• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.155-167
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• 2023

Purpose: This study investigates the association between seafood consumption and frailty according to gender in the Korean elderly. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the Seventh (2016-2018) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was procured for this study. Data from 3,675 subjects (1,643 men and 2,032 women) aged ≥ 65 years were analyzed. Levels of seafood intake were assessed by a one-day 24-hour dietary recall, and subjects were classified into three tertiles by gender according to frailty phenotype: robust, pre-frail, and frail. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to clarify the association between seafood consumption and frailty for each gender. Results: The prevalence of frailty was determined as 13.4% for men and 29.7% for women. Participants with a higher seafood intake had higher intakes of grains, fruits, and vegetables, while the intake of meat was significantly lower. In both men and women, the group with higher seafood intake showed higher energy and micronutrient intakes. The frail prevalence and frailty score were significantly low in the highest tertiles of seafood consumption compared to the lowest tertile in men and women (p < 0.001). After adjusting for confounder, the highest tertile of seafood consumption showed a decreased risk of frailty compared to the lowest tertile only in women (hazard ratio [HR], 0.50; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.32-0.78; p-trend = 0.008 vs. HR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.32-0.83; p-trend = 0.008; respectively). Conclusion: Results of this study suggest that seafood consumption potentially decreases the risk of frailty in the elderly.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.217-227
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• 2023

The consumption of ready-to-eat side dishes is rapidly growing in South Korea. These foods are particularly vulnerable to microbiological contamination as they are often cooked without any treatment, such as heating or stored at room temperature after cooking. Hence, in 2022, we analyzed the ready-to-eat side dishes sold in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea for microbiological contamination. We collected 100 samples from supermarkets in 7 cities, and then examined them for presence of food-borne pathogens and sanitary indicator bacteria. In the analysis of the food-borne pathogens, Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens were isolated from 51 samples (51.0%) and 3 samples (3.0%), respectively. However, both quantitatively met the Korean Food Standards Codex. Genes of five different enterotoxins and one emetic toxin were analyzed from the 51 isolated B. cereus strains. We detected enterotoxin entFM (100.0%), nheA (94.1%), hblC (58.8%), cytK (56.9%), and bceT (41.2%) in 51 isolates, and emetic toxin gene, CER, in only one (2.0%) isolate. We did not detect C. perfringens toxin gene (cpe) that causes food poisoning in any one of the three C. perfringens isolates. In the case of sanitary indicator bacteria, Kimchi had the highest levels of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms, followed by Saengchae, Jeotgal, Jeolim, Namul, and Jorim, respectively. We counted total aerobic bacteria at two different storage temperatures (4℃ and 20℃) to determine the effect of storage temperature. When stored at 20℃, total aerobic bacteria count increased in most of the ready-to-eat side dishes, except for Jeotgal. This result conclusively shows the need for refrigerating the ready-to-eat side dishes after purchase. Further research is needed to assess the risk and safety of the ready-to-eat side dishes available in the market and determine appropriate safety management practices.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.634-643
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• 2023

Purpose: Underground common duct fires are steadily occurring, and the proportion of property damage is particularly large among property and human casualties caused by fires. Especially, cable fires that occur in common areas can spread vertically quickly and pose a great risk. This paper aims to scientifically analyze the nature of the fire by reproducing the fire through experiments. Method: To analyze the characteristics of cable fires in underground common duct, heat release rate and temperature changes were measured through Room-corner (ISO 9705) test, and the vertical and horizontal propagation of cable fires was quantitatively compared and analyzed. Result: The Room Corner Test (ISO 9705) was used to compare the temperature changes at each data logger point. The results showed that the time it took for the fire to reach the ignition temperature in the horizontal and vertical directions from the center point of the first-tier cable was 589 seconds and 536 seconds, respectively, which means that the vertical fire propagation is 53 seconds faster than the horizontal propagation. This proves that the vertical propagation of fire is relatively faster than the horizontal propagation. The horizontal propagation speed of the fire was also compared for each floor cable tray. The results showed that the third-tier cable propagated at 3.4 times the speed of the second-tier cable, and the second-tier cable propagated at 1.5 times the speed of the first-tier cable. This means that the higher the cable is located, the faster the fire spreads and the larger the fire becomes. Conclusion: This study identified the risks of cable fires and analyzed the risks of vertical fire propagation during cable fires based on the results of the Room Corner Test. Studies to prevent the spread of fire and fire response policies to prevent vertical fire propagation are required. The results of this study are expected to be used to assess the fire risk of common areas and other fires.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.167-183
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• 2023

