• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.185-196
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• 2015

Background: Issues concerning with the classification accuracy of Korean Outpatient Groups (KOPGs) have been raised by providers and researchers. The KOPG is an outpatient classification system used to measure casemix of outpatient visits and to adjust provider risk in charges by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service in managing insurance payments. The objective of this study were to refine KOPGs to improve the classification accuracy and to evaluate the refinement. Methods: We refined the rules used to classify visits with multiple procedures, newly defined chemotherapy drug groups, and modified the medical visit indicators through reviews of other classification systems, data analyses, and consultations with experts. We assessed the improvement by measuring % of variation in case charges reduced by KOPGs and the refined system, Enhanced KOPGs (EKOPGs). We used claims data submitted by providers to the HIRA during the year 2012 in both refinement and evaluation. Results: EKOPGs explicitly allowed additional payments for multiple procedures with exceptions of packaging of routine ancillary services and consolidation of related significant procedures, and discounts ranging from 30% to 70% were defined in additional payments. Thirteen chemotherapy drug KOPGs were added and medical visit indicators were streamlined to include codes for consultation fees for outpatient visits. The % of variance reduction achieved by EKOPGs was 48% for all patients whereas the figure was 40% for KOPGs, and the improvement was larger in data from tertiary and general hospitals than in data from clinics. Conclusion: A significant improvement in the performance of the KOPG was achieved by refining payments for visits with multiple procedures, defining groups for visits with chemotherapy, and revising medical visit indicators.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.363-367
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• 2003

Contact area and pressure are important factors which directly influence a life of knee implants. Since implant's mechanical functions should be experimentally evaluated for clinical use, many studies using a knee simulator and a pressure sensor system have been conducted. However it has not been reported that the contact pressure's distribution of a knee implant motion was estimated in real-time during a gate cycle. Therefore. the objective of this study was to analyze the contact pressure distribution for the motion of a joint using the knee simulator and I-scan sensor system. For this purpose, we developed a force-controlled dynamic knee simulator to evaluate the mechanical performance of artificial knee joint. This simulator includes a function of a soft tissue and has a 4-degree-of-freedom to represent an axial compressive load and a flexion angle. As axial compressive force and a flexion angle of the femoral component can be controlled by PC program. The pressure is also measured from I-scan system and simulator to visualize the pressure distribution on the joint contact surfaces under loading condition during walking cycle. The compressive loading curve was the major cause for the contact pressure distribution and its center move in a cycle as to a flexion angie. In conclusion, this system can be used to evaluate to the geometric interaction of femoral and tibial design due to a measured mechanical function such as a contact pressure, contact area and a motion of a loading center.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.sup2
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• pp.221-227
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• 2001

Objective : The therapeutic impact of tumor resection in glioblastomas is poorly defined and still questionable. Therefore, we conducted the current study to verify the role of tumor resection in the treatment of these highly malignant tumors. Methods : A retrospective study was performed(1990-1999) to compare the treatment results of surgical resection plus radiotherapy(130 patients) with those of stereotactic biopsy plus radiotherapy(19 patients) in glioblastomas. Only adult patients with supratentorial, de novo glioblastoma located in one lobe were included. Survival time/rate was analysed with Kaplan-Meier method, and prognostic variables were obtained from the univariate log-rank test and the multivariate Cox's proportional hazards model. Results : The resection group and the biopsy group did not differ in terms of age, gender, duration of symptoms, presenting symptoms, tumor location, tumor side, tumor size, and the frequency of midline shift. Patients in the biopsy group more often were found to have worse preoperative Karnofsky performance status(KPS)(p=0.001). On univariate analysis, age, KPS, and tumor side were associated with survival(p=0.0053, 0.0001, and 0.0331 respectively). Median survival time and 1-year survival rate were also statistically improved by tumor resection ; resection group - 13 months and 61.2%, and biopsy group - 8 months and 19.7%, respectively(p=0.0001). In patients with midline shift of the tumor, resection was highly effective comparing to biopsy(p=0.0001), but in patients without midline shift, external beam radiation alone was as effective as tumor resection(p=0.0605). Other prognostic variables did not affect survival. On multivariate analysis after variable selection, survival was independently associated with KPS(p=0.001), but not the surgical resection(p=0.2837). Even in biopsy group with midline shift of the tumor, survival rate was not different from that seen after tumor resection(p=0.3505). Conclusions : Radiotherapy alone was as effective as tumor resection plus radiotherapy in patients without midline shift of the tumor. Although there was not statistically significant, tumor resection looked like effective in patients with midline shift. For supratentorial, lobar glioblastoma patients without mass effect of the tumor, biopsy with radiotherapy is one of rational treatment strategies. We consider that tumor resection should be performed in patients with pretreatment midline shift.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.309-316
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• 2000

