• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.513-521
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to promote health for elementary school children. It was conducted with a 7 week program focused on the teaching of the food tower and evaluation of its educational effects. Subjects consisted of 75 boys and girls (control group : 37, treatment group : 38) in the 4th grade of elementary school. The results showed as follows. The proportion of boys was a little higher than that of girls. Of their mothers age, the thirties and forties were 66.7% and 33.3%, respectively. 61.3% of mothers had jobs and 86.7% of mothers prepared meals. The average of the anthropometric data of the 2 groups show were all in the normal range. The degree of nutritional knowledge in treatment group after education was significantly increased in all concepts, however, the degree of the control group appeared to show significant increase in only two concepts, such as "snack" and "one-sided diet". The diversity of dietary intake was investigated to evaluate the educational effect using food picture cards. The treatment group showed significant increase in all food groups except "cooked rice", "potatoes" and "fruits", but the control group showed no significant change. The level of nutrition knowledge has a significant correlation with the dversity of the food intake in the treatment group. The preferred lesson for children were "games", "doll playing" and "role playing". The impressive lesson contents were "diverse food intake without one-sided diet", "eating breakfast everyday", "choosing good snacks for health" and "eating less procesed food". These findings indicate that a well-designed program for nutrition education can help to change food habits, and that childrens education helps them to grow and to live as healthy adults. The performance of an educational program for preventive nutrition is more beneficial for children than for the adults based on the cost reduction and effect of this education. nutrition is more beneficial for children than for the adults based on the cost reduction and effect of this education.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.67-75
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• 2007

Radio Frequency IDentification(RFID) is in the limelight of fields of military, delivery and library management as an alternative or barcode system. However, it is restricted within product manufacturing, sales and delivery. In this paper, we apply RFID technology into process, especially packing process management to gauge RFID applicability. To verify beneficial features of RFID, we simulate RFID-adopted packing process. As a result, we demonstrate the effectiveness of a RFID-based Process Improvement In manufacturing process. The results of performance evaluations demonstrate that the proposed RFID-based Process Improvement reduces the labour time, labour cost and material cost. Furthermore, we analyze the validity of RFID-based Process Improvement by RFID cost.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.853-857
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• 2013

Objectives: Breast cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women worldwide. Breast screening in normal and/or asymptomatic women is essential to reduce the burden of breast malignancies. Our study aimed to identify possible risk- and/or co-factors associated with breast screening in North Indian women. Methods: A public health research survey was conducted among 100 women of North Indian ethnicity during clinic visits in a 6-month timeline (April-October 2012). Demographic and clinical data, including mammography screening, were recorded in the questionnaire-based proforma after conducting a 10 minute interview. Written informed consent was taken from all the participants. Results: The mean age of the participants was $32.2{\pm}9.9$ years. Out of 100 women, 6% had family history of breast disease. Breast-related complaints/malignancy, including galactorrhoea, mastitis, axillary lump, fibrocystic disease, fibroadenosis and adenocarcinoma were observed in 41% participants; age stratification revealed that 82.9% of this group (n=41) were <30 years, while 9.7% and 7.3% were >30 years and 30 years of age, respectively. 32% participants underwent mammography screening and 8% had breast ultrasound imaging. Age stratification in the mammography screening group demonstrated that 24 women were <40 years, while 7 women were >40 years. Conclusions: Our pilot study identified possible co-factors affecting breast screening in North Indian women. These findings may be beneficial in early detection of breast abnormalities, including malignancies in women susceptible to breast cancer, and thus aid in future design of cost-effective screening strategies to reduce the increasing burden of breast carcinoma in women worldwide.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.615-629
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• 2021

With the development of mobile edge computing, how to utilize the computing power of edge computing to effectively and efficiently offload data and to compute offloading is of great research value. This paper studies the computation offloading problem of multi-user and multi-server in mobile edge computing. Firstly, in order to minimize system energy consumption, the problem is modeled by considering the joint optimization of the offloading strategy and the wireless and computing resource allocation in a multi-user and multi-server scenario. Additionally, this paper explores the computation offloading scheme to optimize the overall cost. As the centralized optimization method is an NP problem, the game method is used to achieve effective computation offloading in a distributed manner. The decision problem of distributed computation offloading between the mobile equipment is modeled as a multi-user computation offloading game. There is a Nash equilibrium in this game, and it can be achieved by a limited number of iterations. Then, we propose a distributed computation offloading algorithm, which first calculates offloading weights, and then distributedly iterates by the time slot to update the computation offloading decision. Finally, the algorithm is verified by simulation experiments. Simulation results show that our proposed algorithm can achieve the balance by a limited number of iterations. At the same time, the algorithm outperforms several other advanced computation offloading algorithms in terms of the number of users and overall overheads for beneficial decision-making.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2533-2540
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• 2013

