• Title/Summary/Keyword: Early experiences

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State of Mind in the Flow 4-Channel Model and Play (플로우 4경로모형의 마음상태와 플레이(play))

  • Sohn, Jun-Sang
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.1-29
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    • 2007
  • The flow theory becomes one of the most important frameworks in the internet research arena. Hoffman and Novak proposed a hierarchical flow model showing the antecedents and outcomes of flow and the relationship among these variables in the hyper-media computer circumstances (Hoffman and Novak 1996). This model was further tested after their initial research (Novak, Hoffman, and Yung 2000). At their paper, Hoffman and Novak explained that the balance of challenge and skill leads to flow which means the positive optimal state of mind (Hoffman and Novak 1996). An imbalance between challenge and skill, leads to negative states of mind like anxiety, boredom, apathy (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi 1988). Almost all research on the flow 4-channel model have been focusingon flow, the positive state of mind (Ellis, Voelkl, and Morris 1994 Mathwick and Rigdon 2004). However, it also needs to examine the formation of the negative states of minds and their outcomes. Flow researchers explain play or playfulness as antecedents or the early state of flow. However, play has been regarded as a distinct concept from flow in the flow literatures (Hoffman and Novak 1996; Novak, Hoffman, and Yung 2000). Mathwick and Rigdon discovered the influences of challenge and skill on play; they also observed the influence of play on web-loyalty and brand loyalty (Mathwick and Rigdon 2004). Unfortunately, they did not go so far as to test the influences of play on state of mind. This study focuses on the relationships between state of mind in the flow 4-channel model and play. Early research has attempted to hypothetically explain state of mind in flow theory, but has not been tested except flow until now. Also the importance of play has been emphasized in the flow theory, but has not been tested in the flow 4-channel model context. This researcher attempts to analyze the relationships among state of mind, skill of play, challenge, state of mind and web loyalty. For this objective, I developed a measure for state of mind and defined the concept of play as a trait. Then, the influences of challenge and skill on the state of mind and play under on-line shopping conditions were tested. Also the influences of play on state of mind were tested and those of flow and play on web loyalty were highlighted. 294 undergraduate students participated in this research survey. They were asked to respond about their perceptions of challenge, skill, state of mind, play, and web-loyalty to on-line shopping mall. Respondents were restricted to students who bought products on-line in a month. In case of buying products at two or more on-line shopping malls, they asked to respond about the shopping mall where they bought the most important one. Construct validity, discriminant validity, and convergent validity were used to check the measurement validations. Also, Cronbach's alpha was used to check scale reliability. A series of exploratory factor analyses was conducted. This researcher conducted confirmatory factor analyses to assess the validity of measurements. All items loaded significantly on their respective constructs. Also, all reliabilities were greater than.70. Chi-square difference tests and goodness of fit tests supported discriminant and convergent validity. The results of clustering and ANOVA showed that high challenge and high skill leaded to flow, low challenge and high skill leaded to boredom, and low challenge and low skill leaded to apathy. But, it was different from my expectation that high challenge and low skill didnot lead to anxiety but leaded to apathy. The results also showed that high challenge and high skill, and high challenge and low skill leaded to the highest play. Low challenge leaded to low play. 4 Structural Equation Models were built by flow, anxiety, boredom, apathy for analyzing not only the impact of play on state of mind and web-loyalty, but also that of state of mind on web-loyalty. According the analyses results of these models, play impacted flow and web-loyalty positively, but impacted anxiety, boredom, and apathy negatively. Results also showed that flow impacted web-loyalty positively, but anxiety, boredom, and apathy impacted web-loyalty negatively. The interpretations and implications of the test results of the hypotheses are as follows. First, respondents belonging to different clusters based on challenge and skill level experienced different states of mind such as flow, anxiety, boredom, apathy. The low challenge and low skill group felt the highest anxiety and apathy. It could be interpreted that this group feeling high anxiety or fear, then avoided attempts to shop on-line. Second, it was found that higher challenge leads to higher levels of play. Test results show that the play level of the high challenge and low skill group (anxiety group) was higher than that of the high challenge and high skill group (flow group). However, this was not significant. Third, play positively impacted flow and negatively impacted boredom. The negative impacts on anxiety and apathy were not significant. This means that the combination of challenge and skill creates different results. Forth, play and flow positively impacted web-loyalty, but anxiety, boredom, apathy had negative impacts. The effect of play on web-loyalty was stronger in case of anxiety, boredom, apathy group than fl ow group. These results show that challenge and skill influences state of mind and play. Results also demonstrate how play and flow influence web-loyalty. It implies that state of mind and play should be the core marketing variables in internet marketing. The flow theory has been focusing on flow and on the positive outcomes of flow experiences. But, this research shows that lots of consumers experience the negative state of mind rather than flow state in the internet shopping circumstance. Results show that the negative state of mind leads to low or negative web-loyalty. Play can have an important role with the web-loyalty when consumers have the negative state of mind. Results of structural equation model analyses show that play influences web-loyalty positively, even though consumers may be in the negative state of mind. This research found the impacts of challenge and skill on state of mind in the flow 4-channel model, not only flow but also anxiety, boredom, apathy. Also, it highlighted the role of play in the flow 4-channel model context and impacts on web-loyalty. However, tests show a few different results from hypothetical expectations such as the highest anxiety level of apathy group and insignificant impacts of play on anxiety and apathy. Further research needs to replicate this research and/or to compare 3-channel model with 4-channel model.

