• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.187-196
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• 2013

Background: Health, safety, and well-being (HSW) at work represent important values in themselves. It seems, however, that other values can contribute to HSW. This is to some extent reflected in the scientific literature in the attention paid to values like trust or justice. However, an overview of what values are important for HSW was not available. Our central research question was: what organizational values are supportive of health, safety, and well-being at work? Methods: The literature was explored via the snowball approach to identify values and value-laden factors that support HSW. Twenty-nine factors were identified as relevant, including synonyms. In the next step, these were clustered around seven core values. Finally, these core values were structured into three main clusters. Results: The first value cluster is characterized by a positive attitude toward people and their "being"; it comprises the core values of interconnectedness, participation, and trust. The second value cluster is relevant for the organizational and individual "doing", for actions planned or undertaken, and comprises justice and responsibility. The third value cluster is relevant for "becoming" and is characterized by the alignment of personal and organizational development; it comprises the values of growth and resilience. Conclusion: The three clusters of core values identified can be regarded as "basic value assumptions" that underlie both organizational culture and prevention culture. The core values identified form a natural and perhaps necessary aspect of a prevention culture, complementary to the focus on rational and informed behavior when dealing with HSW risks.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.23-48
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• 2013

This study shows that a sustainable competitive advantage and entrepreneurial characteristics are necessary for a software company to achieve competitive innovation and growth. This study investigates various software company characteristics and the effects of various company factors as its main research objectives. The data used in this research model were collected from software companies in South Korea. A total of 211 questionnaires were collected over a period of two months in 2013. EXCEL, AMOS, and SPSS were used to derive the study results. The hypothesis testing results of this study are as follows. First, a software company's entrepreneurial innovativeness and risk-taking behaviors have a positive influence on software innovativeness. A greater sense of innovativeness and entrepreneurial orientation leads to a higher propensity to take risks in software development. Second, the characteristics of software innovativeness, and flexibility have a significant influence on software company performance. Innovation during the initial periods of software usage can create a high demand for improvements and new features, requiring a flexible software design. Finally, this study analyzes the software features of entrepreneurial characteristics and the influence of institutional factors on the characteristics of individual innovativeness and software development. Entrepreneurial characteristics can affect governmental or institutional support, policies, and legal frameworks to promote the role of software innovativeness. The results of this study imply that software companies can adopt an entrepreneurial approach to promote technology development and product development for achieving a competitive advantage in the industry. This study also analyzes the environmental factors that affect the software industry and their implications for policy makers.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.35-41
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• 2011

The national police agency has executed the project for the advancement of traffic control and operation systems in order to mitigate chronic traffic problems and to meet the global standards regarding the traffic control and operation systems. This study effort was initiated to evaluate the effects of various policies proposed for the advancement of traffic control and operation systems. The evaluation results indicated that the policies proposed for the advancement of traffic control and operation systems showed apparent and positive effects in terms of transportation mobility and safety. However, there have been many difficulties to overcome in order to settle down the policies proposed for the advancement of traffic control and operation systems as smooth as possible. For example, the violation of intersection passing method has been increased after the implementation of the advancement of traffic control and operation systems in majority of evaluation sites. In addition, lacks of awareness as well as improper operations of the advancement of traffic control and operation systems have caused drivers' confusions, which generated more traffic congestion and risks. Currently, the policies for the advancement of traffic control and operation systems focused on the improvements of traffic signal operations, including leading through movements and permissive left-turns. However, synergy effects may be expected if all of the policies including the improvements of traffic signal operations are executed together.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.213-235
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• 2013

This study investigates proper solution available for flexibly management pointing out reality a lack of understanding and interest for executing security management while importance of firm security management gets bigger. Accordingly, this study suggests 4 exogenous variables such as organizational commitment, experience of security risks, perceived benefits, partner interdependence as factors of having influence upon development and implementation in security management. It suggests IT volatility as moderating variable, which will intensify between development and implementation. The research model was tested by using Structural Equation Modeling, via Amos 19.0 analysis on a sample collected from 209 firms. As a result, the remaining variables except partner interdependence showed statistically positive influence. The implications of the findings suggest a new theoretical framework of the security management and offers important solutions for the practical application guidelines.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2014

