Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate an education program for housewives to reduce sodium intake based on the social cognitive theory. Methods: Housewives (n = 387) received 2 education sessions focused on food purchase and cooking, and completed a questionnaire on their perceptions of environmental, cognitive, and behavioral factors and the stages of behavioral change to reducing sodium intake both before and after the education program. Results: After the education program, the recognition of social efforts for sodium reduction and sodium labeling and experience with low-sodium products increased. Positive expectancies for the prevention of osteoporosis by the reduction of sodium were enhanced while the main barriers in practicing sodium reduction decreased, especially ‘interrupting social relationships when dining with others’, ‘bad taste’, ‘preference for soup or stew’, and ‘limited knowledge and skills to practice’. In addition, cognition and nutrition knowledge related to reducing sodium intake were improved on all scores, but the effect on self-efficacy and dietary behavior was limited to only a few items. The percentage of participants in the pre-action stage (including pre-contemplation, contemplation, and preparation stages) for reducing sodium intake decreased from 43.2% before education to 21.5% after education, while that in the action stage increased from 19.6% before education to 43.5% after education (p < 0.001). The education program had the most significant impact on participants who were in the pre-action stage and showed improved scores in all sections. Conclusion These results suggest that a customized education program for housewives could be an effective tool to reduce sodium intake by improving personal expectancies, cognition, and nutrition knowledge regarding sodium reduction and enabling a greater section of the population to move to the action stage of reducing sodium intake.

The analog image based system consisted of a simulator and medical linear accelerator (LINAC) for radiotherapy was upgraded to digital medical image based system by exchanging the X-ray film with Computed Radiography (CR). With minimum equipments shift and similar treatment process, it was possible that the new digital image system was adapted by the users in short time. The film cassette and the film developer device were substituted with a CR cassette and a CR Reader, where the ViewBox was replaced with a small size PC and a monitor. The viewer software suitable for radiotherapy was developed to maximize the benefit of digital image, and as the result the convenience and the effectiveness was improved. It has two windows to display two different images in the same time and equipped various search capability, contouring, window leveling, image resizing, translation, rotation and registration functions. In order to avoid any discontinuance of the treatment while the transition to digital image, the film and the CR was used together for 1 week, and then the film developer was removed. Since then the CR System has been operated stably for 2 months, and the various requests from users have been reflected to improve the system.
Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; Particle Accelerators ; Radiation Oncology ; X-Ray Film

Dietary habit of excess sodium consumption is formed mainly by excessive salt intake from the younger age and this may lead to hypertension, stroke, and stomach cancer. This study was performed to estimate the salt content in kindergarten meals and provide basic data on meal providers' dietary attitude to sodium intake for nutrition education. We collected data on161 food items from 16 institutions in Gyeonggi-do and salt content was calculated from salinity and weight of individual food items. The average salt content from lunch meals was 2.2 g, which was about daily adequate intake of sodium for children aged 3 to 5 years old. Greatest contributor to the salt content in a meal was soup and stew (47.8%). The most salty dishes were sauces and kimchi followed by stir-fried food, deep-fried food, braised food, and grilled food. The salt content was higher in soup and stew despite of low salinity, due to the large quantity per serving. The salt contents of soups and kimchi were 40.6% and 14.3%, respectively of the total salt content in dish groups. Staff members and caregivers at home who prepared food for the child showed preference for one-dish rice meal, dried fish and salted mackerel, and broth when eating soup, stew, and noodles. Caregivers showed higher sodium index score and had higher preference for processed food such as Ramen, canned food, and ham compared with staff members (p < 0.05). These results suggested that monitoring salt content of kindergarten meals and nutrition education for those prepare meals for children are needed to lower sodium intake in childhood.
Caregivers ; Child ; Eating ; Education ; Food Habits ; Food, Preserved ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Lunch* ; Meals* ; Perciformes ; Salinity ; Sodium* ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Stroke

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of low sodium diet education program on dietary habits, diet quality, and measures of obesity in overweight or obese middle-aged women. METHODS: Subjects were 81 individuals aged 45 years or over, who completed an 8-week nutrition education. The subjects were divided into a normal group (N = 30) and an overweight-obese group (N = 51) according to the BMI. The effects were evaluated by anthropometric measurement, biochemical analysis, questionnaire, and diet records before and after the program. RESULTS: Overweight-obese group showed significant decreases in weight (p < 0.0001), BMI (p < 0.0001), percent of body fat (p = 0.0087), waist circumference (p < 0.0001), systolic (p = 0.0003) and diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.0261). Nutrients intakes were not different between the two groups and only sodium intake was decreased after education. Total score of general dietary habits, dietary behavior related to sodium intake, dietary diversity score (DDS), diet variety score (DVS), and diet quality index-international (DQI-I) were improved in both groups compared to the baseline. Overweight-obese group showed significant improvement in 'having fruits everyday', 'having fish everyday', 'trying to eat many kinds of food', 'eating less broth when eating soup, stew, and noodles', 'eating less kimchi and salt-fermented vegetable', and 'propensity to think that dishes should be pretty seasoned'. In addition, moderation of empty calories food (p = 0.0064) and macronutrient ratio (p = 0.0004) were improved in the overweigh-obese group, but in the normal group, the results did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that low sodium diet education program may contribute to obesity management by improving diet quality and dietary habits in middle-aged women.
Adipose Tissue ; Blood Pressure ; Diet Records ; Diet* ; Diet, Sodium-Restricted* ; Eating ; Education* ; Female ; Food Habits* ; Fruit ; Humans ; Obesity* ; Overweight* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sodium ; Waist Circumference

