• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.212-217
• /
• 2011

Purpose: Since 2005, the Ministry of Health & Welfare has provided financial support to promote palliative care for terminal cancer patients. We analyzed how palliative care facilities used the funding between 2006 and 2010. Methods: Frequency analysis was conducted by the item of expenditure based on fiscal reports of the palliative care facilities. Linear regression analysis was performed to examine a trend over time. Kruskal-Wallis test and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used to compare expenditure items, the number of provision of financial support and type of palliative care units. Results: About a half of the fund was spent to pay care givers salary, improve facilities and purchase equipment regardless of the year, the number of financial support provided or facility type. By year, the operation cost for palliative care program and the education cost for health care workers have significantly increased in linear regression analysis (P<0.01). However, the amount of financial support for the low income group has decreased over years (P=0.024). This trend was affected by evaluation criteria and weight. Conclusion: The government aid for palliative care units has been used to improve facilities and equipment. Moreover, desirable changes were noted such as a higher portion of expenses for program operation and care giver training to enhance the quality of care. However, the evaluation criteria need to be adjusted to prevent any further decrease in the support provided to the low income group.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.163-174
• /
• 2017

This study analyzed how Korean firms' recapitalization affects their capital structure decision and firm value. Recapitalization was categorized into three groups according to the influence of the debt to equity ratio: debt ratio-increasing-recapitalization(capital reduction with refund, cash dividend), debt ratio-unchanging-recapitalization (capital reduction without refund, retirement of repurchased stocks), and debt ratio-decreasing-recapitalization(exercise the rights for convertible bonds, bond with stock warrants, exchangeable bonds and stock options). This article highlights how the relationship between the firms' recapitalization and the capital structure decision driven by the change in debt to equity ratio through the recapitalization should affect the firm value. The whole recapitalization sample used for this analysis comprised 22,814 enterprises listed on the Korea Exchange that were analyzed over the 16-year period from 2000 to 2015. To summarize the results of this Panel Data Analysis, firstly, when a firm executes debt ratio-increasing-recapitalization and debt ratio-decreasing-recapitalization at the period of t-1, the debt to equity ratio, which is increased or decreased, should affect the firm's debt capacity in the same period, then, at the period of t, the firm establishes a leverage policy to readjust the debt to equity ratio the other way around. These adjustments of debt-paying-ability from the leverage policy, including the capital structure decision, finally affect the firm value. Secondly, when a firm implements the debt ratio-unchanging-recapitalization in the period of t-1, the debt to equity ratio, which is neutral, should not affect the firm's capital structure decision. But, the firm value is positively affected by the influence of that recapitalization. Conclusively, we acknowledge a firm which carries out the recapitalization balances its capital structure to the optimal level of leverage and that the capital structure decision positively affects the corporate value.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.61-73
• /
• 2011

The aim of this study was to develop a reliable dietary questionnaire to assess human exposure to food-borne hazards. Eleven food-borne hazards were chosen as a priority control list through a literature review and advisory committees. The 11 food-borne hazards were phthalate, aflatoxin, bisphenol A, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxin, polychlorinated biphenyls, mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, and acrylamide. The characteristics, exposure level, and paths of these hazards were reviewed, and questionnaire items were identified to assess human exposure from the literature. A questionnaire was developed for each selected food based on its characteristics. Based on the items in the individual questionnaires, a comprehensive questionnaire, which contained demographic characteristics, job information, socioeconomic factors, health related lifestyles, and dietary behaviors, was developed. A 99-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess food-borne hazard exposure was also developed. The FFQ included frequency of food intake during the previous year, container type for purchasing and storing food, and cooking method. The questionnaire developed in this study could be applied to assess dietary factors during an exposure assessment of food-borne hazards in a large population. A validation study for the questionnaire is needed before applying it to surveys.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.51 no.1
• /
• pp.87-102
• /
• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a valid instrument for measuring the dietary quality and behaviors of Korean elderly. Methods: The development of the Nutrition Quotient for Elderly (NQ-E) was conducted in three steps: item generation, item reduction, and validation. The 41 items of the NQ-E checklist were derived from a systematic literature review, expert in-depth interviews, statistical analyses of the fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, and national nutrition policies and recommendations. Pearson's correlation was used to determine the level of agreement between the questionnaires and nutrient intake level, and 24 items were selected for a nationwide survey. A total of 1,000 nationwide elderly subjects completed the checklist questionnaire. The construct validity of the NQ-E was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis, LISREL. Results: The nineteen checklist items were used as final items for NQ-E. Checklist items were composed of four-factors: food behavior (6 items), balance (4 items), diversity (6 items), and moderation (3 items). The standardized path coefficients were used as the weights of the items. The NQ-E and four-factor scores were calculated according to the obtained weights of the questionnaire items. Conclusion: NQ-E would be a useful tool for assessing the food behavior and dietary quality of the elderly.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.9-19
• /
• 2011

