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An Operations Study on a Home Health Nursing Demonstration Program for the Patients Discharged with Chronic Residual Health Care Problems (추후관리가 필요한 만성질환 퇴원환자 가정간호 시범사업 운영 연구)

  • 홍여신;이은옥;이소우;김매자;홍경자;서문자;이영자;박정호;송미순
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.227-248
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    • 1990
  • The study was conceived in relation to a concern over the growing gap between the needs of chronic patients and the availability of care from the current health care system in Korea. Patients with agonizing chronic pain, discomfort, despair and disability are left with helplessly unprepared families with little help from the acute care oriented health care system after discharge from hospital. There is a great need for the development of an alternative means of quality care that is economically feasible and culturally adaptible to our society. Thus, the study was designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of home heath care as an alternative to bridge the existing gap between the patients' needs and the current practice of health care. The study specifically purports to test the effects of home care on health expenditure, readmission, job retention, compliance to health care regime, general conditions, complications, and self-care knowledge and practices. The study was guided by the operations research method advocated by the Primary Health Care Operations Research Institute(PRICOR) which constitutes 3 stages of research : namely, problem analysis solution development, and solution validation. The first step in the operations research was field preparation to develop the necessary consensus and cooperation. This was done through the formation of a consulting body at the hospital and a steering committee among the researchers. For the stage of problem analysis, the Annual Report of Seoul National University Hospital and the patients records for last 5 years were reviewed and selective patient interviews were conducted to find out the magnitude of chronic health problems and areas of unmect health care needs to finally decide on the kinds of health problems to study. On the basis of problem analysis, the solution development stage was devoted to home care program development asa solution alternative. Assessment tools, teaching guidelines and care protocols were developed and tested for their validity. The final stage was the stage of experimentation and evaluation. Patients with liver diseases, hemiplegic and diabetic conditions were selected as study samples. Discharge evaluation, follow up home care, measurement and evaluation were carried out according to the protocols of care and measurement plan for each patient for the period of 6 months after discharge. The study was carried out for the period from Jan. 1987 to Dec. 1989. The following are the results of the study presented according to the hypotheses set forth for the study ; 1. Total expenditures for the period of study were not reduced for the experimental group, however, since the cost per hospital visit is about 4 times as great as the cost per home visit, the effect of cost saving by home care will become a reality as home care replaces part of the hospital visits. 2. The effect on the rate of readmission and job retention was found to be statistically nonsignificant though the number of readmission was less among the experimental group receiving home care. 3. The effect on compliance to the health care regime was found to be statistically significant at the 5% level for hepatopathic and diabetic patients. 4. Education on diet, rest and excise, and medication through home care had an effect on improved liver function test scores, prevention of complications and self - care knowledge in hepatopathic patients at a statistically significant level. 5. In hemiplegic patient, home care had an effect on increased grasping power at a significant level. However. there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the level of compliane, prevention of complications or in self-care practices. 6. In diabetic patients, there was no difference between the experimental and control groups in scores of laboratory tests, appearance of complications, and self-care knowledge or self -care practices. The above findings indicate that a home care program instituted for such short term as 6 months period could not totally demonstrate its effectiveness at a statistically significant level by quantitative analysis however, what was shown in part in this analysis, and in the continuous consultation sought by those who had been in the experimental group, is that home health care has a great potential in retarding or preventing pathological progress, facilitating rehabilitative and productive life, and improving quality of life by adding comfort, confidence and strength to patients and their families. For the further studies of this kind with chronic patients it is recommended that a sample of newly diagnosed patients be followed up for a longer period of time with more frequent observations to demonstrate a more dear- cut picture of the effectiveness of home care.

