• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.219-243
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• 2005

Homeless people have remained one of the most disadvantaged groups in Korea. Therefore this study aims at examining how the homeless evaluate their quality of life and which factors influence their quality of life. The subjects of this study were 185 homeless adults residing on the street, in the shelter, and in substandard housing in Daejeon Metropolitan City. With a view to collecting the data effectively, different approaches have been taken for each type of homelessness in this study. By using the Korean Version of WHOQOL-BREF(brief version of WHO quality of life measure), this study has examined the current circumstance of the homeless and identified the predictors of their quality of life. The results of this study reconfirm low quality of life of homeless people. Also the results of this study indicate that the important factors influencing their quality of life are age, receipt of public assistance, perceived health status, alcohol use, alcohol addiction, housing type, and recognition by others. Predictors of each domain of quality of life differ to some extent. Statistically significant predictors of physical health are receipt of public assistance, perceived health status, and housing type. Psychological health is significantly influenced by age, receipt of public assistance, perceived health status, housing type, and recognition by others. Significant predictors of social relations are alcohol use, housing type, and recognition by others. Environment is significantly influenced by perceived health status, housing type, and recognition by others. On the basis of the findings of this empirical analysis, some measures conducive to the improvement of quality of life of homeless people are suggested. Only a few studies have been conducted to delve into the quality of life of the displaced group in Korea. In such a context, the significance of this study lies in identifying the circumstances of the homeless as a basic work for upgrading their quality of life on the one hand, and in empirically testing the major predictors of each domain of their quality of life on the other.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.107-119
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• 2001

As the information gap between rural and urban area, and between men and women has been widening, the Rural Development Administration(RDA) has initiated the women farmers information project from 2000. The aims of this project are; 1) to facilitate women farmers' computer and information application in agriculture and income generating activities, and 2) to make them to be leaders to popularize computer application in rural area and agricultural sector. For these, RDA has provided not only PC, software, computer training but also the post support of extension educator to target group. This paper focused on evaluating the effect of the project, clarifying the related variables with the effect, and providing suggestions to enhance the effect. The data were gathered from 310 target women farmers and 166 extension educators in charge of the project all over the country by mailing survey with questionnaire. The main findings of this study were as follows; 1) The level of computer application of the target group was improved drastically, 2) As their self-assessment, they could improve psychological fear on the computer, recognition about information, and attitude to seek information, 3) This project was helpful for them in terms of information gathering and farm(or income generating activities) management, 4) They tried to disseminate the benefit of computer application to neighbors, so that the neighbors' interest in computer and attendance of computer training were improved, 5) Variables such as the computer training hours, the number of interaction with extension educator, formal schooling and farming history were significantly related to the project's effect. To enhance the project's effect the following strategies should be carried out; 1) The period of the computer training course should be standardized and the subjects should attend to the computer training course for the standardized period. 2) Through continuous interaction with the subjects, the extension educator should support them to use computer well and to overcome some difficulties as a beginner. 3) In selecting the subjects, the priority should be given to the person who graduated high school at least. 4) The subjects should focus on using management software, gathering useful information for their business, and selling their products directly to the consumer. 5) So as to enhance the abilities mentioned above, RDA should strengthen learning opportunities through on-line training and providing educational software, besides of existing off-line training.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.71-85
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• 1990

