• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.667-680
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• 2020

This study aims at reporting a systematic procedure for evaluating the static and dynamic structural performance of steel bridges based on a short-period structural health monitoring measurement. Sungsu bridge located in Korea is considered as a case study presenting the most recent tests carried out to examine the bridge condition. Short-period measurements of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system were used during the bridge testing phase. A novel symmetry index is introduced using statistical analyses of deflection and strain measurements. Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD) is implemented to the strain measurements to estimate the bridge mode shapes and damping ratios. Furthermore, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is also implemented to examine the reliability of bridge performance while ambient design trucks are in static or moving at different speeds. Strain, displacement and acceleration were measured at selected locations on the bridge. The results show that the symmetry index can be an efficient and useful measure in assessing the steel bridge performance. The results from the used method reveal that the performance of the Sungsu bridge is safe under operational conditions.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.219-225
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• 2020

Background: There is increasing concern that moderate preterm (32-33 weeks' gestation) and late preterm (34-36 weeks' gestation) birth may be associated with minor neurodevelopmental problems affecting poor school performance. Purpose: We explored the cognitive function, cognitive visual function, executive function, and behavioral problems at school age in moderate to late preterm infants. Methods: Children aged 7-10 years who were born at 32⁺⁰ to 36⁺⁶ weeks of gestation and admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit from August 2006 to July 2011 at the National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital were included. We excluded children with severe neurologic impairments, congenital malformations, or chromosomal abnormalities. Neuropsychological assessments consisted of 5 neuropsychological tests and 3 questionnaires. Results: A total of 37 children (mean age, 9.1±1.2 years) participated. The mean gestational age at birth was 34.6±7.5 weeks, while the mean birth weight was 2,229.2±472.8 g. The mean full-scale intelligence quotient was 92.89±11.90; 24.3% scored between 70 and 85 (borderline intelligence functioning). An abnormal score was noted for at least one of the variables on the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnostic system for 65% of the children. Scores below borderline function for executive quotient and memory quotient were 32.4% and 24.3%, respectively. Borderline or clinically relevant internalizing problems were noted in 13.5% on the Child Behavior Check List. There were no significant associations between perinatal factors or socioeconomic status and cognitive, visual perception, executive function, or behavior outcomes. Conclusion: Moderate to late preterm infants are at risk of developing borderline intelligence functioning and attention problems at early school age. Cognitive and executive functions that are important for academic performance must be carefully monitored and continuously followed up in moderate to late preterm infants.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.269-281
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to compare dietary habits and mental health among middle school students in urban and rural areas based on bedtime, and to provide evidence supporting appropriate bedtime for Korean middle school students in relation to their healthy dietary habits and mental well-being. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study population consisted of 25,681 second-year middle school students who participated in the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2020-2022. Participants were asked about their bedtime and wake-up time during the past 7 days and were classified into five categories. The study compared the general characteristics, academic factors, dietary habits, and mental health of urban and rural students based on their bedtime. RESULTS: Bedtime was found to be later in the following order: urban female students, rural female students, urban male students, and rural male students. As bedtime got later, the rates of smoking and alcohol consumption increased. Students who went to bed before 11 p.m. had lower academic performance, while rural male students who went to bed after 2 a.m. had lower academic performance. Later bedtime was associated with increased smartphone usage, skipping breakfast, consuming fast food, and drinking carbonated beverages. Later bedtime was also associated with higher perceived stress levels, particularly among students who went to bed after 2 a.m., higher rates of suicidal ideation, experiencing sadness and despair, as well as the prevalence of clinically significant anxiety disorders. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that middle school students who go to bed too late have higher rates of smoking and alcohol drinking, as well as unhealthy eating habits, stress, suicidal ideation, sadness, and anxiety. Therefore, it is necessary to provide educational and social institutional support to promote adequate sleep for the health of adolescents.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.5-20
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to develop health promotion programs for middle aged women and to identify the adaptability and the effectiveness of the program in order to provide a model for health promotion programs as a basis for nursing intervention. The research design was a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control-group pretest -posttest design. The data were collected from October 30 to December 11, 1996. The study subjects were middle aged women residing in Chonju city, with ages from 40 to 59. The experimental group consisted of 42 subjects who were recruited through announcements of the local newspaper. The control group consisted of 49 subjects who were mothers of nursing college students. The health promotion program for middle aged women was based on the Bandura's self efficacy theory and Pender's heath promotion behavior theory consisting of exercise and heath diaries as performance accomplishments as well as education and group sessions as verbal persuasion and vicarious experiences. The study program was provided for 6 weeks, 3 hours a day per week. There was a pretest before the program and a posttest after the 6 week program. The instruments used for the study were a Self Efficacy Scale and a Health Promotion Behavior Scale developed by Park(1995). The data analysis was done by the use of a SPSS/PC. The study results were as follows: 1. In the analysis of the homogeneity between the experimental and control groups, there were significant differences in the socio-demographic characteristics, self efficacy and health promotion behavior. There were significant differences between the experimental and control groups in occupation, the number of children, and the status of involvement in social activities. 2. The first hypothesis, 'The level of self efficacy of the experimental group will be higher than that of the control group.' was supported(F=10.154, p=.002). The second hypothesis, 'The degree of health promotive behaviors in the experimental group will be higher than that of the control group.' was supported(F=17.349, p=.000). 3. There was a significant positive correlation between the self efficacy and the health promotion behaviors in pretest and posttests (pretest: r=.732, p=.000 ; posttest : r=.754, p=.000). 4. The significant variables for health promotion behaviors were religion(t= -1.97, p=.05), family income(F=4.85, p=.00), education level (F=6.38, p=.00) and involvement in social activities(t= -3.06, p=.00) in socio-demographic characteristics. In summary, a heath promotion program based on self efficacy theory has made an improvement on health promotion behaviors. Also, the results show that the higher the level of self efficacy, the better the health promotion is in middle aged women. The study has proved that nurses can provide nursing intervention for the improvement of health promotion in middle aged women through the adaptation of a program increasing the subject's self efficacy level.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.195-211
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• 2004