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Effect of Diet Regimen of Sasang Constitution on Health Status (사상체질별 식이 섭생이 건강에 미치는 영향 -한방건강증진센터 시범운영을 위한 기초연구-)

  • Kim, Kwuy-Bun;Cho, Kyoul-Ja;Lee, Hyang-Yeon;Shin, Hye-Sook;Kim, Kwang-Joo;Moon, Heui-Ja;Kim, Yoon-Hee;Kang, Hyun-Sook;Park, Shin-Ae;Ji, Eun-Sun
    • Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.18-31
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    • 2002
  • This study, as a basic research to manage a Chinese Medicine Health Promotion Center by way of showing an example, is a before and after experiment research for simple group to verify a difference with cholesterol, health status and perception of health in order to confirm a effectiveness of diet and regimen according to the 4th status of physical constitution. Research object was chosen of 42 persons who operate a physical constitutional dietary regimen among them after selecting professors and clinical nurses (55 persons) majoring in the science of nursing who participated in Chinese Medicine-oriented Nurse Training Course from Aug. of 2001 to Feb. of 2002 all over the country. Diagnostic tools for physical constitution was used of the questionary that is currently consisted of physical constitution grouping test in Eastern & Western Diagnose Center of K Medical Center, and rating of health status was used of the tool that standardized CMI(Cornell Medical Index) to be available for Korean, and perception measurement for health status was used of a visual analogue scale for the health status that each one perceive personally, and physiological status was measured of cholesterol in blood. Analysis for the collected data was carried out by percentage, $X^2$ test, paired t-test according to research object by using SPSS, and the results of this study are as follows. 1) There was no difference with cholesterol before or after the experiment for objects. As a result of estimation about difference with health status by areas before or after the experiment, there are more improved result in eyes, ears, digestive organs, bones and sinews organs, frequency of a disorder, habit, adaptation status, angry, healthy status than before the experiment. As a whole, after the experiment the health was more improved than before the experiment. As the result to inspect a difference of health perception between before and after experiment, after the experiment the health perception level was improved than before, however there was no meaningful differences. 2) As the result to inspect a difference of cholesterol between before and after experiment according to object's physical constitution, in the case of So-yang-in(a person with the minimum male: according to the male and female principles(the sun and the moon)) among the 4th status of physical constitution there was only meaningful difference statistically, however, after the experiment their cholesterol's value was increased. As the result to inspect the difference of health status between before and after the experiment according to physical constitution, all of Ta-um-in(a person with maximum the female), So-yang-in(with the minimum male), So-um-in(with the minimum female) had a meaningful difference before and after the experiment, which means that in all case by physical constitutional groups, after the experiment their health status was more improved than before the experiment. As the result to inspect a difference of health perception between before and after according to physical constitutions, in the case of Tae-um-in and So-um-in, average score after the experiment was risen than before the experiment so that it means that the level of health perception was improved, however, there was no meaning statistically. According to the above results, if continuous diet and regimen by each physical constitutions could be implemented, it is certain that the health could be maintained and promoted. And, what we are healthy is for oneself to feel it subjectively. However, I think that cholesterol score in blood that we can view objectively could be changed distinctly if we can implement a strict diet and regimen. Accordingly, it is necessary for a method and period of experiment to be more strict and longer. According to the above results, I would like to suggest as follows. 1) In order to understand health status by Korean's physical constitutions and to generalize it, these research will be repeated against much more objects that could be selected by proper grouping method to consider a representative. 2) It is necessary for a research to inspect health status by physical constitution by developing a health status measurement tool that has higher confidence and propriety based on physical constitutional theory.

