• Laboratory Medicine Online
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.100-104
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• 2011

Background: Malaria is a problematic disease in Korea, and microscopic examination of Giemsa-stained blood smear has been used as the gold standard for its diagnosis. However, this technique is time-consuming and has low sensitivity in samples with low numbers of malarial parasites (<20 parasites/μL). Here, we evaluated the performance characteristics of the LG Advansure^TM Malaria P.f./P.v. real-time QPCR (LG life sciences, Korea). Methods: Blood samples from 173 persons who visited Korea University Ansan Hospital were evaluated. QPCR was performed in 73 malaria patients and 100 healthy subjects by using the LG Advansure Malaria P.f./P.v. real-time QPCR^R kit, and the results were compared with those of microscopy. The detection limit of this kit was determined by serial dilution of Plasmodium-infected blood with normal blood (blood not infected with Plasmodium). Results: Among the 73 patients that were microscopically confirmed to have malaria (Plasmodium vivax infection, N=70, P. falciparum infection, N=3), 69 patients were diagnosed with P. vivax infection and 3 were diagnosed with P. falciparum infection by LG Advansure^TM Malaria P.f./P.v. realtime QPCR. Both the tests indicated absence of infection in the 100 healthy subjects. The detection limit of LG Advansure^TM Malaria P.f./P.v. real-time QPCR was 0.1 parasite/μL. Conclusions: LG Advansure^TM Malaria P.f./P.v. real-time QPCRis a very sensitive and specific technique and can be used as a confirmatory test for malaria.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.2335-2347
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• 2023

As medical facilities are usually built at urban areas, special concrete aggregates and evaluation methods are needed to optimize the design of concrete walls by balancing density, thickness, material composition, cost, and other factors. Carbon treatment rooms require a high radiation shielding requirement, as the neutron yield from carbon therapy is much higher than the neutron yield of protons. In this case study, the maximum carbon energy is 430 MeV/u and the maximum current is 0.27 nA from a hybrid particle therapy system. Hospital or facility construction should consider this requirement to design a special heavy concrete. In this work, magnetite is adopted as the major aggregate. Density is determined mainly by the major aggregate content of magnetite, and a heavy concrete test block was constructed for structural tests. The compressive strength is 35.7 MPa. The density ranges from 3.65 g/cm³ to 4.14 g/cm³, and the iron mass content ranges from 53.78% to 60.38% from the 12 cored sample measurements. It was found that there is a linear relationship between density and iron content, and mixing impurities should be the major reason leading to the nonuniform element and density distribution. The effect of this nonuniformity on radiation shielding properties for a carbon treatment room is investigated by three groups of Monte Carlo simulations. Higher density dominates to reduce shielding thickness. However, a higher content of high-Z elements will weaken the shielding strength, especially at a lower dose rate threshold and vice versa. The weakened side effect of a high iron content on the shielding property is obvious at 2.5 µSv=h. Therefore, we should not blindly pursue high Z content in engineering. If the thickness is constrained to 2 m, then the density can be reduced to 3.3 g/cm³, which will save cost by reducing the magnetite composition with 50.44% iron content. If a higher density of 3.9 g/cm³ with 57.65% iron content is selected for construction, then the thickness of the wall can be reduced to 174.2 cm, which will save space for equipment installation.

• The Journal of KAIRB
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.23-31
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• 2020

