• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.123-127
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• 1978

The major objective of this research is to identify those hospital characteristics that best explain cost variation among hospitals and to formulate linear models that can predict hospital costs. Specific emphasis is placed on hospital output, that is, the identification of diagnosis related patient groups (DRGs) which are medically meaningful and demonstrate similar patterns of hospital resource consumption. A casemix index is developed based on the DRGs identified. Considering the common problems encountered in previous hospital cost research, the following study requirements are estab-lished for fulfilling the objectives of this research: 1. Selection of hospitals that exercise similar medical and fiscal practices. 2. Identification of an appropriate data collection mechanism in which demographic and medical characteristics of individual patients as well as accurate and comparable cost information can be derived. 3. Development of a patient classification system in which all the patients treated in hospitals are able to be split into mutually exclusive categories with consistent and stable patterns of resource consumption. 4. Development of a cost finding mechanism through which patient groups' costs can be made comparable across hospitals. A data set of Medicare patients prepared by the Social Security Administration was selected for the study analysis. The data set contained 27,229 record abstracts of Medicare patients discharged from all but one short-term general hospital in Connecticut during the period from January 1, 1971, to December 31, 1972. Each record abstract contained demographic and diagnostic information, as well as charges for specific medical services received. The 'AUT-OGRP System' was used to generate 198 DRGs in which the entire range of Medicare patients were split into mutually exclusive categories, each of which shows a consistent and stable pattern of resource consumption. The 'Departmental Method' was used to generate cost information for the groups of Medicare patients that would be comparable across hospitals. To fulfill the study objectives, an extensive analysis was conducted in the following areas: 1. Analysis of DRGs: in which the level of resource use of each DRG was determined, the length of stay or death rate of each DRG in relation to resource use was characterized, and underlying patterns of the relationships among DRG costs were explained. 2. Exploration of resource use profiles of hospitals; in which the magnitude of differences in the resource uses or death rates incurred in the treatment of Medicare patients among the study hospitals was explored. 3. Casemix analysis; in which four types of casemix-related indices were generated, and the significance of these indices in the explanation of hospital costs was examined. 4. Formulation of linear models to predict hospital costs of Medicare patients; in which nine independent variables (i. e., casemix index, hospital size, complexity of service, teaching activity, location, casemix-adjusted death. rate index, occupancy rate, and casemix-adjusted length of stay index) were used for determining factors in hospital costs. Results from the study analysis indicated that: 1. The system of 198 DRGs for Medicare patient classification was demonstrated not only as a strong tool for determining the pattern of hospital resource utilization of Medicare patients, but also for categorizing patients by their severity of illness. 2. The wei틴fed mean total case cost (TOTC) of the study hospitals for Medicare patients during the study years was $11,27.02 with a standard deviation of $117.20. The hospital with the highest average TOTC ($1538.15) was 2.08 times more expensive than the hospital with the lowest average TOTC ($743.45). The weighted mean per diem total cost (DTOC) of the study hospitals for Medicare patients during the sutdy years was $107.98 with a standard deviation of $15.18. The hospital with the highest average DTOC ($147.23) was 1.87 times more expensive than the hospital with the lowest average DTOC ($78.49). 3. The linear models for each of the six types of hospital costs were formulated using the casemix index and the eight other hospital variables as the determinants. These models explained variance to the extent of 68.7 percent of total case cost (TOTC), 63.5 percent of room and board cost (RMC), 66.2 percent of total ancillary service cost (TANC), 66.3 percent of per diem total cost (DTOC), 56.9 percent of per diem room and board cost (DRMC), and 65.5 percent of per diem ancillary service cost (DTANC). The casemix index alone explained approximately one half of interhospital cost variation: 59.1 percent for TOTC and 44.3 percent for DTOC. Thsee results demonstrate that the casemix index is the most importand determinant of interhospital cost variation Future research and policy implications in regard to the results of this study is envisioned in the following three areas: 1. Utilization of casemix related indices in the Medicare data systems. 2. Refinement of data for hospital cost evaluation. 3. Development of a system for reimbursement and cost control in hospitals.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.277-285
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to quantitatively and empirically investigate whether cartoon-realism, which is referred to as a guideline for avoiding the uncanny valley phenomenon, is actually effective. An experiment was carried out to investigate whether or not methods that try to realistically express the texture of human skin while making 3D models whose outward appearance abstract like a cartoon actually reduce the negative sentiments associated with the uncanny valley phenomenon. The results found that when human skin textures were applied to cartoon-type 3D models, the degree of eeriness significantly increased (p<0.05), while there was no change in the degree of human likeness. When cartoon-style skin textures were applied to human-type 3D models, there was no significant difference in the degree of eeriness, but the degree of human likeness significantly decreased (p<0.05). These results show that, cartoon realism is not actually effective, and rather creates a perceptual conflict and induces the uncanny valley phenomenon. The results of this study are expected to be used as quantitative and empirical data for developing design guidelines that will overcome the uncanny valley phenomenon in the future.

