• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.135-152
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• 1983

Emergency medical service is an important part of the health care delivery system, and the optimal allocation of resources and their efficient utilization are essentially demanded. Since these conditions are the prerequisite to prompt treatment which, in turn, will be crucial for life saving and in reducing the undesirable sequelae of the event. This study, taking the hyperbaric chamber for carbon monoxide poisoning as an example, is to develop a stochastic approach for solving the problems of optimal allocation of such emergency medical facility in Korea. The hyperbaric chamber, in Korea, is used almost exclusively for the treatment of acute carbon monoxide poisoning, most of which occur at home, since the coal briquette is used as domestic fuel by 69.6 per cent of the Korean population. The annual incidence rate of the comatous and fatal carbon monoxide poisoning is estimated at 45.5 per 10,000 of coal briquette-using population. It offers a serious public health problem and occupies a large portion of the emergency outpatients, especially in the winter season. The requirement of hyperbaric chambers can be calculated by setting the level of the annual queueing rate, which is here defined as the proportion of the annual number of the queued patients among the annual number of the total patients. The rate is determined by the size of the coal briquette-using population which generate a certain number of carbon monoxide poisoning patients in terms of the annual incidence rate, and the number of hyperbaric chambers per hospital to which the patients are sent, assuming that there is no referral of the patients among hospitals. The queueing occurs due to the conflicting events of the 'arrival' of the patients and the 'service' of the hyperbaric chambers. Here, we can assume that the length of the service time of hyperbaric chambers is fixed at sixty minutes, and the service discipline is based on 'first come, first served'. The arrival pattern of the carbon monoxide poisoning is relatively unique, because it usually occurs while the people are in bed. Diurnal variation of the carbon monoxide poisoning can hardly be formulated mathematically, so empirical cumulative distribution of the probability of the hourly arrival of the patients was used for Monte Carlo simulation to calculate the probability of queueing by the number of the patients per day, for the cases of one, two or three hyperbaric chambers assumed to be available per hospital. Incidence of the carbon monoxide poisoning also has strong seasonal variation, because of the four distinctive seasons in Korea. So the number of the patients per day could not be assumed to be distributed according to the Poisson distribution. Testing the fitness of various distributions of rare event, it turned out to be that the daily distribution of the carbon monoxide poisoning fits well to the Polya-Eggenberger distribution. With this model, we could forecast the number of the poisonings per day by the size of the coal-briquette using population. By combining the probability of queueing by the number of patients per day, and the probability of the number of patients per day in a year, we can estimate the number of the queued patients and the number of the patients in a year by the number of hyperbaric chamber per hospital and by the size of coal briquette-using population. Setting 5 per cent as the annual queueing rate, the required number of hyperbaric chambers was calculated for each province and for the whole country, in the cases of 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent of the treatment rate which stand for the rate of the patients treated by hyperbaric chamber among the patients who are to be treated. Findings of the study were as follows. 1. Probability of the number of patients per day follows Polya-Eggenberger distribution. $$P(X=\gamma)=\frac{\Pi\limits_{k=1}^\gamma[m+(K-1)\times10.86]}{\gamma!}\times11.86^{-{(\frac{m}{10.86}+\gamma)}}$$ when$${\gamma}=1,2,...,n$$$$P(X=0)=11.86^{-(m/10.86)}$$ when $${\gamma}=0$$ Hourly arrival pattern of the patients turned out to be bimodal, the large peak was observed in $7 : 00{\sim}8 : 00$ a.m., and the small peak in $11 : 00{\sim}12 : 00$ p.m. 2. In the cases of only one or two hyperbaric chambers installed per hospital, the annual queueing rate will be at the level of more than 5 per cent. Only in case of three chambers, however, the rate will reach 5 per cent when the average number of the patients per day is 0.481. 3. According to the results above, a hospital equipped with three hyperbaric chambers will be able to serve 166,485, 83,242, 55,495 and 41,620 of population, when the treatmet rate are 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent. 4. The required number of hyperbaric chambers are estimated at 483, 963, 1,441 and 1,923 when the treatment rate are taken as 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent. Therefore, the shortage are respectively turned out to be 312, 791. 1,270 and 1,752. The author believes that the methodology developed in this study will also be applicable to the problems of resource allocation for the other kinds of the emergency medical facilities.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.88-102
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• 2017

