• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.171-182
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• 2022

Reusing the used pile has not yet been implemented due to the unpredictability of the bearing capacity evolution. This paper presents an analytic approach to estimate the sides shear setup after the dissipation of pore pressure. Long-term evolution of adjacent soil is simulated by viscoelastic-plastic constitutive model. Then, an innovative concept of quasi-overconsolidation is proposed to estimate the strength changes of surrounding soil. Total stress method (α method) is employed to evaluate the long term bearing capacity. Measured data of test piles in Louisiana and semi-logarithmic time function are cited to validate the effectiveness of the presented method. Comparisons illustrate that the presented approach gives a reasonably prediction of the side shear setup. Both the presented method and experiment show the shaft resistance increase by 30%-50%, and this highlight the potential benefit of piles reutilization.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.132-144
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• 2013

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the medical expense change and influencing factors after introducing longterm care insurance system. The study period was 2 years before and after introduction of the system. Methods: We analyzed data collected from two divided group lived in Incheon. Four hundred and eighty-five elderly who received long-term care wage for one year were selected for experimental group. For control group, 1,940 elderly were selected by gender and age stratified random sampling. Difference-In-difference analyses was used for evaluating policy effectiveness. Also multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify the factors associated with total medical expenditures. The control variables were demographic variables, economic status, diseases, and medical examination variables. Results: Difference-in-difference analyses showed that total average medical expenses among long-term patients has decreased by 61.85%. Of these, the hospitalization expenses have decreased by 91.63% and the drug expenses have increased by 31.85%. Multiple regression analyses results showed that total average medical expenses among long-term patients have significantly decreased by 46.5% after introducing the long-term care insurance. The hospitalization expenses have significantly decreased by 148.5%, whereas the drug expenses have increased by 53.6%. And outpatient expenses have increased by 10.4%, but the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results showed that total medical expenses and hospitalization expenses have decreased after introducing the long-term care insurance. These results could support the opinion that the health insurance spending among long-term patients will be reduced gradually by long-term care insurance through changing medical demand.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.719-728
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• 2015

Following the Fukushima accident, a special safety inspection was conducted in Korea. The inspection results show that Korean nuclear power plants have no imminent risk for expected maximum potential earthquake or coastal flooding. However long- and short-term safety improvements do need to be implemented. One of the measures to increase the mitigation capability during a prolonged station blackout (SBO) accident is installing injection flow paths to provide emergency cooling water of external sources using fire engines to the steam generators or reactor cooling systems. This paper illustrates an evaluation of the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire trucks during a potential extended SBO accident in a 1,000 MWe pressurized water reactor. With regard to the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire engines, the strategies are judged to be very feasible for a long-term SBO, but are not likely to be effective for a short-term SBO.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.109 no.4
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• pp.544-552
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• 2020

This study investigated the effectiveness of "Healing Stay in Forest," a long-term stay forest therapy program implemented by National Center for Forest Therapy in 2019 with 49 participants by measuring pre- and post-questionnaire responses and physical changes, such as blood pressure, body composition, and HRV. Results confirmed statistically significant reduction in negative emotions and enhancement of autonomic nerve balance in the participants. Regarding the changes in the evaluation of physical fitness based on medical history, some significant differences were observed in grip strength and standing high jump, in which participants with no medical history showed better results than those with medical history. These findings are important for verifying the effectiveness of long-term stay forest therapy (6 nights and 7 days).

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.329-338
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to develop an infection control e-learning training program for long-term care facility care workers to prevent emerging infectious diseases and evaluate its effectiveness. Method: The program was developed using the analysis design development implementation evaluation (ADDIE) model. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated for 30 care workers. The knowledge and performance of the care workers before and after the program were analyzed by a t-test. Results: In the analysis stages, a literature review on infection control, knowledge and performance of infection control, and education needs was performed, and focus group interviews with ten care workers were conducted. In the design stage, education topics, educational content, and educational methods were selected for the program. A video was produced centered on eight themes. In the development stage, a system for education was developed, and each topic was uploaded. In the implementation stage, the program was applied to 30 care workers, and a questionnaire was administered. In the program's final evaluation, there was a significant difference in infection control knowledge (t=3.06, p=.005), and there was no significant difference in infection control performance. Conclusion: In this study, the necessary topics were finally selected by quantitatively and qualitatively analyzing the educational needs of care workers taking care of the elderly in long-term care facilities. It is necessary to understand the long-term effect and the degree of performance of the observation method in the future.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.428-437
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• 2008

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to assess the oral health knowledge of nursing staff in long-term care institutions and to identify predictors of oral health knowledge. Method: For this descriptive correlation study, a self-administered and structured questionnaire was used. Respondents were 111 nursing staff in two long-term care facilities and two long-term care hospitals located in G metropolitan area and C province in the Southern part of Korea. Descriptive statistics, t-test or ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: Participants in this study did not have many opportunities to learn about oral health care for elders in long-term care institutions. The percentage of correct answer for oral health knowledge questionnaire was 64.5%. Predictors of oral health knowledge among nursing staffs were education on oral health in long-term care institutions, type of institution, and length of time working with elders. These three variables accounted for 24.2% of variance in oral health knowledge. Conclusions: Nursing staffs should make an effort to improve their knowledge of oral health. Moreover, oral health educational program for nursing staffs working with elders in long-term care institution is need to be developed and the effectiveness of this education needs to be evaluated.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.301-310
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• 2022

