• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.163-169
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• 2021

Background: Understanding the habitat characteristics of the endangered Siberian flying squirrel Pteromys volans is the first step in conserving and managing the forests it requires for nesting, gliding, and feeding. Therefore, in the present study, we characterized the habitats of P. volans using GIS analysis of 411 forest sites in South Korea where fecal droppings were found. Results: Fecal signs of P. volans were found in various regions in South Korea, including the Baekdudaegan Mountains. GIS analysis with six environmental layers (vegetation type, wood-age class, diameter at breast height [DBH], crown density, elevation, and distance from stream) revealed that fecal signs of P. volans were more frequently found in broad-leaved deciduous forests (42%) located 200-399 m above sea level (43.1%) and 0-199 m from the nearest stream (53%), with 5th class wood-age (35.3%), middle size class DBH (51.1%), and high crown density (71%). Conclusions: The present study provides information on the biotic and abiotic characteristics of P. volans habitats. In South Korea, the fecal droppings of P. volans were found predominantly old deciduous broadleaf forests. Further studies are needed to reveal whether the more frequent occurrence of P. volans dropping in broadleaf forests may be due to a particular preference of this species for the forests or to a simple reflection of the area of the broadleaf forests occupying a much larger area than other forest types in Korea.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.220-235
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• 2022

Objective: To evaluate the available evidence regarding the clinical effectiveness of different types of anchorage devices. Methods: A comprehensive literature search of different electronic databases was conducted for systematic reviews investigating different anchorage methods published up to April 15, 2021. Any ongoing systematic reviews were searched using PROSPERO, and a grey literature search was undertaken using Google Scholar and OpenGrey. No language restriction was applied. Screening, quality assessment, and data extraction were performed independently by two authors. Information was categorized and narratively synthesized for the key findings from moderate- and high-quality reviews. Results: Fourteen systematic reviews were included (11 were of moderate/high quality). Skeletal anchorage with miniscrews was associated with less anchorage loss (and sometimes with anchorage gain). Similarly, skeletal anchorage was more effective in retracting anterior teeth and intruding incisors and molars, resulting in minor vertical skeletal changes and improvements in the soft tissue profile. However, insufficient evidence was obtained for the preference of any anchorage method in terms of the duration of treatment, number of appointments, quality of treatment, patient perception, or adverse effects. The effectiveness of skeletal anchorage can be enhanced when: directly loaded, used in the mandible rather than the maxilla, used buccally rather than palatally, using dual rather than single miniscrews, used for en-masse retraction, and in adults. Conclusions: The level of evidence regarding anchorage effectiveness is moderate. Nevertheless, compared to conventional anchorage, skeletal anchorage can be used with more anchorage preservation. Further high-quality randomized clinical trials are required to confirm these findings.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.107-113
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• 2022

With increasing airtight building construction aimed at reducing energy consumption, indoor relative humidity is increasing which can lead to condensation and moisture damage in multi-family residential buildings. This has led to increased implementation of mechanical ventilation to control indoor moisture. However mechanical ventilation systems consume additional energy and generate noise. As this leads to occupant discomfort, it is necessary to select a ventilation system that addresses the energy and noise issues. This research measured the ventilation performance, energy consumption, and noise level of mechanical ventilation devices in multi-family residential buildings. TOPSIS, a multi-criteria decision making technique was used to determine appropriate ventilation strategies in addition to occupant ventilation system operation preference.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.3438-3457
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• 2022

As location-based services (LBS) are widely used in vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs), location privacy has become an utmost concern. Spatial cloaking is a popular location privacy protection approach, which uses a cloaking area containing k-1 collaborative vehicles (CVs) to replace the real location of the requested vehicle (RV). However, all CVs are assumed as honest in k-anonymity, and thus giving opportunities for dishonest CVs to submit false location information during the cloaking area construction. Attackers could exploit dishonest CVs' false location information to speculate the real location of RV. To suppress this threat, an edge-assisted Trusted Collaborative Anonymity construction scheme called TCA is proposed with trust mechanism. From the design idea of trusted observations within variable radius r, the trust value is not only utilized to select honest CVs to construct a cloaking area by restricting r's search range but also used to verify false location information from dishonest CVs. In order to obtain the variable radius r of searching CVs, a multiple linear regression model is established based on the privacy level and service quality of RV. By using the above approaches, the trust relationship among vehicles can be predicted, and the most suitable CVs can be selected according to RV's preference, so as to construct the trusted cloaking area. Moreover, to deal with the massive trust value calculation brought by large quantities of LBS requests, edge computing is employed during the trust evaluation. The performance analysis indicates that the malicious response of TCA is only 22% of the collaborative anonymity construction scheme without trust mechanism, and the location privacy leakage is about 32% of the traditional Enhanced Location Privacy Preserving (ELPP) scheme.