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Glass Dissolution Rates From MCC-1 and Flow-Through Tests

  • Jeong, Seung-Young
    • Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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    • 2004.06a
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    • pp.257-258
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    • 2004
  • The dose from radionuclides released from high-level radioactive waste (HLW) glasses as they corrode must be taken into account when assessing the performance of a disposal system. In the performance assessment (PA) calculations conducted for the proposed Yucca Mountain, Nevada, disposal system, the release of radionuclides is conservatively assumed to occur at the same rate the glass matrix dissolves. A simple model was developed to calculate the glass dissolution rate of HLW glasses in these PA calculations [1]. For the PA calculations that were conducted for Site Recommendation, it was necessary to identify ranges of parameter values that bounded the dissolution rates of the wide range of HLW glass compositions that will be disposed. The values and ranges of the model parameters for the pH and temperature dependencies were extracted from the results of SPFT, static leach tests, and Soxhlet tests available in the literature. Static leach tests were conducted with a range of glass compositions to measure values for the glass composition parameter. The glass dissolution rate depends on temperature, pH, and the compositions of the glass and solution, The dissolution rate is calculated using Eq. 1: $rate{\;}={\;}k_{o}10^{(ph){\eta})}{\cdot}e^{(-Ea/RT)}{\cdot}(1-Q/K){\;}+{\;}k_{long}$ where $k_{0},\;{\eta}$ and Eaare the parameters for glass composition, pH, $\eta$ and temperature dependence, respectively, and R is the gas constant. The term (1-Q/K) is the affinity term, where Q is the ion activity product of the solution and K is the pseudo-equilibrium constant for the glass. Values of the parameters $k_{0},\;{\eta}\;and\;E_{a}$ are the parameters for glass composition, pH, and temperature dependence, respectively, and R is the gas constant. The term (1-Q/C) is the affinity term, where Q is the ion activity product of the solution and K is the pseudo-equilibrium constant for the glass. Values of the parameters $k_0$, and Ea are determined under test conditions where the value of Q is maintained near zero, so that the value of the affinity term remains near 1. The dissolution rate under conditions in which the value of the affinity term is near 1 is referred to as the forward rate. This is the highest dissolution rate that can occur at a particular pH and temperature. The value of the parameter K is determined from experiments in which the value of the ion activity product approaches the value of K. This results in a decrease in the value of the affinity term and the dissolution rate. The highly dilute solutions required to measure the forward rate and extract values for $k_0$, $\eta$, and Ea can be maintained by conducting dynamic tests in which the test solution is removed from the reaction cell and replaced with fresh solution. In the single-pass flow-through (PFT) test method, this is done by continuously pumping the test solution through the reaction cell. Alternatively, static tests can be conducted with sufficient solution volume that the solution concentrations of dissolved glass components do not increase significantly during the test. Both the SPFT and static tests can ve conducted for a wide range of pH values and temperatures. Both static and SPFt tests have short-comings. the SPFT test requires analysis of several solutions (typically 6-10) at each of several flow rates to determine the glass dissolution rate at each pH and temperature. As will be shown, the rate measured in an SPFt test depends on the solution flow rate. The solutions in static tests will eventually become concentrated enough to affect the dissolution rate. In both the SPFt and static test methods. a compromise is required between the need to minimize the effects of dissolved components on the dissolution rate and the need to attain solution concentrations that are high enough to analyze. In the paper, we compare the results of static leach tests and SPFT tests conducted with simple 5-component glass to confirm the equivalence of SPFT tests and static tests conducted with pH buffer solutions. Tests were conducted over the range pH values that are most relevant for waste glass disssolution in a disposal system. The glass and temperature used in the tests were selected to allow direct comparison with SPFT tests conducted previously. The ability to measure parameter values with more than one test method and an understanding of how the rate measured in each test is affected by various test parameters provides added confidence to the measured values. The dissolution rate of a simple 5-component glass was measured at pH values of 6.2, 8.3, and 9.6 and $70^{\circ}C$ using static tests and single-pass flow-through (SPFT) tests. Similar rates were measured with the two methods. However, the measured rates are about 10X higher than the rates measured previously for a glass having the same composition using an SPFT test method. Differences are attributed to effects of the solution flow rate on the glass dissolution reate and how the specific surface area of crushed glass is estimated. This comparison indicates the need to standardize the SPFT test procedure.