Cement-based sensors have been widely used as structural health monitoring systems, however, their long-term sensing performance have not actively investigated. In this study, a deep learning-based methodology is adopted to predict the long-term piezoresistive properties of cement-based sensors. Samples with different multi-walled carbon nanotube contents (0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 wt.%) are fabricated, and piezoresistive tests are conducted over 10,000 loading cycles to obtain the training data. Time-dependent degradation is predicted using a modified long short-term memory (LSTM) model. The effects of different model variables including the amount of training data, number of epochs, and dropout ratio on the accuracy of predictions are analyzed. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is evaluated by comparing the predictions for long-term piezoresistive sensing performance with untrained experimental data. A sensitivity of 6% is experimentally examined in the sample containing 0.1 wt.% of MWCNTs, and predictions with accuracy up to 98% are found using the proposed LSTM model. Based on the experimental results, the proposed model is expected to be applied in the structural health monitoring systems to predict their long-term piezoresistice sensing performances during their service life.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.747-756
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• 2020

Objective : To evaluate the effectiveness and long-term outcome predictors of percutaneous sacroplasty (PSP). Methods : This single-center study assessed 40 patients with sacral insufficiency fractures using the short-axis technique under C-arm flat-panel detector computed tomography (CT). Two radiologists reviewed the patients' magnetic resonance and CT images to obtain imaging findings before PSP and determine technical success, respectively. The short-term outcomes were visual analog scale score changes and opioid usage reductions. Long-term outcomes were determined using telephone interviews and the North American Spine Society (NASS) patient-satisfaction index at least one year after PSP. Results : Technical success was achieved without any significant complications in 39 patients (97.5%). Telephone interviews were possible with 12 patients and failed in 10 patients; death was confirmed in 18 patients. Fifteen patients (50%) re-visited the hospital and received conservative treatment, including spinal injections. Nine patients reported positive satisfaction (NASS patient-satisfaction index 1 or 2), while the negative satisfaction group (NASS patient-satisfaction index 3 or 4, n=3) showed a higher incidence of compression fractures at the thoracolumbar spine level (66.7% vs. 22.2%) and previous spinal injection history (66.7% vs. 33.3%). The poor response group also showed higher incidences of facet joint arthrosis (100% vs. 55.6%), central canal stenosis (100% vs. 22.2%), neural foraminal stenosis (33.3% vs. 22.2%), scoliosis (100% vs. 33.3%), and sagittal malalignment (100% vs. 44.4%). Conclusion : PSP was effective for sacral insufficiency fractures and showed good long-term outcomes. Combined compression fractures in the thoracolumbar spine and degenerative lumbar pathologies could be possible poor outcome predictors.

• Korean Journal of Schizophrenia Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.66-73
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• 2019

Objectives: This study aimed to elucidate the effectiveness of long-term psychosocial intervention in reducing the disabling period of patients with major psychiatric disorders by their rehospitalization rate. Methods: Of the 210 patients with major psychiatric disorders received psychosocial interventions in a Mental Health and Welfare Center, 192 patients (147 with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, 45 with mood disorders) who received interventions more than 6 months were selected. Review of case management records was conducted to obtain information. Results: The number and length of hospitalization and the hospital days per year significantly decreased after psychosocial intervention. Additional analysis of 102 patients followed up for more than 5 years suggested that the effectiveness of the intervention persisted for a sufficient period. However, no significant difference was observed in the number of rehospitalization in 45 patients with mood disorders, though the length of hospitalization significantly decreased. In addition, the hospital days per year of 21 patients with mood disorder followed up for more than 5 years also showed no significant decrease. Conclusion: Long-term psychosocial intervention had a significant effect on reducing the number and length of hospitalization for patients with major psychiatric disorder and the effectiveness maintained for more than 5 years.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.45
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• pp.250-287
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• 2001

This study concerns therapeutic effects and long-term effects of Therapy Dog Assisted Program (TDAP) on autistic children. Subjects participating in this study are two groups of Korean elementary school boys of the same age (twelve years old) : an experimental group and a controlled group of equal number of children (six children in total). The thirteen different sessions of the first intervention and eight different sessions of the second intervention were performed over six months (from April 20th to October 27th, 2000). Two standard instrument (ASIEP, E-CLAC) are used as major instruments in order to evaluate the effectiveness of TDAP. Evidene from the present study indicates that the children participating in TDAP program achieved a greater degree of improvement in their social interaction in comparison with the counterpart. The present study also demonstrates that, in general, the effectiveness of TDAP somewhat decreased after the termination of TDAP with some exceptions. However we also found that the effectiveness of TDAP were maintained in the some behavioral area such as bowing to teacher, play for cooperation with peers, which activities were sufficiently offered TDAP to the children. The questions of possible influence of parental support and other family background of each individual autistic child on the effect and long-term effect of TDAP need to be addressed in future study.