• Asia Pacific Journal of Business Review
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.57-76
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• 2018

The "Internet of things" (IoT) is becoming an increasingly growing topic of conversation, it is a new emergent technology that can be present in almost every field and application. It's a concept that not only has the potential to impact how people live but also how people work. Broadband Internet and Mobile Internet are becoming more widely available, the cost of the service is decreasing, more devices are being created with Wi-Fi capabilities and sensors built into them, technology costs are going down, and smartphone penetration is growing so fast. All of these facts are creating the best environment for the IoT applications. In a country like Ecuador, is important to have a previous analysis about the feasibility of the implementation of this new technology in order to know what are the challenges the country has to face, and also to not stay behind as the other countries in the region are advancing. Currently, this kind of analysis does not exist. The Internet of Things is an innovation where business and technology models in Ecuador are relatively unexplored. The current infrastructure deployed in Ecuador and the available devices in the market are the central facts to initiate with the research, which is a starting point to show if Ecuador is ready to this technology, and if is not ready what is missing. This study shows the current telecommunications status in Ecuador, and its strengths and weaknesses to start the deployment of Internet of Things. Besides, it also will show the most likely applications that can be easily adopted for the Ecuadorian market with its respective availability, affordability, and adaptability.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.21-34
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• 2019

It is a very important task for managers to motivate employees who work at service encounters where interaction with customers is important. The purpose of this study is to propose the trust of supervisor and supervisor's expressions as factors that can enhance or strengthen employees' prosocial behavior. Hierarchical regression analysis was used for this purpose. The results and implications are as follows. First, trust toward supervisors appeared to be a factor to improve employees'engagement. Second, job engagement has a positive effect on prosocial behavior of employees, that is, customer oriented behavior and organizational citizenship behavior. Finally, this work confirmed the moderating effect of the supervisor's gratitude expressions in the relationship between trust toward supervisor and job engagement. Research on gratitude in the marketing field is still in its infancy, and previous researches are focused on business and consumer relations. Expressing gratitude can be a natural tendency. This study suggests that gratitude expression should be introduced as part of organizational culture.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.139-149
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• 2019

Objectives : A dermal needle is one of the therapeutic method by stimulating or tapping on the certain points of skin. Recently, roller or stamp-needle have been applied to various diseases in combination with microneedle technology. In this study, we analyzed the trend of roller and stamp-needle in Korean patent. Methods : Electronic search for Korean patent of roller or stamp needle was performed in Korea Intellectual Property Right Information Service database to April, 2019. Results : Sixty seven patents (51, roller-needle; 15, stamp-needle; 1, both types of needle) met the inclusion criteria. According to patent details, 34 of 67 patents were skin stimulation, 14 patents were intended to increase the efficiency of drug delivery through skin stimulation, 16 patents combined skin stimulation with technologies such as electrode or high frequency, and three patents applied both electrode or high frequency stimulation, and drug application as well as physical skin stimulation. Each of these patents aims to increase the efficiency of the needle manufacturing process (n=24), to facilitate the use of tools or to increase the efficiency of the technology (n=61), or to increase the technical skill of the needle itself (n=23). Conclusions : This study confirms that technological advances were being made by combining various types of stimuli to dermal needle and there have been attempts to expand the scope of drug delivery in terms of application of dermal needle. In the future, more research and development is needed in order to apply the dermal needle to modern technology.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.15-25
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• 2018