In the recent field of recommendation systems, various studies have been conducted to model sparse data effectively. Among these, GLocal-K(Global and Local Kernels for Recommender Systems) is a research endeavor combining global and local kernels to provide personalized recommendations by considering global data patterns and individual user characteristics. However, due to its utilization of kernel tricks, GLocal-K exhibits diminished performance on highly sparse data and struggles to offer recommendations for new users or items due to the absence of side information. In this paper, to address these limitations of GLocal-K, we propose the GEase-K (Global and EASE kernels for Recommender Systems) model, incorporating the EASE(Embarrassingly Shallow Autoencoders for Sparse Data) model and leveraging side information. Initially, we substitute EASE for the local kernel in GLocal-K to enhance recommendation performance on highly sparse data. EASE, functioning as a simple linear operational structure, is an autoencoder that performs highly on extremely sparse data through regularization and learning item similarity. Additionally, we utilize side information to alleviate the cold-start problem. We enhance the understanding of user-item similarities by employing a conditional autoencoder structure during the training process to incorporate side information. In conclusion, GEase-K demonstrates resilience in highly sparse data and cold-start situations by combining linear and nonlinear structures and utilizing side information. Experimental results show that GEase-K outperforms GLocal-K based on the RMSE and MAE metrics on the highly sparse GoodReads and ModCloth datasets. Furthermore, in cold-start experiments divided into four groups using the GoodReads and ModCloth datasets, GEase-K denotes superior performance compared to GLocal-K.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2023

This study intended to develop a technique for quantitatively and 3-dimensionally predicting the potential failure zone and impulse that may occur when trees are fall down. The main outcomes of this study are as follows. First, this study established the potential failure zone and impulse calculation formula in order to quantitatively calculate the risks generated when trees are fallen down. When estimating the potential failure zone, the calculation was performed by magnifying the height of trees by 1.5 times, reflecting the likelihood of trees falling down and slipping. With regard to the slope of a tree, the range of 360° centered on the root collar was set in the case of trees that grow upright and the range of 180° from the inclined direction was set in the case of trees that grow inclined. The angular momentum was calculated by reflecting the rotational motion from the root collar when the trees fell down, and the impulse was calculated by converting it into the linear momentum. Second, the program to calculate a potential failure zone and impulse was developed using Rhino3D and Grasshopper. This study created the 3-dimensional models of the shapes for topography, buildings, and trees using the Rhino3D, thereby connecting them to Grasshopper to construct the spatial information. The algorithm was programmed using the calculation formula in the stage of risk calculation. This calculation considered the information on the trees' growth such as the height, inclination, and weight of trees and the surrounding environment including adjacent trees, damage targets, and analysis ranges. In the stage of risk inquiry, the calculation results were visualized into a three-dimensional model by summarizing them. For instance, the risk degrees were classified into various colors to efficiently determine the dangerous trees and dangerous areas.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.239-247
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• 2023

The FIDIC Red Book is an international standard contract condition in which the Employer designs and the Contractor performs the construction. The Engineer of FIDIC Red Book shall agree or determine any matter or Claim in accordance with Sub-Clause 3.7 neutrally, not as an agent of the Employer. This study aimed to derive Key Risk Sub-Clauses out of 49 Sub-Clauses that the Engineer of FIDIC Red Book recently revised in 18 years shall agree or determine according to Sub-Clause 3.7 using the Delphi method. A panel of 35 experts with more than 10 years of experience and expertise in international construction contracts was formed, and through total three Delphi surveys, errors and biases were prevented in the judgment process to improve reliability. As for the research method, 49 Sub-Clauses that engineers shall agree on or determine according to Sub-Clause 3.7 of the FIDIC Red Book were investigated through the analysis of contract conditions. In order to evaluate the probability and impact of contractual risk for each 49 Sub-Clause, the Delphi survey conducted repeatedly a closed-type survey three times on a Likert 10-point scale. The results of the first Delphi survey were delivered during the second survey, and the results of the second survey were delivered to the third survey, which was re-evaluated in the direction of increasing the consensus of experts' opinions. The reliability of the Delphi 3rd survey results was verified with the COV value of the coefficient of variation. The PI Risk Matrix was applied to the average value of risk probability and impact of each of the 49 Sub-Clauses and finally, 9 Key Risk Sub-Clauses that fell within the extreme risk range were derived.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2023

