H. Y. Jo

Reliability and Validity of the Korean Version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire to Assess Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy

PURPOSE This study was performed to assess the reliability and validity of the Korean version of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire - Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy 20 items (EORTC QLQ-CIPN20) in patients receiving neurotoxic chemotherapy. METHODS A convenience sample of 249 Korean cancer patients, previously or currently, being treated with peripheral neurotoxic chemotherapeutic agents were asked to fill in the questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 21.0. Construct validity, known-group validity, concurrent validity, and internal consistency reliability of the Korean version of the QLQ-CIPN20 were evaluated. RESULTS Factor analysis confirmed 3 dimensions of CIPN: sensory, motor, and autonomic. The factor loadings of the 20 items on the 3 subscales ranged from .38 to .85. The 3 subscale-model was validated by confirmatory factor analysis (GFI=.90, AGFI=.86, RMSR=.05, NFI=.87, and CFI=.94), and concurrent validity was demonstrated with the EORTC QLQ-C30. Furthermore, the QLQ-CIPN20 established known-group validity. The Cronbachs alpha coefficients for internal consistency of the subscales ranged from .73 to .89. CONCLUSION The Korean version of the EORTC QLQ-CIPN20 showed satisfactory construct, concurrent, and known-group validity, as well as internal reliability.

Recent simulation results on neutron sensitivity of new low-resistive phosphate glass electrode RPC using GEANT4 MC

The low rate capability behavior of conventional glass with resistivity ~ 1013 Ωcm, is not acceptable in many experiments being performed in high energy physics. The usage of low bulk resistivity glass electrode in the configuration of Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) makes it possible for such studies where high rate environment is required. The sensitivity to neutron of low-resistive glass electrode RPC has been simulated using GEANT4 Monte Carlo codes with G4 Standard and G4 Low packages. The detailed simulation studies have been performed as a function of neutron energy in the range 10−10 MeV–10 GeV. The response of the detector in LHC background environment expected in the CMS- barrel region is evaluated for the neutron energy spectrum. According to our obtained results a hit rate 0.532 Hz/cm2 has been estimated for the RPC located in RB1 station. A comparison of the simulated results with the available experimental results has also been performed.