• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.66-77
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• 2009

This study aims to examine the effect of socioeconomic status (hereafter, SES) on healthcare utilization of the patients with rare and incurable diseases. Information of 2,973 patients who were self-employed insured and utilized healthcare service in 2007 was drawn from the National Health Insurance (hereafter, NHI) claim data. SES was set as four groups based on the monthly contribution. Outcome variable was the expense for outpatient and in-hospital services, which was log-transformed and square-rooted in oder to obtain normal distribution. Covariates included age, gender, residence and diagnosis. To examine the effects after controlling for covariates, we employed generalized estimating equation model, since patients with the same diagnosis are likely to have similar characteristics of demographics and healthcare utilization. Univariate statistics showed that lower SES was associated with less utilization of healthcare services. After controlling for covariates, a significantly smaller amount of money was expended for the lowest SES group compared to the highest one. Rural residence was associated with less utilization, except that residents in Seoul significantly more utilized outpatient services in tertiary hospitals. Considering that there is a subsidy program for the low income patients, such differences in healthcare utilization according to SES seems to result from the burden of out-of-pocket payments for uncovered services of the NHI.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.119-123
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• 2016

Thyroid cancer, the most common endocrine neoplasia, consists of four main types of carcinomas: papillary, follicular, and anaplastic, all with thyroid follicular origin, and medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) related to para-follicular cells. Cronic diseases such as diverse cancers may be associated with cachexia, especially at advanced stage. Cancer-induced cachexia is associated with diminished quality of life, functional performance, reduced response to antitumor therapy, and increased morbidity and mortality. Myostatin (Mst) is one of the outstanding molecules in the skeletal muscle loss process in cancer and it may be released by both skeletal muscle and cachexia-inducing tumors. Recently changes in serum levels of Mst have been identified as an important factor of cancer-induced cachexia. The goal of this study was to assessserum Mst levels in MTC patients. In this descriptive and case-control study, 90 participants were selected, comprising 45 MTC patients (20 males, $29{\pm}13.9years$, 25 females, $29{\pm}14.5years$) and 45 control individuals (25 males, $23.1{\pm}11.6years$, 20 females, $31.5{\pm}14.4years$). Serum Mst was determined using an ELISA kit and body mass index (BMI) was calculated by weight and height measurements. The Kolmogorov Simonov test showed a normal distribution for log transformed Mst serum levels in both case and control groups. Geometric means were 5.9 and 8.2 ng/ml respectively, and a significant difference was found according to the independent t-test results (P<0.01). There was also a significant difference mean of Mst between females in control and MTC groups, but not for the males. Pearson correlation test showed no correlation between age and BMI with Mst serum levels. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that Mst serum levels may have a potential ability for early diagnosis of cachexia in MTC patients, especially in females.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.447-457
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• 2017

This study derived the unit of industrial water usage reflecting the latest industry trends. Available for establishing plans such as the master plan for water supply system and analyzed changes in the basic unit by a comparison with the current basic unit values. This study analyzed 4,038 samples with a sampling error of less than 1.5 % at the 95 % confidence level after removing outliers according to a log-normal distribution. As a result, the unit of industrial water usage per site area in the whole manufacturing industry was 7.11 m3/1,000m2/d. The ten industrial categories (C10, C13, C20, C21, C22, C25, C27, C30, C32, C33) showed a similar unit value compared to before, and the four industrials categories (C11, C17, C22, C31) showed a more unit value than before. With regard to the nine industrial categories (C14, C15, C16, C18, C19, C24, C26, C28, C29), the unit value decreased. Cases that companies examined before were the same as the companies examined in this study were analyzed. The result that the changes in the unit industrial water usage were reasonable was obtained. However, in some industrial categories (C17, C14, C24, C29), the unit value was changed by a small number of companies with large-scale water use or unit value of sampling had a large deviation. It was considered necessary to survey them periodically. The unit of industrial water usage derived by the survey in this study reflects the current industrial trends in 2016. Water use in manufacturing companies has continuously changed by the development of manufacturing technologies and simplification of manufacturing processes. In order to deal with this, it is considered necessary to survey the usage of industrial water periodically from a long-term perspective.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.171-180
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• 2010

Analysis on the temporal variation of the stratification is carried out by using the continuous water temperature and salinity data observed in the coastal monitoring buoy in Mikawa Bay, Japan. The main analysis results are as follows. The stratification pattern have an obvious and dominant 1-year period variation and the occurrence frequency (days) are exponentially decreased as the stratification intensity (SI) defined as the density difference between surface and bottom layers linearly increases. The frequency distribution function of the SI is presumably close to the log-normal function type or exponential function type. From the water temperature and salinity scatter diagram analysis, the line and loop type patterns are shown in the bottom and surface layers, respectively. In addition, the analysis of the SI estimation show that the error bound in case of using the weekly-monitoring data is about 4.45 times greater than that in case of using the continuous (daily) monitoring data.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.49-55
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• 2016