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An Effect of the Self-Regulation Program for Hypertensives -Synthesis & testing of Orem and Bandura's theory- (본태성 고혈압 환자의 자가간호증진을 위한 자기조절 프로그램 효과 -Orem이론과 Bandura이론의 합성과 검증-)

  • Park, Young-Im;Hong, Yeo-Shin
    • Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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    • v.5 no.2
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    • pp.109-129
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    • 1994
  • Chronic health problems has become a major concern and challenge to the health care professionals today. Especially hypertension, one of the leading primary cause of death in Korea, is a typical chronic disease requiring adequate and continuous management. Though these hypertensives need to maintain desirable health practice by themselves for their life time, many previous studies indicated that most of the essential hypertensives have no specific symptoms and thus, reluctant to follow appropriate medical regimens causing the condition further aggravated and complicated. Self-care is an essential factor that keeps chronic patients in control of their health and wellness. Thus this study was conducted to identify the effect of the comprehensive self-regulation program as a nursing intervention on the promotion self-care performance and improvement in physical parameters of hypertensives. For this purpose, a one group quasi-experimental research with pre and post test design was used. The subjects of the study was consisted of thirty persons with mild or moderate essential hypertension from two companies in Cheong-ju city. The whole program was carried out from October, 1993 to February, 1994. The self-regulation program was consisted with group education on hypertension and self-care, self-regulation including the blood pressure self-monitoring and recording, recording of daily self-care activities, and encouraging and reinforcing self-efficacy through verbal persuation and enactive attainment. The subjects were asked to measure their own blood pressure by themselves twice per day and to record blood pressure and the daily self-care performance according to the instructions provided during the whole period of 9 weeks. The instruments used for data collection in this study were as follows : 1) Instruments used for measuring the knowledge about hypertension, multiple health locus of control, and perceived benifits and barriers were adapted from previous studies and modified by author to be fit for the subjects. 2) Self-efficacy scale and self-care performance record were developed by the author. 3) Physiological parameters included systolic / diastolic blood pressure, body weight, level of blood cholesterol, and 24hour ambulatory blood pressure. The post-experimental Cronbach's Alpha as the reliability test of scales were 0.703-0.897, an appropriate level of confidence. The effect of the program was analyzed by experimental stages ; the first week, the fifth week, and the ninth week since the experimental imput began. Data were analyzed by the SPSS PC+ program with paired t-test and t-test, repeated measure ANOVA, and pearson's correlation to de termine the effect of program. The results were as follows : 1) After the self-regulation program, scores on knowledge(t=-2.41, p=.011), perceived self-efficacy (F=5.60, p=.001), self-care performance(F=22.31, p=.0001) were significantly higher than those before the program. 2) After the program, both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly lower than those before the program(F=10.89 -13.11, p=.0001). However in 24hour ambulatory blood pressure, systolic mean pressure was nearly significantly lower, but not in diastolic mean pressure. 3) After the program, the body weight was significant decresed(t=5.53, p=.0001), but the blood cholesterol level was not decreased significantly except in those cases with higher cholesterol level. 4) There were significant relationships between changes in self-care performance and diastolic pressure at 1st week (r=.3389, p=.033) and changes in self-care performance and systolic pressure at 9th week(r=.3651, p=.024). 5) There were significant relationship between perceived self-efficacy and self-care performance at 5th week(r=.5313, p=.001) and 9th week (r=.3026, p=.052). 6) After the program, internal health locus of control and perceived benefits did not show significant change, but perceived barriers was significantly lower than those before the program (t=3.57, p=.0001). From the above results, it can be concluded that 1) The self-regulation program is an effective nursing strategy to promote self-care performance of hypertensives and to lower the blood pressure. Thus this program can be recommended in the management of the hypertensives in workplaces and community settings. 2) The synthesis of Orem's self-care theory and Bandura's self-regulation & self-efficacy theory in this study was proved to enhance explanation and prediction of the change of self-care behavior. Thus the result of the study would contribute in development of the self-care theory and an expansion of practice-theory.