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A Study on the Born Global Venture Corporation's Characteristics and Performance ('본글로벌(born global)전략'을 추구하는 벤처기업의 특성과 성과에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Hyung-Jun;Jung, Duk-Hwa
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.39-59
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    • 2007
  • The international involvement of a firm has been described as a gradual development process "a process in which the enterprise gradually increases its international involvement in many studies. This process evolves in the interplay between the development of knowledge about foreign markets and operations on one hand and increasing commitment of resources to foreign markets on the other." On the basis of Uppsala internationalization model, many studies strengthen strong theoretical and empirical support. According to the predictions of the classic stages theory, the internationalization process of firms have been recognized and characterized gradual evolution to foreign markets, so called stage theory: indirect & direct export, strategic alliance and foreign direct investment. However, termed "international new ventures" (McDougall, Shane, and Oviatt 1994), "born globals" (Knight 1997; Knight and Cavusgil 1996; Madsen and Servais 1997), "instant internationals" (Preece, Miles, and Baetz 1999), or "global startups" (Oviatt and McDougall 1994) have been used and come into spotlight in internationalization study of technology intensity venture companies. Recent researches focused on venture company have suggested the phenomenons of 'born global' firms as a contradiction to the stages theory. Especially the article by Oviatt and McDougall threw the spotlight on international entrepreneurs, on international new ventures, and on their importance in the globalising world economy. Since venture companies have, by definition. lack of economies of scale, lack of resources (financial and knowledge), and aversion to risk taking, they have a difficulty in expanding their market to abroad and pursue internalization gradually and step by step. However many venture companies have pursued 'Born Global Strategy', which is different from process strategy, because corporate's environment has been rapidly changing to globalization. The existing studies investigate that (1) why the ventures enter into overseas market in those early stage, even in infancy, (2) what make the different international strategy among ventures and the born global strategy is better to the infant ventures. However, as for venture's performance(growth and profitability), the existing results do not correspond each other. They also, don't include marketing strategy (differentiation, low price, market breadth and market pioneer) that is important factors in studying of BGV's performance. In this paper I aim to delineate the appearance of international new ventures and the phenomenons of venture companies' internationalization strategy. In order to verify research problems, I develop a resource-based model and marketing strategies for analyzing the effects of the born global venture firms. In this paper, I suggested 3 research problems. First, do the korean venture companies take some advantages in the aspects of corporate's performances (growth, profitability and overall market performances) when they pursue internationalization from inception? Second, do the korean BGV have firm specific assets (foreign experiences, foreign orientation, organizational absorptive capacity)? Third, What are the marketing strategies of korean BGV and is it different from others? Under these problems, I test then (1) whether the BGV that a firm started its internationalization activity almost from inception, has more intangible resources(foreign experience of corporate members, foreign orientation, technological competences and absorptive capacity) than any other venture firms(Non_BGV) and (2) also whether the BGV's marketing strategies-differentiation, low price, market diversification and preemption strategy are different from Non_BGV. Above all, the main purpose of this research is that results achieved by BGV are indeed better than those obtained by Non_BGV firms with respect to firm's growth rate and efficiency. To do this research, I surveyed venture companies located in Seoul and Deajeon in Korea during November to December, 2005. I gather the data from 200 venture companies and then selected 84 samples, which have been founded during 1999${\sim}$2000. To compare BGV's characteristics with those of Non_BGV, I also had to classify BGV by export intensity over 50% among five or six aged venture firms. Many other researches tried to classify BGV and Non_BGV, but there were various criterion as many as researchers studied on this topic. Some of them use time gap, which is time difference of establishment and it's first internationalization experience and others use export intensity, ration of export sales amount divided by total sales amount. Although using a mixed criterion of prior research in my case, I do think this kinds of criterion is subjective and arbitrary rather than objective, so I do mention my research has some critical limitation in the classification of BGV and Non_BGV. The first purpose of research is the test of difference of performance between BGV and Non_BGV. As a result of t-test, the research show that there are statistically efficient difference not only in the growth rate (sales growth rate compared to competitors and 3 years averaged sales growth rate) but also in general market performance of BGV. But in case of profitability performance, the hypothesis that is BGV is more profit (return on investment(ROI) compared to competitors and 3 years averaged ROI) than Non-BGV was not supported. From these results, this paper concludes that BGV grows rapidly and gets a high market performance (in aspect of market share and customer loyalty) but there is no profitability difference between BGV and Non_BGV. The second result is that BGV have more absorptive capacity especially, knowledge competence, and entrepreneur's international experience than Non_BGV. And this paper also found BGV search for product differentiation, exemption strategy and market diversification strategy while Non_BGV search for low price strategy. These results have never been dealt with other existing studies. This research has some limitations. First limitation is concerned about the definition of BGV, as I mentioned above. Conceptually speaking, BGV is defined as company pursue internationalization from inception, but in empirical study, it's very difficult to classify between BGV and Non_BGV. I tried to classify on the basis of time difference and export intensity, this criterions are so subjective and arbitrary that the results are not robust if the criterion were changed. Second limitation is concerned about sample used in this research. I surveyed venture companies just located in Seoul and Daejeon and also use only 84 samples which more or less provoke sample bias problem and generalization of results. I think the more following studies that focus on ventures located in other region, the better to verify the results of this paper.

