• International Journal of Vascular Biomedical Engineering
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.19-24
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• 2006

Background: Pulse wave velocity (PWV), which is inversely related to the distensibility of an arterial wall, offers a simple and potentially useful approach for an evaluation of cardiovascular diseases. In spite of the clinical importance and widespread use of PWV, there exist no standard either for pulse sensors or for system requirements for accurate pulse wave measurement. Objective of this study was to assess the reproducibility of PWV values using a newly developed PWV measurement system in healthy subjects prior to a large-scale clinical study. Methods: System used for the study was the PP-1000 (Hanbyul Meditech Co., Korea), which provides regional PWV values based on the measurements of electrocardiography (ECG), phonocardiography (PCG), and pulse waves from four different sites of arteries (carotid, femoral, radial, and dorsalis pedis) simultaneously. Seventeen healthy male subjects with a mean age of 33 years (ranges 22 to 52 years) without any cardiovascular disease were participated for the experiment. Two observers (observer A and B) performed two consecutive measurements from the same subject in a random order. For an evaluation of system reproducibility, two analyses (within-observer and between-observer) were performed, and expressed in terms of mean difference ${\pm}2SD$, as described by Bland and Altman plots. Results: Mean and SD of PWVs for aorta, arm, and leg were $7.07{\pm}1.48m/sec,\;8.43{\pm}1.14m/sec,\;and\;8.09{\pm}0.98m/sec$ measured from observer A and $6.76{\pm}1.00m/sec,\;7.97{\pm}0.80m/sec,\;and\;\7.97{\pm}0.72m/sec$ from observer B, respectively. Between-observer differences ($mean{\pm}2SD$) for aorta, arm, and leg were $0.14{\pm\}0.62m/sec,\;0.18{\pm\}0.84m/sec,\;and\;0.07{\pm}0.86m/sec$, and the correlation coefficients were high especially 0.93 for aortic PWV. Within-observer differences ($mean{\pm}2SD$) for aorta, arm, and leg were $0.01{\pm}0.26m/sec,\;0.02{\pm}0.26m/sec,\;and\;0.08{\pm}0.32m/sec$ from observer A and $0.01{\pm}0.24m/sec,\;0.04{\pm}0.28m/sec,\;and\;0.01{\pm}0.20m/sec$ from observer B, respectively. All the measurements showed significantly high correlation coefficients ranges from 0.94 to 0.99. Conclusion: PWV measurement system used for the study offers comfortable and simple operation and provides accurate analysis results with high reproducibility. Since the reproducibility of the measurement is critical for the diagnosis in clinical use, it is necessary to provide an accurate algorithm for the detection of additional features such as flow wave, reflection wave, and dicrotic notch from a pulse waveform. This study will be extended for the comparison of PWV values from patients with various vascular risks for clinical application. Data acquired from the study could be used for the determination of the appropriate sample size for further studies relating various types of arteriosclerosis-related vascular disease.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.345-354
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• 2014

Purpose : We evaluated the usefulness of $Fraxion^{(R)}$ system and s-thermoplastic mask by analyzing setup error when stereotactic radiousurgery (SRS) was treated for brain metastasis. Materials and Methods : 6 patients who received definite diagnosis as brain metastasis between May 2014 and October 2014 were selected. 3 patients were immobilized s-thermoplastic mask and mouthpiece (group1), while $Fraxion^{(R)}$ system was used for the other 3 patients (group2). Cone Beam Computerized Tomography (CBCT) scan was acquired to register planning CT scan. The registration offset was compared for each group. We compared and reported the errors using maximum, minimum, mean, and standard deviation of registration offsets. Furthermore, We used the same method as patient specific quality assurance to verify absorbed dose of PTV. Results : The setup error which is registration offset was reduced 83% in x, 40% in y, and 92% in z-direction when $Fraxion^{(R)}$ system was used compared to the case of using s-thermoplastic mask and mouthpiece. In addition, using $Fraxion^{(R)}$ system showed improved results in rotational components, pitch (rotation along x-axis), roll (y), and yaw (z) which were reduced 64, 88, and 87% respectively compared to the case of using s-thermoplastic mask and mouthpiece. In dosimetry results, when s-thermoplastic mask and mouthpiece used, absorbed dose was reduce 83% compared to before and after registration. However, using $Fraxion^{(R)}$ system showed only 1.9%. All percentage were calculated with respect to average value. Conclusion : Using $Fraxion^{(R)}$ system including mouthpiece, Fraxion frame, frontpiece, and thermoplastic mask, showed better repeatability and precision compared to using s-thermoplastic mask and mouthpiece, which is consequently considered as more improved immobilization system.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.391-400
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• 2005