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The Accuracy of the Table Movement During a Whole Body Scan (전신 영상 검사 시행 시 테이블 이동속도의 정확성에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Ju-Young;Jung, Woo-Young;Jung, Eun-Mi;Dong, Kyung-Rae
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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    • v.13 no.3
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    • pp.86-91
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    • 2009
  • Purpose: The whole body scan in Nuclear Medicine is a widely accepted examination and procedure. Especially, it is mainly used in bone, I-131, MIBI, and HMPAO WBC scans. The diverse uses of the whole body scan range from the HMPAO WBC scan with a speed of 13cm/min, to a whole body bone scan using the Onco. Flash technique with a speed of 30cm/min. The accuracy of table movement has a strong correlation with the image quality, and inaccuracy of speed could negatively affect the image quality. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of the table movement while considering the influence of the age of the equipment and the variability in the weight of the patients. Material and Methods: The study was conducted using two of Seoul Asan Medical Center's SIEMENS gamma cameras which are commonly used in our whole body study. The first one is the oldest gamma camera, an ECAM plus (installed in 2000), and the last is brand new one, a SYMBIA T2 (installed in 2008). Three trials were conducted with the tables moving at a different speed each time; 10, 15 and 30 cm/min. The tables' speeds were measured by checking how long it took for the table to move 10cm, and this was repeated every 10cm until the table reached 100 cm. With an average body weight of the patients of about 60~70 kg, the table speed was measured with weights of 0 kg, 66 kg and 110 kg placed on the table, then compared among conditions. Results: The coefficient of variance (CV) of the ECAM plus showed 1.23, 1.42, 2.02 respectively when the table movement speeds were set at 10, 15, and 30 centimeters per minute. Under the same conditions, the SYMBIA T2 showed 1.23, 1.83 and 2.28 respectively. As table movement speed more, the variance of CV as the speed increases. When the patient body weight was set to 0, 66 and 110kg, the CV values of both cameras showed 0.96, 1.45, 2.08 (0 Kg), 1.32, 1.72, 2.27 (66 Kg) and 1.37, 1.73, 2.14 (110 Kg). There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in 95 percent of confidence intervals and measured CV values were acceptable. However, the CV value of the SYMBIA T2 was relatively larger than the ECAM plus. Conclusion: The scan speed of the whole body scan is predetermined based on which examination is being performed. It is possible for the accuracy of the speed to be affected, such as the age of the equipment, the state of the bearings or the weight of a patient. These factors can have a negative impact on the diagnostic consistency and the image quality. Therefore, periodic quality control should be needed on the gamma cameras currently being used, focusing on the table movement speed in order to maintain accuracy and reproducibility.

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A Study of School Nursing Activity Performed by School Nurses and Teachers Holding Additional School Health (부산지역 중등학교 양호교사 및 양호겸직교사의 학교보건업무 활동 양상)

