• Title/Summary/Keyword: Mixed-method Approach

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Angiosarcoma of the Scalp : A Case Report and the Radiotherapy Technique (두피에 발생한 혈관육종 : 증례보고와 방사선치료방법에 대한 고찰)

  • Kim, Joo-Young;Choi, Jin-Ho
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.16 no.3
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    • pp.351-355
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    • 1998
  • Cutaneous angiosarcomas are uncommon malignancies which account about 1$\%$ of sarcomas. They are found most commonly in the head and neck regions, frequently on the scalp. Although preferred treatment has been combined surgery and postoperative radiation therapy, the extensiveness and multiplicity of the lesions set limits to such an approach and the patient is often referred for radiotherapy without surgery. As the entire scalp usually needs to be treated, radiation therapy is a challenging problem to radiation oncology staffs. We report a case of angiosarcoma of the scalp, which was treated successfully by radiation therapy with a simple and repeatable method using mixed Photon and electron beam technique. Using a bolus to increase the surface dose of the scalp and to minimize dose to the normal tissues of the brain desirable but difficult technically to be well conformed to the three dimensional curved surface such as vertex of the head. A helmet made of thermoplastics filled with paraffin was elaborated and used for the treatment, resulting of the relatively uniform surface doses along the several points measured on the scalp, the difference among the points not exceeding 7$\%$ of the prescribed dose by TLD readings.

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Customers' Utilization and Satisfaction in Oriental Medical Clinics (한의원 환자들의 한방의료 이용 행태 및 만족도 실태)

  • Seo, Young-Joon;Kang, Shin-Hee;Kim, Yeon-Hee;Choi, Dae-Bong;Shin, Hyun-Kyu
    • The Journal of Korean Medicine
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.124-136
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    • 2010
  • Objective:: This study aimed to examine the customers' utilization of and satisfaction with oriental medical clinics in South Korea. Method: The data for this study were collected from 1,208 patients of 391 oriental medical clinics through a mail questionnaire survey from September to December 2008. The collected data were analyzed by the frequency analysis and $X^2$-test. Results: The results of the study were as follows. First, the most important reason that patients used oriental medical services was to get both oriental and western medical services simultaneously, because they thought such approach would be more effective for treating their diseases. Second, two important reasons that patients visited oriental medical clinics were "the reputation of and trust in the oriental medical clinics" and "the recommendation of their family and friends". Third, many patients of the oriental medical clinics have concerns about the "high prices and the outcome of oriental medical services". Fourth, the most preferred oriental medical service was "acupuncture". Fifth, it was found that 75% of the respondents were satisfied with the services they had received. They told that the outcome of the care and the kindness of the clinics' staff were very important factors that have an impact on their satisfaction. Conclusion: The study results imply that oriental medical clinics have to make an effort to strengthen their reputation and trust in the community through the scientific validation of oriental medicine, differentiated services mixed with traditional value, customer relationship management, reasonable and acceptable price of the services, staff education, and continuous quality improvement.

Determination of Factors in Cultural Dimensions and SERVQUAL Model Affecting the Corporate Image of Pharmacy Retail Stores

  • KLONGTHONG, Worasak;THAVORN, Jakkrit;WATCHARADAMRONGKUN, Suntaree;NGAMKROECKJOTI, Chittipa
    • The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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    • v.7 no.10
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    • pp.875-884
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    • 2020
  • Thailand has a rapidly growing pharmaceutical sector, which is the eighth largest in the Asia-Pacific region and one of the largest and most developed among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. This study examines how to provide the most appropriate approach to enhance Thailand's pharmaceutical services to dispense medicine to end consumers. The main objective is to determine the most appropriate corporate image for Thai Pharmacy Retail Stores (PRSs) for entering the ASEAN market community. An exploratory mixed-method design characterized by qualitative and quantitative phases of data collection and analysis and the linking of data from these two separate data strands was adopted to conduct an in-depth interview with pharmacists and the owner of pharmacy retail stores as well as 405 respondents who had visited a pharmacy retail store and interacted with pharmacists during the previous year. The multiple linear regression (MLR) was applied to analyze the relative influences of perceived service quality and the cultural dimension on the corporate image. Findings reveal that the perceived service quality and cultural dimension contribute 50% towards the corporate image, and the perceived service quality had more effect than cultural dimension. This study mainly focuses on PRSs in Thailand, while the findings show other analyses concerning how to successfully create and promote an effective PRS image for ASEAN markets.