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Clinical Experiences for Cardiac Myxomas (심장 점액종의 임상적 고찰)

  • Lee, Geun-Dong;Lee, Jae-Won;Jung, Jae-Seung;Jung, Sung-Ho;Je, Hyoung-Gon;Choo, Suk-Jung;Song, Hyun;Chung, Cheol-Hyun
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.41 no.6
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    • pp.703-709
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    • 2008
  • Background: Diagnosis and treatment are often successful in the setting of cardiac myxomas. However, cardiac myxomas can lead to catastrophic complications, due to intracardiac obstruction and embolism preoperatively, and can recur postoperatively. Material and Method: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical characteristics, surgical treatment, and recurrence data of 85 patients who underwent cardiac myxoma surgery at Asan Medical Center between November 1994 and June 2007. We analyzed the morphologic characteristics of 58 patients with left atrial myxomas and determined the development of functional mitral valve stenosis and systemic embolism through reviewing the results of preoperative echo-cardiograms to find potential preoperative risk factors. Result: Twenty-seven (31.8%) patients were men, and 58 (68.2%) were women. The mean patient age was $54.5{\pm}14.3$ years. Preoperative symptoms included obstructive symptoms in 41 (48.2%) patients, signs of embolism in 19 (22.4%), constitutional symptoms in 8 (9.4%), and no symptoms in 19 (20.0%). Among the 58 patients with left atrial myxomas, the mean maximal tumor diameter was $4.3{\pm}1.8$ (range $1.1{\sim}8\;cm$)cm. Twenty-six (44.8%) patients had a prolapsing type, defined as a tumor mobile enough to move down. to the mitral. annular plane during diastole, and 32 (55.2%) had villous type, defined as a tumor consisting of multiple fine villous extensions on the surface. Twelve (20.7%) patients had severe functional mitral valve stenosis, and 15 (25.9%) had systemic embolism preoperatively. The incidence of severe functional mitral valve stenosis was significantly higher in patients with the prolapsing type than in those with the non-prolapsing type (p=0.001). The mean maximal tumor diameter in patients with severe functional mitral valve stenosis was $5.1{\pm}1.0\;cm$, significantly larger than that seen in patients without severe functional mitral valve stenosis (p=0.041). The incidence of systemic embolism was significantly higher in patients with the villous type than in those with the smooth type (p=0.006). Postoperative complications were noted in 6 (7.1%) patients, and early mortality was noted in 1 (1.2%). The mean postoperative follow-up duration was $36.2{\pm}37.5$ months, with recurrence reported in 2(2.4%) patients during the follow-up period. The disease free interval were 48, 12 months, respectively. Conclusion: Surgical treatment for cardiac myxomas was performed safely, and long-term prognosis was good. In patients with left atrial myxoma, close attention should be maintained and surgery should be performed promptly in those of prolapsing type, those with large maximal diameter in order to prevent severe functional mitral valve stenosis, and those of villous type in order to prevent systemic embolism. Echocardiography should be followed serially in order to detect recurrence.

Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (소침습적 관상동맥우회술)

  • Na, Chan-Young;Lee, Young-Tak;Park. Joong-Won;Chung, Do-Hyun;Jung, Ill-Sang;Jung, Yoon-Seup;Kim, Ok-Sung;Bang, Jung-Hyun;Lee, Sub;Chung, Chul-Hyun;KIM, Woong-Han;Park, Young-Kwan;Kim, Chong-Whan;Hong, Sung-Nok;Han, Jae-Jin;Lee, Gun
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.118-124
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    • 1998
  • Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting without using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a recently accepted modality of myocardial revascularization prcedures which is particularly suitable to the patients with lesions in the left anterior descending(LAD) and the right coronary arteries. Of the consecutive 35 patients of coronary artery bypass grafting performed at Sejong General Hospital from March to August 1996, six patients underwent minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting without CPB. All had stenotic lesions of the LAD more than 90%. Bypass grafting of the LAD was approached through midline sternotomy in one, through ministernotomy in two, and through limited left anterior thoracotomy in three patients, respectively. The internal mammary arteries were prepared without the use of thoracoscope. The mobilized mammary arteries were connected directly to the LAD in 5 patients, and the anastomosis required interposition of a segment of the radial artery in the remaining one. The diagonal branch was revascularized with the saphenous vein graft at the same time in one patient. No blood transfusion was necessary in 2 patients, and average blood required during surgery was 800ml in 4 patients. All patients were extubated from 4 to 14 hours(mean 9 hours) after operation. Early postoperative coronary angiography in 5 patients between 7 and 10 days after surgery has proved full patency of the grafts. With these limited clinical experiences, the clinical results demonstrated that minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting without CPB is an useful procedure especially in patients with isolated lesion in the proximal LAD.

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Long-term Survival Analysis of Bronchioloalveolar Cell Carcinoma (기관세지폐포암의 장기결과분석)

  • Lee Seung Hyun;Kim Yong Hee;Moon Hye Won;Kim Dong Kwan;Kim Jong Wook;Park Seung Il
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.39 no.2 s.259
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    • pp.106-110
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    • 2006
  • Background: Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) is an uncommon primary malignancy of the lung, and it accounts for $2{\~}14\%$ of all pulmonary malignancies. According to World Health Organization (WHO) categorisation, BAC is a subtype of adenocarcinoma. The current definition of BAC includes the following: malignant neoplasms of the lung that have no evidence of extrathoracic primary adenocarcinoma, an absence of a central bronchogenic source, a peripheral parenchymal location, and neoplastic cells growing along the alveolar septa. Previous reports had demonstrated a better prognosis following surgery for patients affected by BAC than those affected by other type of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We aim to analyse Asan Medical Center experiences of BAC. Material and Method: Between 1990 and 2002, 31 patients were received operations for BAC. We analyse retrosepectively sex, age, disease location, preoperative clinical stage, postoperative pathologic stage & complications, survival according to medical record. Result: There were 12 men and 19 women, the average age was 61.09$\pm$10.63 ($31{\~}79$) years. Tumor locations were 7 in RUL, 1 in RML, 4 in RLL, 8 in LUL, 11 in LLL. Operations were 28 lobectomies, 2 pneumonectomies. Postoperative pathologic stage were 12 T1N0M0, 15 T2N0M0, 1 T1N1M0, 1 T1N2M0, 1 T2N2M0, 1 T1N0M1. Mortality were 4 cases ($12.9\%$) and there were no early mortality. Cancer free death was 1 cases, other 3 were cancer related deaths. All of them were affected by distal metastasis and received chemotherapy and each metastatic locations were right rib, brain, and both lung field. The average follow up periods were 50.87$\pm$24.77 months. The overall 3, 5-year survival rate among all patients was $97.1\%,\;83.7\%$, stage I patients overall 2, 5year survival rate was $96.3\%$. The overall disease free 1, 2, 5-year survival rate among all patients was $100\%,\;90\%,\;76\%$ and 2, 5-year survival rate in cases of stage I was $96.4\%,\;90.6\%$. 7 cases ($22.58\%$) were chemotherapies, 1 case ($3.22\%$) was radiation therapy, and 2 cases ($6.45\%$) were chemoradiation therapies. Metastatic locations were 3 cases in lung, 1 case in bone, 1 cases in brain. Conclusion: BAC has a favourable survival and low recurrence rate compare with reported other NSCLC after operative resections.