673 third-year students of boy's and girl's high schools in Taegu city and Kuni-gun and Youngyang-gun and Euisung-gun in Kyongbuk province were selected and investigated as the subject, of this study on the correlation between Lee Jae Ma's Four Types of Essential Physical Constitution and Physical Form index. The result of the study was found as follows. First, as for Height, the findings were not identical with the expression that "person of shaoyin(minor Yin) Type are short and small -- while person of Taiyin (major Yin) Type are tall and big," cited in classification of four different constitutions in a document named "Dong-Eu-Su-Se-Bo-Won". Comparison of persons of Shaoyang (minor Yang) - Type proved infitness due to the lack of data on Height in documents concerning Lee Jae Ma's four types of essential physical constitution. Second, as for Sitting Height, the correlation was prored between the findings of this study and the expression in the above document describing external physical characteristics of shaoyin-Type persons that "The upper part and' the lower part of the body are well balanced", but in point of Relative Sitting Height, none between the two. Third, as for Chest-Girth and Relative Chest-Girth plus Weight and Relative Weight, the expression that "Persons of Taiyin(major Yin) Type have the largest physique of the lour types of persons in the characteristics of external physical features, and that they also tend to have continental(widechest or large-scaled) character and strong nerve, that they are stoutly-built and fal." proved to have the correlation with the findings of this study. Fourth, in point of Chest-Girth and Relative Chest-Girth, this study found that its findings have the correlation with the phrase that "Chests are well developed upwar -- and sturdy and solid." in describing the characteristics of Shaoyang (minor Yang)-Type person' external physical features, and that with the phrase that "Chests are narrow" in the case of Shaoyin(minor Yin)-Type persons. Fifth, as for Weight and Relative Weight, the correlation was found between the findings and the expression that "shaoyin-Type persons have comparatively less flesh" as a sign of external physical characteristics of Shaoyin-Type persons. The above-cited findings proved that there exist some correlations between external physique of the Lee Jae Ma's four types of essential constitution and physical Form Indexes. Actually, however, in clinical classification, it is desirable that this approach should be consulted only after carefull consideration based on Lee Jae Ma's theory, and it seems imperative to continue the study of objectivization of Lee's theory.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.66-84
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• 2008

Objectives: This study aimed to. offer some fundamental evidences for the stroke management policy by investigating the trends of medical care utilization and regionalization in stroke inpatients. Methods: We used the National Health Insurance claims and registry data for stroke inpatients from 1998 to 2005. Among all stroke inpatient claims data, self-employed insured and their dependents were only included in this study. The classification of stroke was based on ICD-10(I60-I69) and its subtype was divided by hemorrhage(I60-I62) and infarction(I63-I64) type. To evaluate regionalization of medical care utilization, relevance index was calculated by regions. The regions were classified 8 large catchment areas and 163 self authorized areas. Results: The overall medical care utilization rate of stroke inpatient has been increased, especially infarction subtype. Among medical care institutions, the utilization of hospital has been the most rapidly increased. Although considered annual rate of interest, total medical cost of stroke inpatients has been increased, Totally, more than 84% of stroke inpatient were admitted to medical care institutions in their own large catchment area during 1998-2005. The relevance indices in their own large catchment area (self sufficiency rates) were more than 70% in most areas regardless of stroke subtype except Chungbuk catchment area. Self sufficiency rates of stroke inpatients among 163 self authorized areas in 1998 and 2005 were 84.2% and 83.1% in metropolitan, 46.7% and 45.5% in urban, and 19.5% and 22.6% in rural areas, respectively. Conclusion: Stroke management policy for improvement of distribution at the district level, especially in rural areas, may be helpful for reducing regional inequality in stroke.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.104-113
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• 2014

Purpose: We compared the clinical manifestations of patients with tsutsugamushi disease between children and adults. Methods: From January 2003 to December 2012, 768 patients diagnosed with tsutsugamushi disease were retrospectively reviewed, and the clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, and complications were compared between children and adults. Results: No patterns of annual increases in the number of patients were noted in both children and adults. The higher incidences occurred in October and November respectively. By gender, male outnumbered female in children, but the opposite trend was seen in adults. By residential area, the urban distribution of children was higher than that of adults. Rashes (P =0.001) and eschar (P =0.004) were more common in children, while myalgia was more common in adults. Children had a high prevalence of anemia (P =0.041), and low incidence rates of thrombocytopenia, abnormal liver and renal function. Children yielded better results in the duration of their hospital stay and the incidence of complications (P <0.001). A comparison of the therapeutic effects of doxycycline and macrolide antibiotics, which was performed only on the children, did not reveal any significant differences. Conclusion: Compared to adults, children had higher incidence rates of male patients and more often suffered from rashes and eschar. Children yielded better results in the laboratory findings and duration of the hospital stay and complications. Therefore, when children are suspected to have tsutsugamushi disease, especially during its peak occurrence period, detailed physical examination and serological test should be performed to ensure a prompt diagnosis, and the use of macrolide antibiotics, which have fewer side effects, is expected to yield the same therapeutic effects.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.12-18
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• 2015

