• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.122-137
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• 2010

Objective : Atopic dermatitis (AD) in children may profoundly affect the quality of life (QOL), and also cause financial burden, to the families of those suffering from this ailment. The aim of our study was to examine the quality of life and the financial burden of atopic dermatitis in children and their families to evaluate this relationship with the degree of AD. Methods : 37 infant and child atopic dermatitis patients were included and evaluated using the SCORing of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) Index and Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI). Patients and carers were asked to fill in the questionnaires about their quality of life and financial costs during the past year. Data about sleep disturbance and pruritus were also obtained. Pearson's correlation was used for statistical analysis. Results : 1. The mean score of Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) was $10.52{\pm}4.82$, Infants' Dermatologic Quality of Life (IDQOL) was $8.21{\pm}3.95$. 2. The mean score of Family Dermatology Life Quality Index (FDLQI) was $13.30{\pm}5.72$, Dermatitis Family Impact (DFI) was $12.5{\pm}4.98$. 3. By analyzing the questionnaire, the monthly average cost was determined to be 730,800 won for each patient : the direct cost was 283,500 won, and the indirect cost was 447,300 won. 4. By analyzing the correlation between the severity of AD and QOL, subjective SCORAD were significantly and positively correlated with QOL(IDQOL, FDLQI, DFI, CDLQI). 5. By analyzing the correlation between the severity of AD and any economic impact, EASI were significantly and positively correlated with the direct cost. Conclusion : The above results show that the QOL of the patients and carers is significantly related to their disease severity. Atopic dermatitis patients pay an average of 730,800 won a month, and the economic impact on the patients is significantly related to their disease severity. The CDLQI, IDQOL, FDLQI and DFImay potentially be of value to help in the appropriate management of AD and can be used as an added measurement in clinical trials involving AD management.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8993-9004
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• 2014

Background: The incidence rate and the treatment costs of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are high, especially in Thailand. Previous studies indicated that early detection by a surveillance program could help by down-staging. This study aimed to compare the costs and health outcomes associated with the introduction of a HCC surveillance program with no program and to estimate the budget impact if the HCC surveillance program were implemented. Materials and Methods: A cost utility analysis using a decision tree and Markov models was used to compare costs and outcomes during the lifetime period based on a societal perspective between alternative HCC surveillance strategies with no program. Costs included direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect costs. Health outcomes were measured as life years (LYs), and quality adjusted life years (QALYs). The results were presented in terms of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) in Thai THB per QALY gained. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were applied to investigate parameter uncertainties. Budget impact analysis (BIA) was performed based on the governmental perspective. Results: Semi-annual ultrasonography (US) and semi-annual ultrasonography plus alpha-fetoprotein (US plus AFP) as the first screening for HCC surveillance would be cost-effective options at the willingness to pay (WTP) threshold of 160,000 THB per QALY gained compared with no surveillance program (ICER=118,796 and ICER=123,451 THB/QALY), respectively. The semi-annual US plus AFP yielded more net monetary benefit, but caused a substantially higher budget (237 to 502 million THB) than semi-annual US (81 to 201 million THB) during the next ten fiscal years. Conclusions: Our results suggested that a semi-annual US program should be used as the first screening for HCC surveillance and included in the benefit package of Thai health insurance schemes for both chronic hepatitis B males and females aged between 40-50 years. In addition, policy makers considered the program could be feasible, but additional evidence is needed to support the whole prevention system before the implementation of a strategic plan.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.174-184
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• 2018

The impact of regulations on industrial activities is significant. Because the food industry has to observe given obligations and bear costs and expenses resulted from complying with applicable food safety regulations. Meanwhile, A government drafts the regulatory impact analysis report prior to enactment, amendment or reinforcement of any regulations. The analysis powered by objective and scientific methodologies enable a government to judge whether a particular regulation will be good or bad for the society. An effective policy implementation in practice and cost-bearing is entirely up to industries. Moreover, opportunity cost and actual cost relating to or arising from regulatory compliance will be estimated only by the respective industries. Therefore, the food Industry needs to collect and accumulate the said information and also to disseminate their hardships and financial burdens. Objective and practical information will encourage a government to set out regulatory frameworks that rational policy making.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.171-179
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• 2024