Purpose: To compare the Appropriateness of abdominal CT to abdominal radiography as an imaging modality in terms of the diagnostic value, medical costs and decision making times for patients presented to the emergency department with nontraumatic abdominal pain. Methods: This study used the records of 530 cases presented to the emergency department(ED) with nontraumatic abdominal pain from February to March 2012. Imaging modalities were categorized into abdominal radiography and CT (radiography first or CT first) or radiography alone or CT alone. The diagnostic value, total medical costs and effect on decision making time of the each imaging modalities were compared. Especially, in retrospective review, to evaluate the predictability of the abdominal radiography, alit was assumed that all the 530 cases performed that exam as initial imaging. Results: Among 530 cases, 255 cases underwent abdominal radiography only, 28 cases underwent abdominal CT only and the remnant 247 cases underwent abdominal CT with plain abdominal radiography. The diagnostic value was higher in the cases with abdominal CT (268/275, 97.5%) than in the cases with plain abdominal radiography (19/255, 7.5%).The number of cases predicted by abdominal radiography only as initial imaging were 39/530 (7.4%). In cases where the patients performed the abdominal CT as the first imaging modality thereby omitting the abdominal radiography, the total diagnostic imaging fee was lower than in cases with plain abdominal radiography first followed by the abdominal CT (277,140 vs. 284,226(mean, Korean Won)). Although diagnostic value of the plain abdominal radiography as first imaging modality was lower than the abdominal CT, Decision making time, average duration of hospital stay was longer and the total medical costs was higher than abdominal CT. Conclusion: As an imaging modality in the ED for patients with acute nontraumatic abdominal pain, plain abdominal radiography is an avoidable procedure when viewed in terms of the diagnostic value and total medical costs and decision making times comparing with abdominal CT.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.46-52
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• 2019

Objective : The aim of this nationwide study was to analyze the current state of patients with newly diagnosed metastatic spine tumors according to surgical methods. Methods : Data was extracted from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database. Surgery was categorized into three methods : fusion, decompression, and vertebroplasty. Data included patient age, sex, health insurance type, and co-morbidities. Survival rates of metastatic spine tumor patients according to each surgical method were evaluated. Results : Among 1677 patients who had an operation, 823 patients were treated by fusion, 141 patients underwent decompression, and 713 patients were treated by vertebroplasty. The three most prevalent primary tumor sites were the lung, breast, and liver & biliary. On the other hand, the three most prevalent primary tumor sites of patients who underwent surgery were the lung, liver & biliary, and the prostate. The median survival periods for each surgical method in the metastatic spine tumor patients were 228 days for those who underwent surgery, 249 days for decompression, and 154 days for vertebroplasty. Age, sex, and comorbidities significantly affected survival rate. Conclusion : For every primary tumor site, decompression was the least common surgical method during the study period. Although the three surgical methods did not significantly affect the survival period, patients with a poor prognosis tended to undergo vertebroplasty.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.51-67
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• 2019

As dental implant surgery and bone grafts were widely operated in Korean dentist, many bone substitutes are commercially available, currently. For commercially used in Korea, all bone substitutes are firstly evaluated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) for safety and efficacy of the product. After being priced, classified, and registration by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), the post-application management is obligatory for the manufacturer (or representative importer) to receive a certificate of Good Manufacturing Practice by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Currently, bone substitutes are broadly classified into C group (bone union and fracture fixation), T group (human tissue), L group (general and dental material) and non-insurance material group in MOHW notification No. 2018-248. Among them, bone substitutes classified as dental materials (L7) are divided as xenograft and alloplastic bone graft. The purpose of this paper is to analyze alloplastic bone substitutes of 37 products in MOHW notification No. 2018-248 and to evaluate the reference level based on the ISI Web of Knowledge, PubMed, EMBASE (1980-2019), Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar using the criteria of registered or trademarked product name.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.679-693
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• 2021

