• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.27-39
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• 2014

We have previously described a new multilayer alginate microcapsule system, and the goals of the present study were to assess the in vitro function of islets encapsulated in its inner layer, and the angiogenic ability of FGF-1 delivered from the external layer in an omentum pouch. Following isolation and culture, islets were encapsulated in the inner core of microspheres ($500-600{\mu}m$ in diameter) with a semi-permeable poly-L-ornithine (PLO) membrane separating two alginate layers, and both unencapsulated and encapsulated islet function was assessed by a dynamic glucose perifusion. For angiogenesis experiments, one group of microcapsules without FGF-1 (control) and another (test) containing FGF-1 with heparin encapsulated in the external layer were made. One hundred microcapsules of each group were transplanted in Lewis rats (n = 5/group) and were retrieved after 14 days for assessment of angiogenesis. Glucose perifusion of unencapsulated and encapsulated islets resulted in similar stimulation indices. The release of FGF-1 resulted in increased vascular density compared to controls. In conclusion, islets encapsulated in the core of multilayer alginate microcapsules maintain functionality and the microcapsule's external layer is effective in delivery of FGF-1 to enhance graft neovascularization in a retrievable omentum pouch.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.53-62
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• 1985

Pivampicillin hydrochloride is a kind of broad spectrum antibiotics with bactericidal action, and is used in many countries, although it has bitter taste, unpleasant odour and side effects of irritating gastric mucosa, nausea, penicillin allergy, etc. For the improvement of such side effects of pivampicillin hydrochloride, microcapsules, with wall of ethylcellulose, have been prepared by coacervation method. The shape was observed through the scanning electron microscope, the release of the drug into an aqueous medium was studied and the effects of core: ethylcellulose ratio were interpreted as well as making sensory evaluation of taste and odour. There was decreasing trend in dissolution rate of the drug with the increase of core: ethylcellulose ratios, and the smaller microcapsules released their contents more rapidly. A linear relationship was established between the amount of ethylcellulose and the time for 60% release of the drug, and the release pattern was found to have similar characteristics to the release of the drug from an insoluble porous matrix. The release of the drug in the artificial intestinal fluids (pH 6.8) was found to be similar to that in water, while the release in the artificial gastric juice (pH 1.2) was slightly slower. Bioavailability of microcapsule was compared with that of pivampicillin hydrochloride in rabbits using serum concentration and urinary excretion measurements. Microcapsule gave showed slightly higher serum level than pivampicillin hydrochloride from 2 hours after administration, while no significant difference was observed in the accumulated urinary excretion rate between pivampicillin hydrochloride and microcapsule. The ulcer index of pivampicillin hydrochloride administered group was 2.6, and microcapsule administered group was 1.5, while control group was 0.8. Therefore it may be concluded that microencapsulation of pivampicillin hydrochloride is a useful pharmaceutical approach to protect the gastrointestinal tract from being injured by direct contact of pivampicillin hydrochloride without any significant difference of bioavailability.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.97-105
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• 2017

This study aimed to examine the effects of the web-contents nursing education program for fundamental nursing. The study is non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants were 64 nursing students in M City. The data was collected from September to October in 2013. The result showed that there were significant improvement in learning motivation(t=5.44, p<.001), practice satisfaction (t=6.98, p<.001), core nursing skills(p<.001) in the experimental group than the control group. However, self-directed learning was not statistically signigicant between the groups. Therefore, this study confirmed that the effect of the web-contents nursing education program in the fundamental nursing practicum. Also, the web-contents nursing education program is needed in the practicum education curriculum to enhance nursing students' competencies in these areas.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.424-429
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• 2016

