• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.64-70
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• 2011

Portable artificial electronic nose (E-nose) system suffers from noisy fluctuation in surroundings such as temperature, vapor concentration, and gas flow, because its measuring condition is not controled precisely as in the laboratory. It is important to develop a simple and robust vapor recognition technique applicable to this uncontrolled measurement, especially for the portable measuring and diagnostic system which are expanding its area with the improvements in micro bio sensor technology. This study used a PDA-based portable E-nose to collect the uncontrolled vapor measurement signals, and applied the image matching algorithm developed in the previous study on the measured signal to verify its robustness and improved accuracy in portable vapor recognition. The results showed not only its consistent performance under noisy fluctuation in the portable measurement signal, but also an advanced recognition accuracy for 2 similar vapor species which have been hard to discriminate with the conventional maximum sensitivity feature extraction method. The proposed method can be easily applied to the data processing of the ubiquitous sensor network (USN) which are usually exposed to various operating conditions. Furthermore, it will greatly help to realize portable medical diagnostic and environment monitoring system with its robust performance and high accuracy.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.56-70
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• 2014

Background: Korea shows rapid population aging and increase in healthcare service use and expenditure. Also, this would be accelerated because of the baby boomers who will be 65 years old and more in 2020. Chronic disease is another reason that increases the use of healthcare service and expenditure of the middle- and old-aged households. Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) is the index which can indicate the households' burden of health spending. Despite the importance, there are few studies on CHE of middle- and old-aged households and especially no panel study yet. This is the reason that this study is carried out. Methods: This study used 3-year data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study conducted from 2009 to 2011. We defined CHE if a household's health expenditure is equal or greater than the threshold value if income remaining after subsistence needs has been met. We used 4 different threshold values which are 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%. In order to look at the households which experienced CHE, we conducted panel logit analysis after correspondence analysis and conditional transition probability analysis. Results: This study showed three notable results. First, there has been a difference among age groups, which implies that the older people are, the more easily they can experience CHE. Second, the households with no private insurance are shown to have a higher CHE occurrence rate. Lastly, there has been a significant difference among the kinds of chronic diseases. The households which have cancer, cerebrovascular disease, and heart disease have a higher CHE occurrence rate. However, the households with diabetes have no significant effects to CHE occurrence. Also, hypertension has a negative effect to the occurrence. Conclusion: With the results, it can be implied that elderly people with chronic disease are more needed in medical coverage and healthcare. Also, private insurance can play its role in protecting households from CHE. Therefore, it needs to conduct studies on CHE especially about different age groups, private insurance, and chronic disease.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.259-269
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• 2014

Purpose: This preliminary study is aimed at developing standardized tools for psycho-social assessment of patients in needs for hospice/palliative care. To accomplish the purpose, investigators examined effects of perceptions of social workers on the importance of psycho-social domains of assessment in hospice/palliative care settings. Moreover, investigators paid attention to variances of perceptions of social workers' along with types of institution and credentials of those family settings. Methods: A form of questionnaire was first explored from an initial interview assessment of 10 government-certified hospice care providers and a literature review, second constructed with eight domains and 80 items, and sent by e-mail to 55 institutions and hospitals providing hospice/palliative cares in Korea. Lastly, a total of 31 agencies returned with a completed responses and consent form (56% response rate). SPSS program (version 18.0) was used for data analysis. Results: Study found that social workers perceived patients' family background (m=4.53, 5-point scale) as the most important assessment domain, whereas economic conditions (4.06 point) the least important. Social workers' perception varied by credentials (i.e., license types, training, full-time position, types of care facility). Conclusion: Based upon study findings, investigators can conclude strong needs for developing a assessment tool that measures multiple domains (i.e., psychological, social and ecological aspects) of patients. A standardized assessment tool should be structured with 2 axis (center/core and expanded/peripheral) and tailored for institution type. Second, professional trainings must be provided by strengthening legal institutionalization and fostering qualified social workers with full responsibilities of hospice and palliative care patients.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.289-300
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this research was to explore nurses' knowledge of and attitudes toward pediatric palliative care (PPC) in Korea. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. A total of 196 participants were recruited from the ELNEC-PPC course held in Seoul, Korea. All participants completed a 20-item survey questionnaire which assessed knowledge of and attitudes toward PPC using a 7-point Likert scale. Results: Nurses' knowledge of PPC correlated with their educational level and work experience in the pediatric unit and hospice care unit. The work experience in the pediatric unit, career length in PPC and completion of palliative education course made differences in the attitudes toward PPC. Married nurses scored significantly higher on the parental rights in determining palliative care service for their child, and nurses with master's degree or higher showed a higher level of understanding of and attitudes toward the differences between PPC and adult palliative care. Conclusion: The factors influencing nurses' knowledge of and attitudes toward PPC need be considered to develop a pediatric palliative training program.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.353-358
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• 2013

