An analysis of the medical professional conflicts and health care policy in South Korea

The purpose of the thesis is to explore the characteristics of the system of medical professions and its changes in terms of the conflicts existing among the medical professions in South Korea since the 1990s, in the light mainly of Abbott's theory of the professional system (Abbott, 1988). Four cases of conflict were examined and analysed: the conflict between oriental medicine and pharmacy over preparing oriental medicines; the one between western medicine and pharmacy over the separation system; the one between western medicine and oriental medicine over unification; and the one among the three medical professions over the National Health Insurance. This study used primary data from interviewing members, particularly elites, of the three medical professions, the government, the press and civic groups. The data included active and dynamic inside information about individual medical professions and conflicts.With the conflicts, the situations of the medical professional system has changed: pharmacy kept and even strengthened its position in the professional system; oriental medicine also found opportunities to develop its professionalism and fortify its position in health care; and western medicine faced its weakening influence in the medical professional system. In addition to a change in the influence of individual medical professions, the features of the conflicts have changed. The former two open conflicts were undertaken in a strong and violent way, using strikes and street demonstrations. However, in the latter two conflicts, professions attempted academic and logical strategies to control their situations.Through the four medical conflicts, more complex causes and situations have been uncovered in the medical professional system and health care in Korea. The conflicts have developed from professional jurisdictional ones into economic and political ones. Applying Abbott's factors to the Korean cases, the following points are outstanding: salient organisational development of individual professions; inconsistency between the influence of a dominant profession and the actual result of conflict; more dynamic and fundamental influences of political, economic, social and cultural factors; and the influence of the government's mismanagement

The Theme of God: A Musical and Theological Discussion of Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus

The purpose of this research is to help both performers and liturgical musicians to better understand Messiaen’s musical style and theological inspiration. Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) is one of the most important composers of French keyboard music in the twentieth century. He composed numerous works in nearly every musical genre, many inspired by his Catholic faith. Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus (Twenty Contemplations on the Infant Jesus) is a two-hour masterpiece for solo piano written in 1944, and is one of the most significant of his works. The piece is constructed by using three main themes: the Thème de Dieu (Theme of God), Thème de l’étoile et de la Croix (Theme of the Star and of the Cross), and Thème d’accords (Theme of Chords). The “Theme of God” is based on an F-sharp major chord with chromatic passing tones in the inner voice. The “Theme of the Star and of the Cross” symbolizes the birth and death of Jesus by using chant-like monophony. The “Theme of Chords” is constructed on four chromatic and dissonant chords creating the sound of bells. Throughout the Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus, Messiaen uses a variety of rhythmic figures, including Greek rhythms, Indian rhythms, non-retrogradable rhythms, diminution and augmentation. He also created an inventory of scales, which he named the modes of limited transposition. This research will examine Messiaen’s Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus by focusing on the movements based on the “Theme of God,” namely movements 1, 5, 11, and 20. Following a musical discussion of these pieces, this research will then discuss the theological considerations in Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus using Messiaen’s own comments found in the score and in additional reference materials

An academic nomad? : Identity formation of iSchool students

Students come to an iSchool program with a passion for exciting and novel research which they perceive as being rare in traditional disciplinary areas. However, the range of freedom allowed in conducting research at iSchools sometimes poses unexpected difficulties for students. This study aims to identify the unique problems that graduate students in an interdisciplinary iSchool program encounter when designing a research project. A qualitative content analysis method is used to analyze students’ responses regarding the difficulties they have experienced. The findings indicate that the difficulties, which range from a paradox of choice in determining a research topic to communicating the implications of their research outcomes, generally point to a problem of identity formation. This study argues that students’ identity problems have been overshadowed by the hype of interdisciplinary studies and that helping students establish a solid identity within iSchool programs is necessary to produce healthy and confident researchers.ye

"Gangnam Mom": A Qualitative Study on the Information Behaviors of Korean Helicopter Mothers

