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Trend Analysis of Barrier-free Academic Research using Text Mining and CONCOR (텍스트 마이닝과 CONCOR을 활용한 배리어 프리 학술연구 동향 분석)

  • Jeong-Ki Lee;Ki-Hyok Youn
    • Journal of Internet of Things and Convergence
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.19-31
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    • 2023
  • The importance of barrier free is being highlighted worldwide. This study attempted to identify barrier-free research trends using text mining. Through this, it was intended to help with research and policies to create a barrier free environment. The analysis data is 227 papers published in domestic academic journals from 1996 when barrier free research began to 2022. The researcher converted the title, keywords, and abstract of an academic thesis into text, and then analyzed the pattern of the thesis and the meaning of the data. The summary of the research results is as follows. First, barrier-free research began to increase after 2009, with an annual average of 17.1 papers being published. This is related to the implementation guidelines for the barrier-free certification system that took effect on July 15, 2008. Second, results of barrier-free text mining i) As a result of word frequency analysis of top keywords, important keywords such as barrier free, disabled, design, universal design, access, elderly, certification, improvement, evaluation, and space, facility, and environment were searched. ii) As a result of TD-IDF analysis, the main keywords were universal design, design, certification, house, access, elderly, installation, disabled, park, evaluation, architecture, and space. iii) As a result of N-Ggam analysis, barrier free+certification, barrier free+design, barrier free+barrier free, elderly+disabled, disabled+elderly, disabled+convenience facilities, the disabled+the elderly, society+the elderly, convenience facilities+installation, certification+evaluation index, physical+environment, life+quality, etc. appeared in a related language. Third, as a result of the CONCOR analysis, cluster 1 was barrier-free issues and challenges, cluster 2 was universal design and space utilization, cluster 3 was Improving Accessibility for the Disabled, and cluster 4 was barrier free certification and evaluation. Based on the analysis results, this study presented policy implications for vitalizing barrier-free research and establishing a desirable barrier free environment.

First report of Telenomus remus Nixon(Scelionidae), an egg parasitoid of Spodoptera frugiperda(J.E. Smith)(Noctuidae) in Korea and its biological characteristics (한국에서 열대거세미나방 알기생벌 Telenomus remus Nixon (가칭: 밤나방검정알벌)[검정알벌과]의 첫 보고 및 생물적 특성 연구)

  • Jum Rae Cho;Bo Yoon Seo;June Yeol Choi;Gwan Seok Lee;Meeja Seo;Jeong Hwan Kim
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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    • v.40 no.2
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    • pp.187-198
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    • 2022
  • In this study, Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) was first reported as a natural enemy of the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) egg collected from corn fields in Korea, and its biological characteristics was studied. Based on morphological and molecular analysis, the parasitoid emerged from S. frugiperda eggs was identified as T. remus. We found that T. remus can attack the eggs of S. frugiperda, Spodoptera litra and Spodoptera exigua under a laboratory condition. The longevity of T. remus female adult was longer than that of male adult. The egg-to-adult period of T. remus was not affected by the host age and sex. T. remus female adult laid at least 1-3 eggs a day to a maximum of 37 or more eggs, and the most oviposited on the 3rd to 4th day after emergence. The host preference for oviposition of T. remus adult was high in the order of S. litura>S. exigua>S. frugiperda. T. remus preferred to parasitize 1- and 2-day-old host egg rather than 3-day-old host egg. When compared to the sex ratio of T. remus progeny, the rate of female progeny was higher at the initiation time of oviposition, while the proportion of male progeny increased significantly with female adult age, especially after 8-day-old adult. This information may be useful for improving T. remus mass rearing system and developing a biological control program to control S. frugiperda.