Purpose: To obtain opinions from Korean Institutional Review Board (IRB) members' self-evaluation on ability to conduct fairness review of clinical trial protocol with presence of conflict of interest and from investigators and IRB members on financial conflict of interest through surveying. Methods: IRB members and researchers in 9 different hospitals were asked to answer survey questions via email. Results: Responders were 115 personnel (IRB Chair/vice 18, medical member 30, non-medical member 28, and researcher 39) from 9 centers. Compared to IRB medical members, IRB chair/vice respondents scored higher with statistically significance on 10 point scale (8.44±1.381 vs. 7.30±1.685, p=0.005) when asked to self-evaluate fairness reviewing a protocol proposed by an investigator from the same department and a protocol from the company that supports the scientific committee of responders. When reviewing a protocol proposed by a hospital director, non-medical members scored statistically significantly higher than medical-members (7.47±1.76 vs. 8.07±2.70, p=0.034). When asked about the limitation of labor fee for principal investigator on phase 3 Human clinical trials of the Investigational new drug, while the responses range was wide, 60% answered that labor cost of principal investigator should be less than 30% of total budget for clinical trials with a budget of 100 million won. 51.3% answered that there is no need to disclose the labor cost of the principal investigator in the consent form. Since every investigator can be influenced unconsciously by conflict of interest, the answer that 'responder agrees that there is need for management' was the most chosen answer (IRB member 61.8%, investigator 64.1%, multiple answers allowed). Conclusion: Considering scores on questions of fairness by IRB members were between 7.23-8.56 on scale of 0 to 10 point when IRB members were asked about reviewing a clinical trial protocol, it cannot be said with absolute certainty that there is no issue regarding fairness in the review process. Therefore, there should be more ways to safeguard fairness for these issues. There is a need that the disclosure amount of honorarium from sponsor should be lower than 100 million Korean won. Considering the results of the survey in which respondents expressed their thoughts, it is likely that more education on the concept of conflict of interest is needed.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.17-24
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• 2023

A post-processing technique for the measurement signal of a solenoid-type sensor is introduced. The solenoid-type sensor nondestructively evaluates an external tendon of prestressed concrete using the total flux leakage (TFL) method. The TFL solenoid sensor consists of primary and secondary coils. AC electricity, with the shape of a sinusoidal function, is input in the primary coil. The signal proportional to the differential of the input is induced in the secondary coil. Because the amplitude of the induced signal is proportional to the cross-sectional area of the tendon, sectional loss of the tendon caused by ruptures or corrosion can be identified by the induced signal. Therefore, it is important to extract amplitude information from the measurement signal of the TFL sensor. Previously, the amplitude was extracted using local maxima, which is the simplest way to obtain amplitude information. However, because the sampling rate is dramatically decreased by amplitude extraction using the local maxima, the previous method places many restrictions on the direction of TFL sensor development, such as applying additional signal processing and/or artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, the proposed method uses amplitude demodulation to obtain the signal amplitude from the TFL sensor, and the sampling rate of the amplitude information is same to the raw TFL sensor data. The proposed method using amplitude demodulation provides ample freedom for development by eliminating restrictions on the first coil input frequency of the TFL sensor and the speed of applying the sensor to external tension. It also maintains a high measurement sampling rate, providing advantages for utilizing additional signal processing or artificial intelligence. The proposed method was validated through experiments, and the advantages were verified through comparison with the previous method. For example, in this study the amplitudes extracted by amplitude demodulation provided a sampling rate 100 times greater than those of the previous method. There may be differences depending on the given situation and specific equipment settings; however, in most cases, extracting amplitude information using amplitude demodulation yields more satisfactory results than previous methods.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.315-329
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• 2023

