• English & American cultural studies
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.219-239
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• 2014

Arjun Appadurai contends that "the new global cultural economy has to be seen as a complex, overlapping, disjunctive order that cannot any longer be understood in terms of existing center-periphery models" (32); though discerning and perhaps becoming more and more apt, Appadurai's observation of the breakdown of the "center-periphery" binary appears as mere "academic jargon" in the lives of new immigrants, tackling the murky waters of identity politics in the transcultural technoscape of modern America in Kunzru's Transmission. Kunzru's antihero is Arjun Mehta, a software technician, who comes to America with high hopes of realizing the "American Dream." To a certain extent, Arjun himself is culpable of resurrecting the "center" as he prioritizes America and its values over all else. Despite his best efforts, Arjun cannot prevail in the perilous politics of exclusion/inclusion, and is relegated into a "high-tech coolie," exploited for his technological savvy. Even as the "center-periphery" binary stays intact in the production of an (Asian) American identity, it becomes undone in the hands of this "would-be" American; ultimately denied inclusion into America, Arjun unleashes a destructive virus that has major global consequences. In a sense, the boundary that separates the center and the periphery comes down as both collectively become victims to Arjun's retributive malfeasance. Arjun seems to rely on the "American" promise that old allegiances (to a national identity) are now defunct and new ones can be easily forged; as Kunzru's Transmission demonstrates with the tragic story of Arjun, the complex politics of identity production in America does not necessarily deliver on this promise. This essay hence aims to examine the politics of (national) belonging in the age of transnationalism.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.152-159
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• 2022

The role of the posterior palatal seal is important in retention of the maxillary complete denture. After taking the final impression, additional retention can be given to the maxillary denture through a mechanical method of forming a groove on master cast, but this is often overlooked in the clinical process. As a result, the posterior palatal seal is formed in a uniform way by the technician without considering the individual characteristics of the patient. Until now, various types of posterior palatal seal have been introduced by many people. This case report describes the process of manufacturing the maxillary complete denture by determining the position and form of an appropriate posterior palatal seal after considering the patient's anatomical palatal form and tissue displacement during function.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.531-539
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of infection anxiety about COVID-19 perceived by home appliance installers and repair technicians on work stress. Methods: To collect data, the purpose of the study was explained through the labor union of domestic home appliance service companies, and a survey was conducted through mobile to 286 home appliance installers and repair technicians who agreed to the survey. Results: As a result of the analysis, it was found that age, fatigue, work satisfaction, visit time, and Corona 19 infection anxiety had a significant effect on work stress. In other words, the higher the age, the higher the fatigue, the lower the job satisfaction, the higher the work stress was when the visit time was more than 30 minutes, and the higher the Corona 19 infection anxiety, the higher the work stress. Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, the following suggestions are made. First, in order to prevent work stress, we propose the development of a workplace health care program that can solve fatigue. Second, it is necessary to prepare a working environment and provide institutional support to reduce work stress by increasing Job satisfaction. Third, a workplace quarantine measures is needed to prevent infection for essential-workers who do face-to-face work in preparation for possible infectious diseases in the future.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.49-56
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• 2022

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the motivation for choosing a major, COVID-19 anxiety, and work values on the employment preparation behavior of health college students and to provide evidence for developing programs for employment preparation behavior in the future. Methods : Employing a random sampling method, a survey was conducted from April 22 to June 3, 2022, using an electronically-disseminated questionnaire with college students majoring in medical technician, health administration, and nursing from D and K colleges located in Daegu. A total of 402 students who fully understood and agreed to the purpose of the study participated. The SPSS statistical program was used to analyze the collected data, which were verified using correlation and regression analyses. Results : The results of the study are: First, employment preparation behavior was positively correlated to major selection motivation, COVID-19 anxiety, and work values. Second, significant relationships were found between employment preparation behavior and motivation behind choosing a major, work values, and COVID-19 anxiety, in that order. The higher the major selection motivation, work values, and COVID-19 anxiety were, the better the employment preparation behavior was. Conclusion : The study's results indicate that it would be meaningful to provide health college students who were highly motivated to select their major and who possess sound work values with well-prepared job training programs. Various activities organized by the school for improving the students' self-satisfaction and self-efficacy, which can strengthen their long-term work values, could also be provided. In addition, due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, college students may feel anxious about new infectious diseases that might occur in the future. Therefore, considering the contemporary situation, a helpful educational program will be invaluable to fit the pupils for life's battle after they finish their education.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.105-116
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• 2022