The Effects of Characteristics of Mobile Coupon Service on Consumers' Intention of Using Mobile Coupons (모바일 쿠폰서비스의 특성이 소비자의 쿠폰이용의도에 미치는 영향과 자기해석의 조절효과에 관한 연구)

  • Jeong, Seong Min;Kim, Sang Hee;Cho, Seong Do
    • Asia Marketing Journal
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    • v.13 no.3
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    • pp.103-134
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    • 2011
  • The recent economic recession and price rise reduces excessive consumption as a whole. So companies take more interest in and use discount coupons as a means of sales promotion to reinforce their competitiveness. The combination of Internet and mobile communication technology leads to an explosive increase in the use of mobile Internet service, which promotes commercialization of mobile coupons. Nevertheless, there are absolutely insufficient researches on mobile coupons than those on paper ones. In this context, this study tries to consider intention of accepting and using mobile coupons. The innovated Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to see factors of using mobile coupons considered important by customers. Through the combination of characteristics of mobile coupon service and values obtained from mobile coupons, effects of variables to enhance intention of using mobile coupons were empirically analyzed. In particular, this study suggested importance of psychological as well as economic values of mobile coupons and emphasized good considerations of the psychological aspect, such as shame, stinginess, and reputation sensitivity, in using mobile coupons as an important factor for intention of using the coupons. Another empirical analysis was made of what moderating roles consumers' self-construalplayed in the effects of mobile coupon values perceived by consumers on intention of using coupons. As a result, immediate connectivity and situational provision among characteristics of mobile coupon service were found to affect ease and usability. It was also shown that perceived ease and usability had significant effects on both economic and psychological values, which then had significant effects on intention of using a mobile system. After testing moderating effects of self-construal, the degree of effects of perceived mobile coupon values on intention of using mobile coupons was greater among inter-dependent self-construal users than among independent ones. This study considered various schemes of improving intention to use mobile coupons and provided a foundation to help companies make a strategy for mobile coupons to be activated in the future.

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Simulation and Feasibility Analysis of Aging Urban Park Refurbishment Project through the Application of Japan's Park-PFI System (일본 공모설치관리제도(Park-PFI)의 적용을 통한 노후 도시공원 정비사업 시뮬레이션 및 타당성 분석)

  • Kim, Yong-Gook;Kim, Young-Hyeon;Kim, Min-Seo
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.51 no.5
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    • pp.13-29
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    • 2023
  • Urban parks are social infrastructure supporting citizens' health, quality of life, and community formation. As the proportion of urban parks that have been established for more than 20 years is increasing, the need for refurbishment to improve the physical space environment and enhance the functions of aging urban parks is increasing. Since the government's refurbishment of aging urban parks has limitations in securing financial resources and promoting attractiveness, they must be promoted through public-private partnerships. Japan, which suffered from the problem of aging urban parks, has successfully promoted several park refurbishment projects by introducing the Park-PFI through the revision of the 「Urban Park Act」 in 2017. This study examines and analyzes the characteristics of the Japan Park-PFI as an alternative to improving the quality of aging domestic urban park services through public-private partnerships and the validity of the aging urban park refurbishment projects through Park-PFI. The main findings are as follows. First, it is necessary to start discussions on introducing Japan's Park-PFI according to the domestic conditions as a means of public-private partnership to improve the service quality and diversify the functions of aging urban parks. In order to introduce Park-PFI social discussions and follow-up studies on the deterioration of urban parks. Must be conducted. The installation of private capital and profit facilities and improvements of related regulations, such as the 「Parks and Green Spaces Act」 and the 「Public Property Act」, is required. Second, it is judged that the Park-PFI project is a policy alternative that can enhance the benefits to citizens, local governments, and private operators under the premise that the need to refurbish aging urban parks is high and the location is suitable for promoting the project. As a result of a pilot application of the Park-PFI project to Seyeong Park, an aging urban park located in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, it was analyzed to be profitable in terms of the profitability index (PI), net present value (FNPV), and internal rate of return (FIRR). It is considered possible to participate in the business sector. At the local government level, private capital is used to improve the physical space environment of aging urban parks, as well as the refurbishment of the urban parks by utilizing financial resources generated by returning a portion of the facility usage fees and profits (0.5% of annual sales) of private operators. It was found that management budgets could be secured.

