings of prior research, our study results indicate that the relationship between character identity and guild flow is not significant. Rather, it was found that character identity directly affects game players' loyalty. Even though the character identity had no direct effect on increasing guild flow, it has indirectly affected guild flow through self-esteem. The significant relationship between self-esteem and guild flow indicates that gamers achieve flow, i.e., a feeling of pleasure and excitement through social support. Several important implications of this study should be noted. First, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to conduct this study. Through FGIs, it was observed that both social support and self-esteem are important variables. Second, because guilds had been rarely studied, this research is expected to play an important role in the online community. Third, according to the result, six hypotheses (H1, H5, H6, H7, H8, and H11) setup based on FGIs, were statistically significant; thus, we can suggest the corresponding relationships among the variables as a guideline for follow-up research. Our research is significant as it has following implications: first, the social support of the guild members is important when establishing character control, character identity, guildidentity and self-esteem. It is also a major variable that affects guild flow and game loyalty. Second, character control when improved by social support shows notable influence on the development of character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity and guild identity are major factors to help establish gamers' own self-esteem. Fourth, character identity affects guild flow through self-esteem and game loyalty. The gamers usually express themselves through characters; the higher character identity is, the more loyalty a gamer has. Fifth, guild identity, established within the guild, has clear effects on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Sixth, qualitative and quantitative methods are employed to conduct this study. Based on the results of focus group interviews and SEM analysis, we find that the social support by guild members and psychological factors are significant in strengthening the flow of guild and loyalty to the game. As such, game developers should provide some extra functions for guild community, through which gamers can play online games in collaboration with one another. Also, we suggest that positive self-esteem which is built up through social support can help gamers achieve higher level of flow and satisfaction, which will consequently contribute to minimizing the possibility for the players to develop negative attitude toward the guild they belong to.