Purpose: This study examined the meal-kit consumption practices of adults in their 20s and 30s and analyzed the properties that should be given priority for improvement among the selection attributes to improve the quality of meal-kits. Methods: Statistical analyses were conducted using the SPSS program (ver. 28.0) for χ²-test, t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Duncan's multiple range test, factor analysis, and Importance-Satisfaction Analysis (ISA). Results: Of the 249 subjects surveyed, 85.5% had some experience of purchasing meal-kits, with significantly more females than males (p < 0.01), significantly more married people than single people (p < 0.05), significantly more employed people than unemployed people (p < 0.05). Meal-kits were purchased most frequently for meals (60.6%), from discount stores or supermarkets (44.6%), and priced between 10,000 won and 20,000 won per person (46.9%). The overall satisfaction with meal-kits was 4.1 out of 5.0 points. The frequency of purchases was Korean soup dishes (69.5%), Korean main dishes (47.4%), and Korean street snacks (46.9%). Factor analysis of the meal-kit selection attributes revealed, 4 factors: 'quality of food,' 'packaging and diversity,' 'quality of meal-kit,' and 'convenience and price.' Compared to single-person households, multi-person households placed significantly higher importance on the 'quality of food,' 'packaging and diversity,' and 'quality of meal-kit.' The factor, 'packaging and diversity' were significantly higher in the importance evaluation scores for females (p < 0.01), married people (p < 0.05), and people in their 30s (p < 0.05) among meal-kit consumers. According to the ISA results, a critical aspect that meal-kit manufacturers or sellers should strengthen is 'price.' Conclusion: Meal-kit products will need to be developed for various purposes that offer high value for money that can satisfy the consumers' needs to improve the satisfaction of meal-kit consumers.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.10-18
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• 2023

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of patients referred for delirium and depressive disorder and to find direction of improvement of consultation-liason psychiatry in general hospital. Methods : We performed a retrospective computed chart review of the 4,966 inpatients hospitalized at Konkuk University Hospital who were referred to the Department of Psychiatry from August 1, 2005 to December 31, 2011. Results : Depressive disorder shows the order of frequency of consultation type Parallel-Complementary-Mending. Delirium shows the order of frequency of consultation type Mending-Parallel-Complementary. When comparing 'follow up consultation' and 'without follow up consultation' group within the depressive disorder, the proportion of men in the 'follow up consultation' group was higher. In the analysis of the consultation type, the 'follow up consultation' group showed the order of consultation type Parallel-Mending- Complementary, and type Parallel-Complementary-Mending in the 'without follow up consultation' group. When comparing 'follow up consultation' and 'without follow up consultation' group within the delirium, the proportion of the surgical field in the 'follow up consultation' group was higher. In the analysis of the consultation type, both group showed the order of consultation type Mending-Parallel- Complementary. Conclusions : Doctors in each department and psychiatrists should pay attention to delirium symptoms that may occur in surgical inpatients and preventive measures should be taken. Screening tests should be conducted in medical patients to properly evaluate coexisting psychiatric diseases. Risk factors of Delirium and Depressive disorder should be identified from the time of hospitalization, and actively discussing treatment plans and early interventions could improve the quality of medical services.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 2017

Background: The expression of miRNAs in response to Helicobacter pylori infection has not been well explored. The aims of this study were to evaluate the H. pylori associated miRNAs in the gastric epithelial cells. Methods: We investigated gastric epithelial cell-line (HS3C) exposed H. pylori over 3 months and AGS cell-line (AGS) exposed H. pylori for 6 hour. After the extraction of miRNA from these cell-lines, microarray and real time PCR were performed to confirm the alteration of expression. Results: All 12 miRNAs chosen for real-time PCR are based on the result of microarray and their potential functions related to H. pylori infection. miR-21, miR-221, miR-222 were upregulated in the H. pylori infected AGS cell for 6 hours and HS3C cells. miR-99b, miR-200b, miR-203b and miR-373 were downregulated in the H. pylori infected AGS cell for 6 hours and HS3C cells. miR-23a, miR-23b, miR-125b, miR-141 and miR-155 were upregulated in HS3C cell line but not in H. pylori infected AGS cell for 6 hours. Conclusion: miR-21, miR-99b, miR-125b, miR-200b, miR-203b, miR-221, miR-222, and miR-373 are supposed to be related with oncogenesis of H. pylori infection. Further studies are needed for the evaluation of the function of these confirmed miRNAs.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.697-714
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• 2023