Stress is a primary health promotion issue in worksite research because psychological distress is closely related not only to workers' health status but also to their job performance. This study identified the significant health behaviors affecting workers' job-related stress in Korean manufacturing industry with the national survey data conducted by the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency in 2003. A total of 7,818 factory workers in 1,562 manufacturing companies participated in the Korean nation-wide occupational health survey and 3,390 workers answered that they had any stressors in their workplace among the 7,818 workers finally participated in the analysis. Participants were selected by the stratified proportional sampling process by manufacturing industry classification, company size, and company locations (8 metropolitan and 8 non-metropolitan regions) in Korea. Trained interviewers visited the target companies and interviewed the factory workers randomly selected in each company. Smoking, drinking, weight control, exercise, sleeping, break time at work, and perceived fatigue were included in the health behavior construct. Stress symptoms was consisted of physical and psychological stress with 8 items. All survey responses were anonymously coded into the SPSS statistical program and testified using stepwise multiple regression analysis. Male workers were 73.5% and the 30s were 40.0% among the age groups. The married and the high school graduate were majority with 52.1% and 61.8% each. Current smokers were 44.7% and More than 50% of the participants drank alcohol sometimes. No exercise group was 59.3% and the participants who dissatisfied with their daily sleeping hours were 43.5%. In t-test and analysis of variance, the significant general characteristics associated with physical and psychological job stress were young age (p<0.001), single marital status (p<0.001), and short working period at the present company (p<0.001). The health behaviors related to physical job stress were current smoking, weight change during the past one year (p<0.001), weight control effort (p<0.001), exercise (p<0.001), daily sleeping dissatisfaction (p<0.001), break time, and perceived fatigue (p<0.001). All 10 health behavior factors were significantly associated with psychological job stress (p<0.05). Weight change, weight control effort, exercise, daily sleeping dissatisfaction, little break at work, and high perceived fatigue were significant factors affecting job stress. Daily sleeping dissatisfaction, little break at work, little exercise, weight change for the past one year and young age were selected as the significant health behavior and general factors affecting physical job stress symptoms in stepwise multiple regression analysis. The five factors explained 18.9% of the physical stress score variance. Six factors were selected as the significant health behaviors affecting psychological job stress: daily sleeping dissatisfaction, little exercise, frequent drinking alcohol, high perceived fatigue, little break at work, and little weight control effort. The six factors explained 10.6% of the psychological stress score variance.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.192-200
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• 2022

