• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.989-998
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• 2023

As diseases are already increasing due to aging population and changes in eating habits, interest in digital healthcare is increasing. According to the 2020 Elderly Status Survey, 84% of South Koreans aged 65 and older suffer from at least one chronic disease, and the number and duration of drugs taken by the elderly are also increasing. Effective management that enhances compliance of chronic disease patients can prevent the onset of complications, thereby averting progression to severe illnesses. Thus, a proper medication-taking habit is crucial. This paper proposes a medication information retrieval system using OCR technology. By leveraging Google Cloud Vision API, the system detects and recognizes the names of medicines. Once recognized, the medication name is searched in a database to provide users with medication information and medication schedule management services. By providing accurate medication information through the search, it is possible to induce changes in medication methods and habits. By eliminating the inconvenience of direct input through OCR technology, we anticipate enhancing user convenience by promptly delivering information.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.133-142
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• 2023

The use of digital information technology has become important in order to effectively respond to changes in production conditions in Korean agriculture, which are continuously worsening due to a decrease in the rural population, deepening aging, and climate change. Accordingly, this study analyzed the factors affecting farmers' adoption of information devices use and the effect of information devices use on agricultural product sales using the propensity score matching method. As a result of the analysis, it was found that low-age farmers, high-education farmers, and leading farmers are highly likely to adopt use of information devices. For farms with similar characteristics such as age, management size, and farming type, it has been confirmed that farms that have adopted information devices use in agricultural management have higher sales of agricultural products. Therefore, increasing farmers' access to information and the ability to use information devices provides implications that farm income can be improved. The government's informatization support project in the agricultural and rural sectors is important so that farmers can have the ability to distribute informatization devices and utilize agricultural information, and active investment should also be made in information infrastructure.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.53-67
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• 2024

Regional migration is a problem faced by all non-metropolitan areas in Korea, but the extent of migration varies depending on regional economic conditions. This study examines how the extent of youth migration varies depending on the economic conditions of their birthplaces. The results showed that youth migration was more severe in areas suffering from population decline and aging problems. The smaller the economy and the weaker the financial independence of the region, the more severe the youth migration. In particular, commercial, educational, and cultural facilities, except for medical facilities, were not able to curb youth migration. In addition, there was a significant wage gap between those employed in the metropolitan area and those employed in the regions, regardless of their origin. This suggests that non-metropolitan areas are caught in a vicious cycle of regional economic deterioration and youth migration.

• Journal of TMJ Balancing Medicine
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• v.13 no.sup
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• pp.1-8
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• 2023

Objectives: Parkinson's disease (PD) is currently the most rapidly increasing degenerative brain disease due to population aging and westernization of lifestyle. Levodopa is the most commonly used drug to manage PD symptoms. However, levodopa has a problem in that the wearing-off phenomenon occurs as the duration and dose of administration increase. In order to investigate the wearing-off phenomenon in PD patients and devise countermeasures, we conducted a questionnaire survey in Korea. Methods: For the study, a questionnaire with a total of seven items was prepared. Part IV of the MDS-UPDRS (Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale) and the WOQ-9 (9-symptom Wearing-off Questionnaire) were used as references. Results: Of the 48 patients who completed the questionnaire, all 47 patients who completed the questionnaire experienced the wearing-off phenomenon. Only one of the patients diagnosed with PD a year ago did not experience the wearing-off phenomenon. Patients frequently mentioned a lack of sleep and stress as aggravating factors for wearing-off. They also stated that in order to resolve the off-state, they walked, massaged, warmed up the body, stretched and exercised. Conclusions: Because wearing-off is such a common occurrence, it is thought necessary to develop wearing-off prevention and resolution measures that PD patients can use in their daily lives.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.131-141
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• 2024

The aging population and worsening lifestyle habits have increased the risk of chronic diseases. This has heightened the importance of preventive healthcare, particularly through personalized health management services based on individual health data. Despite this, the domestic digital healthcare industry remains underdeveloped. Given the need for acceptance from both consumers and providers, this study uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to identify success factors for health management service platforms. AHP evaluates the relative importance of various factors to aid decision-making. Results show that providers prioritize data analysis and platform design, laws and regulations, and data standardization, while consumers prioritize system stability, laws and regulations, and system security. These findings highlight the need for strategies to bridge the expectation gap to effectively promote health management service platforms.

