• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1069-1080
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• 2004

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a socioculturally-appropriate psychosocial intervention program for Korean patients with breast cancer and test its effects on stress, anxiety, depression, and coping strategies. Methods: One group pretest and posttest design was used to test the effects of the intervention. A post-intervention interview was conducted to refine the nature of the intervention. A convenience sample of 10 breast cancer survivors was recruited from the outpatients clinics. Psychosocial intervention was developed to provide the health education, stress management, coping skill training and support weekly(90min) for 6 weeks. Results: There was a significant decrease in stress scores following the intervention(Z= -2.388, p=0.017). However, no significant changes were noted in the use of problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies, nor in the changes of anxiety and depression levels. Content analysis of interview data revealed six clusters; changes in perception, changes in problem solving approaches, changes in anger management, changes in life pattern, social support and reduction of perceived stress. Conclusions: Based on quantitative and qualitative data, we recommend the refinements of the intervention in the following areas for future studies: 1) duration, activities, and progression of psychosocial intervention; 2) research design and sample size; and 3) measurements.

• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.88-93
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• 2015

In this paper, we identify the characteristics of modeling and simulation (M&S) for military and defense and propose the method of verification, validation, and accreditation (VV&A) using the identified characteristics. M&S has been widely used for many different applications in military and defense, including training, analysis, and acquisition. Various methods and processes of VV&A have been proposed by researchers and M&S practitioners to guarantee the correctness of M&S. The notion of applying formal credibility assessment in VV&A originated in software engineering reliability testing and the systems engineering development process. However, the VV&A techniques and processes proposed for M&S by the research community have not addressed the characteristics and issues specific to military and defense. We first identify the characteristics and issues of military/defense M&S and then propose techniques and methods for VV&A that are specific for military/defense M&S. Possible approaches for the development of VV&A are also proposed.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2015

Functional safety is part of the overall safety relating to the equipment under control (EUC) and the EUC control system that depends on the correct functioning of the electrical/electronic/programmable electronic (E/E/PE) safety-related systems. Since the complexity of the medical equipment is increased, manufactures have to obtain functional safety as well as basic safety. This study proposes a perspective for applying functional safety to medical equipment. The research is carried out with respect to overall safety life-cycle of functional safety and essential performance of the medical equipment. The relationship between functional safety and essential performance is identified centered on the safety function. The essential performance using E/E/PE systems is defined as a safety function of functional safety. This approach is applied to a ultrasound imaging system as a case study.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.1-16
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• 2009

Recent trends in business are characterized by recognition of the importance of knowledge assets. Especially, this phenomenon is receiving more momentum as our society goes digital rapidly. The concept of Knowledge Management has long been used as an effective way of restructuring the management process of a firm. In literature regarding knowledge management, a number of successful cases were reported, where knowledge-based management activities could dramatically enhance a firm's strategic performance for years. However, there exists very little research investigating the effect of knowledge management on corporate competitiveness. Researchers as well as practitioners need more rigorous results about such issues, especially how much the knowledge management strategic initiatives may have an influence on the firm's competitiveness. In this sense, we need an empirical study adopting statistical approaches due to the existence of abundant knowledge management case studies. To fill this research void, this study proposes a research model testing whether knowledge management activities could improve corporate competitiveness. We collected 321 valid questionnaires from participants in knowledge management activities in the tourism industry and applied a structural equation model. Empirical results showed that knowledge management activities have a positive impact on knowledge management efficiency and finally corporate competitiveness. We hope that this study will shed light on further rigorous studies considering tourism industry as a major strategic activity.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.935-942
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to measure the causal relationships among attitude toward eating seafood, perceived behavioral control (PBC), health involvement, behavioral intention and consumption. A total of 235 questionnaires were completed. A structural equation model was used to measure the causal effects of the constructs. The results of the study demonstrated that the structural analysis results for the data also indicated an excellent model fit. Health involvement had considerable effects on attitude and intention, which were statistically significant. The effects of attitude and PBC on intention were also statistically significant. Futhermore, the effects of attitude, PBC, and intention on consumption were statistically significant. As expected, intention had a significant effect on consumption. Moreover, health involvement had significant indirect effects on intention through attitude and PBC. Attitude had a significant indirect effect on consumption through intention. PBC also had a significant indirect effect on consumption through intention. By developing and testing conceptual models that integrated the relationship among variables such as health involvement and attitude, along with seafood consumption behavior, this study approaches a deeper understanding of how perceptions, on the importance of a healthy diet and other factors, influence consumption behavior.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.137-150
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• 2019

