• Architectural research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.19-27
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• 2023

London's BID, introduced in the early 2000s, has grown significantly to fill the gap between government services which have been decreased by the global recession and localism, and the demand for better services to strengthen competitiveness on a global level. Based on this background, this study comparatively analysed two BIDs in London with contrasting regional characteristics to find how BID works differently for the regeneration and sustainable development of regional business districts according to regional characteristics. As a result, the two BIDs ultimately had the goal of improving the local business environment and strengthening the competitiveness of local businesses and had a common point of working in close partnership with the public sector such as the local government. However, depending on the local situation and characteristics, it has been observed that there are differences in the strategies of work and the roles and relationships in the partnership with the public sector.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.355-365
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• 2020

Background: This study is aimed to verify individual and regional-level factors affecting the depression of Koreans and to develop social programs for improving the depressive status. Methods: This study used individual-level variables from the Korean Community Health Survey (2018) and used the e-regional index of the Korean Statistical Information Service as the regional-level variable. A multi-level logistic regression was executed to identify individual and regional-level variables that were expected to affect the extent of depressive symptoms and to draw the receiver operating characteristic curve to compare the volume of impact between variables from both levels. Results: The results of the multi-level logistic regression analysis in regards to individual-level factors showed that older age, female gender, a lower income level, a lower education level, not having a spouse, the practice of walking, the consumption of breakfast higher levels of stress, and having high blood pressure or diabetes were associated with a greater increase in depressive symptoms. In terms of regional factors, areas with fewer cultural facilities and fewer car registration had higher levels of depressive symptoms. The comparison of area under the curve showed that individual factors had a greater influence than regional factors. Conclusion: This study showed that while both, individual and regional-level factors affect depression, the influence of the latter was relatively weaker as compared to the first. In this sense, it is necessary to develop programs focused on the individual, such as social prescribing at the local or community-level, rather than the city and nation-level approach that are currently prevalent.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.100-111
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• 2020

Background: Few studies have examined the performance of the public long-term care insurance (LTCI) from the perspective of geographic equity. This study investigated regional variations and associated factors in the supply and utilization of nursing home care within and also between Japan and Korea. Methods: A comparative dataset was developed by extracting data from 2013-2015 LTCI statistics yearbooks and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development regional statistics, as well as other comparable data in Japan and Korea. The unit of analysis was the prefecture in Japan and the province in Korea. We computed variation indices and conducted regression analyses for regional variations within each country and decomposition analyses to examine the variations between the countries. Results: The overall regional supply and use of nursing home care were higher in Japan, but the regional variations in Korea were larger than in Japan. In both countries, the nursing home supply was negatively associated with the proportion of older people with independent living. Nursing home use was also negatively associated with the supply of hospital beds and home care agencies in Korea; the relationship was the opposite in Japan, however. The country-based differences were more likely to be explained by differences in the distributions of the variables included in the analytical model than country-specific characteristics. Conclusion: Regional-level nursing home supply and use were unequal in both countries, and the contributing factors were not the same. Policy efforts are needed to advance regional equality in long-term care (LTC) and collaboration between health and LTC institutions for frail older people, especially in Korea.

• 지역과문화
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.47-72
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• 2019

The purpose of this paper is to explore what roles can and should regional culture play in establishing a regional innovation system, which has been recently described as an essential factor for balanced regional development and specialized regional development. In doing so, we first investigated key concepts and discourses regarding regional innovation system and examined the success factors of a regional innovation system. We also explored how the Korean policy makers have developed the nation's regional innovation policy and regional cultural policy in order to understand the policy context and its limitations. After examining the theoretical background, we reviewed the representative cases of regional innovation in Japan, Yufuin and Yubari, to grasp the way in which 'culture' plays its roles in the formation of the regional innovation system. Since culture has a role as a unique sector, such as art and content industry, as well as a community's style of life, this study tried to explore the aspects and ways of how culture can contribute to the establishment of regional innovation systems considering these distinctive levels. In drawing the implications of the case study, we found that special attention is required for the 'process of formation' of regional innovation systems. We also confirmed that the success of the core activities at each stage heavily relies on the culture of the region; in order to fully understand the relations, it is necessary to re-establish the existing concept of culture and cultural policy with a more holistic perspective.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7277-7281
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• 2013