The Role of Radiotherapy for Carcinomas of the Gall Bladder and Extrahepatic Biliary Duct: Retrospective Analysis (담낭 및 간외담도계 악성종양의 방사선치료결과)

  • Jeong Hyeon Ju;Lee Hyun Ju;Yang Kwang Mo;Suh Hyun Suk;Kim Re Hwe;Kim Sung Rok;Kim Hong Ryong
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.43-49
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    • 1998
  • Purpose : Carcinomas arising in the gall bladder(GB) or extrahepatic biliary ducts are uncommon and generally have a poor prognosis. The overall 5-year survival rates are less than $10\%$. Early experiences with the external radiation therapy demonstrated a good palliation with occasional long-term survival. The present report describes our experience over the past decade with irradiation of primary carcinomas of the gallbladder and extrahepatic biliary duct. Materials and Methods : From Feb. 1984 to Nov. 1995, thirty-three patients with carcinoma of the GB and extrahepatic biliary duct were treated with external beam radiotherapy with curative intent at our institution. All patients were treated with 4-MV linear accelerator and radiation dose ranged from 31.44Gy to 54.87Gy(median 44.25Gy), and three Patients received additional intraluminal brachytherapy(range, 25Gy to 30Gy). Twenty-seven Patients received postoperative radiation. Among 27 patients, Sixteen patients underwent radical operation with curative aim and the rest of the patients either had bypass surgery or biopsy alone. In seventeen patients, adjuvant chemotherapy was used and eleven patients were treated with 5-FU, mitomycin and leucovorin. Results : Median follow up period was 8.5 months(range 2-97 months). The overall 2-year and 5-year survival rates in all patients were $29.9\%$ and $13.3\%$ respectively. In patients with GB and extrahepatic biliary duct carcinomas, the 2-year survival rates were $34.5\%$ and $27.8\%$ respectively. Patients who underwent radical operation showed better 2-year survival rates than those who underwent palliative operation($43.8\%\;vs.\;20.7\%$), albeit statistically insignificant(p>0.05). The 2-year survival rates in Stage I and II were higher than in Stage III and IV with statistical significance(p<0.05). Patients with good performance status in the beginning showed significantly better survival rates than those with worse status(p<0.05). The 2-year survival rates in combined chemotherapy group and radiation group were $40.5\%$ and $22.0\%$ respectively. There was no statistical differences in two groups (p>0.05). Conclusion : The survival of patients with relatively lower stage and/or initial good performance was significantly superior to that of others. We found an statistically insignificant trend toward better survival in patients with radical operation and/or chemotherapy, More radical treatment strategies, such as total resection with intensive radiation and/or chemotherapy may offer a better chance for cure in selective patients with carcinoma of gall bladder and extrahepatic biliary ducts.

