• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.66-77
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• 2010

Objective : The purpose of this study is to expand our treatment field in oriental dermatology by understanding the patterns of outpatients who had visited the oriental hospitals located in Gangwon province. Methods : We studied 510 outpatients out of 2240 people from Sangji University Oriental Hospital(SUOH) and 333 outpatients out of 2030 people from Chuncheon Oriental Hospital(COH) from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009. We categorized the results by gender, age, disease types, residences, months and number of visiting times. Results : The results were as follows 1. Comparing the number of outpatients that had visited the hospital by gender in SUOH shows that female's visiting rate is 57% and male is 43%. In COH shows that female's visiting rate is 54% and male is 46%. 2. Most frequent visiting age group were 21-30 year-old group(30%) in SUOH and 11-20 year-old group(23%) in COH. 3. In regard to the monthly visiting period, January(13%) is the highest in SUOH and July(10%) is the highest in COH. 4. Regional distributions of the outpatients that had visited SUOH and COH show Wonju(73%) and Chuncheon(74%). 5. In terms of treatment methods, SUOH showed the external application(65%), herb medication(54%), and acupuncture(52%) while COH showed acupuncture(74%), the external application(69%), and herb medication(66%). 6. Visiting frequency of outpatients in SUOH showed that 1 time visiting cases were 51%. In COH case, 1 time visiting cases were 19%. 7. The most prevalent diseases were urticaria(15%), eczema(14%) acne(12%), and seborrheic dermatitis(11%) in SUOH and atopic dermatitis(27%), urticaria(20%), acne(16%), and psoriasis(10%) in COH. 8. Most outpatients had visited SUOH for 1 time(51%) and COH for over 11 times(32%) with the major 16 diseases. Conclusions : This study suggests that outpatients who had visited the department of oriental dermatology preferred to get a treatment for urticaria, eczema, atopic dermatitis and acne. Considering this aspect, it needs to improve current research to expand the oriental medical treatments further in dermatological field.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.49-76
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• 1994

Small area variations in health care utilization have long been studied as an important issue related to boto cost containment and quality assurance. This study was conducted to investigate if variations in hospital services across small geographic areas in Korea existed. The claims data of the fiscal year 1992 obtained from the regional health insurance societies were used for the study. Main findings of the research can be summarized as follows : 1. Extremal Quotients(EQ) of hospital expenditure per capita and hospital days per capita varied among diagnosis types. The EQ ranged from 2.05(cataract) to 41.67(pneumonia) in hospital expenditure per capita and from 1.86(cataract) to 45.89(pneumonia) in hospital days per capita. The diagnosis groups which showed high variation were pneumonia, cephalo-pelvic disproportion, gastritis and duodenitis, fracture of rib, and acute bronchitis. Those which showed low variation were acute appendicitis and cataract. 2. The EQ level of admission rate was different in terms of diagnosis types, ranging from 2.57(catarct) to 44.45(pneumonia). The variations were high in medical disorders such as pneumonia, oephalo-pelvic disproportion, gastritis and duodenitis and acute bronchitis, while relatively low in surgical conditions such as acute appendicitis and cataract. 3. As an indicator of service intensity, the EQ of expenditure per admission ranged from 1.67(acute appendicitis) to 31.27(essential hypertension). The diagnoses which had high variation were essential hypertension, gastric ulcer, whereas those which had low variation were cephalopelvic disproportion and acute appendicitis. With regard to hospital days per admission, the EQ ranged from 1.55(acute appendicitis) to 28.13(gastric ulcer) by diagnosis types. The diagnosis groups with showed high variation were gastric ulcer, essential hypertension, and acute bronchitis, whereas those with low variation were cephalo-pelvic disproportion, intervertebral disc disorders, and acute appendicitis. Both the expenditure and hospital days per admission showed lewwer variations than the expenditure per capita, hospital days per capita and admission rate. 4. Comparing patterns of variation in utilization indices, diagnoses such as essential hypertension, gastric ulcer, fracture of rib showed higher variations in expenditure per admission than in admission rates, whereas diagnoses such as pneumonia, cephalo-pelvic disproportion and gastric ulcer showed higher variations in admission rate than expenditure per admission. These findings suggest that wide variations existed in several diagnoses groups across small areas in Korea. Further research should be performed to investigate factors related to small area variations including provider behavior.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.481-488
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• 2017

