• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.998-1008
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• 2022

Objective: The present study aimed to assess the relationship between incidental abnormalities on thoracic computed tomography (CT) and mortality in a general screening population using a long-term follow-up analysis. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively collected the medical records and CT images of 840 participants (mean age ± standard deviation [SD], 58.5 ± 6.7 years; 564 male) who underwent thoracic CT at a single health promotion center between 2007 and 2010. Two thoracic radiologists independently reviewed all CT images and evaluated any incidental abnormalities (interstitial lung abnormality [ILA], emphysema, coronary artery calcification [CAC], aortic valve [AV] calcification, and pulmonary nodules). Kaplan-Meier analysis with log-rank and z-tests was performed to assess the relationship between incidental CT abnormalities and all-cause mortality in the subsequent follow-up. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to further identify risk factors of all-cause mortality among the incidental CT abnormalities and clinical factors. Results: Among the 840 participants, 55 (6%), 171 (20%), 288 (34%), 396 (47%), and 97 (11%) had findings of ILA, emphysema, CAC, pulmonary nodule, and AV calcification, respectively, on initial CT. The participants were followed up for a mean period ± SD of 10.9 ± 1.4 years. All incidental CT abnormalities were associated with all-cause mortality in univariable analysis (p < 0.05). However, multivariable analysis further revealed fibrotic ILA as an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 2.52 [95% confidence interval, 1.02-6.22], p = 0.046). ILA were also identified as an independent risk factor for lung cancer or respiratory disease-related deaths. Conclusion: Incidental abnormalities on screening thoracic CT were associated with increased mortality during the long-term follow-up. Among incidental CT abnormalities, fibrotic ILA were independently associated with increased mortality. Appropriate management and surveillance may be required for patients with fibrotic ILA on thoracic CT obtained for general screening purposes.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.333-343
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• 2019

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the association between dental implants and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: Data were collected from the baseline survey (2016-2017) of the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study. The study sample comprised 1115 community-dwelling people aged 70 years to 84 years who had 0-19 natural teeth. Dental implants and natural teeth were identified by panoramic radiography, while the cognitive function was assessed by the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-KC). The association between dental implants and cognitive function was analyzed by multiple linear regression. Sensitivity analysis was performed to test for potential bias. Results: The mean number of natural teeth in the study population was 9.50 (standard deviation [SD], 6.42), and the mean MMSE-KC score was 24.93 (SD, 3.55). In the simple univariate analysis, tooth replacement, age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption, body mass index, osteoporosis, number of natural teeth, periodontitis, chewing discomfort, tooth-brushing frequency, education level, monthly household income, participation in economic activity, living alone, and marital status had a significant impact on the association. After adjusting for confounders, the association between dental implants and cognitive function remained significant (B, 0.85; standard error, 0.40; p<0.05). Age, body mass index, periodontitis, tooth-brushing frequency, and education level were also significantly associated with cognitive function. The results of the sensitivity analyses were consistent with those of the primary analysis. Conclusions: Dental implants were associated with cognitive function in older adults living in the community. Dental implants as tooth replacements may play a role in preserving cognitive function.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1479-1483
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to determine discharge learning needs of patients undergoing thyroidectomy. The population of this descriptive study consisted of patients undergoing thyroidectomy in the Endocrine Surgery Unit of a university hospital between February and December 2013. The study included 251 patients who were discharged after thyroidectomy. Data obtained using the data collection form and the Patient Leaning Needs Scale (PLNS) were analyzed by frequency, mean, standard deviation, Kruskal Wallis and student-t tests. The mean age of the patients was $47.91{\pm}13.05$ and 76.1% were females. The PLNS total mean score was $208.38{\pm}34.91$, with the maximum score of $39.23{\pm}6.80$ on the subscale of treatment and complications and the minimum score of $19.45{\pm}4.70$ on the subscale of feelings related to condition. It was found that the PLNS total score of the patients was not influenced by age, gender, marital status (p>0.05). This study demonstrated that patients had high learning needs after thyroidectomy.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.3-9
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• 2018