Purpose: This study investigated the use of synthetic computed tomography (CT) images derived from cone beam CT (CBCT) scans to analyze dose changes in breast cancer patients undergoing treatment and to evaluate the optimal timing for implementing adaptive radiotherapy. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on five breast cancer patients treated with tomotherapy-based volumetric-modulated arc therapy at Yongin Severance Hospital. Each patient received 15 fractions, with doses of 320 centigray (cGy) to the high-dose planning target volume (PTV) and 267 cGy to the low-dose PTV. Planning CT images were acquired using the Aquilion scanner, andCBCT images were captured with the VersaHD linear accelerator’s on-board imager. These imageswere registered in RayStation using a hybrid deformable image registration method to generate synthetic CT images. Dose distributions were reanalyzed using the synthetic CT images, and dose-volume histogram parameters, including the dose to 95% of the volume (D95 ) and mean dose (Dmean ) for the PTV, as well as D95 , Dmean , the percentage of the volume receiving at least 5 Gy (V5 ) and 10 Gy (V10 )for organs-at-risk (OARs), were extracted using MATLAB to assess dose changes during treatment. Results: For the original plans, the mean D95 for PTV high across all patients was 287.13±31.32cGy, while for PTV low, it was 245.53±6.21 cGy. In contrast, the adaptive plans yielded a mean D95of 298.17±12.37 cGy for PTV High and 247.25±4.23 cGy for PTV low. The ART Plan may lead to increased dose exposure in certain structures, such as the spinal cord, while providing targeted improvements in reducing radiation exposure in specific OARs (e.g., contralateral breast and esophagus). Conclusions Synthetic CT images generated from CBCT scans provide a fast and efficient means of quantifying dose changes, supporting precise patient care through interfractional evaluation.Future studies will aim to apply this method to other organs and larger patient cohorts.

Purpose: This study investigated the use of synthetic computed tomography (CT) images derived from cone beam CT (CBCT) scans to analyze dose changes in breast cancer patients undergoing treatment and to evaluate the optimal timing for implementing adaptive radiotherapy. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on five breast cancer patients treated with tomotherapy-based volumetric-modulated arc therapy at Yongin Severance Hospital. Each patient received 15 fractions, with doses of 320 centigray (cGy) to the high-dose planning target volume (PTV) and 267 cGy to the low-dose PTV. Planning CT images were acquired using the Aquilion scanner, andCBCT images were captured with the VersaHD linear accelerator’s on-board imager. These imageswere registered in RayStation using a hybrid deformable image registration method to generate synthetic CT images. Dose distributions were reanalyzed using the synthetic CT images, and dose-volume histogram parameters, including the dose to 95% of the volume (D95 ) and mean dose (Dmean ) for the PTV, as well as D95 , Dmean , the percentage of the volume receiving at least 5 Gy (V5 ) and 10 Gy (V10 )for organs-at-risk (OARs), were extracted using MATLAB to assess dose changes during treatment. Results: For the original plans, the mean D95 for PTV high across all patients was 287.13±31.32cGy, while for PTV low, it was 245.53±6.21 cGy. In contrast, the adaptive plans yielded a mean D95of 298.17±12.37 cGy for PTV High and 247.25±4.23 cGy for PTV low. The ART Plan may lead to increased dose exposure in certain structures, such as the spinal cord, while providing targeted improvements in reducing radiation exposure in specific OARs (e.g., contralateral breast and esophagus). Conclusions Synthetic CT images generated from CBCT scans provide a fast and efficient means of quantifying dose changes, supporting precise patient care through interfractional evaluation.Future studies will aim to apply this method to other organs and larger patient cohorts.

Purpose: This study investigated the use of synthetic computed tomography (CT) images derived from cone beam CT (CBCT) scans to analyze dose changes in breast cancer patients undergoing treatment and to evaluate the optimal timing for implementing adaptive radiotherapy. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on five breast cancer patients treated with tomotherapy-based volumetric-modulated arc therapy at Yongin Severance Hospital. Each patient received 15 fractions, with doses of 320 centigray (cGy) to the high-dose planning target volume (PTV) and 267 cGy to the low-dose PTV. Planning CT images were acquired using the Aquilion scanner, andCBCT images were captured with the VersaHD linear accelerator’s on-board imager. These imageswere registered in RayStation using a hybrid deformable image registration method to generate synthetic CT images. Dose distributions were reanalyzed using the synthetic CT images, and dose-volume histogram parameters, including the dose to 95% of the volume (D95 ) and mean dose (Dmean ) for the PTV, as well as D95 , Dmean , the percentage of the volume receiving at least 5 Gy (V5 ) and 10 Gy (V10 )for organs-at-risk (OARs), were extracted using MATLAB to assess dose changes during treatment. Results: For the original plans, the mean D95 for PTV high across all patients was 287.13±31.32cGy, while for PTV low, it was 245.53±6.21 cGy. In contrast, the adaptive plans yielded a mean D95of 298.17±12.37 cGy for PTV High and 247.25±4.23 cGy for PTV low. The ART Plan may lead to increased dose exposure in certain structures, such as the spinal cord, while providing targeted improvements in reducing radiation exposure in specific OARs (e.g., contralateral breast and esophagus). Conclusions Synthetic CT images generated from CBCT scans provide a fast and efficient means of quantifying dose changes, supporting precise patient care through interfractional evaluation.Future studies will aim to apply this method to other organs and larger patient cohorts.