• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.258-276
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• 1998

This study was conducted to justify the "prescribed shelf life" currently used in Samsung Medical Center and give recommendations based on scientific data to adopt for safe and cost-effective storage times for sterile goods Since the early 1970's, predetermined expiration dating policy has been used in Korea on all in-house sterilized products like any other countries; six months for the supplies wrapped in polyethylene peel pouches and two weeks for the rest. Recently, however, the studies suggest that current standards for preserving the sterility can be changing. It looks like we unnecessarily have too-short expiration date of sterilized supplies, that is far from being cost effective. Certainly, this research is an exciting project, especially in Korea, and will be leading and contributing to the paradigm shift of the conservative concept of shelf life for sterile supplies in Korean healthcare facilities. The major goal of this study was placed on the measurement of the recontamination time in packs wrapped in all kinds of wrapping materials used in S.M.C and stored in various conditions for periods ranging from three months to six months, and then develop a practical standard of "shelf life" based on the analyzed data. Objectives: To measure and compare the recontamination time of sterile packs among wrapppers and storage conditions, and develop a practical standard for the shelf life and storage conditions of sterile products. Samples and Method: The sterile integrity was investigated of the total 1,440 sterile sample packs containing gauze strip($1.5cm{\times}0.5cm$) we prepared and wrapped in nine wrapping materials (randomized reprocessed linens, linens reprocessed 99 times, linens reprocessed 120 times, new kraft paper, used kraft paper, new nonwoven fabrics, 6-time reprocessed nonwoven fabrics, new polyethylene peel pouches, used polyethylene peel pouches), and stored in four locations(closed cabinet of one of the typical wards, open shelf of one of ICUs, open shelf of separate storage room in ER, open shelf in OR), for three to six months, respectively in 1998. Each type of packs were opened weekly and the gauze strips inoculated into Brewer's thioglycollate broth at $35^{\circ}C$ for seven days. Results: There was no growth found for any types of the pack and storage conditions studied. Discussion: This study was conducted in an attempt to identify the possibility of extending the current shelf life for sterile goods we use in a sense of cost effectiveness. The findings suggest that we could extend our expiration dates, that means we can save a lot of materials and personnel time meeded for resterilizing, outdating, recleaning, wrapping, and reshelving. Then it will initiate a great reform in the field of healthcare in Korea, and now we are looking forward to this valuable revolution. We are going to continue this study and take all steps need to apply this new concept to our practice, and then trying to extend to other hospitals.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.469-482
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• 2018

This research has developed the criteria and index for systematically and objectively assessing the quality of river water by fixing the various factors that affect Gyeongin ARA waterway's water quality through analysis with the Delphi Technique and analytic hierarchy program (AHP) Method. Based on the results, the highest criteria are, in order of importance, physical and environmental factors 28%, administrative factors 26%, natural fixed factors 26% and finally, cultural and social factors 20%. The three dimensions of the criteria show that for the internal physical and environmental factors, the most important are the loss of self-purification capacity, and the external factors are Gulpocheon and the sludge deposit due to Gyulhweon-weir the bridge. The facility factor in management was affected by the coagulation and waste water disposal facilities. The problem for the policy and institutional factors was seen in the regulatory area. The aquatic ecology/ point pollution source for the natural fixed factors show that it is due to the polluted water of Gulpo-cheon and the living environment/ non-point pollution source is shown through the inflow water from other rivers. Cultural and social factors show that the economical causes were due to the cargo and passenger flight operations and the external factors of having a lack of sewage treatment equipment have an importance effect. In order to estimate the order of priority through logical evidence and objectivity, future research must be continued on the evaluation indexes to measure the specific methodology and technique needed to improve the Gyeongin ARA Waterway.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.177-189
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• 2020