Domestic and foreign aviation industries showed steep growth along with rapid increase in aviation demand, but the industries got directly hit by COVID-19. Now, with the recovery of daily life, aviation demand is gradually increasing, too. However, the risk of aviation accidents also increases proportionally to the increasing demand for aviation. Although it is a point that safety management needs to be actively conducted to prevent safety accidents resulted from the growth of aviation industries, research on safety culture and organizations is not sufficiently done in terms of the depth and scope of it despite the importance of the discussion. Studies in various areas have reported that an organization's safety culture forms the group's safety atmosphere and then results in the workers' safety behavior. Accordingly, this study examined the effects of safety culture in an organization on the safety behavior of its members who are aircraft maintenance technicians. The results of this research can be summed up as follows: first, it has been found that the roles of the person in charge grounded on clear goals and guidelines for the organization's safety policy influence the technicians' attitudes. Second, the important factor in the technicians' safety observance is that the attitude to follow safety rules when performing aviation maintenance raises their awareness of safety, for instance, following standard operation procedures or wearing personal equipment for protection. Third, their attitudes have positive effects on safety participation, and consequently, their intention to comply with safety rules is shown as an active action to achieve the ultimate goal of safety behavior.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.77-88
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• 2023

This research focused on the regional and temporal attributes of tuff architecture in Mokpo, spanning the Japanese colonial period and the post-liberation era. It aimed to uncover the distinct regional and temporal features of tuff architecture by integrating concepts from vernacular architecture and regionalism, framed through a lens of critical regionalism. The study traced the historical progression of tuff architecture in Mokpo within this context. A significant part of the research was an in-depth analysis of four constructions by Son Yang-dong, a renowned technician in post-liberation Mokpo, to closely examine the contemporary relevance and regional significance of his work. Tuff, as an indigenous material, distinctly articulates the local architectural character. In line with regional properties of tuff, the material has adeptly responded to contemporary construction needs. This has laid a foundation for the development of innovative building designs and techniques. Tuff architecture is particularly noted for its exhibition of raw material textures, offering a unique aesthetic that diverges from classical Western architectural styles. Importantly, through the examination of Son Yang-dong's contributions, the study highlights the role of Korean builders in an industry dominated by Japanese influences during the colonial period, underscoring a strong regional identity. As a representation of Mokpo, tuff architecture not only upholds and protects regional identity within the broader scope of Western modernization and Japanese impacts but also plays a role in its progressive enhancement.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.841-849
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• 2023

The rising number of accidents during building demolition work has significantly heightened interest in this field. This study undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the essential capabilities required for building demolition experts, drawing on both domestic and international examples. This includes an examination of training courses for building demolition inspectors and the competencies mandated for structural demolition roles as per Korea's National Competency Standards(NCS). Furthermore, the study reviews the qualification tests and training programs for building demolition professionals in the United States, Japan, and England. The research concludes that the expertise needed for demolition construction professionals should be categorized into seven key domains: legal, structural, safety, planning, operational, constructional, and environmental aspects. These competencies are further divided across three professional tiers: technician, engineer, and manager.

