• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.69 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2010

Background: The increasing rate of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a threat to the public health and TB control. In Korea, about 75~80% of TB patients are treated in private hospitals and the rate has been continuously increasing since 2000. Methods: On a retrospective basis, we enrolled 170 newly diagnosed with or retreated for multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) in 2004 from 21 private hospitals. We extracted the following demographics and treatment history from patient medical records: initial treatment outcomes, cumulative survival rates, treatment outcomes, and prognostic factors. Results: Of the 170 patients, the majority were male (64.1%), the mean age was 44.5 years old, and mean body-mass-index was $20.2kg/m^2$. None of the patients tested positive for HIV. Eleven (6.5%) were confirmed to have extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) at treatment initiation. Treatment success rates were not different between XDR-TB (36.4%, 4/11) and non-XDR MDR-TB (51.6%, 82/159). Default rate was high, 21.8% (37/170). Far advanced disease on X-ray was a significant negative predictor of treatment success; advanced disease and low BMI were risk factors for all-cause mortality. Conclusion: In private hospitals in Korea, the proportion of XDR-TB in MDR-TB was comparable to previous data. The treatment success rate of MDR-/XDR-TB remains poor and the failure rate was quite high. Adequate TB control policies should be strengthened to prevent the further development and spread of MDR-/XDR-TB in Korea.

• The Journal of Korean society of community based occupational therapy
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.11-21
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• 2015

Objective : This study is aimed to examine the degree of independence in stroke patients residing in a community based on their self-efficacy and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living and also correlation between community-residing stroke patients and their guardians by figuring out the life quality of their guardians. Methods : For total two weeks between May 12th and 23rd, 2014, this researcher collected data by using a survey (K-IADL, a scale to measure self-efficacy, WHOQOL-BREF) targeting 138 stroke patients who received over 24 points in MMSE-K among the outpatients of three hospitals located in Busan Metropolitan City and two hospitals located in Geoje-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, and total 125 sheets were finally used for analysis. Results : Among the 125 patients, 70 were males, and 55 were females, and their average age was 58.72 (16 to 82). The subjects' general self-efficacy (p<0.01) and detailed self-efficacy (p<0.01) indicated significant correlation with their guardian's life quality, and there was no significant correlation found between their Instrumental Activities of Daily Living and their guardian's life quality. Conclusion : Their general self-efficacy and detailed self-efficacy indicated correlation with their guardian's life quality, and among their general characteristics, the factor of their financial situation indicated correlation with their guardian's life quality. In conclusion, when stroke patients' self-efficacy is higher, their guardian's life quality increases, too, and if their financial situation is more favorable, their guardian's life quality gets higher. However, stroke patients' Instrumental Activities of Daily Living did not indicate correlation with their guardian's life quality. When looking at the chronic trend of outpatients, therapeutical plan must be established about the self-efficient recovery for the development of those who are not satisfied.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.1-29
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• 2012

Based on the spatial and land price data of innovation cities and their periphery areas in Korea, this study examines the degree and timing of changes in land price in relation to projects concerning innovation city. The study result confirms that the current system is inconsistent with the principle of restitution of development gain and therefore, this study attempts to seek improvement measures so that the current system can better fit the principle. The analysis reveals that most innovation cities, excluding Sinseo-dong of Daegu and Ujeong-dong of Ulsan, recorded a statistically significant increase in land prices since 2005, compared to those of their neighboring areas. It can be said that the information related to projects concerning innovation city was reflected in the land price since 2005. However, the standard land price pursuant to Article 70 of the Land Compensation Act is the officially assessed land price released on 1st of January 2007, and this official land price was actually applied to the compensation process. Therefore, estimating the compensation amount for land expropriation based on this land price will contradict the principle of restitution of development gain. In other words, despite the fact that development-related information was already reflected in land prices of innovation cities from 2005 to the end of 2006, the compensation process were carried out without institutional arrangements or efforts to exclude such reflection. To solve this problem, this study makes two suggestions. First, it is necessary to cast aside the limitations of the official land price that can be retroactively applied in accordance with Paragraph 5 of Article 70 of the Land Compensation Act, and instead apply the land price which is the most latest but deemed to have no reflection of development gains. Based on this revised standard land price, if the compensation amount is corrected by the average inflation rate and the average rate of increase in land price during the period until the time of the recognized land price, the amount would better satisfy the principle of restitution of development gain. Second, it is necessary to clearly stipulate the standards of development gains being reflected on the land price by including it in the secondary legislation. Under the current system, it is highly likely that appraiser's arbitrary interpretation on development gains is included in the process of calculating the amount of compensation for land expropriation. In this regard, it is necessary to improve the standards on determining whether development gains are reflected based on the results of this academic research and the existing guidelines for appraisal of compensation for land expropriation published by the Korea Association of Property Appraisers.

