• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.1543-1555
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• 2000

Home health care is moving into a set of new realities. An era of competition and cost containment has arrived. Before nurses are able to contain costs or describe the relationship between nursing activities, cost must be accurately measured based on the nurse's workload. Nurses in home health care usually desire to measure expenses for one of three reasons : reimbursement, management, or research. The purpose of the study was to investigate the work input by Registered Nurse in each of the home health care activities by relative value units and identify the factors affecting the nurses' total work input in health care services. To measure the work input by nurses, work was defined by four dimensions: time, physical effort, mental effort, and stress. This study used a descriptive-correlational design. Data collection consisted of two phases. In phase I, data on home health activities performed by nurses were collected. In phase II, data on nurses' time, physical effort, mental effort, and stress in each of home health care activities discovered phase I were collected. In this method, the respondent was asked to rate a service in relation to a reference service using a ratio scale. The sample included 39 home health care nurses. The results of the study indicated that home health care activities performed by the nurses were in 10 categories and 69 items. Measuring the relative work inputs in each of home health care activities, and foley catheterization was selected as the reference to service. In terms of time and physical effort dimensions, full bath service was rated as the most strenuous among 69 activities by the respondents, and intramuscular injection was rated as least. It was found that emergency treatment required the highest mental effort and the highest stress, while blood sugar tests required the lowest mental effort. Approximately 91.3% of the variance in total work input was accounted for by the linear combination of time, physical effort, mental effort judgement, and stress. Examining the regression coefficients of those variables, physical effort, time, and stress were found as the predictors which were significantly associated with the total work of nurses in home health care. Professional nursing's next step in the conundrum of economic volatility is to develop a tool to reflect the interaction of functional deficiency and direct professional nursing care. And this will be a more accurate predictor of nursing resource use and ultimately a great forcaeter cost.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.672-682
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• 2017

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of probiotic, prebiotic and synbiotic with and without feed restriction on broilers performance, blood parameters, carcass characteristics, and feed cost of production from 1 to 56 days of age. Methods: Two hundred and forty unsexed one day-old chicks of Arbor Acres breed were used. Two trials, I and II, were conducted, with 120 birds in both. Each trial was divided into 4 equal groups. The birds in trial I were fed ad libitum throughout the experiment, while the chicks in trial II were fed ad libitum during the first week of age, then subjected to 5 hours/d of feed restriction from the beginning of the second week up to the end of the experiment. In both trials, the birds in group 1 were fed on a control diet while the other groups were given the same control diet supplemented either with a probiotic in group 2, prebiotic in group 3, or synbiotic in group 4. Results: It was found that chicks fed diets supplemented with probiotic, prebiotic and synbiotic (with and without feed restriction) exhibited higher body weight and feed efficiency than chicks fed the control diets. The feed additives in both trials did not affect hemoglobin, serum total protein, albumin, globulin, glucose, and total cholesterol, except the packed cell volume which was increased in the additive treatments with restriction at the end of the experiment. Moreover, the dietary treatments did not influence the carcass yield. However, the relative weights of liver, gizzard and proventriculus, small intestine and bursa of fabricius were found to be increased. The additives decreased the visible fat in the carcass, with more decreasing effect in the additive groups with restriction. The lowest feed cost per kg of weight gain was observed in the birds fed diets supplemented with synbiotic, probiotic and prebiotic. Feed restriction improved the feed conversion ratio, economic return, but decreased the feed intake, serum total cholesterol and visible fat in comparison with non-restricted groups. Conclusion: The biological feed additives could be routinely added to broiler diets, especially when a feed restriction program is followed. Finally, it can be recommended to restrict feed, and add probiotic or synbiotic to increase weight, improve feed conversion rate and reduce feed cost of production.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.82-89
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• 2018