Although Life Cycle Cost (LCC) must be evaluated by experts, sometimes it may not allow a sufficient time for even the experienced LCC expert to make rational decisions. Therefore, it often ends with relatively comparing the final numbers. We have broken down 110 technical proposals that are actually bade and accepted for large construction projects, and then have analyzed the uncertainty of Maintenance and Energy (M&E) cost during building life cycle, which turns out be the most volatile factor in uncertainty of LCC. Also we suggest "Value Engineering Index (VEI)" - the reduced M&E cost that is normalized by the reduced first cost. It is analyzed that the most uncertain factors of the M&E cost include repair and replacement term differing from each project, duplicated repair and replacement, non-standard repair items, and site-specific energy cost. Eventually we propose a VEI population with a mean of 1.38 and a standard deviation of 1.19, which is obtained by individually and exclusively applying the uncertain factors of the M&E cost to the 35 standard sample of technical proposals. The LCC evaluators may be able to use the VEI population as the benchmark to select the technical proposal with the most reasonable LCC among many others in two suggested manners; the one is to deterministically calculate the probability of single VEIs, and the other is to stochastically calculate the probability of the VEIs where uncertainty is quantified.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.37-45
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• 2021

Purpose : This study aimed to present normative data and cut-off points for older Korean adults completing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment - Korean (MoCA-K), which is used as a screening test for mild cognitive impairment in Korea. Methods : A total of 195 healthy adults ≥60 years were recruited. All participants completed the MoCA-K and the Korean - Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-K) to assess their cognitive function. Participants were divided into six groups based on their age: 60-64 years, 65~69 years, 70~74 years, 75~79 years, 80~84 years, and 85~89 years. Results : The results revealed that MoCA-K score decreased significantly with age (mean score ± standard deviation [SD]; 27.63±2.80 in subjects aged 60~64 years; 27.00±2.39 in subjects aged 65~69 years; 24.94±2.96 in subjects aged 70~74 years; 24.74±3.37 in subjects aged 75~79 years; 22.59±4.72 in subjects aged 80~84 years; and 18.83±5.38 in subjects aged 85~89 years; p<.001). Additionally, MoCA-K score also increased significantly with educational level (mean score±standard deviation [SD]; 19.95±4.78 in no formal education group; 24.95±2.22 in elementary school graduated group; 26.35±2.72 in middle school graduated group; 28.32±1.36 in high school graduated group; and 28.50±1.51 in more than college graduated group; p<.001). The optimal cut-off points were 24/25 for 60~69 years old group, 21/22 for 70~79 years old group, 17/18 for 80~84 years old group, and 13/14 for 85~89 years old group. The optimal cut-off points were 15/16 for individuals who were illiterate, 22/23 for individuals with 6 years of education, 22/24 for individuals with 9 years of education, and 26/27 for individuals with 12 or more years of education. Conclusions : This study presents normative data and cut-off points for the MoCA-K in older Korean adults. This data will facilitate more accurate detection and follow-up of the risk of mild cognitive impairment in this population, taking into consideration age and education. Future studies are required that should focus on the cut-off score on the level of education according to age.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.468-475
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• 2018

The current system of making course evaluations mandatory in universities in Korea in order to supplement low participation levels is a major hindering factor for the validity of the evaluation results due to students' insincere responses. This study points out the problems in course evaluations that are in the form of surveys and instead proposes a sample course evaluation system that utilizes a sample mean to deduce a population mean, attempting to prove through simulation that this is statistically significant. Thus, small, medium, and large scale courses as well as cyber courses that were available in S University in the fall 2016 semester were set as the population, and each course's evaluation average grade was set as the population mean. Furthermore, we used the average grade and standard deviation of the same courses from the previous year in order to decide the sample number, the reliability level was set as 95%, and the margin of error was set as ${\pm}0.25$. As a result of carrying out a simulation using the data analysis tool R, all the courses (small scale, medium scale, large scale, and cyber) showed to have a reliability level close to 95% including the population mean, and consequently practicality of the representative sample course evaluation system was proven.