In this research, the hydrologic effects between a pre-existing urban landuse and low impact development (LID) applied conditions were compared and evaluated. The infiltration trench and tree box filter that were utilized in LID represent only 1% of the catchment area that they drain. Storm event monitoring were conducted from July 2010 to July 2014 on a total of 22 storm events in both LID sites. After LID, hydrological improvement was observed as the sites exhibited a delay (lag time) or reduction in the magnitude, frequency and duration of runoff and flow peaks as the rainfall progress. In addition, the maximum irreducible peak flow reduction for infiltration trench was found to be 61% and 33% for the tree box filter when rainfall was 40 mm and 30 mm, respectively. In designing LID, it is recommended to consider the storage capacity and catchment area, as well as the amount of rainfall and runoff on the site.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 1992

Since 1960's along with industrialization and urbanization, economic growth has been . achieved, however, at the same time, environmental condition has been seriously deteriorated. . Currently, volume of wastewater has been increasing at annual rate of 7% in sewage and 20% in industrial wastewater. However, the nation's sewage treatment serves only 33% of the municipal wastewater as of 1991. Major portion of air pollutants comes from combustion of oil and coal which comprise 81% of total energy use and emission gases from motor vehicles increasing at an accelerated rate. It is known that Korea generates the highest amount of waste per capta. Nevertheless, it is not sufficient to reduce the volume of waste by means of resources recovery and recycling. Recognizing the importance of global environmental problems such as ozone layer depletion, global warming and acid rain, international society has been making various efforts since the 1972 Stockholm conference. In particular, it is expected that the Rio conference which has adopted the Rio declaration and Agenda 21 will form a crucial turning point of the emerging new world order after the Cold War confrontation. To cope with such issues as domestic pollution and global environmental problems, the fundamental national policy aims at harmonizing "environmental protection and sustainable development". The Ministry of Environment has recently set up a mid-term comprehensive plan which includes annual targets for environmental protection. According to the government plan, gradual improvement of various environmental conditions and specific measures to achieve them is planned in time frame. Additional sewage treatment plants will be constructed in urban areas with the target to treat 65% of the nation's municipal sewage by 1996. Supply of clean fuels such as LNG will also be expanded starting from large cities as a cleaner substitute energy for coal and oil. In parallel with expansion of LNG, emphasis will be placed on installation of stack monitoring system. Due to the relatively limited land, government's basic policy for solid waste treatment is to develop large scale landfill facilities rather than small sized ones. Thirty three regional areas have been designated for the purpose of waste management. For each of these regions, big scale landfill site is going to be developed. To increase the rate of waste recycling the government is planning to reinforce separate collection system and to provide industries with economic incentives. As a part of meeting the changing situation on global environmental problems after UNCED, and accommodation regulatory measures stipulated in the global environmental conventions and protocols, national policy will try to alter industrial and economic structure so as to mitigate the increasing trends of energy consumption, by encouraging energy conservation and efficiency. In this regard, more attention will be given to the policy on the development of the cleaner technology. Ultimately, these policies and programs will contribute greatly to improving the current state of national public health.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.351-374
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• 2005