Design of Advanced Multiplicative Inverse Operation Circuit for AES Encryption (AES 암호화를 위한 개선된 곱셈 역원 연산기 설계)

  • Kim, Jong-Won;Kang, Min-Sup
    • The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.1-6
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    • 2020
  • This paper proposes the design of an advanced S-Box for calculating multiplicative inverse in AES encryption process. In this approach, advanced S-box module is first designed based on composite field, and then the performance evaluation is performed for S-box with multi-stage pipelining architecture. In the proposed S-Box architecture, each module for multiplicative inverse is constructed using combinational logic for realizing both small-area and high-speed. Through logic synthesis result, the designed 3-stage pipelined S-Box shows speed improvement of about 28% compared to the conventional method. The proposed advanced AES S-Box is performed modelling at the mixed level using Verilog-HDL, and logic synthesis is also performed on Spartan 3s1500l FPGA using Xilinx ISE 14.7 tool.

Carbon-coated boron using low-cost naphthalene for substantial enhancement of Jc in MgB2 superconductor

  • Ranot, Mahipal;Shinde, K.P.;Oh, Y.S.;Kang, S.H.;Jang, S.H.;Hwang, D.Y.;Chung, K.C.
    • Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.40-43
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    • 2017
  • Carbon coating approach is used to prepare carbon-doped $MgB_2$ bulk samples using low-cost naphthalene ($C_{10}H_8$) as a carbon source. The coating of carbon (C) on boron (B) powders was achieved by direct pyrolysis of naphthalene at $120^{\circ}C$ and then the C-coated B powders were mixed well with appropriate amount of Mg by solid state reaction method. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that there is a noticeable shift in (100) and (110) Bragg reflections towards higher angles, while no shift was observed in (002) reflections for $MgB_2$ doped with carbon. As compared to un-doped $MgB_2$, a systematic enhancement in $J_c(H)$ properties with increasing carbon doping level was observed for naphthalene-derived C-doped $MgB_2$ samples. The substantial enhancement in $J_c$ is most likely due to the incorporation of C into $MgB_2$ lattice and the reduction in crystallite size, as evidenced by the increase in the FWHM values for doped samples.

An evaluation of the effectiveness of the Behaviour Based Safety Initiative card system at a cement manufacturing company in Zimbabwe

  • Nunu, Wilfred N.;Kativhu, Tendai;Moyo, Phakamani
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.9 no.3
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    • pp.308-313
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    • 2018
  • Background: A behavior-based safety initiative card-issuing system was introduced at a cement-manufacturing company in Zimbabwe in 2008 to try and curb accident occurrence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Behaviour Based Safety Initiative card system as a tool used for reducing accident frequencies. Methods: A mixed-method approach that involving administering piloted questionnaires to 40 out of 244 randomly selected employees, making observations, and reviewing secondary data were done to collect data from different sources in the organization in 2013. A paired t-test was conducted to test whether there was significant difference in accident occurrence before and after the implementation of the BBSI. Scatterplots were also used to establish the correlation between the issuance of cards and the accident and injury occurrence. Results: The findings suggest that the introduction of the card system brought a significant decrease in accident and injury occurrence. A negative correlation between card issuance and accident occurrence was observed, i.e., the greater the number of cards issued, the fewer the number of accidents. It was also noted that the card system positively influenced the mindset of workers towards safe work practices. Conclusion: The card system had an influence on the reduction of accidents and injuries. The organization should leverage on issuing more cards to further reduce the number of accidents and injuries to zero.

Smart sensors for monitoring crack growth under fatigue loading conditions

  • Giurgiutiu, Victor;Xu, Buli;Chao, Yuh;Liu, Shu;Gaddam, Rishi
    • Smart Structures and Systems
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.101-113
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    • 2006
  • Structural health monitoring results obtained with the electro-mechanical (E/M) impedance techniqueand Lamb wave transmission methods during fatigue crack propagation of an Arcan specimen instrumented with piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) are presented. The specimen was subjected in mixed-mode fatigue loading and a crack was propagated in stages. At each stage, an image of the crack and the location of the crack tip were recorded and the PWAS readings were taken. Hence, the crack-growth in the specimen could be correlated with the PWAS readings. The E/M impedance signature was recorded in the 100 - 500 kHz frequency range. The Lamb-wave transmission method used the pitch-catch approach with a 3-count sine tone burst of 474 kHz transmitted and received between various PWAS pairs. Fatigue loading was applied to initiate and propagate the crack damage of controlled magnitude. As damage progressed, the E/M impedance signatures and the waveforms received by receivers were recorded at predetermined intervals and compared. Data analysis indicated that both the E/M impedance signatures and the Lamb-wave transmission signatures are modified by the crack progression. Damage index values were observed to increase as the crack damage increases. These experiments demonstrated that the use of PWAS in conjunction with the E/M impedance and the Lamb-wave transmission is a potentially powerful tool for crack damage detection and monitoring in structural elements.