• 대한공업교육학회지
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.189-208
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• 2014

The purpose of this research was to investigate the critical issues and practical strategies that Korean technology teachers perceived. To accomplish the purpose of this study, a qualitative study was conducted to identify critical issues and practical strategies of Korean technology education targeted on Korean technology teachers. A purposeful sampling for choosing technology teachers was used for this study with three selection conditions: 1) 'Excellent Korean technology teacher' award winning teachers, or 2) technology teachers actively involved in both on-line and off-line teachers' association, and 3) leaders in local technology teachers' association. This study conducted exploratory in-depth interviews with selective 15 technology teachers regarding critical issues and practical strategies of Korean technology teachers. The interpretation of the interview content was conducted by two researchers using the thematic analysis which analyzed the frequency of concepts, words, and meanings held from collected data. In the conclusion, critical issues researchers identified were 1) curriculum problems, 2) education environment and facilities problems, 3) teachers' problems, 4) students' problems, 5) related research institution and college problems, 6) social problems. Secondly, Korean technology teachers agreed with following practical strategies 1) separating technology education from home economic education, 2) sharing practices on managing and improving educational environment and laboratory for technology education, 3) actively involving in technology teachers' group, 4) motivating students using hands-on activity 5) improving the quality and the quantity on technology teachers preparatory institution, 6) advertising the values of technology education to the public. Lastly, the positive factors to succeed technology education were 1) technology education satisfying social needs and 2) technology teachers' will or passion toward improving their technology classrooms. The negative factors to hinder technology education were 1) low self-respect of Korean technology teachers and 2) rejection or retarded acceptance toward social transition. Several recommendations based the conclusion were suggested as 1) implementing supplementary study toward selected critical issues and 2) conducting exemplary case studies regarding concrete practical strategies for improving challenges of Korean technology education.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.128-136
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• 2011

This study was carried out to investigate the factors of food service satisfaction of the elderly in Busan. The survey was conducted from September 1 to October 15, 2009 by questionnaires and data analyzed by SPSS program. Fifty point nine percent of the subjects lived alone and the source of living expenses of 70.5% of the subjects was subsidy from government. The most important reason for the elderly to participate in meal service was 'economic difficulty' and 'to meet friend'. The subjects had various chronic degenerative diseases, such as arthritis, hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis and cardiac disease. Sixty-six point eight percent of the subjects needed diet therapy for their diseases, but 87.1% of them don't want to pay the extra fee. Thirty six point five percent of the subjects attained information about lunch program because it was 'close to home' but 20.7% was 'from public officials'. The reasons for the use of the meal service were 'economic difficulty' (40.0%), 'to meet friends' (22.6%), and 'bother to prepare meal' (16.50%). The services provided by welfare center were health care, physical exam and haircut. The score given by the subjects on the satisfaction of meal service was 3.84 on the 5-point maximum scale. Higher satisfaction on kindness of staff, satisfaction of social support and awareness of support resulted in higher satisfaction of food service. It would be effective to provide food service models that meet specific needs of the elderly according to social welfare service and social community activities.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.162-173
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• 2009

Information on the expected geographical shift of suitable zones for growing crops under future climate is a starting point of adaptation planning in agriculture and is attracting much concern from policy makers as well as researchers. Few practical schemes have been developed, however, because of the difficulty in implementing the site-selection concept at an analytical level. In this study, we suggest site-selection criteria for quality Fuji apple production and integrate geospatial data and information available in public domains (e.g., digital elevation model, digital soil maps, digital climate maps, and predictive models for agroclimate and fruit quality) to implement this concept on a GIS platform. Primary criterion for selecting sites suitable for Fuji apple production includes land cover, topography, and soil texture. When the primary criterion is satisfied, climatic conditions such as the length of frost free season, freezing risk during the overwintering period, and the late frost risk in spring are tested as the secondary criterion. Finally, the third criterion checks for fruit quality such as color and shape. Land attributes related to these factors in each criterion were implemented in ArcGIS environment as relevant raster layers for spatial analysis, and retrieval procedures were automated by writing programs compatible with ArcGIS. This scheme was applied to the A1B projected climates for South Korea in the future normal years (2011-2040, 2041-2070, and 2071-2100) as well as the current climate condition observed in 1971-2000 for selecting the sites suitable for quality Fuji apple production in each period. Results showed that this scheme can figure out the geographical shift of suitable zones at landscape scales as well as the latitudinal shift of northern limit for cultivation at national or regional scales.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.117-129
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• 2015

