Purchase individual online access for 1 year to this journal.
Price: EUR 150.00
ISSN 0928-7329 (P)
ISSN
1878-7401 (E)
Impact Factor 2024: 1.4
Technology and Health Care is intended to serve as a forum for the presentation of original articles and technical notes, observing rigorous scientific standards. Furthermore, upon invitation, reviews, tutorials, discussion papers and minisymposia are featured.
The following types of contributions and areas are considered:
1. Original articles:
Technology development in medicine: New concepts, procedures and devices associated with the use of technology in medical research and clinical practice are presented to a readership with a widespread background in engineering and/or medicine.
Significance of medical technology and informatics for healthcare: The appropriateness, efficacy and usefulness deriving from the application of engineering methods, devices and informatics in medicine and with respect to public health are discussed.
2. Technical notes:
Short communications on novel technical developments with relevance for clinical medicine.
3. Reviews and tutorials (upon invitation only):
Tutorial and educational articles for persons with a primarily medical background on principles of engineering with particular significance for biomedical applications and vice versa are presented.
4. Minisymposia (upon invitation only):
Under the leadership of a Special Editor, controversial issues relating to healthcare are highlighted and discussed by various authors.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychometric properties and factor structure of a popular second language reading motivation questionnaire developed by Mori (2002). 550 first year high school students in Korea answered the 30-item questionnaire which consists of statements indicating different degrees of English reading motivation. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted with principal axis factoring and promax rotation, which yielded a four-factor solution. The factors included ‘Intercultural and Intellectual Orientation’, ‘Reading Efficacy’, ‘Intrinsic Motivation’, and ‘Negative Attitudes’. The results supported the multidimensionality of the construct of L2 reading motivation, but could not replicate the nine factor structure…which was originally proposed by Mori. The implications for further research on L2 reading motivation and development of a more valid L2 reading scale are discussed.
Show more
Keywords: Reading motivation, second language learning, factor analysis, scale development
Abstract: Recently, the interest toward human longevity free from diseases is being converged as one system frame along with the development of mobile computing environment, diversification of remote medical system and aging society. Such converged system enables implementation of a bioinformatics system created as various supplementary information services by sensing and gathering health conditions and various bio-information of mobile users to set up medical information. The existing bio-information system performs static and identical process without changes after the bio-information process defined at the initial system configuration executes the system. However, such static process indicates ineffective execution in the application of mobile…bio-information system performing mobile computing. Especially, an inconvenient duty of having to perform initialization of new definition and execution is accompanied during the process configuration of bio-information system and change of method. This study proposes a dynamic process design and execution method to overcome such ineffective process.
Show more
Abstract: The application of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) enhances muscle weakness and static balance by muscle fatigue. It was said that TENS affects decrease of the postural sway. On the other hand, the applications of TENS to separate dorsi-plantar flexor and the comparison with and without visual input have not been studied. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare the effects of TENS on fatigued dorsi-plantar flexor with and without visual input. 13 healthy adult males and 12 females were recruited and agreed to participate as the subject (mean age 20.5 ± 1.4, total 25) in this study…after a preliminary research. This experiment was a single group repeated measurements design in three days. The first day, after exercise-induced fatigue, the standing position was maintained for 30 minutes and then the postural sway was measured on eyes open(EO) and eyes closed(EC). The second, TENS was applied to dorsi flexor in standing position for 30 minutes after conducting exercise-induced fatigue. On the last day, plantar flexor applied by TENS was measured to the postural sway on EO and EC after same exercise-induced fatigue. The visual input was not statistically difference between the groups. However, when compared of dorsi-plantar flexor after applied to TENS without visual input, the postural sway of plantar flexor was lower than the dorsi flexor (p < 0.05). As the result, the application of TENS in GCM clinically decreases the postural sway with visual input it helps to stable posture control and prevent to falling down.
Show more
Abstract: This suggests indicators to be considered in the protocol for setting up equipment and minimizing patient doses by identifying the effective dose and correlations of each equipment company according to a patient's body characteristics in liver CT. The study was conducted with 445 patients who went to the hospital and received liver CT at the diagnostic radiology department of S medical center from 2010 January to June. As the statistical methods, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation analysis were used. The study results show that as height, weight, and BMI increased, the effective dose increased with all equipment vendors. Correlations…between a patient's body characteristics and the effective dose were shown to be positive with all equipment vendors in regard to weight, BMI, and height, in order.
