• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.417-426
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• 2021

Background Soft tissue coverage plays a vital role in replacing the vascularity of the underlying bone in Gustilo type IIIB fractures. The aim of this article was to evaluate the feasibility of local pedicled flaps in type IIIB fractures at a tertiary care center. Methods We included all cases of open Gustilo-Anderson type IIIB fractures of the tibia treated with local flap coverage from January 2017 to February 2019. We carried out a retrospective analysis to investigate the relationships of complications, hospital stay, and cost-effectiveness with the choice of flap, infective foci, site and size of the defect, and type of fixation. Results Out of 138 Gustilo type IIIB fractures analyzed in our study, 27 cases had complications, of which 19 (13.76%) involved flap necrosis, four (2.89%) were infections, three (2.17%) involved partial necrosis, and one (0.72%) was related to bone spur development. Flap complications showed a statistically significant association with the perforator flap category (propeller flaps in particular) (P=0.001). Flap necrosis showed a significant positive correlation with cases treated within 3 weeks after trauma (P=0.046). A significant positive correlation was also found between defect size and the duration of hospital stay (P=0.03). Conclusions Although local flaps are harvested from the same leg that underwent trauma, their success rate is at least as high as microvascular flaps as reported from other centers. Amidst the local flaps, complications were predominantly associated with perforator flaps.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.605-614
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• 2021

Water inrush from fault is one of the most severe hazards during tunnel excavation. However, the traditional evaluation methods are deficient in both quantitative evaluation and uncertainty handling. In this paper, a comprehensive methodology method combined intuitionistic fuzzy AHP with a Bayesian network for the risk assessment of water inrush from fault in the subsea tunnel was proposed. Through the intuitionistic fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to replace the traditional expert scoring method to determine the prior probability of the node in the Bayesian network. After the field data is normalized, it is classified according to the data range. Then, using obtained results into the Bayesian network, conduct a risk assessment with field data which have processed of water inrush disaster on the tunnel. Simultaneously, a sensitivity analysis technique was utilized to investigate each factor's contribution rate to determine the most critical factor affecting tunnel water inrush risk. Taking Qingdao Kiaochow Bay Tunnel as an example, by predictive analysis of fifteen fault zones, thirteen of them are consistent with the actual situation which shows that the IFAHP-Bayesian Network method is feasible and applicable. Through sensitivity analysis, it is shown that the Fissure development and Apparent resistivity are more critical comparing than other factor especially the Permeability coefficient and Fault dip. The method can provide planners and engineers with adequate decision-making support, which is vital to prevent and control tunnel water inrush.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.197-204
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• 2022

Background: Injections are one of the most fear-provoking stimuli in dentistry. Painless administration of an injection is a vital step in alleviating anxiety, which in turn leads to good behavior in children. The aim is to evaluate and compare anxiety levels and pain perception using conventional, insulin, and deception syringes during the administration of local anesthesia in children. Methods: Forty-five children aged 6-12 were selected using a standard sample size formula and equally divided into three groups. Local anesthesia was administered using a conventional syringe to Group A participants and an insulin syringe for Group B participants. Group C participants were administered local anesthesia using a deception syringe by showing the patient disposable obturation tips, and eventually a conventional syringe was used for administration of local anesthesia after hiding them from the patient. Anxiety levels were assessed using Venham's Picture Scale and pulse rate at baseline and after administration of local anesthesia. The Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale was used to assess pain perception after the administration of local anesthesia. Results: Insulin and deception syringes showed better reduction in anxiety levels and pain perception than conventional syringes, demonstrating a high statistically significant difference. Conclusion: The use of insulin and deception syringes for administration of anesthesia was demonstrated to be effective in alleviating anxiety in children and is therefore recommended as an alternative to conventional syringes.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.395-407
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between clinical and laboratory parameters and complication status to predict which patients can be safely discharged from the hospital on the third postoperative day (POD). Materials and Methods: Data from a prospectively maintained database of 2,110 consecutive patients with gastric adenocarcinoma who underwent curative surgery were reviewed. The third POD vital signs, laboratory data, and details of the course after surgery were collected. Patients with grade II or higher complications after the third POD were considered unsuitable for early discharge. The performance metrics were calculated for all algorithm parameters. The proposed algorithm was tested using a validation dataset of consecutive patients from the same center. Results: Of 1,438 patients in the study cohort, 142 (9.9%) were considered unsuitable for early discharge. C-reactive protein level, body temperature, pulse rate, and neutrophil count had good performance metrics and were determined to be independent prognostic factors. An algorithm consisting of these 4 parameters had a negative predictive value (NPV) of 95.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 94.2-97.3), sensitivity of 80.3% (95% CI, 72.8-86.5), and specificity of 51.1% (95% CI, 48.3-53.8). Only 28 (1.9%) patients in the study cohort were classified as false negatives. In the validation dataset, the NPV was 93.7%, sensitivity was 66%, and 3.3% (17/512) of patients were classified as false negatives. Conclusions: Simple clinical and laboratory parameters obtained on the third POD can be used when making decisions regarding the safe early discharge of patients who underwent gastrectomy.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.170-170
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• 2023

