• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.80-88
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• 2001

Objectives : In an epidemiologic study on the health impact of Agent Orange exposure, the valid estimation of exposure level is the most important step. Based on recent studies, we examined the correlation between exposure levels categorized by personal exposure estimates and serum 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD, Dioxin), exploring the possibility of utilizing the exposure level as a surrogate for the estimate of exposure to agent orange. Methods : During the study period (Jan 1996-Feb 1996), blood specimens of 745 subjects taken randomly among 1,329 persons and kept frozen, were analyzed for 2,3,7,8-TCDO and six other dioxin congeners. The serum dioxin and congeners were measured in 1998 by CDC, adjusted for serum lipids. We categorized the total exposure scores into five groups based on Agent Orange exposure data collected by interview and military records. Pearson and Spearman's correlation coefficients & multiple regression analysis were used to identify the relationship of the exposure level categorized with serum concentration of 2,3,7,8-TCDD, and six other dioxin congeners. Results : Dioxin and the other congeners, except 1,2,4,6,7,8-HpCDD, showed significant correlations to exposure categories (p<0.005): 2,3,7,8-TCDD and OCDD showed positive correlations, whereas the other congeners did negative. The values of 2,3,7,8-TCDD differed according to exposure category and proportionally increased from the low exposure group to the high, a dose-response relationship, even after other possible confounding variables were adjusted for. In multiple regression analysis, age$(\beta=0.033)$, dioxin$(\beta=0.433)$, 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD$(\beta=-0.998)$, 1,2,3,4,7,8-HxCDD$(\beta=-0.773)$, 1,2,3,6,7,8-HxCDD$(\beta=0.255)$, 1,2,3,7,8,9-HxCDD$(\beta=-3.468)$, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD$(\beta=0.109)$ we re found to be significantly related to the total exposure score(p<0.005). Conclusion : This study demonstrated that the use of such categorizations as a surrogate measure of agent orange exposure in identifying exposure degrees in a health impact study is valid.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.7-17
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• 2016

Purpose: As our population ages and becomes an elderly society the number of elderly care hospitals is rapidly increasing. Because physical functions and spatial perception in the elderly decrease with age, these hospitals require more systematic and intelligent space designs. The design of these spaces are even more complex because they must accommodate medical programs to treat various different diseases and ailments and also because there are many first time patients and irregular short term patients that seek out outpatient treatment services. Also by analyzing the spatial configuration systems and systematic relationships between each of the functional spaces of the outpatient treatment service departments for hospitals specialized in care for the elderly by focusing on the hallway and corridor systems of these hospitals, the according characteristics and trends were examined. Methods: Based on preceding research, the types of hallway and corridor systems of these hospitals were categorized into five types, including gallery corridors, middle corridors, hall-type, mixed type and cyclic type corridors, and into six types according to function including by medical diagnosis, patient registration, examination, administration and convenience and shared common space to derive any interconnecting relationships between the corridor systems. Also by comprehensively examining the types and combined utilization of the corridor types and the integration and the intelligibility of the space syntax, any trends within the corridor system were derived. The elderly care hospitals examined in this research study were twelve hospitals that opened after the year 2000 in Korea with more that 150 sick beds with areas larger than $1000m^2$ and with all outpatient medical service related rooms located entirely on a single floor of the hospital. Results: The following results could be confirmed based on this research study. 1) The spaces where medical diagnosis and examination occurred were adjacent, and the movement lines for first time patients and re-visiting patients were taken into consideration by separating the treatment space. 2) This research study confirmed that the larger the size of the hospital was, there were more detailed categorizations of treatment services and that there was a tendency for treatment areas to be separated and independent from examination areas. 3) There was a tendency for integration and intelligibility to decrease the more complex and diverse the combination of hall types designed into the corridor systems of these hospitals was. cyclic type corridors dramatically decreased the intelligibility of the corridor systems of these hospitals. 4) The priority rank of these spaces were confirmed to be highest in the order of registration, diagnosis, examination, treatment, administration and shared common spaces. However it was confirmed for the local integration that the diagnosis scope had the highest priority rank. Implications: There were exceptional cases confirmed where the number of unit spaces did not have an absolute effect on integration and intelligibility. These results can be interpreted to mean that this can be overcome through efficient architectural planning.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제23권11호
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• pp.1102-1111
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• 2022

Objective: To evaluate the ultrasonography (US) features for diagnosing metastasis in cervical lymph nodes (LNs) in patients with thyroid cancer and compare the US classification of risk of LN metastasis between European and Korean guidelines. Materials and Methods: From January 2014 to December 2018, US-guided fine-needle aspiration was performed on 836 LNs from 714 patients for the preoperative nodal staging of thyroid cancer. The US features of LNs were retrospectively reviewed for the following features: size, presence of hilum, margin, orientation, cystic change, punctate echogenic foci (PEF), large echogenic foci, eccentric cortical thickening, abnormal vascularity, and cortical hyperechogenicity. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the independent US features for the diagnosis of metastatic LNs. The diagnostic performance of independent US features was subsequently evaluated. LNs were categorized according to the Korean Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (K-TIRADS) and European Thyroid Association (ETA) guidelines, and the correlation between the two sets of classifications was assessed. Results: Absence of the hilum, presence of cystic changes, PEF, abnormal vascularity, and cortical hyperechogenicity were independent US features of metastatic LNs. Cystic changes, PEF, abnormal vascularity, and cortical hyperechogenicity showed high specificity (86.8%-99.6%). The absence of the hilum had the highest sensitivity yet low specificity (66.4%). When LNs were classified according to the ETA guidelines and K-TIRADS, they yielded similar categorizations of malignancy risks and were strongly correlated (Spearman coefficient, 0.9766 [95% confidence interval, 0.973-0.979]). According to the ETA guidelines, 9.8% (82/836) of LNs were classified as "not specified." Conclusion: Absence of hilum, cystic changes, PEF, abnormal vascularity, and cortical hyperechogenicity were independent US features suggestive of metastatic LNs in thyroid cancer. Both K-TIRADS and the ETA guidelines provided similar risk stratification for metastatic LNs with a high correlation; however, the ETA guidelines failed to classify 9.8% of LNs into a specific risk stratum. These results may provide a basis for revising LN classification in future guidelines.