Long-term changes in bathymetry and grain size of surface sediments were investigated for understanding depositional sedimentary environments in the channelized Yeongsan River Estuary, Korea. The results revealed that an average depth of the estuary had decreased up to 2.1 m from 1982 to 2006, while it had increased to 0.3 m from 2006 to 2012. The rapid decrease of the water depth from 1982 to 2006 was due to the vast deposition of mud caused by the change of water course and flow velocity after the estuary was dammed. Meanwhile the increase of the water depth from 2006 to 2012 may be associated with multiple erosional processes, including a dredging at the southern part of the estuary and other erosions from the dike sluice expansion work. Considering the water-depth change and tidal-level variation in the study area, an depositional rate in the estuary is estimated to be 8~9 cm/yr for the last 2 decades (1982~2006). The sediments of Yeongsan River Estuary are largely composed of silt-clay mixtures: overall, silt is distributed mainly in the shallow area of the estuary edge, while clay is confined to the deep area of the estuary center. Mean grain size of the sediments is 6.0 Ø on average in 1997, 7.8 Ø on average in 2005 and 7.7 Ø on average in 2012, respectively, suggesting that the sediments became finer due to the increase of silt and clay contents in 1997~2005. Furthermore, several lines of evidences, including the comparison between the amounts of the sediment influx discharged from the Yeongsan River and the sediments in the estuary, and the changes in distribution pattern of silt and clay contents implying that they moved from offshore to estuary dike, indicate that the mud sediments are originated mainly from the offshore, not from the river.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.4
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• pp.648-657
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• 2021

This study was conducted to estimate the volume growth by forest type and major species using the national forest resource inventory and to predict the final age of maturity by deriving the mean annual increment (MAI) and the current annual increment (CAI). We estimated the volume growth using the Chapman-Richards model. In the volume estimation equations by forest type, coniferous forests exhibited the highest growth. According to the estimation formula for each major species, Larix kaempferi will grow the highest among coniferous tree species and Quercus mongolica among broad-leaved tree species. And these estimation formulas showed that the fitness index was generally low, such as 0.32 for L. kaempferi and 0.21 for Quercus variabilis. In the analysis of residual amount, which indicates the applicability of the volume estimation formula, the estimates of the estimation formula tended to be underestimated in about 30 years or more, but most of the residuals were evenly distributed around zero. Therefore, these estimation formulas have no difficulty estimating the volume of actual forest species in Korea. The maximum age attained by calculating MAI was 34 years for P. densiflora, 35 years for L. kaempferi, and 31 years for P. rigida among coniferous tree species. In broad-leaved tree species, we discovered that the maximum age was 32 years for Q. variabilis, 30 years for Q. acutissima, and 29 years for Q. mongolica. We calculated MAI and CAI to detect the point at which these two curves intersected. This point was defined by the maximum volume harvesting age. These results revealed no significant difference between the current standard cutting age in public and private forests recommended by the Korea Forest Service, supporting the reliability of forestry policy data.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.82-96
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• 2019

This study evaluated the status of watershed health in Geum River Basin by SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) hydrology and water quality. The watershed healthiness from watershed hydrology and stream water quality was calculated using multivariate normal distribution from 0(poor) to 1(good). Before evaluation of watershed healthiness, the SWAT calibration for 11 years(2005~2015) of streamflow(Q) at 5 locations with 0.50~0.77 average Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency and suspended solid (SS), total nitrogen(T-N), and total phosphorus(T-P) at 3 locations with 0.67~0.94, 0.59~0.79, and 0.61~0.79 determination coefficient($R^2$) respectively. For 24 years (1985~2008) the spatiotemporal change of watershed healthiness was analyzed with calibarted SWAT and 5 land use data of 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2008. The 2008 SWAT results showed that the surface runoff increased by 40.6%, soil moisture and baseflow decreased by 6.8% and 3.0% respectively compared to 1985 reference year. The stream water quality of SS, T-N, and T-P increased by 29.2%, 9.3%, and 16.7% respectively by land development and agricultural activity. Based on the 1985 year land use condition. the 2008 watershed healthiness of hydrology and stream water quality decreased from 1 to 0.94 and 0.69 respectively. The results of this study be able to detect changes in watershed environment due to human activity compared to past natural conditions.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.78-91
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• 2018

