• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.26-38
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• 2022

Purposes: We analyzed the profitability determinants of regional public hospitals during the entire period between 2010 and 2020 and the period before and after COVID-19. We intended to provide fundamental data for developing publicness evaluation index and task of establishing and expanding regional public hospitals. Methodology: The financial and non-financial information of the regional public hospitals were used as the main analysis data; The financial data was established by the Center for Public Healthcare Policy of National Medical Center, and the non-financial data by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. T-test and regression analysis were used. Findings: The results can be summarized in two. First, the main determinants of profitability of the regional public hospitals were appeared to be the total asset turnover rate and the labor cost rate. Second, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the regional public hospitals, the number of sickbeds, the number of isolation rooms, the total asset turnover rate and the labor cost rate appeared to be the factor worsening the profitability. Practical Implication: The results of this study suggests that the management of the regional public hospitals is not aiming for the profit making, but it performs the functions as the community healthcare safety net such as controlling infectious diseases.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.385-392
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• 2023

Purpose: This study investigated the epidemiology, management, outcomes, and postoperative disabilities of degloving soft tissue injuries (DSTIs) treated at a tertiary care center in northern India. Methods: A prospective study of patients with DSTIs was conducted over 15 months. The type of degloving injury, the mechanism of injury, and any associated injuries were analyzed using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 along with the management, outcomes, and disabilities at a 3-month follow-up. Results: Among 75 patients with DSTIs, the average age was 27.5 years, 80.0% were male, and 76.0% had been injured in traffic accidents. The majority (93.3%) were open degloving injuries. Lower limbs were affected most often (62.7%), followed by upper limbs (32.0%). Fractures were the most commonly associated injuries (72.0%). Most patients required more than two procedures, including secondary debridement (41.3%), split skin grafting (80.0%), flap coverage (12.0%), or vacuum-assisted closure (24.0%), while five patients underwent conservative management for closed degloving injuries. Postoperative complications included surgical site infections (14.7%) and skin necrosis (10.7%). Two patients died due to septic shock and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. The mean length of hospital stay was 11.5±8.1 days, with injuries affecting the lower limbs and perineum requiring longer hospital stays. The mean WHODAS 2.0 disability score at 3 months was 19. Most patients had mild disabilities. Time away from work depended largely upon the site and severity of the injury. Approximately 75% of patients resumed their previous job or study, 14% changed their job, and 8% stopped working completely due to residual disability. Conclusions: DSTIs are common injuries in trauma and management is challenging. Although open DSTI are clinically evident at secondary survey, closed degloving injuries may be missed in the primary survey, necessitating a high index of suspicion, thorough clinical examination, and protocol-based management. Primary preventive strategies (e.g., road safety protocols, preplacement training, and proper protective equipment in industries) are also needed to reduce the incidence of these injuries.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.9
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• pp.3950-3960
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• 2024

As a solution to the problem of spent nuclear fuels (SNFs), the disposal of SNF has gained attention from nations using nuclear energy because of hazards posed to the ecosystem. Among many proposed solutions, the most promising method is to dispose of SNF in a deep geological repository (DGR) which utilizes the multi-barrier concept developed by Finland and Sweden. Here, a new fully-coupled Thermal-Hydraulic (TH) code HADES (High-level rAdionuclide Disposal Evaluation Simulator) is developed using the MOOSE framework. This new code suggests basic numerical tools, such as a non-linear solver and finite element discretization, to assess the safety performance of disposal systems. The new TH code considered various TH behavior using Richards' flow approach, assuming gas pressure is constant. The HADES showed promising results when it was compared to various TH codes validated from DECOVAELX-THMC projects. When the single-canister model was utilized to estimate the TH behavior of the Korean Reference disposal System, although it showed significant saturation reduction due to the evaporation of water, the temperature was maintained under the thermal criteria limit, which is 100 ℃. In addition, the new code estimated temperature and degree of saturation of the multi-canisters model, considering two or three canisters, it showed a slightly lower temperature, 5 ℃, than the single-canister model. From these results, the following are concluded: (1) the new TH code contribute to an additional integrity by estimating TH behavior of KRS; (2) however, due to limitations in single-canister simulation, it is recommended to use multi-canisters simulation to estimate TH behavior accurately. Therefore, this model is anticipated not only to help licensing applications and estimation of various multi-physics phenomena and multi-canister at the disposal site.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2011

