• Title/Summary/Keyword: Impact Rate

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Impact of Net-Based Customer Service on Firm Profits and Consumer Welfare (기업의 온라인 고객 서비스가 기업의 수익 및 고객의 후생에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Eun-Jin;Lee, Byung-Tae
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.123-137
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    • 2007
  • The advent of the Internet and related Web technologies has created an easily accessible link between a firm and its customers, and has provided opportunities to a firm to use information technology to support supplementary after-sale services associated with a product or service. It has been widely recognized that supplementary services are an important source of customer value and of competitive advantage as the characteristics of the product itself. Many of these supplementary services are information-based and need not be co-located with the product, so more and more companies are delivering these services electronically. Net-based customer service, which is defined as an Internet-based computerized information system that delivers services to a customer, therefore, is the core infrastructure for supplementary service provision. The importance of net-based customer service in delivering supplementary after-sale services associated with product has been well documented. The strategic advantages of well-implemented net-based customer service are enhanced customer loyalty and higher lock-in of customers, and a resulting reduction in competition and the consequent increase in profits. However, not all customers utilize such net-based customer service. The digital divide is the phenomenon in our society that captures the observation that not all customers have equal access to computers. Socioeconomic factors such as race, gender, and education level are strongly related to Internet accessibility and ability to use. This is due to the differences in the ability to bear the cost of a computer, and the differences in self-efficacy in the use of a technology, among other reasons. This concept, applied to e-commerce, has been called the "e-commerce divide." High Internet penetration is not eradicating the digital divide and e-commerce divide as one would hope. Besides, to accommodate personalized support, a customer must often provide personal information to the firm. This personal information includes not only name and address, but also preferences information and perhaps valuation information. However, many recent studies show that consumers may not be willing to share information about themselves due to concerns about privacy online. Due to the e-commerce divide, and due to privacy and security concerns of the customer for sharing personal information with firms, limited numbers of customers adopt net-based customer service. The limited level of customer adoption of net-based customer service affects the firm profits and the customers' welfare. We use a game-theoretic model in which we model the net-based customer service system as a mechanism to enhance customers' loyalty. We model a market entry scenario where a firm (the incumbent) uses the net-based customer service system in inducing loyalty in its customer base. The firm sells one product through the traditional retailing channels and at a price set for these channels. Another firm (the entrant) enters the market, and having observed the price of the incumbent firm (and after deducing the loyalty levels in the customer base), chooses its price. The profits of the firms and the surplus of the two customers segments (the segment that utilizes net-based customer service and the segment that does not) are analyzed in the Stackelberg leader-follower model of competition between the firms. We find that an increase in adoption of net-based customer service by the customer base is not always desirable for firms. With low effectiveness in enhancing customer loyalty, firms prefer a high level of customer adoption of net-based customer service, because an increase in adoption rate decreases competition and increases profits. A firm in an industry where net-based customer service is highly effective loyalty mechanism, on the other hand, prefers a low level of adoption by customers.

Preliminary Results of Concurrent Radiation Therapy and Chemotherapy in Locally Advanced Cervical Carcinoma (국소적으로 진행된 자궁 경부암에서 방사선과 항암화학요법 병행치료의 예비적 결과)