Providing safe and readily available water is vital to maintain public health. One of the most prevalent methods to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases is applying chlorine injection to the treated water before distribution. During the water transmission and distribution, the chlorine will experience a reduction, which can imply potential risks for human health if it falls below the minimum threshold. The ability to determine the appropriate initial intensity of chlorine at the source would be significant to prevent such problems. This study proposes two methods that integrate hydraulic and water quality modeling to determine the suitable intensity of chlorine to be injected into the source water to maintain the minimum chlorine concentration (e.g., 0.2 mg/l) at each demand node. The water quality modeling employs the first-order decay to estimate the rate of chlorine reduction in the water. The first method utilizes a backtracking algorithm to trace the path of water from the demand node to the source during each time step, which helps to accurately determine the travel time through each pipe and node and facilitate the computation of time-dependent chlorine decay in the water delivery process. However, as a backtracking algorithm is computationally intensive, this study also explores an alternative approach using a water age. This approach estimates the elapsed time of water delivery from the source to the demand node and calculate the time-dependent reduction of chlorine in the water. Finally, this study compares the outcomes of two approaches and determines the suitable and effective method for calculating the chlorine intensity at the source to maintain the minimum chlorine level at demand nodes.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.239-260
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• 2023

The underwater acoustic wireless communication networks are generally formed by the different autonomous underwater acoustic vehicles, and transceivers interconnected to the bottom of the ocean with battery deployed modems. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has become the most popular modulation technique in underwater acoustic communication due to its high data transmission and robustness over other symmetrical modulation techniques. To maintain the operability of underwater acoustic communication networks, the power consumption of battery-operated transceivers becomes a vital necessity to be minimized. The OFDM technology has a major lack of peak to average power ratio (PAPR) which results in the consumption of more power, creating non-linear distortion and increasing the bit error rate (BER). To overcome this situation, we have contributed our symmetry research into three dimensions. Firstly, we propose a machine learning-based underwater acoustic communication system through long short-term memory neural network (LSTM-NN). Secondly, the proposed LSTM-NN reduces the PAPR and makes the system reliable and efficient, which turns into a better performance of BER. Finally, the simulation and water tank experimental data results are executed which proves that the LSTM-NN is the best solution for mitigating the PAPR with non-linear distortion and complexity in the overall communication system.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.96-114
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• 2023

Purpose - This paper elucidates a nexus between the occurrence of rare disaster events and the volatility of economic growth by distinguishing the likelihood of rare events from stochastic volatility. We provide new empirical facts based on a quarterly time series. In particular, we focus on the role of financial liberalization in spreading the economic crisis in developing countries. Design/methodology - We use quarterly data on consumption expenditure (real per capita consumption) from 44 countries, including advanced and developing countries, ending in the fourth quarter of 2020. We estimate the likelihood of rare event occurrences and stochastic volatility for countries using the Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method developed by Barro and Jin (2021). We present our estimation results for the relationship between rare disaster events, stochastic volatility, and growth volatility. Findings - We find the global common disaster event, the COVID-19 pandemic, and thirteen country-specific disaster events. Consumption falls by about 7% on average in the first quarter of a disaster and by 4% in the long run. The occurrence of rare disaster events and the volatility of gross domestic product (GDP) growth are positively correlated (4.8%), whereas the rare events and GDP growth rate are negatively correlated (-12.1%). In particular, financial liberalization has played an important role in exacerbating the adverse impact of both rare disasters and financial market instability on growth volatility. Several case studies, including the case of South Korea, provide insights into the cause of major financial crises in small open developing countries, including the Asian currency crisis of 1998. Originality/value - This paper presents new empirical facts on the relationship between the occurrence of rare disaster events (or stochastic volatility) and growth volatility. Increasing data frequency allows for greater accuracy in assessing a country's specific risk. Our findings suggest that financial market and institutional stability can be vital for buffering against rare disaster shocks. It is necessary to preemptively strengthen the foundation for financial stability in developing countries and increase the quality of the information provided to markets.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.27-35
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• 2016

