• Proceedings of the Safety Management and Science Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.731-746
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• 2011

The successful and sustainable growth of SMEs depends on their ability of strengthen their competitiveness in quality and cost and service more than anything else as a fundamental of operation. Among these key competitive factors of SMEs, quality is the most critical factor in manufacturing business fields. Because quality strongly influence cost and service performance on this manufacturing business field. There are many different ways to improve the quality performance but it needs proper management decision to choose the best way what can maximize outputs with minimum inputs. And it needs effective measurement methods and some indicators to analysis the quality performance properly. The quality cost is one of the simplest key indicators to measure the quality performance and the effectiveness of quality related management decisions. The major purpose of this study is to diagnose the categorized current level of actual quality cost of local SMEs to maximize their quality management effectiveness through comparing their level with others what's expressed in early studies. In this study, through survey on local SMEs, we found that their average annual quality cost ratio versus turnover - Total amount of annual quality cost divided by annual turnover - is around 3.69% excluded some SME's performances what have different quality control measures with others. And we found some results what corresponded with the early studies on the correlations between those categorized quality costs factors and some discrepancies between some of the literature model and the early case study results as follows. There were negative correlations between the Prevention costs and the External failure costs, and the Appraisal costs and the External failure costs, and there was positive correlation between the Appraisal costs and Internal failure costs same as early studies. But, we couldn't found any strong negative correlations between the Cost of control - Preventive costs & Appraisal costs - and the Cost of Failure of control - Internal & External failure costs -. It reveals not only the lack of effectiveness on their preventive or appraisal activities but also it can reveal there were so many effective ways to prevent the failure costs properly such as some innovative investment on Factory automation includes Error Proofing and more preventive actions to improve the effectiveness of the typical management methods likes CE (Concurrent Engineering), APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning), FMEA (Failure Mode & Effect Analysis) etc.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.63-83
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to serve as a basis for more efficient dental hygienist human resources utilization and for determining some of the right directions for supplementary education for dental hygienists, by examining how they actually worked and what they thought of job-related things. The subjects in this study were 537 dental hygienists who participated in a seminar by the Korea Dental Hygienist Association. After a survey was conducted, the following findings were given: 1. 50.2% of the dental hygienists investigated completed legally required eight-class education. Those who worked in clinics took less supplementary education classes than the others in the other types of dental institutions. The main reason they didn't receive supplementary education was financial burden and uncooperative employers. 73.2% took supplementary education at the association or its branches. The association was most favored by those in clinical sector as a place that provides supplementary education, followed by its branch and university in the order named. And the dental hygienists in public health sector preferred university most, and the next best favored one was the association and its branch in the order named. Those in clinical sector hoped to acquire clinical information on patient management, implant or aesthetics, and the dental hygienists in public health sector wanted to learn about health administration, public oral health operations and oral health education, which were different from what those in clinical sector wanted. 2. Regarding the period of service, 492% had worked for three years or more. This fact suggested that their service term and average age continued to grow. And they thought they would decide the retirement time on their own. 3. The most common yearly income ranged from 12 million won to 16 million won(40.7%). For-those in clinics, yearly income was 14.36 million won, and that of the dental hygienists who had worked for less than 3 years was 12.90 million won. 4. The Korea Dental Hygienist Association was most required to protect the rights and interests of the members and offer new knowledge and technology. 5. The largest group of them were engaged in patient management, and this type of job also was the most favored one for them to do. The greatest number of the dental hygienists in public health sector were in charge of dental treatment. 6. Concerning their turnover rate, 492% had never changed their occupation. Specifically, 70.0% of the respondents who had worked for less than 3 years had have no experience to do that. The time constraints for self-development and conflicts with other workers were the cause of their turnover. Those in dental hospital and general hospital changed their occupation chiefly due to the lack of time for self-development, and for the dental hygienists in clinics, the conflicts with other workers were the main reason. The above-mentioned findings suggested that the way the dental hygienists looked at things was undergoing change. The service area made a difference to their preference for the type of supplementary education and institution in charge of it, as those in public health and clinical sectors had a different opinion. And the dental hygienists in clinical sector had a different opinion as well, according to service area, about salaries, reason of not taking supplementary education, preferred type of supplementary education, cause of turnover, and type of occupation to which they hoped to change employment. To utilize and supply human resources in a more stabilized manner, job description should be more segmented, standardized and classified clearly, and dental hygienists should be motivated to perform their substantial jobs, including oral disease prevention, oral prophylaxis and oral health education. To make it happen, it seems that dentists are required to have a clear understanding of dental hygienist job and to change the way they look at it.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.233-246
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• 2010

