• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.467-478
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• 2020

Background: The purpose of this study is to explain the factors influencing the incurrence of catastrophic health expenditure of national health insurance households using panel data observed over a long period. Methods: The study targeted 3,652 households who had no censoring during the 11-year survey period (2007-2017) and householders whose insurance type was consistently maintained as national health insurance. Generalized estimating equations were adopted to identify factors affecting the occurrence of catastrophic health expenditure at 20%, 30%, and 40% threshold levels. A subgroup analysis was conducted by categorizing groups depending on the existence of the elderly in the household. Results: For the last 11 years, the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure in the households without the elderly decreased slightly at all threshold levels, but the households with the elderly seemed to be increased. At baseline, household type showed a statistically significant relationship with all other variables. The results of generalized estimating equations analyses show that household income was not significant at all threshold levels in the households without elderly. On the other hand, in the households with the elderly, the 2nd (odds ratio [OR], 1.33-2.05) and 3rd quintile groups (OR, 1.25-2.55) were more likely to have catastrophic health expenditure compared to the 1st quintile of household income group. Conclusion: As the amount of health expenditures relative to the ability to pay is increasing in households with the elderly, the application of an intervention followed by consistent monitoring is needed. This study found that there were differences in influencing factors according to the presence of the elderly in the households. In particular, in households with the elderly, interesting results have been drawn regarding the occurrence of catastrophic health expenditure in the near-poor, so additional research is required.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.68-72
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• 2015

Ultrasonic inspection robot systems have been widely researched and developed for the real-time monitoring of structures such as power plants. However, an inspection robot that is operated in a simple pattern has limitations in its application to various structures in a plant facility because of the diverse and complicated shapes of the inspection objects. Therefore, accurate control of the robot is required to inspect complicated objects with high-precision results. This paper presents the idea that the shape and movement information of an ultrasonic inspector's hand could be profitably utilized for the accurate control of robot. In this study, a polymer flex sensor was applied to monitor the shape of a human hand. This application was designed to intuitively control an ultrasonic inspection robot. The movement and shape of the hand were estimated by applying multiple sensors. Moreover, it was successfully shown that a test robot could be intuitively controlled based on the shape of a human hand estimated using polymer flex sensors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2015.05a
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• pp.890-891
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• 2015

With South Korea entering aging society, the problem of the elderly living alone is aggravating due to increasing health risks associated with social isolation. This should be counteracted by providing them with supports conducive to the recovery of social relationship and effective management of daily activities, such as health checkups, homecare services, chore services, and contents building for information service. This paper presents a human care system implementing miniaturization and portability for the elderly and other care recipients by integrating various contents into recipients' situation perception, direct experience, and sensor modules as a smartphone application in Internet of Things environment to facilitate their health status monitoring.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.4385-4399
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• 2021

The Internet of Things (IoT) eHealth systems composed by Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) has emerged recently. Sensor nodes are placed around or in the human body to collect physiological data. WBAN has many different applications, for instance health monitoring. Since the limitation of the size of the battery, besides speed, reliability, and accuracy; design of WBAN protocols should consider the energy efficiency and time delay. To solve these problems, this paper adopt the end-edge-cloud orchestrated network architecture and propose a transmission based on reinforcement algorithm. The priority of sensing data is classified according to certain application. System utility function is modeled according to the channel factors, the energy utility, and successful transmission conditions. The optimization problem is mapped to Q-learning model. Following this online power control protocol, the energy level of both the senor to coordinator, and coordinator to edge server can be modified according to the current channel condition. The network performance is evaluated by simulation. The results show that the proposed power control protocol has higher system energy efficiency, delivery ratio, and throughput.

• Journal of Cadastre & Land InformatiX
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.175-184
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• 2017

Recently, PM10 is becoming a main issue in Korea because it causes a variety of diseases, such as respiratory and ophthalmologic diseases. This research studied to spatial information application cases for evaluating the feasibility of the location for PM10 observation stations utilizing Geogrphic Information System(GIS) spatial analysis. The spatial Information application cases for optimal location assessment were investigated to properly manage PM10 observation stations which are closely related with public spatial data and health care. There are 31 PM10 observation stations in Seoul city and the observed PM10 data at these stations were utilized to understand the overall assessment of PM10 stations to properly manage using interpolation methods. The estimated PM10 using Inverse Distance Weighted(IDW) and Kriging techniques and the map of PM10 concentrations of monitoring stations in Seoul city were compared with public spatial data such as precipitation, floating population, elementary school location. On the basis of yearly, seasonal and daily PM10 concentrations were used to evaluate the feasibility analysis and the location of current PM10 monitoring stations. The estimated PM10 concentrations were compared with floating population and calculated 2015 PM10 distribution data using zonal statistical methods. The national spatial data could be used to analyze the PM10 pollution distribution and additional determination of PM10 monitoring sites. It is further suggested that the spatial evaluation of national spatial data can be used to determine new location of PM10 monitoring stations.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.56-65
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• 1994

