• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.569-579
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• 2019

Objective: To investigate the usefulness of computed tomography (CT) texture analysis (CTTA) in estimating histologic tumor grade and in predicting disease-free survival (DFS) after surgical resection in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and Methods: Eighty-one patients with a single HCC who had undergone quadriphasic liver CT followed by surgical resection were enrolled. Texture analysis of tumors on preoperative CT images was performed using commercially available software. The mean, mean of positive pixels (MPP), entropy, kurtosis, skewness, and standard deviation (SD) of the pixel distribution histogram were derived with and without filtration. The texture features were then compared between groups classified according to histologic grade. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed to determine the relationship between texture features and DFS. Results: SD and MPP quantified from fine to coarse textures on arterial-phase CT images showed significant positive associations with the histologic grade of HCC (p < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis identified most CT texture features across the different filters from fine to coarse texture scales as significant univariate markers of DFS. Cox proportional hazards analysis identified skewness on arterial-phase images (fine texture scale, spatial scaling factor [SSF] 2.0, p < 0.001; medium texture scale, SSF 3.0, p < 0.001), tumor size (p = 0.001), microscopic vascular invasion (p = 0.034), rim arterial enhancement (p = 0.024), and peritumoral parenchymal enhancement (p = 0.010) as independent predictors of DFS. Conclusion: CTTA was demonstrated to provide texture features significantly correlated with higher tumor grade as well as predictive markers of DFS after surgical resection of HCCs in addition to other valuable imaging and clinico-pathologic parameters.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.1196-1203
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• 2024

Objective: A study was conducted to quantify the performance differences of the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) calibration models developed with different degrees of hay sample preparations. Methods: A total of 227 imported alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and another 360 imported timothy (Phleum pratense L.) hay samples were used to develop calibration models for nutrient value parameters such as moisture, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, crude protein, and in vitro dry matter digestibility. Spectral data of hay samples prepared by milling into 1-mm particle size or unground were separately regressed against the wet chemistry results of the abovementioned parameters. Results: The performance of the developed NIRS calibration models was evaluated based on R², standard error, and ratio percentage deviation (RPD). The models developed with ground hay were more robust and accurate than those with unground hay based on calibration model performance indexes such as R² (coefficient of determination), standard error, and RPD. Although the R² of calibration models was mainly greater than 0.90 across the feed value indexes, the R² of cross-validations was much lower. The R² of cross-validation varies depending on feed value indexes, which ranged from 0.61 to 0.81 in alfalfa, and from 0.62 to 0.95 in timothy. Estimation of feed values in imported hay can be achievable by the calibrated NIRS. However, the NIRS calibration models must be improved by including a broader range of imported hay samples in the modeling. Conclusion: Although the analysis accuracy of NIRS was substantially higher when calibration models were developed with ground samples, less sample preparation will be more advantageous for achieving rapid delivery of hay sample analysis results. Therefore, further research warrants investigating the level of sample preparations compromising analysis accuracy by NIRS.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.121-130
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• 2024

This study utilized data from 1,068 women aged 40-59, drawn from the 8th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) conducted in 2020, to investigate factors impacting subjective health perception and health-related quality of life. Methodologically, STATA 15.0 was employed for complex sample mean and standard deviation calculations, complex sample weighted percentages, complex sample t-tests, and multiple regression analyses. Common factors influencing both subjective health and health-related quality of life included education level, household size, depression, and stress. Age, binge drinking, and physical activity were identified as factors influencing subjective health perception. Insurance type, employment status, and sleep disorders emerged as factors impacting health-related quality of life. Recognizing middle age as a crucial transitional phase into old age, the development of health policy programs aimed at enhancing subjective health and health-related quality of life during this period is deemed essential.

• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.50-58
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: Little is known regarding right ventricular (RV) remodeling immediately after Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) repair. We sought to describe myocardial deformation by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) after TOF repair and investigate associations between these parameters and early post-operative outcomes. METHODS: Fifteen infants underwent CMR without sedation as part of a prospective pilot study after undergoing complete TOF repair, prior to hospital discharge. RV deformation (strain) was measured using tissue tracking, in addition to RV ejection fraction (EF), volumes, and pulmonary regurgitant fraction. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to determine associations between both strain and CMR measures/clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Most patients were male (11/15, 73%), with median age at TOF repair 53 days (interquartile range, 13,131). Most patients had pulmonary stenosis (vs. atresia) (11/15, 73%) and 7 (47%) received a transannular patch as part of their repair. RV function was overall preserved with mean RV EF of 62% (standard deviation [SD], 9.8). Peak radial and longitudinal strain were overall diminished (mean ± SD, 33.80 ± 18.30% and -15.50 ± 6.40%, respectively). Longer hospital length of stay after TOF repair was associated with worse RV peak radial ventricular strain (correlation coefficient (r), -0.54; p = 0.04). Greater pulmonary regurgitant fraction was associated with shorter time to peak radial RV strain (r = -0.55, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In this small study, our findings suggest presence of early decrease in RV strain after TOF repair and its association with hospital stay when changes in EF and RV size are not yet apparent.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.104-113
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• 2024

