• Title/Summary/Keyword: Uncertainty

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Determination of Appropriate Exposure Angles for the Reverse Water's View using a Head Phantom (두부 팬텀을 이용한 Reverse Water's View에 관한 적절한 촬영 각도 분석)

  • Lee, Min-Su;Lee, Keun-Ohk;Choi, Jae-Ho;Jung, Jae-Hong
    • Journal of radiological science and technology
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    • v.40 no.2
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    • pp.187-195
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    • 2017
  • Early diagnosis for upper facial trauma is difficult by using the standard Water's view (S-Water's) in general radiograph due to overlapping of anatomical structures, the uncertainty of patient positioning, and specific patients with obese, pediatric, old, or high-risk. The purpose of this study was to analyze appropriate exposure angles through a comparison of two different protocols (S-Water's vs. reverse Water's view (R-Water's)) by using a head phantom. A head phantom and general radiograph with 75 kVp, 400 mA, 45 ms 18 mAs, and SID 100 cm. Images of R-Water's were obtained by different angles in the range of $0^{\circ}$ to $50^{\circ}$, which adjusted an angle at 1 degree interval in supine position. Survey elements were developed and three observers were evaluated with four elements including the maxillary sinus, zygomatic arch, petrous ridge, and image distortion. Statistical significant analysis were used the Krippendorff's alpha and Fleiss' kappa. The intra-class correlation (ICC) coefficient for three observers were high with maxillary, 0.957 (0.903, 0.995); zygomatic arch, 0.939 (0.866, 0.987); petrous ridge, 0.972 (0.897, 1.000); and image distortion, 0.949 (0.830, 1.000). The high-quality image (HI) and perfect agreement (PA) for acquired exposure angles were high in range of the maxillary sinus ($36^{\circ}-44^{\circ}C$), zygomatic arch ($33^{\circ}-40^{\circ}$), petrous ridge ($32^{\circ}-50^{\circ}$), and image distortion ($44^{\circ}-50^{\circ}$). Consequently, an appropriate exposure angles for the R-Water's view in the supine position for patients with facial trauma are in the from $36^{\circ}$ to $40^{\circ}$ in this phantom study. The results of this study will be helpful for the rapid diagnosis of facial fractures by simple radiography.

Estimation of Water Quality Index for Coastal Areas in Korea Using GOCI Satellite Data Based on Machine Learning Approaches (GOCI 위성영상과 기계학습을 이용한 한반도 연안 수질평가지수 추정)

  • Jang, Eunna;Im, Jungho;Ha, Sunghyun;Lee, Sanggyun;Park, Young-Gyu
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.32 no.3
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    • pp.221-234
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    • 2016
  • In Korea, most industrial parks and major cities are located in coastal areas, which results in serious environmental problems in both coastal land and ocean. In order to effectively manage such problems especially in coastal ocean, water quality should be monitored. As there are many factors that influence water quality, the Korean Government proposed an integrated Water Quality Index (WQI) based on in situmeasurements of ocean parameters(bottom dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a concentration, secchi disk depth, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, and dissolved inorganic phosphorus) by ocean division identified based on their ecological characteristics. Field-measured WQI, however, does not provide spatial continuity over vast areas. Satellite remote sensing can be an alternative for identifying WQI for surface water. In this study, two schemes were examined to estimate coastal WQI around Korea peninsula using in situ measurements data and Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) satellite imagery from 2011 to 2013 based on machine learning approaches. Scheme 1 calculates WQI using estimated water quality-related factors using GOCI reflectance data, and scheme 2 estimates WQI using GOCI band reflectance data and basic products(chlorophyll-a, suspended sediment, colored dissolved organic matter). Three machine learning approaches including Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Regression (SVR), and a modified regression tree(Cubist) were used. Results show that estimation of secchi disk depth produced the highest accuracy among the ocean parameters, and RF performed best regardless of water quality-related factors. However, the accuracy of WQI from scheme 1 was lower than that from scheme 2 due to the estimation errors inherent from water quality-related factors and the uncertainty of bottom dissolved oxygen. In overall, scheme 2 appears more appropriate for estimating WQI for surface water in coastal areas and chlorophyll-a concentration was identified the most contributing factor to the estimation of WQI.