Special Practitioner exists based on the need for special fields that are required to manage difficult patients with specialized skills distinguished from General practitioner. The purpose of dental specialist system is to manage patients who are not treatable by general practitioner by training doctors specializing in one specific field, thereby, enhancing health of the public. Oral Medicine deals with orofacial pain, oral soft tissue disease, forensic dentistry, oral diagnosis. In these days, living environments of city life bring about increase in stress which ultimately lead to increase in prevalence of temporomandibular disorder, oral soft tissue disease, neuropathies such as trigeminal neuralgia, and hence, the number of patients seeking help of those symptoms tend to increase. The purpose of this study was to analyze the rate of referrals and the routes of patients seeking help by investigating 3,707 patients who visited Department of Oral Medicine, College of Dentistry, Yonsei University, from August, 2004 to April, 2005. The results were as follows: 1. The types of disease referred to the Department of Oral Medicine were orofacial pain, oral soft tissue disease, forensic dentistry, oral diagnosis. 2. The rate of referrals was 58.51% which implies that more than half of the patients visiting the Department of Oral Medicine were referred. 3. The types of institution which made referrals were analyzed, and as a result, dental clinics made most of the referrals with the rate of 83.23%, while that from medical or oriental medical institutions was 16.78%. 4. Among the patients who visited the Department of Oral Medicine on their own, 30.52% gained the information about the Department of Oral Medicine from internet and mass media, and from neighbors. From the above results, most of the patients visiting the Department of Oral Medicine were found to be referred not only from the field of dentistry but also from the field of medicine. These suggest that Oral Medicine manages patients who are not treatable by general dental practitioners, and medical specialists tend to cooperate with the Department of Oral Medicine to manage diseases associated with Oral Medicine. Therefore, the role of Oral Medicine can be considered to be important as a special field, and the results of this study should be considered when working out a policy of Dental specialist system on demand and supply of residents in the future.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2024

