• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-21
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• 1997

In order to analyze the shifts in the volume and profits of Computed Tomography(CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) utilization for a year before and after the implementation of insurance coverage for CT, this study has been undertaken examining CT and MRI cost data from 'Y' University Hospital situated in Seoul, Korea. Following are the results of this study: 1. The medical insurance payment for CT, implemented on January 1, 1996, increased CT utilization from January 1996 to April 1996 due to low insurance premiums: however, from May 1996 the number of CT cases significantly decreased as a result of strengthened medical cost reviews and the new 'Detailed standards for approval of CT' announced near the end of April 1996 by the insurer. 2. Since the implementation of insurance coverage for CT, CT fee reduction rates for reimbursements by the insurer to the hospital were 50% and 40% for January and February, respectively, and 31% and 15% for March and April. A significant point in the lowering of the reduction rate was reached in May at 11%; furthermore, since June the reduction rate fell below the average reduction rate for reimbursements for all procedures. If the 'Detailed standards for approval of CT' had been announced before the implementation of insurance coverage for CT, CT utilization would not have been so high due to the need to meet those 'standards'. In addition, loss of hospital profits resulting from the reduction for reimbursements would not have occurred. 3. The shifts in MRI utilization showed that there was no particular change with the beginning of insurance coverage for CT, and the introduction of the 'Detailed standards for approval of CT' made MRI utilization increase because MRI is free of restrictions imposed by the insurer. 4. The relationship between CT utilization and MRI utilization showed that they were supplementary to each other before insurance coverage for CT, but that CT was substituted for MRI because of strengthened medical cost reviews after t~e beginning of insurance coverage for CT. 5. The shifts in volume by patient characteristics showed that the number of inappropriate case patients, according to the insurer's "Standards for approval", decreased more than the number of appropriate case patients after the introduction of insurance coverage for CT. Therefore, the health insurance fee schemes for CT have influenced patient care. 6. The shifts in profits from CT utilization showed a net profit decrease of 31.6%. In order to match the pre-coverage profit level, 5,471 more cases would need to be seen and productivity would need to be increased by 32.7%. This profit decrease resulted from a decrease of CT utilization and low reimbursements. With insurance coverage, net profits from CT were 24.4%, and a margin of safety ratio was 39.6%. Because of the net profits and margin of safety ratio, CT utilization fees for insured appropriate cases could not be considered inappropriate. 7. The shifts in profits from MRI utilization before and after the introduction of CT coverage showed that in order to match pre-CT coverage profit levels, 2,011 more cases would need to be seen and productivity would need to be increased by 9.2%. The reasons for needing to increase the number of cases and productivity result from cost burdens created by adding new MRI units. But with CT coverage already begun, MRI utilization increased. Combined with a minor increase in the MRI fee schedule, MRI utilization showed a net profit increase of 18.5%. Net profits of 62.8% and a 'margin of safety ratio' of 43.1% for MRI utilization showed that the hospital relied on this non-covered procedure for profits. 8. The shifts in profits from CT and MRI utilization showed the net profits from CT decreased by 2.33billion Won while the net profits from MRI increased by 815.7million Won. Overall, these two together showed a net profit decrease of 1.51billion Won. The shifts in utilization showed a functional substitutionary relationship, but the shifts in profits did not show a substitutionary relationship. From these results, We can conclude that if insurance is to be expanded to include previously uncovered procedures using expensive medical equipment, detailed standards should be prepared in advance. The decrease in profits from the shifts in coverage and changes in fees is a difficult burden that should be shared, not carried by the hospital alone. Also, a new or improved fee schedule system should include revised standards between items listed and the appropriateness of the fee schedule should constantly be ensured. This study focused on one university hospital in Seoul and is therefore limited in general applicability. But it is valuable for considering current issues and problems, such as the influence of CT coverage on hospital management. Future studies will hopefully expand the scope of the issues considered here.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.644-653
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• 2024