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Optimum Radiotherapy Schedule for Uterine Cervical Cancer based-on the Detailed Information of Dose Fractionation and Radiotherapy Technique (처방선량 및 치료기법별 치료성적 분석 결과에 기반한 자궁경부암 환자의 최적 방사선치료 스케줄)

  • Cho, Jae-Ho;Kim, Hyun-Chang;Suh, Chang-Ok;Lee, Chang-Geol;Keum, Ki-Chang;Cho, Nam-Hoon;Lee, Ik-Jae;Shim, Su-Jung;Suh, Yang-Kwon;Seong, Jinsil;Kim, Gwi-Eon
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.23 no.3
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    • pp.143-156
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    • 2005
  • Background: The best dose-fractionation regimen of the definitive radiotherapy for cervix cancer remains to be clearly determined. It seems to be partially attributed to the complexity of the affecting factors and the lack of detailed information on external and intra-cavitary fractionation. To find optimal practice guidelines, our experiences of the combination of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy (HDR-ICBT) were reviewed with detailed information of the various treatment parameters obtained from a large cohort of women treated homogeneously at a single institute. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 743 cervical cancer patients (Stage IB 198, IIA 77, IIB 364, IIIA 7, IIIB 89 and IVA 8) treated by radiotherapy alone, between 1990 and 1996. A total external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) dose of $23.4\~59.4$ Gy (Median 45.0) was delivered to the whole pelvis. High-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy (HDR-IBT) was also peformed using various fractionation schemes. A Midline block (MLB) was initiated after the delivery of $14.4\~43.2$ Gy (Median 36.0) of EBRT in 495 patients, while In the other 248 patients EBRT could not be used due to slow tumor regression or the huge initial bulk of tumor. The point A, actual bladder & rectal doses were individually assessed in all patients. The biologically effective dose (BED) to the tumor ($\alpha/\beta$=10) and late-responding tissues ($\alpha/\beta$=3) for both EBRT and HDR-ICBT were calculated. The total BED values to point A, the actual bladder and rectal reference points were the summation of the EBRT and HDR-ICBT. In addition to all the details on dose-fractionation, the other factors (i.e. the overall treatment time, physicians preference) that can affect the schedule of the definitive radiotherapy were also thoroughly analyzed. The association between MD-BED $Gy_3$ and the risk of complication was assessed using serial multiple logistic regression models. The associations between R-BED $Gy_3$ and rectal complications and between V-BED $Gy_3$ and bladder complications were assessed using multiple logistic regression models after adjustment for age, stage, tumor size and treatment duration. Serial Coxs proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate the relative risks of recurrence due to MD-BED $Gy_{10}$, and the treatment duration. Results: The overall complication rate for RTOG Grades $1\~4$ toxicities was $33.1\%$. The 5-year actuarial pelvic control rate for ail 743 patients was $83\%$. The midline cumulative BED dose, which is the sum of external midline BED and HDR-ICBT point A BED, ranged from 62.0 to 121.9 $Gy_{10}$ (median 93.0) for tumors and from 93.6 to 187.3 $Gy_3$ (median 137.6) for late responding tissues. The median cumulative values of actual rectal (R-BED $Gy_3$) and bladder Point BED (V-BED $Gy_3$) were 118.7 $Gy_3$ (range $48.8\~265.2$) and 126.1 $Gy_3$ (range: $54.9\~267.5$), respectively. MD-BED $Gy_3$ showed a good correlation with rectal (p=0.003), but not with bladder complications (p=0.095). R-BED $Gy_3$ had a very strong association (p=<0.0001), and was more predictive of rectal complications than A-BED $Gy_3$. B-BED $Gy_3$ also showed significance in the prediction of bladder complications in a trend test (p=0.0298). No statistically significant dose-response relationship for pelvic control was observed. The Sandwich and Continuous techniques, which differ according to when the ICR was inserted during the EBRT and due to the physicians preference, showed no differences in the local control and complication rates; there were also no differences in the 3 vs. 5 Gy fraction size of HDR-ICBT. Conclusion: The main reasons optimal dose-fractionation guidelines are not easily established is due to the absence of a dose-response relationship for tumor control as a result of the high-dose gradient of HDR-ICBT, individual differences In tumor responses to radiation therapy and the complexity of affecting factors. Therefore, in our opinion, there is a necessity for individualized tailored therapy, along with general guidelines, in the definitive radiation treatment for cervix cancer. This study also demonstrated the strong predictive value of actual rectal and bladder reference dosing therefore, vaginal gauze packing might be very Important. To maintain the BED dose to less than the threshold resulting in complication, early midline shielding, the HDR-ICBT total dose and fractional dose reduction should be considered.

