• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2019

Background: The structural conversions in ginsenosides induced by steaming or heating or acidic condition could improve red ginseng bioactivities significantly. In this paper, the chemical transformations of red American ginseng from fresh Panax quinquefolium L. under steaming were investigated, and the possible mechanisms were discussed. Methods: A method with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with linear ion trap mass spectrometry ($HPLC-MS^n$)-equipped electrospray ionization ion source was developed for structural analysis and quantitation of ginsenosides in dried and red American ginseng. Results: In total, 59 ginsenosides of protopanaxadiol, protopanaxatriol, oleanane, and ocotillol types were identified in American ginseng before and after steaming process by matching the molecular weight and/or comparing $MS^n$ fragmentation with that of standards and/or known published compounds, and some of them were determined to be disappeared or newly generated under different steaming time and temperature. The specific fragments of each aglycone-type ginsenosides were determined as well as aglycone hydrated and dehydrated ones. The mechanisms were deduced as hydrolysis, hydration, dehydration, and isomerization of neutral and acidic ginsenosides. Furthermore, the relative peak areas of detected compounds were calculated based on peak areas ratio. Conclusion: The multicomponent assessment of American ginseng was conducted by $HPLC-MS^n$. The result is expected to provide possibility for holistic evaluation of the processing procedures of red American ginseng and a scientific basis for the usage of American ginseng in prescription.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was aimed to develop the multicomponent intervention for preventing delirium among postoperative patients in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU). Methods: Using a quasi-experimental pre & post-test design with a non-equivalent control group, a total of 88 hospitalized patients in a SICU participated in this study. The 44 patients were allocated in each experimental and control group. The experimental group received the multicomponent intervention for delirium prevention including a delirium assessment and nursing intervention using a checklist, whereas the control group was provided with a standard care. The primary outcome of this study was the delirium incidence during the course of hospitalization. Results: There were no significant differences in the demographic and clinical characteristics between the two groups. The delirium occurred in 19.2% in the experimental group, whereas 38.6% in the control group ($x^2=4.526$, p<.05). Conclusion: The findings of the study demonstrated an effect of the multicomponent delirium prevention intervention in decreasing the delirium incidence rate over the standard care among the patients in SICU.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.19-43
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• 2014

A risk assessment framework for evaluating building structures is implemented in this study. This framework allows considering sources of uncertainty both on structural capacity and seismic demand. In particular randomness on seismic load, incident angle, material properties, floor mass and structural damping are considered; in addition the choice of fibre modelling versus plastic hinge model is also considered as a source of uncertainty. The main objective of this work is to study the contribution of these sources of uncertainty on the fragilities of steel and steel-reinforced concrete composite 3D building structures. The fragility curves are expressed in the form of a two-parameter lognormal distribution where vertical statistics in conjunction with metaheuristic optimization are implemented for calculating the two parameters.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.99-123
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• 2015

In this study, structural vulnerability of reinforced concrete moment resisting frames (RC-MRFs) by considering the Iran-specific characteristics is investigated to manage the earthquake risk in terms of multicomponent seismic excitations. Low and medium rise RC-MRFs, which constitute approximately 80-90% of the total buildings stock in Iran, are focused in this fragility-based assessment. The seismic design of 3-12 story RC-MRFs are carried out according to the Iranian Code of Practice for Seismic Resistant Design of Buildings (Standard No. 2800), and the analytical models are formed accordingly in open source nonlinear platforms. Frame structures are categorized in three subclasses according to the specific characteristics of construction practice and the observed seismic performance after major earthquakes in Iran. Both far and near fields' ground motions have been considered in the fragility estimation. An optimal intensity measure (IM) called Sa, avg and beta probability distribution were used to obtain reliable fragility-based database for earthquake damage and loss estimation of RC buildings stock in urban areas of Iran. Nonlinear incremental dynamic analyses by means of lumped-parameter based structural models have been simulated and performed to extract the fragility curves. Approximate confidence bounds are developed to represent the epistemic uncertainties inherent in the fragility estimations. Consequently, it's shown that including vertical ground motion in the analysis is highly recommended for reliable seismic assessment of RC buildings.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.109-119
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a delirium prevention intervention for patients in neurology and neurosurgery intensive care units (ICUs). Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study. Participants were 87 patients. The experimental group was provided with nonpharmacologic and multicomponent delirium prevention interventions, consisting of regular delirium assessment, improvement in orientation, early therapeutic intervention, and environmental interventions. The control group was provided with routine intensive care. Data were analyzed using $x^2$ test, Fisher's exact test, and t-test. Results: Both groups were homogeneous. The incidence of delirium and length of hospitalization were significantly lower in the experimental group compared to the control group. ICU stay, mortality and unplanned extubation were lower in the experimental group compared to the control group, but there was no significant difference. Conclusion: Findings indicate that the delirium prevention intervention is effective in reducing incidence of delirium and length of hospitalization. Therefore, this intervention should be helpful in preventing delirium in neurology and neurosurgery ICUs and can be used as a guide in the prevention of delirium in neurological diseases's patients.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.235-242
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is the establishment of scientific processes for making food safety policies. Thus, we investigated pesticide residue level of the agricultural commodities from market, and performed risk assessment. Fifteen agricultural items are chosen based on the frequency of Korean consumption. The samples were collected from 9 cities where populations are more than one million. Total 283 active ingredients were monitoring ( total sample number =232). Single-analysis of target pesticides was for three kinds of possible growth regulators and the multicomponent analysis was for 280 kinds of pesticides, a total of 283 species were selected to perform the pesticide residues. Before monitoring the analytes, the improvements of the analytical methods were done by method validations under the CODEX analytical method development guidelines and can produce metrics that represent the international standards applied in accordance with the guidelines. In addition to residual pesticides detected during monitoring we compare the ADI to EDI values using detected result and dietary consumption data which is extracted from annual market basket survey. The 163 samples were non-detected in the total 232 samples so it means that every agricultural commodity will residual pesticides-free in 70.3%. The detected residual pesticides showed for a total of 69 cases (29.7%). Two of samples violate Korean MRL (0.9%). The ratio of EDI compared to ADI resulted in only from 0.00087 to 0.902%. In result, we can assume that all detected residual pesticides are very safe level and current policies of Korean pesticides control may be working.