This study aims to present the practical Nitrogen monoxide (NO) removal capacity of cement mortar with Titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) which is one of the paving materials by considering the environment of pavement in urban areas. NO removal capacity test under designated conditions of humidity of inflow gas and the test with variation of the degree of saturation of specimen were conducted. In the test for humidity, dry specimen is subject to the test and NO removal ratio was observed. Humidity-NO removal ratio curve is a log normal distribution in shape, and the maximum NO removal ratio appears at specific humidity. NO removal capacity test relying on the degree of saturation was carried out with wet specimen to reflect the unsaturated pavement by rainfall and domestic sewage. Wet specimen presents less NO removal capacity than dry specimen and the recovering evolution of NO removal capacity follows evaporation. Moreover, $TiO_2$ under the specific depth of specimen hardly contributes to NO removal capacity.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.1036-1044
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• 2015

This paper estimates the relative risk aversion coefficients of apple farmers. Two hypothetical situations are designed and two-stage questionnaires are conducted for each situation. A utility function that has constant relative risk aversion was used, and it was assumed that the relative risk aversion coefficients follow a log-normal distribution. To reduce the hypothetical bias, the data was collected from repetitive questions. As a result, the mean and standard deviation of the relative risk aversion coefficients of apple farmers was 10.915 and 7.516, respectively. The relative risk aversion coefficients conditional on a survey response in each category were also measured. These findings can be used as parameters to analyze the effects of risk management tools.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.405-411
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• 2020

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate whether airborne fibers were released to the outside air from the asbestos removal area in buildings, and to confirm the existence of asbestos fibers in samples using transmission electron microscopy(TEM). Methods: A total of 1,295 samples was collected from inside and outside 155 asbestos removal areas. To investigate the release of asbestos fibers from the removal area, samples were collected at three locations, such as an entrance to change room, an exit of negative pressure unit(NPU) and perimeter areas. Samples were also collected in the removal area prior to and after removal activity. All samples were analyzed by phase contrast microscopy(PCM) and one-tenth of the samples was analyzed using TEM to discriminate asbestos fibers. Results: During the asbestos removal activity, 27(4.1%) of 662 samples collected outside the removal area showed airborne fiber concentrations equal to or in excess of 0.01 f/cc, the permissible emission standard of the Korean Ministry of Environment. Further, 111 samples were analyzed using TEM. The distribution of asbestos fiber concentrations was log-normal. It was found that 51 of 111 samples(46%) contained asbestos fibers. Conclusions: There is a potential risk of asbestos exposure among neighbors and the public outside the asbestos removal areas. It is recommended that the asbestos removal work be conducted strictly following the specifications required by government and/or professional organizations.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.1A
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• pp.155-162
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• 2006

This study presents the seismic risk assesment for an extradosed bridge with seismic isolators of lead rubber bearings(LRB). First, the seismic vulnerability of a structure and then the seismic hazard of the site are evaluated using earthquake data set and seismic hazard map in Korea, and then the seismic risk of the structure is assessed. The nonlinear seismic analyses are carried out to consider plastic hinges of bridge columns and nonlinear characteristics of soil foundation. The ductility demand is adopted to describe the nonlinear behavior of a column, and the moment-curvature curve of a column is assumed to be bilinear hysterestic. The fragility curves are represented as a log-normal distribution function for column damage, movement of superstructure, and cable yielding. And seismic hazard is estimated using the available seismic hazard maps. The results show that the effectiveness of the seismic isolators for the columns is more noticeable than those for cables and girders, in seismic isolated extradosed bridges under earthquakes.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2024

In a fire-resistant structure, uncertainties arise in factors such as ventilation, material elasticity modulus, yield strength, coefficient of thermal expansion, external forces, and fire location. The ventilation uncertainty affects thefactor contributes to uncertainties in fire temperature, subsequently impacting the structural temperature. These temperatures, combined with material properties, give rise to uncertain structural responses. Given the nonlinear behavior of structures under fire conditions, calculating fire fragility traditionally involves time-consuming Monte Carlo simulations. To address this, recent studies have explored leveraging machine learning algorithms to predict fire fragility, aiming to enhance efficiency while maintaining accuracy. This study focuses on predicting the fire fragility of a steel moment frame building, accounting for uncertainties in fire size, location, and structural material properties. The fragility curve, derived from nonlinear structural behavior under fire, follows a log-normal distribution. The results demonstrate that the proposed method accurately and efficiently predicts fire fragility, showcasing its effectiveness in streamlining the analysis process.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.407-419
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• 2015

The unit load of paddy field was estimated by several methods and compared in this study. Four year field study was conducted at the paddy fields located in Yeongsan river and Sumjin river basins. The unit load was estimated by four methods; (1) averaging field monitored load; (2) NIER (National Institute of Environmental Research) method which use EMC(Event Mean Concentration) and runoff ratio of rainfall groups with rainfall weighting factors; (3)method using EMC determined by best fit probability distribution; (4)method using arithmetic mean EMC and runoff ratio. The result of this study showed that the unit loads of water quality constituents by field monitoring was similar to those of NIER method whereas those by probability distribution(log-normal, gamma) method were less than unit loads of NIER method. The unit loads by arithmetic mean EMC and runoff ratio were larger than those by NIER method. The unit load by NIER method showed higher BOD, COD, SS, lesser T-N, and similar T-P values when compared to unit loads determined by MOE in 1995.