• Title/Summary/Keyword: benefit groups

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Effect of short-term fattening period and castration method on productivity, serum testosterone, and economic efficacy in Hanwoo cattle

  • Jun Sang Ahn;Eung Gi Kwon;Hyun Jeong Lee;Ui Hyung Kim;Jeong Il Won;Sun Sik Jang;Byung Ki Park
    • Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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    • v.65 no.1
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    • pp.149-159
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    • 2023
  • The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of castration method and short-term fattening periods on Hanwoo cattle. Thirty-two Hanwoo calves (average body weight: 148.4 ± 19.8 kg) were used. The calves were randomly assigned in a 2 × 2 factor according to two castration methods (castration or hemi-castration) and two short-term finishing periods (24 months or 26 months). The final body weight increased significantly as the fattening period increased (p < 0.05), and the average daily weight gain was higher in the hemi-castration groups than in the castration groups (p < 0.05). After surgical castration, testosterone concentration was higher in the hemi-castration group than in the castration group during the entire experimental period (p < 0.05). The rib eye area was wider in the hemi-castration group than in the castration group (p < 0.01).An interaction effect was observed between the castration method and short-term fattening period (p < 0.05). Marbling and auction price scores differed between castration methods and were higher in the castration group than in the hemi-castration group (p < 0.01). Gross receipts and net income increased in the castration group compared to the hemi-castration group (p < 0.01) and showed a tendency to increase with the short-term fattening period, but there was no significant difference. Thus, castration to remove both testicles is essential for economic profit through producing high-quality Korean beef meat, and short-term fattening for 26 months, rather than 24 months, can benefit more by increasing carcass weight and meat quality.

Speech Perception and Gap Detection Performance of Single-Sided Deafness under Noisy Conditions

  • Kwak, Chanbeom;Kim, Saea;Lee, Jihyeon;Seo, Youngjoon;Kong, Taehoon;Han, Woojae
    • Korean Journal of Audiology
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    • v.23 no.4
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    • pp.197-203
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    • 2019
  • Background and Objectives: Many studies have reported no benefit of sound localization, but improved speech understanding in noise after treating patients with single-sided deafness (SSD). Furthermore, their performances provided a large individual difference. The present study aimed to measure the ability of speech perception and gap detection in noise for the SSD patients to better understand their hearing nature. Subjects and Methods: Nine SSD patients with different onset and period of hearing deprivation and 20 young adults with normal hearing and simulated conductive hearing loss as the control groups conducted speech perception in noise (SPIN) and Gap-In-Noise (GIN) tests. The SPIN test asked how many presented sentences were understood at the +5 and -5 dB signal-to-noise ratio. The GIN test was asked to find the shortest gap in white noise with different lengths in the gap. Results: Compared to the groups with normal hearing and simulated instant hearing loss, the SSD group showed much poor performance in both SPIN and GIN tests while supporting central auditory plasticity of the SSD patients. Rather than a longer period of deafness, the large individual variance indicated that the congenital SSD patients showed better performance than the acquired SSD patients in two measurements. Conclusions: The results suggested that comprehensive assessments should be implemented before any treatment of the SSD patient considering their onset time and etiology, although these findings need to be generalized with a large sample size.

Bone repair in defects filled with AH Plus sealer and different concentrations of MTA: a study in rat tibiae

  • Jessica Emanuella Rocha Paz;Priscila Oliveira Costa;Albert Alexandre Costa Souza;Ingrid Macedo de Oliveira;Lucas Fernandes Falcao;Carlos Alberto Monteiro Falcao;Maria Angela Area Leao Ferraz;Lucielma Salmito Soares Pinto
    • Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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    • v.46 no.4
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    • pp.48.1-48.10
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    • 2021
  • Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effects on bone repair of different concentrations of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) added to AH Plus. Materials and Methods: Bone tissue reactions were evaluated in 30 rats (Rattus norvegicus) after 7 and 30 days. In the AH + MTA10, AH + MTA20, and AH + MTA30 groups, defects in the tibiae were filled with AH Plus with MTA in proportions of 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively; in the MTA-FILL group, MTA Fillapex was used; and in the control group, no sealer was used. The samples were histologically analyzed to assess bone union and maturation. The Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were performed for multiple pairwise comparisons (p ≤ 0.05). Results: At the 7-day time point, AH + MTA10 was superior to MTA-FILL with respect to bone union, and AH + MTA20 was superior to MTA-FILL with respect to bone maturity (p < 0.05). At the 30-day time point, both the AH + MTA10 and AH + MTA20 experimental sealers were superior not only to MTA-FILL, but also to AH + MTA30 with respect to both parameters (p < 0.05). The results of the AH + MTA10 and AH + MTA20 groups were superior to those of the control group for both parameters and experimental time points (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The results suggest the potential benefit of using a combination of these materials in situations requiring bone repair.