Sangjogam, located in Goseong, Gyeongsangnam-do, was designated as Natural Monument #411, because of its diverse geological heritage, such as fossils, ripple marks, dykes, and columnar joints. In the area, Byeongpungbawi, with its beautiful columnar joints vertical to the bedding plane of the underlying sedimentary rocks and spectacular coastal view, was named after its overall shape reminiscent of a huge folding screen. The purpose of this study was to investigate the formation process of the columnar joints using the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) method. AMS measurements showed that the k1 and k3 values representative of directions of the long and short axes of a magnetic particle at each point strongly clustered, and the oblate magnetic foliation structure in Byeongpungbawi developed during sill-type intrusion rather than lava flow. In summary, Byeongpungbawi was produced by sill-type intrusion along the bedding plane of the underlying sedimentary layer, and the subsequent formation of columnar joints was accompanied by the cooling and contraction of intruding rhyolite magma. This study potentially provides a basic research tool in understanding the formation mechanism of columnar joints which are widely distributed in southern Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.558-568
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• 2021

Poor supervision and tourism activities have resulted in forest degradation in islands in Korea. Since the southern coastal region of the Korean peninsula was originally dominated by warm-temperate evergreen broad-leaved forests, it is desirable to restore forests in this region to their original vegetation. In this study, we identified suitable areas to be restored as evergreen broad-leaved forests by analyzing the environmental factors of existing evergreen broad-leaved forests in the islands of Jeollanam-do. We classified forest lands in the study area into six vegetation types from Sentinel-2 satellite images using a deep learning algorithm and analyzed the tolerance ranges of existing evergreen broad-leaved forests by measuring the locational, topographic, and climatic attributes of the classified vegetation types. Results showed that evergreen broad-leaved forests were distributed more in areas with a high altitudes and steep slope, where human intervention was relatively low. The human intervention has led to a higher distribution of evergreen broad-leaved forests in areas with lower annual average temperature, which was an unexpected but understandable result because an area with higher altitude has a lower temperature. Of the environmental factors, latitude and average temperature in the coldest month (January) were relatively less contaminated by the effects of human intervention, thus enabling the identification of suitable restoration areas of the evergreen broad-leaved forests. The tolerance range analysis of evergreen broad-leaved forests showed that they mainly grew in areas south of the latitude of 34.7° and a monthly average temperature of 1.7℃ or higher in the coldest month. Therefore, we predicted the areas meeting these criteria to be suitable for restoring evergreen broad-leaved forests. The suitable areas cover 614.5 km², which occupies 59.0% of the total forest lands on the islands of Jeollanamdo, and 73% of actual forests that exclude agricultural and other non-restorable forest lands. The findings of this study can help forest managers prepare a restoration plan and budget for island forests.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.35
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• pp.405-439
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• 2017

In this article, I suggest issues and tasks in transmission of Gyeonggi Province folk songs after thorough study of designation of Gyeonggi Province folk songs as intangible cultural asset, reproduction and transmission. Intangible cultural assets are classified into seasonal playing and songs. Originally, category or extension of folk songs is above mere songs and it also embraces personal lives as well as village communities. Intangible assets of folk songs are folk art, group events and non-stage events at the same time based on tradition, history, uniqueness, characters of field value. Gyeonggi Province has 9 intangible assets now because of the revocation of several assets (All Gyeonggi Province, Hwasung, Gwacheon) within five years after initial designation of 13 assets in 1998. They are mostly distributed in the north Gyeonggi region where is close to the DMZ and delay in development seems to have enabled the preservation. Most of the intangible cultural assets are farming songs and weeding which show characteristics of Gyeonggi Province. Most of the designees are who performed excavation, recovery, excluding a few cases without designees on designation, and almost all the designee passed away. Number of cases have been revoked because transmission was not completed or some cases were transmitted to groups rather than specific designees. Subscription concert, the biggest and most representative event, is performed once a year with all of the 9 intangible cultural assets in the original complete forms of the designation. Intangible cultural assets are classified into seasonal playing and songs. In general, current performance of the intangible cultural assets and folk songs are same as the originally designated forms and are not in varied forms other than folk songs like songs for rice-planting and weeding. Funeral songs are transmitted in Yangju and Yangpyeong. In terms of the operation, preservation societies having training centers have been performing more constant activities for preservation including lecture, performance and transmission. Members are quite aged and the societies are suffering from lack of support fund for reproduction and transmission. Problems in reproduction and tasks for the transmission I would like to suggest are like followings. First, preservation and value of the cultural assets. Second, new understanding of designation and revocation of the intangible cultural assets. Third, record of performance and sound source. Fourth, liaison with local communities. Fifth, organization of professional resources and establishment of systematic support and management.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.24-36
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• 2021