This study examines dynamics of poverty in Korea, focusing on poverty duration and its determinants. Data come from Korean Labor and Income Panel Study(KLIPS), 1998-2003. KLIPS is a longitudinal survey of 5,000 families and their members which are representative of urban residents in Korea. Respondents of KLIPS annually report detailed information on their income, economic activities, and other socio-economic characteristics. This study use poverty exit probabilities to generate distributions of spell lengths, following Bane and Ellwood(1986)'s methodology. This study finds a high level of poverty exit rates in Korea. About three quarters of those beginning a poverty spell exit from poverty within two years. Only 14.3 percent of all the poverty spells consist of long spells which persists five years or more. Yet, a different picture emerges when spells of the poor persons at a given time are analysed. Persistent poor occupy a considerable share of all the poor. Almost 50 percent of those who would be in poverty at a given time are in the midst of poverty spells lasting five years or more. When repeat spells of poverty are also included in the analyses, the proportion of long-term poor increases further. 63 percent of persons poor at a given time are long-termers. The majority of long-term poor are members of families headed by the aged. They show both a low level of poverty exit rates and a high level of reentry rates, and thus are most likely to experience long-term poverty. In the first place, they occupy a substantial share of all the poor. The second who are likely to be poor longer is members of families headed by non-aged women. Researchers have recentlty paid much attention to the working poor who have increased since the economic crisis in 1997. Yet, it is very likely that families headed by non-aged male who largely consist of the working poor temporarily experience poverty. Findings for this study suggest that further studies and policy proposals addressing persistent poverty are necessary.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.5-11
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• 2020

Recently, ground pits that have been occurring frequently in urban areas are hindering traffic flow and causing property damages and loss of human life, acting as factors that are threatening the safety of citizens. Therefore, sunken ground must be quickly restored and provisions must be made for additional damage but current domestic detailed standards regarding ground pits and accurate definitions regarding causes and measures to be taken for reoccurrences are lacking. Restoration methods of sunken ground include backfilling by reusing sunken soil or other fill material and paving the road and while this is the most often used method, this only prevents ground from sinking temporarily and can not serve as a fundamental solution. Also, additional ground pits can occur on ground that is reinforced using this method due to faulty backfill material or faulty hardening. This study used Eco-friendly High-Strength Material (EHSM) as restoration material that can be used in the restoration of underground cavities that have occurred due to ground subsidence to analyze the engineered characteristics of modified dredging clay and test pieces made from changed ratios of EHSM and weathered granite soil were uniaxial compression tests were conducted and freezing-thawing tests were conducted to study strength properties according to environmental changes of restoration material, and after tests were concluded by each level, uniaxial compression tests and dynamic elasticity tests were conducted for intensity analysis. Also, to evaluate strength characteristics of the restored ground, dynamic plate load tests were conducted to verify the improvement effectiveness of the restored ground.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5349-5357
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• 2015

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer mortality among women of all ethnic and age groups in Malaysia. Delay in seeking help for breast cancer symptoms is preventable and by identifying possible factors for delayed diagnosis, patient prognosis and survival rates could be improved. Objectives: This narrative review aimed to understand and evaluate the level of in-depth breast cancer knowledge in terms of clinical breast examination and breast self-examination, and other important aspects such as side-effects and risk factors in Malaysian females. Since Malaysia is multicultural, this review assessed social perceptions, cultural beliefs and help-seeking behaviour in respect to breast cancer among different ethnic groups, since these may impinge on efforts to 'avoid' the disease. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive literature search of seven databases was performed from December 2015 to January 2015. Screening of relevant published journals was also undertaken to identify available information related to the knowledge, perception and help-seeking behaviour of Malaysian women in relation to breast cancer. Results: A total of 42 articles were appraised and included in this review. Generally, women in Malaysia had good awareness of breast cancer and its screening tools, particularly breast self-examination, but only superficial in-depth knowledge about the disease. Women in rural areas had lower levels of knowledge than those in urban areas. It was also shown that books, magazines, brochures and television were among the most common sources of breast cancer information. Delay in presentation was attributed mainly to a negative social perception of the disease, poverty, cultural and religion practices, and a strong influence of complementary and alternative medicine, rather than a lack of knowledge. Conclusions: This review highlighted the need for an intensive and in-depth breast cancer education campaigns using media and community health programmes, even with the existing good awareness of breast cancer. This is essential in order to avoid misconceptions and to frame the correct mind-set about breast cancer among women in Malaysia. Socio-cultural differences and religious practices should be taken into account by health care professionals when advising on breast cancer. Women need to be aware of the risk factors and symptoms of breast cancer so that early diagnosis can take place and the chances of survival improved.