• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.96-103
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• 2020

Purpose: In patients with trauma, rhabdomyolysis (RM) can lead to fatal complications resulting from muscle damage. Thus, RM must be immediately diagnosed and treated to prevent complications. Creatine kinase (CK) is the most sensitive marker for diagnosing RM. However, relying on CK tests may result in delayed treatment, as it takes approximately 1 hour to obtain CK blood test results. Hence, this study investigated whether the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) could predict RM at an earlier time point in patients with trauma, since NLR results can be obtained within 10 minutes. Methods: This retrospective study included 130 patients with severe trauma who were admitted to the emergency room of a tertiary institution between January 2017 and April 2020. RM was defined as a CK level ≥1,000 U/L at the time of arrival. Patients with severe trauma were categorized into non-RM and RM groups, and their characteristics and blood test results were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 26.0 for Windows. Results: Of the 130 patients with severe trauma, 50 presented with RM. In the multivariate analysis, the NLR (odds ratio [OR], 1.252; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.130-1.386), pH level (OR, 0.006; 95% CI, 0.000-0.198), presence of acute kidney injury (OR, 3.009; 95% CI, 1.140-7.941), and extremity Abbreviated Injury Scale score (OR, 1.819; 95% CI, 1.111-2.980) significantly differed between the non-RM and RM groups. A receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that a cut-off NLR value of 3.64 was the best for predicting RM. Conclusions: In patients with trauma, the NLR at the time of arrival at the hospital is a useful biochemical marker for predicting RM.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.79-104
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• 1995

Dividend Policy involves the decision to pay out earnings versus retaining them for reinvestment in the firm, and dividend policy decisions can have either favorable or unfavorable effects on the attainment of firm's objective. This paper is to examine the present status of dividend policy of the Pusan Cooperative Fish Market, and to suggest the optimal dividend policy decisions appropriate for achieving its objective, which is to promote the fishermen's benefits and protect the interest of consumers. There are two types of dividend that the Pusan Cooperative Fish Market pays to the equity owners : (1) dividend on capital and (2) equalized patronage dividend. During'90s, while the rate of dividend on capital ranged from 1.7% to 2.8%, that of equalized patronage dividend ranged from 13.9% to 22.9%. Therefore, the rate of total dividend on capital including revolving funds has been about 20%, which turns out to be much higher than those of companies listed in the stock market. According to the current dividend data, the Pusan Cooperative Fish Market focuses on the equalized patronage dividend and the dividen on capital is the secondary type of dividend. In addition, the interesting feature of equalized patronage dividend is that it is supposed to be reinvested into capital by the Articles of the Fish Market, as soon as the Fish Market pays it to its members. Finally, this paper suggests the rational dividend policy of the Fish Market that is able to help its objective to be achidved more efficiently. The overall direction of the rational dividend policy can be summarized as follows ; (1) The level of cash dividend on capital should be increased enough to reflect the market interest rate. (2) The subsidy of working capital to some member fisheries cooperatives as quasi- dividend should be cut off steadily. (3) The equalized patronage dividend should be replaced by the original patronage dividend whose level is determined by the volume of each member's purchase. (4) In the long-term, it is necessary to improve the system of revolving funds in the way that revoloving funds could serve to complement equity capital for only a fixed time, after which they ard repaid to the members.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5261-5264
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• 2015

Purpose: To examine the effectiveness of serum free-to-total prostate specific antigen ratio (%fPSA) for the detection of prostate cancer (PCa) in men with different serum total PSA (tPSA) categories. Materials and Methods: From January 2010 to December 2013, a total of 225 patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) underwent tPSA and %fPSA measurements. Histological examination with calculation of Gleason score and whole body bone scans were performed in identified cases of PCa. Results: PCa was diagnosed in 44 (19.6%) patients and the remaining 181 patients had benign prostate disease. PCa was detected in 5 (23.8%), 13 (8.7%) and 26 (47.3%) cases with tPSA level ranges ${\leq}4ng/ml$, 4 to 10 ng/ml and >10 ng/ml, respectively. The average Gleason score was $7.2{\pm}0.2$. Some 6 (13.6%) out of 44 PCa patients had bone metastases. The sensitivity was 80% and specificity was 81.3% at the cut-off %fPSA of 15% in PCa patients with a tPSA level below 4 ng/mL. A lower %fPSA was associated with PCa patients with Gleason score ${\geq}7$ than those with Gleason score ${\leq}6$ ($11.7{\pm}0.98$ vs. $16.5{\pm}2.25%$, P=0.029). No obvious relation of %fPSA to the incidence of bone metastasis was apparent in this study. Conclusions: The clinical application of %fPSA could help to discriminate PCa from benign prostate disease in men with a tPSA concentration below 4 ng/mL.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5243-5251
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• 2015