The impact of different shapes of aggregate and crumb rubber on the deformation properties of asphalt concrete

  • Felix N. Okonta;Koketso Tshukutsoane;Babak Karimi
    • Geomechanics and Engineering
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    • v.36 no.1
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    • pp.39-50
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    • 2024
  • Bitumen and high-quality subangular aggregates, the two principal materials used for asphalt concrete construction, are finite and expensive materials. The general availability of crumb rubber and naturally occurring aggregates of different shapes, especially flat and elongated shapes, indicates that they are feasible alternative materials for expanding the volume of bitumen and utilizing a wider range of aggregate shapes for the development of asphalt concrete, with an associated environmental benefit. The study investigated the effect of adding up to 15% crumb rubber and aggregates sorted into different groups, i.e., rounded, elongated, flat, and their combinations, on the rheological and mechanical properties and durability of 50/70 of hot-mix asphalt pavement. The addition of crumb rubber decreased ductility and penetration but increased the softening point. For a 5.5% bitumen content, asphalt concrete briquettes consisting of 7% crumb rubber and three types of aggregate shapes, i.e., 100% rounded, a mix of 75% rounded and 25% elongated, and a mix of 75% rounded, 15% elongated and 10% flat, were associated with high Marshall stability and indirect tensile strength as well as low lateral deformation due to their high solidity and moderate angularity ratio. Also, the addition of 7% crumb rubber resulted in a significant improvement in the tensile strength ratio and rebound strain of briquettes consisting of 75% rounded and 25% elongated aggregates and those with 75% rounded, 15% elongated and 10% flat aggregates. In relation to the parameters investigated, the three groups of briquettes met some of the local (South Africa) requirements for the surface course and base course of low traffic volume roads.

Clinical Impact of Polyglycolic Acid Mesh to Reduce Pancreas-Related Complications After Minimally Invasive Surgery for Gastric Cancer: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis

  • Motonari Ri;Manabu Ohashi;Rie Makuuchi;Masaru Hayami;Takeshi Sano;Souya Nunobe
    • Journal of Gastric Cancer
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.220-230
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    • 2024
  • Purpose: Prevention of pancreas-related complications after gastric cancer surgery is critical. Polyglycolic acid (PGA) mesh reduces postoperative pancreatic fistula formation following pancreatic resection. However, the clinical efficacy of PGA mesh in gastric cancer surgery has not been adequately investigated. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study compared the short-term outcomes between two groups: patients who underwent minimally invasive R0 gastrectomy for gastric cancer with the use of a PGA mesh (PGA group) and those without the use of a PGA mesh (non-PGA group) at the Cancer Institute Hospital, Tokyo, between January 2019 and May 2023. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to adjust for the possible confounding factors. Results: A total of 834 patients were initially included, of whom 614 (307 in each group) remained after PSM. The amylase levels in the drained abdominal fluid on postoperative days 1 and 3 were similar between the PGA and non-PGA groups. The PGA group had a significantly lower incidence of pancreas-related complications of Clavien-Dindo grade ≥2 than that in the non-PGA group (6.8% vs. 2.9%, P=0.025). In subgroup analyses, the odds ratio for pancreas-related complications appeared to be better in the PGA group than in the non-PGA group in patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status Classification score of 2 or 3, those operated via a laparoscopic approach, and those undergoing procedures other than proximal gastrectomy. Conclusions: The use of PGA mesh significantly reduced pancreas-related complications after minimally invasive surgery for gastric cancer and might thus benefit patients at risk of such complications.

Effect of Gaze Stabilization Exercise with Balance Exercise on Static and Dynamic Balance Function of Healthy Young A dults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

  • Yi Wu;Xing- HAN Zhou;Yongbum Jung;Myoung-Kwon Kim
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.1-16
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    • 2024
  • PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of four weeks of gaze stabilization exercises and balance training on the static and dynamic balance functions. METHODS: The study was an assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial conducted at Daegu University in South Korea. Thirty subjects who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected and divided randomly into three groups containing ten each. The first group received balance exercises with gaze stabilizing exercises (BGG). The second group received a balance exercise (BEG), and the third group received gaze-stabilizing exercise (GEG). Each group exercised for 40 minutes, three times a week for four weeks. The subjects were asked to complete the following static balance test: 1) one-leg standing test, 2) sharpened Romberg test, dynamic balance test, 3) Y-balance test, and 4) single-leg stand-squat-stand test. The static and dynamic balance were measured before and after four weeks to determine the effect of exercise on balance. RESULTS: The static (OLS and SRT) and dynamic (YBT and SST) balance tests showed significant differences in the surface and length of the three groups (p < .05), and the y-balance score effect size, 11.477 (p < .05), was improved significantly. On the other hand, the change in BGG value was larger than those of BEG and GEG, and the improvements in balance control were the most significant. CONCLUSION: After four weeks of exercise, BGG showed the best improvement in static and dynamic balance, suggesting that this specific type of gaze stabilization exercise with balance exercise may benefit healthy young adults.