Purpose: Early detection of gastric cancer is important to improve prognosis. Early detection enables local treatment, such as endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Therefore, we investigated whether early detection of gastric cancer could reduce healthcare costs by comparison according to stage and treatment modalities. Materials and Methods: Medical care costs were investigated according to tumor stage and initial treatment modality in 1,188 patients newly diagnosed with gastric cancer at 7 medical institutions from December 2011 to June 2012. Total medical care costs during the first-year after diagnosis (total first-year costs) were examined, including the costs of initial treatment, post-initial treatment, and inpatient and outpatient visits. Results: Stage I (75.3%) was the most common cancer stage. ESD was the second most common treatment following surgery. Total first-year costs increased significantly from stages I to IV. The costs of initial treatment and post-initial treatment were lowest in patients with stage I cancer. Among patients with stage I cancer, total first-year costs were significantly lower when treated by ESD; in particular, initial ESD treatment costs were much lower than others. Conclusions: The cost of healthcare has increased significantly with increasing cancer stages. ESD can greatly reduce medical care costs of gastric cancer. Thus, early detection of gastric cancer is important to reduce healthcare costs.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.3600-3610
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• 1974

Experimental work of batch-type dryer was conducted to develop its optimurm operating conditions by analyzing the major factors which affect the drying performance. A laboratory batch-type dryer was constructed and tested for various levels of heated-air rates, and depths of grain deposit. Tong-il rice variety having the initial moisture content of approximaely 23 per cent in wet basis was used for the experiment. The criteria selected for establishing the optimum operating condition were the drying performance rate, the thermal efficiency, and the operational cost of the dryer. The results of the study are summarized as follows: 1. The performance rate of dryer for a specific operating condition was defined as total amount of material dried per hour when the moisture content of grains in the upperlayer reaches to 16 per cent in wet basis. The optimum operating conditions as viewed in the rate of drying performance could be justified by functional realtionship between the depth of grain deposit and air flow rate. In other words, there was a definite depth of grain deposit for a given air-rate which make the dryer performance maximum. The optimum grain depth for the batch-type dryer with 3.3㎡ loading area and with the attached axial fan was about 35cm. 2. The thermal efficiency for the dryer was evaluated by the ratio of the latent heat required to evaporate the grain moisture to the heat input required to raise the ambient air-temperature to 40 degree centigrade. The optimum operating condition as viewed in term of thermal efficiency analyzed was that grater depth and lower air flow-rate may be desirable. This condition is contracted with the optimum condition as viewed by the dryer performance rate. 3. The annual operating cost of batch-type dryer was analyzed for different annual hour of use and for different operation condition. The optimum condition as viewed in terms of operating cost was almost identical to one as viewed in terms of dryer performance rate. Therefore, the most economical use of batch-type dryer for the same annual operating hours can be obtained when the dryer operated in the condition of maximum dryer performance rate. Increasing the annual operating hour may be desirable to cut down the dryer operation cost, since the annual hour of dryer use is much sensitive to the operating cost than any peractical conditions of dryer operation. 4. The most desirable operational condition as justified by combining all the criteria, dryer performance rate, thermal efficiency and annual operating cost, could be concluded to operate the dryer in the condition of maximum performance rate. The condition in general is identical to the lowest operation cost for a given annual operating hour.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1217-1226
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• 2011