Due to water shortages caused by water pollution and climate change, total organic carbon (TOC) standards have been implemented for wastewater discharged from public sewage treatment facilities. Furthermore, there is a growing interest and body of research pertaining to the reuse of sewage treatment water as a secure alternative water resource. The membrane bio-reactor (MBR) method is commonly used for advanced wastewater treatment because it can remove organic and inorganic ions and it does not require or emit any chemicals. However, the MBR process uses a separation membrane (MF), which requires frequent film cleaning due to fouling caused by a high concentration of mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS). In this study, process improvement and microbubble cleaning efficiency were evaluated to improve the differential pressure, water flow, and MF fouling, which are the biggest disadvantages of operating the MF. The existing MBR method was improved by installing a precipitation tank between the air tank and the MBR tank in which raw water was introduced. Microbubbles were injected into a separation membrane tank into which the supernatant water from the precipitation tank was introduced. The microbubble generator was operated with a 15 day on, 15 day off cycle for 5 months to collect discharged water samples (4L) and measure TOC. As the supernatant water from the precipitation tank flowed into the separation membrane tank, about 95% of the supernatant water MLSS was removed so the MF fouling from biological contamination was prevented. Due to the application of microbubbles to supernatant water from the precipitation tank, the differential pressure of the separation membrane tank decreased by 1.6 to 2.3 times and the water flow increased by 1.4 times. Applying microbubbles increased the TOC removal rate by more than 58%. This study showed that separately operating the air tank and the separation membrane tank can reduce fouling, and suggested that applying additional microbubbles could improve the differential pressure, water flow, and fouling to provide a more efficient advanced treatment method.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.59-69
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• 2023

FIDIC White Book is a Model Services Agreement between the Client and the Consultant. This study aimed to derive the Key Risk Sub-Clauses out of 63 Sub-Clauses of General Conditions of the FIDIC White Book by using the Delphi technique. A panel of 40 experts with more than 10 years of experience and expertise in overseas construction services agreements and FIDIC White Book was formed, and the reliability was improved in the direction of increasing the consensus of experts through a total of three Delphi survey processes. In the first Delphi survey, a closed-type survey was conducted on the impact of risk among 63 Sub-Clauses of General Conditions on a Likert 5-point scale, and 26 main risk Sub-Clauses were derived. The Content Validity of the results of the first Delphi survey was verified with the CVR value. In the 2nd and 3rd Delphi surveys, a closed-type survey was conducted on a Likert 10-point scale for 26 main risk Sub-Clauses and the risk possibility and impact of each main risk Sub-Clause were evaluated. The reliability of the 3rd Delphi survey result was verified with the COV value. Total 14 Key Risk Sub-Clauses were derived by applying the average risk possibility and impact of each of the 26 main risk Sub-Clauses to the PI Risk Matrix. The results of deriving Key Risk Sub-Clauses showed that agreement on specific scope of service, delay management, and change management were the most important. As a result of this study, from a practical point of view, consultants of consulting companies provide guidelines that should be reviewed to minimize contractual risks when signing service contracts with clients. From an academic point of view, the direction of research on deriving key risks related to service contracts for consultants participating in overseas construction is presented.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.19-26
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• 2023

Humans have adapted and evolved to natural light. However, as humans stay in indoor longer in modern times, the problem of biorhythm disturbance has been induced. To solve this problem, research is being conducted on lighting that reproduces the correlated color temperature(CCT) of natural light that varies from sunrise to sunset. In order to reproduce the CCT of natural light, multiple LED light sources with different CCTs are used to produce lighting, and then a control index DB is constructed by measuring and collecting the light characteristics of the combination of input currents for each light source in hundreds to thousands of steps, and then using it to control the lighting through the light characteristic matching method. The problem with this control method is that the more detailed the steps of the combination of input currents, the more time and economic costs are incurred. In this paper, an LED lighting control method that applies interpolation and combination calculation based on the minimum spectral power distribution information for each light source is proposed to reproduce the CCT of natural light. First, five minimum SPD information for each channel was measured and collected for the LED lighting, which consisted of light source channels with different CCTs and implemented input current control function of a 256-steps for each channel. Interpolation calculation was performed to generate SPD of 256 steps for each channel for the minimum SPD information, and SPD for all control combinations of LED lighting was generated through combination calculation of SPD for each channel. Illuminance and CCT were calculated through the generated SPD, a control index DB was constructed, and the CCT of natural light was reproduced through a matching technique. In the performance evaluation, the CCT for natural light was provided within the range of an average error rate of 0.18% while meeting the recommended indoor illumination standard.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.245-271
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• 2023

The change to the data economy requires a new analysis beyond ordinary research in the management field. Data matching refers to a technique or processing method that combines data sets collected from different samples with the same population. In this study, statistical matching was performed using random hotdeck and Mahalanobis distance functions using 2020 Survey of Korea Venture Firms and 2020 Korea Innovation Survey datas. Among the variables used for statistical matching simulation, the industry and the number of workers were set to be completely consistent, and region, business power, listed market, and sales were set as common variables. Simulation verification was confirmed by mean test and kernel density. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that statistical matching was appropriate because there was a difference in the average test, but a similar pattern was shown in the kernel density. This result attempted to expand the spectrum of the research method by experimenting with a data matching research methodology that has not been sufficiently attempted in the management field, and suggests implications in terms of data utilization and diversity.