A Study Concerning Health Needs in Rural Korea (농촌(農村) 주민(住民)들의 의료필요도(醫療必要度)에 관(關)한 연구(硏究))

  • Lee, Sung-Kwan;Kim, Doo-Hie;Jung, Jong-Hak;Chunge, Keuk-Soo;Park, Sang-Bin;Choy, Chung-Hun;Heng, Sun-Ho;Rah, Jin-Hoon
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.29-94
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    • 1974
  • Today most developed countries provide modern medical care for most of the population. The rural area is the more neglected area in the medical and health field. In public health, the philosophy is that medical care for in maintenance of health is a basic right of man; it should not be discriminated against racial, environmental or financial situations. The deficiency of the medical care system, cultural bias, economic development, and ignorance of the residents about health care brought about the shortage of medical personnel and facilities on the rural areas. Moreover, medical students and physicians have been taught less about rural health care than about urban health care. Medical care, therefore, is insufficient in terms of health care personnel/and facilities in rural areas. Under such a situation, there is growing concern about the health problems among the rural population. The findings presented in this report are useful measures of the major health problems and even more important, as a guide to planning for improved medical care systems. It is hoped that findings from this study will be useful to those responsible for improving the delivery of health service for the rural population. Objectives: -to determine the health status of the residents in the rural areas. -to assess the rural population's needs in terms of health and medical care. -to make recommendations concerning improvement in the delivery of health and medical care for the rural population. Procedures: For the sampling design, the ideal would be to sample according to the proportion of the composition age-groups. As the health problems would be different by group, the sample was divided into 10 different age-groups. If the sample were allocated by proportion of composition of each age group, some age groups would be too small to estimate the health problem. The sample size of each age-group population was 100 people/age-groups. Personal interviews were conducted by specially trained medical students. The interviews dealt at length with current health status, medical care problems, utilization of medical services, medical cost paid for medical care and attitudes toward health. In addition, more information was gained from the public health field, including environmental sanitation, maternal and child health, family planning, tuberculosis control, and dental health. The sample Sample size was one fourth of total population: 1,438 The aged 10-14 years showed the largest number of 254 and the aged under one year was the smallest number of 81. Participation in examination Examination sessions usually were held in the morning every Tuesday, Wenesday, and Thursday for 3 hours at each session at the Namchun Health station. In general, the rate of participation in medical examination was low especially in ages between 10-19 years old. The highest rate of participation among are groups was the under one year age-group by 100 percent. The lowest use rate as low as 3% of those in the age-groups 10-19 years who are attending junior and senior high school in Taegu city so the time was not convenient for them to recieve examinations. Among the over 20 years old group, the rate of participation of female was higher than that of males. The results are as follows: A. Publie health problems Population: The number of pre-school age group who required child health was 724, among them infants numbered 96. Number of eligible women aged 15-44 years was 1,279, and women with husband who need maternal health numbered 700. The age-group of 65 years or older was 201 needed more health care and 65 of them had disabilities. (Table 2). Environmental sanitation: Seventy-nine percent of the residents relied upon well water as a primary source of dringking water. Ninety-three percent of the drinking water supply was rated as unfited quality for drinking. More than 90% of latrines were unhygienic, in structure design and sanitation (Table 15). Maternal and child health: Maternal health Average number of pregnancies of eligible women was 4 times. There was almost no pre- and post-natal care. Pregnancy wastage Still births was 33 per 1,000 live births. Spontaneous abortion was 156 per 1,000 live births. Induced abortion was 137 per 1,000 live births. Delivery condition More than 90 percent of deliveries were conducted at home. Attendants at last delivery were laymen by 76% and delivery without attendants was 14%. The rate of non-sterilized scissors as an instrument used to cut the umbilical cord was as high as 54% and of sickles was 14%. The rate of difficult delivery counted for 3%. Maternal death rate estimates about 35 per 10,000 live births. Child health Consultation rate for child health was almost non existant. In general, vaccination rate of children was low; vaccination rates for children aged 0-5 years with BCG and small pox were 34 and 28 percent respectively. The rate of vaccination with DPT and Polio were 23 and 25% respectively but the rate of the complete three injections were as low as 5 and 3% respectively. The number of dead children was 280 per 1,000 living children. Infants death rate was 45 per 1,000 live births (Table 16), Family planning: Approval rate of married women for family planning was as high as 86%. The rate of experiences of contraception