The Cross-Cultural Study about Effects of Service Quality Dimensions on CS in Korea and China (할인점 서비스품질의 각 차원이 CS에 미치는 영향에 대한 한(韓).중(中)간 비교 문화적 연구)

  • Noh, Eun-Jeong;Seo, Yong-Goo
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.19 no.1
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    • pp.23-35
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    • 2009
  • A hypermarket as the one of the most globally standardized retailing format is also the type of store among various types of stores that the most active in expanding into other foreign markets. Recently, as several Korean retailing companies start to penetrate into Chinese market they differentiate themselves with modern facilities and customers service oriented high-end concept. China and Korea as Far East Asian countries share many common values, however precise and careful analysis should be carried out since there may also be critical differences in socio-economic aspects as well as in consumption patterns due to the level of development stages of retail industry among two countries. Even though precise and careful study is crucial on Chinese retailing market and consumers, none of researches and studies on 'how the quality of service dimensional structure is different between Korea and China', and 'what will be the most important and influential service dimensional factors for Chinese consuers compared to the hypermarkets customers in Korea' in order to improve the level of Chinese consumers satisfaction' have been fulfilled At this point of view, this study uses KD-SQS (Rho Eun Jung & Sir Yong Gu, 2008) which is a measure of Korean hypermarkets service quality to set up a hypothesis on Korean and Chinese consumers, and an empirical analysis is conducted. We try to get the answers about how the comparative importance of Service quality dimensions which decides the level of customer satisfaction is different depending on the cultural dimensions and socio-economic factors among two countries, Korea and China. Based upon the results, we try to give a valuable suggestion of what service dimensional factors should be reinforced to improve the level of CS in Chinese retailing market. Hypotheses for this study are as follows : H1. Each dimension of Service Quality significantly affects the level of CS H2. The effect of 'Basic Benefit' in service quality dimensions on the level of CS is greater in China than in Korea H3. The effect of 'Promotion' in service quality dimensions on the level of CS is greater in China than in Korea H4. The effect of 'Physical Aspects'in service quality dimensions on the level of CS is greater in Korea than in China. H5. The effect of 'Personal Interaction' in service quality dimensions on the level of CS is greater in China than in Korea H6. The effect of 'Policy' in service quality dimensions on the level of CS will be greater in Korean than in China H7. The effect of additional convenience in service quality dimensions on the level of CS will be greater in Korean than in China. More than 1,100 data were collected directly from the surveys of Chinese and Korean consumers in order to verify the hypotheses above. In Korea, stores which have floor space of over $9,000m^2$and opened later than year 2000 were selected for the samples, and thus Gayang, Wolgye, Sangbong, Eunpyeong, Suh-Suwon, Gojan stores and their customers were surveyed. In China, notable differences in the income levels and consumer behaviors between cities and regions were considered, and thus the research area was limited to the stores only in Shanghai. 6 stores which have the size of over $6,000m^2$ and opened later than 2000, such as Ruihong, Intu, Mudanjang, Sanrin, Raosimon, and Ranchao stores were selected for the survey. SPSS 12.0 and AMOS 7.0 were used as statistical tools, and exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and multi-group analysis were conducted. In order to carry out a multi group analysis that decides whether the structure variables which shows the different effects of 6 service dimensions in Korean and Chinese groups is statistically valid, configural invariance, metric invariance, and structural invariance are tested in order. At the results of the tests, 3 out of 7 hypotheses were supported and other 4 hypotheses were denied. According to the study, 4 dimensions (Basic Benefit, Physical Environment, Policy, and additional convenience) were positively correlated with CS in Korea, and 3 dimensions (i.e. basic benefit, policy, additional convenience) were significant in China. However, the significance of the service-dimensions was turned out to be partially different in Korea and China. The Basic Benefit is more influential in deciding the level of CS in china than Korea, however Physical Aspect is more important factor in Korea. 'Policy dimension' did not make significant difference between two countries. In the 'additional convenience dimension', the differences in 'socio-economic factors' than in'cultural background' were considered as more important in Chinese consumers than Korean. Overall, the improvement of Service quality will be crucial factors to increase the level of CS in Chinese market same as Korean market. In addition, more emphases need to be placed on the service qualities of 'Basic Benefit' and 'additional convenience' dimensions in China. In particular, 'low price' and 'product diversity' that constitute 'Basic Benefit' are proved to be comparatively disadvantageous and weak points of Korean companies compared to global players, and thus the prompt strengthening those dimensions would be urgent for Korean retailers. Moreover, additional conveniences such as various tenants and complex service and entertaining area will be more important in China than in Korea. Besides, Applying advanced Korean Hypermaret`s customer policy to Chinese consumers will help to get higher reliability and to differentiate themselves to other competitors. However, as personal interaction, physical aspect, promotions were proved as not significant for the level of CS in China, Korean companies need to reconsider the priority order of resource allocations when they tap into Chinese market.

