• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.35-47
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• 1999

Medication non-compliance among the elderly results in medical problems and substantial cost to the health care system. This study investigate predicted variable related to the medication task ability among elderly. This study was done in the selected 4 villages in Kimchun County of Kyungbuk Province from July to August, 1996. The subject was the resident that 202 adults above 60 years of age. The questionnaire of interview included medication task ability, socio-demographic data, COOP/WONCA chart, family ABGAR score. BDI(Beck depression inventory), ADL(activities of daily living), IADL(instrumental activities of daily living), and MMSE-K(minimental state examination-Korean version). The results were as followed : 1. Approximately 49% of study population was taking drug medication currently. We found that 93% of study population was successful at the medication task all alone, 6% was failure at the medication task all alone, so need help partly or completely. 2. Significant variables between group of medication task ability were age, educational attainment, IADL, and MMSE-K in univariate analysis. And significant correlated variables with medication task ability were ADL, IADL, MMSE-K, and BDI in correlation analysis. 3. Major predictors to medication task ability on multiple logistic regression were IADL and sex finally. Findings suggest that IADL is related to medication task ability than other test battery of health status, so IADL could be used to necessary for medication management and add information to conventional methods of assessing mental status.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea CI
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.64-72
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• 2008

Researchers nowadays are trying to implement u-Healthcare (ubiquitous Healthcare) systems for real-time monitoring and analysis of patients' status through a low-cost and low-power wireless sensor network. u-Healthcare system has an aim to provide reliable and fast medical services for patients regardless of time and space by transmitting to doctors a large quantity of vital signs collected from sensor networks. Existing u-Healthcare systems can merely monitor patients' health status. However, it is not easy to derive physiologically meaningful results by analyzing rapidly vital signs through the existing u-Healthcare systems. We introduce a Grid computing technology for deriving the results by analyzing rapidly the vital signs collected from the sensor network. Since both sensor network and Grid computing use different protocols, a gateway is needed. In addition, we also need to construct a gateway which includes the functions such as an efficient management and control of the sensor network, real-time monitoring of the vital signs and communication services related to the Grid network for providing u-Healthcare services effectively. In this paper, to build an advanced u-Healthcare system by using these two technologies most efficiently, we design and present the results to implement a SensorGrid gateway which connects transparently the sensor network and the grid network.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.417-431
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• 2007

This study investigates the differences among residental areas in the health, standard of living, and social relationships of female elderly living alone. The total of 501 subjects(185 from rural areas, 159 from fishing communities, 77 from the islands, and 80 from urban areas) were questioned from May to July, 2006. The research area was confined to Chungcheong Province. The female elderly living alone of this study were an average of seventy-three years old, had a low cost of living, and received little formal school education. Over sixty percent(60.3) of them lived on less than thirty dollars a month which was the recognized Korean poverty level in 2006. The female elderly living alone were evaluated as being in good health, but they themselves perceived their health as being poor. Observed by residential areas, the subjects in urban areas were lower in ADL, and both the urban dwellers and the islanders appeared to be higher in their satisfaction with medical services as compared to those in rural areas and fishing communities. The fishing villagers showed the lowest standard of living for female elderly living alone. The analysis of social relationships as seen in the different residental areas revealed that the female elderly living alone g in urban areas tended to be receiving social supports rather than providing for others, and subjects living in fishing areas and the islands proved to be relatively higher in the exchange of social supports. In relation to offspring, the female elderly living alone in urban areas had a lower frequency of meeting with their children and also a lesser degree of intimacy with them because they lived at a distance. On the other hand, subjects living in rural areas and fishing communities had a higher frequency of meeting with their children and a greater degree of intimacy with them even if they lived at a distance. The study also showed that the female elderly living alone in the islands had a higher frequency of once meeting per three week with their offspring and a higher degree of intimacy with them because they all live in the same islands. In conclusion, the subject living in urban areas appeared to be isolated from their offspring as compared to the other seniors in the study. The female elderly living alone in urban areas suffered from an insufficient network of relatives and neighbors, and they experienced a poor quality of relationships to their offspring. Almost all of the lone seniors in the study had a low score in social activities; however, the female elderly living alone in urban areas revealed a higher level of participation in volunteer activities, group activities, and educational activities. Nevertheless, the lone seniors living in urban areas were not satisfied with their participation in social activities. The subjects living in rural in fishing communities and the islands showed more participation in money-making activities. This study suggests that the policies for female elderly living alone should reflect the differences of regional characteristics.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.420-427
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• 2020

