• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8503-8508
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• 2014

Background: After the WHO recommended HPV vaccination of the general population in 2009, government support of HPV vaccination programs was increased in many countries. However, this policy was not implemented in Korea due to perceived low cost-effectiveness. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the cost-utility of HPV vaccination programs targeted to high risk populations as compared to vaccination programs for the general population. Materials and Methods: Each study population was set to 100,000 people in a simulation study to determine the incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR), then standard prevalence rates, cost, vaccination rates, vaccine efficacy, and the Quality-Adjusted Life-Years (QALYs) were applied to the analysis. In addition, sensitivity analysis was performed by assuming discounted vaccination cost. Results: In the socially vulnerable population, QALYs gained through HPV vaccination were higher than that of the general population (General population: 1,019, Socially vulnerable population: 5,582). The results of ICUR showed that the cost of HPV vaccination was higher for the general population than the socially vulnerable population. (General population: 52,279,255 KRW, Socially vulnerable population: 9,547,347 KRW). Compared with 24 million KRW/QALYs as the social threshold, vaccination of the general population was not cost-effective. In contrast, vaccination of the socially vulnerable population was strongly cost-effective. Conclusions: The results suggest the importance and necessity of government support of HPV vaccination programs targeted to socially vulnerable populations because a targeted approach is much more cost-effective. The implementation of government support for such vaccination programs is a critical strategy for decreasing the burden of HPV infection in Korea.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.231-236
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• 2017

Vital to the prevention of work-related ill-health (WRIH) is the availability of good quality data regarding WRIH burden and risks. Physician-based surveillance systems such as The Health and Occupation Research (THOR) network in the UK are often established in response to limitations of statutory, compensation-based systems for addressing certain epidemiological aspects of disease surveillance. However, to fulfil their purpose, THOR and others need to have methodologic rigor in capturing and ascertaining cases. This article describes how data collected by THOR and analogous systems can inform WRIH incidence, trends, and other determinants. An overview of the different strands of THOR research is provided, including methodologic advancements facilitated by increased data quantity/quality over time and the value of the research outputs for informing Government and other policy makers. In doing so, the utility of data collected by systems such as THOR to address a wide range of research questions, both in relation to WRIH and to wider issues of public and social health, is demonstrated.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.219-227
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• 2001

Objectives : To understand the current status of the opening, closing and relocation of primary medical institutes in Korea and identify the underlying decision factors. Methods : Sources of analyzed data included the medical institutional master file at the National Health Insurance Corporation(1998, 2000) and Regional Statistic Annual Bulletins. To investigate changes including the opening, closing and relocation, a total of primary medicalinstitutions(16,757 in 1998, 19,267 in 2000) were analysed. Results : Between 1998 and 2000, there was a 15.0%(2,510) increase in the number of primary medical institutions and the rate of increase in the rural area was higher than the urban area, and higher for specialty clinics than primary practice. However, these findings did not suggestany improvement in the maldistribution of primary medical institutions. During the time period studied, newly opened and closed primary medical institutions numbered 4,085 and 1,573, respectively. Additionally, institutions thatrelocated numbered 2,729, or 16.3% of all primary medical institutions in operation in 1998. These openings and closings were more frequent among young doctors. As a result of our analysis on the underlying regional factors forrelocation, the factors that were statistically significant were local per capita tax burden and the number of schools per ten thousand persons. !n, the case of institutional factors, movements were significantly associated with gender and the location of primary medical institutions. Conclusions : In order to establish effective long-term intervention for primary medical institutions, further study and monitoring of primary medical institutions and the identification of factors influencing opening location and relocation is necessary.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.127-140
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting on the home treatment stress in the CP (cerebral palsy) children's mothers. Direct interviews were conducted from March 17 with April 4, 2003 with 97 mothers of CP children. The average level of stress from home treatment felt by mothers with CP children was $16.97{\pm}4.04$. Stress-levels were especially high in mothers who were not satisfied with the treatment outcome (p<.05) and whose acceptance of disability was low (p<.01). Stress felt by mothers was low when their health status was high (p<.05). A physical burden was shown to have a significant correlation with the stress of the mothers during the home treatment (p<.01). Mothers with a child of Level 2 disability had lower levels of stress than those with a child of Level 4 or 5 disability (p<.01). The level of stress was higher in mothers who lagged in acquiring technical sufficiency (p<.05). Multiple regression analysis showed that one factor affecting the stress felt by mothers with CP children was the degree of acceptance of the disability (p<.01). Programs that can reduce the stress levels of mothers with CP children through home treatment and secure social systems such as professional help and economic compensation, need to be developed. Active policies should be established and executed for these mothers since stress felt by mothers significantly affects the consistency and effectiveness of treatment provided at home.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.1D
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• pp.23-31
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• 2012

Busan Metropolitan City government has been implementing the local Bus Quasi-Public Operating policy since 2007. As a result of the policy, financial burden to cover financial deficit has become a big social issue. For successful settlement of the policy, the government should be able to gradually cut off the financial support for the deficit by continuously increasing the bus demand, which can be accomplished by providing more convenient bus services. The weather conditions that affect the public transportation demand include rain, fog and snow. They affect the mode choice for public transportation use, which in turn results in decrease in bus demand. In short, the adverse weather conditions result in significant profit loss of bus transportation, and consequently it financially burdens the City of Busan. In this research, the pattern of travelers' use of transportation modes given various weather conditions was analyzed. In addition, the reasons why people transfer from one to other transportation modes were analyzed by conducting a field survey, and policy implications on desirable public transportation facilities and transfer system were discussed.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.256-263
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• 2015