This study investigates the effects of occupational asthma and rhinitis on job performance in order to maintain the health of bakery workers and to increase manufacturing productivity. Hotel bakery workers, small bakery businesses, bakery franchises and bakeries in large discount stores, located in Seoul, Kyungki and Incheon were sampled for the study over the period of December 1 to 15, 2008. A total of 245 samples were used for the final analysis. To verify the hypothesis established for the study, we conducted frequency analysis, factorial analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis using SPSS 12.0, a statistical package, to derive a conclusion. As a result of this study, it turned out that occupational asthma and rhinitis in bakery workers does affect job performance as well as motivating the intention to quit job. It is recommended that in order to increase the job performance of bakery workers and reduce their desire to quit job, their work environment should be improved and that training about occupational asthma and rhinitis should be provided for the prevention and reduction of disease.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2613-2618
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• 2014

Aims: Dysfunction of the host immune system in cancer patients can be due to a number of factors, including lymphocyte apoptosis. Several studies showed that $Foxp3^+T$ cells take part in inducing this process by expressing FasL in tumor patients. However, the relationship between apoptosis, $CD8^+T$ cells and $Foxp3^+T$ cells in HCC patients is still unclear. The present study was designed to investigate the correlation between apoptosis levels and Fas/FasL expression in $CD8^+T$ lymphocytes and $Foxp3^+T$ cells in patients with HCC. Methods: $CD8^+T$ cells and $CD3^+Foxp3^+T$ cells were tested from peripheral blood of HCC patients and normal controls and subjected to multicolor flow cytometry. The expression of an apoptosis marker (annexin V) and the death receptor Fas in $CD8^+T$ cells and FasL in $CD3^+Foxp3^+T$ cells were evaluated. Serum TGF-${\beta}1$ levels in patients with HCC were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The relationship between apoptosis and Fas expression, as well as FasL expression in $CD3^+Foxp3^+T$ cells was then evaluated. Results: The frequency of $CD8^+T$ cells binding annexin V and Fas expression in $CD8^+T$ cells, were all higher in HCC patients than normal controls and the proportion of apoptotic $CD8^+T$ cells correlated with their Fas expression. Serum TGF-${\beta}1$ levels correlated inversely with $CD3^+Foxp3^+T$ cells. Conclusions: Fas/FasL interactions might lead to excessive turnover of $CD8^+T$ cells and reduce anti-tumor immune responses in patients with HCC. Further investigations of apoptosis induction in $Fas^+CD8^+T$ cells in vitro are required.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.147-153
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• 2000

Cigarette smoking deals a harmful effect directly to smokers and even to non-smokers through environmental tobacco smoke. The major damaging component in cigarette smoke is nicotine which converts to various carcinogens. Among the carcinogenic metabolites, nitrosamine-4-(methylnitrosamino)-1- (3-pyridyl)-1- butanone (NNK) is responsible for many types of lung cancers. Recent studies report that activation of NNK is markedly inhibited in the presence of cotinine, a safer metabolite from nicotine. It is well known that tea extract have potentials to prevent cancers. This study aims to correlate green tea's potential for cancer prevention with an accelerated formation of cotinine. In the presence of tea extract, a nicotine to cotinine conversion was studied in established cell lines and xenopus oocytes. Among three lines of cell used, PLC/PRF5 and 293 cells showed a fast turnover from nicotine to cotinine while HepG2 cell line showed a marginal difference between groups treated and non-treated with tea extract. A microinjection procedure using Xenopus oocyte was utilized to probe for the effect of tea extract in accelerating nicotine conversion to cotinine. According to this procedure, tea extract's unusual potential for converting nicotine to cotinine is also substantiated. Overall, this present study indicated that tea extract have an unusual effect on conversion of nicotine to cotinine in cells.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 2005