• Journal of Medicine and Life Science
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.31-39
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• 2024

This study was conducted to determine whether level-1 emergency medical technicians (EMTs) can adequately recognize ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in the emergency department (ED) and whether their ability to do so differs from that of emergency medicine physicians (EMP). From December 2022 to November 2023, patients aged 20 years or older visiting the ED with chief complaints suggesting acute coronary syndrome (ACS) were enrolled. As soon as the patient arrived at the ED, a level-1 EMT conducted a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) to assess STEMI; an EMP subsequently assessed whether to activate the percutaneous coronary intervention team. Demographic characteristics, test results, and final diagnoses were collected from the medical records. Among the 723 patients with case report forms, 720 were included in the analysis. These were categorized as follows: 117 (16.3%) with STEMI, 159 (22.1%) with non-ST-segment elevation ACS, and 444 (61.7%) with other conditions. STEMI was correctly recognized in 100 patients (91.7%) by level-1 EMTs and in 104 patients (95.4%) by EMPs (kappa=0.646). EMTs with less than 1 year of ED work experience correctly recognized 60 out of 67 STEMI patients (89.6%), which was comparable with the EMPs who recognized 65 out of 67 STEMI patients (97.0%, kappa=0.614). EMTs with more than 1 year of ED work correctly recognized 40 out of 42 STEMI patients (95.2%), and therefore performed better than EMPs, who recognized 39 out of 42 STEMI patients (92.9%, kappa=0.727). The level-1 EMTs adequately recognized STEMI using a 12-lead ECG and were in substantial agreement with the evaluations of the EMPs.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.660-669
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• 2020

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of a deep learning-based automated segmentation of the left ventricle (LV) myocardium using cardiac CT. Materials and Methods: To develop a fully automated algorithm, 100 subjects with coronary artery disease were randomly selected as a development set (50 training / 20 validation / 30 internal test). An experienced cardiac radiologist generated the manual segmentation of the development set. The trained model was evaluated using 1000 validation set generated by an experienced technician. Visual assessment was performed to compare the manual and automatic segmentations. In a quantitative analysis, sensitivity and specificity were calculated according to the number of pixels where two three-dimensional masks of the manual and deep learning segmentations overlapped. Similarity indices, such as the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), were used to evaluate the margin of each segmented masks. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of automated segmentation for each segment (1-16 segments) were high (85.5-100.0%). The DSC was 88.3 ± 6.2%. Among randomly selected 100 cases, all manual segmentation and deep learning masks for visual analysis were classified as very accurate to mostly accurate and there were no inaccurate cases (manual vs. deep learning: very accurate, 31 vs. 53; accurate, 64 vs. 39; mostly accurate, 15 vs. 8). The number of very accurate cases for deep learning masks was greater than that for manually segmented masks. Conclusion: We present deep learning-based automatic segmentation of the LV myocardium and the results are comparable to manual segmentation data with high sensitivity, specificity, and high similarity scores.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.73-82
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• 2024

Objectives: The unsafe use of pesticides in agriculture represents a major hazard to human health. This study was conducted to investigate the association between pesticide exposure and health symptoms among chili farmers in northeast Thailand. Methods: This cross-sectional analytic study included 141 chili farmers in Sakon Nakhon Province, in northeast Thailand. Data regarding health symptoms were gathered using a self-report questionnaire. A medical technician tested blood cholinesterase activity using an erythrocyte method, and an occupational medicine specialist at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand reviewed the results. Associations between personal characteristics, pesticide exposure factors, and health symptoms were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. Results: Of the 141 chili farmers studied, 66.7% experienced pesticide poisoning, as indicated by below-normal cholinesterase levels. Fatigue was the most frequently reported symptom associated with pesticide exposure, affecting 37.6% of participants. This was followed by nausea and vomiting (31.9%), dizziness (14.9%), and dry throat (14.9%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that several factors were significantly associated with adverse symptoms: amount of work experience, volume of pesticides used, use of chemical pesticides, use of leaking containers during spraying, direct pesticide exposure while working, contact with pesticide-soaked clothing, consumption of food and drinks in the fields, and blood cholinesterase level indicating risk. Conclusions: This study suggests potential health risks for chili farmers stemming from exposure to and contamination by pesticides used in agricultural practices. To mitigate these risks, it is essential to supply personal protective equipment and to implement educational programs aimed at improving protective behaviors among farmers.