ABM: While colorectal cancer (CRC) is an ideal target for population screening, physician and patient attitudes contribute to low levels of screening uptake. This study was carried out to find feasible economic strate...ABM: While colorectal cancer (CRC) is an ideal target for population screening, physician and patient attitudes contribute to low levels of screening uptake. This study was carried out to find feasible economic strategies to improve the CRC screening compliance in Korea. METHODS: The natural history of a simulated cohort of 50-year-old Korean in the general population was modeled with CRC screening until the age of 80 years. Cases of positive results were worked up with colonoscopy. After polypectomy, colonoscopy was repeated every 3 years. Baseline screening compliance without insurance coverage by the national health insurance (NHI) was assumed to be 30%. If NHI covered the CRC screening or the reimbursement of screening to physicians increased, the compliance was assumed to increase. We evaluated 16 different CRC screening strategies based on Markov model. RESULTS: When the NHI did not cover the screening and compliance was 30%, non-dominated strategies were colonoscopy every 5 years (COL5) and colonoscopy every 3 years (COL3). In all scenarios of various compliance rates with raised coverage of the NHI and increased reimbursement of colonoscopy, COL10, COL5 and COL3 were non-dominated strategies, and COL10 had lower or minimal incremental medical cost and financial burden on the NHI than the strategy of no screening. These results were stable with sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION: Economic strategies for promoting screening compliance can be accompanied by expanding insurance coverage by the NHI and by increasing reimbursement for CRC screening to providers. COL10 was a cost-effective and cost saving screening strategy for CRC in Korea.展开更多
A novel embedded sensor network records changes in key climatic-environmental variables over a range of altitude in the BaekduDaegan Mountain （BDM） of Gangwon Province in Korea, a protected mountain region with uniq...A novel embedded sensor network records changes in key climatic-environmental variables over a range of altitude in the BaekduDaegan Mountain （BDM） of Gangwon Province in Korea, a protected mountain region with unique biodiversity undergoing climate change research. The investigated area is subdivided into three horizontal north-south study areas. Three variables, temperature （T, °C）, relative humidity （RH, %）, and light intensity （LI, lumens m-2, or lux, lx）, have been continuously measured at hourly intervals from June, 2olo to September, 2011 using HOBO H8 devices at lO fixed study sites. These hourly observations are aggregated to monthly, seasonal and annual mean values, and results are summarized to inaugurate a long-term climate change investigation. A region wide T difference in accordance with altitude, or lapse rate, over the interval is calculated as o.4°C l00 m-1. T lapse rates change seasonally, with winter lapse rates being greater than those of summer. RH is elevated in summer compared to other seasons. LI within forestland is lower during summer and higher during other seasons. The obtained results could closely relate to the vegetation type and structure and the terrain state since data loggers were located in forestland.展开更多
The purpose of this study is to understand limitations and possibilities of organizing independent contractors by focusing on insurance solicitors in South Korea. Among various types of precarious employment, insuranc...The purpose of this study is to understand limitations and possibilities of organizing independent contractors by focusing on insurance solicitors in South Korea. Among various types of precarious employment, insurance solicitors are an exemplar case of independent contractor jobs in Korea. According to the narrow interpretation on the employment relationship by the courts, the labor standard law does not treat insurance solicitors as workers. And, most of insurance solicitors are not affiliated with labor unions. As a result, insurance solicitors are outside labor protections. Under this context, insurance solicitors attempted to organize their own union--Korean Insurance Agents＇ Union （KIAU） in the early 2000s, and turned it into a branch of Korean Finance and Service Workers＇ Union （KFSWU） in 2004. However, the KIAU lost its membership rapidly since the mid-2000s and has failed to revitalize itself until now. So, in this study, the author focuses on the changes in the employment structure behind the growth of the insurance industry in the private sector and the reason why union organizing of independent contractors was not successful.展开更多
文摘ABM: While colorectal cancer (CRC) is an ideal target for population screening, physician and patient attitudes contribute to low levels of screening uptake. This study was carried out to find feasible economic strategies to improve the CRC screening compliance in Korea. METHODS: The natural history of a simulated cohort of 50-year-old Korean in the general population was modeled with CRC screening until the age of 80 years. Cases of positive results were worked up with colonoscopy. After polypectomy, colonoscopy was repeated every 3 years. Baseline screening compliance without insurance coverage by the national health insurance (NHI) was assumed to be 30%. If NHI covered the CRC screening or the reimbursement of screening to physicians increased, the compliance was assumed to increase. We evaluated 16 different CRC screening strategies based on Markov model. RESULTS: When the NHI did not cover the screening and compliance was 30%, non-dominated strategies were colonoscopy every 5 years (COL5) and colonoscopy every 3 years (COL3). In all scenarios of various compliance rates with raised coverage of the NHI and increased reimbursement of colonoscopy, COL10, COL5 and COL3 were non-dominated strategies, and COL10 had lower or minimal incremental medical cost and financial burden on the NHI than the strategy of no screening. These results were stable with sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION: Economic strategies for promoting screening compliance can be accompanied by expanding insurance coverage by the NHI and by increasing reimbursement for CRC screening to providers. COL10 was a cost-effective and cost saving screening strategy for CRC in Korea.
文摘A novel embedded sensor network records changes in key climatic-environmental variables over a range of altitude in the BaekduDaegan Mountain （BDM） of Gangwon Province in Korea, a protected mountain region with unique biodiversity undergoing climate change research. The investigated area is subdivided into three horizontal north-south study areas. Three variables, temperature （T, °C）, relative humidity （RH, %）, and light intensity （LI, lumens m-2, or lux, lx）, have been continuously measured at hourly intervals from June, 2olo to September, 2011 using HOBO H8 devices at lO fixed study sites. These hourly observations are aggregated to monthly, seasonal and annual mean values, and results are summarized to inaugurate a long-term climate change investigation. A region wide T difference in accordance with altitude, or lapse rate, over the interval is calculated as o.4°C l00 m-1. T lapse rates change seasonally, with winter lapse rates being greater than those of summer. RH is elevated in summer compared to other seasons. LI within forestland is lower during summer and higher during other seasons. The obtained results could closely relate to the vegetation type and structure and the terrain state since data loggers were located in forestland.
文摘The purpose of this study is to understand limitations and possibilities of organizing independent contractors by focusing on insurance solicitors in South Korea. Among various types of precarious employment, insurance solicitors are an exemplar case of independent contractor jobs in Korea. According to the narrow interpretation on the employment relationship by the courts, the labor standard law does not treat insurance solicitors as workers. And, most of insurance solicitors are not affiliated with labor unions. As a result, insurance solicitors are outside labor protections. Under this context, insurance solicitors attempted to organize their own union--Korean Insurance Agents＇ Union （KIAU） in the early 2000s, and turned it into a branch of Korean Finance and Service Workers＇ Union （KFSWU） in 2004. However, the KIAU lost its membership rapidly since the mid-2000s and has failed to revitalize itself until now. So, in this study, the author focuses on the changes in the employment structure behind the growth of the insurance industry in the private sector and the reason why union organizing of independent contractors was not successful.
