• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.177-196
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• 1997

This study was undertaken to explore the antecedent factors and process of the treatment-seeking behaviors of medical and alternative treatments in patients with arthritis using methodological triangulation. The data were collected from 995 arthritic patients who were registered either in a center of rheumatology for medical treatment or residents of community having no treatment to classify different treatment patterns. Sixteen patients with various types of treatment only, alternative treatment only, and no treatment were selected among the total samples to identify the antecedent factors through in-depth interview. The quantitative data were analyzed by percentile, t-test, chi-square test and discrimant analysis using SAS PC program, while the qualitative data were analyzed by means of grounded theory methodology. Treatment-seeking behaviors of patients change from the early stage to the sick-role stage. At the early stage, initial characteristics of pain and acculturation of medical professionalism affect the choice of treatment patterns. The acculturation of medical professionalism is affected by health care accessibility, level of education, duration of sickness and lay referral system. At the sick-role stage, lay referral system and acculturation of medical professionalism affect the choice of treatment patterns. The acculturation of medical professionalism is affected by characteristics of symtoms, perceived treatment effects, perceived causes of diseases and socio-economic status as well as health care accessibility, level of education and lay referral system. In conclusion, different factors as well as common factors are influencing the treatment-seeking behaviors depending on the disease and treatment stages. More detailed further studies are required to explore the value system or medical acculturation of patients which is one of the most important factors in decision-making about treatment modalities.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.141-148
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• 2011

Annual epidemics of seasonal influenza occur during autumn and winter in temperate regions and have imposed substantial public health and economic burdens. At the global level, these epidemics cause about 3-5 million severe cases of illness and about 0.25-0.5 million deaths each year. Although annual vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the disease and its severe outcomes, influenza vaccination coverage rates have been at suboptimal levels in many countries. For instance, the coverage rates among the elderly in 20 developed nations in 2008 ranged from 21% to 78% (median 65%). In the U.S., influenza vaccination levels among elderly population appeared to reach a "plateau" of about 70% after the late 1990s, and levels among child populations have remained at less than 50%. In addition, disparities in the coverage rates across subpopulations within a country present another important public health issue. New approaches are needed for countries striving both to improve their overall coverage rates and to eliminate disparities. This review article aims to describe a broad conceptual framework of vaccination, and to illustrate four potential determinants of influenza vaccination based on empirical analyses of U.S. nationally representative populations. These determinants include the ongoing influenza epidemic level, mass media reporting on influenza-related topics, reimbursement rate for providers to administer influenza vaccination, and vaccine supply. It additionally proposes specific policy implications, derived from these empirical analyses, to improve the influenza vaccination coverage rate and associated disparities in the U.S., which could be generalizable to other countries.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.253-258
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• 2016

Objectives: The goals of this research were to evaluate acute (single-dose) and sub-acute (repeated-dose) toxicity profiles of methanolic extract of Pistacia integerrima J. L. Stewart ex Brandis (PI) for Wistar rats and to assess the safety profile of PI by observing physiological changes, mortality, changes in body weight, the histopathology of body organs, the hematology and the biochemistry of the animals. Methods: The toxicity profile of PI was evaluated using Wistar rats of both sexes. Animals were divided into four groups: Group 1; control group (normal saline), Group 2; PI-1 (250 mg/kg), Group 3; PI-2 (500 mg/kg), Group 4; PL-3 (1,000 mg/kg). An acute-toxicity study in which animals received a single dose of PI extract (2,000 mg/kg) and were then observed for 14 days for changes in skin, fur, eye color, mucous membrane secretions and excretions, gait, posture, and tonic or clonic movements was performed according to guideline 425 of the Organization of Economic and Corporation Development (OECD). In the repeated-dose toxicity study (OECD - 407) animals received a daily dose of PI extract for 28 days (4 weeks). The parameters observed in this study include body weight, hematology and biochemistry of the animals. Results: In the acute toxicity study, no mortalities or changes in behavior were noted in the animals. The repeated-dose toxicity study was also devoid of any toxicity in the animals during the 28 days of testing with PI extract. The extract did not alter- the body weight, hematology or biochemistry of the animals. The methanolic extract of PI was to be found safe to the no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) for the single-dose and repeated-dose toxicity tests in rats. Conclusion: The methanolic extract of PI was devoid of toxicity; hence, it can be used for various ayurvedic preparations and treatments of diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.31-41
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• 2013

