• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.30 no.10
• /
• pp.1229-1243
• /
• 1997

The purpose of this study were to :(a) investigate meal costs, plate waste costs, and advantages/disadvantages of conventional /commissary foodservices and (b) compare the effectiveness of commissary foodservice systems with that of conventional systems. Questionnaires were developed and mailed to 136 schools in Kyonggi-do. A total of 106 questionnaires were usable, resulting in a 77.9% response rate. Teacher's teaching of good food habits and students satisfaction with school foodservices were surveyed in three schools from each system. Moreover, plate waste was measured to express cost and benefit in currency. Data were analyzed using the SAS package for description analysis, t-test, $\chi$$^2$ test, ANOVA, and the Vilcoxon rank sum test. Approximately seventy percent of 294schools in Kyonggi-do were operating commissary systems and most of them were of the rural (reduced paid) type. The number of meals served varied significantly between types of foodservice. The results of this study indicated that average food , labor utility , and supply costs were saved in the commissary system and that the total meal cost/person for a day was 1218.7 won compared to 1452.4 won in the conventional system. Though total meal costs were saved in the commissary system, dietitians had difficulties cooperating with school foodservice committees and supporters associations, especially in satellites of the commissary system. In addition, dietitians and teachers in the commissary system did not carry out teaching activities on good food habits to students as often as in the conventional system. Other problems that dietitians recognized in the commissary system were difficulties in training employees and parents for portion control and serving relatively simple menus. Students, as customers of school foodservices, are very important for system evaluation . Students in the commissary system scored of food itself , cleanliness of tableware, waiting time, quantity of meal and food temperature significantly lower than students in the conventional system. Moreover , the rate of plate waste was 20.5% in the commissary system as compared to 3.3% in the conventional system. Cost-effectiveness (saving 233.7won/person/day) is the main benefit of the commissary system. However , because of lower satisfaction scores and a highest plate waste rate, 201.9won/ person were wasted in the commissary system. The results of this study suggest that increasing the number of meals served within a commissary system might maximize the efficiency of the system, but increasing the number of satellites is not recommended because it might be out of dietitians control in many aspects.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.29 no.2 s.53
• /
• pp.347-357
• /
• 1996

Although occupational low back pain accounts for $20\sim40%$ of all occupational illness and injury, there are limited numbers of studies regarding the effectiveness of back school program. The objective of this study was to evaluate the economic benefit of back school program for early return to work of occupational low back pain patients in the current occupational injury compensation and management system. The cost-benefit analysis in this study was conducted to evaluate the relative magnitude of benefit to cost. The total cost was estimated by calculating the value of components in back school program according to governmental budget protocol. The back school program was consisted of three major approaches, pain center, work-hardening program and funcional restoration program and each of components had various facilities and experts. The total amount of cost was estimated as 250,866,220 won per year. The most promising type of back school program were quite intensive (a 3 to 5-week stay in a specialized center), therefore, if we adopted the 5-week stay course, 10 courses could be held in a year. Following to the medical act, 20 patients per doctor could participate in a each course, ie, total 200 patients in a year. As a result, we could estimate the cost of 1,254,331 won a patient. We estimated the benefit by using data of a few local labor offices about average medical treatment beneficiary and off-duty beneficiary of 46 occupational low back pain patients in 1994. Ullman and Larsson (1977) mentioned that the group of chronic low back pain patients who participated in back school program needed less time to recover by 48.4% of beneficiary duration. And in the trying to estimate the benefit, we asked 10 rehabilitation board certificate doctors about reduction proportion of treatment cost by introducing back school program. The answered reduction proportions were in the range of $30\sim45%$, average 39%. As a final result, we could see that the introduction of back school program in treatment of chronic occupational low back pain patients could produce the benefit to cost ratio as 3.90 and 6.28. And we could conclude that the introduction of back school program was beneficial to current occupational injury compensation and management system.

• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.24 no.7
• /
• pp.915-922
• /
• 2017

This study aimed in onion production by evaluating cost and labor efficiencies of onion storage methods using either a ton-bag or a wire-steel pallet. New methods using ton-bag and wire-steel pallets were developed and applied to postharvest tasks, such as harvest packaging, transportation, and storage. The storage parameters evaluated for their effect on the logistics of onion production were: working duration, working hours, and cost expenditure. The longitudinal tensile strength of the ton-bag developed in this study was 16% higher than that of the conventional ton-bag. The wire-steel pallet developed in this study had 10% more storage capacity in a low-temperature storage room, and its truck loading capacity was more than doubled compared to that of the conventional steel pallet. There was no difference in the wasting rate during bulk storage between the newly developed wire-steel pallet and the conventional steel pallet, for 500 kg of onions. However, the bulk storage of 1,000 kg of onions using the wire-steel pallet was not found to be suitable, because the wasting rate of onions stored using the wire-pallet was 3.7% higher than that of onions stored using a conventional steel pallet. The time and the total investing costs for the bulk method decreased by 50.1% and 46.1%, respectively, compared to those for conventional harvest. In the bulk storage using the wire-steel pallet, the total storage cost decreased by 28.8%. Thus, it is estimated that we could have saved 18.3 billion won if the wire-steel pallet method about 30% of the total onion production (1,298,749 M/T) in 2016.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.57-72
• /
• 2018