Purpose: This study investigated the correlations among resilience, the awareness of patient safety management, proactive behavior, and the performance of standard precautions among nurses working in the emergency department. Additionally, it aimed to identify the factors influencing the performance of standard precautions. Methods: Data were collected through a descriptive survey conducted between June 10 and July 9, 2023. The participants included 208 nurses working in the emergency department in Korea. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS/WINdows software version 29.0, based on the frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Scheffé test, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple regression. Results: The analysis based on the participants' general characteristics showed that performance of standard precautions varied significantly according to age (t=2.10, p=.036), size of the emergency department (F=7.46, p<.001), average number of patients treated per day while working in the past month (t=-3.88, p<.001) and standard precautions training experience (t=2.16, p=.032). The main factors influencing the performance of standard precautions among nurses working in the emergency department are awareness of patient safety management (β=.62, p<.001), resilience (β=.18, p=.042), and age (β=-.15, p=.007), with a total explanatory power of approximately 46.0%. Conclusion: It is necessary to establish programs and an effective education system to increase resilience and awareness in patient safety management to improve the performance of standard precautions among nurses working in the emergency department.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.137-144
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of reducing of craniofacial radiation dose using automatic exposure control (AEC) technique in the 64 multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). We used SOMATOM Definition 64 multi-detector CT, and head of whole body phantom (KUPBU-50, Kyoto Kagaku CO. Ltd). The protocol were helical scan method with 120 kVp, 1 sec of rotation time, 5 mm of slice thickness and increment, 250 mm of FOV, $512{\times}512$ of matrix size, $64{\times}0.625\;mm$ of collimation, and 1 of pitch. The evaluation of dose reducing effect was compared the fixed tube current of 350 with AEC technique. The image quality was measured the noise using standard deviation of CT number. The range of craniofacial bone was to mentum end from calvaria apex, which devided three regions: calvaria~superciliary ridge (1 segment), superciliary ridge~acanthion (2 segment), and acanthion~mentum (3 segment). In the fixed tube current technique, CTDIvol was 57.7 mGy, DLP was $640.2\;mGy{\cdot}cm$ in the all regions. The AEC technique was showed that 1 segment were 30.7 mGy of CTDIvol, 340.7 $mGy{\cdot}cm$ of DLP, 2 segment were 46.5 mGy of CTDIvol, $515.0\;mGy{\cdot}cm$ of DLP, and 3 segment were 30.3 mGy of CTDIvol, $337.0\;mGy{\cdot}cm$ of DLP. The standard deviation of CT number was 2.622 with the fixed tube current technique and 3.023 with the AEC technique in the 1 segment, was 3.118 with the fixed tube current technique and 3.379 with the AEC technique in the 2 segment, was 2.670 with the fixed tube current technique and 3.186 with the AEC technique in the 3 segment. The craniofacial radiation dose using AEC Technique in the 64 MDCT was evaluated the usefulness of reducing for the eye, the parotid and thyroid with high radiation sensitivity particularly.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.424-428
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• 2013

To identify risk factors for Legionella contamination, water quality variables routinely measured in examination of natural and city waters were meta-analyzed for significance of correlation to Legionella incidences. For evaluation of abundance of Escherichia coli as a risk factor, which is currently used as an indicator of Legionella contamination in an official guideline in Korea, odds ratio (OR) of above-cutoff total coliform counts for Legionella presence/absence was used as the effect size in the meta-analysis. The OR was estimated as 1.05 (0.36-3.12, 95% CI), and the probability of having identical odds reached 0.92. Also, ORs from individual studies showed significant heterogeneity (P=0.008), which contributed to 63% of total variance of the ORs. In the case of heterotrophic plate count (HPC), the OR for Legionella presence/absence was 2.72 (2.04-3.63) with highly significant deviation from identical odds (P<0.0001). ORs from different studies were seemingly homogeneous ($Q_{df=8}$=12.7, P=0.12). Turbidity and concentrations of chlorine, iron ion and cupper ion were other routine variables that could be considered as risk factors. However, statistical measures from different studies were not uniform enough to develop an appropriate effect size while the number of studies reporting the variables was also small (3-5). In conclusion, HPC appeared to be appropriate as indicator of Legionella contamination, rather than fecal bacteria contamination. HPC may imply abundance of habitats (amoebas and biofilms) of Legionella in water. This result warrants further studies for standardizing protocols and cutoff values to infer Legionella risks from HPC.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.850-859
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• 2012