• Korean Journal of Audiology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: The current study investigates pitch coding using frequency following response (FFR) among vocalists, violinists, and non-musicians for Indian Carnatic transition music stimuli and assesses whether their listening biographies strengthen their F0 neural encoding for these stimuli. Subjects and Methods: Three participant groups in the age range of 18-45 years were included in the study. The first group of participants consisted of 20 trained Carnatic vocalists, the second group consisted of 13 trained violinists, and the third group consisted of 22 non-musicians. The stimuli consisted of three Indian Carnatic raga notes (/S-R2-G3/), which was sung by a trained vocalist and played by a trained violinist. For the purposes of this study, the two transitions between the notes T1=/S-R2/ and T2=/R2-G3/ were analyzed, and FFRs were recorded binaurally at 80 dB SPL using neuroscan equipment. Results: Overall average responses of the participants were generated. To assess the participants' pitch tracking to the Carnatic music stimuli, stimulus to response correlation (CC), pitch strength (PS), and pitch error (PE) were measured. Results revealed that both the vocalists and violinists had better CC and PS values with lower PE values, as compared to non-musicians, for both vocal and violin T1 and T2 transition stimuli. Between the musician groups, the vocalists were found to perform superiorly to the violinists for both vocal and violin T1 and T2 transition stimuli. Conclusions: Listening biographies strengthened F0 neural coding, with respect to the vocalists for vocal stimulus at the brainstem level. The violinists, on the other hand, did not show such preference.

• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2021

Background and Objectives: The current study investigates pitch coding using frequency following response (FFR) among vocalists, violinists, and non-musicians for Indian Carnatic transition music stimuli and assesses whether their listening biographies strengthen their F0 neural encoding for these stimuli. Subjects and Methods: Three participant groups in the age range of 18-45 years were included in the study. The first group of participants consisted of 20 trained Carnatic vocalists, the second group consisted of 13 trained violinists, and the third group consisted of 22 non-musicians. The stimuli consisted of three Indian Carnatic raga notes (/S-R2-G3/), which was sung by a trained vocalist and played by a trained violinist. For the purposes of this study, the two transitions between the notes T1=/S-R2/ and T2=/R2-G3/ were analyzed, and FFRs were recorded binaurally at 80 dB SPL using neuroscan equipment. Results: Overall average responses of the participants were generated. To assess the participants' pitch tracking to the Carnatic music stimuli, stimulus to response correlation (CC), pitch strength (PS), and pitch error (PE) were measured. Results revealed that both the vocalists and violinists had better CC and PS values with lower PE values, as compared to non-musicians, for both vocal and violin T1 and T2 transition stimuli. Between the musician groups, the vocalists were found to perform superiorly to the violinists for both vocal and violin T1 and T2 transition stimuli. Conclusions: Listening biographies strengthened F0 neural coding, with respect to the vocalists for vocal stimulus at the brainstem level. The violinists, on the other hand, did not show such preference.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.51-57
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to explore the future direction of university liberal arts classes at a time when many educational institutions have returned to face-to-face instruction as social distancing related to COVID-19 has been eliminated. A survey was conducted with 187 college students who took a liberal arts class that included a combination of online and in-person classes. The results found that learners were generally satisfied with remote learning (87.8%). The reasons for this high level of satisfaction included sufficient comprehension of class content, systematic class progress, and the efficiency and convenience of learning in a remote environment. Satisfaction levels for in-person classes (66%) were relatively lower than those for remote classes, and this is reflected in the preference for class type. Among wholly in-person, wholly remote, and a combination of both, it was found that learners preferred remote classes the most (54.4%). When conducting in-person classes, instructors must devise a class plan that incorporates the advantages of online remote classes.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.55-63
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• 2023