Purpose: ¹⁸F-FET, a radiopharmaceutical based on a Tyrosine amino acid derivative using the Sodium-Potassium Pump-independent Transporter (System L) for non-invasive evaluation of primary, recurrent, and metastatic brain tumors, exhibits distinct characteristics. Unlike the widely absorbed ¹⁸F-FDG in both tumor and normal brain tissues, ¹⁸F-FET demonstrates specific uptake only in tumor tissue while almost negligible uptake in normal brain tissue. This study aims to compare and evaluate the usefulness of ¹⁸F-FDG and ¹⁸F-FET Brain PET/CT quantitative analysis in brain tumor diagnosis. Materials and Methods: In 46 patients diagnosed with brain gliomas (High Grade: 34, Low Grade: 12), Brain PET/CT scans were performed at 40 minutes after ¹⁸F-FDG injection and at 20 minutes (early) and 80 minutes (delay) after ¹⁸F-FET injection. SUV_max and SUV_peak of tumor areas corresponding to MRI images were measured in each scan, and the SUV_max-to-SUV_peak ratio, an indicator of tumor prognosis, was calculated. Differences in SUV_max, SUV_peak, and SUV_max-to-SUV_peak ratio between ¹⁸F-FDG and ¹⁸F-FET early/delay scans were statistically verified using SPSS (ver.28) package program. Results: SUV_max values were 3.72±1.36 for ¹⁸F-FDG, 4.59±1.55 for ¹⁸F-FET early, and 4.12±1.36 for ¹⁸F-FET delay scans. The highest SUV_max was observed in ¹⁸F-FET early scans, particularly in HG tumors (4.85±1.44), showing a slightly more significant difference (P<0.0001). SUV_peak values were 3.33±1.13 for ¹⁸F-FDG, 3.04±1.11 for ¹⁸F-FET early, and 2.80±0.96 for ¹⁸F-FET delay scans. The highest SUV_peak was in ¹⁸F-FDG scans, while the lowest was in ¹⁸F-FET delay scans, with a more significant difference in HG tumors (P<0.001). SUV_max-to-SUV_peak ratio values were 1.11±0.09 for ¹⁸F-FDG, 1.54±0.22 for ¹⁸F-FET early, and 1.48±0.17 for ¹⁸F-FET delay scans. This ratio was higher in ¹⁸F-FET scans for both HG and LG tumors (P<0.0001), but there was no statistically significant difference between ¹⁸F-FET early and delay scans. Conclusion: This study confirms the usefulness of early and delay scans in ¹⁸F-FET Brain PET/CT examinations, particularly demonstrating the changes in objective quantitative metrics such as SUV_max, SUV_peak, and introducing the SUV_max-to-SUV_peak ratio as a new evaluation metric based on the degree of tumor malignancy. This is expected to further contributions to the quantitative analysis of Brain PET/CT images.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.187-206
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• 1993

The study was done to better understand problem behavior in high school students as described in family system theory, which explains the individual’s problem within the family interactions. The purpose of the study 1. To analyze the difference in the parents’ relationship as a couple between the two groups. 2. To analyze the difference in the parent-adolecent relationship between the two groups. 3. To analyze the difference in the family function (cohesion adaptability) between the two groups. The method of the study The staudy subjects consisted of a total of 176 families (528 persons), 109 high school students (End grade) with problem behavior and their parents (problem family group) ,and 69 high school students (same grade) with normal behavior and their parents (normal family group) residing in the Seoul area. Data were gathered from structured, self-reporting qestionaires which included a Couple Relation measurement (95 items) , Parent-Adolescent communication measurement (20 items), Family Cohesion Adaptability Scale (20 items) by DavidH. Olson et al., and a behavior evaluation tool. The results of the study 1. The results as related to the hypothesis were as follows. Hypothesis 1 : “satisfaction within The couple's relationship of the parents of problem family group will be lower than the normal family group was supported significantly(t=3.07, p=.005). Hypothesis 2: “The parent-adolescent relationship of the problem family group will be more negative and problematic than the normal family group” was supported significantly(t=4.06, p=.000). Hypothesis 3: “The family function (cohesion adaptability) of the problem family group will be lower than the normal family group" was supported significantly(t=2.20, p=.022) 2. The results of related analysis were as follows 1) Analysis of a causal relation between the couple’s relationship, the parent-adolescent relationship, family function and adolescent behavior showed that the Above 3 variables influenced adolescent behavior.. In cases where couple’s relation-ship, the parent-adolescent’s relationship, the family function are the better, their adolescent’s behavior is better. 2) Discriminant analysis of the research tool showed The discriminant ability of couple’s relationship tool was 75.57%, the Parent-Adolescent communication tool, 67.05, the family adaptability cohesion tool.67. 61%. In summary, interpersonal relationships in the family subsystems are interactive and their relation influences the behaviors. of adolescents in the family. Therefore, family therapy would be a more effective method than individual therapy, to resolve negative problem for adolscents, and the research tool used in this study are very useful for family system diagnosis and nursing intervention.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.154-163
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• 2011