  • Park Jung Za;Jung Moon Sook
    • Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.17-32
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    • 1995
  • The purpose of this study was to improve upon school health by understanding the present status of school health and escpecially to investigate the performance rate of regular health instruction. 261 schools, including middle and high schools enrolled in the Busan Educational Association, were sent Questionnaires. Data was collected from the 25th of January to the 10th of April, 1994. 229 subjects who responded to the Questionnaires were finally analyzed as samples. Among them, 127 were school nurses and 102 were teachers acting in a school health capacity. The results of this study are summerized as follows: Of the teachers holding additional school health responsibilities, $85.6\%$ worked in private schools. Many of them $(74.5\%)$ were formally dissatisfied with their ability to provide care because $85.3\%$ of them had never studied any school health. Some of them$(30.4\%)$ didn't know about the annual school nursing budget and $23.5\%$ of them hadn't taught any health education to students. In spite of this fact, they were placed in charge of a school health activity against their own will. There were statistically significant differences in the performance of school health affairs between nurses and teachers holding additional school health (p<0.001) as follows: annual school nursing budget, Health Program Planning and Evaluation, annual purchase price for medicines, average students cared for per day, average students who held at least one consultation per month and extra. Surely, the self-confidence of school nurses was higher than that of teachers with school health as an assigned responsibility. This was demonstrated by a significant statistical difference (p<0.01) in the responses by the two groups. $88.2\%$ of the school nurses and $73.5\%$ of teachers for school health thought that regular health instruction was necessary. But regular health education had been performed only by $32.8\%$ of respondents. Among them, 84% were school nurses and $16\%$ were teachers holding additional school health. Of the persons who performed regular health education, $69.3\%$ used less than $60\%$ of the health content of the athletic textbook. And $64\%$ of them said teaching materials were insufficient. Most of them $(69.4\%)$used home made lesson plans. which they compiled from various sources. There was a significant difference in the formality of the health lesson according to the concern of the school principal (p<0.01) and there was a significant difference in performing health education between school nurses and teachers holding additional school health (p<0.001) It appears that there are a lot of problems with providing school health care using people who are untrained. In a word, school health nurses with professional training are needed in order to perform the qualitative management for the health of the students. These days, regular health education is an indispensable part in making students improve their self-care abilities. Therefore a more effective and better defined program should be prepared for regular systematic health education. To resolve these problems, present laws and regulations related to school health should be revised considering the specialist's request for the improvement of school health. In addition, the concern and financial support of the government are essential.

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Recommending Core and Connecting Keywords of Research Area Using Social Network and Data Mining Techniques (소셜 네트워크와 데이터 마이닝 기법을 활용한 학문 분야 중심 및 융합 키워드 추천 서비스)

  • Cho, In-Dong;Kim, Nam-Gyu
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.127-138
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    • 2011
  • The core service of most research portal sites is providing relevant research papers to various researchers that match their research interests. This kind of service may only be effective and easy to use when a user can provide correct and concrete information about a paper such as the title, authors, and keywords. However, unfortunately, most users of this service are not acquainted with concrete bibliographic information. It implies that most users inevitably experience repeated trial and error attempts of keyword-based search. Especially, retrieving a relevant research paper is more difficult when a user is novice in the research domain and does not know appropriate keywords. In this case, a user should perform iterative searches as follows : i) perform an initial search with an arbitrary keyword, ii) acquire related keywords from the retrieved papers, and iii) perform another search again with the acquired keywords. This usage pattern implies that the level of service quality and user satisfaction of a portal site are strongly affected by the level of keyword management and searching mechanism. To overcome this kind of inefficiency, some leading research portal sites adopt the association rule mining-based keyword recommendation service that is similar to the product recommendation of online shopping malls. However, keyword recommendation only based on association analysis has limitation that it can show only a simple and direct relationship between two keywords. In other words, the association analysis itself is unable to present the complex relationships among many keywords in some adjacent research areas. To overcome this limitation, we propose the hybrid approach for establishing association network among keywords used in research papers. The keyword association network can be established by the following phases : i) a set of keywords specified in a certain paper are regarded as co-purchased items, ii) perform association analysis for the keywords and extract frequent patterns of keywords that satisfy predefined thresholds of confidence, support, and lift, and iii) schematize the frequent keyword patterns as a network to show the core keywords of each research area and connecting keywords among two or more research areas. To estimate the practical application of our approach, we performed a simple experiment with 600 keywords. The keywords are extracted from 131 research papers published in five prominent Korean journals in 2009. In the experiment, we used the SAS Enterprise Miner for association analysis and the R software for social network analysis. As the final outcome, we presented a network diagram and a cluster dendrogram for the keyword association network. We summarized the results in Section 4 of this paper. The main contribution of our proposed approach can be found in the following aspects : i) the keyword network can provide an initial roadmap of a research area to researchers who are novice in the domain, ii) a researcher can grasp the distribution of many keywords neighboring to a certain keyword, and iii) researchers can get some idea for converging different research areas by observing connecting keywords in the keyword association network. Further studies should include the following. First, the current version of our approach does not implement a standard meta-dictionary. For practical use, homonyms, synonyms, and multilingual problems should be resolved with a standard meta-dictionary. Additionally, more clear guidelines for clustering research areas and defining core and connecting keywords should be provided. Finally, intensive experiments not only on Korean research papers but also on international papers should be performed in further studies.