Background: To assess women's awareness from diverse sections of society in Delhi regarding various aspects of breast cancer (BC) - perceptions, signs and symptoms, risk factors, prevention, screening and treatment. Materials and Methods: Community-level survey was undertaken in association with the Indian Cancer Society (ICS), Delhi during May 2013-March 2014. Women attending BC awareness workshops by ICS were given self-administered questionnaires before the workshop in the local language to assess BC literacy. Information provided by 2017 women was converted into awareness scores (aware=1) for analysis using SPSS. Awareness scores were dichotomized with median score=19 as cut off, create more aware and less aware categories. Bivariate and multivariate analysis provided P-values, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Broadly, 53.4% women were aware about various aspects of BC. Notably, 49.1% women believed that BC was incurable and 73.9% women believed pain to be an initial BC symptom. Only 34.9% women performed breast self-examination (BSE) and 6.9% women had undergone clinical breast-examination/mammography. 40.5% women had higher awareness (awareness score > median score of 19), which was associated with education [graduates (OR=2.31; 95%CI=1.78, 3.16), post-graduates (OR=7.06; 95%CI=4.14, 12.05) compared to ${\leq}$ high school] and socio-economic status (SES) [low-middle (OR=4.20; 95%CI=2.72, 6.49), middle (OR=6.00; 95%CI=3.82, 9.42) and upper (OR=6.97; 95%CI=4.10, 11.84) compared to low SES]. Conclusions: BC awareness of women in Delhi was suboptimal and was associated with low SES and education. Awareness must be drastically increased via community outreach and use of media as a first step in the fight against BC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1811-1815
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• 2016

Wetland geographical areas have a higher incidence of Opisthorchis viverrini-associated cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), confirmed by data from geographic information systems, than other areas. Behavioral data also indicate that people in these areas traditionally eat uncooked freshwater fish dishes, a vehicle for O. viverrini infection. The best approach to reducing CCA incidence is decreasing risk factors together with behavior alteration. Evaluation of CCA risk and its related factors are first needed for planning the prevention and control programs in the future. We therefore aimed to evaluate the CCA risk and explore its related factors among people in wetland communities of Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. A cross-sectional study was conducted between July and August 2014. In total 906 participants, with informed consent, completed questionnaires. Overall risk of CCA was determined by multiplying odds ratios (ORs) of the risk factors for CCA from literature reviews. A mean score of 5.95 was applied as the cut-off point. Assessment of factors related to overall risk of CCA was accomplished using conditional logistic regression. Of all participants, 60.15% had a high level of the overall risk of CCA. Factors related to the overall risk of CCA were gender (p<0.001), marital status (p<0.001), perceived susceptibility (p=0.043) and prevention behavior for CCA (p<0.001). In conclusion, most participants in this community had a high level of overall risk of CCA. Therefore, integrated prevention and control programs continue to be urgently required.

• Proceedings of the ESK Conference
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• 1994.04a
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• pp.49-51
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• 1994

The aims of this study were first to determine the influence of vibration displacement amplitude $(200{\mu}m, 300{\mu}m peak-to-peak)$ at selected frequencies (40-200Hz) on a commonly observed but often undesired motor response elicited bylocal vibratory stimulation, the Tonic Vibration Reflex (TVR). Second, to determine the degree of synchronization of motor unit (MU) activity with vibratory stimuli. Vibration was applied to the distal tendons of the hand flexor muscles. Changes in root- mean-square electromyographic (EMG) activity of the finger and wrist flexor muscles were analyzed both as a function of their initial contraction level (0%, 10%, 20% of the maximal voluntarycontraction: MVC) and as a function of the vibration parameters. The results indicate that the TVR increased with the initial muscle contraction up to 10% MVC: The TVR increased with vibration frequency up to 100-150 Hz and decreases beyond; A significant increase of the TVR with vibration displacement amplitude was observed only for the wrist flexor muscle; MU synchronization at vibration frequency (VF) was found more often in the low frequency range $(f{\leq}100 Hz)$ and tended todecrease beyond; In the high frequency range $(f{\geq}120 Hz)$, MU activity at subharmonic frequency was predominant; The "cut-off" frequency of the synchronization with VF was neither affected by the vibration displacement amplitude nor initial muscle contraction level. The surface EMG turned out to be a useful means to analyze MU synchronization since it is noninvasive, and it can be easily used for analysis of different muscle contraction levels, while single MU technique might have some difficulties at high muscle contraction levels. Furthermore, these results indicate that high frequencyvibration (f>150 Hz) tends to induce less muscle/tendon stress and MU synchronization. Such remarks are of importance for the design of hand-held vibrating tools.ing tools.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.291-297
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• 2017