Background: Although screening is necessary where gastric cancer is particularly common in Asia, the performance outcomes of mass screening programs have remained unclear. This study was conducted to evaluate cost-effectiveness outcomes of the national cancer screening program (NCSP) for gastric cancer in South Korea. Materials and Methods: People aged 40 years or over during 2002-2003 (baseline) were the target population. Screening recipients and patients diagnosed with gastric cancers were identified using the NCSP and Korea Central Cancer Registry databases. Clinical outcomes were measured in terms of mortality and life-years saved (LYS) of gastric cancer patients during 7 years based on merged data from the Korean National Health Insurance Corporation and National Statistical Office. We considered direct, indirect, and productivity-loss costs associated with screening attendance. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) estimates were produced according to screening method, sex, and age group compared to non-screening. Results: The age-adjusted ICER for survival was 260,201,000-371,011,000 Korean Won (KW; 1USD=1,088 KW) for the upper-gastrointestinal (UGI) tract over non-screening. Endoscopy ICERs were lower (119,099,000-178,700,000 KW/survival) than UGI. To increase 1 life-year, additional costs of approximately 14,466,000-15,014,000 KW and 8,817,000-9,755,000 KW were required for UGI and endoscopy, respectively. Endoscopy was the most cost-effective strategy for males and females. With regard to sensitivity analyses varying based on the upper age limit, endoscopy NCSP was dominant for both males and females. For males, an upper limit of age 75 or 80 years could be considered. ICER estimates for LYS indicate that the gastric cancer screening program in Korea is cost-effective. Conclusion: Endoscopy should be recommended as a first-line method in Korea because it is beneficial among the Korean population.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.32-39
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• 2003

Although medical nutrition therapy (MNT) is considered as a cornerstone of medical treatment for hypercholesterolemia, few studies have evaluated medical and economical outcome of MNT. This study was conducted to identify whether MNT administered by registered dieticians could lead to a beneficial clinical and cost outcome in persons with hypercholesterolemia. A prospective clinical trial was carried out at outpatient clinics, which involved an initial visit with a dietitian followed by another visit at first 4 weeks during the 6 weeks study periods. Thirty-nine subjects took part in a 6 weeks nutrition intervention program. Clinical and economical outcomes were compared before and after MNT. Medical nutrition therapy lowered total serum cholesterol level 6.1% (P<0.05), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) 9.4% (P<0.05) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) 3.0% (P<0.05). The cost-effective ratio was ￦ 1,520/cholesterol mg/dl and ￦ 1,441/LDL-cholesterol mg/dl, respectively. After dietitian's intervention, lipid drug eligibility was obviated in 16 of 39(41%) subjects. The cost savings from the avoidance of lipid medications was ￦ 151,107 per patient annually. In conclusion, it is suggested that provision of systemic intensive nutritional care for persons with hypercholesterolemia has significant effects on serum cholesterol reduction and clinical cost savings.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.409-416
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• 2009

This paper presents a tool called Quality-Cost optimization system (QCOS), which integrates Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD), for tradeoff between quality and cost of the unitized metal curtain-wall unit. A construction owner as the external customer pursues to maximize the quality of the curtain-wall unit. However, the contractor as the internal customer pursues to minimize the cost involved in designing, manufacturing and installing the curtain-wall unit. It is crucial for project manager to find the tradeoff point which satisfies the conflicting interests pursued by the both parties. The system would be beneficial to establish a quality plan satisfying the both parties. Survey questionnaires were administered to the construction owner who has an experience of curtain-wall project, the architects who are the independent assessor, and the contractors who were involved in curtain-wall design and installation. The Customer Requirements (CRs) and their importance weights, the relationship between CRs and Technical Attributes (TAs) consisting of a curtain-wall unit, and the cost ratios of each components consisting curtain-wall unit are obtained from the three groups mentioned previously. The data obtained from the surveys were used as the QFD input to compute the Owner Satisfaction (OS) and Contractor Satisfaction (CS). MOGA is applied to optimize resource allocation under limited budget when multi-objectives, OS and CS, are pursued at the same time. The deterministic multi-objective optimization method using MOGA and QFD is extended to stochastic model to better deal with the uncertainties of QFD input and the variability of QFD output. A case study demonstrates the system and verifies the system conformance.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.466-476
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• 2016