  • Yang KM;Ahn SD;Choi EK;Chang HS;Kim YT;Nam JH;Mok JE
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.355-361
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    • 1993
  • Since May 1991, authors have conducted a pilot study to determine the feasibility and evaluate the effect of concurrent radiation therapy and chemotherapy with 5-FU and Cis-platinum for locally advanced cervical cancer (stage IIB-IVA). Radiation therapy consisted of external irradiation to whole pelvis (4140 cGy/23 fx) in 4.5 weeks followed by high dose rate intracavitary radiation therapy (HDR ICRT) to deliver a dose of 30 to 35 Gy to A point in 6 to 7 fractions. After the intracavitary radiation therapy, parametrial boost was delivered for B point dose of 60 Gy in Stage IIB and 65 Gy in stage IIIB. 5-FU (1000 $mg/m^2/24hr$ for 96 hour iv infusion) and Cis-platinum (20 $mg/m^2/day$ IV bolus for 3 days) were given during the second week of external RT and the second course chemotherapy administered at the first HDR ICRT with the same method as the first chemotherapy. Sixteen patients (10 stage IIB,4 stage IIIB,2 stage IVA) were registered to this protocol. Among these 16 patients, two refused treatment after 2 fractions of external irradiation, and one could not continue intracavitary irradiation because of treatment related genitourinary toxicity. So 14 patients were evaluated for toxicity and 13 patients were evaluated for response analysis. Five of 14 patients developed grade 3 gastrointestinal toxicity but 4 of them recovered at the completion of treatment. One stage IIIB patient with inguinal lymph node metastasis who received higher dose of radiation in spite of initial poor performance status did not recover from gastrointestinal toxicity at the completion of treatment. And she died of distant metastasis at one month after the completion of treatment. Two of 14 evaluable patients showed weight loss, more than $10\%$ of initial weight. One patient developed grade 3 leukopenia. In this study, the average total treatment period of completely treated patients was 75 days and three of them took more than 80 days (84, 84, 89 days). Toxicities were generally acceptable and there were no treatment related death. At the last follow-up, complete response was achieved in $62\%(8/13)$ and especially of nine patients with stage IIB, eight patients showed complete response. This study suggests that concurrent radiation therapy and chemotherapy (5-FU and Cis-platinum) is tolerable and effective. Further follow-up is needed to determine whether this protocol will have a favorable impact on survival and to evaluate the late effect on normal tissues. In future, prospective randomized trials are needed to compare the standard radiation therapy alone with concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy for locally advanced cervical carcinoma.

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Variations in Ammonium Removal Rate with Tidal State in the Macrotidal Han River Estuary: Potential Role of Nitrification (한강기수역에서의 암모늄 제거율 변화 및 질산화의 잠재적 역할)

  • Hyun, Jung-Ho;Chung, Kyung-Ho;Park, Yong-Chul;Choi, Joong-Ki
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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    • v.4 no.1
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    • pp.33-39
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    • 1999
  • In order to understand the importance of tidal action and $NH_4{^+}$ -nitrification in the removal of dissolved oxygen (DO) and $NH_4{^+}$, concentrations of DO, $NH_4{^+}$, $NO_2{^-}$ and $NO_3{^-}$ were measured with time for water samples collected at different tidal state in the eutrophic macrotidal Han River estuary. Field measurements indicated that most environmental parameters, except for the water temperature and DO concentration, were tightly controlled by the eutrophic freshwater runoff and large-scale tidal action. Dark incubation of the water sample at $25^{\circ}C$ showed that the removal rates of DO and $NH_4{^+}$ in high tide sample were 2.76 ${\mu}M\;O_2\;d^{-1}$ and 1.76 ${\mu}M\;N\;d^{-1}$ respectively, and increased to 5.66 ${\mu}M\;O_2\;d^{-1}$ and 3.36 ${\mu}M\;N\;d^{-1}$ respectively, in low tide sample. These changes indicated that microbial degradation and uptake of organic matter and inorganic nutrients were more active during low tide. $NH_4{^+}$-nitrification responsible for total DO removal in low tide (23.81%) and $NH_4{^+}$ turnover rates due to $NH_4{^+}$-nitrification in low tide (0.18 $d^{-1}$) were approximately 3.7 times and 3 times, respectively, higher than those in high tide. These results indicated that $NH_4{^+}$ -nitrifying bacteria introduced into the Han River estuary during low tide played a significant role in the removal of DO and $NH_4{^+}$. The decreasing removal rates in DO and $NH_4{^+}$ with the increasing tidal level seemed to be associated with the salinity impact on the halophobic freshwater $NH_4{^+}$-nitrifying bacteria. The results implied that anthropogenic $NH_4{^+}$ sources should be treated prior to the freshwater runoff into the estuary for the effective control of $NH_4{^+}$ in the Han River estuary. These results also suggest that parallel ecological studies on the chemoautotrophic nitrifying bacteria are essential for the elucidation of nitrogen cycles in the eutrophic Han River estuary.