As the Internet becomes ubiquitous, a large volume of information is posted on the Internet with exponential growth every day. Accordingly, it is not unusual that investors in stock markets gather and compile firm-specific or market-wide information through online searches. Importantly, it becomes easier for investors to acquire value-relevant information for their investment decision with the help of powerful search tools on the Internet. Our study examines whether or not the Internet helps investors assess a firm's value better by using firm-level data over long periods spanning from January 2004 to December 2013. To this end, we construct weekly-based search volume for information technology (IT) services firms on the Internet. We limit our focus to IT firms since they are often equipped with intangible assets and relatively less recognized to the public which makes them hard-to measure. To obtain the information on those firms, investors are more likely to consult the Internet and use the information to appreciate the firms more accurately and eventually improve their investment decisions. Prior studies have shown that changes in search volumes can reflect the various aspects of the complex human behaviors and forecast near-term values of economic indicators, including automobile sales, unemployment claims, and etc. Moreover, search volume of firm names or stock ticker symbols has been used as a direct proxy of individual investors' attention in financial markets since, different from indirect measures such as turnover and extreme returns, they can reveal and quantify the interest of investors in an objective way. Following this line of research, this study aims to gauge whether the information retrieved from the Internet is value relevant in assessing a firm. We also use search volume for analysis but, distinguished from prior studies, explore its impact on return comovements with market returns. Given that a firm's returns tend to comove with market returns excessively when investors are less informed about the firm, we empirically test the value of information by examining the association between Internet searches and the extent to which a firm's returns comove. Our results show that Internet searches are negatively associated with return comovements as expected. When sample is split by the size of firms, the impact of Internet searches on return comovements is shown to be greater for large firms than small ones. Interestingly, we find a greater impact of Internet searches on return comovements for years from 2009 to 2013 than earlier years possibly due to more aggressive and informative exploit of Internet searches in obtaining financial information. We also complement our analyses by examining the association between return volatility and Internet search volumes. If Internet searches capture investors' attention associated with a change in firm-specific fundamentals such as new product releases, stock splits and so on, a firm's return volatility is likely to increase while search results can provide value-relevant information to investors. Our results suggest that in general, an increase in the volume of Internet searches is not positively associated with return volatility. However, we find a positive association between Internet searches and return volatility when the sample is limited to larger firms. A stronger result from larger firms implies that investors still pay less attention to the information obtained from Internet searches for small firms while the information is value relevant in assessing stock values. However, we do find any systematic differences in the magnitude of Internet searches impact on return volatility by time periods. Taken together, our results shed new light on the value of information searched from the Internet in assessing stock values. Given the informational role of the Internet in stock markets, we believe the results would guide investors to exploit Internet search tools to be better informed, as a result improving their investment decisions.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.53-77
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• 2015

Korea has witnessed an increasing number of domestic patent applications, but a majority of them are not utilized to their maximum potential but end up becoming obsolete. According to the 2012 National Congress' Inspection of Administration, about 73% of patents possessed by universities and public-funded research institutions failed to lead to creating social values, but remain latent. One of the main problem of this issue is that patent creators such as individual researcher, university, or research institution lack abilities to commercialize their patents into viable businesses with those enterprises that are in need of them. Also, for enterprises side, it is hard to find the appropriate patents by searching keywords on all such occasions. This system proposes a patent recommendation system that can identify and recommend intellectual rights appropriate to users' interested fields among a rapidly accumulating number of patent assets in a more easy and efficient manner. The proposed system extracts core contents and technology sectors from the existing pool of patents, and combines it with secondary social knowledge, which derives from tags information created by users, in order to find the best patents recommended for users. That is to say, in an early stage where there is no accumulated tag information, the recommendation is done by utilizing content characteristics, which are identified through an analysis of key words contained in such parameters as 'Title of Invention' and 'Claim' among the various patent attributes. In order to do this, the suggested system extracts only nouns from patents and assigns a weight to each noun according to the importance of it in all patents by performing TF-IDF analysis. After that, it finds patents which have similar weights with preferred patents by a user. In this paper, this similarity is called a "Domain Similarity". Next, the suggested system extract technology sector's characteristics from patent document by analyzing the international technology classification code (International Patent Classification, IPC). Every patents have more than one IPC, and each user can attach more than one tag to the patents they like. Thus, each user has a set of IPC codes included in tagged patents. The suggested system manages this IPC set to analyze technology preference of each user and find the well-fitted patents for them. In order to do this, the suggeted system calcuates a 'Technology_Similarity' between a set of IPC codes and IPC codes contained in all other patents. After that, when the tag information of multiple users are accumulated, the system expands the recommendations in consideration of other users' social tag information relating to the patent that is tagged by a concerned user. The similarity between tag information of perferred 'patents by user and other patents are called a 'Social Simialrity' in this paper. Lastly, a 'Total Similarity' are calculated by adding these three differenent similarites and patents having the highest 'Total Similarity' are recommended to each user. The suggested system are applied to a total of 1,638 korean patents obtained from the Korea Industrial Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) run by the Korea Intellectual Property Office. However, since this original dataset does not include tag information, we create virtual tag information and utilized this to construct the semi-virtual dataset. The proposed recommendation algorithm was implemented with JAVA, a computer programming language, and a prototype graphic user interface was also designed for this study. As the proposed system did not have dependent variables and uses virtual data, it is impossible to verify the recommendation system with a statistical method. Therefore, the study uses a scenario test method to verify the operational feasibility and recommendation effectiveness of the system. The results of this study are expected to improve the possibility of matching promising patents with the best suitable businesses. It is assumed that users' experiential knowledge can be accumulated, managed, and utilized in the As-Is patent system, which currently only manages standardized patent information.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.42
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• pp.7-36
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• 2015