In this paper, surrogate models such as multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) and M5P model tree (M5P MT) methods have been investigated in order to propose a new formulation for the 28-days compressive strength of self-compacting concrete (SCC) incorporating metakaolin as a supplementary cementitious materials. A database comprising experimental data has been assembled from several published papers in the literature and the data have been used for training and testing. In particular, the data are arranged in a format of seven input parameters covering contents of cement, coarse aggregate to fine aggregate ratio, water, metakaolin, super plasticizer, largest maximum size and binder as well as one output parameter, which is the 28-days compressive strength. The efficiency of the proposed techniques has been demonstrated by means of certain statistical criteria. The findings have been compared to experimental results and their comparisons shows that the MARS and M5P MT approaches predict the compressive strength of SCC incorporating metakaolin with great precision. The performed sensitivity analysis to assign effective parameters on 28-days compressive strength indicates that cementitious binder content is the most effective variable in the mixture.

• Journal of KIBIM
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.22-32
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• 2020

Apartment building site planning is one of time consuming and labor-intensive tasks in architectural design field, due to its complexity in zoning regulations, building codes, local restrictions, and site-specific conditions. In other words, the process can be seen as a very complicated mathematical function with layers of variables and parameters, which ironically can be automated using computational methods on parametric tools. In this paper, a practical method of automating site planning of an apartment complex has been proposed by utilizing parametric approaches in Rhino 3D and Grasshopper. Two primary parameters, building heights and positions, determine the efficacy of building layouts under all regulatory standards, thus testing out numerous combinations of the two will produce some successful layout alternatives. For this, equation solver has been used for iterating the parametric model to sort out meaningful results among others. It also has been proven that the proposed process significantly reduced the time in site planning down to less than an hour on most cases, and many successful alternatives could be obtained by using multiple computers. Post evaluation processes such as day light and view shed analysis helped sort out the best performing ones out of functioning alternatives.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.273-305
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• 2022

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common lethal malignant neoplasms worldwide, with limited treatment options for both locally advanced and/or metastatic conditions, resulting in a dismal prognosis. Although the widely used morphological classifications may be helpful for endoscopic or surgical treatment choices, they are still insufficient to guide precise and/or personalized therapy for individual patients. Recent advances in genomic technology and high-throughput analysis may improve the understanding of molecular pathways associated with GC pathogenesis and aid in the classification of GC at the molecular level. Advances in next-generation sequencing have enabled the identification of several genetic alterations through single experiments. Thus, understanding the driver alterations involved in gastric carcinogenesis has become increasingly important because it can aid in the discovery of potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets. In this article, we review the molecular classifications of GC, focusing on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) classification. We further describe the currently available biomarker-targeted therapies and potential biomarker-guided therapies. This review will help clinicians by providing an inclusive understanding of the molecular pathology of GC and may assist in selecting the best treatment approaches for patients with GC.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.867-882
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• 2022

Predicting the compressive strength of concrete (CSoC) is of high significance in civil engineering. The CSoC is a highly dependent and non-linear parameter that requires powerful models for its simulation. In this work, two novel optimization techniques, namely evaporation rate-based water cycle algorithm (ER-WCA) and equilibrium optimizer (EO) are employed for optimally finding the parameters of a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural processor. The efficiency of these techniques is examined by comparing the results of the ensembles to a conventionally trained MLP. It was observed that the ER-WCA and EO optimizers can enhance the training accuracy of the MLP by 11.18 and 3.12% (in terms of reducing the root mean square error), respectively. Also, the correlation of the testing results climbed from 78.80% to 82.59 and 80.71%. From there, it can be deduced that both ER-WCA-MLP and EO-MLP can be promising alternatives to the traditional approaches. Moreover, although the ER-WCA enjoys a larger accuracy, the EO was more efficient in terms of complexity, and consequently, time-effectiveness.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.15-31
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• 2024

This study explores the failure mechanisms of 'I' shaped non-persistent cracks under uniaxial loads through a combination of experimental tests and numerical simulations. Concrete specimens measuring 200 mm×200 mm×50 mm were manufactured, featuring 'I' shaped non-persistent joints. The number of these joints varied from one to three, with angles set at 0, 30, 60, and 90 degrees. Twelve configurations, differing in the placement of pre-existing joints, were considered, where larger joints measured 80 mm in length and smaller cracks persisted for 20 mm with a 1 mm crack opening. Numerical models were developed for the 12 specimens, and loading in Y-axis direction was 0.05 mm/min, considering a concrete tensile strength of 5 MPa. Results reveal that crack starting was primarily influenced by the slope of joint that lacks persistence in relation to the loading direction and the number of joints. The compressive strength of the samples exhibited variations based on joint layout and failure mode. The study reveals a correlation between the failure behavior of joints and the number of induced tensile fracture, which increased with higher joint angles. Specimen strength increased with decreasing joint angles and numbers. The strength and failure processes exhibited similarities in both laboratory testing and numerical modeling methods.