To newly discover the placeness of Xita Koreatown in Shenyang, this study establishes the conceptual structure of urban inclusivity based on the actor-network theory and the main discourse of inclusive cities. It then applies a framework to the relevant space for analysis. We conduct the case study by first identifying a historical timeline by dividing the age from the founding of New China to the present into sprouting and developing stages of Xita Koreatown, extracting major actors out of time, and finally creating a network graph for each of the six periods representing changes in the region. Throughout this process, we not only analyze the aspect of transition in the urban inclusivity of Xita Koreatown but also prospect the feasibility of an inclusive city for the area. The results of this study are as follows. First, the number and type of actors constituting Xita Koreatown have constantly increased significantly since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea. The related actor-networks have also continued to expand in all indicators of urban inclusivity. Secondly, the agency of human actors such as Korean-Chinese, locals, and both South and North Koreans, representing the specificity of Xita Koreatown, has continuously improved. Lastly, due to the increase of cultural exchanges and related policy actors, the actor-network in this region has achieved an unprecedented leap forward. In conclusion, the urban inclusivity of Xita Koreatown in Shenyang shows significant growth in quality, with expectations of further improvement.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.308-325
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• 2020

This study examines factual facilites safety of long-term care facilities for eldery, for improvement of Korean policy. So, This study reviewed policies of facilites safety of long-term care facilities on main OECD countries. We analyzed factual survey of facilites safety of long-term care facilities in Seoul metropolitan area. The results of the study were as follows: First, There were differences of law and rule of facilites safety of long-term care facilities in comparison with those of social welfare facilities, child day-care center, hospital. Second, it was the result of location condition analysis. Long-term care facilities in the Seoul metropolitan area were located on more than six floors of buildings. The location conditions of private facilities are weak compared to those of corporations and local governments. Third, there were the result of internal structure of facilities. Overall, the placement status was insufficient. For instance, there are smokeproof masks/fireproof blankets, smoke windows(fire safety windows), smoke smothering. In addition, there were places where legal essential installation structures were insufficient. Private facilities were generally insufficient in facility structures compared to those of local governments and welfare corporations. Fourth, there were the result of safety management. It was confirmed that private facilities were insufficient compared to local government facilities. For instance, there are safety management analysis, response manuals, fire preparedness training, etc. Finally, implications and future directions policies of facilites safety of long-term care facilities were discussed based on the finding of the study.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.117-121
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• 2018

As the paradigm shifts in the era of accelerated technological development and technology convergence, the defense sector is pursuing national defense research and development through selection and concentration, as well as the expansion of investments to develop defense science and technology to the highest possible level. In addition to investing heavily in cutting-edge weapons and core technologies that are consistent with the future, the defense sector is also developing investment strategies within a limited budget. In the private sector, the PD system has been introduced in order to maximize the performance of R&D policy and to improve the professionalism and responsibility of planning & management. In accordance with this trend, in the field of defense, the PD system of defense technology with specialization is being promoted, in order to strengthen the task planning capacity and to promote the utilization of private technology. Considering the need for coherent technical support for the core technology developed by R&D, the improvement of open technology planning systems and expansion of inter-civil & technical linkage, the use of the PD system in the defense field is indispensable. In this study, we review similar cases abroad and at home to examine the introduction and management of the PD system for defense technology. This study is based on the current state of the defense technology PD system that is being pursued.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.556-563
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to verify the difference of importance-performance about human right of social worker who works in housing facilities of the disabled. Based on our result, we suggest strategies to implement human rights for the disabled. We collected data from 344 social workers in Busan. We analyzed descriptive statistics, and employed T-Test and Importance-Performance Analysis. Results found the importance level was higher than the performance level of human rights for the disabled. Second, agreement of residential space open and vote right guarantees, the importance level was higher than performance level. Items, excluding ensuring religious activities, prohibiting corporal punishment, strengthening the facility monitoring system and improve facility environment and strengthen program, featured a higher performance level than the importance level. Third, based on the IPA analysis, we derived action strategies for each IPA analysis matrix. We examined 10 items, including free communication included in the first quadrant, improvement of facilities management policy in the second quadrant, prohibition of corporal punishment and strengthening of facility monitoring system in the fourth quadrants.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1138-1146
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to identify the relevance of drinking habits among college students on the creation of drinking problems and behavioral problems and depression related to drinking problems. For this, random sampling was performed on students enrolled in a college located in Chungcheongnam-do from December 12, 2011 to December 23, 2011. For the study instruments, we gathered data using questionnaires in with a survey reorganized based on literary reviews and previous studies. A total of 262 questionnaires have been collected. The results of the investigation are as follows. As a result of performing the frequency analysis to find the drinking habits of college students, 38.2% of them were found as having drinking habits. Also as a result of analyzing whether there is difference of depression levels according to the drinking habits of college students, the instance of having drinking habits had relatively high depression level compared to the instance of not having drinking habits after analyzing by the existence of drinking habit. This study found the relevance of drinking habits among college students which leads to drinking problems and depression to present the objectives for the improvement of drinking habits. Through this study, a policy oriented support of the government related to the specific drinking problem preventing strategies and programs are anticipated.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.10003-10008
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• 2014