in the past was 51%. The current rate of contraception was 37%. Willingness to use contraception in the future was as high as 86% (Table 17). Tuberculosis control: Number of registration patients at the health center currently was 25. The number indicates one eighth of estimate number of tuberculosis in the area. Number of discharged cases in the past accounted for 79 which showed 50% of active cases when discharged time. Rate of complete treatment among reasons of discharge in the past as low as 28%. There needs to be a follow up observation of the discharged cases (Table 18). Dental problems: More than 50% of the total population have at least one or more dental problems. (Table 19) B. Medical care problems Incidence rate: 1. In one month Incidence rate of medical care problems during one month was 19.6 percent. Among these health problems which required rest at home were 11.8 percent. The estimated number of patients in the total population is 1,206. The health problems reported most frequently in interviews during one month are: GI trouble, respiratory disease, neuralgia, skin disease, and communicable disease-in that order, The rate of health problems by age groups was highest in the 1-4 age group and in the 60 years or over age group, the lowest rate was the 10-14 year age group. In general, 0-29 year age group except the 1-4 year age group was low incidence rate. After 30 years old the rate of health problems increases gradually with aging. Eighty-three percent of health problems that occured during one month were solved by primary medical care procedures. Seventeen percent of health problems needed secondary care. Days rested at home because of illness during one month were 0.7 days per interviewee and 8days per patient and it accounts for 2,161 days for the total productive population in the area. (Table 20) 2. In a year The incidence rate of medical care problems during a year was 74.8%, among them health problems which required rest at home was 37 percent. Estimated number of patients in the total population during a year was 4,600. The health problems that occured most frequently among the interviewees during a year were: Cold (30%), GI trouble (18), respiratory disease (11), anemia (10), diarrhea (10), neuralgia (10), parasite disease (9), ENT (7), skin (7), headache (7), trauma (4), communicable disease (3), and circulatory disease (3) -in that order. The rate of health problems by age groups was highest in the infants group, thereafter the rate decreased gradually until the age 15-19 year age group which showed the lowest, and then the rate increased gradually with aging. Eighty-seven percent of health problems during a year were solved by primary medical care. Thirteen percent of them needed secondary medical care procedures. Days rested at home because of illness during a year were 16 days per interviewee and 44 days per patient and it accounted for 57,335 days lost among productive age group in the area (Table 21). Among those given medical examination, the conditions observed most frequently were respiratory disease, GI trouble, parasite disease, neuralgia, skin disease, trauma, tuberculosis, anemia, chronic obstructive lung disease, eye disorders-in that order (Table 22). The main health problems required secondary medical care are as fellows: (previous page). Utilization of medical care (treatment) The rate of treatment by various medical facilities for all health problems during one month was 73 percent. The rate of receiving of medical care of those who have health problems which required rest at home was 52% while the rate of those who have health problems which did not required rest was 61 percent (Table 23). The rate of receiving of medical care for all health problems during a year was 67 percent. The rate of receiving of medical care of those who have health problems which required rest at home was 82 percent while the rate of those who have health problems which did not required rest was as low as 53 percent (Table 24). Types of medical facilitied used were as follows: Hospital and clinics: 32-35% Herb clinics: 9-10% Drugstore: 53-58% Hospitalization Rate of hospitalization was 1.7% and the estimate number of hospitalizations among the total population during a year will be 107 persons (Table 25). Medical cost: Average medical cost per person during one month and a year were 171 and 2,800 won respectively. Average medical cost per patient during one month and a year were 1,109 and 3,740 won respectively. Average cost per household during a year was 15,800 won (Table 26, 27). Solution measures for health and medical care problems in rural area: A. Health problems which could be solved by paramedical workers such as nurses, midwives and aid nurses etc. are as follows: 1. Improvement of environmental sanitation 2. MCH except medical care problems 3. Family planning except surgical intervention 4. Tuberculosis control except diagnosis and prescription 5. Dental care except operational intervention 6. Health education for residents for improvement of utilization of medical facilities and early diagnosis etc. B. Medical care problems 1. Eighty-five percent of health problems could be solved by primary care procedures by general practitioners. 2. Fifteen percent of health problems need secondary medical procedures by a specialist. C. Medical cost Concidering the economic situation in rural area the amount of 2,062 won per residents during a year will be burdensome, so financial assistance is needed gorvernment to solve health and medical care problems for rural people.

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