Utilization of Smart Farms in Open-field Agriculture Based on Digital Twin (디지털 트윈 기반 노지스마트팜 활용방안)

  • Kim, Sukgu
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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    • 2023.04a
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    • pp.7-7
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    • 2023
  • Currently, the main technologies of various fourth industries are big data, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, blockchain, mixed reality (MR), and drones. In particular, "digital twin," which has recently become a global technological trend, is a concept of a virtual model that is expressed equally in physical objects and computers. By creating and simulating a Digital twin of software-virtualized assets instead of real physical assets, accurate information about the characteristics of real farming (current state, agricultural productivity, agricultural work scenarios, etc.) can be obtained. This study aims to streamline agricultural work through automatic water management, remote growth forecasting, drone control, and pest forecasting through the operation of an integrated control system by constructing digital twin data on the main production area of the nojinot industry and designing and building a smart farm complex. In addition, it aims to distribute digital environmental control agriculture in Korea that can reduce labor and improve crop productivity by minimizing environmental load through the use of appropriate amounts of fertilizers and pesticides through big data analysis. These open-field agricultural technologies can reduce labor through digital farming and cultivation management, optimize water use and prevent soil pollution in preparation for climate change, and quantitative growth management of open-field crops by securing digital data for the national cultivation environment. It is also a way to directly implement carbon-neutral RED++ activities by improving agricultural productivity. The analysis and prediction of growth status through the acquisition of the acquired high-precision and high-definition image-based crop growth data are very effective in digital farming work management. The Southern Crop Department of the National Institute of Food Science conducted research and development on various types of open-field agricultural smart farms such as underground point and underground drainage. In particular, from this year, commercialization is underway in earnest through the establishment of smart farm facilities and technology distribution for agricultural technology complexes across the country. In this study, we would like to describe the case of establishing the agricultural field that combines digital twin technology and open-field agricultural smart farm technology and future utilization plans.

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Analysis of Perceptions of Student Start-up Policies in Science and Technology Colleges: Focusing on the KAIST case (과기특성화대학 학생창업정책에 대한 인식분석: KAIST 사례를 중심으로)

  • Tae-Uk Ahn;Chun-Ryol Ryu;Minjung Baek
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.197-214
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    • 2024
  • This study aimed to investigate students' perceptions at science and technology specialized universities towards entrepreneurship support policies and to derive policy improvement measures by applying a bottom-up approach to reflect the requirements of the policy beneficiaries, i.e., the students. Specifically, the research explored effective execution strategies for student entrepreneurship support policies through a survey and analysis of KAIST students. The findings revealed that KAIST students recognize the urgent need for improvement in sharing policy objectives with the student entrepreneurship field, reflecting the opinions of the campus entrepreneurship scene in policy formulation, and constructing an entrepreneurship-friendly academic system for nurturing student entrepreneurs. Additionally, there was a highlighted need for enhancement in the capacity of implementing agencies, as well as in marketing and market development capabilities, and organizational management and practical skills as entrepreneurs within the educational curriculum. Consequently, this study proposes the following improvement measures: First, it calls for enhanced transparency and accessibility of entrepreneurship support policies, ensuring students clearly understand policy objectives and can easily access information. Second, it advocates for student-centered policy development, where students' opinions are actively incorporated to devise customized policies that consider their needs and the actual entrepreneurship environment. Third, there is a demand for improving entrepreneurship-friendly academic systems, encouraging more active participation in entrepreneurship activities by adopting or refining academic policies that recognize entrepreneurship activities as credits or expand entrepreneurship-related courses. Based on these results, it is expected that this research will provide valuable foundational data to actively support student entrepreneurship in science and technology specialized universities, foster an entrepreneurial spirit, and contribute to the creation of an innovation-driven entrepreneurship ecosystem that contributes to technological innovation and social value creation.

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A study on improving self-inference performance through iterative retraining of false positives of deep-learning object detection in tunnels (터널 내 딥러닝 객체인식 오탐지 데이터의 반복 재학습을 통한 자가 추론 성능 향상 방법에 관한 연구)