• Journal of KIISE:Computer Systems and Theory
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.619-628
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• 2000

Abstract Perspective views provide a powerful depth cue and thus aid the interpretation of complicated images. The main drawback of current perspective volume rendering is the long execution time. In this paper, we present an efficient perspective volume rendering algorithm based on coherency between rays. Two sets of templates are built for the rays cast from horizontal and vertical scanlines in the intermediate image which is parallel to one of volume faces. Each sample along a ray is calculated by interpolating neighboring voxels with the pre-computed weights in the templates. We also solve the problem of uneven sampling rate due to perspective ray divergence by building more templates for the regions far away from a viewpoint. Since our algorithm operates in object-order, it can avoid redundant access to each voxel and exploit spatial data coherency by using run-length encoded volume. Experimental results show that the use of templates and the object-order processing with run-length encoded volume provide speedups, compared to the other approaches. Additionally, the image quality of our algorithm improves by solving uneven sampling rate due to perspective ray di vergence.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.203-216
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of a VR(virtual reality)-based biology class on both the cognitive and affective domains by developing and applying a VR-based biology program for 6th-grade elementary school students. For this research, we developed a VR teaching material about 'digestion' reflecting virtual reality characteristics and one hundred five students in an elementary school in an urban area participated in this study and took three VR-based lessons. To examine the cognitive effects of a VR-based biology class, the study subjects were divided into two groups. The experimental group was composed of 50 individuals who participated in VR-based biology lessons, while 55 students of a control group learned through general lessons. We collected data using drawing tasks for measuring students' modeling performance level from these groups and analyzed the cognitive effect of VR-based instruction. We also recorded 21 interviews of students after the intervention, which were transcribed to verify the students' perception of cognitive and affective effects. The key results are as follows: First, we demonstrated the possibility of applying a VR program reflecting VR characteristics (manipulation, multi-sensory, and interaction). Second, we found out that a VR-based biology class significantly enhances higher levels of thinking (spatial, abstract, and reflective thinking). Third, we examined students' perceptions on this program and came to the conclusion that VR characteristics positively affected cognitive and affective domains. This study may be able to contribute to offering guidelines on how to apply VR-programs to future science education effectively.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.207-219
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• 2004

There have been studies reporting the increase in student confidence in mathematics when using technology. However, past studies indicating a positive correlation between technology and confidence in mathematics do not explain why they see this positive outcome. With increased availability and easy access to the Internet in schools and the development of free online virtual manipulatives, this research was interested in how the use of virtual manipulatives in mathematics can affect students confidence in their mathematical abilities. Our hypothesis was that the classes using virtual manipulatives which allows students to connecting dynamic visual image with abstract symbols will help students gain a deeper conceptual understanding of math concept thus increasing their confidence and ability in mathematics. The participants in this study were 46 fifth-grade students in three ability groups: one high, one middle and one low. During a two-week unit on fractions, students in three groups interacted with several virtual manipulative applets in a computer lab. Data sources in the project included a pre and posttest of students mathematics content knowledge, Confidence in Learning Mathematics Scale, field notes and student interviews, and classroom videotapes. Our aim was to find evidence for increased level of confidence in mathematics as students strengthened their understanding of fraction concepts. Results from the achievement score indicated an overall main effect showing significant improvement for all ability groups following the treatment and an increase in the confidence level from the preassessment of the Confidence in Learning Mathematics Scale in the middle and high ability groups. An interesting finding was that the confidence level for the low ability group students who had the highest confidence level in the beginning did not change much in the final confidence scale assessment. In the middle and high ability groups, the confidence level did increase according to the improvement of the contest posttest. Through interviews, students expressed how the virtual manipulatives assisted their understanding by verifying their answers as they worked and facilitated their ability to figure out math concept in their mind and visually.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.810-815
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• 2008

Improving quality is a very important component of maintaining competitiveness of agricultural products. However, evaluation of 'high quality' indicates it is a very abstract concept and independent of some quality attributes, leading to differences in the perception of quality. Thus, there is a pressing need to objectively define 'high quality' and to develop basic technologies for its measurement, for application in the production, storage and distribution of competitive agricultural products. To objectively quantify apple quality, a survey was conducted on consumer preferences and awareness of quality attributes including color, taste, flavor and shape. The survey questionnaire targeted male and female adults (463 persons) ranging in age from 20 to 59 years. The questionnaire was based on purchases made at a wholesale market (50.1%) or a traditional market (18.8%). The majority of purchases were as small packets (62.0%) or as individual pieces (20.5%). Apples of moderate size (fist size, 60.5%) were preferred over small (4.3%) or large (32.6%) apples. The questionnaire provided consumer data on external quality attributes including color, shape and variety. Taste attributes were evaluated in relation to the balance between sour and sweet taste, and flavors peculiar to apples.