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Evaluation of Future Turbidity Water and Eutrophication in Chungju Lake by Climate Change Using CE-QUAL-W2 (CE-QUAL-W2를 이용한 충주호의 기후변화에 따른 탁수 및 부영양화 영향평가)

  • Ahn, So Ra;Ha, Rim;Yoon, Sung Wan;Kim, Seong Joon
    • Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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    • v.47 no.2
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    • pp.145-159
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    • 2014
  • This study is to evaluate the future climate change impact on turbidity water and eutrophication for Chungju Lake by using CE-QUAL-W2 reservoir water quality model coupled with SWAT watershed model. The SWAT was calibrated and validated using 11 years (2000~2010) daily streamflow data at three locations and monthly stream water quality data at two locations. The CE-QUAL-W2 was calibrated and validated for 2 years (2008 and 2010) water temperature, suspended solid, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and Chl-a. For the future assessment, the SWAT results were used as boundary conditions for CE-QUAL-W2 model run. To evaluate the future water quality variation in reservoir, the climate data predicted by MM5 RCM(Regional Climate Model) of Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) A1B for three periods (2013~2040, 2041~2070 and 2071~2100) were downscaled by Artificial Neural Networks method to consider Typhoon effect. The RCM temperature and precipitation outputs and historical records were used to generate pollutants loading from the watershed. By the future temperature increase, the lake water temperature showed $0.5^{\circ}C$ increase in shallow depth while $-0.9^{\circ}C$ in deep depth. The future annual maximum sediment concentration into the lake from the watershed showed 17% increase in wet years. The future lake residence time above 10 mg/L suspended solids (SS) showed increases of 6 and 17 days in wet and dry years respectively comparing with normal year. The SS occupying rate of the lake also showed increases of 24% and 26% in both wet and dry year respectively. In summary, the future lake turbidity showed longer lasting with high concentration comparing with present behavior. Under the future lake environment by the watershed and within lake, the future maximum Chl-a concentration showed increases of 19 % in wet year and 3% in dry year respectively.

Methods of Application and Beneficial Effects of Silicate-Coating Rice Seeds (볍씨의 규산코팅방법에 따른 이용특성과 육묘효과)

  • Kang, Yang-Soon;Kim, Wan Joong;Hwang, Duck Sang;Kim, Hee Kyu
    • KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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    • v.65 no.1
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    • pp.30-39
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    • 2020
  • A new silicate coating technology was developed which reduces the impact of dust and loosening during seeding compared to existing silicate-coatings (Seed/Si/Zeolite), and therefore can lower the production costs of rice cultivation. In this method, 100 g of rice seed is coated with 18 mL of liquid silicic acid and then dressed with a mixture containing 80 g of dolomite and 5 g of iron. To determine the most effective method of application and ensure that seedlings developed healthily, a series of experiments were carried out. Infected seeds scattered in seedling boxes and pots (soil and hydroponic) were coated dry, without disinfection. In comparison to the seed which were not treated with the silicate-coating, the new seed (A) were 1.84 times heavier in weight, and were also improved in terms of coating strength and coating color. Compared to the seedlings grown from the non-coated seed, those grown from the new silicate-coated seed were of significantly higher quality (weight/length) and had erect, dark greenish leaves, which are ideal plant characteristics. This was most likely due to increased silicate uptake. The symptoms of bakanae disease in the non-coated seed peaked after 38 days to 54.2%, whereas the control value was 68.8% in the new silicate-coated seed (A). In the infected seedlings grown from the new silicate-coated rice seed, subnormal macro-conidia, namely, a sickle shape spore without a septum; a straight oblong shape spore without a septum and with a thick cell wall; and inter-septal necrosis of a normal spore were detected. It is believed that the strong alkalinity of silicic acid have acted as unfavorable conditions for pathogenicity. In seedlings grown from the new silicate coated rice seed under hydroponic conditions without nutrients, normal root activity and growth was maintained without leaf senescence. Therefore, it was possible to reduce the rate of fertilization. In the future, a new silicate-coated rice seed was required for the study of minimal nutrition for anti-aging of seedlings.

Oral Health and Self-Rated Health among the Elderly in Busan (부산지역 65세 이상 노인의 구강건강과 자가건강평가수준(SRH))

  • Yoon, Hyun-Seo;Chun, Jin-Ho;Lee, Jung-Hwa
    • Journal of dental hygiene science
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.197-207
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    • 2012
  • The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the oral health status and health care of elderly people on their self-rated health(SRH). The subjects on this study were 479 senior citizens who were at the age of 65 and up and resided in the city of Busan. They got a dental checkup, and a survey was conducted by having an one-on-one interview. After the collected data were analyzed, the following findings were given: The senior citizens were diagnosed with a mean of 1.43 systemic diseases, and hypertension(51.8%) was the most prevalent disease among them, followed by diabetes(25.1%), arthritis(41.8%), oral diseases(75.6%), stroke(9.0%) and heart diseases(15.9%). Their self-rated health was better when they were male, when they were aged between 65 and 69, when there was someone with whom they lived, when they were better educated and when they owned their own houses. But their self-rated health was poorer when they felt more oral symptoms, when they had more missing teeth and when they needed both of maxillary and mandibular dentures. Their self-rated health was more positively affected when they were better educated($\beta$=0.894), when they owned their own houses($\beta$=4.220), when they got a dental checkup on a regular basis($\beta$=2.997) and when the rate of their functional tooth was larger($\beta$=0.081). And that was more negatively influenced when they had a denture($\beta$=-1.110), when they had more oral symptoms($\beta$=-1.590) and when they had more systemic diseases($\beta$=3.363). There is a close relationship between the oral health and self-rated health of elderly people. Therefore how to promote their oral health should carefully be considered.