Objective: The purpose of this study was to quantitatively evaluate relapse tendency after orthodontic treatment and determine the contributing factors by using the American Board of Orthodontics objective grading system (ABO-OGS). Methods: The subjects were 80 patients with more than 2 years of retention period after completing orthodontic treatment at the dental hospitals of Busan University, Kyunghee University, and Dankook University. The posttreatment (T2) and post-retention (T3) ABO-OGS measurements were analyzed in relation to age, gender, Angle's classification, extraction, retention period, and pretreatment condition (initial peer assessment rating (PAR) index, T1) by multiple regression analysis. Results: Among the 7 ABO-OGS criteria, alignment worsened but occlusal contact and interproximal contact improved in T3, but not in T2 ($p$ < 0.01). The 4 other criteria showed no significant differences. Multiple regression analysis showed that alignment, occlusal relationship, overjet, and interproximal contact were significant linear models, but with a low explanation power. Age, gender, Angle's classification, extraction, retention period, and pretreatment condition (initial PAR index, T1) had little influence on the ABO-OGS changes between T3 and T2. Conclusions: An orthodontist's understanding of posttreatment relapse tendency can be useful in diagnosis and during patient consultation.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.208-217
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• 2001

Background : The objective of this study is proving the basic data for developing a management system for the discharges against medical advice(AMA) by identifying the characteristics of the AMA patients of an university hospital for 10 years. Methods : By using discharge abstract data base, we divided the total discharges(435,254) into two groups, discharge against medical advice and discharge with discharge order. We confirmed the characteristics of AMA group by analyzing discharge abstract data of the both groups by SAS software V6.12 and $x^2$ test. Medical records of AMA patients in the year 2000 were reviewed to identify the reasons for AMA which we couldn't extract from discharge abstract DB. Result : The total number of AMA for 10 years were 9,358(2.15%) and the AMA rate has been continuously decreased for 10 years. Male, admission through emergency room, discharges admission via other hospital, patients without operation during hospitalization, discharges in hopeless or not improved condition showed higher AMA rate. The AMA rate was higher as the age of the patients was higher, and the average length of stay was longer in AMA patients than in those with discharge order. The AMA rate in psychiatry was highest(14.3%) and it was higher in surgery departments than those of medical or other sections. The AMA rate varied by attending physicians even in the same department and it was statistically significant. Patients with the principal diagnosis of "medical observation and evaluation for suspected diseases" showed the highest AMA rate(15.5%), and that of schizophrenia or psychosis was the nest. One hundred twenty-one patients(19.5%) out of 622 AMA in 2000 discharged against medical advice for transfer to order health care facilities. Among them 71 patients(58.7%) discharged with their medical care information, such as copies of medical record, medical certificates, summaries, etc. Written oath of the patients discharged AMA was filed in their medical records in 466 cases(74.9%) although some of them were incomplete. Conclusion : Characteristics of AMA discharge could be used as the basic data in developing a system to manage the patients who have risk factors to leave the hospital against medical advice. By reducing number of patients leaving the hospital against medical advice we can increase satisfaction of medical providers and consumers.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.110-115
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• 1996

The ESR is one of the oldest laboratory test still in use. Although it lacks specificity in diagnosis, it can be effective for monitoring disease activity and following-up. The Westergren method is used for reference method, however coefficient of variation has been described 0.8% to 22.9% according to the literature. Since the ESR was invented in 1921, measurement technique has developed and automated measurement is introduced. We analyzed one hundred forty-three patient samples using $SEDIsystem^{TM}$ automated ESR measuring system and compared with modified Westergren and Wintrobe methods. Comparison between $SEDIsystem^{TM}$ and modified Westergren for ESR measurement yields the following regression equation; y = 0.863x - 1.69 (r=0.830), $SEDIsystem^{TM}$ and Wintrobe y = 1.14x - 14.7 (r=0.789), respectively. We repeated measurement to evaluate reliability, results are not significant in statistically. In conclusion, $SEDIsystem^{TM}$ automated ESR measurement correlated with modified Westergren and Wintrobe methods, reveal reliable results after 4 hours and can report rapidly for large samples. Thus, these results indicate that $SEDIsystem^{TM}$ automated ESR measurement may be useful tool for clinical practice.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.1126-1132
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• 2009