This study investigates information seeking, sharing, and managing behaviors of “Gangnam mothers,” a group of dedicated Korean mothers who invest significant time and effort to micro- manage their child’s academic needs. These mothers’ vibrant and sophisticated information seeking and managing loads of education-related information sources is worthy of attention from information behavior research. To learn about their information behavior, field observations and interviews with mothers of school-aged children in Gangnam, the southern part of Seoul, have been conducted. The findings show that Gangnam mothers are personal information experts who heavily utilize human channels of information and employ local, group and personal filtering strategies. The fascinating information ecology of mothers in their diverse strategies for navigating and filtering information, coupled with the unique information environment in Gangnam, makes the flood of education-related information surprisingly manageable.ye

Age and Education Effects on a Novel Syntactic Assessment Battery for Elderly Adults

The purpose of this study was to delineate the properties of a novel syntactic assessment battery and to present descriptive data on normal elderly individuals. We administered the Syntactic Assessment Battery (hereinafter SAB) using a sentence-picture paradigm to 195 normal elderly adults in three age groups (60–69, 70–79, and 80–90) and five educational levels (No formal education, Elementary School Graduation, Middle School Graduation, High School Graduation, College Graduation and Above). A multiple linear regression model was applied to verify the age and education effects. A summary of results indicated that the SAB effectively detected age and education effects. People generally demonstrated worse performance as they aged but better performance as their educational levels increased. People with high school education and above generally demonstrated stronger performance on the test, although educational effects were not significantly different between elementary and middle school graduation groups. The current novel syntactic assessment battery can serve as a screening measure that sensitively detects age and education effects

Design, Analysis, and Optimization of LCD Backlight Unit using Ray Tracing Simulation

The design of BLU for LCD devices, whose goal is to achieve uniform illumination and high luminance across the LCD surface, requries an assistance of illumination design programs. The goal of this paper is to develop a design and analysis tool to model an efficient BLU. The rendering techniques traditionally used in the field of computer graphics are the usual tools of choice to analyze BLU. An analysis method based on Monte Carlo photon tracing to evaluate the optical performance of BLU is presented. An optimization technique based on direct search method, a simplex method by Nelder and Mead, to achieve an optimal uniform illumination is also discussed

Design, Analysis, and Optimization of LCD Backlight Unit Using Ray Tracing Simulation

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com.The design of BLU for LCD devices, whose goal is to achieve uniform illumination and high luminance across the LCD surface, requries an assistance of illumination design programs. The goal of this paper is to develop a design and analysis tool to model an efficient BLU. The rendering techniques traditionally used in the field of computer graphics are the usual tools of choice to analyze BLU. An analysis method based on Monte Carlo photon tracing to evaluate the optical performance of BLU is presented. An optimization technique based on direct search method, a simplex method by Nelder and Mead, to achieve an optimal uniform illumination is also discussed

The impact of dose of the angiotensin-receptor blocker valsartan on the post-myocardial infarction ventricular remodeling: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and the angiotensin-receptor blocker valsartan ameliorate ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). Based on previous clinical trials, a maximum clinical dose is recommended in practical guidelines. Yet, has not been clearly demonstrated whether the recommended dose is more efficacious compared to the lower dose that is commonly used in clinical practice.</p> <p>Method/Design</p> <p>Valsartan in post-MI remodeling (VALID) is a randomized, open-label, single-blinded multicenter study designed to compare the efficacy of different clinical dose of valsartan on the post-MI ventricular remodeling. This study also aims to assess neurohormone change and clinical parameters of patients during the post-infarct period. A total of 1116 patients with left ventricular dysfunction following the first episode of acute ST-elevation MI are to be enrolled and randomized to a maximal tolerable dose (up to 320 mg/day) or usual dose (80 mg/day) of valsartan for 12 months in 2:1 ratio. Echocardiographic analysis for quantifying post-MI ventricular remodeling is to be conducted in central core laboratory. Clinical assessment and laboratory test are performed at fixed times.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>VALID is a multicenter collaborative study to evaluate the impact of dose of valsartan on the post-MI ventricular remodeling. The results of the study provide information about optimal dosing of the drug in the management of patients after MI. The results will be available by 2012.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01340326">NCT01340326</a></p