Under circumstances of rapid disappearing of traditional ethnobotanical knowledge, traditional ethnobotanical knowledge surveys are the major step in documenting useful species with a conservation priority. In the ethnobotanical research, the relevance to the survey intensity, ethnobotanical information and plant species richness is the most important research theme. We made up TEK database in south Korea using metadata which had been published by the Korea National Arboretum. We calculated species richness using species richness estimator like ACE, Chao1, Chao2, ICE, Jack 1, Jack 2, and Bootstrap. Species accumulation curves showed each province sampling efforts appeared to be wide range of variance so that Gangwon province need more sampling efforts, and Chungnam province approached a horizontal asymptote earlier. We found heterogeneous patterns in the rarefaction curves of TEK species between gender for each categories of use (medicinal, food and handicrafts). Comparing with regional floral diversities, it was predicted that more diverse species would be found in some provinces by carrying out additional survey.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.57-66
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• 2007

According to the rapid economic growth and the escalation of recreational tourism activities due to the change of job and working patterns, currently various traffic problems often occur in tourist areas. As tourist traffic, contrary to general traffic, is not regional but rather from outside the area of interest, it is hard to grasp the traffic situation surrounding the tourist area. Furthermore, since the traffic is concentrated during a limited tourist season, it is difficult to examine and solve the problem. In this study, in order to test the feasibility of introducing a traffic transfer system to reduce congestion in tourist areas, the authors considered the differences in traffic congestion between typical and tourist seasons and designed a willingness to pay model. The willingness to pay amount for a shuttle bus fare is assumed as 1,430 Won and 1,650 Won is assumed for a transfer parking charge. These amounts were slightly above the current bus fare in the study area, but many people thought that the introduction of a traffic transfer system would help to relieve the traffic congestion approaching the tourist area and to develop tourism resources. As the willingness to pay appeared high from the persons used in this study, it was indirectly confirmed that the introduction of a traffic transfer system would be a step in the right direction.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2020

A drought event is characterized by duration, severity and affected area. In general, after calculating a drought index using hydro-meteorological time series at a station, a drought event is defined based on the run theory to identify the beginning and end time. However, this one-dimensional analysis has limitations for analyzing the spatio-temporal occurrence characteristics and movement paths of drought. Therefore, this study is to define a three-dimensional drought event using a simple clustering algorithm and to develop a drought map that can be used to understand the drought severity according to the spatio-temporal expansion of drought. As a result, compared with the two-dimensional monitoring information to show spatial distribution of drought index, a proposed drought map is able to show three-dimensional drought characteristics inclusing drought duration, spatial cumulative severity, and centroid of drought. The analysis of drought map indicated that there was a drought event which had the affected area less than 10 % while on occations while there were 11 drought events (44 %) which had the affected area more a than 90 % of the total area. This means that it is important to understand the relationship between spatial variation of drought affected area and severity corresponding to various drought durations. The development of drought map based on three-dimensional drought analysis is useful to analyze the spatio-temporal occurrence characteristics and propagation patterns of regional drought which can be utilized in developing mitigation measures for future extreme droughts.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.12-19
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• 2016

An average of 20 million individual transit unit activities per day on the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon public transportation network are provided as transportation card analysis data by the metropolitan district (99.02% by 2014 standard, Humanlive, 2015.4). The metropolitan transportation card data can be employed in a comprehensive analysis of public transportation users' current transit patterns and by means of this, an effective use plan can be explored. In enhancing the existing information on the bus and rail integrated network of the metropolis with public transportation card data, the constraints in the existing methodology of metropolitan transit analysis, which functions on a zone unit origin and destination basis, can be overcome. Framework for metropolitan public transportation card data based integrated public transportation analysis, which consists of bus and rail integrated transport modes, is constructed, and through this, a single passenger's transit behavior transit volume can be approximated. This research proposes that in the use of metropolitan public transportation card data, integrated public transportation usage, as a part of individual passenger spatial movements, can be analyzed. Furthermore, metropolitan public transportation card usage data can provide insights into understanding not only movements of populations taking on transit activities, but also, characteristics of metropolitan local space.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.23-36
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• 2015

The temperature change patterns of climatic solar terms and their climatic fitness were analyzed. Harmonic analysis based on thirty-year(1981-2010) time-series data from sixty one weather stations across South Korea showed that the central peaks of the extreme heat had shifted toward start of autumn with increasing mean temperature. The overall climatic fitness of solar terms, such as major heat, frost descent, major snow, and major cold, was low, and it showed significant regional variations. The actual meteorological phenomenon representing each climatic solar term was observed much later than the day of the solar term at most weather stations. The number of observations, where an actual meteorological condition for each climatic solar term was recorded within ${\pm}1$ week from the day of that solar term, ranged only from 7.7% to 40.4% of the entire data. Study results also showed that the climatic fitness of major heat, frost descent, and major snow gradually changed in the east-west direction. Major cold, a solar term with higher climatic fitness, was influenced more strongly by latitude than longitude. Considering geographically uneven magnitude and trends in temperature changes, rearrangement and adjustment of time intervals between the solar terms may help us improve their applicability as realistic indicators of seasonal changes.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.140-147
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• 2019