  • Kyu Beom Lee;Hyu-Soung Shin
    • Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.129-152
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    • 2024
  • In the application of deep learning object detection via CCTV in tunnels, a large number of false positive detections occur due to the poor environmental conditions of tunnels, such as low illumination and severe perspective effect. This problem directly impacts the reliability of the tunnel CCTV-based accident detection system reliant on object detection performance. Hence, it is necessary to reduce the number of false positive detections while also enhancing the number of true positive detections. Based on a deep learning object detection model, this paper proposes a false positive data training method that not only reduces false positives but also improves true positive detection performance through retraining of false positive data. This paper's false positive data training method is based on the following steps: initial training of a training dataset - inference of a validation dataset - correction of false positive data and dataset composition - addition to the training dataset and retraining. In this paper, experiments were conducted to verify the performance of this method. First, the optimal hyperparameters of the deep learning object detection model to be applied in this experiment were determined through previous experiments. Then, in this experiment, training image format was determined, and experiments were conducted sequentially to check the long-term performance improvement through retraining of repeated false detection datasets. As a result, in the first experiment, it was found that the inclusion of the background in the inferred image was more advantageous for object detection performance than the removal of the background excluding the object. In the second experiment, it was found that retraining by accumulating false positives from each level of retraining was more advantageous than retraining independently for each level of retraining in terms of continuous improvement of object detection performance. After retraining the false positive data with the method determined in the two experiments, the car object class showed excellent inference performance with an AP value of 0.95 or higher after the first retraining, and by the fifth retraining, the inference performance was improved by about 1.06 times compared to the initial inference. And the person object class continued to improve its inference performance as retraining progressed, and by the 18th retraining, it showed that it could self-improve its inference performance by more than 2.3 times compared to the initial inference.

Semi-Quantitative Scoring of Late Gadolinium Enhancement of the Left Ventricle in Patients with Ischemic Cardiomyopathy: Improving Interobserver Reliability and Agreement Using Consensus Guidance from the Asian Society of Cardiovascular Imaging-Practical Tutorial (ASCI-PT) 2020

  • Cherry Kim;Chul Hwan Park;Do Yeon Kim;Jaehyung Cha;Bae Young Lee;Chan Ho Park;Eun-Ju Kang;Hyun Jung Koo;Kakuya Kitagawa;Min Jae Cha;Rungroj Krittayaphong;Sang Il Choi;Sanjaya Viswamitra;Sung Min Ko;Sung Mok Kim;Sung Ho Hwang;Nguyen Ngoc Trang;Whal Lee;Young Jin Kim;Jongmin Lee;Dong Hyun Yang
    • Korean Journal of Radiology
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    • v.23 no.3
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    • pp.298-307
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    • 2022
  • Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of implementing the consensus statement from the Asian Society of Cardiovascular Imaging-Practical Tutorial 2020 (ASCI-PT 2020) on the reliability of cardiac MR with late gadolinium enhancement (CMR-LGE) myocardial viability scoring between observers in the context of ischemic cardiomyopathy. Materials and Methods: A total of 17 cardiovascular imaging experts from five different countries evaluated CMR obtained in 26 patients (male:female, 23:3; median age [interquartile range], 55.5 years [50-61.8]) with ischemic cardiomyopathy. For LGE scoring, based on the 17 segments, the extent of LGE in each segment was graded using a five-point scoring system ranging from 0 to 4 before and after exposure according to the consensus statement. All scoring was performed via web-based review. Scores for slices, vascular territories, and total scores were obtained as the sum of the relevant segmental scores. Interobserver reliability for segment scores was assessed using Fleiss' kappa, while the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used for slice score, vascular territory score, and total score. Inter-observer agreement was assessed using the limits of agreement from the mean (LoA). Results: Interobserver reliability (Fleiss' kappa) in each segment ranged 0.242-0.662 before the consensus and increased to 0.301-0.774 after the consensus. The interobserver reliability (ICC) for each slice, each vascular territory, and total score increased after the consensus (slice, 0.728-0.805 and 0.849-0.884; vascular territory, 0.756-0.902 and 0.852-0.941; total score, 0.847 and 0.913, before and after implementing the consensus statement, respectively. Interobserver agreement in scoring also improved with the implementation of the consensus for all slices, vascular territories, and total score. The LoA for the total score narrowed from ± 10.36 points to ± 7.12 points. Conclusion: The interobserver reliability and agreement for CMR-LGE scoring for ischemic cardiomyopathy improved when following guidance from the ASCI-PT 2020 consensus statement.