In previous Cost-of-Illness (COI) studies, the economic impact of lost leisure time of patients has been mostly underexplored. Furthermore, few studies have focused on chronic or severe diseases, thereby inadequately addressing the segment of self-care patients who do not fall into the categories of inpatients or outpatients. In the present study, we used a comprehensive approach to calculate the annual cost of leisure loss, incorporating factors such as employment status, self-care options, and total period of leisure activity disruption. This required analyzing data from various sources, including health and labor statistics, and applying methods to accurately assess the leisure time lost due to food poisoning. The findings showed that the annual cost of leisure loss for South Korean patients with food poisoning is significant, amounting to approximately 784.5 billion KRW (702.8 million USD, USD/KRW : 1128.34). This study revealed that overlooking self-care patients and not accounting for the affected time in addition to treatment time and employment status significantly underestimated these costs. This study highlights the importance of considering a wider range of factors, including self-care, employment status, as well as the entire affected period, in assessing the societal impact of diseases such as food poisoning. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and healthcare professionals to understand the broader economic implications of illness and allocate healthcare resources more effectively.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.131-161
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• 2020

The objective of this study was to evaluate the downtime cost of side-by-side offloading operations in Malaysian waters. With the help of a numerical time domain tool, the structure and cable response of moored FPSO vessel was simulated for heading and beam sea-states under irregular waves. The weather downtime was assessed by comparing the response under operational wave condition with the pre defined industrial safe offloading criteria. Additionally, two cases of cable failure were simulated for each sea-state. The novel study on downtime cost was presented for three different location of Malaysia subcontinent for which the location specific wave scatter diagram facilitated to estimate the probability of occurrence of operational wave condition. It was concluded that an unpredictable increment in wave height by 0.5 m can significantly impact the production cost.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.319-320
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• 2012

International oil prices is the world's leading macroeconomic indicators. Rising international oil price has been worsening. profitability of construction company including material cost as well stagnation in housing market. Thus, according to fluctuations in international oil prices has cost index need to see any change happening there. in this study, 2000 to 2011 interest rates, exchange rates and oil price fluctuations in construction cost is to compare the impact.

• Korean Management Science Review
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.21-35
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• 2009

There is a controversy on Internet pricing, flat-rate vs. usage-based. This study gives a comparative analysis between flat-rate and two-part tariff which is realistic alternative of usage-based pricing. In a basic economic model, two-part tariff based on ISP's cost structure satisfies allocative efficiency and relatively expand the number of subscribers. But the characteristics of Internet service like consumers' uncertainty on cost, measurement cost of traffic and network externality induce increase of cost or decrease of marginal utility. The analysis shows that small impact of these can make flat-rate more efficient.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.113-124
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• 2009

Value-based requirements engineering process, called The ViRE(Value-Innovative Requirement Engineering) was suggested to create an uncontested market using ERRC(Eliminate, Reduce, Raise, Create) requirements analysis. But ViRE did not provides a quantitative data analysis method for ERRC decision so as to make objective decisions for customers. In this paper, to solve this problem, we suggest a quantitative ERRC analysis method by estimating requirements cost. Our method defines user requirements and decides their weight. Then, it makes quality level table for all the identified requirements and function modules and estimate implementation cost based on their quality levels. Finally, assess each requirement's impact and then evaluate ERRC value. We could get the more objective ERRC values by evaluate the requirement weight. functional module weight, and implementation cost. And we proved the efficiency of our model by a case study, smart student ID system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.489-503
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• 2021

This research aims to investigate the seismic response of RC shear wall buildings of 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-, and 10-story designed as conventional and ductile and located in moderate seismic zone in Saudi Arabia in accordance with the seismic provisions of the American code ASCE-7-16. Dynamic analysis is conducted using the developed models in ETABS and the design spectra of the selected zone. The seismic responses of a number of design variations are evaluated in terms of story displacements, drift, shear and moments of both conventional and ductile building models as performance measures and presented comparatively. In addition, pushover analysis is also performed for the lowest and highest building models. Cost estimate of ductile and conventional walls is evaluated and compared to each other in terms of weight of reinforcement bars. In addition, due to the complexity of design and installation of ductile shear walls, sensitivity analysis is performed as well. It is observed that conventional design considerably increases induced seismic responses as well as cost compared to ductile one.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2015.10a
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• pp.371-375
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• 2015

Design-Build (DB) has gained in popularity in roadway projects due to its defining advantage to improve communication and fast-track project delivery. However, very little is known about the impact of change order frequency and occurrence timing pertaining to DB projects. The study analyzes their impacts on project time and cost performance by conducting a rigorous numerical analysis drawing on 530 3R (rehabilitation, reconstruction, and resurfacing) projects completed between 2002 and 2011 in Florida by using a multiple linear regression. The results indicate that DB outperformed Design-Bid-Build in project cost as well as time. Critically, the regression analysis signifies that earlier change order occurrence caused more unfavorable impacts on schedule and cost. The proposed analyses and models will lead to the improved ability of agencies to quickly and more reliably estimate the potential change order impacts on schedule and cost.