• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.87-90
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• 2018

Suicide has been a public health issue in many countries, and Korea has ranked highest suicide rate among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries over a decade. To address these issues, we updated the recent trends in suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among Korean adults followed by previous data observation. We used data from five sources: Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination (KNHANES, '07-12, '13, '15-16), Korean Community Health Survey (KCHS, '08-09, '13), Korean Wealth Panel Study (KOWEPS, '12-16), Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, '10-13), and cause of death data from Statistics Korea ('07-16). We used weighted frequencies and trend tests. The rate of suicidal ideation as recent year was 5.10% (KNHANES, '15), 8.95% (KCHS, '13), 2.08% (KOWEPS, '16), and 5.39% (KHP, '13). That of suicide attempts as recent year was 0.59% (KNHANES, '16), 0.41% (KCHS, '13), and 0.08% (KOWEPS, '16). Annual percentage change of suicidal ideation was -2.80% (KNHANES, '07-12), 5.78% (KNHANES, '13-15), 0.62% (KCHS, '08-13), -8.50% (KOWEPS, '12-16), and -10.94% (KHP, '10-13). Annual percentage change of suicide attempts was -3.84% (KNHANES, '07-12), 2.26% (KNHANES, '13-16), -2.53% (KCHS, '08-13), and -20.22% (KOWEPS, '12-16). Annual percentage change of death by intentional self-harm was -0.49% (Statistics Korea, '07-16). Individuals who had lower income level were more likely to experience suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. According to these results, the rate of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts showed the decreasing tendency. However, the suicide rate of Korea has remained higher than that of OECD countries. Thus, continuous data observation and effective policies on suicide are needed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.298-307
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• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the recent trends in patients with work-related musculoskeletal disorders in South Korea and to check the major results by reviewing the literature on the risk factors and prevalence of musculoskeletal diseases related to work. Methods: Industrial disaster data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor from 2012 to 2021 were used, and the literature was reviewed regarding risk factors for musculoskeletal diseases related to work using PubMed and RISS. Results: The trend of patients with work-related musculoskeletal disorders has increased overall since 2017 after declining until 2016, with a particularly notable increase in the average annual number of patients with physical burden work. The average annual rate per ten thousand people for patients with body burden work, non-accidental lower back pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome among work-related diseases was high in the mining industry. The average annual rate per ten thousand people for patients with accidental lower back pain was the highest in the fishing industry. Within the manufacturing field, it was the highest in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry. As a result of the literature review, the search rate for work-related musculoskeletal disease papers in unstructured work was high. In addition, physical stress factors were high among risk factors, and pain areas showed a high rate for the waist. Conclusion: Even after the institutional implementation of a hazard investigation system related to musculoskeletal diseases is implemented, the number of patients with occupational musculoskeletal disorders continues to increase. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct regular surveys and implement effective improvement activities for vulnerable industries or occupations.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.31-41
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• 2020

Background : The introduction of policies expanding the coverage of uninsured Korean Medicine (KM) services have requires an understanding of the following components of the service : current financial expenses, degree of financial burden on the patient, and financial effect of the coverage expansion. Objectives : This study aims to determine the annual trend of outpatients' characteristics and the category of out-of-pocket spending in KM. Methods : This study uses data from the Korea Health Panel to analyze use of KM in the Korean population. Using the user characteristics and behavior drawn from the Korea Health Panel data, out-of-pocket spending trends of KM were analyzed by year. The diagnosis and prescription of out-of-pocket spending were also analyzed. Results : The proportion of patients receiving uninsured medical treatment and the number of uninsured medical treatment in outpatient clinics have increased. However, the average out-of-pocket spending per person and out-of-pocket spending per visit are consistent or have decreased. Meaningful trends are the increase of R00-R99 (unclassified symptoms) and the decrease of K00-K93 (digestive system disease) and J00-J99 (respiratory system disease). Conclusions : Expansion of KM medical service and insurance is influenced by uninsured medical treatment of KM. Hence, research to increase medical treatment categories for out-of-pocket spending or explore diseases where KM diagnosis has been proven effective should be further developed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6327-6332
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• 2014