Analysis of Research Trends in Journal of Distribution Science (유통과학연구의 연구 동향 분석 : 창간호부터 제8권 제3호까지를 중심으로)

  • Kim, Young-Min;Kim, Young-Ei;Youn, Myoung-Kil
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.8 no.4
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    • pp.5-15
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    • 2010
  • This study investigated research trends of JDS that KODISA published and gave implications to elevate quality of scholarly journals. In other words, the study classified scientific system of distribution area to investigate research trends and to compare it with other scholarly journals of distribution and to give implications for higher level of JDS. KODISA published JDS Vol.1 No.1 for the first time in 1999 followed by Vol.8 No.3 in September 2010 to show 109 theses in total. KODISA investigated subjects, research institutions, number of participants, methodology, frequency of theses in both the Korean language and English, frequency of participation of not only the Koreans but also foreigners and use of references, etc. And, the study investigated JDR of KODIA, JKDM(The Journal of Korean Distribution & Management) and JDA that researched distribution, so that it found out development ways. To investigate research trends of JDS that KODISA publishes, main category was made based on the national science and technology standard classification system of MEST (Ministry Of Education, Science And Technology), table of classification of research areas of NRF(National Research Foundation of Korea), research classification system of both KOREADIMA and KLRA(Korea Logistics Research Association) and distribution science and others that KODISA is looking for, and distribution economy area was divided into general distribution, distribution economy, distribution, distribution information and others, and distribution management was divided into distribution management, marketing, MD and purchasing, consumer behavior and others. The findings were as follow: Firstly, main category occupied 47 theses (43.1%) of distribution economy and 62 theses (56.9%) of distribution management among 109 theses in total. Active research area of distribution economy consisted of 14 theses (12.8%) of distribution information and 9 theses (8.3%) of distribution economy to research distribution as well as distribution information positively every year. The distribution management consisted of 25 theses (22.9%) of distribution management and 20 theses (18.3%) of marketing, These days, research on distribution management, marketing, distribution, distribution information and others is increasing. Secondly, researchers published theses as follow: 55 theses (50.5%) by professor by himself or herself, 12 theses (11.0%) of joint research by professors and businesses, Professors/students published 9 theses (8.3%) followed by 5 theses (4.6%) of researchers, 5 theses (4.6%) of businesses, 4 theses (3.7%) of professors, researchers and businesses and 2 theses (1.8%) of students. Professors published theses less, while businesses, research institutions and graduate school students did more continuously. The number of researchers occupied single researcher (43 theses, 39.5%), two researchers (42 theses, 38.5%) and three researchers or more (24 theses, 22.0%). Thirdly, professors published theses the most at most of areas. Researchers of main category of distribution economy consisted of professors (25 theses, 53.2%), professors and businesses (7 theses, 14.9%), professors and businesses (7 theses, 14.9%), professors and researchers (6 theses, 12.8%) and professors and students (3 theses, 6.3%). And, researchers of main category of distribution management consisted of professors (30 theses, 48.4%), professors and businesses (10 theses, 16.1%), and professors and researchers as well as professors and students (6 theses, 9.7%). Researchers of distribution management consisted of professors, professors and businesses, professors and researchers, researchers and businesses, etc to have various types. Professors mainly researched marketing, MD and purchasing, and consumer behavior, etc to demand active participation of businesses and researchers. Fourthly, research methodology was: Literature research occupied 45 theses (41.3%) the most followed by empirical research based on questionnaire survey (44 theses, 40.4%). General distribution, distribution economy, distribution and distribution management, etc