Organic agriculture seeks sustainable agriculture. Organic agriculture is based on circulating agriculture of a family farm unit. However, as of the end of 2016, only 33 out of the total organic farming farms were implementing Crop-Livestock cycling organic farming. The reason seems to be a matter of income after all. The optimal size combination refers to the scale by which family farms can maintain their quality of life while engaging in farming activities. In other words. it is a farm scale that maintains optimal income through stable labor costs. In the meantime, there has been no previous study on the optimal economical combination of Crop-Livestock cycling farming. Choi (2016) analyzed whether the economies of scope (EOS) were realized in the combined production by using the management data of the farmers who practiced Crop-Livestock cycling organic farming for four years. As a result, it has been revealed that the EOS measurement value is 0 or more so the economies of scope are being realized. Therefore, the purpose of this empirical analysis is to identify farm incomes under this circumstance. It is assumed that the optimum production is achieved by balancing the total income curve and the total cost curve in the optimal scale production range. The results of the analysis are as follows. First, the income after the conversion to Crop-Livestock cycling farming was 44,789,280 won, the sum of the seedling-livestock sector, which was 17,873,120 won higher when the non-Crop-Livestock cycling farming was assumed. The same is true for 2014 and 2015. The reason for this is that pig droppings were composted from organic seedlings, and the cost of selling pork was 150,000 won/per pig more expensive even though the manufacturing cost of organic feeds was higher than the purchasing cost. Secondly, this study simulated the result that the economic index varies when the farm size combination is changed by the farm size of 100% standard (S100) as of 2014. S130 is the increase in size from 100% of 2014, whereas S30 is the result of 3ha crop and 66 livestock (pigs). As a result of this simulation, Crop-Livestock cycling farming income decreased more than non-Crop-Livestock cycling farming as the farm size decreased, whereas the income decreased as the farm size increased. When the size was reduced below S50, the income tended to decrease. In this situation, EOS changed in the same direction. The results showed that when the farming size was reorganized and reduced to 50% compared to 2014, the income and income difference was the highest. At the same time, economies of scope (EOS) were the highest at 0.12985. In other words, it was found that the income of farm houses in a family farm unit sector was the best in the combination of 1.5ha crop agriculture and 110 livestock (pigs).

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.88-95
• /
• 2005

Even though the echocardiograph has been recognized as the method of choice among various diagnostic tools to detect congestive heart failure (CHF), there were some limitations in relation to the consumption of time, labor and process. We analyzed results of N-terminal probrain-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and various parameters of the echocardiographic findings to clarify the diagnostic usefulness of NT-proBNP in detecting patients with CHF. We analyzed the sera from total of 242 cases from in-patients and out-patients, which were requested from the cardiovascular section of department of Internal Medicine at Chungnam National University Hospital from March 2003 to May 2004. The procedures were performed in order as shown below; sampling, NT-proBNP analysis, data acquisition and data analysis. All data including personal information and echocardiographic findings ware acquired by medical record review. When classifying the study population into six groups according to the degree of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), the serum level of NT-proBNP was higher in the group with 51-60% of LVEF (P=0.023). There were low correlation between the serum level of NT-proBNP and various parameters of the echocardiographic findings with LVESD (r=0.1513), LVEDD (r=0.0831), LVEF (r=0.2035), IVST (r=0.03) and LVPWT (r=0.0728), respectively. When comparing NT-proBNP with atrial and/or ventricular enlargement, the patient group with both left atrial and left ventricular enlargement (p=0.186) or only left atrial (p=0.105) or only left ventricular enlargement (p=0.256) showed higher level of NT-proBNP without statistical significance than patient group with no enlargement. Searching the optimal cutoff of the serum level of NT-proBNP, the sensitivity (98.9%) and the specificity (100%) was highest at the cutoff of 300 pg/mL than any other cutoffs. These findings suggested that the analysis of NT-proBNP in serum might detect the patients with CHF earlier than with the echocardiograph, especially in patients with asymptomatic or mild symptomatic CHF. In conclusion, NT-proBNP test was proved to be clinically useful to diagnose CHF patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.10
• /
• pp.4729-4733
• /
• 2016

Objectives: Lung cancer is a major public health problem and one of the most costly illnesses. The study aimed to estimate the economic burden of lung cancer in Iran in 2014. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the direct and indirect costs for patients with lung cancer using a prevalence-based approach. A human capital approach was employed to estimate the indirect costs. Data were obtained from several sources such as through patient interview using structured questionnaire, medical records, the GLOBOCAN databases, the Iranian Statistical Center, the Iranian Ministry of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Results: The economic burden of lung cancer in Iran in the year 2014 was 3,225,998,555,090 IR. The main components of the cost were associated with mortality (81.9 %) and hospitalization (7.6 %). The costs of direct medical care, non-medical aspects, patient time, and mortality accounted for 10.8%, 2.7%, 4.5%, and 81.5% of the total cost, respectively. Conclusion: Findings from this study indicated that the economic burden of lung cancer is substantial both to Iran's health system and to society as a whole. Early diagnosis, strengthening cancer prevention, implementing new cancer therapy and medical technology, and effective smoking-cessation interventions could offset some of the costs associated with lung cancer in Iran.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
• /
• v.12 no.1 s.28
• /
• pp.188-202
• /
• 2006