• International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.7-29
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• 2019

The study was carried out to investigate the influence of demographics and social media use on perceived academic stress of secondary school students in St. Thomas Aquinas College, Akure, Nigeria. This was achieved using five research questions and four null hypotheses. The population of the study consisted of 1,107 students at ISCED level 3, out of which 286 were selected based on the Israel (2003) model for determining sample size. The Ex-Post Facto (EPT) research design of the correlational type was employed to investigate the study while questionnaire was used for data elicitation. Out of the 286 copies distributed, 192 (67% response rate) were retrieved and analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (correlation and multiple regression). The findings revealed that there is high frequency of social media use among secondary school students, majorly for meeting new friends and chatting. The perceived academic stress (PAS) of the students was found to be moderate. Of the three demographics considered, only class had significant influence on PAS. Use of social media did not have significantly influence on PAS of the students. When combined, demographics and social media use predicted PAS; and when considered relatively, of the independent variables, only class as an aspect of demographics predicted PAS. Therefore, the authors concluded that PAS of secondary school students is not directly influenced by demographics (except for class) and social media use. Based on the study's conclusion, recommendations were made.

• Journal of Korean Society for Geospatial Information Science
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.41-48
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• 2009

This study investigated the characteristics of spatial expansion/centralization and the spatial structural change of urban. The data used in analysis were urban population, employment, building floor area, and land price. The analysis was performed for the data of 1995, 2000, and 2005 during 10 years after 1995. The method of research was as follows; The movement of mean center and standard distance/standard deviation ellipse was estimated to investigate the urban growth change. The result of Moran's I analysis showed a clustered pattern, not a dispersed pattern, however; the effect was not significant. The town area requires the well-ordered urban planning such as land use. The contours map demonstrates that a monopole structure was generally transformed into a multicentralization structure. The development of mutural connection axis among central street roads was fragile.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.289-301
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• 2022

This study was conducted to evaluate the associations between dietary diversity score (DDS) and cardiovascular risk factors in this population. In this cross-sectional study, 187 patients, aged 18-65 years with pemphigus vulgaris were included. DDS was assessed by a 24-hour dietary recall method. Anthropometric measures and biochemical parameters assessed according to standard protocols. Multivariate linear regression analyses used for detecting any associations between DDS and cardiovascular risk factors. The mean ± standard deviation age and body mass index of studied participants were (46.71 ± 11.49 years) and (27.83 ± 4.39 kg/m²) respectively. Our findings showed that a higher DDS intake was related with higher consumption of vegetables (p = 0.001), dairy products (p < 0.001), cereals (p = 0.002), red and processed meat (p < 0.001), sweets and desserts (p < 0.001). After controlling for confounding variables, the results showed positive associations between DDS and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, β = 1.87, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.30-3.45, p = 0.02) and total cholesterol (TC) levels (β = 6.41, 95% CI, 1.62-11.03, p = 0.02) (β = 1.75, 95% CI, 0.20-3.30, p = 0.02). However, there were no associations between DDS and prevalence of obesity and glucose homeostasis. The results of this cross-sectional study showed that DDS might be associated with increased HDL-C and TC. However, further prospective studies are needed to prove these findings.

• Journal of Korean Society for Geospatial Information Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.57-69
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• 2014

As of 2013, Korean population density is 505 persons per $1km^2$ and is ranked 3rd place in the most densely populated countries exception of city-states. It shows clearly the population is concentrated in the city area. To fulfil this urban concentration population demand, the enlargement and complexation of buildings, subway and other underground spaces connection tendency has been intensified, and it is need to construct the indoor spatial information DB as well as the accurate indoor surveying DB to promote people's safety and social welfare. In this study, Sadang station and Incheon National Airport were aimed for the construction of Wi-Fi AP location DB and RadioMap DB by collecting the indoor AP raw datas by using mobile device and those collected results were ran through the process of verification, supplementation, and analyzation. To evaluate the performance of constructed DB, 10 points in Incheon Airport- 3rd flr in block A, and 9 points in Sadang station-B1 were selected and calculated the estimated points and ran evaluation experiment using survey positioning error, which is distance between real position and the estimated position. The result shows that Incheon international airport's average and standard deviation was separately 17.81m, 17.79m and Sadang station's average and standard deviation was separately 22.64m, 23.74m. In Sadang station's case, the areas near the exit has low performance of surveying position due to fewer visible AP points than other areas. As total datas were examined except those position, it was verified that the user's location was mapping close position in surveying positioning by using constructed DB. It means that constructed DB contains correct Wi-Fi AP locations and radio wave patterns in object region, so it is considered that the indoor spatial information service based on constructed DB would be available.