Finding alternative feeds, such as sesame hulls and Prosopis juliflora species can attenuate difficulties of feed shortage and reduce the cost of animal feed in arid and semi-arid countries. Thirty-two Black male kids with similar initial weights (BW = $16.7{\pm}0.80\;kg$) and $120{\pm}5\;d$ of age, were used to evaluate the effect of replacing barley grains and soybean meal with Prosopis juliflora pods (PJP) and sesame hulls (SH) on growth performance, digestibility and carcass and meat characteristics. Kids were equally divided into four dietary treatment groups for an 84-d fattening period. Treatment diets had similar crude protein (CP) and metabolizable energy (ME). The treatment groups were: (T1) no PJP nor SH, (T2) 10% PJP and 20% SH, (T3) 15% PJP and 15% SH, and (T4) 20% PJP and 10% SH. A tendency was detected (p<0.08) for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intakes that were greater for T2 than T3 and T4 while T1 was not different from all other treatment groups. Ether extract (EE) intake was the greatest (p<0.05) for T2 and the lowest for T1. Acid detergent fiber (ADF) intake was greater (p<0.05) for T2 than T1 while T3 and T4 were intermediate. Final live weight, average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were comparable among different treatment groups. Digestibility of DM, OM, CP, NDF and ADF were similar among all treatment groups, however, EE digestibility was the lowest (p<0.05) for T1 when compared to other treatments. In addition, nitrogen intake, nitrogen in urine and retained and retention percentages were similar among all treatment groups. However, N loss in feces was higher (p<0.05) for T2 than T3 and T4 while T1 was intermediate. No differences were observed among treatment groups with respect to fasting live weight, hot and cold carcass weights, dressing-out percentages, mesenteric fat, visceral organs, carcass cuts percentages and carcass linear dimensions. No differences were also observed for dissected loin, leg, rack and shoulder tissues except in the total bone % for loin cuts and in the meat to bone ratio for rack cuts. T3 has the greatest total bone % and the lowest meat to bone ratio when compared to all other treatment groups. No differences were observed between treatment groups in all quality characteristics of the longissimus muscle. The present study demonstrates the potential of using PJP and SH for growing kids without adverse effects on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.8700-8706
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• 2015

The first driving device of the power bogies for the Korean high-speed railway vehicle consists of the traction motor (TM) and the motor reduction gears unit (MRU). Although TM and MRU are the mechanically integrated structures, their time between overhauls (TBO) have two separate intervals due to different technical requirements(i.e. TBO of MRU: $1.8{\times}10^6km$, TBO of TM: $2.5{\times}10^6km$). Therefore, to reduce the unnecessary number of preventive maintenances, it is important to evaluate the optimal TBO with a viewpoint of reliability-center maintenance towards cost-effective solution. In this study, derived from the field data in maintenance, fault tree analysis and failure rate of the subsystem considering criticality of the components are evaluated respectively. To minimize the conventional total maintenance cost, the same optimal TBO of the components is derived from genetic algorithm considering target reliability and improvement factor. In this algorithm, a chromosome which comprised of each individual is the minimum preventive maintenance interval. The fitness function of the individual in generation is acquired through the formulation using an inverse number of the total maintenance cost. Whereas the lowest common multiple method produces only a four percent reduction compared to what the existing method did, the optimal TBO of them using genetic algorithm is $2.25{\times}10^6$km, which is reduced to about 14% comparing the conventional method.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.650-657
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• 2002

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of forage:concentrate ratios and feeding principles on milk yield, milk composition, body weight change, postpartum oestrus and feed cost. A total of 36 crossbred F1 cows (Holstein Friesian${\times}$Local Yellow) in the 8th week of lactation were used. In each experiment, animals were divided into three groups using a randomized block design according to the milk yield of the previous eight weeks. Cows were fed 30, 50 and 70% concentrate in the diet based on DM. In experiment 1 (Fc), cows were given the same amount of DM with constant ratios of forage and concentrate within treatments. In experiment 2 (Fa), cows were given the same constant amounts of concentrate as in experiment 1 and ad libitum forage. The forage consisted of a natural grass mixture based on 5 species of grasses with high nutritive values. There was no difference in total DM intake between treatments within experiments. However, cows fed forage ad libitum had higher DM intakes compared to cows fed constant forage (1.6, 4.5 and 9.5% for cows fed 70, 50 and 30% forage, respectively). Daily milk yield of cows fed forage ad libitum was higher than that of cows fed constant forage:concentrate ratio. Within experiment, milk yield was highest for cows fed 30% DM forage, followed by cows fed 50% and then cows fed 70% forage (11.17, 10.98 and 10.71 for the 30Fc, 50Fc and 70Fc cows; 11.73, 11.16 and 10.81 kg for the 30Fa, 50Fa and 70Fa cows, respectively). Decreased forage ratio in the diets resulted in decreased milk fat content and tended to increase milk protein. Increased concentrate ratio in the diet and feeding forage ad libitum increased body weight gain. The effect of forage:concentrate ratio on postpartum oestrus was not significant. The feed cost per kg milk produced was lowest for the cows fed 70% forage. It is concluded that increased ratio of concentrate resulted in increased body weight gain, milk yield, milk protein, and decreased milk fat. Feeding forage ad libitum increased feed intake, milk yield and body weight gain. The ratio of 50% forage is more suitable for milk production and animal condition, but in terms of feed cost and under the conditions of small dairy farmers, the 70% ad libitum forage feeding is recommended.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2010