Background The objective of this paper was to describe a novel technique for improving the maintenance of nipple projection in primary nipple reconstruction by using acellular dermal matrix as a strut in one of three different configurations, according to the method of prior breast reconstruction. The struts were designed to best fill the different types of dead spaces in nipple reconstruction depending on the breast reconstruction method. Methods A total of 50 primary nipple reconstructions were performed between May 2012 and May 2015. The prior breast reconstruction methods were latissimus dorsi (LD) flap (28 cases), transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap (10 cases), or tissue expander/implant (12 cases). The nipple reconstruction technique involved the use of local flaps, including the C-V flap or star flap. A $1{\times}2-cm$ acellular dermal matrix was placed into the core with O-, I-, and L-shaped struts for prior LD, TRAM, and expander/implant methods, respectively. The projection of the reconstructed nipple was measured at the time of surgery and at 3, 6, and 9 months postoperatively. Results The nine-month average maintenance of nipple projection was $73.0%{\pm}9.67%$ for the LD flap group using an O-strut, $72.0%{\pm}11.53%$ for the TRAM flap group using an I-strut, and $69.0%{\pm}10.82%$ for the tissue expander/implant group using an L-strut. There were no cases of infection, wound dehiscence, or flap necrosis. Conclusions The application of an acellular dermal matrix with a different kind of strut for each of 3 breast reconstruction methods is an effective addition to current techniques for improving the maintenance of long-term projection in primary nipple reconstruction.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.27-36
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• 2018

Background: We developed a novel integrative lumbar stabilization technique that combines lumbar extension (LE) exercise with abdominal drawing-in maneuver (ADIM) to ameliorate low back pain (LBP) associated with neuromuscular imbalance and instability, based on the collective evidence of contemporary spinal rehabilitation. Objects: The specific aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of LE exercise with and without ADIM on core muscle strength, lumbar spinal instability, and pain, as well as functional characteristics in individuals with LBP using advanced radiographic imaging techniques. Methods: patients with mechanical LBP (N = 40, 6 males; $35.1{\pm}7.6years$) were recruited and randomly assigned either to the combined LE and ADIM (experimental group) or the LE alone (control group). Outcome measures included the visual analog scale, the modified Oswestry Disability Index, muscle strength imbalance (MSI), and radiographic imaging. The lumbar intervertebral displacement (LID), intervertebral (IV) and total lumbar extension (TLE) angles were calculated to evaluate the lumbar segmental instability. Results: The experimental group showed significant differences in the L3-L4, L5-S1 LIDs, L4-L5 and L5-S1 IV angles, and TLE angle as compared to the controls (p<.05). Immediate pain reduction and muscle strength imbalance ratio were significantly different between the groups (p<.05). Conclusion: These results suggest that the addition of ADIM significantly increased lumbar spinal stabilization in individuals with LBP, thereby reducing pain associated with functional lumbar flexion during daily activities.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.348-363
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• 2013

The use of I-Core sandwich panel has increased in cruise ship deck structure since it can provide similar bending strength with conventional stiffened plate while keeping lighter weight and lower web height. However, due to its thin plate thickness, i.e. about 4~6 mm at most, it is assembled by high power $CO_2$ laser welding to minimize the welding deformation. This research proposes a volumetric heat source model for T-joint of the I-Core sandwich panel and a method to use shell element model for a thermal elasto-plastic analysis to predict welding deformation. This paper, Part I, focuses on the heat source model. A circular cone type heat source model is newly suggested in heat transfer analysis to realize similar melting zone with that observed in experiment. An additional suggestion is made to consider negative defocus, which is commonly applied in T-joint laser welding since it can provide deeper penetration than zero defocus. The proposed heat source is also verified through 3D thermal elasto-plastic analysis to compare welding deformation with experimental results. A parametric study for different welding speeds, defocus values, and welding powers is performed to investigate the effect on the melting zone and welding deformation. In Part II, focuses on the proposed method to employ shell element model to predict welding deformation in thermal elasto-plastic analysis instead of solid element model.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.170-175
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• 1998