Background: This study examines whether employee perceptions of supervisor behavioral integrity for safety moderates the relationship between top-management safety climate and safety performance (i.e., safety compliance and safety participation) and the mediated relationships through safety motivation. Methods: Data collected from 389 blue-collar employees were analyzed using latent moderated structural equation modeling. Results: The results indicate that the relationship between top-management safety climate and safety behavior, and the mediating role of safety motivation were replicated. Moreover, the results show that the mediated relationships between top-management safety climate and safety behaviors through safety motivation were stronger for employees who report high supervisor behavioral integrity for safety. Conclusion: The study findings suggest the role of supervisor behavioral integrity for safety in clarifying how the employee perceptions of top-management safety climate transfer to the employee safety behaviors through the motivational pathway.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.66-77
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• 2013

The purpose of this empirical study is to investigate the factors of self-leadership depending on individual characteristics, job characteristics, and qualities of leader-member exchange. Additionally, this study aims to discover the effect of self-leadership's outcome factors on organizational citizenship behavior and innovative activities. In order to verify research model and hypothesis, questionnaires were collected from department members working at general hospitals, hospitals, and clinics in metropolitan area of Seoul, which were 85 departments and 344 respondents. Collected data were analyzed with SPSS ver. 19.0 and Amos ver. 18.0 statistical package using Structural Equation Model. The results of the analysis showed that both individual characteristics and job characteristics have significant positive effect on self-leadership. Also, self-leadership had significant positive relationship on innovative action and organizational citizenship behavior. The implications of this study are as follow. First, this study empirically explained how self-leadership is applied in healthcare organizations. Second, it verified the relationship between causal factors and outcome factors of self-leadership. Also, prior researches of self-leadership have been conducted on business companies, but this study explored self-leadership at healthcare organizations, which increased external validity. Nowadays, many people are interested in the effect of leadership in order to overcome issues coming from enlarged organizations and to improve performance. Self-leadership will contribute to maximizing voluntary efforts of human resources and performance in a rapidly changing healthcare industry.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.439-446
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• 2011

Purpose: Early diagnosis is the primary method aimed at controlling breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to analyze some factors affecting the performance of mammography screening among women with a family history of breast cancer in Korea. Methods: This study applied a descriptive design method through structured self-report questionnaires. The Care Seeking Behavior Theory provided a theoretical framework for the study. Factors measured in this study represent demographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables including anxiety, barriers, utility, habits, perception, and facilitators. A total of 212 participants, of at least 20 years old, were sampled from April 8, 2010 to March 31, 2011. The data was analyzed by logistic regression method using the Statistical Package for the Social Science 18.0 software. Results: Of the 212 participants, 122 women (57.5%) went through mammography screening. The results of the analysis showed that (a) age (Odds Ratio [OR] =1.10, p<.001), (b) facilitating influences (OR=1.83, p=.008), (c) perception of mammography importance (OR=1.92, p=.011), (d) barriers to mammography (OR=0.60, p=.031), and (e) utility of mammography (OR=2.01, p=.050) significantly affect mammography screening. Conclusion: The results underscore the impact that psychosocial variables in obtaining mammography have on adherence to screening. Women with a family history of breast cancer should be given accurate information and recommendation about mammography by healthcare provider and a regular source of healthcare.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.145-152
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• 2020

This study investigated the differences in health behaviors of adolescents depending on their sexual experiences. Secondary data analysis was conducted using the data of 61,861 respondents from the 2017 adolescents' health behavior online survey in Korea. Adolescents with sexual experience were typically male, in high school, from a boy's school, had low academic performance, lived apart from their parents, and of either high or low economic status; their health behaviors were characterized by more physical activity, stress, sadness and hopelessness, thought/planned/attempted suicide, drinking, and smoking. Almost half of adolescents with sexual experience (48.9%) did not use contraception. The results of this study are significant and can contribute to the development of sex education programs when considering the characteristics of Korean adolescents and their sexual health.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.238-260
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• 1998

This article describes the theoretical foundations of government policy for hospitals in terms of correcting market failure and enhancing equity. It then discusses the characteristics that desirable payment systems should have, and the effects of the DRG-based prospective payment system on hospital behavior, its financial performance, hospital industry, and health care expenditure. The rationales and impacts of other public policies for hospitals such as antitrust and fair trade regulation, dissemination of practice guidelines and hospital mortality information, regulation of hospital capital investment, and tax policy are also discussed.