A study investigated the effects of Galla Rhois (GR) on growth performance and diarrhea incidence of postweaning piglets. One hundred 28-day-old piglets were randomly assigned into five experimental groups, which were a basal diet alone (NC), chlortetracycline 0.3 g/kg feed (PC) and supplemented with GR 1.0 g/kg feed (GR 1), GR 2.0 g/kg feed (GR 2), and GR 4.0 g/kg feed (GR 3). After 28 days of administration, final body weight (BW) and feed conversion ratio of PC, GR 2 and GR 3 was significantly different compared to those of NC (p < 0.05). Additionally, the average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) of PC and all groups treated with GR was significantly different compared to those of NC (p < 0.05). Especially, final BW, ADG, ADFI and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of GR 2 and GR 3 were not significant different compared to those of PC. In fecal scores and duration of diarrhea, PC and all groups treated with GR were significantly different compared to NC (p < 0.05). In hematogolical and serum biochemical analysis, there were no significant differences in any of the hematogolical and serum biochemical parameters examined in either NC or all groups treated with GR. The results of this study indicated that GR could be a potential candidate as feed additives for the improvement of growth performance and incidence of diarrhea in piglets.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.19-40
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• 2016

This study provides numerical data on the status of music therapy practices in 54 hospice and palliative care settings in Korea. Two different questionnaires for music therapists and coordinators were sent to 54 coordinators via email, and 47 (87%) hospitals and centers replied by email or post. The survey period was October 30 through December 5, 2014. Music therapists were asked to respond to 65 questionnaire items regarding working conditions, environment, session process, and personal competence. Coordinators were asked to complete 28 questionnaire items regarding the status of music therapy in their perspective setting. Twenty-two (46.8%) hospitals and centers were running music therapy programs with 28 music therapists, and 19 (67.9%) of these music therapists majored in music therapy. There was a significant difference between music therapists (M= 3.43, SD = 0.96) and coordinators (M= 2.73, SD = 0.77) regarding conditions and environment of music therapy sessions (p < .05). The circumstances and conditions for music therapy are inad quate for optimal implementation of music therapy practice. However, the perceived benefits of music therapy by coordinators suggest that music therapists do play an important role in hospice and palliative care. This research provides the first quantitative baseline data of music therapy status in hospice and palliative care settings in Korea.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.691-704
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• 2016

This study aims to analyze the current situation of Independent loan fund business for disabled for independent and living stabilization of low-income disabled and presented a plan to support effectively. Methods were reanalyzed to obtain the data inside the Ministry of Health and Welfare and conducted a expert survey. The results of this study were First, The budget was 8.1 billion won and target households was 800, but the used budget was about 5.6 billion won(executive rate was 69.3%) and beneficiaries was 384 families. Second, the loan condition was gurantee is 58.5%, pawn is 23.3%, ungurantee is 18.2%. And, the loan type was occupation is 60.0%, car purchase is 35.3%, medical expenses is 2.6% and so on. In addition, 1,735 people apply for a loan fund but 904 people received a loan fund. So, loan rate was 52.1%. Third, business retention rate was 74.7% and close rate was 25.3%. Fourth, expert opinion was government support necessary for the in low-income disabled in social and economic situation of Korea. This study suggested that the loan purpose, loan amount, loan condition, simplified course were needed to consider when establishing policy for low-incone disabled.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.79-89
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• 2003

Purpose: This research with one group pre-post design was carried out to test the practical feasibility to administrate the Music Movement program developed for the stroke patients. Subjects: 12 stroke survivors at "J" Public Health Center in Seoul. were participated in. The average age was 68 years old, the ratio of sex was almost 5.8:4.2, the duration of was almost over 1 year. Method: Music Movement program was conducted for 2 hours ${\times}$ 1day ${\times}$ 6 weeks. The contents of Music Movement program were consisted of the preparatory activities, main activities and the wrap up activities. The preparatory activities are ice braking, greeting, explanation of the aims of music movement program, and introduction of stroke disease and ROM exercise. The main activities are the body motions with singing and playing musical instruments. The wrap up activities are stretching and joints and discussion of home activities. Data Collection: The outcome variables are muscle strength, finger pinch power, ROMs, flexibility, depression, and life satisfaction. Depression was measured by CES-D(Kim, I. J., 1999), life satisfaction by ladder scale(McDowell & Newell, 1996), and ADL state(Holbrook & Skilbeck, 1983). Data Analysis: SPSS/PC 10.0 for Window was used. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was used to analyze outcome measures. The level of statistical significance was set at p<.05. Results: This program was effective to decrease the depression level of subjects(p<.05). The muscle strength, hand grip power, ROMs, life satisfaction, and rehabilitation state of the subjects were slightly increased but no significant differences were found between the pre and post test. Additionally every patient replied that they were very satisfied and expressed their appreciation for this program very much. Of course they strongly want to continue to participate in and meet the peer group again. Conclusion: Considering these results, the practical feasibility of Music Movement program can be supported. Therefore, this Music Movement program can be examined with the quasi-experimental design with control group and ongoing reviews. After that, this program would be applied in public health centers, medical institutes, and welfare centers for the rehabilitation of stroke patients.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.111-140
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• 2019

