• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.518-530
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• 2021

Background: This study examined the effect of having a usual source of care on the degree of patient-centered communication among persons with disability. The role of the usual source of care has been emphasized to improve patient experience, especially for patients with complex health conditions. Methods: This study used the 2017-2018 Korean Health Panel data, and the final study observations were 22,475 (20,806 people without disability and 1,669 people with disability). We applied generalized estimating equation model to show the effect of having a usual source of care on patient-centered communication, and subgroup analysis considering the types and severity of disabilities. Results: Persons who have disabilities, compared with ones without it, significantly had more usual sources of care (32.4% vs. 24.6%). By type of disability, persons with mental (51.4%), internal organ (43.8%), visual (37%), and physical disabilities (31.6%) had more usual sources of care than hearing/speech (26.6%), and developmental disabilities (18.6%). The average score of patient-centered communication was higher among who had a usual sources of care (3.2 vs. 2.7), and the regression analysis showed that having a usual sources of care was positively associated with higher patient-centered communication score (𝛽=0.476, p<0.05). However, the positive effects of usual sources of care was not observed among persons with severe hearing/speech, developmental, and mental disabilities. Conclusion: This study showed that role of patient-centered communication was limited in persons with severe hearing/speech disabilities, developmental, and mental disabilities. The education programs and supports are needed to improve communication skills between medical staff and persons with specific types of disabilities.

• Interdisciplinary Bio Central
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.4.1-4.4
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• 2012

Background: Serum concentration of cystatin C, a marker of glomerular filtration has been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study was to evaluate cystatin C as a marker of obese patients without chronic kidney disease (CKD). Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 36 subjects with metabolic syndrome and 32 subjects free of metabolic syndrome (the control group). HDL-C, LDL-C, blood urea, triglycerides, glucose, HbA1c, serum cystatin C and serum creatinine were measured in both groups. GFR was calculated in both groups using Cockroft-Gault equation. Results: Obese patients showed higher cystatin C levels than normal samples ($1.28{\pm}0.29$, P < 0.05). In the binary logistic regression, obese patients were significantly associated with elevated cystatin C levels. Conclusion: Our results suggest that cystatin C may be a marker for obese patients and may identify a certain degree of renal dysfunction even when serum creatinine does not exceed the normal level. In this study, we demonstrated that serum creatinineand GFR did not differ significantly between the diabetic and the control groups. Serum concentration of cystatin C was significantly higher in the diabetic group compared with the control group. The strengths of this study are the evaluation of reliability and sensivity in comparison with a 'routine test of GFR'. The methodology used allows an appropriate statistical comparison of reliability in contrast to most other previous evaluations of GFR.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.957-966
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• 1999

Underreporting of dietary intake is common and might distort analysis and interpretation of dietary surveys. This study was designed to investigate the degree of underreporting and characterastics of under-reporting group in Korean college female students. Dietary survey of 1-day 24-hour recall method was conducted on 379 college students in Seoul and Chonan areas. Physical activity and life style were aquired from questionnnaires. Underreporting was defined as energy intake(EI) lower than 0.9BMR(based metabolic rate), since EI<0.98BMR is statistically judged as bias in 1-day 24 hour recall. BMR was calculated from Schofield's equation. Proportion of underreporting was 18.7% and it's not so different from one of American or European women. Intake of nutrients except vitamin A by underreporting group was lower than other groups(p<0.001). Proportions of subjects with nutrient intake level less than 75% of Korean RDA were more than 80% in protein, Ca, Fe, vitamin A, riboflavin, niacin, zinc as well as energy. Dietary quality of underreporting group was also worse than other groups. Proportion of subjects less than 3 food groups among 5 food group was higher in underreporting group. The number of foods eaten by underreporting group were also less than those of other groups. BMI and body weight were the largest in underreporting group(p<0.05) and the trial of weight reduction was shown higher trend(p<0.01). Different in PAC and other characteristics between underreporting group and other group were not significant. Not only dietary quantity but also dietary quality were worse in the underreporting group. Furthermore underreporting in college female students seemed to be affected by body weight and concern for weight reduction.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.389-394
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• 1995

Yugu-Kwangcheon Au-Ag Province is connected to the southwestern part of the Cheonan Province and includes the Gubong (one of the biggest gold mine in past), Daebong and Samgwang mines. Cadmium concentrations in sphalerite of Yugu-Kwancheon Province is higher than those of other Au-Ag provinces and could be the source of the heavy metal contaminations. Heavy metals are present in rock-soil-plant-human system from natural geological materials, and dietary intake through this system makes a significant contribution to the ingestion of heavy metals by man. In order to examine the degree and extent of heavy metal contaminations in the Gubong, Daebong and Samgwang mine areas of Yugu-Kwangcheon Province, soil, stream water, sediment and crop plant samples were taken and analyzed for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES). Cadmium and Pb concentrations in paddy/farm soils and stream sediments from the Gubong and Samgwang mine areas are higher than those in uncontaminated soils. Lead concentrations in crop plants cultivated in these soils are high up to $0.38{\mu}g/g$ in rice grain and $4.5{\mu}g/g$ in sesame. In these mine areas, regular consumption of crop plants by the local population would seem to pose a potential health problems from long-term Pb exposure. The biological absorption coefficient in rice grain for heavy metals varies in the order $C_d=Zn>Cu>Pb$ and the relationship between Cd concentrations in soils and crop plants is expressed by the equation $Cd_{plant}=0.11245\;Log\;Cd_{soil}+0.13472$.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1-29
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• 2007