Purpose: Looking for the root cause of a construction accident leads to the problem of unreasonable construction costs and air setting by the person placing an order. In addition, low-cost bidding by a contractor with insufficient capacity is combined, creating an inappropriate construction structure that can cause an accident before the start of construction. Method: Analysis of the problem that the lack of original contractor resources in the construction environment is passed on to suppliers, and the phenomenon that partners and their workers are forced to push ahead with excessive work to secure a minimum margin. Result: Going back to the root of construction accidents, there are several dimensions of causes from physical phenomena to root causes, but the reason why accident prevention measures so far remain almost at the one-dimensional level of responding to the phenomenon is the lack of fundamental cause analysis. Conclusion: It is necessary to shift the paradigm to safety accident measures led by the client (the client) and the government, and construction accidents are reduced only when root cause of construction accidents is found through fundamental cause analysis techniques such as 5Why.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.1032-1036
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• 2019

When the equipment which is related to safety or important to power production is installed in nuclear power plant units (NPPs), verification of equipment Electromagnetic Susceptibility (EMS) must be performed. The low-frequency radiated magnetic field susceptibility (RS101) test is one of the EMS tests specified in U.S NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.180 revision 1. The RS101 test verifies the ability of equipment installed in close proximity to sources of large radiated magnetic fields to withstand them. However, RG 1.180 revision 1 allows for an exemption of the low-frequency radiated magnetic susceptibility (RS101) test if the safety-related equipment will not be installed in areas with strong sources of magnetic fields. There is no specific exemption criterion in RG 1.180 revision 1. EPRI TR-102323 revision 4 specifically provides a guide that the low-frequency radiated magnetic field susceptibility (RS101) test can be conservatively exempted for equipment installed at least 1 m away from the sources of large magnetic fields (>300 A/m). But there is no exemption criterion for equipment installed within 1 m of the sources of smaller magnetic fields (<300 A/m). Since some types of equipment radiating magnetic flux are often installed near safety related equipment in an electrical equipment room (EER) and main control room (MCR), the RS101 test exemption criterion needs to be reasonably defined for the cases of installation within 1 m. There is also insufficient data regarding the strength of magnetic fields that can be used in NPPs. In order to ensure confidence in the RS101 test exemption criterion, we measured the strength of low-frequency radiated magnetic fields by distance. This study is expected to provide an insight into the RS101 test exemption criterion that meets the RG 1.180 revision 1. It also provides a margin analysis that can be used to mitigate the influence of low-frequency radiated magnetic field sources in NPPs.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.1667-1674
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• 2010

The fatigue life is estimated while determining the reliability of aircraft structures. In this study, the estimation of fatigue life was carried out on the basis of a cumulative damage theory; the working S-N curve and the equivalent stress on the engine support structure significantly affect the safety of the aircraft. The maximum stress observed was 1,080 MPa in the case of scissors link under crash load condition, and there was a 5% margin for the allowable stress corresponding to the temperature reduction factor. The maximum stress was 876 MPa, and the stress equation coefficient had a maximum value of 0.019 MPa/N in the case of scissors link under fatigue loads. In the results of the fatigue life analysis, the safety life in a fretting area of scissors link upper part was 416,667 flight hour, and other parts showed to infinite life. Therefore, it was demonstrated that the fatigue life requirement of aircraft engine support structure (scissors link, straight link) could be satisfied.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.58-74
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• 2022

Deterministic accident analysis plays a central role in the nuclear power plant (NPP) safety evaluation and licensing process. Traditionally the conservative approach opted for the point kinetics model, expressing the reactor core parameters in the form of reactivity and power tables. However, with the current advances in computational power, high fidelity multi-physics simulations using real-time code coupling, can provide more detailed core behavior and hence more realistic plant's response. This is particularly relevant for transients where the core is undergoing reactivity anomalies and uneven power distributions with strong feedback mechanisms, such as reactivity initiated accidents (RIAs). This work addresses a RIA, specifically a control element assembly (CEA) withdrawal at power, using the multi-physics analysis tool RELAP5/MOD 3.4/3DKIN. The thermal-hydraulics (TH) code, RELAP5, is internally coupled with the nodal kinetics (NK) code, 3DKIN, and both codes exchange relevant data to model the nuclear power plant (NPP) response as the CEA is withdrawn from the core. The coupled model is more representative of the complex interactions between the thermal-hydraulics and neutronics; therefore the results obtained using a multi-physics simulation provide a larger safety margin and hence more operational flexibility compared to those of the point kinetics model reported in the safety analysis report for APR1400. The systems engineering approach is used to guide the development of the work ensuring a systematic and more efficient execution.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.11 no.2 s.23
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• pp.77-82
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• 2005