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of acupuncture as an adjunct treatment to increase the success rate of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Methods: A review of the English and Korean literature was conducted to identify studies on acupuncture as an adjunct treatment to IVF. The main outcome measures were the biochemical pregnancy rate (BPR), the implantation rate (IR), the clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), the miscarriage rate (MR), the on-going pregnancy rate (OPR) and the live birth rate (LBR). Results: Nine meta-analyses of 11 systematic reviews (SRs) were included in this review. In four SRs, the overall IVF outcomes regardless of the procedural steps were documented; two of these SRs reported a significant effect on the CPR. One SR reported that acupuncture at the time of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation had a significant effect on the BPR. Seven SRs reported that acupuncture had no significant impact on transvaginal oocyte retrieval (TVOR). In eight SRs, significant impacts on the CPR, LIBR and OPR were reported when acupuncture was performed around the time of embryo transfer (ET). The results of repeated acupuncture after ET were included in two SRs, which included the same primary studies. The results of the SRs showed that acupuncture had a positive effect on the CPR. Conclusions: When the complete IVF procedure is analysed, there is conflicting evidence in that some reviews have found that acupuncture leads to an increased CPR but others have not. In addition, the reviews presented no evidence to suggest that acupuncture has any specific risks.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1675-1682
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• 2012

Aim: The study aim was to determine the frequency with which women decline clinicians' treatment recommendations and variations in this frequency by age, cancer and service descriptors. Design: The study included 36,775 women diagnosed with early invasive breast cancer in 1998-2005 and attending Australian and New Zealand breast surgeons. Rate ratios for declining treatment were examined by descriptor, using bilateral and multiple logistic regression analyses. Proportional hazards regression was used in exploratory analyses of associations with breast cancer death. Results: 3.4% of women declined a recommended treatment of some type, ranging from 2.6% for women under 40 years to 5.8% for those aged 80 years or more, and with parallel increases by age presenting for declining radiotherapy (p<0.001) and axillary surgery (p=0.006). Multiple regression confirmed that common predictors of declining various treatments included low surgeon case load, treatment outside major city centres, and older age. Histological features suggesting a favourable prognosis were often predictive of declining various treatments, although reverse findings also applied with women with positive nodal status being more likely to decline a mastectomy and those with larger tumours more likely to decline chemotherapy. While survival analyses lacked statistical power due to small numbers, higher risks of breast cancer death were suggested, after adjusting for age and conventional clinical risk factors, (1) for women not receiving breast surgery for unstated reasons (RR=2.29; p<0.001); and (2) although not approaching statistical significance $p{\geq}0.200$), for women declining radiotherapy (RR=1.22), a systemic therapy (RR1.11), and more specifically, chemotherapy (RR=1.41). Conclusions: Women have the right to choose their treatments but reasons for declining recommendations require further study to ensure that choices are well informed and clinical outcomes are optimized.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2015

Blastocystis sp. is a common zoonotic intestinal protozoa which has been classified into 17 subtypes (STs). A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and subtype distribution of Blastocystis in villagers living on the Thai-Myanmar border, where the risk of parasitic infection is high. A total of 207 stool samples were collected and DNA was extracted. PCR and sequencing using primers targeting small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene were performed. The prevalence of Blastocystis infection was 37.2% (77/207). ST3 (19.8%; 41/207) was the predominant subtype, followed by ST1 (11.6%; 24/207), ST2 (5.3%; 11/207), and ST4 (0.5%; 1/207). A phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using the maximum likelihood (ML) method based on the Hasegawa-Kishino-Yano + G + I model. The percentage of bootstrapped trees in which the associated taxa clustered together was relatively high. Some sequences of Blastocystis positive samples (TK18, 39, 46, 71, and 90) were closely related to animals (pig and cattle) indicating zoonotic risks. Therefore, proper health education in parasitic prevention for the villagers should be promoted to improve their personal hygiene. Further longitudinal studies are required to monitor the prevalence of parasitic infections after providing health education and to investigate Blastocystis ST in animals living in these villages.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3501-3505
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• 2012