Metal Injection Molding (MIM) is attractive because it produces consistent, complex-geometry components for high-volume, high-strength, and high-performance applications. Also MIM using in optical communication field, display field, and semi-conductor field is a cost-effective alternative to metal machining or investment casting parts. It offers tremendous single-step parts consolidation potential and design flexibility. The objective of this paper is to study the suitability of design, flow analysis, debinding and sinterin processes, and capability analysis. The suitable injection conditions were 0.5~1.5 second filling time, 11.0~12.5 MPa injection pressure derived from flow analysis. The gravity of the product is measured after debinding an sintering. The maximum and minimum gravity levels are 7.5939 and 7.5097. the average and standard deviation are 7.5579 and 0.0122; when converted into density, the figure stands at 98.154%. According to an analysis of overall capacity, PPM total, which refers to defect per million opportunities(DPMO), stands at 166,066.3 Z.Bench-the sum of defect rates exceeding the actual lowest and highest limits-is 0.97, which translates into the good quality rate of around 88.4% and the sigma level of 2.47.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.509-514
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• 1993

The experiment was conducted to determine the effect of different fiber levels on milk production of crossbred Holstein milking cows fed urea-treated rice straw (UTS) as a roughage. Eight cows were allotted into 2 squares of 4 cows each with 4 treatments by a balanced design. The treatments were 17%, 22%, and 24% crude fiber (CF) diets and Thai feeding system (free choice of roughage and 1 kg of concentrates/2 kg of milk) as a control. Body weight change was not significantly different among the treatments during the experiment. Milk production (4% FCM) and milk protein content wee not different among the treatments, but milk fat content was low in the 17% CF group and high in the control group. Cows fed the 17% CF diet consumed less UTS and more concentrates than the others, and consequently total DM intake was not different among the treatments. The feed conversion ratio was significantly higher in the control. Feed cost per kg milk was lowest in the control and highest in the 17% CF diet. The fiber content of the diet would be more than 17%, preferably 22-24% for normally producing Thai crossbred Holstein cows when the UTS was fed as a main roughage source.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.77-88
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• 2013

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to examine the levels and influencing factors of the perceived stress and life-satisfaction among mothers of children with disability. Methods : 55 mothers were selected for this study and the self-reporting method to the structured questionnaire were used to collect the data. The data were analyzed with the frequency, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Duncan test using SPSS 14.0 for window programs. Results : Firstly, the level of total perceived stress of the mothers of children with cerebral palsy was 44.28/75, and the average of the items of the perceived stress was 2.95/5. The highest level of subcategory of the perceived stress, 10.82/15, was in parent role stress, and the lowest level of subcategory of the perceived stress, 3.88/10, was in children developmental stress. There were statistically significant differences in the mother's level of stress according to their ages, employment, occupation, and daily activity time and sleeping time. Secondly, the level of life-satisfaction was 3.17/7, and statistically significant difference was found by the treatment cost. Conclusions : We suggest that these variables need to be considered when the stress intervention programs for the mothers of children with cerebral palsy are developed.