Toxicity Assessment and Establishment Acceptable Daily Intake of Penthiopyrad (펜티오피라드(Penthiopyrad)의 독성평가와 일일섭취허용량 설정)

  • Jeong, Mi-Hye;Hong, Soon-Sung;Park, Kyung-Hun;Kim, Chan-Sub;Park, Jae-Eup;Hong, Moo-Ki;Im, Moo-Hyeog;Kim, Young-Bum;Han, Bum-Seok;Han, Jeung-Sul
    • The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.478-489
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    • 2010
  • Penthiopyrad is a fungicide agent in types of pyrazole which is showing the effect of prevention in fungal disease and powdery mildew. In order to register this new pesticide, reports of acute toxicity and chronic toxicity by animal study were examined to set acceptable daily intake to evaluate hazards of consumers. Acute toxicity was low in toxic, and it did not have the effect of acute dermal toxicity, acute eye irritation, or skin sensitization. As the result of the study in chronic toxicity, the common effect of chemical appeared in the liver and thyroid which was proven as a toxic effect. Two-generation reproduction toxicity, genotoxicity, and prenatal development toxicity were not proven. As the result of carcinogenic study, increase of thyiroid follicular adenoma in the rat and the frequency of liver hepatocellar adenoma in mice were also increased. However, it was decided that the threshold value on the effect in chemicals could be controlled through study liver enzyme induction. Therefore, the ADI for penthiopyrad is 0.081 mg/kg/ bw/day, based on the NOAEL of 8.10 mg/kg bw/day of twelve-months dogs study and applying an uncertainty factor of 100.

Application of the QUAL2E Model and Risk Assessment for Water Quality Management in Namyang Stream in Hwaong Polder (화옹유역 남양천의 수질관리를 위한 QUAL2E적용과 위해성 평가)

  • Jang, Jae-Ho;Jung, Kwang-Wook;Kim, Hyung-Chul;Yoon, Chun-Gyeong
    • Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.39 no.1 s.115
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    • pp.110-118
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    • 2006
  • The Namyang Stream in Hwaong polder was planned for several water uses including recreation, where people can contact the water and consume some amount during the recreational activity. A human health risk was assessed from exposure to E. coli in the Namyang Stream, which receives partially treated wastewater from watershed. The QUAL2E model was applied to simulate stream water quality, and this model was calibrated and verified with field monitoring data. The calibration result showed a high correlation coefficient of greater than 0.9. The mean concentration of E. coli in the Namyang Stream from the QUAL2E output was in the range of 5,000 ${\sim}$ 8,000 MPN 100 mL^{-1}$, which exceeded national and international guidelines. The Beta-Poisson was used to estimate the microbial risk of pathogens ingestion and the Monte-Carlo analysis (10,000 trials) was used to estimate the risk characterization of uncertainty. The Microbial risk assessment showed that the risk ranged from 7.9 ${\times}\;10^{-6}\;to\;9.4\;{\times}10^{-6}$. Based on USEPA guidelines, the range of $10^{-6}\;to\;10^{-8}$ was considered reasonable levels of risk for communicable disease transmission from environmental exposure, and the risk above $10^{-4}$ was considered to be in the danger of infection. Therefore, water quality of the Namyang Stream might not be in the danger of infection although it exceeded national and international guidelines. However, it was in the range of communicable disease transmission, and thorough wastewater collection and treatment at the source is recommended to secure safe recreation water quality.

Clinical Study on Prenatal care, and Dietary Intakes for Pregnant Women and new Mothers (임산부의 산전관리와 산욕기 영양실태에 관한 연구)

