• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권12호
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• pp.39-50
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• 2021

We investigate competition and its impact on borrowers' indebtedness (BI) in South Asian microfinance. Our empirical investigations are based on a comprehensive panel dataset of 355 MFIs located in seven countries in South Asia. The empirical results revealed that microfinance in South Asia is imperfectly competitive and the existing industry shows a monopolistic competition during the period under consideration. Also, the competition increased after the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2007-08 which implies that microfinance uses hostile lending behavior through the adverse selection that is highly risky and it can induce repayment crisis. The empirical findings also show that increased competition has significant negative effects on borrowers' indebtedness, particularly in large-scale and regulated microfinance organizations (MFIs). Instead of using equity financing, debt financing could be a better option. Finally, we find that while competition seems to have some positive effects in economic discourse by channeling technological improvements in products and services, its negative effects in microfinance outweigh the benefits over costs, particularly in poverty-stricken nations. The findings are helpful for the policymakers, microfinance industry, investors, borrowers, and Central Bank of South Asian markets.

• 한국유기농업학회지
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• 제28권4호
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• pp.459-475
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• 2020

This study analyzes weather derivatives as an alternative risk management tool to stabilize farm revenue to complement the existing crop insurance program which suffers from asymmetric information problems such as adverse selection, moral hazard, and verifiability. We estimated apple yield functions to observe the relationship between yields and weather indices such as temperature and precipitation. Based on the estimated yield functions we designed weather futures and options products underlying temperature and precipitation, and calculated the prices of futures and options by two different approaches, historical distribution and Monte Carlo simulation. We found that weather futures and options stabilize farm revenue based on the estimated four risk indicators: Coefficient of Variation, Value at Risk, Certainty Equivalence, and Risk Premium. As a result, weather derivatives could be considered as a potential farm risk management tool through studying more in legal and institutional strategies and developing various derivatives products.

• ETRI Journal
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• 제44권2호
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• pp.194-207
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• 2022

In the last decade, substantial progress has been achieved in intelligent traffic control technologies to overcome consistent difficulties of traffic congestion and its adverse effect on smart cities. Edge computing is one such advanced progress facilitating real-time data transmission among vehicles and roadside units to mitigate congestion. An edge computing-based deep reinforcement learning system is demonstrated in this study that appropriately designs a multiobjective reward function for optimizing different objectives. The system seeks to overcome the challenge of evaluating actions with a simple numerical reward. The selection of reward functions has a significant impact on agents' ability to acquire the ideal behavior for managing multiple traffic signals in a large-scale road network. To ascertain effective reward functions, the agent is trained withusing the proximal policy optimization method in several deep neural network models, including the state-of-the-art transformer network. The system is verified using both hypothetical scenarios and real-world traffic maps. The comprehensive simulation outcomes demonstrate the potency of the suggested reward functions.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.55-63
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• 2023

In 2021, a new chapter on the general management of glomerulonephritis (GN) was added to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO). It emphasizes the importance of early general management of GN for improving long-term kidney outcomes and prognosis. The chapter introduces the management of glomerular diseases in 18 subchapters. Here, kidney biopsy for the diagnosis and evaluation of kidney function and the management of complications, such as hypertension, infection, and thrombosis, are presented. Moreover, the adverse effects of glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive therapy, which are commonly used drugs for glomerular disease, are mentioned, and a guideline for drug selection is presented. Each subtheme focused on items reflecting the interpretation of the "practice points" of the expert working group are introduced. In this review of the general treatment for GN in the KDIGO guidelines, excluding pregnancy and reproductive health, we focused on and compared various references pertaining to pediatric GN management.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.27-69
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• 2009