mostly adopted literature research, while marketing did empirical research based on questionnaire survey the most. Fifthly, theses in the Korean language occupied 92.7% (101 theses), while those in English did 7.3% (8 theses). No more than one thesis in English was published until 2006, and 7 theses (11.9%) were published after 2007 to increase. The theses in English were published more to be affirmative. Foreigner researcher published one thesis (0.9%) and both Korean researchers and foreigner researchers jointly published two theses (1.8%) to have very much low participation of foreigner researchers. Sixthly, one thesis of JDS had 27.5 references in average that consisted of 11.1 local references and 16.4 foreign references. And, cited times was 0.4 thesis in average to be low. The distribution economy cited 24.2 references in average (9.4 local references and 14.8 foreign references and JDS had 0.6 cited reference. The distribution management had 30.0 references in average (12.1 local references and 17.9 foreign references) and had 0.3 reference of JDS itself. Seventhly, similar type of scholarly journal had theses in the Korean language and English: JDR( Journal of Distribution Research) of KODIA(Korea Distribution Association) published 92 theses in the Korean language (96.8%) and 3 theses in English (3.2%), that is to say, 95 theses in total. JKDM of KOREADIMA published 132 theses in total that consisted of 93 theses in the Korean language (70.5%) and 39 theses in English (29.5%). Since 2008, JKDM has published scholarly journal in English one time every year. JDS published 52 theses in the Korean language (88.1%) and 7 theses in English (11.9%), that is to say, 59 theses in total. Sixthly, similar type of scholarly journals and research methodology were: JDR's research methodology had 65 empirical researches based on questionnaire survey (68.4%), followed by 17 literature researches (17.9%) and 11 quantitative analyses (11.6%). JKDM made use of various kinds of research methodologies to have 60 questionnaire surveys (45.5%), followed by 40 literature researches (30.3%), 21 quantitative analyses (15.9%), 6 system analyses (4.5%) and 5 case studies (3.8%). And, JDS made use of 30 questionnaire surveys (50.8%), followed by 15 literature researches (25.4%), 7 case studies (11.9%) and 6 quantitative analyses (10.2%). Ninthly, similar types of scholarly journals and Korean researchers and foreigner researchers were: JDR published 93 theses (97.8%) by Korean researchers except for 1 thesis by foreigner researcher and 1 thesis by joint research of the Korean researchers and foreigner researchers. And, JKDM had no foreigner research and 13 theses (9.8%) by joint research of the Korean researchers and foreigner researchers to have more foreigner researchers as well as researchers in foreign countries than similar types of scholarly journals had. And, JDS published 56 theses (94.9%) of the Korean researchers, one thesis (1.7%) of foreigner researcher only, and 2 theses (3.4%) of joint research of both the Koreans and foreigners. Tenthly, similar type of scholarly journals and reference had citation: JDR had 42.5 literatures in average that consisted of 10.9 local literatures (25.7%) and 31.6 foreign literatures (74.3%), and cited times accounted for 1.1 thesis to decrease. JKDM cited 10.5 Korean literatures (36.3%) and 18.4 foreign literatures (63.7%), and number of self-cited literature was no more than 1.1. Number of cited times accounted for 2.9 literatures in 2008 and then decreased continuously since then. JDS cited 26,8 references in average that consisted of 10.9 local references (40.7%) and 15.9 foreign references (59.3%), and number of self-cited accounted for 0.2 reference until 2009, and it increased to be 2.1 references in 2010. The author gives implications based on JDS research trends and investigation on similar type of scholarly journals as follow: Firstly, JDS shall actively invite foreign contributors to prepare for SSCI. Secondly, ratio of theses in English shall increase greatly. Thirdly, various kinds of research methodology shall be accepted to elevate quality of scholarly journals. Fourthly, to increase cited times, Google and other web retrievals shall be reinforced to supply scholarly journals to foreign countries more. Local scholarly journals can be worldwide scholarly journal enough to be acknowledged even in foreign countries by improving the implications above.