Identifying Supply-demand Relationships on Ecosystem Services Using Socio-ecological Approach in Gyeong-gi Province (사회-생태계 이론을 활용한 경기도 지역 생태계서비스 공급-수요관계 분석)

  • Park, Yoon-Sun;Kim, Choong-Ki;Lee, Jae-Hyuck;Song, Young-Keun;Hong, Hyun-Jeong
    • Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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    • v.27 no.3
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    • pp.35-46
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    • 2021
  • Ecosystem services play a role in promoting sustainable development by contributing to human welfare. For sustainable development, a balance between supply and demand for ecosystem services must be made. In this regard, in this study, factor analysis was performed using the results of measuring ecosystem services for the supply of ecosystem services and national statistical data representing socio-economic factors for demand for ecosystem services The results of analysis for Gyeong-gi Province are as follows. The service supply based on the result of ecosystem services was divided into the mixed service provisioning as factor1, the food provisioning as factor2, and the P retention service provisioning area as factor3. As for the demand for services based on socio-economic factors, factor1 is divided into urbanized areas, factor2 is forest development area, and factor3 is agricultural activity development area. Local governments that maintain balance were evaluated as Pocheon, Yangpyeong, Icheon, Pyeongtaek, Goyang, Suwon, Gwangmyeong, and Osan, and imbalanced local governments appeared in Gimpo, Uiwang, Anseong, and Yeoju. A management plan to maintain the balance between supply and demand of ecosystem services was suggested. The analysis method and results of this study are expected to be applicable to various local governments through regional expansion.

Analyzing Therapeutic Design Characteristics in the Indoor Atrium of the Outpatient Areas in Children's Hospitals Overseas (해외 어린이병원 외래진료부의 실내 아트리움에 적용된 치유적 계획특성 분석)

  • Seo, Jae-Yeon;Cho, Min-Jung
    • Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
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    • v.35 no.9
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    • pp.65-75
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    • 2019
  • This study aims at analyzing the therapeutic design characteristics implemented in the indoor atriums of the outpatient areas in four children's hospitals in London and San Francisco. A mixed-method approach was used to examine the spatial configurations and design elements in the atriums, while a literature review was conducted to understand the therapeutic design characteristics relevant to atrium spaces and children's healthcare facilities. The spatial design and the pattern of use of the atrium in each hospital were studied during field visits and interviews with the hospital management staff. Based on the literature review and the observations from the field study, a Visibility Graphic Analysis was chosen to examine the visibility, accessibility, and intelligibility of the spatial configurations in the atriums of each hospital. In addition, the openness, restfulness, and vibrant ambience of the design elements in the atriums of each hospital were investigated by surveying fifty-two design professionals on the quality of the design elements in the atriums. A spatial configuration analysis, confirmed that all the atrium spaces had high visibility, accessibility, and intelligibility due to their high connectivity, integration, intelligibility, and because the atriums were laid out in the open lobby space, along the major circulation axis, or in the circulation intersection. In the survey of the design element evaluation, all atriums proved to be appropriate in terms of openness, while the adequacy of restfulness and vibrant ambience differed depending on the hospitals. Notably, location and orientation, access, natural light, outdoor view, and play facilities were found significant environmental design elements determining the successful implementation of the therapeutic design in the atriums. The observations from the aforementioned are further discussed to enhance the therapeutic design quality of atrium spaces in children's hospitals.

Patient Safety Culture, Perception of Importance on Patient Safety Management, and Patient Safety Management Activities of Care Workers in Nursing Homes: Mixed-method Approach (노인요양시설 요양보호사의 환자안전문화, 환자안전관리 중요성 인식 및 환자안전관리활동: 혼합연구방법 적용)

  • Kim, Soon Ock;Kim, Jeong Ah
    • Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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    • v.34 no.3
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    • pp.473-489
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    • 2020
  • Purpose: This study investigated the patient safety culture (PSC), the perception of importance on patient safety management (PIPSM) and the patient safety management activities (PSMA) of care workers in nursing homes. This was a descriptive study that attempted to provide basic data for the patient safety education program of care workers. Methods: Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews from July 1 to 31 in 2020. One hundred and seventy-four care workers participated in quantitative research. The collected data were analyzed by the SPSS/WIN 25.0 program using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Bonferroni, and Pearson's correlation. The qualitative data were collected through semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews with six representatives and six care workers from six nursing homes. Content analysis was performed to analyze the data. Results: Positive correlations were observed between PSC and PIPSM, and between PIPSM and PIPSM. Care workers' experience in patient safety management was in the following six categories: "Safety accident risk factors", "Type of safety accidents", "How to prevent safety accidents", "Effective safety management education", "Emphasis on occupational ethics of care workers", and "Needs for standard protocol" Conclusion: These findings indicate that considering the care workers' age and facility size, nurses should enhance patient safety education for care workers and establish a management activity system.