The Influence of Online Social Networking on Individual Virtual Competence and Task Performance in Organizations (온라인 네트워킹 활동이 가상협업 역량 및 업무성과에 미치는 영향)

  • Suh, A-Young;Shin, Kyung-Shik
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.39-69
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    • 2012
  • With the advent of communication technologies including electronic collaborative tools and conferencing systems provided over the Internet, virtual collaboration is becoming increasingly common in organizations. Virtual collaboration refers to an environment in which the people working together are interdependent in their tasks, share responsibility for outcomes, are geographically dispersed, and rely on mediated rather than face-to face, communication to produce an outcome. Research suggests that new sets of individual skill, knowledge, and ability (SKAs) are required to perform effectively in today's virtualized workplace, which is labeled as individual virtual competence. It is also argued that use of online social networking sites may influence not only individuals' daily lives but also their capability to manage their work-related relationships in organizations, which in turn leads to better performance. The existing research regarding (1) the relationship between virtual competence and task performance and (2) the relationship between online networking and task performance has been conducted based on different theoretical perspectives so that little is known about how online social networking and virtual competence interplay to predict individuals' task performance. To fill this gap, this study raises the following research questions: (1) What is the individual virtual competence required for better adjustment to the virtual collaboration environment? (2) How does online networking via diverse social network service sites influence individuals' task performance in organizations? (3) How do the joint effects of individual virtual competence and online networking influence task performance? To address these research questions, we first draw on the prior literature and derive four dimensions of individual virtual competence that are related with an individual's self-concept, knowledge and ability. Computer self-efficacy is defined as the extent to which an individual beliefs in his or her ability to use computer technology broadly. Remotework self-efficacy is defined as the extent to which an individual beliefs in his or her ability to work and perform joint tasks with others in virtual settings. Virtual media skill is defined as the degree of confidence of individuals to function in their work role without face-to-face interactions. Virtual social skill is an individual's skill level in using technologies to communicate in virtual settings to their full potential. It should be noted that the concept of virtual social skill is different from the self-efficacy and captures an individual's cognition-based ability to build social relationships with others in virtual settings. Next, we discuss how online networking influences both individual virtual competence and task performance based on the social network theory and the social learning theory. We argue that online networking may enhance individuals' capability in expanding their social networks with low costs. We also argue that online networking may enable individuals to learn the necessary skills regarding how they use technological functions, communicate with others, and share information and make social relations using the technical functions provided by electronic media, consequently increasing individual virtual competence. To examine the relationships among online networking, virtual competence, and task performance, we developed research models (the mediation, interaction, and additive models, respectively) by integrating the social network theory and the social learning theory. Using data from 112 employees of a virtualized company, we tested the proposed research models. The results of analysis partly support the mediation model in that online social networking positively influences individuals' computer self-efficacy, virtual social skill, and virtual media skill, which are key predictors of individuals' task performance. Furthermore, the results of the analysis partly support the interaction model in that the level of remotework self-efficacy moderates the relationship between online social networking and task performance. The results paint a picture of people adjusting to virtual collaboration that constrains and enables their task performance. This study contributes to research and practice. First, we suggest a shift of research focus to the individual level when examining virtual phenomena and theorize that online social networking can enhance individual virtual competence in some aspects. Second, we replicate and advance the prior competence literature by linking each component of virtual competence and objective task performance. The results of this study provide useful insights into how human resource responsibilities assess employees' weakness and strength when they organize virtualized groups or projects. Furthermore, it provides managers with insights into the kinds of development or training programs that they can engage in with their employees to advance their ability to undertake virtual work.