Countries around the world, including the Republic of Korea, are participating in efforts to preserve biodiversity. Concerning species, in particular, studies that aim to find potential habitats and establish conservation plans by conducting habitat suitability analysis for specific species are actively ongoing. However, few studies on mid- to long-term changes in suitable habitat areas are based on accumulated information. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the time-series changes in the habitat suitable area and examine the otters' changing pattern (Lutra lutra) designated as Level 1 endangered wildlife in Gangwon-do. The time-series change analysis used the data on otter species' presence points from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th national natural environment surveys conducted for about 20 years. Moreover, it utilized the land cover map consistent with the survey period to create environmental variables to reflect each survey period's habitat environment. The suitable habitat area analysis used the MaxEnt model that can run based only on the species presence information, and it has been proven to be reliable by previous studies. The study derived the habitat suitability map for otters in each survey period, and it showed a tendency that habitats were distributed around rivers. Comparing the response curves of the environmental variables derived from the modeling identified the characteristics of the habitat favored by otters. The examination of habitats' change by survey period showed that the habitats based on the 2nd National Natural Environment Survey had the widest distribution. The habitats of the 3rd and 4th surveys showed a tendency of decrease in area. Moreover, the study aggregated the analysis results of the three survey periods and analyzed and categorized the habitat's changing pattern. The type of change proposed different conservation plans, such as field surveys, monitoring, protected area establishment, and restoration plan. This study is significant because it produced a comprehensive analysis map that showed the time-series changes of the location and area of the otter habitat and proposed a conservation plan that is necessary according to the type of habitat change by region. We believe that the method proposed in this study and its results can be used as reference data for establishing a habitat conservation and management plan in the future.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.579-593
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• 2021

In order to understand the types of vegetation in warm temperate-climate zones, vegetation was investigated in several island areas in Jeollanam-do (Jindo, Wando, Gangjin, Goheung, and Yeosu). The evaluation standard for degraded level of warm temperate forests were proposed based on the importance percentage (IP) in canopy layer of the evergreen broad-leaf forests and the number of arboreal evergreen broad-leaf species. Through these measurements, the restoration types and techniques for each degraded level were estimated, and it is intended to be used in establishing restoration plans for the southwest coast island area. The vegetation was analyzed using the two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) method using survey data of 307 plots. As a result, it was divided into 8 communities, and the appearance characteristics of evergreen broad-leaf species were identified in each community. Community I was located on the lower slope at an altitude of 86.6 m, and Neolitsea sericea and Castanopsis sieboldii were dominant. Communities II and III were the vegetation types that appear on the coast below an altitude of 10.5 to 22.5 m, and Machilus thunbergii, Cinnamomum japonicum, N. sericea, and C. sieboldii were dominant. Communities IV and V were vegetation types that appeared in the lower and middle slops between the altitudes of 71.9 to 153.4m, and C. sieboldii was dominant. In community VI, the N. sericea was dominant in the lower and middle slops at an altitude of 166.9 m. The last communities VII and VIII were the vegetation types that appeared on the middle slop at an altitude of 187.8 to 246.2 m. Also, Quercus acuta and Q. salicina were present. In summary, the evergreen broad-leaf forests dominated by M. thunbergii, C. japonicum, and N. sericea appeared mainly in the coastal areas of the lowlands. The community of C. sieboldii was distributed higher inland than this community. The communities that appeared mainly in the inland highlands at levels above these two communities were Q. acuta and Q. salicina. The degraded level was classified as 0 to V, according to the IP of arboreal evergreen broad-leaf species and the number of arboreal evergreen broad-leaf species. According to the degraded level, the restoration types (preservation, induction, improvement, creation) and the restoration techniques were determined.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.163-193
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• 1997