With large corporations entering into the foodservice market, competitions among those foodservice providers became intense, leading to differentiated quality services in terms of portioning out the meal, its portion and waiting time, not to mention food quality. The purpose of providing foodservice is to satisfy its customers, to secure optimum level of profits, and attain continuous quality improvement. To have such purpose attained, all other factors affecting the foodservice should be allowed to play a role. The intensity of the work performed by the employees should be maintained at a steady level and systematically controlled. 'Service First’ principles upholding that customer satisfaction comes from good service should be applied at all times; customer satisfaction comes from the satisfaction of the employees. Customer satisfaction through good service will contribute to an increase in revenue which we get by subtracting operating expenses from the total sales, as it will lead to concluding a long-term supply contract or renewing the existing contract. To keep the operating expenses to the minimum level, it is important to effectively perform the cost control. Since personnel expenses occupy a large portion of the operating expenses, it is imperative to effectively control the labor costs. For this reason, this study will present an effective program for disposition of men with a large organization being centered around, where the number of people served at the mess hall varies greatly depending on a day of the week and a mealtime of the day.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.279-284
• /
• 2011

Protected vegetable production area is greater than 26% of the total vegetable production area in Korea, and portion of protected production area is increasing for flowers and fruits. To secure stable productivity and profitability, continuous and intensive monitoring and control of protected crop production environment is critical, which is labor- and time-consuming. Failure to maintain proper environmental conditions (e.g., light, temperature, humidity) leads to significant damage to crop growth and quality, therefore farmers should visit or be present close to the production area. To overcome these problems, application of remote monitoring and control of crop production environment has been increasing. Wireless monitoring and control systems have used CDMA, internet, and smart phone communications. Levels of technology adoption are different for farmers' needs for their cropping systems. In this paper, potential of wireless remote monitoring of protected agricultural environment using CDMA SMS text messages was reported. Monitoring variables were outside weather (precipitation, wind direction and velocity, temperature, and humidity), inside ambient condition (temperature, humidity, $CO_2$ level, and light intensity), irrigation status (irrigation flow rate and pressure), and soil condition (volumetric water content and matric potential). Scenarios and data formats for environment monitoring were devised, tested, and compared. Results of this study would provide useful information for adoption of wireless remote monitoring techniques by farmers.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.415-420
• /
• 1990

To prevent red pepper from post harvest decay and to reduce the labor and drying expenses, the red pepper paste was directly prepared from fresh red pepper. The characteristics of red pepper paste and processing properties were investigated, and the effect of salt and heat on product quality during processing and storage were studied. After the processed red pepper paste was stored at room temperature, $5^{\circ}C\;and\;-3^{\circ}C$ without light for 6 months, kimchi was prepared with the stored red pepper paste to evaluate any quality change. The weight and pH of pericarp were 73.2% of total and 5.0, respectively. Addition of 10% salt to the paste decreased the pH of paste, reducing the sterilization time down to 10 min against growth of Clostridium botulinum. Thermal diffusivity of paste after pasteurization was $1.190{\times}10cm^{-7}/sec$, which was lower than control, probably due to air in pouch. The red pepper paste with 10% salt added, followed by sterilization for 10 min, could be preserved for over 6 months at $5^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.101-107
• /
• 2012

The statistics of industrial accident reported by ministry of Employment and Labor denoted a significant increase of musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs) after 1993, and showed the higher incident rate by 71.3% over the overall worker's disorders. Also, it was expected that Korean society will become the post-aged society in 2026 with 20.8% of elderly who is over 65 years old. The reports suggest possible problems caused by the older worker known to have reduced working ability than the young counterparts. On this basis, the goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between MSDs symptoms and work ability in the shipbuilding industry. To achieve this goal, this study distributed a questionnaire for total 1,244 shipbuilding employers, and used 910 employers' reports which revealed validity for this study. The questionnaire included the MSDs symptoms report developed by the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Association(KOSHA) and the work ability index(WAI) developed by Finnish Institute of Occupational Health(FIOH). Results showed no relationship between MSDs symptoms and age, years of work and exercise. Also, the work ability was increased until 44 years old, but it was decreased after that time because of the reduced physical capacity. Meanwhile, the years of work and exercise have positive correlation with work ability. However, the results revealed significant relationships between WAI and age, years of work, task characteristics and exercise. All together, the MSDs symptoms have a close relationship with the work ability in that the work ability of workers with the MSDs symptoms was reduced. This study may suggest the needs of more efforts and attention on the MSDs prevention to increase the work ability.