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Effects of Death Education on College Students' Death Orientation and Suicidal Ideation - With a Focus on College Students majoring in Social Welfare in Daegu, Korea - (죽음준비교육이 대학생의 죽음에 대한 태도와 자살생각에 미치는 효과 - 대구지역 사회복지전공 대학생을 대상으로 -)

  • Chang, Kyung-Eun
    • Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.423-437
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    • 2012
  • The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of death education, focusing on death orientation and suicidal ideation, among college students majoring in social welfare. Participation in this study was voluntary. Participants were divided into two groups; an experimental group and a control group, totaling fourteen participants in each group. In exploring the effects of death education, the experimental group was subjected to a total of seven independent sessions dealing with death education over a period of four weeks. As a result of the death education, scores of death orientation and suicidal ideation in the experimental group were significantly lower in the control group. College students majoring in social welfare in the experimental group demonstrated greater comfort with the concept of death, as well as death being the prolongation of one life and new hope for an ensuing life. The experimental group demonstrated a greater appreciation for life, more confidence in setting future goals for their lives, and an awareness of, and ability to deal positively with suicidal tendencies in themselves and others. This research demonstrated a strong practical benefit associated with death education and suicidal ideation awareness.

Differences in Health Belief by Compliance Level with Breast Self-Examination and Predictors of BSE among Women (유방자가검진 이행정도별 건강신념의 차이와 이행요인)

  • Park, Kyung-Yeon
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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    • v.16 no.4
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    • pp.472-480
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    • 2009
  • Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore differences in health belief by compliance level with breast self-examination (BSE) and the predictors of BSE compliance among women. Method: Using a convenience sampling method, 163 women were selected for the sample. Data were measured for each participant during the period between December 2008 and February 2009, and analyzed by chi-square test, t-test, Kruskal-Wallis test with post hoc, and logistic regression analysis. Samples were categorized into three groups by the compliance level of BSE for the last 6 months: Never-performers (i.e, women who had never performed BSE), irregularly-performers (i.e, women who performed BSE at least once), and regularly-performers (i.e, women who performed monthly BSE). Result: Significant differences were reported among never-performers, irregularly-performers and regularly-performers correlated to age, level of education, mammography, ultrasonography, clinical examination, benefit, and confidence. There was no significant difference between irregularly-performers and regularly performers. The significant factor influencing compliance with BSE was 'confidence', which explained 33.7% of the variance in compliance with BSE. Conclusion: Women who had more confidence in their ability to perform BSE were more likely to practice BSE. It is necessary to develop the strategy to enforce woman's confidence in complying with BSE.

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Factors Associated with Social Isolation in Older Adults using Senior Welfare Centers (복지회관 이용 노인의 사회적 고립감 예측요인)

  • Park, Yeon-Hwan;Kang, Hee-Sun
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.38 no.5
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    • pp.712-719
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    • 2008
  • Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors associated with social isolation in older adults using a senior welfare center. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey. Data was collected from June to August 2006 using a questionnaire. A total of 248 older adults responded. Results: About one third (34.9%) of participants responded they felt socially isolated. There were statistically significant differences in living, religion, family and belongingness social support, loneliness, depression, family function, perceived health status, and number of chronic illnesses between socially isolated and non isolated groups. However, factors influencing social isolation were family function (OR=0.954, CI=0.926-0.982), loneliness (OR=1.042, CI=1.002-1.083), depression (OR=1.041, CI=1.002-1.081), and number of chronic illness (OR=1.657, CI=1.153-2.382). Conclusion: We found that some older adults were feeling socially isolated even though the senior welfare center was a good place to meet people. The findings of this study indicated that older adults suffering from social isolation need special attention and may benefit from interventions which promote health and social interactions. Further studies are needed to develop and evaluate an intervention program for this population.