Links between the CHEK2 1100delC heterozygote and breast cancer risk have been extensively explored. However, both positive and negative associations with this variant have been reported in individual studies. For a detailed assessment of the CHEK2 1100delC heterozygote and breast cancer risk, relevant studies published as recently as May 2012 were identified using PUBMED and EMBASE and selected using a priori defined criteria. The strength of the relationship between the CHEK2 1100delC variant and breast cancer risks was assessed by odds ratios (ORs) under the fixed effects model. A total of 29,154 cases and 37,064 controls from 25 case-control studies were identified in this meta-analysis. The CHEK2 1100delC heterozygote was more frequently detected in cases than in controls (1.34% versus 0.44%). A significant association was found between CHEK2 1100delC heterozygote and breast cancer risk (OR=2.75, 95% CI: [2.25, 3.36]). The ORs and CIs were 2.33 (95% CI: [1.79, 3.05]), 3.72 (95% CI: [2.61, 5.31]) and 2.78 (95% CI: [2.28, 3.39]) respectively in unselected, family, early-onset breast cancer subgroups. The CHEK2 1100delC variant could be a potential factor for increased breast cancer risk in Caucasians. However, more consideration is needed in order to apply it to allele screening or other clinical work.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.223-231
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• 2005

A quantitative risk assessment tool was used to provide estimates of the probability that foot-and-mouth (FMD) virus-contaminated, smuggled animal products are fed to susceptible swine in Korea. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to attempt to distinguish between parameter uncertainty and variability, using different assumptions on the effect of cooking at home, the effect of the fresh meat, and the effect of heat treatment at garbage processing facility. The median risk estimate was about 20.1% with a mean value of 27.4%. In a scenario regarding all beef and pork were considered as fresh meat the estimated median risk was 3.4%. The risk was greatly dependent on the survival parameters of the FMD virus during the cooking or heat treatment at garbage processing facility. Uncertainty about the proportion of garbage that is likely contaminated with FMD had a major positive influence on the risk, whereas conversion rate representing the size of a load had a major negative effect. This model was very useful in assessing the risk explored. However, the model also requires enhancements, such as the availability of more accurate data to verify the various assumptions considered such as FMD prevalence in a specific country, proportion of garbage which is recycled as feed, proportion of food discarded as garbage. Other factors including the effect of selection of animals for slaughter, ante- and post-mortem inspection, the domestic distribution of the smuggled products, and susceptible animals other than pigs, are need to be taken into account in the future model development.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.758-771
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• 2020

This study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of antimicrobial-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) from 4,264 retail meat samples including beef, pork, and chicken in Korea between 2013 and 2018. A broth microdilution antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed for S. aureus. Molecular typing by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), spa typing, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), was performed on mecA-positive S. aureus strain. S. aureus was isolated at a rate of 18.2% (777/4,264), of which MRSA comprised 0.7% (29 strains). MLST analysis showed that 11 out of the 29 MRSA isolates were predominantly sequence type (ST) 398 (37.9%). In addition, ST72, ST692, ST188, ST9, and ST630 were identified in the MRSA isolates. The spa typing results were classified into 11 types and showed a high correlation with MLST. The antimicrobial resistance assays revealed that MRSA showed 100% resistance to cefoxitin and penicillin. In addition, resistance to tetracycline (62.1%), clindamycin (55.2%), and erythromycin (55.2%) was relatively high; 27 of the 29 MRSA isolates exhibited multidrug resistance. PFGE analysis of the 18 strains excluding the 11 ST398 strains exhibited a maximum of 100% homology and a minimum of 64.0% homology. Among these, three pairs of isolates showed 100% homology in PFGE; these results were consistent with the MLST and spa typing results. Identification of MRSA at the final consumption stage has potential risks, suggesting that continuous monitoring of retail meat products is required.