• Journal of Practical Engineering Education
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• v.16 no.1_spc
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• pp.59-64
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• 2024

As the aging population grows, the incidence of cancer is increasing. Skin cancer appears externally, but people often don't notice it or simply overlook it. As a result, if the early detection period is missed, the survival rate in the case of late stage cancer is only 7.5-11%. However, the disadvantage of diagnosing, serious skin cancer is that it requires a lot of time and money, such as a detailed examination and cell tests, rather than simple visual diagnosis. To overcome these challenges, we propose an Attention-based CNN model skin cancer classification system. If skin cancer can be detected early, it can be treated quickly, and the proposed system can greatly help the work of a specialist. To mitigate the problem of image data imbalance according to skin cancer type, this skin cancer classification model applies the Over Sampling, technique to data with a high distribution ratio, and adds a pre-learning model without an Attention layer. This model is then compared to the model without the Attention layer. We also plan to solve the data imbalance problem by strengthening data augmentation techniques for specific classes.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.39-46
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• 2024

In this paper, we propose a low-cost wearable device that can monitor the health status of the elderly living alone in real-time. As aging is accelerating, the elderly population is rapidly increasing, and the social isolation of the elderly living alone is causing physical and mental difficulties and the number of elderly people dying alone is increasing, becoming a social problem. In this study, we propose a belly band-type wearable device that can monitor the biometric information of elderly living alone. The proposed device transmits electromyogram, electrocardiogram, and body temperature information to a remote server through an Arduino-based sensor built into the abdominal band. Transmitted information can be monitored in a web environment in real-time, and it has the feature of enabling remote monitoring of a large number of subjects with a small amount of management manpower. The research results will contribute to improving the safety and welfare of seniors living alone by not only detecting lonely deaths in advance but also responding immediately to dangerous situations that may occur in daily life.

• Clinical Endoscopy
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.391-408
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• 2023

With an aging population, the number of patients with difficulty in swallowing due to medical conditions is gradually increasing. In such cases, enteral nutrition is administered through a temporary nasogastric tube. However, the long-term use of a nasogastric tube leads to various complications and a decreased quality of life. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is the percutaneous placement of a tube into the stomach that is aided endoscopically and may be an alternative to a nasogastric tube when enteral nutritional is required for four weeks or more. This paper is the first Korean clinical guideline for PEG developed jointly by the Korean College of Helicobacter and Upper Gastrointestinal Research and led by the Korean Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. These guidelines aimed to provide physicians, including endoscopists, with the indications, use of prophylactic antibiotics, timing of enteric nutrition, tube placement methods, complications, replacement, and tube removal for PEG based on the currently available clinical evidence.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2024

Background: The rise in national health care costs has emerged as a global problem given the ever-aging population and rapid development of medical technology. The utilization of interventional pain management has, similarly, shown a continued rise worldwide. This study evaluates the differences in the medical costs in the field of interventional pain treatment (IPT) between two countries: Korea and Japan. Methods: Korean medical insurance costs for 2019 related to pain management focused on IPT were compared to those of Japan. Purchasing power parity (PPP) was used to adjust the exchange rate differences and to compare prices in consideration of the respective societies' economic power. Results: The cost of trigger point injections in Japan was 1.06 times higher than that of Korea, whereas the perineural and intraarticular injection prices were lower in Japan. The cost of epidural blocks was higher in Japan compared to Korea in both cervical/thoracic and lumbar regions. As for blocks of peripheral branches of spinal nerves, the cost of scapular nerve blocks in Japan was lower than that in Korea, given a PPP ratio 0.09. For nerve blocks in which fluoroscopy guidance is mandatory, the costs of epidurography in Japan were greater than those in Korea, given a PPP ratio 1.04. Conclusions: This is the first comparative study focusing on the medical costs related to IPT between Korea and Japan, which reveals that the costs differed along various categories. Further comparisons reflecting more diverse countries and socio-economic aspects will be required.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.229-237
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• 2024

The logistics industry is converging with digital technology and growing into various logistics automation systems. However, inspection and loading/unloading, which are mainly performed in logistics work, depend on human resources, and the workforce is shrinking due to the decline in the productive population due to the low birth rate and aging. Although much research is being conducted on the development of automated logistics systems to solve these problems, there is a lack of research and development on load stacking stability, which has the potential to cause significant accidents. In this study, loading boxes with various sizes and positions of the center of gravity were set up, and a method for stacking that with high stability is presented. The size of the loading box is measured using a depth camera. The loading box's weight and center of gravity are measured and estimated by a developed device with four loadcells. The measurement error is measured through various repeated experiments and is corrected using the least squares method. The robot arm performs load stacking by determining the target position so that the centers of gravity of the loading boxes with unbalanced masses with a random sequence are transported in alignment. All processes were automated, and the results were verified by experimentally confirming load stacking stability.