  • Chia, Soon-Hyang;Park, Chai-Soon
    • Journal of Nutrition and Health
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    • v.9 no.4
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    • pp.36-46
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    • 1976
  • This study was projected to provide basic data on prenatal care for future direction in maternity and child care, and also to investigate the diet of women during pregnancy and the period directly afterwards in order to offer to mothers appropriate advice for the improvement of nutritional standards. A clinical study on prenatal care was based on 1054 delivery cases. A nutritional survey was performed on 174 mothers admitted to the department of obstetrics at St. Mary's Hospital during the period of March, 1975 to February, 1976. The results obtained are summarized as follows; I. Clinical study on prenatal care 1) The age distribution showed 59.4% of the mothers were between the ages of 25 to 29 years old. 2) The gestational period was highest between the 37th and 40th gestational weeks. 33.7% of the mothers were primigravidae and 31.8% of them primiparae. 3) 41.3% of the mothers had not received prenatal care or had only received it once before. 4) Induced deliveries were 61.8% and spontantaneous deliveries 38.2%. 61.9% of the mothers had received prenatal care, while those without prenatal care accounted for 61.6% of the total induced deliveries. 5) Low birth weights were 7.7% and 5.0% of the mothers had received prenatal care, while 11.5% had no prenatal care. 6) There were 1.13% of still births, 0.32% of the mothers had prenatal care and the remainder did not have prenatal care. 7) Of those receiving prenatal care, 2.1% showed in the $0{\sim}3$ Apgar score group, 6.3% in the $4{\sim}6$ Apgar score group, and 91.6% in the $7{\sim}10$ Apgar score group. Among the non-prenatally cared for group 5.0% of the newborns were in the $0{\sim}3$ Apgar score group, 9.7% were in $4{\sim}6$ Apgar score group and 85.3% were in the $7{\sim}10$ Apgar score group. 8) Obstetrical complications were developed in 11.86% of the pregnant women when they were hospitalized. Among the group receiving the prenatal care 8.1% of the mothers had obstetrical complications. In the group without prenatal care 17.16% of the mothers had obstetrical complications. The most common obstetrical complication was malpresentation. 9) The first prenatal care was received between the 37th and 40th gestationl weeks. II. Food intake during pregnancy The following are the results from the questionnaires of the mothers concerning diets during pregnancy; 1) Main meals and snacks In 32.2% of the cases, their main meals during the diet amounted to more than was usually eaten at other times. In 67.8% of the cases, their main meals during the diet were the same as that usually eaten. In 22.4% of the cases, snacks during the diet amounted to more than usually eaten at other times. In 77.6% of the cases, snacks during the diet were the same as usually eaten. 2) Itemized list The mothers made a special effort to include certain items in their diets, the following is a breakdown of those items; a. egg, meat, fish 33.3% b. fruit, vegetables 32.2%. c. milk, fruit juice 18.4% d. cake, bread 2.9% e. nothing special 13.2% 3) Milk 44.8% of the mothers had at least one cup of milk everyday. 33.4% of the mothers had at least one cup of milk on occasion. 15.5% of the mothers did not have any milk. 4) Vitamins 39.7% of the mothers had vitamins everyday. 24.7% of the mothers had vitamins occasionally. 35.6% of the mothers did not have any vitamins. 5) Anemic symptoms 9.2% of the mothers very often had anemic symptoms during pregnancy. 39.1% of the mothers often had anemic symptoms during pregnancy. 51.7% of the mothers did not have anemic symptoms at all. 6) Taboos on food 23% of the mothers recognized 'taboos' on food during pregnancy 27% of the mothers displayed on uncertainty about the 'taboos' on food during pregnancy 50% of the mothers displayed indifference toward the taboos. III. Nutritional survey on the new mothers diet. 1) The diets for new mothers can be divided into four categories, such as general diet, low sodium diet, soft diet and liquid diet. 2) Cooked rice and seaweed soup were the main foods for the new mothers as has been the traditional diet for Korean mothers. 3) The average diet contained 1,783g. And the average consumption of the basic food groups per capita per day was 1,265g for cereals and grains, 456g for meats and legumes, 58g for fruits and vegetables, 0g for milk and fish and 4g for fats and oils. 4) In addition to the 1,783g of food in the main diet there was also 142.8g of food taken as snacks. 5) The average daily consumption of calories and nutrients was 2,697 Kcal and 123.4g for proteins, 44.9g for fats, 718.2mg for calcium, 14mg for iron, 2,101.4 I.U. for vitamin A, 0.43mg for thiamine, 1.02mg for riboflavin, 15.88mg for niacin, 5.26mg for ascorbic acid. When these figures are compared with the recommended allowances for new mothers in Korea, the calories and nutrients taken in were satisfactory. But the intake of minerals and vitamins was below the recommended allowance.