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Problems in the field of maternal and child health care and its improvement in rural Korea (우리나라 농촌(農村)의 모자보건(母子保健)의 문제점(問題點)과 개선방안(改善方案))

  • Lee, Sung-Kwan
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.1 no.1
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    • pp.29-36
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    • 1976
  • Introduction Recently, changes in the patterns and concepts of maternity care, in both developing and developed countries have been accelerating. An outstanding development in this field is the number of deliveries taking place in hospitals or maternity centers. In Korea, however, more than 90% of deliveries are carried out at home with the help of untrained relatives or even without helpers. It is estimated that less than 10% of deliveries are assisted by professional persons such as a physician or a midwife. Taking into account the shortage of professional person i11 rural Korea, it is difficult to expect widespread prenatal, postnatal, and delivery care by professional persons in the near future, It is unrealistic, therefore, to expect rapid development of MCH care by professional persons in rural Korea due to economic and sociological reasons. Given these conditions. it is reasonable that an educated village women could used as a "maternity aid", serving simple and technically easy roles in the MCH field, if we could give such a women incentive to do so. The midwife and physician are assigned difficult problems in the MCH field which could not be solved by the village worker. However, with the application of the village worker system, we could expect to improve maternal and child hoalth through the replacement of untrained relatives as birth attendants with educated and trained maternity aides. We hope that this system will be a way of improving MCH care, which is only one part of the general health services offered at the local health centre level. Problems of MCH in rural Korea The field of MCH is not only the weakest point in the medical field in our country hut it has also dropped behind other developing countries. Regarding the knowledge about pregnancy and delivery, a large proportion of our respondents reported having only a little knowledge, while 29% reported that they had "sufficient" knowledge. The average number of pregnancies among women residing in rural areas was 4.3 while the rate of women with 5 or more pregnancies among general women and women who terminated childbearing were 43 and 80% respectively. The rate of unwanted pregnancy among general women was 19.7%. The total rate for complications during pregnancy was 15.4%, toxemia being the major complication. The rate of pregnant women with chronic disease was 7%. Regarding the interval of pregnancy, the rates of pregnancy within 12 months and within 36 months after last delivery were 9 and 49% respectively. Induced abortion has been increasing in rural areas, being as high as 30-50% in some locations. The maternal death rate was shown 10 times higher than in developed countries (35/10,000 live births). Prenatal care Most women had no consultation with a physician during the prenatal period. Of those women who did have prenatal care, the majority (63%) received such care only 1 or 2 times throughout the entire period of pregnancy. Also, in 80% of these women the first visit Game after 4 months of gestation. Delivery conditions This field is lagging behind other public health problems in our country. Namely, more than 95% of the women deliveried their baby at home, and delivery attendance by a professional person occurred only 11% of the time. Attendance rate by laymen was 78% while those receiving no care at all was 16%. For instruments used to cut the umbilical corn, sterilized scissors were used by 19%, non-sterilized scissors by 63% and 16% used sickles. Regarding delivery sheets, the rate of use of clean sheets was only 10%, unclean sheets, vinyl and papers 72%, and without sheets, 18%. The main reason for not using a hospital as a place of delivery was that the women felt they did not need it as they had previously experience easy deliveries outside hospitals. Difficult delivery composed about 5% of the total. Child health The main food for infants (95%) was breast milk. Regarding weaning time, the rates within one year, up to one and half, two, three and more than three years were 28,43,60,81 and 91% respectively, and even after the next pregnancy still continued lactation. The vaccination of children is the only service for child health in rural Korea. As shown in the Table, the rates of all kinds of vaccination were very low and insufficient. Infant death rate was 42 per 1,000 live births. Most of the deaths were caused by preventable diseases. Death of infants within the neonatal period was 83% meaning that deaths from communicable diseases decreased remarkably after that time. Infant deaths which occurred without medical care was 52%. Methods of improvement in the MCH field 1. Through the activities of village health workers (VHW) to detect pregnant women by home visiting and. after registration. visiting once a month to observe any abnormalities in pregnant women. If they find warning signs of abnormalities. they refer them to the public health nurse or midwife. Sterilized delivery kits were distributed to the expected mother 2 weeks prior to expected date of delivery by the VHW. If a delivery was expected to be difficult, then the VHW took the mother to a physician or call a physician to help after birth, the VHW visits the mother and baby to confirm health and to recommend the baby be given proper vaccination. 2. Through the midwife or public health nurse (aid nurse) Examination of pregnant women who are referred by the VHW to confirm abnormalities and to treat them. If the midwife or aid nurse could not solve the problems, they refer the pregnant women to the OB-GY specialist. The midwife and PHN will attend in the cases of normal deliveries and they help in the birth. The PHN will conduct vaccination for all infants and children under 5, years old. 3. The Physician will help only in those cases referred to him by the PHN or VHW. However, the physician should examine all pregnant women at least three times during their pregnancy. First, the physician will identify the pregnancy and conduct general physical examination to confirm any chronic disease that might disturb the continuity of the pregnancy. Second, if the pregnant woman shows any abnormalities the physician must examine and treat. Third, at 9 or 10 months of gestation (after sitting of the baby) the physician should examine the position of the fetus and measure the pelvis to recommend institutional delivery of those who are expected to have a difficult delivery. And of course. the medical care of both the mother and the infants are responsible of the physician. Overall, large areas of the field of MCH would be served by the VHW, PHN, or midwife so the physician is needed only as a parttime worker.

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