The brand-based online community recently plays an important roles for consumers to facilitates searching and sharing information among them. Firms often find such a brand community as a critical channel to gain collective intelligence for developing new ideas and products. As a new web platform such as web 2.0 has been introduced, consumers could more easily participate in the new social networks created by sharing mutual value and belief among themselves. Accordingly firms began to recognize potentials of online brand assets and pay attention to the importance of online brand community loyalty. Previous research related to online community tends to focus on identifying the antecedents of community loyalty and their subsequent impacts on brand. They, however, tend to neglect the importance of individual characteristics of online community users. As integrating the fragmented variables with an individual characteristics, therefore, this study reexamined the impacts of interactivity, information, reward, and personalization services provided by an online brand community on the sense of community, community loyalty, and brand attitude. Also, this study investigated how users' individual characteristics(need for cognition: NFC) can play moderating roles among the variables identified in the previous research. A field survey was administrated and 671 valid samples were collected. In order to test the hypothesis we conducted the multi-sample structural equation modeling(MSEM) between two groups(a group with high vs. a group with low level of NFC). Results show that previously identified variables such as interactivity, information, reward, and personalization services have significant effects on the sense of community as previous research demonstrated. Subsequently, the sense of community positively influences the community loyalty and brand attitude. However, when considering the NFC as a moderating variable, we found that the effect of interactivity and reward service on the sense of community was stronger for a group with a lower level of NFC compared to a group with a higher level, while the effect of information providing service on the sense of community was stronger for a group with a higher level of NFC compared to a group with a lower level. This research revealed that NFC can affect the degree of individual perception on the sense of community which has been considered as an important indicator for the community loyalty and brand attitude. Hence, when firms developing customer relation strategy through building an online brand community, they need to reflect customers' NFC and accordingly provide varying degree of interactivity, information, reward, and personalization services.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.171-178
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• 2011

Glycated hemoglobin ($HbA_{1c}$) is a most preferably used baseline of diabetes, implicating average blood glucose levels over a 2-3 month period of time. Recently the American Diabetes Association has recommended the $HbA_{1c}$ assay as one of the criteria for diabetes. Although some studies provide data with "estimated average glucose", by converting the $HbA_{1c}$ results from simple linear regression, the results are not applicable to whole diabetes. We compared the relationship between $HbA_{1c}$ and estimated average glucose by anemia degree of diabetic patients in Korea. The data from the 2008~2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used. Analysis was done for 1,257 diabetes subjects with $HbA_{1c}$ results. The distribution of subjects was 34.1% in 60's, 25.9% in 70's, 21,6% in 50's, showing that there was more than 80% in over 50's. To take a close look of the differences depending on the anemic degree, we applied WHO criteria (hemoglobin<13.0 in men and hemoglobin<12.0 in women) and divided anemia degree. The regression equation for A1c and estimated average glucose was $eAG_{mg/dL}=24.3{\times}A1c-32.0$ ($R^2=0.54$, p<0.001) in all subjects, $eAG_{mg/dL}=33.1{\times}A1c-96.1$ ($R^2=0.52$, p<0.001) in slight anemia ($11.0{\leq}$Hb<13.0 in men, $10.0{\leq}$Hb<12.0 in women), and $eAG_{mg/dL}=13.5{\times}A1c+34.9$ ($R^2=0.12$, p =0.075) in moderate anemia (Hb<11.0 in men, Hb<10.0 in women). The regression was not significant in moderate anemia. The relationship between HbA1c and eAG was lower correlation than ADAG study, and eAG showed lower value in all ranges among $HbA_{1c}$ 5~13%. Such as a korea where, there are many diabetic patients among the old aged and higher prevalence rate of anemia, we should be extra careful when we reflect eAG using $HbA_{1c}$ and need to establish criteria which can be applicable to koreans.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.78 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2021