A systematic methodology is developed for the prediction of the lithology using electrofacies classification from wireline log data. Multivariate statistical techniques are adopted to segment well log measurements and group the segments into electrofacies types. To consider corresponding contribution of each log and reduce the computational dimension, multivariate logs are transformed into a single variable through principal components analysis. Resultant principal components logs are segmented using the statistical zonation method to enhance the quality and efficiency of the interpreted results. Hierarchical cluster analysis is then used to group the segments into electrofacies. Optimal number of groups is determined on the basis of the ratio of within-group variance to total variance and core data. This technique is applied to the wells in the Korea Continental Shelf. The results of field application demonstrate that the prediction of lithology based on the electrofacies classification works well with reliability to the core and cutting data. This methodology for electrofacies determination can be used to define reservoir characterization which is helpful to the reservoir management.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.451-461
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• 2019

Purpose: This study identified the effect of abdominal muscle contraction using changes in waist circumference for healthcare workers with back pain due to inadequate posture during working hours. Methods: In this study, we provided educational training focused on posture alignment and utilized waist circumference change sensors to induce the contraction of abdominal muscles as a method to address low back pain in healthcare workers. All 32 participants received the same training and then were assigned to two groups: wearing the keeping core band (CB) and not wearing the keeping core band (NCB). For the CB group, the waist circumference change sensor was applied for 6 weeks during working hours. Wilcoxon's signed-ranks test and paired t-tests were used to compare the differences between the groups. All statistical significance levels were set to α=0.05. Results: Trunk muscle endurance increased significantly in the CB group. There was no significant difference in stability index to evaluate static postural control, but active hip abduction tests, which evaluate dynamic postural control, showed significant decrease in the CB group. Conclusion: These results suggest that the induction of abdominal contraction using the waist circumference change sensor may improve the trunk muscle endurance and the postural control ability of the hip and pelvis of healthcare workers.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2023

Previous emotion studies employing facial expressions have focused on the differences between age groups for each of the emotion categories. Instead, Kim (2021) has compared representations of facial expressions in the lower-dimensional emotion space. However, he reported descriptive comparisons without statistical significance testing. This research used representational similarity analysis (Kriegeskorte et al., 2008) to directly compare empirical datasets from young, middle-aged, and old groups and conceptual models. In addition, individual differences multidimensional scaling (Carroll & Chang, 1970) was conducted to explore individual weights on the emotional dimensions for each age group. The results revealed that the old group was the least similar to the other age groups in the empirical datasets and the valence model. In addition, the arousal dimension was the least weighted for the old group compared to the other groups. This study directly tested the differences between the three age groups in terms of empirical datasets, conceptual models, and weights on the emotion dimensions.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.405-434
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• 2005

This study has been performed to analyze the experience of parents who had led a parents-group of children with cancer. For this study, fifteen participants were selected for an in-depth interview and the personal experiences of each participant had been interviewed in person until data were saturated. This study employed the grounded theory approach of Strauss and Corbin(1998). With the qualitative constant comparative analysis, ninty four concepts, twenty six subcategories, and seventeen categories were generated. In the axial coding, a paradigm model was proposed as follows: The central phenomenon of the leaders' experiences was that they had been 'Pushed Back' to lead the groups. The causal conditions were 'A Sense of Solidarity', 'Regaining Self-possession', and 'Feeling a Necessity of Parents Group'. The contextual conditions were 'Want to Help', 'A Sense of Mission', and 'Discontent with the Cure Environment'. The intervening conditions were 'Self-reflection of Leadership', 'Reaction of Their Own Family', 'Hope to Have an Expanded Group'. The action/interaction strategies were 'Assuming All Field Work', 'Accumulation of Experiences', 'Recognition of a Role Scope'. The consequences were 'Being Comforted', 'Positive Self-awareness', 'a Sense of Worthiness', and 'Desire to Quit'. In the selective coding, the core category was 'Pushed to Lead a Group'. Based on the core category, four types and five stages in the leaders' experiences were identified. The types include 'a Devoted Family Type', 'a Volunteer Type', 'a Role Model Type', and 'a Activist Type': the stages consist of 'Stage of Maintain Identity as a parent of a child with cancer', 'Stage of Questioning', 'Stage of Active Participation', 'Stage of Experience Accumulation', and 'Stage of Progressive Change'. The result of this study presents some implications and suggestions for social work services and theories with respect to the self-help group of pediatric cancer by attempting to understand more about the experiences of leaders' in such groups.