Objective :The transoral approach allows direct view of the ventral craniovertebral junction and provides useful management of the various lesions of this area. We present a step by step guide to the performance of the transoral excision of the odontoid process in the cadaveric model. Methods : Ten cadaver heads were used in fixed or unfixed state. We describe the relevant surgical anatomy in the cadaveric dissection and surgical technique of transoral transpharyngeal odontoidectomy. Results : The surgical procedure of transoral odontoidectomy was categorized by six steps；soft palate, posterior pharyngeal wall, muscular structures, osseous structures, odontoid process and ligaments, cruciate ligament and dura. Conclusion : With anatomical knowledge of these regions neurosurgeons can deal with wide variety of lesions in the ventral craniovertebral junction.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.289-299
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• 2009

This study set out to analyze the perceptions of investigative police officers and division police officers regarding Police Investigation Specialization, which had been in effect for four years, identify the problems, and search for alternative policies. The results led to the following alternative policies; first, the communication among the members should be facilitated by trading the jobs between investigative policemen and division members in certain percentage regularly, integrating job education and special work, and developing diverse support programs for detective activities to provide them with opportunities to experience and understand investigation. The second suggestion concerns the investigation members' morale. There should be a range of measures to boost their moral such as allocating separate budget and personnel to support the investigation department and the treatment of major criminal and civil cases, giving each investigation team an office and investigation room to improve their working environment, readjusting the promotion ratio of Police Investigation Specialization to introduce a promotion system proper for each investigation's characteristics. The third suggestion is to secure job efficiency. It's required to reinforce the current short-term specialized education program to bring up practical and professional investigators, open the certification exam of professional investigators to all members so that every policeman can have their abilities recognized and approved as long as they have the demanded capabilities, and create a system of shedding off the members idle at work by reflecting low performance records when evaluating the members to decide who to dismiss from Police Investigation Specialization. And finally, it's important to divide duties rationally. The rationality of duties division can be guaranteed by setting the guidelines for direct handling for the team leader to help him devote himself to his duties, defining objective criteria of measuring investigation workload, and creating devoted systems and teams for simple and small accidents so that experienced investigators can deal with high-profile cases.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartC
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• v.18C no.4
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• pp.265-278
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• 2011

The objective of this paper is to analyze and characterize end-to-end packet statistics after modeling and simulation of WiFi (IEEE 802.11g) and WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e) of a virtual wireless network using OPNET Modeler Wireless Suite. Wireless internal and external network simulators such as Remcom's Wireless InSite Real Time (RT) module, WinProp: W-LAN/Fixed WiMAX/Mobile WiMAX, and SMI system, are designed to consider data transfer rate based on wireless propagation signal strength. However, we approached our research in a different perspective without support for characteristic of these wireless network simulators. That is, we will discuss the purpose of a visual analysis for these packets, how to receive each point packets (e.g., wireless user, base station or access point, and http server) through end-to-end virtual network modeling based on integrated wired and wireless network without wireless propagation signal strength. Measuring packet statistics is important in QoS metric analysis among wireless network performance metrics. Clear packet statistics is an especially essential metric in guaranteeing QoS for WiMAX users. We have found some interesting results through modeling and simulation for virtual wireless network using OPNET Modeler Wireless Suite. We are also able to analyze multi-view efficiency through experiment/observation result.

• Journal of KIISE:Computing Practices and Letters
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.114-124
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• 2009

In this paper, we propose a practical TCP friendly rate control scheme that considers the minimum channel bandwidth of the network when transporting SVC (scalable video coding) video over IP netowrks such as Internet. RTP and RTCP is mainly designed for use with UDP (User Datagram Protocol) for real-time video transport over the Internet. TCP-friendly rate control was proposed to satisfy the demands of multimedia applications while being reasonably fair when competing for bandwidth with conventional TCP applications. However the rate control model of the conventional TCP-friendly rate control scheme does not consider the minimum channel bandwidth of the network. Thus the estimated channel bandwidth by the conventional rate control model might be quite different from the real channel bandwidth when the packet loss ratio of the network is very large. In this paper, we propose a modified TCP-friendly rate control scheme that considers the minimum channel bandwidth of the network. Based on the modified TCP-friendly rate control, we assign the minimum channel bandwidth to the base layer bitstream of SVC video, and remaining available bandwidth is allocated to the enhancement layer of SVC video for the TCP friendly scalable video transmission. It is shown by simulations that the modified TCP-friendly rate control scheme can be effectively used for a wider range of controlled bit rates depending on the packet loss ratio than the conventional TCP-friendly control scheme. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in terms of objective video quality is proved by comparing PSNR performance with the conventional scheme.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.10-18
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• 2016