In order to develop the methods for exposure assessment and find susceptibility markers for the workers who are exposed to low doses of toluene, xylene and other chemical in petroleum industries, we investigated the application of P-450 expression in human lymphocytes utilizing mouse monoclonal anti-rat CYP2B1/2, the levels of toluene and xylene in air and their metabolite levels in urine with the levels of expressed CYP2B1/2 proteins. The general characteristics such as age, smoking and drinking habit were no significant difference between the control and exposed workers, but the working durations and working hours were significantly different. Workers in exposed group were exposed to the mean of 2.1 ppm (range, 0.00-4.54) of toluene and 0.3 ppm (rang, 0.00-1.23) of xylene. The mean concentration of urinary hippuric acid was low and less than 1/5 of the biological exposure index recommended by the Ministry of Employment and Labor Korea. Methyl hippuric acid in urine was not detected in control and exposed workers. Also, there were no significant differences in the levels of the urinary metabolites between the control and exposed group. When chemiluminescence dot blottings were carried out utilizing mouse monoclonal antibody against CYP2B1/2, the strong density dots corresponding to a mouse monoclonal antibody was observed in the human lymphocytes from the exposed workers. These results suggested that the chemiluminescence dot blot assay for CYP of lymphocytes should be valuable for identifying CYP expression as biomarkers in the workers exposed to toluene and xylene.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.571-585
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• 2016

The crest of the Pubugou central core rockfill dam (CCRD) cracked in the first and second impounding periods. To evaluate the safety of the Pubugou CCRD, an inversion analysis of the constitutive model parameters for rockfill materials is performed based on the in situ deformation monitoring data. The aim of this work is to truly reflect the deformation state of the Pubugou CCRD and determine the causes of the dam crest cracks. A novel real-coded genetic algorithm based upon the differences in gene fragments (DGFX) is proposed. It is used in combination with the radial based function neural network (RBFNN) to perform the parameters back analysis. The simulated settlements show good agreements with the monitoring data, illustrating that the back analysis is reasonable and accurate. Furthermore, the deformation gradient of the dam crest has been analysed. The dam crest has a great possibility of cracking due to the uncoordinated deformation, which agrees well with the field investigation. The deformation gradient decreases to the value lower than the critical one and reaches a stable state after the second full reservoir.

• The Journal of the Society of Korean Medicine Diagnostics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 2015

Objectives The aim of this study is to develop a structured clinical protocol related with acquisition of radial pulse wave in the randomized, $2{\times}2$ cross-over design, and cold-heat intervention trial for a pilot and preliminary study. Methods The protocol was contrived based on wide ranging literature searches for cold-heat intervention experiments and radial pulse diagnoses. Results Sample size of 60 subjects was calculated based on an effect size derived from the previous study designed to detect the pre-post cold-heat differences in the radial pulse. Each subjects will be randomly assigned to the cold (first) to heat (last) group (n=30) or heat (first) to cold (last) group (n=30). All subjects will fill out a case report form and questionnaires related with pattern identification, dietary patterns, sleep quality, and physical activity will be surveyed and used as a secondary outcomes. Safety assessment will be reported at the final stage. Conclusions This protocol will provide an additional reference to future studies related with observation of radial pulse during any interventions and also expect to be used as a guideline for acquisition of reliable radial pulse wave data.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.99-115
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose for this study was to identify the present state of Clinical Nurses with Expanded Role (CNERs) and provide basic data to refine the roles of CNERs. In this study, CNREs refers to nurses who perform techniques traditionally done by doctors and use titles such as clinical nursing specialist, educator with consultation, research assistant, coordinator, physician assistant and special examiner. Method: This study was conducted from September 1 to November 12, 2007. Data from 684 nurses from 38 hospitals who responded to the questionnaire were analyzed with descriptive statistics using the SPSS 14.0 program. Results: The mean percentage of time spent was, for direct practice, 41.1%, for education and counseling, 22.8%, for consultation and coordination, 10.4%, for research, 6.8%, for administration, 8.9% and for other activities, 10.0%. The most frequently implemented CNERs, activities included consultation and education for patients and their families, counseling by telephone, history taking, physical examination, reading examination results, psychosocial assessment, managing treatment, input of prescriptions, and writing up patient records, Although not frequently performed, nurses in some fields carried out invasive procedures and prescribed medication and laboratory tests. Conclusion: Although the number of hospital CNERs are rapidly increasing, there is still confusion about the title and framework as well as standards. Furthermore, because some nurses are prescribing medication and laboratory tests as well as performing techniques not traditionally done by nurses, there is an absolute need for a legalized system and systematic education system for the safety of patients who are being cared by all CNERs.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.13-22
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• 1998

