• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.60-66
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• 2024

Purpose: This study investigated changes in interpersonal violence and utilization of trauma recovery services during the COVID-19 pandemic. At an urban level I trauma center, trauma recovery services (TRS) provide education, counseling, peer support, and coordination of rehabilitation and recovery to address social and mental health needs. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted considerable changes in hospital services and increases in interpersonal victimization. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted between September 6, 2018 and December 20, 2020 for 1,908 victim-of-crime patients, including 574 victims of interpersonal violence. Outcomes included length of stay associated with initial TRS presentation, number of subsequent emergency department visits, number of outpatient appointments, and utilization of specific specialties within the year following the initial traumatic event. Results: Patients were primarily female (59.4%), single (80.1%), non-Hispanic (86.7%), and Black (59.2%). The mean age was 33.0 years, and 247 patients (49.2%) presented due to physical assault, 132 (26.3%) due to gunshot wounds, and 76 (15.1%) due to sexual assault. The perpetrators were primarily partners (27.9%) or strangers (23.3%). During the study period, 266 patients (mean, 14.9 patients per month) presented before the declaration of COVID-19 as a national emergency on March 13, 2020, while 236 patients (mean, 25.9 patients per month) presented afterward, representing a 74.6% increase in victim-of-crime patients treated. Interactions with TRS decreased during the COVID-19 period, with an average of 3.0 interactions per patient before COVID-19 versus 1.9 after emergency declaration (P<0.01). Similarly, reductions in length of stay were noted; the pre-COVID-19 average was 3.6 days, compared to 2.1 days post-COVID-19 (P=0.01). Conclusions: While interpersonal violence increased, TRS interactions decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting interruption of services, COVID-19 precautions, and postponement/cancellation of elective visits. Future direction of hospital policy to enable resource and service delivery to this population, despite internal and external challenges, appears warranted.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.183-191
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• 2015

Purpose: For the current article an examination was done as to whether engaging in sexual intercourse before or during adolescence has a negative impact on the suicidal behaviors of suicide ideation, suicide attempt, and suicide lethality and whether the impact varies according to the context of sexual intercourse and/or gender. Methods: Adolescents who experienced casual sex and romantic sex were compared to adolescents who retained their virginity. Data was from samples drawn from the three waves (2010~2012) of the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey. Logistic models were used to adjust for a wide array of confounding variables. Results: Any type of sexual intercourse increases risk of all suicidal behaviors. Sexual intercourse in a romantic relationship exhibits enhanced risk of suicidal behaviors compared to casual sex. Adjusting for experience of sexual violence, however, decreases risk of romantic sex substantially, turning some estimates statistically insignificant. In addition, risks for suicide lethality are greater for girls than boys. Conclusion: Romantic sex put adolescents at higher risk for suicidal behaviors than casual sex owing to prevalent sexual violence in the relationships. Girls suffer more substantively adverse outcomes than boys. These results suggest that adolescents will benefit from comprehensive education on sexuality and sexual behaviors regarding how to form and maintain a romantic relationship that is characterized by personal integrity and mutual respect. It is also important to help victims of sexual violence recover from traumatic events by providing emotional support and effective counseling.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry, and Cartography Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.253-256
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• 2007

Among natural disasters that lead to devastating damage, floods from heavy rains have been causing hundreds of victims and a great loss of their properties every year. Basically, there is no other way to deal with the problem considering it is a kind of natural disaster, but more specific studies for a preventive measure of flood has been in progress so far. However, the controversy over the problem is going on due to the objection of some environmental organizations or some economic reasons. The key important thing is select the most suitable area for a preventive measure of flood where a huge amount of national budget is put into, which is also the factor to judge it would be success or failure, therefore, in this study, it is made to be profitable to decide the priority order in a plan for preventing disasters by drawing more accurate data conveniently from the connection with GIS when you get some information of configuration of the ground and using them into the economic analysis for flood prevention industries.

• Korean System Dynamics Review
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.95-126
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• 2011

This paper aims at developing a System Dynamics model with an augmented predator-prey interaction structure to deal with the population management of roe deer in Jeju, Korea. Although people still regard the creature as one of the important tourist attractions, there has been much debate on the issues of the appropriateness of the population size of roe deers because they have been stigmatized as crop damagers, and roadkill/poaching victims due to their natural habit to move around from the top mountain to the lowland of the island. The model is therefore to incorporate these migrating and grazing behaviors into an augmented Lotka-Volterra model coupling roe deer population in both parts of the island to that of predators and preys of the species. The authors also provide a comprehensive set of dynamic hypotheses and relevant CLD/SFD to understand the population dynamics of roe deer and co-evolving species and perform the steady-state analysis of the proposed equation system to verify the model behavior of the numerical example lastly presented in this paper.