Purpose: Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). This study aimed to determine the temporal trends in antibiotic susceptibility of S. aureus in SSTI patients aged <19 years. Methods: This retrospective observational study was conducted in pediatric patients with SSTI caused by community-associated S. aureus. Microbiologic and demographic data were collected, and the trends of antibiotic susceptibility results were evaluated. Results: From January 2010 to December 2018, a total of 807 S. aureus isolates were included. An overall increase in susceptibility of isolates to oxacillin was noted (P<0.001), with 75.0% of isolates being oxacillin-susceptible in 2018. S. aureus remained highly susceptible to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline, with 97.6% and 95.2% isolate susceptibility in 2018, respectively. Isolates from younger children aged 1 to 5 years had a significantly lower rate of susceptibility to oxacillin than older children aged 6 to 18 years (53.4% vs. 75.0%, P<0.001). Conclusions: The proportion of methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolates appears to decrease in pediatric patients with community-associated SSTI caused by S. aureus. Clinicians should be aware of regional susceptibility patterns when choosing empirical regimens.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.101-119
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• 2018

In this study, we analyzed long-term measurements and air quality simulation results of four criteria air pollutants ($PM_{10}$, $O_3$, $NO_2$, and $SO_2$) for 10 years, from 2006 to 2015, with emphasis on trends of annual variabilities. With the observation data, we conducted spatial interpolation using the Kriging method to estimate spatial distribution of pollutant concentrations. We also performed air quality simulations using the CMAQ model to consider the nonlinearity of the secondary air pollutants such as $O_3$ and the influence of long-range transport. In addition, these simulations are used to deduce the effect of long-term meteorological variations on trends of air quality changes because we fixed the emissions inventory while changing meteorological inputs. The nation-wide inter-annual variability of modeled $PM_{10}$ concentrations was $-0.11{\mu}g/m^3/yr$, while that of observed concentrations was $-0.84{\mu}g/m^3/yr$. For the Seoul Metropolitan Area, the inter-annual variability of observed $PM_{10}$ concentrations was $-1.64{\mu}g/m^3/yr$ that is two times rapid improvement compared to other regions. On the other hand, the inter-annual variability of observed $O_3$ concentrations is 0.62 ppb/yr which is larger than the simulated result of 0.13 ppb/yr. Magnitudes of differences between the modeled and observed inter-annual variabilities indicated that decreasing trend of $PM_{10}$ and increasing trend of $O_3$ are more influenced by emissions and oxidation states than meteorological conditions. We also found similar patterns in $NO_2$. However, $NO_2$ trends showed greater regional and seasonal differences than other pollutants. The analytic approach used in this study can be applicable to estimate changes in factors determining air quality such as emissions, weather, and surrounding conditions over a long term. Then analysis results can be used as important data for air quality management planning and evaluation of the chronic impact of air quality.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.27 no.3 s.47
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• pp.609-626
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• 1994

This study was conducted to investigate whether variations in hospital services utilization across small geographic areas in Korea existed, and if so, what factors are responsible for the variation. The claims data of the fiscal year 1992 obtained from the regional health insurance societies were used for the study. Main findings of the research can be summarized as follows: 1 Extremal Quotients (EQ) of hospital expenditure per capita and hospital days per capita were 2.69 and 2.73, and Coefficient of Variation (CV) were 0.14, both, respectively. The EQ and the CV of admission rate were also 2.71, 0.15. The EQ and the CV of expenditure per admission were 1.73, 0.10 and those of hospital days per admission were 1.29, 0.06. All these statistics were statistically significant and this result provides strong evidence for the existence of small area variations. 2. Comparing patterns of variation among areas, the area which showed higher utilization amounts is Chansungp'o. Koje area, whereas the areas which showed lower utilization amounts are Yongju, Changhung, Miryang, Mokp'o, Koch'ang area. 3. Multivariate analytic methods were used to examine factors related to the variation across areas. In terms of the health resource availability variables, beds per capita or physicians per capita were positively associated with all utilization indices. As for the health service market structure variables, the proportion of health care institutions operating for less than f years was positively related to the expenditure per capita, hospital days per capita and expenditure per admission. In addition the proportion of the private health care institutions also had a negative relationship with total utilization amount and admission rate and the proportion of physicians under age 40 was negatively associated with expenditure per capita and expenditure per admission. With regard to the socio-demographic characteristics, proportion of medicaid population was positively related to hospital days per capita, and percentage of paved road was positively related to hospital days per admission. As a conclusion, wide variations existed across small areas in Korea and supply factors were found to be important in explaining the variation.