Medical services are a fundamental and essential service in all urban areas. The location and accessibility of medical service facilities and institutions are critical to the diagnosis, control and prevention of illness and disease. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study on the location of medical facilities in Kwangju and the utilization of these facilities by the inhabitants. The following information is a summary of the findings: (1) Korea, like many countries, is now witnessing an increase in the age of its population as a result of higher living standards and better medical services. Korea is also experiencing a rapid increase in health care costs. To ensure easy access to medical consultation, diagnosis and treatment by individuals, the hierarchical efficient location of medical facilities, low medical costs, equalized medical services, preventive medical care is important. (2) In Korea, the quality of medical services has improved significantly as evident by the increased number of medical facilities and medical personnel. However, there is still a need for not only quantitative improvements but also for a more equitable distribution of and location of medical services. (3) There are 503 medical facilities in Kwangju each with a need to service 2,556 people. This is below the national average of 1,498 inhabitants per facility. The higher locational quotient and satisfactory population per medical facility showed at the civic center. On the other hand, problem regions such as the traditional residential area in Buk-Gu, Moo-deung mountain area and the outer areas of west Kwangju still maintain rural characteristics. (4) In the study area there are 86 general medicine clinics which provide basic medical services. i. e. one clinic per every 14,949 residents. As a basic service, its higher locational quotient showed in the residential area. The lower population concentration per clinic was found in the civic center and in the former town center, Songjeong-dong. In recently build residential areas and in the civic center, the lack of general medicine clinics is not a serious medical services issue because of the surplus of medical specialists in Korea. People are inclined to seek a consultation with a specialist in specific fields rather than consult a general practitioner. As a result of this phenomenon, there are 81 internal medicine facilities. Of these, 32.1% provide services to people who are not referred by a primary care physician but who self-diagnose then choose a medical facility specializing in what they believe to be their health problem. Areas in the city, called dongs, without any internal facilities make up 50% of the total 101 dongs. (5) There are 78 surgical facilities within the area, and there is little difference at the locational appearance from internal medicine facilities. There are also 71 pediatric health clinics for people under 15 years of age in this area, represents one clinic per 5,063 people. On the quantitative aspect, this is a positive situation. Accessibility is the most important facility choice factor, so it should be evenly located in proportion to demander distribution. However, 61% of 102 dongs have no pediatric clinics because of the uneven location. (6) There are 43 obstetrical and gynecological clinics in Kwangju, and the number of residents being served per clinic is 15,063. These services need to be given regularly so it should increase the numbers. There are 37 ENT clinics in the study area with the lower concentration in Dong-gu (32.4%) making no locational differences by dong. There are 23 dermatology clinics with the largest concentration in Dong-Gu. There are 17 ophthalmic clinics concentrated in the residential area because of the primary function of this type of specialization. (7) The use of general medicine clinics, internal medicine clinics, pediatric clinics, ENT clinics by the inhabitants indicate a trend toward primary or routine medical services. Obstetrics and gynecology clinics are used on a regular basis. In choosing a general medicine clinic, internal medicine clinic, pediatric clinic, and a ENT clinic, accessibility is the key factor while choice of a general hospital, surgery clinic, or an obstetrics and gynecology clinic, thes faith and trust in the medical practitioner is the priority consideration. (8) I considered the efficient use of medical facilities in the aspect of locational and management and suggest the following: First, primary care facilities should be evenly distributed in every area. In Kwangju, the number of medical facilities is the lowest among the six largest cities in Korea. Moreover, they are concentrated in Dong-gu and in newly developed areas. The desired number of medical facilities should be within 30 minutes of each person's home. For regional development there is a need to develop a plan to balance, for example, taxes and funds supporting personnel, equipment and facilities. Secondly, medical services should be co-ordinated to ensure consistent, appropriate, quality services. Primary medical facilities should take charge of out-patient activities, and every effort should be made to standardize and equalize equipment and facility resources and to ensure ongoing development and training in the primary services field. A few specialty medical facilities and general hospitals should establish a priority service for incurable and terminally ill patients. (9) The management scheme for the inhabitants' efficient use of medical service is as follows: The first task is to efficiently manage medical facilities and related services. Higher quality of medical services can be accomplished within the rapidly changing medical environment. A network of social, administrative and medical organizations within an area should be established to promote information gathering and sharing strategies to better assist the community. Statistics and trends on the rate or occurrence of diseases, births, deaths, medical and environment conditions of the poor or estranged people should be maintained and monitored. The second task is to increase resources in the area of disease prevention and health promotion. Currently the focus is on the treatment and care of individuals with illness or disease. A strong emphasis should also be placed on promoting prevention of illness and injury within the community through not only public health offices but also via medical service facilities. Home medical care should be established and medical testing centers should be located as an ordinary service level. Also, reduced medical costs for the physically handicapped, cardiac patients, and mentally ill or handicapped patients should be considered.