This work focused on the novel numerical tool for the bending responses of carbon nanotube reinforced composites (CNTRC) beams. The higher order shear deformation beam theory (HSDT) is used to determine strain-displacement relationships. A new exponential function was introduced into the carbon nanotube (CNT) volume fraction equation to show the effect of the CNT distribution on the CNTRC beams through displacements and stresses. To determine the mechanical properties of CNTRCs, the rule of the mixture was employed by assuming that the single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)are aligned and distributed in the matrix. The governing equations were derived by Hamilton's principle, and the mathematical models presented in this work are numerically provided to verify the accuracy of the present theory. The effects of aspect ratio (l/d), CNT volume fraction (Vcnt), and the order of exponent (n) on the displacement and stresses are presented and discussed in detail. Based on the analytical results. It turns out that the increase of the exponent degree (n) makes the X-beam stiffer and the exponential CNTs distribution plays an indispensable role to improve the mechanical properties of the CNTRC beams.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.210-216
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• 2022

The army is concerned about the decrease in enlistment resources due to the low birth rate and the weakening of military combat power due to the shortening of the military service period. Now, the military's quantitative growth is no longer limited and it is a time for qualitative growth. To this end, the Army has been applying the Israeli learning method Havruta to recruit training to improve the quality of training since 2019. After applying Havruta, several scholars have studied the effect of recruit training applying Havruta. As a result, it was verified that recruit training applying Havruta improves the inner motive, creativity, and military service value of trainees. This study investigated how trainees' inner motive, creativity, and military service value affect their satisfaction and achievement. In addition, it was studied whether the effect of recruit training applied with Havruta on achievement differs according to the educational background (high school graduate or higher) and military family (professional soldiers within 4th degree) of the trainees. To this end, a survey was conducted on 472 recruits, and the structural relationship between each variable and the moderating effect were analyzed using the structural equation model. As a result of the study, military service value did not affect training satisfaction. Also, there was a difference in the effect of creativity on training satisfaction according to the educational background of new recruits, and there was a difference in the effect of military service value on training satisfaction and training achievement according to military family members. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the improvement of the army's recruit training development plan and effective training system.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.187-193
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• 2010

The effects of molecular weight (MW) and concentration on the rheological properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solutions in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were investigated at $30^{\circ}C$. Ubbelohde viscometer and rotational rheometer were employed for dilute and concentrated regime, respectively. In the dilute regime, the Mark-Houwink exponent ($\alpha$) of the solutions determined from three different MWs proved 0.73. The critical concentration (C*), in which the entanglement and overlap of polymer molecules began to take place, decreased with increasing the MW of PVA. Huggins constant ($K_H$) values ranged from 0.33 to 0.45 over the MW examined. In the log-log plot of $\eta_{sp}$ versus [$\eta$]C, the PVA with higher degree of polymerization (DP) gave a greater slope exhibiting the inflection point in the vicinity of C*. In the dynamic viscosity ($\eta'$) curve, the PVA solutions of DP 1700 presented Newtonian fluid behavior over most of the frequency range examined. However, the lower Newtonian flow region reduced with increasing the DP. As the PVA concentration increased, $\eta'$ was increased and the onset shear rate for pseudoplasticity was decreased. In the Cole-Cole plot, PVA solutions showed almost a single master curve in a slope of ca. 1.65 regardless of the DP. However, the increase of the concentration from 8 to 12 wt% for PVA solutions of DP 5000 decreased the slope from 1.73 to 1.57. In the tan $\delta$ curve, the onset frequency for sol-gel transition was shifted from 154 to 92 rad/s with increasing the DP from 3300 to 5000 and from 192 to 46 rad/s with increasing the concentration from 8 to 12 wt%. In addition, longer relaxation time ($\lambda$) was observed with increasing the DP and concentration.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.34 no.5 s.118
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• pp.39-51
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• 2006

This study was carried out to provide guidance to environmental policy makers when deciding which assessment fields (biotic, abiotic, qualitative, functional) should have priority for ecological preservation and to develop an objective and scientific methodology by introducing the engineering concept of the fuzzy integral. The grant of weights was used the eigenvalues calculated by factor analysis, and the converted values of indicators were obtained in multiplying the arithmetic values and eigenvalues. The results of the appropriateness and reliability of assessment fields were examined over 0.6, and the results showed that the design of questionnaire presented no great problems. When the fuzzy integral was calculated to determine the rankings at ${\lambda}$=1, 2, 3, 4, 5, respectively, they were 0.646, 0.630, 0.943, 1.423, and 1.167 for the biotic field, 1.298, 1.400, 0.901, 0.580, and 1.456 for the abiotic field, 0.714, 0.674, 0.346, 0.674, and 1.610 in the qualitative field and 1.000, 0.973, 0.943, 1.024, and 1.008 in the functional field. The sensitivity to ${\lambda}$ value showed that ${\lambda}=4$ was the most suitable. In comparison with ${\lambda}=0$ (the arithmetic mean), the range of change was narrow. Because the range for ${\lambda}=4$ was narrower than my other values, ${\lambda}=4$ was sure to be available in ranking-decision. The fuzzy integral is expected to be a method for analyzing and filtering human thoughts. In the future, in order to overcome linguistic uncertainty and subjectivity, other fuzzy integral models including Sugeno's method, AHP, and so forth should be used.