Background: Globally, there have been important changes in trends amongst gender, histology and smoking patterns of lung cancer cases. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on 466 patients with lung cancer who were registered in Regional Cancer Center, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Manipur from January 2008 to December 2012. Results: Most were more than 60 years of age (67.8%) with a male: female ratio of 1.09:1. Some 78.8% of patients were chronic smokers with male smoker to female smoker ratio of 1.43:1. Consumption of alcohol was found in 29.4%, both smoking and alcohol in 27.5%, betel nut chewing in 37.9% and tobacco chewing in 25.3%. A history of tuberculosis was present in 16.3% of patients. The most frequent symptom was coughing (36.6%) and most common radiological presentation was a mass lesion (70%). Most of the patients had primary lung cancer in the right lung (60.3%). The most common histological subtype was squamous cell carcinoma (49.1%), also in the 40-60 year age group (45.9%), more than 60 year age group (51.6%), males (58.1%) and females (41.8%). As many as 91.9% of squamous cell carcinoma patients had a history of smoking. About 32.5% of patients had distant metastasis at presentation with brain (23.8%) and positive malignant cells in pleural effusions (23.1%) as common sites. The majority of patients were in stage III (34.4%), stage IV (32.5%) and stage II (30.2%). Conclusions: Our analysis suggests that the gender gap has been narrowed such that about half of the patients diagnosed with lung cancer are women in this part of India. This alarming rise in female incidence is mainly attributed to an increased smoking pattern. Squamous cell carcinoma still remains the commonest histological subtype. Most of the patients were elderly aged and presented at locally or distantly advanced stages.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.519-531
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• 2020

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Regional disparities in dietary factors might be related to regional disparities in cardiometabolic health. Therefore, this study investigated the associations of cardiometabolic risk factors and dietary factors with regional types in Korean adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Based on data from the 2007-2017 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the study included 39,781 adults aged ≥ 19 years who completed the dietary survey and a health examination. Healthy and unhealthy dietary factors (fat, sodium, fruit, and vegetable intakes) were evaluated using 1-day 24-h dietary recall method, as well as the use of nutrition labels with a questionnaire. RESULTS: Of the participants, 48.7%, 36.0%, and 15.2% lived in metropolitan, urban, and rural areas, respectively. Adults living in urban and rural had higher odds ratios (ORs) for obesity (OR for urban, 1.07; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01-1.14; OR for rural, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.05-1.24) than adults living in metropolitan areas; these associations were significantly observed in middle-aged adults. Compared to metropolitan residents, rural residents had lower ORs for hypertension in middle-aged (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.76-0.96) and metabolic syndrome in older adults (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.67-0.91). Regarding urban residents, a lower OR for diabetes in middle-aged adults (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.74-0.97) and a higher OR for hypertension in older adults (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.02-1.39) were observed. Overall rural residents had higher ORs of excessive carbohydrate, low fruit, and high salted-vegetable intakes than metropolitan residents. Low fruit intake was positively associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, and hypertension, after adjustment for regional type and other confounders in total participants. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that cardiometabolic risk and unhealthy dietary factors differ among regional types and age groups within Korea. Nutritional policy and interventions should consider regional types for prevention and management of cardiometabolic risk factors.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.12-23
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• 2016

Background: Many studies have explained regional disparities in health by socioeconomic status and healthcare resources, focusing on differences between urban and rural area. However some cities in Korea have the highest cardiovascular mortality, even though they have sufficient healthcare resources. So this study aims to confirm three hypotheses. (1) There are also regional health disparities between cities not only between urban and rural area. (2) It has different regional risk factors affecting cardiovascular mortality whether it is urban or rural area. (3) Besides socioeconomic and healthcare resources factors, there are remnant factors that affect regional cardiovascular mortality such as health behavior and physical environment. Methods: The subject of this study is 227 local authorities (si, gun, and gu). They were categorized into city (gu and si consisting of urban area) and non-city (gun consisting of rural area), and the city group was subdivided into 3 parts to reflect relative different city status: city 1 (Seoul, Gyeonggi cities), city 2 (Gwangyeoksi cities), and city 3 (other cities). We compared their mortalities among four groups by using analysis of variance analysis. And we explored what had contributed to it in whole authorities, city and non-city group by using multiple regression analysis. Results: Cardiovascular mortality is highest in city 2 group, lowest in city 1 group and middle in non-city group. Socioeconomic status and current smoking significantly increase mortality regardless of group. Other than those things, in city, there are some factors associated with cardiovascular mortality: walking practice(-), weight control attempt(-), deficiency of sports facilities(+), and high rate of factory lot(+). In non-city, there are other factors different from those of city: obesity prevalence(+), self-perceiving obesity(-), number of public health institutions(-), and road ratio(-). Conclusion: To reduce cardiovascular mortality and it's regional disparities, we need to consider differentiated approach, respecting regional character and different risk factors. Also, it is crucial to strengthen local government's capacity for practicing community health policy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3619-3623
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• 2014

