• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.50-60
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• 2020

Background: The relationship between risk factors and likelihood of occupational injury has been studied. However, what has been published has only provided a limited explanation of why some of the employees working in the same environment as other employees suffered a single-injury event, while other employees experienced multiple-injury events. This article reports on an investigation of whether artisanal and small-scale miners in Migori County of Kenya are susceptible to a single-injury or multiple-injury incidences, and if so, what underpinning parameters explain the differences between the single incident injured and the multiple incident injured group. Mine management commitment to safety in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) operations is also considered. Materials and methods: The research objectives were achieved by surveying 162 uninjured and 74 injured miners. A structured, closed-end questionnaire was administered to participants after the stratification of the study population and systematic selection of the representative samples. Results: The results showed that most injured miners suffer a single-injury incident rather than experiencing multiple-injury events, and laceration (28.40%) was the common injury suffered by the miners. The analysis showed that the risk factors for the single incident injured group were not similar to those in the multiple incident injured group. The research also found mine workers have low opinion about mine management/owners commitment to safety. Conclusion: The study concluded that mine management and miners need to be educated and sensitized on the dangers of this operation. Provision of safety gears and positive safety culture must be a top priority for management.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.547-559
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• 2003

In this study, a mathematical model is developed for sewer rehabilitation planning by considering cost and inflow/infiltration. A sewer rehabilitation planning model is required to decide the economic life of the sewer by considering trade-off between cost and inflow/infiltration. And it is required to find the optimal rehabilitation timing, according to the cost effectiveness of each sewer rehabilitation within the budget. To solve the problem, we formulated a multiple objective mixed integer programming(MOMIP) model based on network flow optimization. The network is composed of state nodes and arcs. The state nodes represent the remaining life and the arcs represent the change of the state. The model considers multiple objectives which are cost minimization and minimization of inflow/infiltration. Using the multiple objective optimization, the trade-off between the cost and inflow/infiltration is presented to the planner so that a proper sewer rehabilitation plan can be selected.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.554-566
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Urban-rural inequities in health and mortality exist in Korea, a highly centralized developed country. The potential impact of multiple health-related lifestyle behaviors on mortality and difference between urban and rural areas is not fully understood. This study aimed to investigate the effect of high-risk health behaviors on all-cause mortality among residents living in urban and rural in Korea. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Cross-sectional analyses were conducted on 8,298 adults aged 40 yrs and older from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013-2015. High-risk behaviors were defined as having poor diet quality, current smoking, high-risk drinking, or insufficient physical activity. Mortality status was linked to the Cause of Death data followed up to December 31, 2019. The associations between all-cause mortality and high-risk behaviors were evaluated using Cox proportional hazard regression models adjusted for age, sex, education, income, and survey year. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated, and effect modification analysis was conducted. Participants were stratified by residential area (urban or rural). RESULTS: During the follow-up (median: 5.4 yrs), 313 deaths occurred. A higher proportion of rural residents than urban residents engaged in multiple high-risk behaviors (28.9% vs. 22.6%; P < 0.0001). As individual factors, a greater risk of mortality was associated with poor diet quality, current smoking, and inadequate physical activity, and these tendencies persisted in rural residents, especially for diet quality. Multiple high-risk behaviors were positively associated with a higher risk of mortality in Koreans living in urban and rural areas. PAF (95% confidence interval) was 18.5% (7.35-27.9%) and 29.8% (16.1-40.2%) in urban and rural residents, respectively. No additive or multiplicative effect of the region was observed. CONCLUSION: The higher prevalence of multiple high-risk lifestyle behaviors in rural residents may explain the higher mortality in rural areas compared to urban areas. Comprehensive public health policies to improve health-related behaviors in rural populations may be needed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.211-220
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• 2017