Show more
Keywords: Liver CT, Body Mass Index (BMI), effective dose, correlation
Abstract: The photoplethysmogram (PPG) is an extremely useful medical diagnostic tool. However, PPG signals are highly susceptible to motion artifacts. In this paper, we propose a cyclic moving average filter that use similarity of Photoplethysmogram. This filtering method has the average value of each samples through separating the cycle of PPG signal. If there are some motion artifacts in continuous PPG signal, disjoin the signal based on cycle. And then, we made these signals to have same cycle by coordinating the number of sample. After arrange these cycles in 2 dimension, we put the average value of each samples from starting…till now. So, we can eliminate the motion artifacts without damaged PPG signal.
Show more
Keywords: Motion artifacts, PPG, cyclic moving average filter
Abstract: Background: It has been previously demonstrated that listening to 1/f sound effectively reduces stress. However, these findings have been inconsistent and further study on the relationship between 1/f sound and the stress response is consequently necessary. Objective: The present study examined whether sound with 1/f properties (1/f sound) affects stress-induced electroencephalogram (EEG) changes. Methods: Twenty-six subjects who voluntarily participated in the study were randomly assigned to the experimental or control group. Data from four participants were excluded because of EEG artifacts. A mental arithmetic task was used as a stressor. Participants in the experiment…group listened to 1/f sound for 5 minutes and 33 seconds, while participants in the control group sat quietly for the same duration. EEG recordings were obtained at various points throughout the experiment. After the experiment, participants completed a questionnaire on the affective impact of the 1/f sound. Results: The results indicated that the mental arithmetic task effectively induced a stress response measurable by EEG. Relative theta power at all electrode sites was significantly lower than baseline in both the control and experimental group. Relative alpha power was significantly lower, and relative beta power was significantly higher in the T3 and T4 areas. Secondly, 1/f sound and simple resting affected task-associated EEG changes in a similar manner. Finally, participants reported in the questionnaire that they experienced a positive feeling in response to the 1/f sound. Conclusions: Our results suggest that a commercialized 1/f sound product is not more effective than simple resting in alleviating the physiological stress response.
Show more
Abstract: This study aimed to evaluate the relative speed (RS) of latent images in relation to changes in the fading time and storage temperature of imaging plates (IPs) in computed radiography systems. The storage temperatures adopted were 20, 30, and 40°C, while the fading times employed were 0, 4, 8, 12, and 24 hours. The X-ray exposure factors were 50 kVp, 10 mAs, and a 150 cm distance from an IP to an X-ray source. In the processing of each image, the parameters used for multi-scale image contrast amplification were multiscale image contrast, noise reduction, edge enhancement, and latitude reduction, all…assigned a value of 0. Image sensitivity was used to convert linear properties. The RS used for the characteristic curve was evaluated using a uniform aluminum 11-step wedge. Results show that the RS values of IPs with changing fading time were 17.8 ± 0.9 at 20°C, 13.9 ± 1.1 at 30°C, and 13.4 ± 0.9 at 40°C. On the basis of these findings, we conclude that IPs should be stored in the long term at temperatures as low as 20°C.
Show more
Abstract: To find out the effects of the general characteristic on dietary habits and eating out behavior of college students in Cheongju area. The ratios of major were 50.3% (80/159) for food and nutrition and 49.7% (79/159) for the others. The most of respondents missed breakfast and the most reason for skipping meal was no time. Older and younger group were different significantly in skipping meal, reason of meal skip, place of lunch, cost of lunch, and preferred lunch menu (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Continuous instructions should be made on the problems of dietary habits or eating-out behaviors in…the results of this study through education, and by seeking for alternatives from different angles such as various nutrition education and nutrition improvement programs.