Total quality management has been a focus of concern in recent years since some dissatisfaction with the results from implementation of quality assurance programs in the U.S. Many managerial methodologies and innovation guidelines from academic disciplines have been applied to promote TQM programs in the health field. This paper consists of two folds of aspects: firstly to examine TQM's managerial philosophy by comparing with the newly introduced managerial concepts in Business Reengineering; and then to introduce a method for an integrative way of process analysis, Entity Life-Cycle Diagram (ELCD) modeling. The analysis method was compared with Process Map, which is a well-known method for BR applications. To show effectiveness of ELCD modeling, a case of application was introduced using 'drug' as a target entity. With having TQM issues in mind, the result was reflected in designing Entity Relation Diagrams. The results of ELCD modeling turn out to be helpful in designing database related to quality monitoring, in that many monitoring check points can be identified in a systematic way and that queries cross-sectional over organizational boundaries can be generated with a consistent view focusing on the drug use as a single process. Full evaluation of the analysis method remains to be studied until the completion of the information system under construction. But as long as TQM is based on a process-oriented view and needs supports from information system, ELCD can be one of the appropriate choice as a tool for the process analysis.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.167-172
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• 2013

In recent years, mobile healthcare systems that transfer patient data wirelessly have been used in the medical field. However, the current messages supported to patients are difficult to satisfy the specific patients, and there is a lack of healthcare systems to help manage patients with diabetes or pregnant women on a regular basis. In this regard, this paper demonstrates that the semantic-web service to which data transfer method, application framework and networking of WPAN are applied can be implemented. In addition, it suggests common data types to integrate data from a variety of sources and provides a common framework in which information on the Web can be shared and reused in applications, businesses and communities, etc. As an example, the healthcare monitoring that can manage healthcare for pregnant women, which includes confirmation of pregnancy, periodic health management, fetal movement, prenatal care and health-related knowledge, is proposed.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.295-304
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• 2023

Background: Adolescents are relatively more sensitive than adults to exposure to indoor pollutants. The indoor air quality in classrooms where students spend time together must therefore be managed at a safe level because it can affect the health of students. Objectives: In this study, three types of green-wall models were applied to classrooms where students spend a long time in a limited space, and the resulting effects on reducing PM were evaluated. Methods: In the middle school classrooms which were selected as the experimental subjects, IoT-based indoor air quality monitoring equipment was installed for real-time monitoring. Three types of plant models (passive, active, and active+light) were installed in each classroom to evaluate the effects on improving indoor air quality. Results: The concentration of PM in the classroom is influenced by outdoor air quality, but repeated increases and decreases in concentration were observed due to the influence of students' activities. There was a PM reduction effect by applying the green-wall model. There was a difference in PM reduction efficiency depending on the type of green-wall model, and the reduction efficiency of the active model was higher than the passive model. Conclusions: The active green-wall model can be used as an efficient method of improving indoor air quality. Additionally, more research is needed to increase the efficiency of improving indoor air quality by setting conditions that can stimulate the growth of each type of plant.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.54-62
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• 2024

Purpose: Accidental vaccination with a live attenuated low-virulence strain of Miyagi (LOM) vaccine led to the reemergence of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) in Jeju province, South Korea in 2014. To control the continual outbreaks of LOM-derived CSFV, the provincial government launched a provincial mass vaccination project using a CSF-E2 subunit vaccine. We conducted this study to assess the herd immunity level and outcomes of E2 vaccine-based immunization in breeding and growing herds on Jeju Island during 2020-2021. Materials and Methods: A large-scale vaccination trial using the Bayovac CSF-E2 vaccine investigated its efficacy in breeding and growing herds under farm application conditions (10 CSFV-affected and three CSFV-naïve swine farms). Results: The level of herd immunity in each farm was classified into three (S1-S3) and six (G1-G6) profiles in breeding and growing herds, respectively. Immunity monitoring revealed a remarkable improvement in the herd immunity status in all farms. The majority (10/13) of farms, including CSFV-free farms, showed the S1G1 immunity profile in 2021, indicating the appropriate implementation of the advised vaccination regime. Moreover, there were significant decreases in E^rns seropositivity from 100% to 50% and 25.9% to 4.3% at farm and pig levels, respectively. In particular, all farms were confirmed as CSFV free in the growing-finishing herds. Conclusion: Our large-scale trial demonstrated the effectiveness of the E2 subunit vaccine in establishing herd immunity stabilization and eliminating CSFV circulation in the affected farms and highlighted the need for a provincial vaccination policy to regain the CSF-free status on Jeju Island.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.550-561
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the effects of utilizing Smartphone Application Peer Support (SAPS) on health behavior and body mass index (BMI) among overweight or obese breast cancer survivors (BCS). Methods: A nonequivalent control group with a non-synchronized design was utilized and 36 participants (experimental group 14, control group 22) were recruited from August 2017 to September 2018. Participants were 40~65 years old, overweight or obese, had completed primary cancer treatment within the 12 months prior to the study, and had not done regular exercise during the last 6 months. The 3-month SAPS consisted of exercise and diet education (once p/2 weeks), peer support (once p/week), and self-monitoring using smartphone applications (5 times p/week). All participants underwent assessments at baseline, right after SAPS, and at 3 months after SAPS. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Results: At the completion of SAPS significant differences were found between groups in motivation for exercise (t=-3.24, p=.005), physical activity (t=-4.15, p<.001), total calorie intake (t=3.42, p=.002), calories from fat (t=-3.01, p=.005), intake of vegetables (t=-2.83, p=.008), and BMI (t=5.21, p<.001). Significant differences in BMI (t=4.13, p<.001) remained up to 3 months after SAPS completion. No significant differences was shown between groups in self-efficacy for exercise, either immediately after or 3 months after SAPS. Conclusion: The SAPS has the potential to improve motivation for exercise, health behavior, and BMI of BCS. However, special efforts are required to encourage participants to complete the intervention and maintain long-term effects for future trials.