This study was performed to investigate the dose-response relationship between average daily cadmium dose (ADCD) from rice and the occurrence of urinary cadmium (U-Cd) in individuals eating that rice. This was a retrospective cohort designed to compare populations from two areas with different levels of cadmium contamination. Five-hundred and sixty-seven participants aged 18 years or older were interviewed to estimate their rice intake, and were assessed for U-Cd. The sources of consumed rice were sampled for cadmium measurement, from which the ADCD was estimated. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the association between ADCD and U-Cd (cut-off point at $2{\mu}g/g$ creatinine), and a correlation between them was established. The lowest estimate was $ADCD=0.5{\mu}g/kg\;bw/day$ [odds ratio (OR) = 1.71; with a 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-2.87]. For comparison, the relationship in the contaminated area is expressed by $ADCD=0.7{\mu}g/kg\;bw/day$, OR = 1.84; [95 % CI, 1.06-3.19], while no relationship was found in the non-contaminated area, meaning that the highest level at which this relationship does not exist is $ADCD=0.6{\mu}g/kg\;bw/day$ [95% CI, 0.99-2.95]. Rice, as a main staple food, is the most likely source of dietary cadmium. Abstaining from or limiting rice consumption, therefore, will increase the likelihood of maintaining U-Cd within the normal range. As the recommended maximum ADCD is not to exceed $0.6{\mu}g/kg\;bw/day$, the consumption of rice grown in cadmium-contaminated areas should not be more than 246.8 g/day. However, the exclusion of many edible plants grown in the contaminated area from the analysis might result in an estimated ADCD that does not reflect the true level of cadmium exposure among local people.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.449-458
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• 1996

Most of the conventional electrocardiowaphs foil to detect signals other than P-QRS-T due to the limited SNR and bandwidth. High-resolution electrocardiography(HRECG) provides better SNR and wider bandwidth for the detection of micro-potentials with higher frequency components such as vontricular late potentials(LP). We have developed a HRECG using uncorrected XYZ lead for the detection of LPs. The overall gain of the amplifier is 4000 and the bandwidth is 0.5-300Hz without using 60Hz notch filter. Three 16-bit A/D converters sample X, Y, and Z signals simultaneously with a sampling frequency of 2000Hz. Sampled data are transmitted to a PC via a DMA-controlled, optically-coupled serial communication channel. In order to further reduce the noise, we implemented a signal averaging algorithm that averaged many instances of aligned beats. The beat alignment was carried out through the use of a template matching technique that finds a location maximizing cross-correlation with a given beat tem- plate. Beat alignment error was reduced to $\pm$0.25ms. FIR high-pass filter with cut-off frequency of 40Hz was applied to remove the low frequency components of the averaged X, Y, and Z signals. QRS onset and end point were determined from the vector magnitude of the sigrlaIL and some parameters needed to detect the existence of LP were estimated. The entire system was designed for the easy application of the future research topics including the optimal lead system, filter design, new parameter extraction, etc. In the developed HRECG, without signal averaging, the noise level was less than 5$\mu$V$_rms RTI$. With signal averaging of at least 100 beats, the noise level was reduced to 0.5$\mu$V$_rms RTI$, which is low enough to detect LPs. The developed HRECG will provide a new advanced functionality to interpretive ECG analyzers.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.106-111
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• 2020

Background: Fever is a common cause of pediatric consultation in the emergency department. However, identifying the source of infection in many febrile infants is challenging because of insufficient presentation of signs and symptoms. Meningitis is a critical cause of fever in infants, and its diagnosis is confirmed invasively by lumbar puncture. This study aimed to evaluate potential laboratory markers for meningitis in febrile infants. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed infants aged <3 months who visited the emergency department of our hospital between May 2012 and May 2017 because of fever of unknown etiology. Clinical information and laboratory data were evaluated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed. Results: In total, 145 febrile infants aged <3 months who underwent lumbar punctures were evaluated retrospectively. The mean C-reactive protein (CRP) level was significantly higher in the meningitis group than in the non-meningitis group, whereas the mean white blood cell count or absolute neutrophil count (ANC) did not significantly differ between groups. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for CRP was 0.779 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.701-0.858). The AUC for the leukocyte count was 0.455 (95% CI, 0.360-0.550) and that for ANC was 0.453 (95% CI, 0.359-0.547). The CRP cut-off value of 10 mg/L was optimal for identifying possible meningitis. Conclusion: CRP has an intrinsic predictive value for meningitis in febrile infants aged <3 months. Despite its invasiveness, a lumbar puncture may be recommended to diagnose meningitis in young, febrile infants with a CRP level >10 mg/L.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.31-42
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• 2021

Purpose: This study was performed to assess the level of blood glucose and to identify poor glycemic control groups among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods: Data of 1,022 Korean type 2 DM patients aged 30-64 years were extracted from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VII. Complex samples analysis and a decision-tree analysis were performed using the SPSS WIN 26.0 program. Results: The mean level of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was 7.22±0.25%, and 69.0% of the participants showed abnormal glycemic control (HbA1c≥6.5%). The characteristics of participants associated with poor glycemic control groups were presented with six different pathways by the decision-tree analysis. Poor glycemic control groups were classified according to the patients' characteristics such as period after DM diagnosis, awareness of DM, sleep duration, gender, alcohol drinking, occupation, income status, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, abdominal obesity, and number of walking days per week. Period of DM diagnosis with a cut-off point of 6 years was the most significant predictor of the poor glycemic control group. Conclusion: The findings showed the predictable characteristics of the poor glycemic control groups, and they can be used to screen the poor glycemic control groups among adults with type 2 DM.