Previously sailing yachts or leisure yachts were mainly made from FRP(Fiber glass reinforced plastic) in the small shipbuilding, but recently there is a trend to replace it for steel or aluminum to substitute FRP for environmental friendly materials. Although It have to need a many checked item in case of hull girder strength and transverse strength normally evaluate base on calculation of class guideline so called direct calculation method. Otherwise. this method of initial structural design considered enough for safety margin on the structure. But, case of small craft must consider for evaluating local strength through rational method. In this paper, check the bow structure members for satisfying results base on allowable stress criterion of damaged bow structure by dynamic load due to slamming and bottom impact load due to pitching motion through finite element analysis. and investigate engine bed structure considering engine weight load and transverse wave load.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.12-20
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• 2024

The application of reinforcement design to ensure the structural safety of electronics in small satellites is limited by the spatial constraints of the satellite structure during launch vibrations. Additionally, a reliable evaluation approach is needed for mounting highly integrated devices that are susceptible to fatigue failure. Although the Steinberg fatigue failure theory has been used to assess the structural integrity of electronic devices, recent studies have highlighted its theoretical limitations. In this paper, we propose a structural methodology based on the critical strain theory to design the digital control unit (DCU) of the X-band SAR payload component for the small SAR technology experimental project (S-STEP), a small satellite constellation. To validate the design, we conducted modal and random analyses using simplified modeling techniques. Based on our methodology, we ultimately demonstrated the structural safety of the electronics through analysis results, safety margin derivation, and functional tests conducted both before and after the launch test.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.10
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• pp.952-958
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• 2011

On-board IR calibration device has been developed for calibration of spaceborne image sensor. It is composed of a blackbody to provide two different radiance temperatures, tilt mirror with a function of stow and deploy to view the blackbody during the calibration and on-board calibration control unit to control the function of the blackbody and tilt mirror. In this paper, to guarantee the structural safety of the unit, the structural and thermal analysis including a thermo-elastic analysis for verifying structural safety on the soldered part of chips have been performed. In addition, safety margin of the chips on the PCB obtained from the conventional analytical method has been compared to the results from the FEM analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 1986

A test is made for a method to determine reliable bias in the criticality safety analysis of spent fuel storage pool with turnup credit between the reference and rack criticality calculation methods. The spent fuel pool of Kori Unit 1 is conceptually redesigned to the most compact rack with turnup credit, and its multiplication factors are calculated depending on fuel enrichment and burnup, by the Monte Carlo code KENO-IV as a reference and by a two-dimensional collision probability code FATAC as a practical method. Then, the computed values with the help of the above two computer codes are compared to evaluate the bias and its trend in terms of multiplication factor on fuel enrichment and turnup. The result indicates that the bias can be determined with reliability basis but without any disadvantage in criticality safety margin compared with the conventional method.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.292-297
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• 2016

Since continuous descent operations (CDO) is one of several tools available to aircraft operators and air navigation service providers (ANSPs) to increase safety, flight predictability, and airspace capacity while reducing noise, controller-pilot communications, fuel burn and emissions, widespread implementation of CDO would result in significant reductions in the environmental impact and aircraft operation costs in south korea as well. After analyzing each procedure from standard terminal arrival routes used for the Incheon international airport, it can be noticed that one of the procedures has a relatively high altitude constraint at initial approach fix than others, which lead the pilots to use unnecessary drag device in certain situations. Therefore we came to a conclusion that some arrival procedures need to be revised, so unnecessary procedure required during approach can be minimized, thereby reducing fuel consumption, noise and emissions compared to current approach procedures. And it is going to increase the safety margin significantly during approach phase due to reduced workload.