The Tracksite of Cretaceous Dinosaurs and Pterosaurs in Jeongchon, Jinju was discovered in late 2017 during the construction of the Ppuri industry complex. This site is a natural heritage site with a high paleontological value, as it preserves fossils of various types of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and animal traces at a dense concentration. In this study, we surveyed that physical weathering such as joint, crack, scaling, exfoliation, and fragmentation occurred through field research in the fossil site, and conducted basic research on conservation science to reduce the damage. To this end, among the eight levels identified after excavation, the rocks of Level 3, which yielded a large number of theropod footprint fossils, and Level 4, which yielded pterosaur footprint fossils, were analyzed for material characteristics and evaluation of the effectiveness of consolidation and adhesion. This results showed that the rocks in the Level 3 stratum were dark gray siltstone and the rocks in the Level 4 stratum were dark gray shale, which contained a large amount of calcite and were composed of quartz, plagioclase, mica, alkali feldspar, and other clay minerals, which are likely to be damaged by rainfall under external conditions. As a result of conducting an artificial weathering experiment by dividing the probationary sample into four groups: untreated, consolidation treatment, anti-swelling treatment, and adhesive treatment, the consolidation and the swelling inhibitor showed an effect immediately after treatment, but did not show a blocking effect under a freezing-thawing environment. The adhesive showed that the adhesive effect was maintained even under freezing-thawing conditions. In order to preserve the fossil sites at Jeongchon in the future, in addition to temporary measures to block the inflow of moisture, practical measures such as the construction of protective facilities should be prepared.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.802-811
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• 2023

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a crucial element for rational allocation and sustainable use of marine areas. Particularly, Fishing Activity Protected Areas constitute essential zones accounting for 45.6% designated for sustainable fishing activities. However, the current assessment of these zones does not adequately consider future demands and potential values, necessitating appropriate evaluation methods and predictive tools for long-term planning. In this study, we selected key fish species (Scomber japonicus, Trichiurus lepturus, Engraulis japonicus, and Larimichthys polyactis) within the Fishing Activity Protected Area to predict their distribution and compare it with the current designated zones for evaluating the ability of the prediction tool. Employing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report scenarios (SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5), we used species distribution models (such as MaxEnt) to assess the movement and distribution changes of these species owing to future variations. The results indicated a 30-50% increase in the distribution area of S. japonicus, T. lepturus, and L. polyactis, whereas the distribution area of E. japonicus decreased by approximately 6-11%. Based on these results, a species richness map for the four key species was created. Within the marine spatial planning boundaries, the overlap between areas rated "high" in species richness and the Fishing Activity Protected Area was approximately 15%, increasing to 21% under the RCP 2.6 scenario and 34% under the RCP 8.5 scenario. These findings can serve as scientific evidence for future evaluations of use zones or changes in reserve areas. The current and predicted distributions of species owing to climate change can address the limitations of current use zone evaluations and contribute to the development of plans for sustainable and beneficial use of marine resources.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.483-495
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the dietary quality of food consumed by the elderly is influenced by the consumption of healthy functional foods using Nutrition Quotients for the Elderly (NQ-E). Methods: The study subjects were 250 adults aged ≥ 65 living in Seoul or Gyeonggi-do. Those who had consumed healthy functional food for more than 2 weeks within the previous year were classified as healthy functional food consumers, and the quality of their meals was evaluated using the NQ-E. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS 9.4, and sex and age-associated differences were adjusted before comparing differences based on healthy functional food intake. Results: The average age of the study subjects was 70.8. The scores for each area and the Nutrition Quotient (NQ) score were as follows: balance 43.3 points, moderation 56.7 points, practice 65.7 points, and NQ 52.5 points. When comparing differences according to healthy functional food intake status, healthy functional food consumers had significantly higher balance and NQ scores than non-consumers. When considering each NQ item score, healthy functional food consumers had significantly higher scores than non-consumers for fruit, fish and seafood, eggs, nuts, and whole grain rice, and a higher score for effort to maintain a healthy diet. Conclusion: Dietary quality as assessed by Nutrition Quotients for the Elderly was better for healthy functional food consumers than non-consumers.