This study aims at analyzing difference of social Security network, Community unity and local government trust according to socio-demographical features, exploring the relation of social Security network, Community unity and local government trust according to socio-demographical features, presenting results between each variable as a model and verifying the property of mutual ones. This study sampled general citizens in Gwangju for about 15 days Aug. 15 through Aug. 30, 2014, distributed total 450 copies using cluster random sampling, gathered 438 persons, 412 persons of whom were used for analysis. This study verified the validity and credibility of the questionnaire through an experts' meeting, preliminary test, factor analysis and credibility analysis. The credibility of questionnaire was ${\alpha}=.809{\sim}{\alpha}=.890$. The inout data were analyzed by study purpose using SPSSWIN 18.0, as statistical techniques, factor analysis, credibility analysis, correlation analysis, independent sample t verification, ANOVA, multi-regression analysis, path analysis etc. were used. the findings obtained through the above study methods are as follows. First, building a social Security network has an effect on Community institution. That is, the more activated a, the higher awareness on institution. the more activated street CCTV facilities, anti-crime design, local government Security education, the higher the stability. Second, building a social Security network has an effect on trust of local government. That is, the activated local autonomous anti-crime activity, anti-crime design. local government's Security education, police public oder service, the more increased trust of policy, service management, busines performance. Third, Community unity has an effect on trust of local government. That is, the better Community institution is achieved, the higher trust of policy. Also the stabler Community institution, the higher trust of business performance. Fourth, building a social Security network has a direct or indirect effect on Community unity and local government trust. That is, social Security network has a direct effect on trust of local government, but it has a higher effect through Community unity of parameter. Such results showed that Community unity in Gwangju Region is an important factor, which means it is an important variable mediating building a social Security network and trust of local government. To win trust of local residents, we need to prepare for various cultural events and active communication space and build a social Security network for uniting them.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 2018

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to research the usage characteristics of asbestos-containing building materials and to conduct exposure risk assessment by applying no. 2016-230 "Methods of Risk Assessment of Asbestos-Containing Buildings" from the Ministry of Environment. Methods: One hundred buildings located in the Seoul and Gyeonggi-Incheon area were chosen, with 29 in Seoul, 20 in Incheon, and 51 in Gyeonggi-do Province. The year of construction was divided between three buildings in the 1970s, 11 buildings in the 1980s, 42 buildings in the 1990s, and 44 buildings in the 2000s. The bulk samples were analyzed by using a polarizing microscope after a pre-process using a stereomicroscope in a hood with an HEPA filter. This study defined ACMs(asbestos-containing materials) as asbestos when the content percentage was over 1% in the analysis result. Methods and standards of risk assessment of asbestos-containing building materials were conducted by refering to no. 2016-230 "Method of Risk Assessment of Asbestos-Containing Buildings" from the Ministry of Environment. The risk of exposure to ACMs was rated by a score based on three categories(high, middle, low risk of asbestos exposure). Results: In this study, 30 of the 100 buildings and 36 of the 416 bulk samples(8.6%) were found to have had asbestos. Asbestos was detected at a high rate, in 18 out of 42, in buildings constructed in the 1990s and at the lowest rate(7 out of 44) for buildings constructed in the 2000s. As a result of the evaluation according to no. 2016-230 "Method of Risk Assessment of Asbestos-Containing Buildings" of the Ministry of Environment, the risk assessment level of two asbestos-containing building materials was found to be "Medium", and 28 buildings materials were found to be at the "Low" level. Conclusion: As asbestos is regulated by the government, it is required to conduct active management and implemention by introducing methods of risk assessment of asbestos exposure that are supported by data from various situations. In the case of buildings owned by individuals, building owners should be aware of the risk of exposure to asbestos.