National cancer registration reports provide a huge potential for identifying patterns and trends of important policy, research, prevention and treatment significance. As summary reports written on an annual basis, the China Cancer Registry Annual Reports (CCRARs) fall short from fully addressing their potential. This paper attempts to explore part of the patterns and trends hidden behind published CCRARs. It extracted data for cancer incidence rates (IRs) and mortality rates (MRs) for 2004, 2006 and 2009 from relevant CCRARs and portrayed 4 kinds of indicators in line graphs. The study showed that: a) all of the line graphs of age-specific IRs and MRs characterized typical "growth curves or histogram"; b) graphs of IRs and MRs for males and urban areas had higher peaks than that for females and rural regions; c) most of the line graphs of IR/MR ratios comprised a starting peak, a secondary peak and a decreasing tail and the secondary peaks for females and urban areas were higher than those for males and rural areas; d) most of the urban versus rural IR ratios valued above one, but most the urban versus rural MR ratios, below one; e) the accumulative IRs and MRs showed a stable increasing trend from 2004 to 2009 for urban areas, but mixed for rural regions.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.232-239
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• 2021

This study aimed to update suicide-related indicators including suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and the number of suicidal deaths. Based on up-to-date information, we observed the trends of suicide-related indicators. In this study, five data sources were used to observe the trends of suicide-related indicators: Statistics Korea (1983-2019), Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination (KNHANES, '07-13, '15-19), Korean Community Health Survey (KCHS, '08-09, '13, '17), Korean Wealth Panel Study (KOWEPS, '12-19), and Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, '10-13, '16-17). The suicide rate, which peaked in 2011, declined until 2017 and then started to rise again from 2018, recording a suicide rate of 26.9 per 100,000 people in 2019. The rate of suicidal ideation estimated based on the recently available data was 4.62% (KNHANES, '19), 3.51% (KHP, '16), 2.87% (KHP, '17), and 1.70% (KOWEPS, '19). That of suicide attempt as recent year was 0.43% (KNHANES, '19), 0.07% (KOWEPS, '19). Annual percentage change of death by intentional self-harm was -2.11% (Statistics Korea), and that of suicidal ideation was -14.7% (KNHANES), -2.5% (KCHS), -10.6% (KOWEPS), and -11.3% (KHP). Annual percentage change of suicide attempt was -5.0% (KNHANES), -4.4% (KCHS), and -11.3% (KOWEPS). The lower the income level, the higher the probability of experiencing suicide ideation and suicide attempts. Considering the recent increase in suicide rate in contrast to the continuing decline in suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, continuous data observation and appropriate policies regarding suicide prevention are needed.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.101-111
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• 2015

This study aims to analyze the current state of menswear in the domestic fashion market and the trend of new menswear brands. In addition to this, a comparative analysis of domestic and foreign menswear brands will be done to provide baseline data for the domestic brands in regards to strategic direction in the coming years. The study used reports published by Samsungdesign.net, which provided trends of 110 new brands from 2005 to 2014, in order to analyze the trends of new menswear brands launched during that period. Menswear brand information in the Korean Fashion Brand Annual, of which there were 168, were utilized to research the current state of the brands in the domestic market. As a results, menswear is expected to become more sensitive to trends and designs thanks to steady launchings of menswear brands within character casual zoning for the past 10 years and active brand launchings within contemporary zoning in the last 5 years. Also, as more brands are targeting men in their 20's as their main customers, it suggests that menswear brands are striving for a younger mindset. In terms of pricing, prestige and budget line launchings they seem to be dwindling, while bridge brands are increasing. This shows that customers are demanding luxury items at a reasonable price. Since there are higher ratio of foreign brands in dress shirts and contemporary zoning, domestic brands need to develop and produce more high quality clothes within these zonings.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.253-264
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• 2002

