Establishment, Present Condition, and Developmental Direction of the New Korean Healthcare Accreditation System

On July 23rd, 2010 a revised medical law (Article 58) was passed to change existing evaluation system of medical institutions to an accreditation system. The new healthcare accreditation system was introduced to encourage medical institutions to work voluntarily and continuously to improve patient safety and medical service quality. Changes regarding the healthcare accreditation system included the establishment of an accreditation agency, the voluntary participation of medical institutions, accreditation standards centering on the treatment process and patient safety, tracing methodology, and the announcement of comprehensive results concerning accreditation. Despite varying views on the healthcare accreditation system, including some that are critical, it is meaningful that the voluntary nature of the system acknowledges that the medical institutions must be active agents in improving medical service quality. Healthcare quality is not improved instantaneously, but instead gradually through continuous communication within the clinical field. For this accreditation system to be successful, followings are essential: the accreditation agency becomes financially independent and is managed efficiently, the autonomy and regulation surrounding the system are balanced, the professionalism of the system is ensured, and the medical field plays an active role in the operation of the system

Psychological experiences of Korean missionary “kids” (MKs): A qualitative inquiry

The present study is a qualitative investigation of the psychological experiences of children of Korean missionaries, through the eyes of Korean missionary kids (MKs) and missionary workers. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 11 MKs and MK workers, and data were analysed using the Consensual Qualitative Research method. Several domains emerged: challenges associated with the MK experience, resiliency of MKs, intrapersonal and interpersonal coping skills, mental health concerns, religion and spirituality, a complex cultural identity, preparation for college transition, and hopes for MKs and their missionary parents. Categories corresponding to the domains are highlighted. The present study addresses a need for more attention paid to the non-American MK experience, and it presents some implications for the church and higher educational institutions

Proto-Model of an Infrared Wide-Field Off-Axis Telescope

We develop a proto-model of an off-axis reflective telescope for infrared wide-field observations based on the design of Schwarzschild-Chang type telescope. With only two mirrors, this design achieves an entrance pupil diameter of 50 mm and an effective focal length of 100 mm. We can apply this design to a mid-infrared telescope with a field of view of 8 deg X 8 deg. In spite of the substantial advantages of off-axis telescopes in the infrared compared to refractive or on-axis reflective telescopes, it is known to be difficult to align the mirrors in off-axis systems because of their asymmetric structures. Off-axis mirrors of our telescope are manufactured at the Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI). We analyze the fabricated mirror surfaces by fitting polynomial functions to the measured data. We accomplish alignment of this two-mirror off-axis system using a ray tracing method. A simple imaging test is performed to compare a pinhole image with a simulated prediction.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figure

Language as Reality: A Co-Creative Storytelling Game Experience in 1001 Nights using Generative AI

In this paper, we present "1001 Nights", an AI-native game that allows players lead in-game reality through co-created storytelling with the character driven by large language model. The concept is inspired by Wittgenstein's idea of the limits of one's world being determined by the bounds of their language. Using advanced AI tools like GPT-4 and Stable Diffusion, the second iteration of the game enables the protagonist, Shahrzad, to realize words and stories in her world. The player can steer the conversation with the AI King towards specific keywords, which then become battle equipment in the game. This blend of interactive narrative and text-to-image transformation challenges the conventional border between the game world and reality through a dual perspective. We focus on Shahrzad, who seeks to alter her fate compared to the original folklore, and the player, who collaborates with AI to craft narratives and shape the game world. We explore the technical and design elements of implementing such a game with an objective to enhance the narrative game genre with AI-generated content and to delve into AI-native gameplay possibilities

Hyborg Agency: Cultivating conversational AI creatures through community connections

Hyborg Agency, an interactive art installation, integrates a digital forest with a human discord chat channel, enabling communication with AI deer or 'hyborgs'. The forest metaphorically represents human society, where AI agents use the large language model (LLM) ChatGPT to learn and grow by summarising conversations and updating their knowledge base, assimilating community thoughts as enriching nutrients

A Study on the Flora of 15 Islands in the Western Sea of Jeollanamdo Province, Korea

AbstractThis study aims to investigate the flora of 15 islands in Yeonggwang, Shinan, and Mokpo of the Jeollanamdo province and the distribution of major plants in order to use the results as fundamental data for studies on plants in islands. Field surveys were performed 25 times from 2004 to 2010 to investigate the flora in these regions. A total of 793 taxa including 123 families, 421 genera, 695 species, 2 subspeices, 88 varieties, and 8 forms was found. Korean endemic plants including Hepatica insularis and Galium koreanum were 6 taxa. 25 taxa of rare plants including Trachomitum lancifolium, Daphne kiusiana, and Centranthera cochinchinensis var. lutea were confirmed 120 taxa floristic special plant species were confirmed; 11 taxa of the fifth class, four taxa of the fourth class, 28 taxa of the third class. 78 taxa of naturalized plants were confirmed

2D perovskite stabilized phase-pure formamidinium perovskite solar cells.

Compositional engineering has been used to overcome difficulties in fabricating high-quality phase-pure formamidinium perovskite films together with its ambient instability. However, this comes alongside an undesirable increase in bandgap that sacrifices the device photocurrent. Here we report the fabrication of phase-pure formamidinium-lead tri-iodide perovskite films with excellent optoelectronic quality and stability. Incorporation of 1.67 mol% of 2D phenylethylammonium lead iodide into the precursor solution enables the formation of phase-pure formamidinium perovskite with an order of magnitude enhanced photoluminescence lifetime. The 2D perovskite spontaneously forms at grain boundaries to protect the formamidinium perovskite from moisture and suppress ion migration. A stabilized power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.64% (certified stabilized PCE of 19.77%) is achieved with a short-circuit current density exceeding 24 mA cm-2 and an open-circuit voltage of 1.130 V, corresponding to a loss-in-potential of 0.35 V, and significantly enhanced operational stability

Transport properties of graphene with one-dimensional charge defects

We study the effect of extended charge defects in electronic transport properties of graphene. Extended defects are ubiquitous in chemically and epitaxially grown graphene samples due to internal strains associated with the lattice mismatch. We show that at low energies these defects interact quite strongly with the 2D Dirac fermions and have an important effect in the DC-conductivity of these materials.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. published version: one figure, appendix and references adde