Aircraft and the three-dimensional environment in which they operate are not user-friendly for human beings. As a result, maintaining the proficiencies necessary to safely and efficiently fly an airplane are difficult, and costly. The physiological and emotional status of the human element remains crucial in maintaining safe performance by all crew members. In the study of Hagiwara et al.(1993). they called the physiological and emotional status of the human element into the human alertness or physiological activity and stress, fatigue, circadian rhythm, alcohol. smoking, and self-medication are known the major factors that deteriorate the human alertness. Accordingly. this paper deals with the quantitative and objective performance test based on tracking error and reaction time by means of the new computer test program into which the perception-motion system of human beings is applied. Throughout this experiment using performance test, the results suggest that performance capability in state of sleep deprivation 2 hours and alcoholic 0.05~0.06% in blood were more impaired than one in a normal state, and they further showed statistically significant differences between them, which were influenced by impairment factors of body regulation and pilot's grade. We also obtained the prediction value and the 95% confidence interval of tracking error and reaction time at the normal state for the purpose of distinguishing performance capability between the normal state and the abnormal state. And it is expected that the evaluation of human alertness using performance test will be applied to the quantitative assessment of an each pilot's realistic consciousness/attention, and will lead a flight commander to the accurate decision of mission approval prior to a flight.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.541-555
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• 2016

This study determined the concentrations of lead and cadmium in 18 species of commonly consumed fish and assessed the risk based on provisional tolerable weekly (monthly) intakes [PTW(M)I] % as affected by behavioral characteristics, such as migration and settlement. In the 18 species, the mean concentrations of lead and cadmium were higher in the 11 species of migratory fish (llargehead hairtail Trichiurus lepturus, chub mackerel Scomber japonicus, Pacific saury Cololabis saira, skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis, Pacific cod Gadus macrocephalus, anchovy Engraulis japonicus, Alaska pollack Theragra chalcogramm, brown croaker Miichthys miiuy, Japanese Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus niphonius, yellow croaker Larimichthys polyactis, and Pacific herring Clupea pallasii) than in the seven demersal species (red stingray Dasyatis akajei, brown sole Pleuronectes herzensteini, bastard halibut Paralichthys olivaceus, conger eel Conger myriaster, blackmouth angler Lophiomus setigerus, rockfish Sebastes schlegelii, and filefish Stephanolepis cirrhifer). Based on the mean concentrations, the PTWI % of lead and cadmium in commonly consumed migratory fish were 1.900 and 2.986%, respectively, which were higher than the values for lead and cadmium in the commonly consumed demersal fishes (0.257 and 0.318%, respectively). The estimation of weekly (monthly) intakes and target hazard quotients for the toxic elements lead and cadmium revealed that the commonly consumed migratory and demersal fish do not pose any health risks for consumers.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.395-400
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• 2010

Objective : To observe the effectiveness of Jayeumganghwa-tang on hot flush of a breast cancer patient who takes tamoxifen. Methods : For six weeks a dosage witch contained 13.92g of Jayeumganghwa-tang was administered 3 times (30 mins after meal) per day, for improvement of hot flush. No other therapies like hormone therapy or substituted therapy were done. Results : As a result of 6 weeks of Jayeumganghwa-tang therapy, the patient who suffered hot flush on taking tamoxifen showed improvement on several indices, including frequency, intensity and point of hot flush, Beck Depression Inventory-K (BDI-K) which shows uneasiness and sadness, and also Functional Assessment Cancer Therapy - Breast (FACT-B) which is an index of life quality of breast cancer patients. But no changes on female hormones like follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) or luteinizing hormone (LH) were observed. Conclusion : This case demonstrates 6 weeks of Jayeumganghwa-tang taking had no effect on female hormones but can reduce the hot flush by tamoxifen. This shows minimum evidence of safety and efficacy of Jayeumganghwa-tang on hot flush of breast cancer patient. However this is a single case study so further case-series research should be compiled.