Devolatilization is an important mechanism in the gasification and pyrolysis of woody biomass, and has to be accordingly considered in designing a gasifier. In order to describe the devolatilization process of wood particle, there have been proposed a number of empirical correlations based on experimental data. However, the correlations are limited to apply for various reaction conditions due to the complex nature of wood devolatilization. In this study, a simple model was developed for predicting the devolatilization of a wood particle in a fluidized bed reactor. The model considered the drying, shrinkage and heat generation of intra-particle for a spherical biomass. The influence of various parameters such as size, initial moisture content, heat transfer coefficient, kinetic model and temperature, was investigated. The devolatilization time linearly increased with increasing initial moisture content and size of a wood particle, whereas decreases with reaction temperature. There is no significant change of results when the external heat transfer coefficient is over 300 $W/m^2K$, and smaller particles are more sensitive to the outer heat transfer coefficient. Predicted results from the model show a similar tendency with the experimental data from literatures within a deviation of 10%.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.16 no.1 s.60
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• pp.26-37
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• 2006

This study addresses the applicability of box fractal dimension, $D_B$, as an index of statistical homogeneity of fractured rock mass. The box-count method's capability in quantifying the combined effect of fracture density and size distribution is examined systematically. Total of 129 two-dimensional fracture configurations were generated based on different combinations of fracture size distribution and fracture density. $D_B$was calculated for the generated fracture network systems using the box-counting method. It was found that was standard deviation of trace length and fracture orientation have no effect on calculated $D_B$. The estimated $D_B$ was found to increase with increasing total density and/or mean trace length. To explore the field applicability of this study, the statistical homogeneity of fractured rock mass was investigated at the rock slope and the underground facility using the box-counting method as well as conventional contingency table analysis. The results obtained in this study clearly show that the methodologies given in this paper have the capability of determining the statistical homogeneity of fractured rock mass.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.443-450
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• 2001

Objective : The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor $p27^{kip1}$ protein is a negative regulator of the cell cycle, and its degradation is required for entry into the S phase. Loss of $p27^{kip1}$ expression has been reported to be associated with aggressive behavior in a variety of tumors of epithelial and lymphoid origin. However, its association with various astrocytic tumors has not been clearly demonstrated. We studied to investigate the relationship of $p27^{kip1}$ expression with the biological behavior of astrocytic tumors in addition to study on the role of $p27^{kip1}$ in the tumorigenesis of these tumors. Patients and Methods : From 1990 to 1998, a total of 29 astrocytic tumor of all grades obtained by operative resection were included for evaluation. We studied the expression of $p27^{kip1}$ protein immunohistochemical assay in astrocytic tumors and compared the findings with the clinicopathologic parameters. Immunohistochemical staining was performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections by the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method. According to WHO classification, all cases were divided into astrocytomas(4 cases), anaplastic astrocytomas(9 cases), and glioblastomas(16 cases) by 3 pathologists. Clinical information was obtained from medical records, and others such as location and size of tumors from imaging studies. Results : Mean $p27^{kip1}$ protein labeling indexes(LI, mean${\pm}$standard deviation) of astrocytomas, anaplastic astrocytomas, and glioblastomas were $80.6{\pm}9.1$, $63.6{\pm}21.0$, and $28.9{\pm}18.7$, respectively, and were inversely correlated with grade of glial tumors(p<0.0001). Mean $p27^{kip1}$ protein LI in the recurrent group was lower than that in the nonrecurrent group, but there was no significant difference statistically(p=0.464). Additionally, $p27^{kip1}$ protein expression did not show any significant relationship to other prognostic factors such as age(p=0.1643), tumor size(p=0.8), or location(p=0.8). Conclusion : These results suggested that reduced expression of $p27^{kip1}$ protein may play a important role in the malignant transformation process of astrocytic tumor cells.