Toxic Effects of Phenol on Survival and Oxygen Consumption of the Abalone Juvenile, Haliotis discus hannai (참전복, Haliotis discus hannai 치패의 생존과 산소소비에 미치는 phenol의 독성 영향)

  • KIM Heung-Yun
    • Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.30 no.3
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    • pp.496-504
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    • 1997
  • This study was carried out to estimate toxic effects of phenol on survival and metabolism of the abalone juvenile, Haliotis discus hannai. The experiment was conducted by renewal bioassay procedure with different salinities at $20^{\circ}C$. The $LC_{50}$ of the juvenile exposed to phenol in the range of 0.5 and $100mg/\ell\;was\;34.3\~6.5mg/\ell\;at\;2.4\%_{\circ}\;and\;52.2\~9.3m/\ell\;at\;32\%_{\circ}$ salinity with exposure time from 24 hours to 96 hours. $LT_{50}$ was remarkablely reduced with increase of phenol conentration and decrease of salinity. Lethal toxicity or phenol was higher at low salinity than at high salinity. Therefore, salinity is likely to be one of factor to increase phenol toxicity. The oxygen consumption of the juvenile was reduced with increase of phenol concentration and with decrease of salinity. In spite of phenol toxicity, the oxygen consumption of the juvenile exposed to phenol of low concentration was high and similar as compared with that of control group. Survival rates of the abalone kept in phenol-free sea water after exposure to phenol concentration of 5, 10 and $20mg/\ell$ for 96 hours were reduced with decrease of salinity. Durations required to recover the normal metabolic rate of the juvenile, which was exposed to phenol concentration of 5, 10 and $20mg/\ell$ for 96 hours, were made longer with increasing phenol concentration. In the case of the juvenile exposed to sublethal concentration of phenol for 15 days, it were elongated as compared with that of the abalone exposed to phenol concentration caused acute toxicity. The result of this experiment indicated that relatively low concentration of phenol can impact on the abalone juvenile in marine ecosystem.

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Current Status and Perspective and Future Task in Korea of Crop Genetic Transformation (작물형질전환의 현황과 한국내의 발전전망 및 과제)

  • Harn, Chee-Hark
    • Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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    • v.33 no.3
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    • pp.171-184
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    • 2006
  • According to ISAAA report, the global area of genetically modified (GM) crops increased more than 50 fold during the ten-year period from 1996 to 2005 with a sustained double-digit growth rate of 10%. This biotechnology adoption is one of the highest rates of technology adoption in agriculture history and this phenomenon indicates that the industrial value of the GM crops is highly perspective. In addition, the year 2010, 60% of cereal seeds in the global market would be GM or biotechnology related seeds so that the GM crop regards as the second green revolution that could provide a huge impact to food and agriculture. Nevertheless, there has not been any GM variety ever successfully commercialized in Korea and even none of the GM crops has ever been approved for safety testing by risk assessment. This seems that Korean agriculture industry might be indeed lost in the war of future seed market. However, lots of evidence show that Korean scientists have established advanced technologies and protocols to develop GM crops for last 20 years. Actually there have been many cases of successful transformation of crops that were previously known very difficult in transforming. Therefore, Korean agbiotechnology arena firmly holds an infrastructure for developing GM crops with a superior technology. Then what were the problems? Why has even a single GM crop not been commercialized in Korea? The tardiness shown by business in adopting the GM crop is caused by many factors: academical weakness, poor research funding, short knowledge of risk assessment, public concern, no successful experience, lack of professional leaders on GM variety development, lack of systems toward industrialization and inappropriate target transgenes from the beginning. In order to catch up in the race for the new green industry, each one of us in private sectors alongside academia and national research institutes needs to focus altogether on what can be done best in terms of choosing crops, investing fund and establishing a road map for commercialization of GM crops.