• Architectural research
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.45-56
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• 2012

The high rate of urban crime is a main issue that needs to be dealt with in this high-tech society. With the rapid increase of urban crime, research has mainly focused on topics either on a global or a local scale, such as cities or communities and houses or buildings, without reliable observational data. This study makes the best use of the nationwide surveys carried out by Korean government agencies for the analysis of urban crime patterns and factors in major Korean cities. The aims of this research are threefold: understanding the relationship between urban crime patterns and socio-economic differences in cities, determining the effect of residence types on the urban crime patterns; and uncovering potential influential factors of a crime victim's individual characteristics. The statistical methods used for the analysis of social statistical data are as follows: simple regression, logistic regression, one-way ANOVA and post-hoc test. This research found that the patterns of urban crime rate in cities have a certain tendency toward the cities' socio-economic and geographical differences. The residence type is an influential factor showing a close relation to the crime rate. Personal issues, such as the types of occupation, education, marriage, etc., are directly relevant to victims of crime.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.39-54
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• 1976

In order to contribute to the formulation of a public health plan, the epidemiological study conducted by the record of 834 accident patients during the year Jan.1975 to Dec.1975 at Lim's clinic Chun Chon city has been analysed in hospital treatment. The accident patients were divided into Common, Psychosomatic, Industrial and Traffic. The results obtained from this study are summarized as follows ; 1. Common accident showed highest rate as 32.1%, Industrial showed 28.6% rate, Psychosomatic showed 27.2% and Traffic accident showed lower rate as 12.1%. 2. The age group from 16 to 20 years old showed the highest rate as 23.0% and the distribution of this same age group in the Kang Won Province area was 20.4%, sexual grouping shows men with the highest rate as much as 69.5%. 3. The highest rate of accidents (23.9%) occurred from 3Pm to 6Pm. The highest monthly accident rate (13.1%) occurred in July, in the most concentrated season, summer (31.3%) 4. The place of indoor accidents were highest 30.3% 5. Bruise and laceration form wounds showed highest with traffic accident victims suffering 35.0% of this bruise rate 6. Wound lesions of the upper limbs showed the highest type 28,6% by head lesions 28.2% 7. Among those completely cured after treatment(84.1% of the total), intoxication cases showed the highest rate (86.5% ) 8. From accident tims to treatment at the clinic, intoxication cases had the longest wait (77.2%) treated within six hours.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.203-208
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• 2004

The Family of Man was a 1955 photographic exhibition that depicted normal people in all walks of life from around the world. The viewer was visually confronted with the similarity of all people. The people of the world are now facing common health challenges as a result of changing lifestyles and increasing healthcare costs. Dietary supplements have the potential to be part of the solution. Dietary supplementation with antioxidant vitamins may be the most effective intervention for preventing the onset of Alzheimer's disease in the rapidly expanding elderly population - and at a very low cost. AIDS is devastating much of the developing world, where few resources are available to treat it victims. Inexpensive multivitamin sup-plements have been demonstrated to slow the progression of AIDS, reduce the death rate, reduce AIDS-related morbidity, improve T cell counts, and reduce viral loads. Careful economic analysis demonstrate that calcium and folic acid supplementation could reduce healthcare costs in the USA by $13.9 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively. Most supplements with therapeutic potential have not been subjected to sufficiently rigorous research to permit unqualified public health recommendations. Carefully directed research is needed to identify the supplements with the greatest potential and to verify their safety and efficacy.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2010

All forms of asbestos are proven human carcinogens. All forms of asbestos cause malignant mesothelioma, lung, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers, and may cause gastrointestinal and other cancers. No exposure to asbestos is without risk, and there is no safe threshold of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos cancer victims die painful lingering deaths. These deaths are almost entirely preventable. When evidence of the carcinogenicity of asbestos became incontrovertible, concerned parties, including the Collegium Ramazzini, called for a universal ban on the mining, manufacture and use of asbestos in all countries around the world. Asbestos is now banned in 52 countries, and safer products have replaced many materials that once were made with asbestos. Nonetheless, a large number of countries still use, import, and export asbestos and asbestos-containing products. And still today in many countries that have banned other forms of asbestos, the so-called "controlled use" of chrysotile asbestos continues to be permitted, an exemption that has no basis in medical science but rather reflects the political and economic influence of the asbestos mining and manufacturing industry. To protect the health of all people in the world, industrial workers, construction workers, women and children, now and in future generations - the Collegium Ramazzini calls again today on all countries of the world, as we have repeatedly in the past, to join in the international endeavor to ban all forms of asbestos. An international ban on asbestos is urgently needed.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.546-553
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• 2018

Since the Gyeongju earthquakes in 2016, there have been increased research interests in the areas of seismic design, building collapse, and rescue radar applications in Korea. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a nondestructive electromagnetic method that is used for underground surveys. To properly design ground penetrating radar that detects buried victims precisely, it is important to study electromagnetic wave propagation channel characteristics in advance. This work presents an electromagnetic propagation environment analysis of a trapped victim for GPR applications. In this study, we develop a realistic collapse model composed of layered reinforced concrete and a victim positioned horizontally. In addition, the effects of rebars and the distance between the radar antenna and target are investigated. The numerical analysis presents the electromagnetic wave propagation characteristics, including amplitude loss and phase difference, in the 450-MHz and 1,500-MHz frequency band, and it shows the electric field distribution in the environment.

• Korean System Dynamics Review
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.5-32
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• 2015

Last year, a disastrous accident happened on the sea. Car ferry Se-wol which was on its way from In-cheon to Je-ju sank in the middle of the western sea. 304 passengers were drowned at the sea in the accident. There were no passengers who were waiting on board ship rescued in the accident. This study is to review the pattern of decision making in the middle of saving a life, right after Se-wol was about to sink. The starting point of this study is decision making on the rescue by rescue corps with no expert knowledge at the initial stage. When it comes to saving victims, there was no expert on rescue on the sea. Failure in rescue at Se-wol disaster lets us find a vicious circle of positive feedback loop. Experts with no experience act like well-qualified persons. Unqualified persons(leaders) have no expertise. Those who pretend to be expert occupy the important post in the hierarchy. It means we could not accumulate expertise of know-how in rescue division. That's why a vicious circle of positive feedback is formed in areas of disasters. It is necessary to train experts in Government Organizations to weaken the vicious circle of positive feedback.