Purpose - The primary objective of this study is to investigate the impact of employee characteristics on employees' preference towards corporate pension products. This study can provide a guidance for maximization of benefits for employees and their affiliated corporation. Employee characteristics include average length of labour, wage system of annual salary, age, types of interest rates and size of corporation. Existing research generally concentrate on vitalizations of corporate pension product raising an imperfection, improvements, tax benefit analysis and legal consideration. Thus, this study intensively analyses the effect of employee attributes on firms' decision for corporate pension products, such as DB(defined benefit) and DC(defined contribution) type. Research design, data, and methodology - The data were collected using self-administrated questionnaire survey on corporate pension products from CEOs or HR directors 250 foreign-invested companies', purchasing pension plans in practice with domestic financial trustees (insurance companies, banks and security companies). Hypotheses testing was conducted using Logistic Regression analysis with SPSS/PC+ 21.0. Results - The findings of the study are as follows. Employees with the long length of labour are more likely to have DB plan; more likely to prefer DC plan with the dividend distribution product regarding the types of interest rate. SMEs(less than 100 employees) are more likely to select DC plan whereas high fluctuation in wage with annual salary has no impacts. In addition, the ages has no significant effect on the preference. Conclusions - This study has examined with the empirical testing that employees' variable attributes and qualities are one of the vital factors for corporation pension plan selection. Currently, majority employees are highly likely to join DB plan and Defined interest types. Corporation with less than 10 employees prefer IRP scheme while most of corporation are intended to join DC plan. In a very near future, corporation more than 300 employees will be required to purchase mandatory plan under national regulation. For maximization of employees' contentment to corporation pension insurance and for complementing the flaws of existing plans, the future studies shall also research in a perspective of employee benefit.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.229-239
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• 2023

Objective: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may experience reduced physical activity and quality of life (QoL) due to decreased pulmonary function. The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of pulmonary function, physical activity, and QoL of COPD patients. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Methods: This study examined the published data of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2015-2019. Among 39,759 subjects who participated for 5 years, data from 151 patients diagnosed with COPD were analyzed separately. For the pulmonary function, the results of forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), FEV6, forced expiratory flow 25-75%, and peak expiratory flow were observed. Physical activity was identified as frequency and duration. For the QoL, EQ-5D-3L evaluation results were examined, and the frequency and index of the Korean version were investigated. Results: In pulmonary function, all variables were found to be lower than age and weighted matched normal values. COPD patients showed to perform very low levels of high/medium physical activity and sitting time was confirmed to be more than 8 hours a day. In QoL, it was found that the highest reporting rate of some problems was the "pain and discomfort" and "mobility". Conclusions: It was found that COPD patients showed that the prevalence of circulatory disease was relatively high, lowered pulmonary function, and QoL. These can be improved through regular physical activity, and it is thought that this can be achieved through optimization of pulmonary rehabilitation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.487-497
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• 2023

Penetration rate (PR) and penetration depth (Pe) are crucial parameters for estimating the cost and time required in tunnel construction using tunnel boring machines (TBMs). This study focuses on investigating the impact of rock strength on PR and Pe through full-scale experiments. By conducting controlled tests on rock-like specimens, the study aims to understand the contributions of various ground parameters and machine-operating conditions to TBM excavation performance. An earth pressure balanced (EPB) TBM with a sectional diameter of 3.54 m was utilized in the experiments. The TBM excavated rocklike specimens with varying uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), while the thrust and cutterhead rotational speed were controlled. The results highlight the significance of the interplay between thrust, cutterhead speed, and rock strength (UCS) in determining Pe. In high UCS conditions exceeding 70 MPa, thrust plays a vital role in enhancing Pe as hard rock requires a greater thrust force for excavation. Conversely, in medium-to-low UCS conditions less than 50 MPa, thrust has a weak relationship with Pe, and Pe becomes directly proportional to the cutterhead rotational speed. Furthermore, a strong correlation was observed between Pe and cutterhead torque with a determination coefficient of 0.84. Based on these findings, a predictive model for Pe is proposed, incorporating thrust, TBM diameter, number of disc cutters, and UCS. This model offers a practical tool for estimating Pe in different excavation scenarios. The study presents unprecedented full-scale TBM excavation results, with well-controlled experiments, shedding light on the interplay between rock strength, TBM operational variables, and excavation performance. These insights are valuable for optimizing TBM excavation in grounds with varying strengths and operational conditions.