The application of the theoretical model to real assembly lines has been one of the biggest challenges for researchers and industrial engineers. There should be some realistic approach to achieve the conflicting objectives on real systems. Therefore, in this paper, a model is developed to synchronize a real system (A discrete event simulation model) with a theoretical model (An optimization model). This synchronization will enable the realistic optimization of systems. A job assignment model of the assembly line is formulated for the evaluation of proposed realistic optimization to achieve multiple conflicting objectives. The objectives, fluctuation in cycle time, throughput, labor cost, energy cost, teamwork and deviation in the skill level of operators have been modeled mathematically. To solve the formulated mathematical model, a multi-objective simulation integrated hybrid genetic algorithm (MO-SHGA) is proposed. In MO-SHGA each individual in each population acts as an input scenario of simulation. Also, it is very difficult to assign weights to the objective function in the traditional multi-objective GA because of pareto fronts. Therefore, we have proposed a probabilistic based linearization and multi-objective to single objective conversion method at population evolution phase. The performance of MO-SHGA is evaluated with the standard multi-objective genetic algorithm (MO-GA) with both deterministic and stochastic data settings. A case study of the goalkeeping gloves assembly line is also presented as a numerical example which is solved using MO-SHGA and MO-GA. The proposed research is useful for the development of synchronized human based assembly lines for real time monitoring, optimization, and control.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2007

Objectives : The objectives of this study were to estimate the continuity of care for all Koreans with diabetes and to identify factors affecting the continuity of care. Methods : We obtained National Health Insurance claims data for patients with diabetes who visited health-care providers during the year 2004. A total of 1,498,327 patients were included as study subjects. Most Frequent Provider Continuity (MFPC) and Modified, Modified Continuity Index (MMCI) were used as indexes of continuity of care. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify factors affecting continuity of care. Results : The average continuity of care in the entire population of 1,498,327 patients was $0.89{\pm}0.17$ as calculated by MFPC and $0.92{\pm}0.16$ by MMCI. In a multiple linear regression analysis, both MFPC and MMCI were lower for females than males, disabled than non-disabled, Medicaid beneficiaries than health insurance beneficiaries, patients with low monthly insurance contributions, patients in rural residential areas, and patients whose most frequently visited provider is the hospital. Conclusions : The continuity of care for patients with diabetes is high in Korea. However, women, the disabled and people of low socio-economic status have relatively low continuity of care. Therefore, our first priority is to promote a diabetes management program for these patients.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2004

Objectives: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the most common head and neck malignant tumor. The molecular genetic changes involving both oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes are known to be involved in head and neck squamous cell carcinogenesis, but the roles of the known tumor suppressor genes in carcinogenesis are not fully elucidated. The objectives of this study are to demonstrate the genetic alterations including the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) , amplification, and microsatellite instability of known tumor suppressor genes in HNSCC and to evaluate the relationship between genetic alterations of tumor suppressor genes and clinicopathologic features. Materials and Methods: Genetic alterations of 10 micro satellite markers of the 6 known tumor suppressor genes (APC, EXT1, DPC4, p16, FHIT, and PTEN) were analysed by DNA-PCR in paraffin-embedded histologically confirmed HNSCC specimens. Results: The genetic alterations of tumor suppressor genes were found frequently. Among the genetic alterations, LOH was most frequently found one. LOH was found frequently in APC (45.4%), EXT1 (36.4%), DPC4 (54.5%), and p16 (50%), but not found in FHIT. Also, the author found that abnormalities of APC gene was related to cervical lymph node metastasis and recurrence and that abnormalities of EXT1 gene were coexisted with those of APC gene or DPC4 gene. But these coexistences had no correlation with clinical features. Conclusion: These results suggested that APC, EXT1, p16, and DPC4 genes might play important roles and multiple tumor suppressor genes may participate dependently or independently in the carcinogenesis of HNSCC. These results also suggested that APC gene might relate to prognosis.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.165-175
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• 2010

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the program theory of a lifestyle intervention program for the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome. Methods: The program evaluated is a tailored intervention for multiple health behavior associated with metabolic syndrome which is informed by theoretical constructs from the Intervention Mapping and Transtheoretical model. The program components include one-to-one health counseling, a self-management handbook, and a health diary. To evaluate program impact theory we examined the logic of program goals and objectives, intervention methods and strategies, and the theoretical constructs of program materials through document review and matrix building. Results: This evaluation has found that the intervention program applied social cognitive theory constructs to design intervention methods and strategies in addition to the Transtheoretical model: self-monitoring for goal setting and monitoring skill, outcome expectation for the benefits of health behavior change, and interaction with environment for observational learning through modeling. While the intervention addresses multiple determinants and behaviors, it is limited to an individual level and lacks social and environmental approaches. Following the Transtheoretical framework, the contents of the intervention materials were developed utilizing consciousness raising as a main strategy for earlier stages of change, and counterconditioning and stimulus control for later stages of change. Conclusion: Program theory evaluation can be a process of enhancing program validity. It would also be necessary for providing basis for efficient program implementation. When comparisons of program theory between similar programs are possible, program theory and validity will be strengthened when comparisons of program theories between similar programs are possible.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.35-57
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• 2022