• Journal of KIISE
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.652-665
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• 2014

Many important terminologies in biomedical text are expressed as abbreviations or acronyms. We newly suggest a semantic link topic model based on the concepts of topic and dependency link to disambiguate biomedical abbreviations and cluster long form variants of abbreviations which refer to the same senses. This model is a generative model inspired by the latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic model, in which each document is viewed as a mixture of topics, with each topic characterized by a distribution over words. Thus, words of a document are generated from a hidden topic structure of a document and the topic structure is inferred from observable word sequences of document collections. In this study, we allow two distinct word generation to incorporate semantic dependencies between words, particularly between expansions (long forms) of abbreviations and their sentential co-occurring words. Besides topic information, the semantic dependency between words is defined as a link and a new random parameter for the link presence is assigned to each word. As a result, the most probable expansions with respect to abbreviations of a given abstract are decided by word-topic distribution, document-topic distribution, and word-link distribution estimated from document collection though the semantic dependency link topic model. The abstracts retrieved from the MEDLINE Entrez interface by the query relating 22 abbreviations and their 186 expansions were used as a data set. The link topic model correctly predicted expansions of abbreviations with the accuracy of 98.30%.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.241-257
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• 2008

The purpose of this study waw to investigate the effect of consumer knowledge of adolescents, money attitudes and consumption values on rational consumption behavior and the direct and indirect effects of these variables on rational consumption behavior. The subjects of this study were 524 students who were in the first grade and second grade of high school in Daegu. Multiple Regression Analysis and Path Analysis were employed for the data analysis. The major findings of this study were as follows: First, the knowledge of money management, the purchase knowledge and the consumerism knowledge effected on the money attitude, which regarded money as an instrument of future safety. Among these, it was found that the money management knowledge had the highest affect on this money attitude. The result suggests that the consumer knowledge affects desirable money attitude which regarded money as an instrument of future safety, and then consumer education influences positively money attitude. Second, the money attitude which regarded money as an instrument of future safety affected consumption values most, and the money attitude which regarded money as a means for approval of another person affected the ostentation, the conformity, the discrimination and the aesthetic enjoyment of consumption values. Third, the present study showed that the money attitude which regards money as an instrument of future safety and the economical consumption values were the important factor which affecting each subdimension of the rational consumption behavior. The result suggests the adolescents, who managed money well, saved it for the future, and saved the resources as much as possible when consuming, behaved rational and planned way through all process all process all consumption behaviors. Fourth, the consumer knowledge did not affect the rational consumption behavior directly, but indirectly through the money attitude and the consumption values. Therefore, the consumer knowledge, the money attitude and the consumption values were the important factor for the rational consumption behavior, and it revealed money attitude and consumption values played role as mediate variable. This study results suggest the consumer knowledge that adolescent have learned in school was theoretical and abstract, so it does not affect directly the rational consumption behavior. However these consumer consumption values affect the consumption behavior.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.12-22
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• 2011

Design value engineering (VE) has been performed in many construction projects according to the changes in the construction for most of the VB function analysis that performed, are problems that focus on function analysis and generating ideas based on individual experience of VE team member than generating ideas and value improvement of systematic function analysis. This may be due to the quotation of previously performed function analysis data, general function analysis, and abstract function definitions that do not cite the concrete characteristics of each facility. Therefore, in this study, the proposed cases from the existing design VE workshops, the current conditions of the connection between functions and ideas and of the idea categorization by building part were studied to determine why functions and ideas are not connected, and to propose pertinent improvement directions. on a performance-based function categorization system by building part that can provide the logical connection between functions and ideas in the function definition/categorization and function arrangement phases in the function analysis phase, the most important phase in VE activities, was developed by reflecting the required performance and functions for each part of the facility.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.232-249
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• 1999

The purpose of the study was to analyze the experiences of and the unmet needs for sex education of university students during their primary and secondary education. Development and refinement strategies of the sex education curriculum were constructed using the words of university students. The study was conducted during the second trimester of 1998 and the first trimester of 1999. and 356 male and female students were asked to submit weekly descriptive reports on the proposed issues related to sex education. The data were collected and analyzed by the researcher to present and summarize the in-depth meanings . The results were as follows: 1) The problems of the present sex education of primary and secondary education curriculum : it was revealed as too superficial and conventional: it brought about adverse effects because it was not efficient: also it was insufficient and not appropriate to the level of the students. The erroneous stereotypes of our society towards the sexuality act as barriers to effective sex education. 2) The abstract needs for sex education revealed on the analysis of adjectives used by the students were: 'honest, interesting, easy, useful, and correct' 3) The concrete needs for the sex education were: correct understanding of sexuality, establishment of the right sense of values towards sexuality, understanding of male and female sex psychology, knowledge of solutions for sexual problems 4) The developmental strategies for the sex education curriculum were structural, comprehensive, broad, and sufficient education content, concrete and honest explanations about sexuality : provision of early sex education; sex education provided by the parents ; establishment of an open environment for the sex education, graded education reflecting the developmental stages of the youngsters ; up-to-date sex education; preservation of the perspectives of the youngsters; provision of the same sex education opportunities for both girls and boys; practical use of audiovisual aides; open discussion; development of novel education methods like field trips 5) The change of knowledge, attitudes, and values towards sexuality after finishing the sex education course were: establishment of right sense of value towards sexuality ; reconfirmation of the concepts and value for life; belief of the necessity of sex education; change of attitudes towards womanhood; reinforcement of the self-conceit, consolidation of filial piety; and acquisition of the practical knowledge.