• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.26 no.3 s.43
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• pp.430-441
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• 1993

The objectives of this study are two-fold : to identify geographic variations in the rate of tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (T&A) and appendectomy and analyze the socioeconomic variables and health resources which affect geographic variation in the rate. The nationwide three month's cases of the two surgical procedures in 1991 are obtained from the record of the National Federation of Medical Insurance. The analysis shows two to ten-fold variations in the regional rates for the performance of two common procedures such as T&A and appendectomy. T&A shows a bigger regional variations than appendectomy. As a result of multiple regression, the factor of bed supply has been found significant for the dependent variable of the rate of T&A. The finding of large variations in the rate of surgical procedures throughout the country would have important implications for allocating scarce resources and managing quality of care. Further analysis is needed for the elaboration of the above implications.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.42-53
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• 1991

Analysis of health care utilization is very important for health care policy development. Traditional studies of health care utilization were focused on measuring the level of health care utilization and on analyzing the determinants of health care utilization in the defined areas and populations. But there were some limitations in comparing the health care utilizations rates in traditional studies because so many factors were to be considered. Small area analysis is a method used to demonstrate substantial variations in health care utilization with popualtion-base use rates among similar geographic areas. This review discusses the methods, magnitude and trend of geographic variations, factors influencing small area variations, and makes suggestions for further study. Finally, the article discusses the necessity and feasibility of small area analysis in Korea.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.94-124
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• 2007

This paper critically reviews three decades of research on geographic variations. in health services utilization in the United States, thereby drawing policy and research implications for Korea. The recent renewed interest in variations research in the United States, precipitated by studies on regional variations in Medicare expenditures, stems mainly from the policy implication that a substantial amount of Medicare expenditures could be saved without compromising quality and access. From the research perspective, this policy implication was made tenable by integrating micro- and macro-level analysis of variations in health services utilization. Still, theoretical limitations inherent in the research pose great challenges to developing effective strategies at the health system level. Variations research in the United States can serve as a case study as to how health services research has responded to efficiency and quality issues in an ever expanding health system Considering the current health policy and research environment in Korea, the following implications can be drawn. Variations research will help formulate a national policy agenda for health care quality and also advance the framework of approaches to health policy issues. For such purposes, both relevant descriptive and hypothesis-testing studies are needed. Further advancement in variations research will require interdisciplinary explorations and methodological sophistication. To the extent that Korean health policies will strive to achieve complex goals, variations research will increasingly prove to be useful.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.97-106
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• 2006

In the investigation of geographic variations on the Zacco koreanus distributed widely in southern Korean Peninsula, it was found that there were distinct differences in the nuptial coloration among geographic populations. These color variations were presence of red band on anterior margin of pectoral fin and color patterns of dorsal fin. On the basis of those color variations three color types were recognized in Z. koreanus, that is, HK, NS and NE types. HK types were distributed mainly in Han and Geum River, NS types in Nakdong and Seomjin River, and NE types in Nakdong River and small streams on the east coast. It was noted ecologically and taxonomically that these three types were well separated geographically and two types of them, i.e., NS and NE types cohabit in the Nakdong River and shown a tendency of microhabitat segregation between them.

• Proceedings of the Korean Association of Geographic Inforamtion Studies Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.297-299
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• 2003

Altimeter(Topex/Poseidon) and AVHRR(NOAA) data were used to study the variations and correlations of Sea Level(SL) and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) in the North East Asian Seas from November 1993 to May 1998. This region is influenced simultaneously to continental and oceanic climate as the border of the East Sea(Japan Sea). SL and SST have increased gradually every year because the global warming, and presented usually a strong annual variations in Kuroshio extension region with the influence of bottom topography.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.230-239
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• 2016