Background: Cervical cancer has been a leading female cancer in Thailand for decades, and has been second to breast cancer after 2007. The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has provided opportunistic screening with Pap smears for more than 30 years. In 2002, the MoPH and the National Health Security Office provided countrywide systematic screening of cervical cancer to all Thai women aged 35-60 years under universal health care coverage insurance scheme at 5-year intervals. Objectives: This study characterized the cervical cancer incidence trends in Songkhla in southern Thailand using joinpoint and age period cohort (APC) analysis to observe the effect of cervical cancer screening activities in the past decades, and to project cervical cancer rates in the province, to 2030. Materials and Methods: Invasive and in situ cervical cancer cases were extracted from the Songkhla Cancer Registry from 1990 through 2010. Age standardized incidence rates were estimated. Trends in incidences were evaluated by joinpoint and APC regression models. The Norpred package was modified for R and was used to project the future trends to 2030 using the power of 5 function and cut trend method. Results: Cervical cancer incidence in Songkhla peaked around 1998-2000 and then dropped by -4.7% per year. APC analysis demonstrated that in situ tumors caused an increase in incidence in early ages, younger cohorts, and in later years of diagnosis. Conclusions: Both joinpoint and APC analysis give the same conclusion in continuation of a declining trend of cervical cancer to 2030 but with different rates and the predicted goal of ASR below 10 or even 5 per 100,000 women by 2030 would be achieved. Thus, maintenance and improvement of the screening program should be continued. Other population based cancer registries in Thailand should analyze their data to confirm the success of cervical cancer screening policy of Thailand.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.65-98
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• 2007

Wetland provides various environmental services as well as marketable goods to human society. This paper presents a meta-analysis of the wetland valuation studies conducted in Korea during the past decade. Meta-analysis is a technique of summarizing research results from the separate but related studies using statistical methods. The objectives of the paper is to identify the main factors affecting the wetland values and to examine the applicability of meta-regression analysis for summarizing the information from valuation studies of natural ecosystem. The total of 64 observations from 24 studies are assembled, and we observe significant differences in wetland values depending on the characteristics of the studies. With the statistical significance, our results indicate that the method employed affects the wetland values while the wetland function evaluated affects little. In addition, we found that the size of wetland is negatively associated with the values, implying that wetland values exhibit the decreasing returns to scale. The evidences from our empirical analysis suggest that the meta-analysis has a potential as a tool to synthesize the research results from valuation studies and to provide useful information to policy makers. However, this study acknowledges that more effort should be dedicated toward the construction of DB on valuation studies as well as the research on the model improvement to enhance the validity and reliability of meta-analysis.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.99-127
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• 2007

When the margin between available capacity and demand is thin in a liberalized electricity market, prices rise steeply and system reliability is threatened. The principal response to these circumstances is often an assumption that price spikes and electricity shortages are the result of a failure to build sufficient new supplying facilities. It is, of course, often the case that additional investments in generation and network facilities would improve reliability, and such investments are often needed. But focusing on additional generation and transmission facilities for restoring balance to the grid overlooks the essential fact that reliability is a function of the relationship between supply and demand, imposing unnecessary costs on electric system. When the relationship is out of balance, the search for solutions must consider not only investments supply-side resources but also cost-effective demand-side resources such as accelerated load management, efficiency measures, and price-responsive load programs. Integrating demand resources into electricity markets can add enormous value to the electric system, widening the capacity margin, lowering costs and enhancing system reliability at the same time. This paper studies several challenges now facing electricity markets: demand-side management-especially, economic effects of demand response, potential reliability problems, market and system operation, CBP market improvements and so on. The paper concludes with a series of policy recommendations in five areas: (i) The Effects of efficient improvement to incorporate demand responses and demand-side resources into modem electricity markets, (ii) Fosteing price based demand response and (iii) improving incentive based demand response, (iv) strengthen demand response analysis and valuation, (v) integrating demand response into resource planning and adopting enabling technologies.