We carried out this study to reduce the gaps between medical institutes and between medical personnels and help to improve medical service quality, by classifying diagnoses and related intervention through the development of standard nursing intervention and by computerizing protocols. We considered two processes: one is the development process of home nursing standard intervention, and the other is the process of computerizing its related protocols. For the former, research covered analysis of home health care practices, development of client assessment protocol, of patients diagnosis protocols, and of patients intervention protocol. For the latter, strategies for home health care information systems should be set up and it constituted four research contents of analysis, design, management and evaluation of the systems. We also trained and educated home nurses who work at home health service center, by making them use the manual of home health care information systems at a certain city of P. In this study, therefore, we developed elements of standard home health care mediation so that they could be included in the forms of home health information note, home health progress note, and home health progress summary, home health discharge summary. Because standard home health care intervention has been developed, it became easier to exchange information between different home heath service center offices, can prevent from missing or redundant information, and contribute to standardization of hospital terminologies when EMR and HMR are developed.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.18-37
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• 1989

This study was done in order to analyze the factors which influenced the performance level of community health practitioners' task. Interview survey was done during the period from August to October, 1986. Interviewee were 166 CHPs among total of 217 CHPs in Kyonggi province area. Multiple stepwise regression and canonical correlation analysis were used to identify major factors influenced to perform community health practitioners' task. The results of this study were summarized as follows: 1. General characteristics of CHPs 1) Personal characteristics The average age of CHPs was 37.8 years and their marital status was $77.6\%$ of married, educational back-ground was $65.3\%$ of junior college graduation. Their job career was $38.6\%$ of between 1-3 years, $33.3\%$ of between 3-5 years, $22.2\%$ of less than 1 years. Most of CHPs$(62.8\%)$ were fully satisfied with their job, $33.3\%$ were moderately, and $3.8\%$ were not satisfied. 2) Working environmental condition Only $31.7%$ of CHPs were satisfied with their working condition of primary health post, $26.6\%$ were not satisfied. Half of CHPs$(52.5\%)$ replied having good cooperation with health center, $10.1\%$ replied bad. Cooperation with health subcenter was good in $32.9\%$, and bad in $21.9%$. Cooperation with private health institutions was good in $34.2\%$, bad in $21.6%$. 2. Performance level of community health practitioners' task Among a total of 52 contents of their functions medical history taking. physical examination, referral of diagnostic laboratory work-up($(86.4\%)$, health assessment of pregnant women$(82.1\%)$, development of health information system$(79.4\%)$, supervision of health workers $(78.4\%)$, follow-up of family planning acceptors$(77.3\%)$, and follow-up of family planning acceptors' side effects$(77.3\%)$ were actively performed. Diagnosis of pregnancy$(62.1\%)$, sampling of drinking water for quality test$(52.5\%)$, making list of equipment' & supplies $(51.5\%)$, evaluation of primary health post activities $(37.6\%)$, organization of village health workers$(32.4\%)$ and management of village health workers $(30.1\%)$ were poorly performed. 3. Stepwise multiple regression analysis of job function The factors which influenced the performance level of community health practitioners' function were age, marital status, educational level, job career, job satisfaction, satisfaction of working environment of primary health post, cooperation of health center, cooperation of health center, cooperation of private health instiutions in orders. These 9 variables were able to explain job function from $25.7\%$ of program planning to $6.7\%$ of management of common disease. 4. Canonical correlation analysis between the performance of function and general characteristics of CHPs. Cooperation of private health institutions was found to be the factor influencing task performance of community organization, management of primary health post, technical supervision of health personnels. Job satisfaction of CHPs was also found to be the factor influencing task performance of family planning, management of common disease and maintenance of health information system.