The Diagnosis of Pneumoniae Following Bone Marrow Transplantation by Bronchoscopy (골수이식후 기관지내시경을 이용한 폐렴의 진단)

  • Kim, Tae-Yon;Yoon, Hyeong-Kyu;Moon, Hwa-Sik;Park, Sung-Hak;Min, Chang-Ki;Kim, Chun-Choo;Jung, Jung-Im;Song, Jeong-Sup
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.49 no.2
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    • pp.198-206
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    • 2000
  • Background : Pulmonary complications following bonemarrow transplantation (BMT) are common and associated with a high mortality rate. We investigated the yield, safety, and impact of fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) for diagnosis of postBMT pneumoniae. Methods : From May 1997 to April 2000, 56 FOBs were performed in 52 post BMT patients for clinical pneumoniae. BMT patients with respiratory symptoms and/or pulmonary infiltrates had a thoracic HRCT(high resolution computed tomography) and bronchoscopic examination including BAL (bronchoalveolar lavage), TBLB (transbronchial lung biopsy), PSB (protected specimen brush). Results : The characteristics of the subjects were as follows : 37 males, 15 females, mean age of 31.3 years(l7-45), 35 sibling donor allogenic BMTs, 15 nonrelated donor allogenic BMTs, and 2 autologous BMTs. Fiftynine percent of FOBs (33 FOBs, 31 patients) were diagnostic. Isolated pathogens included the following : 12 cytomegalovirus (CMV) (21.4 %), 7 pneumocystis carinii (PC) (12.5 %), 11 CMV with PC (19.6 %), 2 Mycobacaterium tuberculosis (3.6%), and 1 streptococcus (1.8%). Most of the radiographic findings were diffuse interstitial lesions. CMV pneumoniae had mainly diffuse interstitial nodular lesion, and PC pneumoniae had diffuse, interstitial ground glass opacity(GGO). When CMV was accompanied by PC, a combined pattern of nodular and GGO was present. Of the 56 cases (23.2%), 13 died of CMV pneumoniae (n=2), PCP (n=2),mixed infection with CMV and PC (n=3), underlying GVHD (n=1), underlying leukemia progression (n=1), or respiratory failure of unknown origin (n=4). There was no major complication by bronchoscopy. Only 3 cases developed minor bleeding and 1 episode temporary hypoxemia. Conclusion : Based on our findings, CMV and PC are the major causes of postBMT pneumoniae. In addition, BAL can be considered a safe and accurate procedure for the evaluation of pulmonary complications after BMT.

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A Study on Oral Health Knowledge, Behavior and Education Needs of the Elderly (노인의 구강보건지식, 행위, 교육 요구도에 관한 연구)

  • Jung, Jae-Yeon;Han, Su-Jin
    • Journal of dental hygiene science
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    • v.11 no.6
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    • pp.513-520
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    • 2011
  • The purpose of this study was to examine elderly people's oral health behaviors and education needs. The subjects in this study were 195 senior citizens who were users of senior cultural centers and senior welfare agencies in Seoul and Incheon. After a survey was conducted, the collected data were analyzed by the statistical package SPSSWIN 19.0. The findings of the study were as follows: 1. Gender, academic credential and monthly mean income were identified as the general characteristics to impact on their oral health attitude. 2. The senior citizens who ever received oral health education had a better knowledge(p<0.05) and took a better attitude(p<0.01). 3. As for a time for toothbrushing, many brushed their teeth after breakfast(74.9%) and dinner(71.8%). Utilized Oral hygiene devices were interdental brushes(21.5%), dental floss(13.8%). As many as 62.5% felt they had a dry mouth, and the most prevalent way for them to cope with it was drinking water often(68.2%). 79.5% didn't get their teeth cleaned on a regular scaling. 4. The rate of regular scaling was higher in the elderly groups that ever received oral health education and whose knowledge scores was above the average(p<0.05). 5. In relation to the necessity of oral health education, 87.2% felt the need for that, and as many as 79.0% intended to receive that education. Their favorite period of education was 6months(41.0%), and the greatest group hoped to receive that education for an hour(55.4%). The largest group wanted to learn about prevention of oral diseases, followed by toothbrushing, denture management, dry mouth. Given the findings of the study, senior welfare centers and senior cultural centers should offer oral health education programs as part of lifelong education to provide systematic and prolonged education for the elderly to improve their oral health care to promote their oral health.