The aim of this study was first to expand participation types in the field of beauty design by examining activities in the field, and second, to seek practical methods for addressing the important issue of social responsibility amid the current pandemic situation. Accordingly, social responsibility in design was examined through a review of previous studies. The features of practice domains and design performance fields were examined comparatively. As a result, it was found that social practices take place in various sectors, with sensibility toward the environment being escalated to a new level in the cosmetics industry. In terms of cosmetics enterprise practices, collecting, recycling, manufacturing, and retail networking has been established to reuse up to 95% of waste resources. Furthermore, ethical responsibility and participation concerning product and service waste resources are recommended, resulting in the supply of eco-friendly products in a virtuous cycle. In terms of systematic policy, even component transformation (such as organic certification and excluding toxic substances) is being carried out. However, it was difficult to identify such responsible activities in Korea; thus, systematic practice is needed. Designers take part in talent donation activities, and it was the sector they prefer the most. However, it is necessary to conduct studies on limitations such as venues equipped with cosmetics procedure equipment and public cosmetics sanitation and make systematic improvement, such that activities can be led with initiative from passive participation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.147-155
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this study was to find ways for strengthening occupational health services through monitoring exposure to health hazards. Methods: About 70,000 workplaces that have conducted the work environment measurement(WEM) over the last three years(2017~2019) were classified according to the Korean Standard Industry Classification(KSIC), and the current status of WEM by industry was analyzed. The authors considered ways to monitor exposure to health hazards in order to strengthen occupational health services and protect workers' health. Results: Based on the KSIC, 934 of the 1,196 total sub-classified industries have conducted WEM in at least one workplace over the last three year(2017~2019). In the case of manufacturing, out of a total of 477 sub-classified industries, 474 have conducted WEM at more than one workplace. However, in some industries, WEM was not conducted or the implementation rate was low, so it was necessary to examine whether WEM should be expanded based on a detailed analysis of the WEM database. To this end, it is necessary to form an exposure monitoring committee in which various experts from different fields can participate. The committee needs to discuss the overall matters necessary for selecting industries that require detailed investigation or research, review the results, and prepare a final recommendation. Conclusion: In conclusion, the government needs to come up with a plan to strengthen occupational health services through surveys and research on the current status of WEM and work environment management models by industry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.37-46
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• 2021

According to the Korean Statistical Information Service, the number of fatal occupational accidents per 100,000 workers is the highest in Korea, among all the OECD countries. The safety of construction workers is managed by the construction technology promotion act (CTPA) and the occupational safety and health act (OHSA). A review of the current safety management laws is required to improve them for the construction industry, where the numbers of accidents and deaths are constantly increasing. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to identify the problems in unclear business areas through comparison and analysis of the CTPA and OHSA guidelines and establish effective site-dependent construction safety management plans. The overlapping safety and health management terms and tasks of organizations were derived along with identifying the overlapping items of the safety management and hazard and risk prevention plans. Based on these results, several improvements for the design stage, safety cost, and safety education have been suggested in this paper. In addition, an improved model based on the integration and an optimized compromise between these two laws for safety management in areas where many accidents have occurred in recent years has been reported here.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.314-326
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• 2020

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine the effects of uncertainty, social support, and sick role behavior on health-related quality of life in patients with peripheral arterial disease. Methods: This study is a descriptive research using self-reporting questionnaire. Data were collected from 167 patients with peripheral arterial disease. Measurement tools were Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support(MSPSS), Mishel's Uncertainty in Illness Scale (MUIS), Sick role behavior measurement tools and SF-36 Version I. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis by using SPSS/WIN 24.0. Results: Factors that significantly influenced physical health-related quality of life were age (β=-.19, p=.010), monthly income (β=.17, p=.027), uncertainty (β=-.29, p<.001), and exercise and rest (β=.28, p<.001) that all together accounted for 32.6% of the variance. Factors that significantly influenced mental health-related quality of life were monthly income (β=.20, p=.015), drinking (β=.17, p=.040), uncertainty (β=-.24, p=.001), and exercise and rest in sick role behavior (β=.26, p=.003) that all together accounted for 18.2% of the variance. Social support was an insignificant factor on physical and mental health-related quality of life. Conclusion: To improve the health-related quality of life of people with peripheral arterial disease, it is necessary to develop a systematic nursing intervention program including a strong support system, education, strategies for alcohol abstinence, and exercise and rest therapy.