The use of energy pile foundation has increased for economic utilization of geothermal energy. In particular, coil-shaped ground heat exchanger (GHE) is preferred to the conventional U-shaped exchanger to ensure better efficiency of heat exchange rate. This paper presents a numerical and experimental study on the heat transfer behavior of PHC energy piles. Field thermal performance tests (TPTs) were conducted for the PHC energy piles installed in a partially saturated weathered granite soil deposit, in which two types of GHEs were considered: W and coil shaped GHEs. Besides, three-dimensional finite element analyses were also conducted, and the results were compared with the experimental results. According to the results of TPT and numerical analyses, the coil shaped GHE showed 10~15% higher heat exchange rate than the W type GHE in the PHC energy piles.

• Asia Pacific Journal of Business Review
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.1-21
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• 2020

The purpose of this research is to investigate young consumer motivation in regards to shopping mall. Young adults are an emerging age group that has economic autonomy and power of making independent decisions. In addition, this young segment providing an interesting challenges and opportunities for marketing professionals. Therefore, it is pertinent to analyse their shopping motivations, so that the marketers can understand and influence the consumption behaviour of this specific group. A survey using self-administered questionnaire was conducted to assess the mall-directed shopping habits and shopping orientations. A total of 164 usable surveys were obtained. In addition of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was applied to prove the hypotheses. We have found that young Australian shoppers were motivated to visit malls primarily by the role enactment and exploration dimensions. They were the strongest motivators which explaining why young Australian consumers patronize malls. Young consumers of Australia enjoyed the mall environment, exploring new things, socializing with friends, comparing prices and the variety of products and services offered. The results of our study have several implications that should be of benefit to the retailing industry and mall management. Developers of malls must develop their mall more than simply a place for buying products. As such, mall management should make sure that their mall atmospherics offer a mall environment that is pleasing to multiple senses, to ensure it is conducive for shoppers to stay and spend more of their time and money. Mall management must execute strategies to maintain their attraction to younger consumers, perhaps by including stores that are futuristic and offer the most advanced styles or technologies, and appeal to somewhat older adults by offering the tenant, entertainment, and experience mix they will prefer. It is recommended that future research utilize random sampling methods to ensure the generalizability of results.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.1025-1032
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to examine how socio-demographic characteristics and delinquent behaviors affect the suicidal ideation among the Korean high school students. Using the 35,668 senior high school student cases of 2009 Korean Youth Health Risk Behavior On-line Survey data, it conducted a secondary data analysis. Frequency analysis, chi-square test and logistic regression analysis was done. Being female, living without parents, low economic status, poor academic record, technical school students, young students, poor academic record, internet addition, problem drinking, smoking cigarettes and experience of drug use significantly increased probability of their suicidal thoughts. Findings may be used for tackle the issues of suicidal thoughts among the Korean senior high school students.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Fire Investigation
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.59-75
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• 2007

The causes of the fire casualties were the heat burns, contacted by flame, before the period of industrialization. According to the economic has been developed drastically since 1990, residing space has been become bigger and sophistication and interior finishing materials have been diversified. Therefore, the suffocation casualties, caused by inspiration of toxic combustion gases, have been more increased than the flame casualties in recently. Also, the arson casualties have been increasing with the increasing of insurance crime to take the Insurance money. According to National Emergency Management Agency announcement, 31,778 fires was occurred nationwide in 2006 and the total casualties were 2,180 occurred. 446 persons were died among them. Because the exact investigation of fire, occurred the death, is very especially important that civil and criminal cases will be happened. Therefore, we studied about the cause of fire, the place of origin, and the group of casualties age on the axies of fires, which were occurred recently. And the identification method of fire casualties, the human behavior characteristic, the flame casualties and the suffocation casualties at fire scene.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.81-90
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• 2012