Surface ozone concentrations measured at 40 monitoring sites in three major cities (Seoul, Busan, and Daegu) of Korea during 1993~2000 were analyzed to understand the characteristics of temporal and spatial distributions. Trends were analyzed for annual mean, 95th percentiles of daily 8-hour maximum and days exceeding 8-h ozone standard of 60 ppb. Three indicators exhibited increasing trends (+0.75 ppb yr$^{-1}$ , +2.20 ppb yr$_{-1}$ , and +5.35 days yr$_{-1}$ on average) throughout the study period at all cities. Diurnal and seasonal variations were the largest in Seoul followed by Daegue and Busan, due to the high photochemical production and titration of ozone (Seoul), strong wind and constant supply of background ozone from the ocean (Busan). In the urban centers and industrial areas at all cities, scavenging of ozone by NO reduces the daily 8-hour maximum ozone by 10 ppb on average. High concentrations of ozone have frequently occurred in downwind eastern (Seoul and Daegu) or northern (Busan) sides of the territory. In particular, the coastal area of Busan had relatively high ozone level due to the local sea land breeze circulation. The results indicated that the temporal and spatial variations of ozone concentration were non -uniform and were closely related to the local environments; emission levels, climates, and geographic locations.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.135-143
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• 2014

The variability and temporal trends of the annual and seasonal minimum and maximum temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, wind speed, sunshine hours, and runoff were analyzed for 5 major rivers in Korea from 1960 to 2010. A simple regression and non-parametric methods (Mann-Kendall test and Sen's estimator) were used in this study. The analysis results show that the minimum temperature ($T_{min}$) had a higher increasing trend than the maximum temperature ($T_{max}$), and the average temperature increased by about $0.03^{\circ}C\;yr.^{-1}$. The relative humidity and wind speed decreased by $0.02%\;yr^{-1}$ and $0.01m\;s^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively. With the exception of the Han River basin, the regression analysis and Mann-Kendall and Sen results failed to detect trends for the runoff and rainfall over the study period. Rapid land use changes were linked to the increase in the runoff in the Han River basin. The sensitivity of the evapotranspiration and ultimately the runoff to the meteorological variables was in the order of relative humidity > sunshine duration > wind speed > $T_{max}$ > $T_{min}$. Future studies should investigate the interaction of the variables analyzed herein, and their relative contributions to the runoff trends.

• Atmosphere
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.477-492
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• 2023

Based on the new climate normals (1991~2020), annual mean, maximum and minimum temperature is 12.5℃, 18.2℃, and 7.7℃, respectively while annual precipitation is 1,331.7 mm, the annual mean wind speed is 2.0 m s^-1, and the relative humidity is 67.8% in the Republic of Korea. Compared to 1981~2010 normal, annual mean temperature increased by 0.2℃, maximum and minimum temperatures increased by 0.3℃, while the amount of precipitation (0.7%) and relative humidity (1.1%) decreased. There was no distinct change in annual mean wind speed. The spatial range of the annual mean temperature in the new normals is large from 7.1 to 16.9℃. Annual precipitation showed a high regional variability, ranging from 787.3 to 2,030.0 mm. The annual mean relative humidity decreased at most weather stations due to the rise in temperature, and the annual mean wind speed did not show any distinct difference between the new and old normals. With the addition of a warmer decade (2011~2020), temperatures all increased consistently and in particular, the increase in the maximum temperature, which had not significantly changed in previous decades, was evident. The increasing trend of annual and summer precipitation by the 2010s has disappeared in the new normals. Among extreme climate indices, MxT30 (Daily maximum temperature ≥ 33℃ days), MnT25 (Daily minimum temperature ≥ 25℃ days), and PH30 (1 hour maximum precipitation ≥ 30 mm days) increased while MnT-10 (Daily minimum temperature < -10℃ days) and W13.9 (Daily maximum wind speed ≥ 13.9 m/s days) decreased at a statistically significant level. It is thought that a detailed study on the different trends of climate elements and extreme climate indices by region should be conducted in the future.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.669-673
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• 2005

World geothermal resources potential is estimated to supply 189 EJ annually, which can take charge approximately a half of annual world energy consumpt ion, from considering identified resources and supplies in USA and Iceland. Present annual use of geothermal energy, on the other hand, is only $0.1\%$ of its potential, but still has $70\%$ share among total new renewables. World-wide installed capacity of geothermal power generation reaches 8,900 MWe and 27,825 MWt for direct uses in 2005 which is almost two-fold increase over 2000. This increase is mainly due to exploding expansion of geothermal heat pump utilization: USA and western European countries lead these trends. Although geothermal heat pump distribution in Korea is still in its starting phase, comparing to Swiss achievement in terms of areal utilization sense, we expect to come up with national supply of over 600,000 toe in near future.