Background: Common questions about shoulder arthroplasty (SA) searched online by patients and the quality of this content are unknown. The purpose of this study is to uncover questions SA patients search online and determine types and quality of webpages encountered. Methods: The "People also ask" section of Google Search was queried to return 900 questions and associated webpages for general, anatomic, and reverse SA. Questions and webpages were categorized using the Rothwell classification of questions and assessed for quality using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria. Results: According to Rothwell classification, the composition of questions was fact (54.0%), value (24.7%), and policy (21.3%). The most common webpage categories were medical practice (24.6%), academic (23.2%), and medical information sites (14.4%). Journal articles represented 8.9% of results. The average JAMA score for all webpages was 1.69. Journals had the highest average JAMA score (3.91), while medical practice sites had the lowest (0.89). The most common question was, "How long does it take to recover from shoulder replacement?" Conclusions: The most common questions SA patients ask online involve specific postoperative activities and the timeline of recovery. Most information is from low-quality, non-peer-reviewed websites, highlighting the need for improvement in online resources. By understanding the questions patients are asking online, surgeons can tailor preoperative education to common patient concerns and improve postoperative outcomes. Level of evidence: IV.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.219-226
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• 2023

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to compare changes of salivary flow rate, salivary buffering capacity, and S. mutans after using a mouthwash containing essential oil or probiotics widely used as oral lactic acid bacteria in the oral environment. Methods : Fifty-three healthy adults aged 20 years or older voluntarily participated in this study after they were informed of the purpose of this study. Subjects were divided into a group treated with probiotics (L. reuteri) and a group treated with mouthwash containing essential oil. To evaluate changes in the oral environment, salivary flow rate, salivary buffering capacity, and S. mutans test were performed at baseline and 4 weeks later. Unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow samples were collected for 5 minutes and results were recorded in ml per minute. Salivary buffering capacity was divided into scores of 1 (low), 2 (moderate) and 3 (high) according to the color of the strip. The amount of S. mutans was classified as scores of 0, 1, 2, and 3 according to the decision table. Data collected in this study were analyzed at the 95 % significance level using the SPSS Version 23.0 program. Results : Both the unstimulated salivary flow rate and the stimulated salivary flow rate increased statistically after the intervention compared to those before intervention in the probiotics group. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the probiotics group and the mouthwash group. Salivary buffering capacity and S. mutans results showed no statistically significant differences between the probiotics group and the mouthwash group either. The salivary buffering capacity and the salivary flow rate showed a positive correlation. Conclusion : To improve the oral environment, such as salivary flow rate and salivary buffering capacity, an optimal product can be selected in consideration of individual preference and cost-effectiveness.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.194-206
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• 2023

Purpose: A novel attachment system for implant-retained overdentures (IRODs) with novel material combinations for improved mechanical resilience and prosthodontic success (Novaloc) has been recently introduced as an alternative to an existing system (Locator). This study investigated whether differences between the Novaloc and Locator attachment systems translate into differences in implant survival, implant success, and patient-centered outcomes when applied in a real-world in-practice comparative setting in patients restored with mandibular IRODs supported by 2 interforaminal implants (2-IRODs). Methods: This prospective, intra-subject crossover comparison compared 20 patients who received 2 intra-foraminal bone level tapered implants restored with full acrylic overdentures using either the Locator or Novaloc attachment system. After 6 months of function, the attachment in the corresponding dentures was switched, and the definitive attachment system type was delivered based on the patient's preference after 12 months. For the definitive attachment system, implant survival was evaluated after 24 months. The primary outcomes of this study were oral health-related quality of life and patient preferences related to prosthetic and implant survival. Secondary outcomes included implant survival rate and success, prosthetic survival, perceived general health, and patient satisfaction. Results: Patient-centered outcomes and patient preferences between attachment systems were comparable, with relatively high overall patient satisfaction levels for both attachment systems. No difference in the prosthetic survival rate between study groups was detected. The implant survival rate over the follow-up period after 24 months in both groups was 100%. Conclusions: The results of this in-practice comparison indicate that both attachment systems represent comparable candidates for the prosthodontic retention of 2-IRODs. Both systems showed high rates of patient satisfaction and implant survival. The influence of material combinations of the retentive system on treatment outcomes between the tested systems remains inconclusive and requires further investigations.