Background: Initial treatment of acute upper respiratory infection (AURI) should not include antibiotics because most AURIs are caused by virus. However, the prescription rate of antibiotics in Korea is higher than in any other countries. Inappropriate use of antibiotics in Korea accelerated the emergence of antibiotics resistance and increased the social and economic burden. The objective of this study was to investigate the factors related to antibiotics use for the AURI among children-adolescents and adults. Methods: This study analyzed the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-National Patient Sample data which was nationally representative sampling stratified by sex and age. Results: The influencing factors of antibiotics use for AURI are gender, age, types of medical security, primary disease, existence of concomitant disease, treatment seasons, first visit or revisit, indicated specialty, types of medical institution, and location of medical institution. Conclusion: The results showed health policy makers are required to place more efforts to resolve inappropriate antibiotics use. Especially they need to establish a health policy to reduce the gap between areas and specialties and recommend standardized clinical guidelines according to the subgroup code of AURI and the age group of patients.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.195-217
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• 2014

The College Scholastic Ability Test(CSAT) is the Korean national university examination based on the national curriculum. The CSAT is a high-stakes test because of powerful social forces which the college admission system has in Korea. This examination has changed many times through not only the national curriculum revision but also various external factors including the normalization of public education, mitigating the burden of students, etc. This study analysis the changes of assessment contents of the Mathematics of the CSAT due to the national curriculum revision. Additionally, this study analysis the mathematics content domains of the college entrance examinations in some foreign countries. Based on the result of this analysis, this study will derive implications for improvement directions of the Mathematics of the CSAT.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.181-190
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• 2017

Functional foods are of great significance since our society is accelerating into aging. An aging society has many physiological metabolic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia and geriatric diseases. Fundamental treatments for the elderly are almost impossible and the social burden is heavy. If these diseases can be prevented or alleviated by improving dietary habits using functional foods, the significance would be very large. Pomegranate has been found to have 124 different kinds of phytochemicals. Polyphenols have a wide range of protective effects including various physiological metabolic diseases and cancers. It is necessary to develop functional foods such as preservatives and food extenders which can contribute to food safety, required in the food industry, by using such bioactive substances. Pomegranates have been reported to decrease the impact of many serious illnesses. There is a considerable amount of bioactive substances in the peel of a pomegranate, which has potent anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-apoptotic properties. Unfortunately, the peel is typically discarded after processing. Despite knowledge regarding the bioactive substances in the pomegranate peel and peel extracts, including their functionality and diversity, the knowledge is not well known by consumers in general. The aim of this study was to review up to date research trends for processing and developing new functional foods by utilizing nutritional functional substances, favourite food materials, and materials for processing food contained in pomegranate peels and pomegranate peel extracts. This study will summarize the data found in pomegranate peel and pomegranate peel extract literature mainly recently published in Science Direct. There are polyphenolic compounds (ellagitannins, punicalagin, proanthocyanidin, flavonoids, polysaccharides, etc.) in the fruit peel, making up about 50% of the pomegranate's weight. The polyphenol content of a pomegranate fruit peel is 149.91 mg/g, which is about 100 times higher than the juice. Paying attention to the fact that the ellagitannin content (14.22 mg/g) in the fruit peel is also twice as high as that of the fruit juice and seeds, that confirms the possibility of utilizing the peel as a food ingredient capable of developing new, functional bioactive foods.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.587-599
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• 2017

The immune response against Trichinella spiralis at the intestinal level depends on the $CD4^+$ T cells, which can both suppress or promote the inflammatory response through the synthesis of diverse cytokines. During the intestinal phase, the immune response is mixed (Th1/Th2) with the initial predominance of the Th1 response and the subsequent domination of Th2 response, which favor the development of intestinal pathology. In this context, the glucocorticoids (GC) are the pharmacotherapy for the intestinal inflammatory response in trichinellosis. However, its therapeutic use is limited, since studies have shown that treatment with GC suppresses the host immune system, favoring T. spiralis infection. In the search for novel pharmacological strategies that inhibit the Th1 immune response (proinflammatory) and assist the host against T. spiralis infection, recent studies showed that resiniferatoxin (RTX) had anti-inflammatory activity, which decreased the serum levels of IL-12, $INF-{\gamma}$, $IL-1{\beta}$, $TNF-{\alpha}$, NO, and $PGE_2$, as well the number of eosinophils in the blood, associated with decreased intestinal pathology and muscle parasite burden. These researches demonstrate that RTX is capable to inhibit the production of Th1 cytokines, contributing to the defense against T. spiralis infection, which places it as a new potential drug modulator of the immune response.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.450-460
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• 2005

Today, multimedia information is used on the internet and various social areas by rapid development of computer and communication technology. Therefor, the usage is growing dramatically. Multimedia information analysis system is basically based on text. So, there are many difficult problems like expressing ambiguity of multimedia information, excessive burden of works in appending notes and a lack of objectivity. In this study, we suggest a method which uses color and shape information of multimedia image partitions efficiently analyze a large amount of multimedia information. Partitions use field growth and union method. To extract color information, we use distinctive information which matches with a representative color from converting process from RGB(Red Green Blue) to HSI(Hue Saturation Intensity). Also, we use IMI(Improved Moment Invariants) which target to only outline pixels of an object and execute computing as shape information.