본 연구는 지방교부세제도에서는 어떤 자치단체장이라도 지방교부금의 상한까지 사용하려 하고 재원이 다른 용도로 사용될 가능성이 상대적으로 높다는 측면에서 지방세를 통한 지방재원 조달의 경우보다 비효율적이라는 것을 이론적으로 보이고 있다. 특히, 지방교부세제도의 경우에는 지방정부의 재정한계를 감소시키더라도 이러한 재정낭비의 가능성은 감소하지 않는다는 문제가 있다. 보다 효율적인 지방자치를 위해서는 국세의 지방세로의 전환을 통하여 지방재원이 지역주민으로부터 나오는 지방세를 강화할 필요성이 있다. 더 나아가 현행 지방교부세제도와 지방세 및 국세 체계를 개편하여 지방에서 사용하는 재원은 기본적으로 지방이 부담한다는 원칙을 확립할 필요성이 있다. 다시 말하면, 자치단체의 권한과 책무를 엄격하게 규정하고 그에 대응하는 재정권한 또한 부여되었을 때에만 재정의 낭비적 요소를 막을 수 있을 것이다. 이와 함께 상향식 공천제도인 경선제도를 통하여 지역정치인으로서 능력이 검증된 인물들이 중앙정치로 나아갈 수 있는 경로를 열어주고, 이를 통하여 현직 지역구의원과의 경쟁을 통하여 현직 지역구의원들의 지역발전을 위한 더 많은 노력을 유도할 수 있다는 점에서 중앙정치의 발전뿐만 아니라 지역발전에 보다 효율적인 제도라는 것을 보이고 있다. 다른 한편, 이러한 경선제도는 중앙정치로의 유인제공을 통하여 지방정치인의 지대추구행위를 감소시키는 효과도 있다. 더욱이 경선제도는 중앙정치에 참여하고자 하는 많은 능력 있는 인물들을 지방정치로 유도함으로써 지방발전을 도모할 수 있는 부수적인 효과도 얻을 수 있다. 이러한 중앙정치와 지방정치의 선순환적인 구조를 통하여 중앙정치와 지방분권 및 지역발전을 도모할 수 있다는 측면에서 경선제도의 도입이 긴요하다고 판단된다.

• 보건의료산업학회지
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• 제5권4호
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• pp.177-192
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• 2011

The arguments exist that private health insurance(PHI) policy holders tend to use the health care services more than non-policy holders due to their little out-of-pocket spending, resulting in the adverse effects on the finances of National Health Insurance. This study aims to increase the objective understanding of the issue and to draw a direction of further research, by reviewing the articles, reports and statistics which examined the effects of purchasing PHI policies on health care utilization. Significant differences in healthcare utilization, except for the very partial increase of utilization in outpatient settings, have been not found. The similar trends of the results have existed in a few previous studies which tried to control the endogeneity of medical use and health insurance with latent variables which affect the decision on medical use and health insurance. However, we can not exclude the potential change of healthcare utilization patterns because the portion of the insured of indemnity PHI is becoming rapidly larger in the market. For further research, we should try to obtain the objective information of subjects' past medical history, health status, health related behavior, and income affecting purchase of PHI and utilization of healthcare services. And the efforts of controlling the endogeneity of medical use and health insurance with latent variables which affect the decision on medical use and health insurance, are very considerable.

• 약학회지
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• 제52권3호
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• pp.201-211
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• 2008

All pharmacists must provide the drug consultation whenever dispense drugs to patients by the Korean Pharmacy Law. Drug consultation is very important procedure for increasing pharmacotherapy. Because it maximizes the therapeutic effects or/and minimizes adverse drug reaction during the drug therapy. However, it is not easy to do because of the dynamic and hectic pharmacy environment. Especially, if someone has a disabling body function, they required more time and efforts to perform consultation by pharmacist. Currently several auxiliary labels for helping drug consultation are using in pharmacy practice but not for disabling patients. Therefore we developed the total 53 auxiliary labels with size of 0.7 cm (width) and 1 cm (length) by Braillewriter letters for blind patients. This research has been performed for total 12 months (Mar. 15ts, 2007$\sim$Feb. 25th, 2008) and the developing methods are consisted of 4 steps: 1) selection of essential informations, 2) simplification of information, 3) changing for Braillewriter letters, 4) application and revising by blindness patients. Also the labels are consisted of 12 for adverse reactions and precautions, 8 for directions, 2 for storages, 9 for duration, 9 for dosage forms, and 12 for common names. After developed those labels, we revised those labels by discussion with 2 blind people. In conclusion, the new auxiliary labels for blind patients can increase therapeutic effects and decrease risks from pharmacotherapy besides decreasing of pharmacist's work load in the future.