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the effect of geographic units of analysis on measuring geographic variation in medical services utilization. For this purpose, we compared geographic variations in the rates of eight major procedures in administrative units (districts) and new areal units organized based on the actual health care use of the population in Korea. Methods: To compare geographic variation in geographic units of analysis, we calculated the age-sex standardized rates of eight major procedures (coronary artery bypass graft surgery, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, surgery after hip fracture, knee-replacement surgery, caesarean section, hysterectomy, computed tomography scan, and magnetic resonance imaging scan) from the National Health Insurance database in Korea for the 2013 period. Using the coefficient of variation, the extremal quotient, and the systematic component of variation, we measured geographic variation for these eight procedures in districts and new areal units. Results: Compared with districts, new areal units showed a reduction in geographic variation. Extremal quotients and inter-decile ratios for the eight procedures were lower in new areal units. While the coefficient of variation was lower for most procedures in new areal units, the pattern of change of the systematic component of variation between districts and new areal units differed among procedures. Conclusions: Geographic variation in medical service utilization could vary according to the geographic unit of analysis. To determine how geographic characteristics such as population size and number of geographic units affect geographic variation, further studies are needed.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.163-169
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• 2013

In the present study, the seven primers BION-33, BION-34, BION-37, BION-41, BION-44, BION-45 and BION-42 generated the total number of loci, average number of loci per lane and specific loci in Hongseong, Yeosu and Goheung population of F. mutica, respectively. 7 primers generated 19 specific loci in the Hongseong population, 29.3 in the Yeosu population and 23.1 in the Goheung population, respectively. Especially, the decamer primer BION-37 generated 7 unique loci to each population, which were identifying each population, approximately 700 bp in Hongseong population. In this study, the dendrogram obtained by the seven primers indicates three genetic clusters: cluster 1 (HONGSEONG 01-HONGSEONG 07), cluster 2 (YEOSU 08-YEOSU 14) and cluster 3 (GOHEUNG 15-GOHEUNG 21). Among the twenty one cockles, the shortest genetic distance that displayed significant molecular differences was between individuals 17 and 19 from the Goheung population (genetic distance = 0.051), while the longest genetic distance among the twenty-one cockle individuals that displayed significant molecular differences was between individuals HONGSEONG no. 03 and YEOSU no. 12 (genetic distance = 0.616). Relatively, individuals of YEOSU population were fairly closely related to that of GOHEUNG population. Ultimately, PCR fragments revealed of in this study may be useful as a DNA marker the three geographic populations to distinguish.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 2020

The number of business closure is one of key indicators diagnosing the status of local economy. The increases in closure are attributed to various endogenous/exogenous factors such as decreases in sales of stores, decline of local market, deterioration of global financial condition, but it is not trivial task to figure out the cause and effect mechanism among variables. The effects of those factors are expected to show geographical variations, which the empirical analysis results in this study presented. As such, the objective of this study is to estimate the effects of variables on increase in the number of business closure and examine the distributional properties of the geographic variations of the effects among spatial units of analysis. To this end, GWR (Geographically Weighted Regression) model was utilized to draw empirical analysis outcomes. It is expected that the outcomes of the sort in this research may be useful in aiding decision-making process of drafting locality-specific policies and/or deciding where to prioritize the limited public resources available.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.263-263
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• 2017

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the world's third largest food crop after wheat and corn. Geographic authentication of rice has recently emerged as an important issue for enhancing human health via food safety and quality assurance. Here, we aimed to discriminate rice from six Asian countries through geographic authentication using combinations of elemental/isotopic composition analysis and chemometric techniques. Principal components analysis could distinguish samples cultivated from most countries, except for those cultivated in the Philippines and Japan. Furthermore, orthogonal projection to latent structure-discriminant analysis provided clear discrimination between rice cultivated in Korea and other countries. The major common variables responsible for differentiation in these models were ${\delta}^{34}S$, Mn, and Mg. Our findings contribute to understanding the variations in elemental and isotopic compositions in rice depending on geographic origins, and offer valuable insight into the control of fraudulent labeling regarding the geographic origins of rice traded among Asian countries.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Fisheries Technology Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.457-458
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• 2001

Reproductive and life history patterns of marine amphipods are influenced by a variety of biotic and abiotic factors. Those factors may vary on local scales or along geographic patterns and result local or geographic variations in reproduction and life history. Although many studies in life history of amphipods were carried out at various habitats, limited information on the life history and reproduction at a shallow sandy shore 〈 1 m depth is available (Bear and Moore, 1996). (omitted)