Show more
Keywords: Dietary habits, eating out behavior, college students, nutrition education
Abstract: The narrative structure of The Story of Sim Cheong exists on two levels: the narrative structure of the surface and the narrative structure of the unconscious ness in my terminology. The former is deduced from the content of the work corresponding to the concept of objective physical reality, and the other to the concept of psychic reality according to Freud. I see that the heroine Cheong was in an incestuous love relationship with her blind father nicknamed Sim Bongsa – Sim being his family name, Bongsa meaning the blind person – at the unconscious level. Their relationship became an incestuous…symbiosis in which they are indispensable to each other. However, there is a break-up of their intimate relationship between father and daughter due to her abandonment by her father. This abandonment results in turn by her abandoning him; there is a mutual abandonment between the father and the daughter. A psychoanalytic study leads us to discover the narrative structure of the unconsciousness of The Story of Sim Cheong: being abandoned by her father and abandoning him from the perspective of the daughter.
Show more
Keywords: Abandonment, sacrificial piety, father's daughter, female oedipus, narrative structure of the unconsciousness, narrative structure of the surface
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine effects of art and music therapy on depression and cognitive function of the elderly. This was one group pre-test, post-test design. Data were collected from January to March, 2013, from 94 elderly. The results were collected as followers: 1. Art therapy was revealed a statistical significant difference between before and after treatment on the depression of participants. 2. Music therapy was revealed a statistical significant at previous and after treatment on the depression of participants. 3. Treatment according to the severity of depression than the music therapy and art therapy were examined…statistically significantly lower. This study will be provided basic information in order to develop program for success healthy life of elderly.
Show more
Keywords: Art and music therapy, depression, cognitive function
Abstract: Background: Gratitude disposition is positively associated with happiness. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify influencing factors on gratitude disposition by gender differences in middle school students. Methods: Cross-sectional study using self-reported questionnaires were administered to participants (n = 372) aged between 13∼15 years in Seoul and Chungnam Province in Korea. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS18.0 statistical program, and frequency analysis and logistic regression analysis were used in the research. Results: The mean score of family abuse of boys was significantly higher than girls' score (t =…3.016, p = 0.003). In subscales of development assets, empowerment (t = 2.264, p = 0.024), boundaries and expectation (t = 2.476, p = 0.014), and commitment to learning (t = 1.971, p = 0.049) were significantly higher in boys. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR 0.334, CI 0.130∼0.862), peer relationship (OR 2.280, CI 1.124∼4.623), social support (OR 2.584, CI 1.176∼5.676), positive identity (OR 3.138, CI 1.256∼7.840) were significantly associated with gratitude disposition for boys, while school violence (OR 0.050, CI 0.003∼0.907) and positive identity (OR 2.937, CI 1.313∼6.567) were significantly associated with gratitude disposition for girls. Conclusion: This study suggests that it is important to protect adolescents from family abuse and school violence, furthermore, developmental assets should be developed to increase to gratitude disposition.
Show more
Keywords: Gratitude disposition, middle school student, positive identity
Abstract: Individual pelvic sacral angle was measured, compared and analyzed for the 6 male and female adults who were diagnosed with lumbar spinal stenosis, foraminal stenosis and mild spondylolisthesis in accordance with spinal parameters, pelvic parameters and occlusion state of sacroiliac joint presented by the author of this thesis based on the fact that the degree of lumbar excessive lordosis that was one of the causes for lumbar pain was determined by sacral slope. The measured values were compared with the standard values of the average normal range from 20 s to 40 s of normal Koreans stated in…the study on the change in lumbar lordosis angle, lumbosacral angle and sacral slope in accordance with the age by Oh et al. [5] and sacral slope and pelvic sacral slope of each individual of the subjects for measurement were compared. Comparing the difference between the two tilt angles possessed by an individual is a comparison to determine how much the sacroiliac joint connecting pelvis and sacral vertebrae compensated and corrected the sacral vertebrae slope by pelvic tilt under the condition of synarthrodial joint. Under the condition that the location conforming to the line in which the sagittal line of gravity connects with pelvic ASIS and pubic pubic tuberele is the neutral location of pelvic tilt, sacral slope being greater than pelvic sacral slope means pelvic anterior tilting, whereas sacral slope being smaller than pelvic sacral slope means pelvic posterior tilting. On that account, male B, female A and female C had a pelvic posterior tilting of 16 degrees, 1 degree and 5 degrees respectively, whereas male A, male C and female B had a pelvic anterior tilting of 3 degrees, 9 degrees and 4 degrees respectively. In addition, the 6 patients the values of lumbar lordosis angle, lumbosacral angle and sacral slope that were almost twice as much as the normal standard values of Koreans. It is believed that this is because the pelvic sacral slope maintaining an angle that is slightly greater than the normal range by being located in the lowest end of spine considering that the compensation for pelvic tilt, in other words, pelvic limb is not much causes an excess of lumbar lordosis angle. The meaning of this study based on these results is to prove that PSA is one of the important factors that fundamentally determine lumbar curvature. And this is because it is definitely required to have a study on the guideline for appropriate posture and life habit to the maintenance and management of ideal PSA before the end of growth phase and also the exercise therapy and adjustment for the control of PSA.