Background: The most frequent fracture seen at the emergency department (ED) in the elderly is a femur fracture whereas they do not know the degree of osteoporosis. We analyzed the degree of osteoporosis in patients with femur fractures and compared patients with only femur fractures (FX) to patients with femur and vertebral fractures (VX) by examining the clinical features, the bone mineral density (BMD), and biochemical markers. Methods: From January 2004 to December 2004, we enrolled prospectively 30 femur fracture patients who visited the ED. The bone mineral densities of the lumbar spine and the femur were examined. Total calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and serum C-terminal telopeptide (s-CTx) were measured. The patients with femur fractures were divided into two subgroups according to the presence of vertebral fracture. Results: All BMDs of the FX group showed osteoporosis. The s-CTx levels were higher than normal. The patients in the FX with VX were older than those in the FX only group, and had lower BMDs. There were no significant differences in markers between the subgroups, but the incidence of trochanteric fractures was higher in FX with VX group than in the FX only group. Conclusion: Femur fractures in the elderly were associated with osteoporosis. In our study, despite a considerable difference in BMD between patients with femur fractures and those with femur fractures combined with vertebral fractures, there was no difference in biochemical markers on bone formation nor in the those of bone resorption. We will further investigate the biochemical markers and BMD in the population of osteoporotic fractures. So those indicators should be helpful for planning treatment and for prevention of FX in the elderly.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2015

This study aimed to investigate the effects of silk fibroin on bone metabolism in ovariectomized rats. A total of 30 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into sham-operated (SHAM), ovariectomized control (OVX), alendronate (OVX+ALEN, 10 mg/kg body weight/d), low silk fibroin (OVX+SF100, 100 mg/kg body weight/d), and high silk fibroin (OVX+SF300, 300 mg/kg body weight/d) groups. All the rats were fed by gavage for 12 wk. At the end of 12 wk, blood and urine were collected for analysis of bone turnover markers, and bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by micro-computed tomography. The results show that the OVX group (p < 0.05) displayed the highest mean body weight gain. Among the five groups, serum levels of bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and urine levels of deoxypyridinoline (DPD) were highest in the OVX group (p < 0.05). Bone ALP levels in the ALEN group were significantly lower than that of the silk-treated groups. On the other hand, DPD levels were not significantly different between the ALEN and silk-fibroin-treated groups (p < 0.05). The trabecular BMD was significantly higher in the ALEN and silk-treated groups compared to the OVX group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study showed that silk fibroin has similar effects as alendronate, which is used in osteoporosis medication. Therefore silk fibroin might be a new candidate for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in patients.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.19-30
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• 2008

Osteoporosis, a disease characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to enhanced bone fragility and fracture risk, is a major public health problem. The diagnostic methods for osteoporosis include simple radiography, bone scan, DXA (Dual energy X-ray Absortiometry) and biochemical markers of bone turnover. Optimal treatment and prevention of osteoporosis require modification of risk factors, particularly smoking cessation, adequate physical activity, and attention to diet, in addition to pharmacologic intervention. The estrogens and raloxifene both prevent bone loss in postmenopausal women, and the estrogens probably also decrease the risk of first fracture. There is good evidence that raloxifene prevents further fractures in postmenopausal women who already have had fractures and some evidence that estrogen does as well. Bisphosphonate prevents bone loss and reduces fractures in healthy and osteoporotic postmenopausal women and in osteoporotic men as well. Risedronate is more potent and has fewer side effects than alendronate and reduces the incidence of fractures in osteoporotic women. Calcitonin increases bone mineral density in early postmenopausal women and men with idiopathic osteoporosis, and also reduces the risk of new fractures in osteoporotic women. All of the agents discussed above prevent bone resorption, whereas teriparatide and strontium increase bone formation and are effective in the treatment of osteoporotic women and men. New avenues for targeting osteoporosis will emerge as our knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms of bone remodeling increases, although issues of tissue specificity may remain to be addressed.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.31-44
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• 2021

The net function of the domestic medical insurance system is highly regarded, but due to the problem of incomplete coverage, the public wants to secure coverage through private medical insurance subscription. As a result, the subscription rate of private medical insurance has recently increased, and the billing rate has also increased. As the number of people seeking private medical insurance increased, workers at private medical insurance companies are experiencing increased job stress and side effects, especially for insurance reviewers who are in charge of paying insurance, such as communicating with customers who claimed insurance and contributing to the company's profit. In response, this study analyzed the effects of job stress on mental health of insurance reviewers and conducted a descriptive survey study to reduce job stress of insurance reviewers and promote mental health. The analysis shows that job stress for insurance reviewers has a significant impact on mental health (+). In detail, job stress has a significant impact on all four factors: social performance and self-confidence, depression, sleeping disturbance and anxiety, and general well-being and vitality. This study showed that job stress in insurance reviewers has a significant (+) impact on mental health. Job stress can cause side effects in organizational aspects, such as reducing enthusiasm for job performance and increasing turnover and resignation rates, but it can also worsen individual physical health and cause diseases such as depression and anxiety, causing mental health to be impoverished. Therefore, in order to prevent this, appropriate work stress prevention methods and countermeasures should be provided to help reduce work stress and improve mental health.