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the vaginal dose and toxicity in patients of cervical cancer treated with image guided brachytherapy at our institute. Materials and Methods: Thirty-five patients treated with image based brachytherapy for cervical cancer were included. Vaginal contouring was done on MRI at brachytherapy and with CT scans of subsequent brachytherapy fractions. Dose volume parameters (DVH) were reported in accordance with the GEC-ESTRO guidelines. These were correlated with vaginal toxicity (assessed by CTCAE version 3) and quality of sexual life assessed at one year of completion of treatment. Results: Vaginal shortness was observed in 22 out of 30 (62.8%) patients, Nine (25.7%) had vaginal dryness and in 10 (28.5%) patients, there was contact bleeding. No association could be demonstrated between the dose volume parameters and vaginal toxicity in the present study. Conclusions: The lack of association between dose volume parameters of vagina with vaginal morbidity may be due to uncertainties involved in the delineation of vaginal wall and dosimetry. Future research is required to accurately define vaginal dose distribution to study its correlation with vaginal morbidity. Vaginal morbidity needs to be documented in order to improve the sexual outcome in these patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10653-10658
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• 2015

Background: A very high incidence of lung cancer is observed in Mizoram and Manipur, North East India. We conducted a population based case control study to establish associations of p53 codon 72 polymorphisms and interactions with environmental factors for this high incidence. Material and Methods: A total of 272 lung cancer cases and 544 controls matched for age (${\pm}5years$), sex and ethnicity were collected and p53 codon 72 polymorphism genotypes were analyzed using a polymerase chain based restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. We used conditional multiple logistic regression analysis to calculate adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals after adjusting for confounding factors. Results: p53 Pro/Pro genotype was significantly associated with increased risk of lung cancer in the study population (adjusted OR=2.14, CI=1.35-3.38, p=0.001). Interactions of the p53 Pro/Pro genotype with exposure to wood smoke (adjusted OR=3.60, CI=1.85-6.98, p<0.001) and cooking oil fumes (adjusted OR=3.27, CI=1.55-6.87, p=0.002), betel quid chewing (adjusted OR=3.85, CI=1.96-7.55, p<0.001), tobacco smoking (adjusted OR=4.42, CI=2.27-8.63, p<0.001) and alcohol consumption (adjusted OR=3.31, CI=1.10-10.03, p=0.034) were significant regarding the increased risk of lung cancer in the study population. Conclusions: The present study provided preliminary evidence that a p53 codon 72 polymorphism may effect lung cancer risk in the study population, interacting synergistically with environmental factors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.2895-2899
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• 2016

Background: Increasing breast cancer (BC) incidence rates have been reported from India; causal factors for this increased incidence are not understood and diagnosis is mostly in advanced stages. Trivandrum exhibits the highest BC incidence rates in India. This study aimed to estimate trends in incidence by age from 2005-2014, to predict rates through 2020 and to assess the stage at diagnosis of BC in Trivandrum. Materials and Methods: BC cases were obtained from the Population Based Cancer Registry, Trivandrum. Distribution of stage at diagnosis and incidence rates of BC [Age-specific (ASpR), crude (CR) and age-standardized (ASR)] are described and employed with a joinpoint regression model to estimate average annual percent changes (AAPC) and a Bayesian model to estimate predictive rates. Results: BC accounts for 31% (2681/8737) of all female cancers in Trivandrum. Thirty-five percent (944/2681) are <50 years of age and only 9% present with stage I disease. Average age increased from 53 to 56.4 years (p=0.0001), CR (per $10^5$ women) increased from 39 (ASR: 35.2) to 55.4 (ASR: 43.4), AAPC for CR was 5.0 (p=0.001) and ASR was 3.1 (p=0.001). Rates increased from 50 years. Predicted ASpR is 174 in 50-59 years, 231 in > 60 years and overall CR is 80 (ASR: 57) for 2019-20. Conclusions: BC, mostly diagnosed in advanced stages, is rising rapidly in South India with large increases likely in the future; particularly among post-menopausal women. This increase might be due to aging and/or changes in lifestyle factors. Reasons for the increased incidence and late stage diagnosis need to be studied.