• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.398-403
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Atopic dermatitis (AD), a chronic inflammatory skin disease, is accompanied by disruption of the epidermal lipid barrier, of which ceramide (Cer) is the major component. Recently it was reported that vitamin C is essential for de novo synthesis of Cer in the epidermis and that the level of vitamin C in plasma is decreased in AD. The objective of this study was to determine the associations among clinical severity, vitamin C in either plasma or epidermis, and Cer in the epidermis of patients with AD. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 17 patients (11 male and 6 female) aged 20-42 years were enrolled. The clinical severity of AD was assessed according to the SCORAD (SCORing Atopic Dermatitis) system. Levels of vitamin C were determined in plasma and biopsies of lesional epidermis. Levels of epidermal lipids, including Cer, were determined from tape-stripped lesional epidermis. RESULTS: The clinical severity of patients ranged between 0.1 and 45 (mild to severe AD) based on the SCORAD system. As the SCORAD score increased, the level of vitamin C in the plasma, but not in the epidermis, decreased, and levels of total Cer and Cer2, the major Cer species in the epidermis, also decreased. There was also a positive association between level of vitamin C in the plasma and level of total Cer in the epidermis. However, levels of epidermal total lipids including triglyceride, cholesterol, and free fatty acid (FFA) were not associated with either SCORAD score or level of vitamin C in the plasma of all subjects. CONCLUSIONS: As the clinical severity of AD increased, level of vitamin C in the plasma and level of epidermal Cer decreased, and there was a positive association between these two parameters, implying associations among plasma vitamin C, epidermal Cer, and the clinical severity of AD.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.1021-1030
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• 2007

The effects of the creamide III (CER3) and cholesterol (CHOL) on the structure of a non-hydrous distearoyl phosphatidylcholine (DSPC)-based lamellar liquid crystal (LC) hydrated by only propylene glycol (PG) without water were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffractions (XRDs), and polarized microscope (PM). As soon as CER3 was incorporated into the lamellar phase, the characteristic LPP was appeared as well as the characteristic SPP, and the formation of separated CER3 crystalline phase was observed depending upon the increase of CER3 content by XRDs. Also, by DSC, it was shown that the increase of CER3 made the monotectic thermal transition be changed to the eutectic thermal transition which indicates the formation of separated CER3 crystalline phases and the main transition temperatures (Tc1) to be gradually decreased and the enthalpy change (ΔH) to be linearly increased. Incorporating CHOL, the formation of LPP and SPP showed almost similar behaviors to CER3, but incorporating small amounts of CHOL showed the characteristic peaks of CHOL which meant the existence of crystalline CHOL phase due to the immiscibility of CHOL with DSPC swollen by PG differently from CER3, and increasing CHOL made the intensity of the 1st order diffraction for LPP weakened as well as the intensities of the characteristic diffractions for DSPC. Also, in the results of DSC, it showed more complex thermal behaviors having several Tc than CER3 due to its bulky chemical structure. In the present study, the inducement of CER3 and CHOL as other lipids present in human stratum corneum (SC) into a non-hydrous lamellar phase is discussed in terms of the influence on their structural and thermal transition.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.93-117
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• 2013

We analyze the optimal hedge ratio and hedge effectiveness with different periodic times between spot and futures on EUA and CER based on EU-ETS. The Main finding are as follows. The first, hedging model which considers the time-varying variance is not more accurate than non-time-varying hedging models. The second, optimal hedge ratios are different even though hedge effectiveness is similar for the hedging purpose. The third, hedge effectiveness has uncertainty if hedge period is short. In case of EUA it needs to over 6 weeks and CER needs to over 7 weeks. The fourth, cross hedge with CER futures is not suitable for profit ratios.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.459-487
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• 2011

A/R CDM project has properties such as irreversibility and uncertainty that Real Option Analysis can be applied to its modelling. This study tries to model A/R CDM using Real Option under CER price uncertainty, and conducts empirical test with the Posco A/R CDM Project case. For precise comparison and decision-making, l-CER's expected present value is calculated from the Spot CER price. As a result, the critical value of the project is lower than the expected l-CER price, which means that the decision to invest made by the project owner is profitable. We can also find out that the level and the range of the discount rate, where is applied to, affect the result; the critical value of the project and the decision-making.