A front-end loader (FEL) mounted on an agricultural tractor is one of the most commonly used implements to mechanize routine agricultural tasks. When the FEL is used with a loaded bucket, careful operation is required to maintain safety and avoid spillage when the tractor passes a bump because a change in the gravity center of the tractor due to varied loadings can affect the stability of the tractor. Use of a boom suspension system consisting of accumulators and orifice dampers can be instrumental in reducing pitching vibrations while increasing the handling performance of the FEL-mounted tractor. The objective of this research was to reduce bump shocks by adding an orifice and a flow control valve to the original hydraulic circuit composed solely of accumulators. A simulation study was performed using the SimulationX program to investigate the effects of an accumulator and an orifice-throttle damper on bump shocks. Results showed that the peak pressure on a boom cylinder and the vertical acceleration of a bucket were significantly affected by use of both an accumulator and an orifice damper. In a field test conducted with a 75-kW tractor, the peak pressure of the boom cylinder, and the root mean square (RMS) vertical acceleration of the bucket and seat were reduced by on average, 23.0, 42.2, and 44.9% respectively, as compared to those measured with the original accumulator system, showing that an improved design for the accumulator hydraulic circuit can reduce bump shocks. Further studies are needed to design a tractor suspension system that includes the effects of cabin suspension and tires as well as dynamic analysis.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.146-152
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• 2008

Since the year of mid 2000, the EPC industry in Korea has the highest amount of orders received due to tremendous need form middle east asia region. However, the quality requirement from the owner is getting critical, which lead to the more competitive engineering capacity equipped. In order to do so, the development of objective and quantitative evaluation model of engineering process is essential. In order to develop the engineering checklist model for case-based evaluation of EPC project, first, the general description of worldwide EPC industry as well as the literature review of prior study have been performed. Then, the survey interview with experts in the engineering area of EPC project was performed In order to Identify the engineering work tasks and the critical check items, which should be checked during engineering process. Based on these checklist, the weights of check items as well as engineering work tasks also have been defined. The developed checklist model evaluated the two EPC project cases of S company in Thailand in order to explore its applicability. From the analysis of evaluation results, it is expected that the continuous implementation of evaluation based on checklist model can help the EPC practitioner check the critical items in engineering process more efficiently and take an appropriate action for better engineering performance, which finally can lead to the Korea EPC industry being more competitive.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2008

Purpose : With a view to providing basic data to develop basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation education suitable for female college students, the basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation education was conducted to grasp students' knowledge, skill accuracy and the attitude change before and after the education. Methods : Convenience sampling was made on first graders(total-38 students) of K college located in K city, Chungcheongnam-do, and this was a preliminary research designed before and after choosing a single group. In terms of methods, the researchers as specified ; 1) Handed out questionnaires to students directly to make them fill in firsthand and collected the questionnaires. 2) Utilized Power Point materials based on 2005 AHA guideline and used Anne/Skill Reporter$^{(R)}$ torso produced by Leardal Inc, and Little Anne$^{(R)}$ to conduct practical education individually. 3) Asked students to give Anne/Skill Reporter$^{(R)}$ torso basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation five times with the ratio of 30:2, and then one of researchers filled in the evaluation sheet individually. 4) Evaluated the accuracy of students' ability to perform the resuscitation based on the record of Anne/Skill Reporter$^{(R)}$ integrated printer(which was the objective tool to grasp students' skills accuracy). 5) Gave out questionnaires to make students fill them in and then collected them, after completing the practical evaluation. Results : 1) In case of the attitude(confidence) about basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation, students' confidency rose from 14%(before the education) to 55.5%(after the education)- which was a positive change. 2) In case of the attitude(educational necessity) about basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation, students' confidency rose from 94.7%(before the education) to 100%(after the education)- which was a positive change. 3) As a result of the education, some female college students' scored knowledge about basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The average point also reached 88.95%(after the education), jump from 63.51%(before the education), which was the rise of 25.44%. 4) Regarding skill accuracy, pressure accuracy(%)($M{\pm}SD=91.37{\pm}14.16$) was higher than respiration accuracy(%)($M{\pm}SD=61.55{\pm}26.13$). Conclusion : The result showed that students' attitude(confidence, on basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation changed positively, and meaningful difference(p= .000) existed in the change of students' knowledge. Anne/Skill Reporter$^{(R)}$ performance showed that the accuracy of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was lower than that of chest compression.