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Case Report of Radiotherapy to a Breast Cancer Patient with a Pacemaker (인공심장박동기가 이식된 유방암환자의 방사선 치료에 대한 사례 보고)

  • Chae, Seung-Hoon;Park, Jang-Pil;Lee, Yang-Hoon;Yoo, Suk-Hyun;Seong, Won-Mo;Kim, Kyu-Bo
    • The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.197-203
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    • 2012
  • Purpose: In this study, we considerate our radiation therapy process for the breast cancer patient implanted a pacemaker applying the machine movement surgery, shielding, beam selection. Materials and Methods: We perform radiation therapy to a 54 years old, breast cancer patient implanted a pacemaker. The patient underwent a surgery to move the position of a pacemaker to right side breast after consultation with cardiology department. Prescribed dose was 5,040 cGy and daily dose 180 cGy for 28 fractions. The 10 MV photon energy, field size 0/$9.5{\times}20$ cm, half beam and opposing portal irradiation are used. To find out appropriate thickness of shielding board, we carried out an experiment using a solid water phantom ($30{\times}30{\times}7$ cm), a Farmer-type chamber (TN30013, PTW, Germany) and a shielding board (Pb $28{\times}27{\times}0.1$ cm). We calculated expected absorbed dose to te pacemaker with absorb ratio and shielding ratio. In the PTP system (Eclipse, Varian, USA), we figured out how much radiation would be absorbed to the machine with and without shielding. First day of the radiation therapy, we measured head scatter to the pacemaker with MOSFET Dose Verification System (TN-RD-70-W, Medical Canada Ltd., Canada). Results: In the phantom measurement, we found out appropriate thickness was 2 mm of shielding board. In the RTP, when using 2 mm shielding the pacemaker will be absorbed 11.5~38.2 cGy and DVH is 77.3 cGy. In the first day of the therapy, 4.3 cGy was measured so 120.4 cGy was calculated during total therapy. The patient was free from any side effects, and the machine also normally functioned. Conclusion: As the report of association which have public confidence became superannuated, there is lack of data about new machine. We believe that radiation therapy to thiese kind of patients could be done successfully with co-operation, patient-suitable planning, accurate QA, frequent in-vivo dosimetry and monitoring.

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Meta-Analytic Approach to the Effects of Food Processing Treatment on Pesticide Residues in Agricultural Products (식품가공처리가 농산물 잔류농약에 미치는 영향에 대한 메타분석)

  • Kim, Nam Hoon;Park, Kyung Ai;Jung, So Young;Jo, Sung Ae;Kim, Yun Hee;Park, Hae Won;Lee, Jeong Mi;Lee, Sang Mi;Yu, In Sil;Jung, Kweon
    • The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.14-22
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    • 2016
  • A trial of combining and quantifying the effects of food processing on various pesticides was carried out using a meta-analysis. In this study, weighted mean response ratios and confidence intervals about the reduction of pesticide residue levels in fruits and vegetables treated with various food processing techniques were calculated using a statistical tool of meta-analysis. The weighted mean response ratios for tap water washing, peeling, blanching (boiling) and oven drying were 0.52, 0.14, 0.34 and 0.46, respectively. Among the food processing methods, peeling showed the greatest effect on the reduction of pesticide residues. Pearsons's correlation coefficient (r=0.624) between weighted mean response ratios and octanolwater partition coefficients ($logP_{ow}$) for twelve pesticides processed with tap water washing was confirmed as having a positive correlation in the range of significance level of 0.05 (p=0.03). This means that a pesticide having the higher value of $logP_{ow}$ was observed as showing a higher weighted mean response ratio. These results could be used effectively as a reference data for processing factor in risk assessment and as an information for consumers on how to reduce pesticide residues in agricultural products.