A repebody, an artificial non-immunoglobulin protein scaffold, is expected to be a solution in the search for faster, cheaper, and customizable antibodies. However, the production of medical repebodies remains difficult due to their low yield and the complex purification processes required. The Pseudomonas fluorescens ABC transporter system has been suggested as an efficient and cost-effective method for repebody production, but the total yield is low because of the secreted protein's positive charge; thus, a repebody with a high isoelectric point needs to be changed into a more negatively charged protein for better secretion. To achieve this, we first attached oligo-aspartic acids to the N- and C-terminals of the repebody, but secretion efficiency was not enhanced significantly. Subsequently, we devised an alternative method for improved secretion efficiency by engineering fifteen positively charged amino acids to aspartic acid in the non-antigen binding sites of the repebody to give a high net negative charge. As a result, secretion efficiency was greatly enhanced from 21.2% (wildtype) to 58.5% (negatively supercharged). The negatively supercharged repebody was succussfully produced extracellularly by ABC transporter secretion system in P. fluorescens.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.650-656
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• 2012

To reduce the production cost of $Pleurotus$ $ostreatus$, discarded medicinal sludge was collected from oriental medical clinics to develop the $Pleurotus$ $ostreatus$ culture medium. According to the analysis of the proximate composition of the materials used in Korean herb medicine, the crude ash contents of $Carthamus$ $tinctrius$ L stem and $Acanthopanax$ $chiisanensis$ were 11.6% and 10.1% respectively, which were relatively higher than the 9.6% of the control medium, waste cotton. Crude protein was detected in 9.8% of the waste cotton medium, whereas it was detected in 14.9%, 13.9%, 13.4%, and 11.5%, of wild mugwort, $Acanthopanax$ $\underline{chiisanensis}$, medicinal sludge, and $Carthamus$ $tinctrius$ L stem, respectively, which are all higher than the control. The pH of medicinal sludges, wild mugwort, and $Aacanthopanax$ $chiisanenses$ ranged from 5.27 to 5.72, which was similar to the 5.70 pH value of waste cotton. In the case of addition concentration of each Korean herb medicine material influencing mycelial growth of the $Pleurotus$ $ostreatus$, the 9% concentration was more favorable compared to that of 3% and 6%. However, the addition of Korean herb medicine materials did not significantly affect the growth of $P.$ $tolaassi$ and $Trichoderma$ $sp.$ According to a field experiment that added 9% of medicinal sludge into the waste cotton medium, the mycelial growth of mushrooms was facilitated by approximately 2 days, and the mushroom yield was increased by 10~15%. Furthermore, pileus and stipe of the mushrooms were even and superior in quality.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics D
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• v.35D no.10
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• pp.39-50
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• 1998

Wide-band sharp-transition filters are widely used in applications such as wireless CODEC design or medical systems. Since these filters suffer from large sensitivity and roundoff noise, large word-length is required for the VLSI implementation, which increases the hardware size and the power consumption of the chip. In this paper, a low-power implementation technique for digital filters with wide-band sharp-transition characteristics is proposed using CPL (Complementary Pass-Transistor Logic), LWDF (Lattice Wave Digital Filter) and a modified DIFIR (Decomposed & Interpolated FIR) algorithm. To reduce the short-circuit current component in CPL circuits due to threshold voltage reduction through the pass transistor, three different approaches can be used: cross-coupled PMOS latch, PMOS body biasing and weak PMOS latch. Of the three, the cross-coupled PMOS latch approach is the most realistic solution when the noise margin as well as the energy-delay product is considered. To optimize CPL transistor size with insight, the empirical formulas for the delay and energy consumption in the basic structure of CPL circuits were derived from the simulation results. In addition, the filter coefficients are encoded using CSD (Canonic Signed Digit) format and optimized by a coefficient quantization program. The hardware cost is minimized further by a modified DIFIR algorithm. Simulation result shows that the proposed method can achieve about 38% reductions in power consumption compared with the conventional method.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.269-306
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• 2018

Through this study, it is aimed to derive the policy direction considering the characteristics of the present Smart Factory, the industrial condition of Pohang area, and the promotion field. Secondly, the questionnaire data of the regional enterprises will prepare for the improvement of the industrial structure and the implications for efficiency, and preparation for regional preparation and industrial changes in preparation for the next generation of production revolution. The construction of Smart Factory in Pohang can be divided into two major directions. First, it is analyzed that smart factory pilot projects are highly needed, focusing on competitive medical precision manufacturing field among the SMEs in the region, primary metal and nonmetal manufacturing industries, and other machinery fields. In addition, local SMEs are willing to introduce smart factories for reasons of quality improvement and cost reduction, and it is confirmed that they will actively promote employee training and expertise if they can upgrade continuously.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.139-153
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• 2007

