Since computed tomography (CT) was introduced about 40 y ago, its use has continuously grown, resulting in the increase of the CT dose. Therefore, an awareness of the CT dose and its potential complications has led to the development of several dose-reduction strategies. One of the strategies is automatic exposure control (AEC), which modulates radiation intensity depending on the patient size, z-axis thickness (Z-DOM) or angular thickness (D-DOM). Another dose-reduction method is the in-plane bismuth shield which attenuates radiation to reduce the CT doses of the tissues underneath the shield. We evaluated and compared the dose reduction and image quality of CT for various dose-reduction techniques. The result showed that both AEC and the in-plane shield reduced the CT dose effectively and the combined method of AEC and in-plane shielding reduced the CT dose more than the single use of AEC or in-plane shields. The dose reduction using Z-DOM was normally higher than that using D-DOM. The image quality of CT dramatically degraded when the in-plane shield was directly attached to the phantom without using AEC. In order to effectively reduce CT dose without the significant degradation of the image quality, the in-plane shield should be placed 1 cm apart from the patient with applying AEC control.

The catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) indicator has been used to measure the medical cost burden of households. Many countries have institutionalized their health insurance systems to reduce out-of-pocket payments, the main contributor to the financial burden. However, there is no method to estimate how the insurance coverage reduces the CHE. This study proposes an approach to evaluate the effectiveness of insurance in reducing the CHE impacts in terms of incidence and gap, which are based on a modified calculation method of CHE. Additionally, we apply these methods to data from the Korea Health Panel Survey (2011–2016). The results are as follows. First, under the setting of a threshold of 10%, the CHE incidence rate was 19.26% when the Korean national health insurance benefits reduced the CHE’s incidence for 15.17% of the population in 2017. Second, the results of the concentration index of CHE showed that the intensity approach of CHE is better than the incidence approach. Third, the new approach we applied revealed that health insurance reduces the burden of CHE to some degree, although it was not an efficient way to reduce CHE. In conclusion, this study provides new policy approaches to save the finances of national health insurance and reduce the intensity of CHE at the same time by raising the low-cost burden of medical services and lowering that of high cost. Moreover, we suggest that policymakers should focus on income level of the households rather than specific diseases.

Background: Mid-to-long-term hospitalization (MLTH) can threaten the household economy with high medical costs and loss of income. Therefore, it could increase the catastrophic health expenditure (CHE), measured as the ratio of medical expenses to the ability to pay. This study aimed to determine the effect of MLTH on the incidence of CHE and the mediating effect of earned income reduction rate (EIRR). Methods: We used 2015 to 2017 data from the Korean Welfare Panel Study and selected households with earned income through work. The final samples were 1671 households in the database. This study applied three-step regression analyses for estimating mediation effects. Results: First, MLTH affected CHE increases; second, MLTH increased EIRR; third, both EIRR and MLTH increased CHE at the same time. Additionally, the bootstrapping results were 0.364 to 0.644 in the 95% confidence interval, which suggested that EIRR mediated the effects of MLTH on CHE. Conclusions: Previous studies have only focused on medical costs when interpreting CHE; however, it is also essential to recognize that the MLTH can have a negative effect on the EIRR. This study contributed to the literature by giving another insight into interpreting the cause of CHE, focusing on income loss factors.

Background Arterial access in small‐breed dogs is challenging, but arterial visualisation may facilitate the procedure, as evidenced in human medicine. This prospective, randomised study investigated the result of using transillumination to guide coccygeal artery cannulation in small‐breed dogs. Methods Coccygeal artery cannulation was attempted in dogs anaesthetised with butorphanol, midazolam, propofol and sevoflurane. In 70 dogs (standard technique group [STECHNIQUE group]), arterial cannulation was performed using pulse palpation. In 71 dogs (transilluminating‐standard technique group [TSTECHNIQUE group]), a transilluminating device was utilised. The device was placed on the dorsal tail, and the cannula was advanced towards the dark line visible against the bright background. If the artery was not well visualised due to pigmentation, pulse palpation was used. The success rate of arterial cannulation was compared between the groups using the chi‐squared test. Results Arterial cannulation was significantly more successful (p < 0.001) in the TSTECHNIQUE group (63/71 [88.7%]) than in the STECHNIQUE group (43/70 [61.4%]). Limitations The number of punctures attempted and the time to cannulation were not assessed, and the procedure was only performed by veterinarians experienced in arterial cannulation. Conclusions The transillumination allows for a more accurate approach to the coccygeal artery, improving the success of arterial cannulation when combined with pulse palpation.

: Spilling pollutants and its contamination to the ground have serious impact to public resulting in various research about remediation techniques. In this study, the use of amphiphilic block copolymer for remediation was investigated with a series of laboratory tests on removal of hydrophobic contaminant in soil. Four types of amphiphilic block copolymer were developed and the efficiency of the cleaning was compared with surfactant using arbitrary diesel-contaminated soils. The results of the study show that the use of amphiphilic polymer in the soil washing process significantly enhanced the remediation of the contaminated soil and a potential of new methodology of eco-friendly remediation.