This study aimed to investigate the effect of night temperature on tomato and grafted watermelon seedlings, particularly, shoot height, leaf area, stem diameter, and total dry weight and relationship among the growth parameters which are used to evaluate healthy seedling. Plants were grown at 10, 15, and $20^{\circ}C$. Leaf area index (LAI) and total dry weight of tomato seedlings weight deceased more significantly under $10^{\circ}C$ than other night temperature regimes. In grafted watermelon seedlings, shoot height increased shapely and stem diameter decreased under $20^{\circ}C$. Increasing the integral temperature, leaf area of tomato seedlings under $10^{\circ}C$ decreased and shoot height of grafted watermelon seedlings increased although temperature integrals are same. The relationships among the growth parameter were changed upon the night temperature. Stem diameters of tomato seedlings had upward tendency with increase of shoot height, but there were no significant differences among night temperature regimes. Shoot hight of grafted watermelon seedlings had no relationship with shoot height. These results indicate that shoot height and stem diameter of tomato seedlings is not appropriate for assessing seedlings quality but shoot height of grafted watermelon seedlings with stem diameter is available.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Child Welfare
• /
• no.56
• /
• pp.133-164
• /
• 2016

This study investigated the effect of housing poverty in childhood on adolescents' subjective well-being. Specifically, this study examined whether the major factors that have been known to affect adolescents' well-being (i.e., family relationships, peer relationships, school adjustment etc.) mediated the relationship between housing poverty and adolescents' well-being. And then this study aimed to present an empirical evidence for establishing policies against housing poverty in order to enhance adolescent's subjective happiness. Data were derived from the $1^{st}$, $4^{th}$, and $7^{th}$ surveys of the Korea Welfare Panel Study(KOWEPS), and the sample included. 512 high school children in the $7^{th}$ survey. This study utilized structural equation modeling. Housing poverty was measured by the sub-minimum standard housing condition and the household's burden of housing expenditure. Family relationship, as a mediator, was measured by parental involvement in education, parental monitoring, and family conflicts. Another mediator, school adjustment was measured by school environment and school bonding, and the last mediator, peer relationship was measured by friend attachment and peer attachment. The results showed that housing poverty had significant negative effects on the adolescents' subjective well-being. The sub-minimum standard housing condition with inadequate size and facilities negatively affected adolescents' relationships with family directly and subjective well-being indirectly. In addition, the negative family relationships due to the sub-minimum standard housing condition negatively affected adolescents' subjective well-being through school adjustment and peer relationships. The greater the proportion of income a household spends on housing expenditure, the less likely for adolescents to report positive well-being. The sub-minimum standard housing condition had indirect effects through family relationships, whereas the household's housing expenditure directly affected adolescents' subjective well-being. This study suggested the necessity of interventions to alleviate housing poverty for adolescents' families and lays the groundwork for housing poverty policies in Korea.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.139-164
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the value chain efficiency of Korean port investment by using the newly developed multi-year and multi-stage value chain efficiency model of DEA(Data Envelopment Analysis). Inputs[port investment amount, cargo handling capacity, and berthing capacity], and outputs[cargo handling amount, number of ship calls, revenue, and score of customer service satisfaction] are used during 14 years(1994-2007) for 20 Korean seaports by using two kinds of DEA models. Empirical main results are as follows: First, Model 1 shows that the ranking order of multi-stage value chain efficiency is Stage 2, Stage 3-1, Stage 1, and Stage 3-2. And according to the value chain average efficiency scores, ranking order is stages 2, 1, 3-1, and 3-2. In Model 2, 3(Incheon, Mogpo, and Jeju) out of 9 ports show the ranking order of Stages 2, 3-2, 3-1, and 1. And value chain average efficiency scores rank in order of Stages 2, 3-2, 3-1, and 1. Second, the difference among the value chain efficiency scores of each stage comes from the efficiency deterioration of all ports except Stages 2 and 1 in Model 1. In Model 2, value chain efficiency scores among the Stages 3-1, 3-2 compared to Stage 1 were deteriorated. The main policy implication based on the findings of this study is that the manager of port investment and management of Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs in Korea should introduce the multi-year, multi-stage value chain efficiency method for deciding the port investment amount and evaluating the effect of port investment after considering the empirical results of this paper carefully.

• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.209-232
• /
• 2012

The purposes of this study is to calculate the gender-based Life Expectancy and Disability Free Life Expectancy of 65-year-olds in accordance with the regions of 16 in Korea based on the years 2005 and 2010 by using the Sullivan method. We used the Census in 2005, 2010, the Korea National Statistical Office(10% sample). We also reviewed examining the changes in LE and DFLE and understanding the relevance between the DFLE of 65-year-olds of the year 2010 and related factors. As a result of this study, it was shown that the LE of the group of all 65-year-old in Korea increased from 18.15 years in 2005 to 19.75 years in 2010 and DFLE increased from 11.41 years in 2005 to 11.64 years in 2010. Regionally, the highest LE for total of 65-year-olds was found to be the entire Jeju area and DFLE was the highest in the city of Seoul. And the highest LE and the highest DFLE for 65-year-old male were found to be in the city of Seoul. Regarding the regional LE of 65-year-old female, both in 2005 and 2010 Jeju area was seen to be the highest. The results of a correlation analysis showed that the DFLE of 65-year-olds in 2010 was found to be increasing with high LE and high population density and in regions with low average temperatures, low number of beds and low age standardized death rates of malignant neoplasms and circulatory disease.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.29-35
• /
• 2011

This study not only investigates emergency medical personnel's posttraumatic stress(PTS), social support, work burden, and coping style but also identifies related factors which were exerted influence on PTS and active coping method of emergency medical personnels among the firefighters. The data were gathered from 143 emergency medical personnels who were receiving training. The data were collected by IES-R, consisting of twenty-two questions that determine the level of PTS, method used in Cho's research(2000) that deal with work burden, method used in Oh's article (2006) relating to social support, and sixty-two questions that deals with coping methods. Then the data gathered were analyzed using SPSSWIN 14.0 program. PTS of general characteristics showed significant difference in age, marriage status, education, and position. High risk group of PTS was 74(51.7%). Work burden, active and passive coping method, and three symptoms in PTS are significantly high(p=0.000) in high risk group. PTS was correlated with work burden(r=0.508, p=0.000), active coping method(r=0.375, p=0.000), and passive coping method(r=0.505, p=0.000) but not with social support. Related factors of PTS were work burden(0.371) and passive coping method(0.366). Also related factors of high risk group of PTS were work burden(odds ratio=1.064, 95% confidence interval:1.031-1.103) and passive coping(odds ratio=1.050, 95% confidence interval:1.022-1.080). Related factors of active coping method were PTS(0.392) and social support(0.158). To minimize the PTS of emergency medical personnels, the new policy should decrease their work burden and passive coping method and strengthen the social support to encourage active coping method.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.43 no.6
• /
• pp.789-792
• /
• 2010

Major impacts of climate change expert that soil erosion rate may increase during the $21^{st}$ century. This study was conducted to assess the potential impacts of climate change on soil erosion by water in Korea. The soil loss was estimated for regions with the potential risk of soil erosion on a national scale. For computation, Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) with rainfall and runoff erosivity factors (R), cover management factors (C), support practice factors (P) and revised USLE with soil erodibility factors (K) and topographic factors (LS) were used. RUSLE, the revised version of USLE, was modified for Korean conditions and re-evaluate to estimate the national-scale of soil loss based on the digital soil maps for Korea. The change of precipitation for 2010 to 2090s were predicted under A1B scenarios made by National Institute of Meteorological Research in Korea. Future soil loss was predicted based on a change of R factor. As results, the predicted precipitations were increased by 6.7% for 2010 to 2030s, 9.5% for 2040 to 2060s and 190% for 2070 to 2090s, respectively. The total soil loss from uplands in 2005 was estimated approximately $28{\times}10^6$ ton. Total soil losses were estimated as $31{\times}10^6$ ton in 2010 to 2030s, $31{\times}10^6$ ton in 2040 to 2060s and $33{\times}10^6$ ton in 2070 to 2090s, respectively. As precipitation increased by 17% in the end of $21^{st}$ century, the total soil loss was increased by 12.9%. Overall, these results emphasize the significance of precipitation. However, it should be noted that when precipitation becomes insignificant, the results may turn out to be complex due to the large interaction among plant biomass, runoff and erosion. This may cause increase or decrease the overall erosion.