• 동의신경정신과학회지
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.37-68
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• 2024

Objectives: This study aimed to systematically review thread-embedding treatment studies for depression, anxiety, and dementia and examine the effectiveness and safety of thread-embedding treatment. Methods: Ten domestic and international search databases were used for study selection, including CNKI, PubMed, CENTRAL, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, PsycArticles, RISS, OASIS, and KCI. We included studies that presented diagnostic or appropriate criteria for depression, anxiety, and dementia, and randomized control studies using thread-embedding therapy. We searched papers published until October 10, 2023. Results: Twenty-one studies were selected, of which 11 studies were conducted on depression, nine on dementia, and one on anxiety disorders. The most commonly used acupoint for depression was Gansu (BL18), whereas zusanli (ST36) and fenglong (ST40) were used for dementia. The most commonly used type of thread was 1-0 United States pharmacopeia (USP) and 1 cm for depression and 2-0 USP and 1 cm for dementia. The treatment period for most of the studies was once every 2 weeks and for 8 weeks. Among the included studies, 17 showed significant improvements in depression scales, such as Hamilton depression rating scale and Self rating depression scale, activities of daily living scales, and cognitive function scales, such as Hasegawa dementia scale and Mini-mental state examination. Six studies reported adverse events, and no studies reported significant adverse events. Two studies reported follow-ups. Conclusions: This study presents limited evidence for the effectiveness and safety of thread-embedding therapy for depression, anxiety, and dementia. Well-designed studies are needed to review the clinical efficacy and safety of thread-embedding therapy in the future.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제24권9호
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• pp.827-837
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• 2023

Objective: To investigate the predictive value of radiomics features based on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) cine images for left ventricular adverse remodeling (LVAR) after acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective, single-center, cohort study involving 244 patients (random-split into 170 and 74 for training and testing, respectively) having an acute STEMI (88.5% males, 57.0 ± 10.3 years of age) who underwent CMR examination at one week and six months after percutaneous coronary intervention. LVAR was defined as a 20% increase in left ventricular end-diastolic volume 6 months after acute STEMI. Radiomics features were extracted from the oneweek CMR cine images using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression (LASSO) analysis. The predictive performance of the selected features was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and the area under the curve (AUC). Results: Nine radiomics features with non-zero coefficients were included in the LASSO regression of the radiomics score (RAD score). Infarct size (odds ratio [OR]: 1.04 (1.00-1.07); P = 0.031) and RAD score (OR: 3.43 (2.34-5.28); P < 0.001) were independent predictors of LVAR. The RAD score predicted LVAR, with an AUC (95% confidence interval [CI]) of 0.82 (0.75-0.89) in the training set and 0.75 (0.62-0.89) in the testing set. Combining the RAD score with infarct size yielded favorable performance in predicting LVAR, with an AUC of 0.84 (0.72-0.95). Moreover, the addition of the RAD score to the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) significantly increased the AUC from 0.68 (0.52-0.84) to 0.82 (0.70-0.93) (P = 0.018), which was also comparable to the prediction provided by the combined microvascular obstruction, infarct size, and LVEF with an AUC of 0.79 (0.65-0.94) (P = 0.727). Conclusion: Radiomics analysis using non-contrast cine CMR can predict LVAR after STEMI independently and incrementally to LVEF and may provide an alternative to traditional CMR parameters.

• 대한치과보철학회지
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• 제56권2호
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• pp.134-140
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• 2018

임상치관이 짧아 보철 수복이 어려운 경우 임상치관연장술이 효과적인 치료법이 될 수 있다. 임상치관 연장을 위한 술식에는 수술적 치관연장술, 교정적 정출술, 외과적 정출술이 있는데, 임상상황을 고려하여 최선의 선택을 해야 한다. 수술적 방법과 교정적 방법을 선택할 때, 적절한 고려사항과 주의점에 대해 여러 증례와 함께 보고하고 결정흐름도를 제시하고자 한다.