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Reconsideration of Rare and Endangered Plant Species in Korea Based on the IUCN Red List Categories (IUCN 적색목록 기준에 의한 환경부 멸종위기 야생식물종에 대한 평가)

  • Chang, Chin-Sung;Lee, Heung-Soo;Park, Tae-Yoon;Kim, Hui
    • The Korean Journal of Ecology
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    • v.28 no.5
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    • pp.305-320
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    • 2005
  • Recently 64 species in Korea have been ranked as rare and endangered taxa by the Ministry of Environment using two categories, I and II. The original threat categories produced by the Ministry of Environment were developed to provide a standard for specifying animals and plants in danger of extinction and has been influential sources of information used in species conservation in Korea. However, the criteria by Ministry of Environment were applied to the whole taxa only by regional boundaries, especially in South Korea, rather than international context, and it also lacked an explicit framework that was necessary to ensure repeatability among taxa because of the absence of quantitative criteria to measure the likelihood of extinction. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has developed quantitative criteria for assessing the conservation status of species. The threatened species categories, the 2000 IUCN Red List, proposed by SSC (Species Survival Commission) of IUCN have become widely recognized internationally. Details of threatened Korean plants, identified by applying the IUCN threat categories and definitions, were listed and analyzed. The number of species identified as threatened was only 34 out of 64 taxa (48.4%), while the rest of taxa were rejected from the original lists. Many of the species (51.6%, 33 taxa) excluded from the original list proposed by Ministry of Environment do not qualify as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable because these taxa were widely distributed either in Japan or in China/far eastern Russia and there is no evidence of substantial decline in these countries. An evaluation of taxa in Korea has been carried out only based on subjective views and qualitative data, rather than quantitative scientific data, such as rates of decline, distribution range size, population size, and risk of extinction. Therefore, the national lists undermine the credibility of threatened species lists and invite misuse, which have been raised by other cases, qualitative estimate of risk, political influence, uneven taxonomic or geographical coverage. The increasing emphasis on international responsibilities means that global scale is becoming more significant. The current listings by Environment of Ministry of Korea should be challenged, and the government should seek to facilitate the resolution of disagreements. Especially the list should be flexible enough to handle uncertainty and also incorporates detailed, quantitative data. It is suggested that the highest priorities for the Red List should be given to endemic species in Korea first. After setting up the list of endemic species to Korea, quantitative data on population size and structure, distributional range, rated of decline, and habitat fragmentation should be collected as one of long term projects for the Red list categories. Transparency and accountability are the most important key factors. Also, species assessors are named and data sources referenced are required for the future objective evaluations on Korean plant taxa.

The Application of Operations Research to Librarianship : Some Research Directions (운영연구(OR)의 도서관응용 -그 몇가지 잠재적응용분야에 대하여-)

  • Choi Sung Jin
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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    • v.4
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    • pp.43-71
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    • 1975
  • Operations research has developed rapidly since its origins in World War II. Practitioners of O. R. have contributed to almost every aspect of government and business. More recently, a number of operations researchers have turned their attention to library and information systems, and the author believes that significant research has resulted. It is the purpose of this essay to introduce the library audience to some of these accomplishments, to present some of the author's hypotheses on the subject of library management to which he belives O. R. has great potential, and to suggest some future research directions. Some problem areas in librianship where O. R. may play a part have been discussed and are summarized below. (1) Library location. It is usually necessary to make balance between accessibility and cost In location problems. Many mathematical methods are available for identifying the optimal locations once the balance between these two criteria has been decided. The major difficulties lie in relating cost to size and in taking future change into account when discriminating possible solutions. (2) Planning new facilities. Standard approaches to using mathematical models for simple investment decisions are well established. If the problem is one of choosing the most economical way of achieving a certain objective, one may compare th althenatives by using one of the discounted cash flow techniques. In other situations it may be necessary to use of cost-benefit approach. (3) Allocating library resources. In order to allocate the resources to best advantage the librarian needs to know how the effectiveness of the services he offers depends on the way he puts his resources. The O. R. approach to the problems is to construct a model representing effectiveness as a mathematical function of levels of different inputs(e.g., numbers of people in different jobs, acquisitions of different types, physical resources). (4) Long term planning. Resource allocation problems are generally concerned with up to one and a half years ahead. The longer term certainly offers both greater freedom of action and greater uncertainty. Thus it is difficult to generalize about long term planning problems. In other fields, however, O. R. has made a significant contribution to long range planning and it is likely to have one to make in librarianship as well. (5) Public relations. It is generally accepted that actual and potential users are too ignorant both of the range of library services provided and of how to make use of them. How should services be brought to the attention of potential users? The answer seems to lie in obtaining empirical evidence by controlled experiments in which a group of libraries participated. (6) Acquisition policy. In comparing alternative policies for acquisition of materials one needs to know the implications of each service which depends on the stock. Second is the relative importance to be ascribed to each service for each class of user. By reducing the level of the first, formal models will allow the librarian to concentrate his attention upon the value judgements which will be necessary for the second. (7) Loan policy. The approach to choosing between loan policies is much the same as the previous approach. (8) Manpower planning. For large library systems one should consider constructing models which will permit the skills necessary in the future with predictions of the skills that will be available, so as to allow informed decisions. (9) Management information system for libraries. A great deal of data can be available in libraries as a by-product of all recording activities. It is particularly tempting when procedures are computerized to make summary statistics available as a management information system. The values of information to particular decisions that may have to be taken future is best assessed in terms of a model of the relevant problem. (10) Management gaming. One of the most common uses of a management game is as a means of developing staff's to take decisions. The value of such exercises depends upon the validity of the computerized model. If the model were sufficiently simple to take the form of a mathematical equation, decision-makers would probably able to learn adequately from a graph. More complex situations require simulation models. (11) Diagnostics tools. Libraries are sufficiently complex systems that it would be useful to have available simple means of telling whether performance could be regarded as satisfactory which, if it could not, would also provide pointers to what was wrong. (12) Data banks. It would appear to be worth considering establishing a bank for certain types of data. It certain items on questionnaires were to take a standard form, a greater pool of data would de available for various analysis. (13) Effectiveness measures. The meaning of a library performance measure is not readily interpreted. Each measure must itself be assessed in relation to the corresponding measures for earlier periods of time and a standard measure that may be a corresponding measure in another library, the 'norm', the 'best practice', or user expectations.