This article presents a computationally efficient framework for multi-objective seismic design optimization of steel moment-resisting frame (MRF) structures based on the nonlinear dynamic analysis procedure. This framework employs the uniform damage distribution philosophy to minimize the weight (initial cost) of the structure at different levels of damage. The preliminary framework was recently proposed by the authors based on the single excitation and the nonlinear static (pushover) analysis procedure, in which the effects of record-to-record variability as well as higher-order vibration modes were neglected. The present study investigates the reliability of the previous framework by extending the proposed algorithm using the nonlinear dynamic design procedure (optimization under multiple ground motions). Three benchmark structures, including 4-, 8-, and 12-story steel MRFs, representing the behavior of low-, mid-, and high-rise buildings, are utilized to evaluate the proposed framework. The total weight of the structure and the maximum inter-story drift ratio (IDRmax) resulting from the average response of the structure to a set of seven ground motion records are considered as two conflicting objectives for the optimization problem and are simultaneously minimized. The results of this study indicate that the optimization under several ground motions leads to almost similar outcomes in terms of optimization objectives to those are obtained from optimization under pushover analysis. However, investigation of optimal designs under a suite of 22 earthquake records reveals that the damage distribution in buildings designed by the nonlinear dynamic-based procedure is closer to the uniform distribution (desired target during the optimization process) compared to those designed according to the pushover procedure.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.55-62
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• 2010

This paper studies the problem seeking an efficient operational scheduling for battle ships in the Republic of Korea's navy. The ships' availability means that their main systems such as weapons, navigation and propulsion are in full operational readiness. If some of the major systems are not ready, then the ships should not be available for operations. It is required to maintain a high level availability under the limited resources as it determines the strength of ROK's navy. However, it will result in inefficiencies if some ships are operated without proper maintenance only to improve their availability. Thus, this study suggests the operational scheduling for two squadron ships that considers multiple objectives such as availability, overlapping maintenance, and deviation from available ships in a particular week. We applied NSGA-II algorithm to find better solutions for more efficient scheduling. The experiment result reached an efficient solutions after 1,500 generations. Two efficient operational schedules were compared on the basis of three multiple objectives among them.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.213-225
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• 2013

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between Agent Orange exposure and self-reported diseases in Korean Vietnam veterans. Methods: A postal survey of 114 562 Vietnam veterans was conducted. The perceived exposure to Agent Orange was assessed by a 6-item questionnaire. Two proximity-based Agent Orange exposure indices were constructed using division/brigade-level and battalion/ company-level unit information. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for age and other confounders were calculated using a logistic regression model. Results: The prevalence of all self-reported diseases showed monotonically increasing trends as the levels of perceived self-reported exposure increased. The ORs for colon cancer (OR, 1.13), leukemia (OR, 1.56), hypertension (OR, 1.03), peripheral vasculopathy (OR, 1.07), enterocolitis (OR, 1.07), peripheral neuropathy (OR, 1.07), multiple nerve palsy (OR, 1.14), multiple sclerosis (OR, 1.24), skin diseases (OR, 1.05), psychotic diseases (OR, 1.07) and lipidemia (OR, 1.05) were significantly elevated for the high exposure group in the division/brigade-level proximity-based exposure analysis, compared to the low exposure group. The ORs for cerebral infarction (OR, 1.08), chronic bronchitis (OR, 1.05), multiple nerve palsy (OR, 1.07), multiple sclerosis (OR, 1.16), skin diseases (OR, 1.05), and lipidemia (OR, 1.05) were significantly elevated for the high exposure group in the battalion/company-level analysis. Conclusions: Korean Vietnam veterans with high exposure to Agent Orange experienced a higher prevalence of several self-reported chronic diseases compared to those with low exposure by proximity-based exposure assessment. The strong positive associations between perceived self-reported exposure and all self-reported diseases should be evaluated with discretion because the likelihood of reporting diseases was directly related to the perceived intensity of Agent Orange exposure.