Show more
Abstract: This study was conducted on Korean middle age adults during a stage of their physical, psychological, and social transition in society. The primary objective of this research is to ascertain participants’ Yangsaeng levels, as well as determining the effects of factors related to health perceptions. In addition, this empirical research study provides basic data to develop and diffuse how the Yangsaeng program can be applied to a method of health care management. The questionnaire was distributed to Korean middle aged men and women between the ages of 40–65 years old. In the end, a total of 465 participants were analyzed…using SPSS/WIN 19.0. The majority of the participants’ responses identified four major influential factors on health perception; ‘morality Yangsaeng’, ‘exercise Yangsaeng’, ‘diet Yangsaeng’ and ‘sexual life Yangsaeng’. Notably, in consideration of the effects that Yangsaeng has upon the lifestyle of health perception, there is no influential factor in the fashion seeking (‘diet Yangsaeng’) group. Nevertheless, there is evidence of influential factors affecting ‘exercise Yangsaeng’ and ‘sexual life Yangsaeng’ in the health inclination group, as well as additional influential factors affecting ‘morality Yangsaeng’ and ‘sexual Yangsaeng’ in the societal group.
Show more
Keywords: Middle age, health perception, Yangsaeng, lifestyle
Abstract: The characteristics of an individual's odor from sweat, breath and skin provide important information for criminal tracking in field of forensic science. Solid phase micro-extraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPME-GC/MS) was used to determine human sweat volatile organic compounds (VOCs) profiles. The mass spectrometric analysis (with electron impact mode) followed by 2nd dimensional separation with two different GC columns (one polar and one relatively nonpolar) connected in parallel were used to identify the 574 compounds from sweat samples. The components included alcohols, aldehydes, aliphatics/aromatics, carboxylic acids, esters, ketones, and other organic compounds (amides/amines, thio/thioesters, oxide, sulfides, nitro compounds). Of these compounds,…1-tridecanol, 1,3-bis(1,1-dimethyl ethyl)-benzene, 4,4'-(1-methylethylidene) bis-phenol and 7-acetyl-6-ethyl-1,1,4,4,-tetramethyl-tetraline were common components in all donor's sweat volatile samples. Age-related specific compounds were also detected. The results suggest that characteristic volatile profiles of human sweat emanations could provide the valuable information to forensic scientists.
Show more
Abstract: This study compared the relating factors on the attitude for elderly between elderly women group and female university student group. The elderly woman group had higher scores in perceived health status, self integrity, self-efficacy, social support, attitude for elderly than female university students group. These differences were statistically significant. The relating factor on the attitude for elderly was self integrity in elderly women group significantly. Variables that significantly affected the attitude towards seniors were not found in the female university student group.
Keywords: Attitude for elderly, self integrity, self efficacy, social support
Abstract: Rectal cancer is the most frequent cancer in Korea. Until effective systemic therapy is available for rectal cancer, development of new treatment strategies depends on knowledge of the end results achieved for carefully staged groups of patients in the rectal cancer population. This study was performed to identify the factors influencing on clinical cancer stage in women patients with rectal cancer. The subjects of this study were 227 patients who had been visited a general hospital which located in the area of Metropolitan. Data collect was surveyed using questionnaires from January 21, 2013 to February 21, 2013. Major findings are…as followings. First, according to this result, a strong positive correlation was shown between women's age at first marriage and education (r = 0.45, p < 0.01). Second, in multiple regression, women's age, previous cancer screening, stress, and age of menopause were significant predictors of rectal cancer stage. The explanatory of R2 on rectal cancer stage accounted for 36.2% of these correlation. Based on the results obtained by the study, it needs to develop more systemical program and consistent policies of individual and organization for rectal cancer prevention.
Show more
Keywords: Clinical cancer stage, women patients, rectal cancer, systemical program