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A Study on Relationships Between Environment, Organizational Structure, and Organizational Effectiveness of Public Health Centers in Korea (보건소의 환경, 조직구조와 조직유효성과의 관계)

  • Yun, Soon-Nyoung
    • Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.5-33
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    • 1995
  • The objective of the study are two-fold: one is to explore the relationship between environment, organizational structure, and organizational effectiveness of public health centers in Korea, and the other is to examine the validity of contingency theory for improving the organizational structure of public health care agencies, with special emphasis on public health nursing administration. Accordingly, the conceptual model of the study consisted of three different concepts: environment, organizational structure, and organizational effectiveness, which were built up from the contingency theory. Data were collected during the period from 1st of May through 30th of June, 1990. From the total of 249 health centers in the country, one hundred and five centers were sampled non proportionally, according to the geopolitical distribution. Out of 105, 73 health centers responded to mailed questionnaire. The health centers were the unit of the study, and a various statistical analysis techniques were used: Reliability analysis(Cronbach's Alpha) for 4 measurement tools; Shapiro-Wilk statistic for normality test of measured scores of 6 variables: ANOVA, Pearson Correlaion analysis, regressional analysis, and canonical correlation analysis for the test of the relationships and differences between the variables. The results were. as follows : 1. No significant differences between forma lization, decision-making authority and environmental complexity were found(F=1.383, P=.24 ; F=.801, P=.37). 2. Negative relationships between formalization and decision-making authority for both urban and rural health centers were found(r=-.470, P=.002 ; r=-.348, P=.46). 3. No significant relationship between formalization and job satisfaction for both urban and rural health centers were found (r=-.242, P=.132, r=-.060, P=.739). 4. Significant positive relationship between decision - making authority and job satisfaction were found in urban health centers (r=.504, P=.0009), but no such relationship was observed in rural health centers. Regression coefficient between them was statistically significant($\beta=1.535$, P=.0002), and accuracy of regression line was accepted (W=.975, P= .420). 5. No significant relationships among formalization and family planning services, maternal health services, and tuberculosis control services for both urban and rural health centers were found. 6. Among decision-making authority and family planning services, maternal health services, and tuberculosis control services, significant positive relationship was found between de cision-making authority and family planning services(r=.286, P=.73). 7. A significant difference was found in maternal health services by the type of health centers (F=5.13, P=.026) but no difference was found in tuberculosis control services by the type of health centers, formalization, and decision-making authority. 8. A significant positive relationships were found between family planning services and maternal health services and tuberculosis control services, and between maternal health services and tuberculosis control services (r=-.499, P=.001 ; r=.457, P=.004 ; r=.495, P=.002) in case of urban health centers. In case of rural health centers, relationships between family planning services and tuberculosis control services, and between maternal health services and tuberculosis control services were statistically significant (r=.534, P=.002 ; r=.389, P=.027). No significant relationship was found between family planning and maternal health services. 9. A significant positive canonical correlation was found between the group of independent variables consisted of formalization and de cision-making authority and the group of dependent variables consisted of family planning services, maternal health services and tuberculosis control services(Rc=.455, P=.02). In case of urban health centers, no significant canonical correlation was found between them, but significant canoncial correlation was found in rural health centers(Rc=.578, P=.069), 10. Relationships between job satisfaction and health care productivity was not found significant. Through these results, the assumed relationship between environment and organizational structure was not supported in health centers. Therefore, the relationship between the organizational effectiveness and the congruence between environment and organizational structure that contingency theory proposes to exist was not able to be tested. However decision-making authority was found as an important variable of organizational structure affecting family planning services and job satisfaction in urban health centers. Thus it was suggested that decentralized decision making among health professionals would be a valuable strategy for improvement of organizational effectiveness in public health centers. It is also recommended that further studies to test contingency theory would use variability and uncertainty to define environment of public health centers instead of complexity.