The Bioethics and Safety Act provides a set of rules to regulate biobanks and research activities using human biological material, but the law seems to be defective in several folds. The law requires that, prior to collection or use of human biological materials, researchers should obtain the informed consent of the donors, but the law does not obligate biobanks to do so. Even in cases where the law requires informed consent, the ordinance of the Ministry of Health and Welfare allows open (or blanket) consent. In addition, a new article in the Act, Article 42-2 which will take effect from October 24, 2019, allows medical institutions to provide biobanks with remaining biospecimens collected in the course of diagnosis and treatment, unless the donors express their intent to opt-out, without obtaining specific consent from them. Given the need to protect the autonomy of donors and the unique characteristics of biobanks and research activities that use human biological materials, this paper concludes that such open consent-based law may not be suitable to protect the autonomy of the donors and that the broad consent requirement may be a desirable policy option. The paper acknowledges that the international community has long questioned whether broad consent (as well as open consent) is an effective choice to regulate the use of human biological materials. The paper stresses that the baseline requirement in designing the law is that the secondary use of human biological materials should be based on informed consent of the donors; the core value of the law should be a governance structure that promotes transparency and protects donor participation.

• Proceedings of the KAIS Fall Conference
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• 2010.05b
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• pp.1072-1076
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• 2010

본 지역 재정지표와 표준화사망률간의 관계에 대한 것으로, 연구대상지역은 1998년부터 2007년까지의 전국 232개 시 군 구이며 이를 5개 광역권과 4개 도시 종류에 따라 분류하였다. 지역 재정지표는 1인당 지방세부담액과 재정자립도, 재정자주도, 의존재원비율을 활용하였고, 지역 총사망률은1998년에서 2007년까지의 통계청 사망 원자료 상의 사망자수를 분자로, 주민등록인구를 분모로 직접 표준화법을 사용하여 연구대상 지역의 성 연령표준화사망률을 산출하였다. 자료의 분석은 SPSS 12.0K를 이용하여 상관분석, 일원배치분산분석(Tukey b 사후검정) 및 회귀분석을 실시하였다. 주요 결과로는 첫째, 재정지표와 표준화사망률간의 상관분석을 실시하여 연도별로 계수 값을 구한 결과 1인당 지방세부담액을 제외하고 재정자립도, 재정자주도, 의존재원비율 모두 남자, 여자, 전체 모두가 전 연도에 걸쳐 상관계수 값이 통계적으로 유의하였으며, 남자가 여자보다 높은 상관관계를 보였다. 둘째, 재정자립도, 재정자주도 각각을 표준화사망률과 단순 회귀분석을 실시한 결과, 표준화사망률 남자, 여자, 전체가 전 연도에서 통계적으로 유의하였고, 재정자립도와 재정자주도가 낮을수록 사망률이 높은 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 광역권역, 도시 종류까지 고려한 재정지표의 다중회귀분석을 실시한 결과, 1인당 지방세부담액과 의존재원비율, 광역권역과 도시 종류에 따른 지역을 고려하고도 재정자주도의 효과는 전체사망과 남자, 여자, 전 연도에 걸쳐 모두 통계적으로 매우 유의하여 재정자주도가 높을수록 사망률이 낮은 것으로 나타났고 이런 경향은 여자보다 남자에서 더욱 강하게 나타났다. 넷째, 광역권별 분석의 경우, 충청권은 수도권에 비해서 표준화사망률에서 유의한 차이는 없었으며 호남권과 영남권은 전체 표준화사망률의 경우 전체 연도의 절반 이상에서 수도권에 비해서 통계적으로 유의하게 높았고, 남자와 여자에서는 이런 경향이 약해졌다. 강원 제주권은 전체 사망에서 수도권에 비해 전체 연도의 절반 이상이 유의하게 사망률이 낮았으며, 여자도 이와 비슷한 양상을 보여주었다. 다섯째, 도시 종류에 따른 분석에서 대도시에 비해 중소도시는 통계적으로 유의한 차이는 없었으나, 전 연도에 걸쳐 도농통합도시와 군지역은 대도시에 비해 통계적으로 사망률이 높았다. 여섯째, 전 연도에 걸쳐 의존재원비율이 높아질수록 사망률이 유의하게 높아졌다. 이는 남자, 여자 모두에서 유사하게 나타났다. 마지막으로 연도별 분석 이후 1998년에서 2007년 전체 다중 회귀분석을 실시한 결과 전체 사망과 여자의 경우 1인당 지방세부담액을 제외한 모든 변수에서 통계적으로 유의하였다. 지역의 재정력이 성 연령 표준화사망률에 영향을 미치는 것으로 파악되었는데 이를 단서로 지역의 건강 격차가 발생하는 원인과 기전을 밝히기 위해 향후 보다 면밀한 후속 연구가 이뤄져야 하겠고 지역 간 건강 격차를 완화하기 위한 여러 방법론적 고찰 안에 지역간 재정력의 격차를 완화하려는 정책적인 접근도 필요할 것으로 사료된다.