Dredging is inevitably necessary for the management of water infrastructure such as waterways and polluted bottom sediment. Dredged material management options may be offshore dumping, wetland creation, beach nourishment and various other engineering uses depending on the given circumstances at the time of dredging. Among those options, wetland creation and beach nourishment are the preferred ones in Korea considering significant loss of wetland and beach erosion due to various development projects along the coastal region. In order to use dredged material beneficially, however, dredged material needs to be assessed its suitability with respect to its engineering purpose and environmental criteria. In this paper, we demonstrate that environmental risk of dredged material to be introduced into the marine environment can be easily assessed using biomarkers with relative low cost. Biomarkers can also compliment pollutant contents analysis that may not be specific to their impact on biological response. Biomarker information may be used to assist decision making process in selecting suitable treatment or beneficial use options for dredged materials.

• 수도
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• v.24 no.5 s.86
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• pp.29-44
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• 1997

Sewage sludge produced in Korea was 1,275,800 tons (dewatered sludge cake) per year in 1996, which is 3,495 tons per day, 0.303% of 11,526,100 tons per day of sewage treated in 79 sewage treatment plants. Sludge production has been and will be increasing in accordance with construction of new facilities for sewage treatment. Most of the sludge is currently disposed by landfill and ocean dumping, but it is becoming difficult to find suitable sites for landfill, particularly in big cities such as Seoul. In addition, rapid increase of landfill cost is anticipated in a near future. Current trend for sludge disposal in advanced countries is land application. Over the past 10 to 20 years in the United States, sludge management practices have changed significantly, moving from disposal to beneficial use. They use biosolid for utilization instead of sludge for disposal. Under the Clean Water Act of 1972, amended in 1987 by Congress, the U.S. EPA was required to develop regulations for the use and disposal of sewage sludge. The EPA assessed the potential for pollutants in sewage sludge to affect public health and the environment through a number of different routes of exposure. The Agency also assessed the potential risk to human health through contamination of drinking water sources or surface water when sludge is disposed on land. The Final Rules were signed by the EPA Administrator and were published (Federal Register, 1993). These rules state that sewage sludge shall not be applied to land if the concentration of any pollutant in the sludge exceeds the ceiling concentration. In addition, the cumulative loading rate for each pollutant shall not exceed the cumulative pollutant loading rate nor should the concentration of each pollutant in the sludge exceed the monthly average concentration for the pollutant. The annual pollutant loading rate generally applies to applications of sewage sludge on agricultural lands. The most popular beneficial use of sewage sludge is land application. The sludge has to be stabilized for appling to land. One of the stabilization process for sewage sludge is lime stabilization process. The stabilization process is consisted of the stabilizing process and the drying process. Stabilization reactor can be a drum type reactor in which a crossed mixer is equipped. The additive agents are a very reactive mixture of calcium oxide and others. The stabilized sludge is dried in sun drier or rotary kiln.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.34
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• pp.3.1-3.12
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• 2022

Background: Influenza illness causes several disruptions to the workforce. The absenteeism that often ensues has economic implications for employers. This study aimed to estimate the cost-benefit of influenza vaccination in a healthcare setting from the employer's perspective. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in a private hospital in 2018-2019 comparing voluntary vaccinated with non-vaccinated employees with influenza vaccine. The analyses were made based on self-reporting on absenteeism and presenteeism from Influenza-like illnesses (ILIs). The costs incurred, both direct and indirect costs, were included in the study. A cost-benefit analysis was performed by measuring the cost of the vaccination program. The costs of absenteeism and reduced productivity were calculated using 3 hypothesised levels of effectiveness in the following percentage of productivity of 30%, 50%, and 70%. The costs were also calculated based on four scenarios: with and without operating income and with and without replacement. The benefits of the influenza vaccination from the employer's perspective were analysed. The benefit to cost ratio was determined. Results: A total of four hundred and twenty-one respondents participated. The influenza vaccination rate was 63.0%. The rate of ILI of 38.1% was significantly lower among vaccinated. The ILI-related absenteeism reported was also significantly lower amongst vaccinated employees at 30% compared to 70% non-vaccinated. Employers could save up to USD 18.95 per vaccinated employee when only labour cost was included or 54.0% of cost savings. The cost-saving rose to USD 155.56 when the operating income per employee was also included. The benefit to cost ratio confirmed that the net cost-benefit gained from the vaccination was more than the net cost of vaccination. Conclusions: Influenza vaccination for working adults was cost-saving and cost-beneficial when translated into financial investments for the employer. A workplace vaccination demonstrates a significant cost-benefit strategy to be applied in any institutional setting.