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"Improving women's and children's health in DPRK" project funded by the Republic of Korea (현재 진행되고 있는 남북한 의료협력사업 : 영유아 지원 사업을 중심으로)

  • Shin, Young-Jeon
    • Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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    • v.51 no.7
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    • pp.671-689
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    • 2008
  • The economic recession of North Korea has been prolonged, the need for humanitarian assistance for the women and children of DPRK has been raised. In March 2006, South Korean government signed MOU with World Health Organization (WHO) to financially support "Improving Women's and Children's Health in DPRK (IWCH)" project. The assistance projects through UNICEF and the non-government organizations of South Korea were also followed. IWCH project consists of three parts; nutrition, disease management, children and maternity care. The first term (2006-2007) of the project leading by WHO was finished, and the second term (2008-2010) is just begun. The projects driven by NGOs have relatively been delayed due to difficulties in negotiating on project contents and places with North Korea. Recently, however, re-modeling processes of an obstetric/gynecology hospital and a children hospital in Nampo were started. Up to recently, South Korean government has played only a limited role in the humanitarian assistance for North Korea. IWCH project is, however, a full-scale initiative driven by government based on a systematic review of need and priorities. A significant amount of budget and relatively long term (five year) project compare to the previous short term and small size programs were expected to make more meaningful achievement. Despite these positive aspects, the project remains a list of unsolved problems a lack of mutual trust, a different decision making process between South and North Korea, a lack of conflict management process, and unpredictability and complexity of international politics. In spite of such kind of political uncertainty, the health care sector will be a leading area in the process of improving relationship between South and North Korea, particularly, humanitarian assistance for women and children will play a crucial role in the process. The successful implementation of IWCH project, therefore, will contribute to provide the reference model in developing the mutually constructive relationship between South and North

A Study on the Relationship between Business Plan Components and Corporate Performance (사업계획서의 구성요소와 기업성과와의 관계에 관한 연구)

  • Koh, In-Kon;Lee, Sang-Seok;Kim, Dae-Ho
    • 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2006.04a
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    • pp.45-75
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    • 2006
  • How much influence does a business plan have on a corporate performance? Whilst previous studies and literatures all assert a strong correlation between the two, very few have actually conducted practical analyses to support that. This study takes an empirical approach in its analysis of Korea' s small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) with the view to finding an answer to the question. A business plan' s components, which have to date been suggested only in theory and in concept, have been selected through the study of literatures and preliminary examination. The selected components were then narrowed down into five factors of productivity, implementation, operational direction, product/service and customer accessibility by applying factor analysis. With which items to measure corporate performance is also an important question as results differ depending on which measurement items were used. For the purpose of this study, corporate performance was classified into effectiveness, adaptability and efficiency to measure how greatly each is influenced by the components of a business plan. Results show that effectiveness and adaptability have a positive (+) influence on corporate performance. The regression model seems to explain effectiveness particularly well. However, different directions of influences were showed in explain power of the research model were not high. And it can be interpreted that implementation of the plan is as important as the establishment of it. Thus a good corporate performance is to be had only under an excellent plan and following an excellent implementation. In most of the companies surveyed, business plans were established regularly led by the intense involvement of the CEO. Such plans were then used in internal operations, such as guiding operational direction and measuring corporate performance. Unlike general expectations, relatively few companies used them in financing from external sources such as banks or venture capitals. These findings are different from previous studies conducted in this field. Also, as market uncertainty was pointed out as the biggest obstacle to business planning. a manager must pay more attention to acquiring external information and knowledge so as to minimize it.

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