This study is to research the use and the demand of the elderly generation that pursue economic ability and active lifestyle. The composition of the meals were "homemade meals" 65.3%, "homemade & convenience meals" 26.7% overall. For the "never miss a meal" category, 70-74 years old was 48.3%, over 80 years old was 60.0%. The elderly under 70 years old showed a high frequency in the use of alternative meals (p < 0.05) and the elderly with higher education used the alternative meals more frequently (p < 0.01). The rice-cakes, bread, tuna cans, Korean side-dishes, beverages, meat, cup-noodles and seafood as alternative meals are in the order of most frequency. Also, 96.0%, 59.0% and 46.5% of the elderly had experience in using "Ready to eat (RTE)", "Ready to heat (RTH)" and "Ready to cook (RTC)". The oldest group surveyed, the elderly at the age of 80 years old and above showed lower preference for "completely cooked state" but showed highest results in the "half-cooked state". This shows the difference between people's perception and the behavior that showed high frequency of 96.0% in the experience with "RTE". This can be inferred that the elderly needs the development of convenience food that is moderately packaged according to the newer lifestyle where the elderly live independent from their children. Moreover, there is a higher demand in the healthy convenience food, which means that there is a need for development in the quality of the convenience food that will allow more faith in convenience food by the elderly.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.284-295
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• 1999

The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics on Department stores consumers and to compare consumer characteristics among shopper types and department store types. For this purpose an ethnographic approach which is a kind of qualitative analysis was performed first. And then The data were collected from 600 female consumers over twenties and residing in Pusan Finally 499 data were used for the statistical analysis. 1. The results of clothing shopping orientations study were as follows : As a result of qualitative analysis those who patronize department stores were recreational/convenience shoppers. From quantitative analysis clothing shopping orientations were factor analyzed. which resulted in eight factors ; Recreational Shopping Convenience Shopping. Sensibility Seeking Well-Known Brand Preference Fashion Seeking Economic Shopping Sel-confidence in clothing shopping Convenient store shopping. 2. The results of store choice criteria study were as follows: As a result of concentrative observation eight store choice criteria dimensions were categorized : Service Store Atmosphere Promotion/Facilities Product Convenience Advertisement VMD Traffic/Location Convenience. From quantitative analysis eight store choice criteria factors emerged; Service Store Atmosphere Promotion/Facilities Assortment Shopping Convenience Advertisement VMD Traffic/Location Convenience. 3. According to the factor scores of recreational shopping and Convenience shopping consumers were segmented into four shopper types ; High Shopping-involved Shopper Recreational Shopper Convenience Shopper and Low Shopping-involved Shopper. Department types were divided into a large enterprise department stores and local department stores. Consumer characteristics such as clothing shopping orientations store choice criteria purchase behavior variables and demographic variables were significantly different in shopper types and department store types were significantly different in clothing shopping orientations and tore choice criteria.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1069-1078
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• 2018

Demand response (DR) programs give opportunity to consumers to manage their electricity bills. Besides, distribution system operator (DSO) is interested in using DR programs to obtain technical and economic benefits for distribution network. Since small consumers have difficulties to individually take part in the electricity market, an entity named demand response provider (DRP) has been recently defined to aggregate the DR of small consumers. However, implementing DR programs face challenges to fairly allocate benefits and payments between DRP and DSO. This paper presents a procedure for modeling the interaction between DRP and DSO based on a bilevel programming model. Both DSO and DRP behave from their own viewpoint with different objective functions. On the one hand, DRP bids the potential of DR programs, which are load shifting and load curtailment, to maximize its expected profit and on the other hand, DSO purchases electric power from either the electricity market or DRP to supply its consumers by minimizing its overall cost. In the proposed bilevel programming approach, the upper level problem represents the DRP decisions, while the lower level problem represents the DSO behavior. The obtained bilevel programming problem (BPP) is converted into a single level optimizing problem using its Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) optimality conditions. Furthermore, point estimate method (PEM) is employed to model the uncertainties of the power demands and the electricity market prices. The efficiency of the presented model is verified through the case studies and analysis of the obtained results.