Injury in agriculture is a serious public health issue with a major impact on the lives of Korean farmers. It is one of the leading causes of death and is also a major cause of longand short-term disability. In 2001, the social cost of one accident in agricultural machinery was estimated as 97.7-97.8 million won that is 4 fold of farm household income in Korea. Effective prevention and control of injuries requires a system of surveillance that monitors the incidence of injuries, their causes, treatment and outcomes. This requires an integrated system of data collection, analysis and interpretation and communication. Creating effective injury surveillance system in Korea requires to establish a framework for a national agenda. Discussions regarding the development of the framework should address, but not be limited to issues related to Data Holdings and Linkages; Capacity and Skills; Communication; Interconnection; and Surveillance Products. Ideally, an injury surveillance system would meet the information requirements across all sectors, while allowing each to have the ongoing information it needs for its policy and programming needs. This study was carried out to develop a surveillance system of agricultural injuries in Korea. Study subjects were residents who lived in a typical agricultural area (Yangpyung area in Kyung-gi province). The main data sources were reports of village headmen, compared with data of 'National Emergency Management Agency', 'National Health Insurance Corporation', 'Insurance of National Agricultural Cooperative', and 'Emergency Medical Centers'. Each data were reviewed to validate the strengths and weaknesses.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.6055-6059
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• 2015

Background: Medication policy development in Thailand is continually promoting rational drug use. Letrozole, an endocrine therapy drug, is usually prescribed for post-menopausal status early and advanced stage breast cancer. After Ministry of Public Health announced Letrozole as compulsory licensed drug in 2009, more breast cancer patients can access to this drug at low cost especially those within universal coverage schemes. To ensure that Letrozole is rationally prescribed, the drug utilization study was conducted. Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the appropriate use of Letrozole in breast cancer and the relationship between appropriate use and health benefit schemes. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study to evaluate use of Letrozole in breast cancer patients was performed for six months between January - June 2010 in seven regional cancer hospitals, Thailand. All prescriptions of Letrozole were identified from pharmacy dispensing databases and prescription papers. A medical record review was also performed to evaluate appropriate use referring to the drug use evaluation criteria. The approved criterion of this study was referred from the guideline of Thai National Formulary version 2010. Results: There were 681 prescriptions of Letrozole for 254 breast cancer patients with an average age of $58.6{\pm}10.0years$. The patients in universal coverage scheme (UCS), civil servant medication benefit scheme (CSMBS) and social security scheme (SSS) were 77.7%, 18.5% and 8.7% respectively. 10.6% were prescribed Letrozole for the first time. Letrozole were prescribed by oncologists (82.8%). The average number of tablets per prescription was $58{\pm}10$. Calcium supplements were prescribed concomitant with Letrozole for 19.4%. To assess drug use evaluation criteria, 45 prescriptions were excluded because of uncompleted clinical data, 636 prescriptions were evaluated. The study showed 86 prescriptions (13.5%) with inappropriate use including 6 (0.9%) not prescribed for estrogen receptor (ER) and/or progesterone receptor (PR) positive, 31 (4.9%) not prescribed for post-menopausal and 49 (7.7%) not prescribed for an appropriate duration. Appropriate use percentages in different health benefit schemes were similar, 85.7% of CSMBS, 86.4% of SSS and 86.7% of UCS. The relationship between health benefit scheme and appropriate use of Letrozole was not significantly different, ${\chi}^2$ (2, N = 636) = 0.081, p > 0.05. Conclusions: The study showed inappropriate use in breast cancer patients because of non-compliance with duration, menopausal status and hormone receptor requirements. To prescribe appropriate indication did not referred to the appropriate practice along the treatment. Drug use evaluation proved very useful for detecting the sign of inappropriate use and allows immediate feedback to the stakeholder for developing medication policy in the future. Importantly, there was no significantly difference in appropriate use of Letrozole across health benefit schemes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.6041-6048
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• 2013

Background: Japanese women in their 40s or older have been encouraged to attend breast cancer screening. However, the breast cancer screening rate in Japan is not as high as in Europe and the United States. The aim of this study was to identify psychological and personal characteristics of women concerning their participation in breast cancer screening using the Health Belief Model (HBM). In addition, the attributes of screening more easily accepted by participants were analyzed by conjoint analysis. Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study of 3,200 age 20-69 women, data were collected by an anonymous questionnaire. Questions were based on HBM and personal characteristics, and included attitudes on hypothetical screening attributes. Data of women aged 40-69 were analyzed by logistic regression and conjoint analysis to clarify the factors affecting their participation in breast cancer screening. Results: Among responses collected from 1,280 women of age 20-69, the replies of 993 women of age 40-69 were used in the analysis. Regarding the psychological characteristics based on HBM, the odds ratios were significantly higher in "importance of cancer screening" (95%CI: 1.21-2.47) and "benefits of cancer screening" (95%CI: 1.09-2.49), whereas the odds ratio was significantly lower in "barriers to participation before cancer screening" (95%CI: 0.27-0.51). Conjoint analysis revealed that the respondents, overall, preferred screening to be low cost and by female staff members. Furthermore, it was also clarified that attributes of screening dominant in decision-making were influenced by the employment status and the type of medical insurance of the women. Conclusions: In order to increase participation in breast cancer screening, it is necessary to disseminate accurate knowledge on cancer screening and to reduce barriers to participation. In addition, the attributes of screening more easily accepted were inexpensive, provided by female staff, executed in a hospital and finished in a short time.