• Journal of the Korean Operations Research and Management Science Society
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.51-61
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• 2014

In this paper, we deal with developing a cost estimation relationships (CER) for Korean maneuverable weapons systems using historical production cost. To develop the CER, we collected the historical data of the production cost of four tanks and five armored vehicles. We also analyzed the Required Operational Capability (ROC) of the weapons systems and chose cost drivers that can compare operational capabilities of the weapons systems We used Forward selection, Backward selection, Stepwise Regression and $R^2$ selection as the cost drivers which have the greatest influence with the dependent variables. And we used Principle Component Regression, Robust Regression and Weighted Regression to deal with multicollinearity and outlier among the data to develop a more appropriate CER. As a result, we were able to develop a production cost CER for Korean maneuverable weapons systems that have the lowest cost errors. Thus, this research is meaningful in terms of developing a CER based on Korean original cost data without foreign data and these methods will contribute to developing a Korean cost analysis program in the future.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.759-784
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• 2013

Participants can use the allowances and offsets for implementing the compliance in the Emissions Trading Scheme(ETS). There are alternative commodities which are different prices it gives the opportunities to reduce the compliance costs and get the arbitrage. This study analyzes the price driver of spread which is the difference between EUA and sCER using AR-GARCH model, EUA and CER during the Phase 2 in EU ETS. The results show that there are common elements which impacts the EUA and sCER and also different elements between them. EUA and sCER get the effects from energy price and economic criteria such as coal price and financial crisis as common elements. However them get the effects from electric price, policy criteria such as restricted CERs and difference price between EUA and ERU price as different elements. The results shows that spread will be widen if energy price increase, especially oil and electric price give more impacts the spreads. This study has the means that it explains the reason why the spreads will broaden sharply in 2012. And it also suggests the price driver of spread during the whole period of Phase 2. In addition, this study shows that political aspects maybe become the main criteria of price change with structural elements shch as energy price in Korea ETS which starts in 2015.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.96 no.3
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• pp.235-244
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• 2007

Potentials of AR CDM project in North Korea are assessed and feasible land area for AR CDM project is estimated. According to our estimation, There could be 515,000 hectares of forest lands deforested before 1990 in North Korea and 8,854 hectares at the regional level of Gae-sung City, which are eligible for AR CDM project, based on researches of satellite image analyses conducted from 1980's to 1990's. A baseline scenario assumed 44.73 tones of carbon stored in soil per hectare with no vegetation above ground remained during the project period following the default value of IPCC's Good Practice Guidance for LULUCF considering soil structure, climate and land use of the project area. The scenario also assumes that black rocust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is planted and the CDM project is implemented for 20 years. The costs for producing greenhouse gases CER (certified emission reduction) credits include costs of tree planting and forest management, and costs of project negotiation and transactions for issuing the credits. It is estimated that 376 tones of carbon dioxide per hectare can be accumulated and 503 temporary CER credits per hectare and 265 long-term CER credits per hectare could be produced during the project period. It is estimated to cost US$ 4.04 and US$ 7.67 to provide one unit of temporary credit and long-term credit, respectively. These values can be regarded as the cost of conferring emission commitment of a country or a private entity. However, it is not clear which option is better economically because the replacement periods are different in these two cases.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.368-375
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• 2011

Along with the growing interest in greenhouse gas reduction, the effect of energy reduction from green buildings is gaining interest as well. However, green buildings may have difficulties in financing due to their high initial construction costs. With this in mind, the objective of this study is to suggest a financing model for green building projects with a governmental guarantee based on CER (Certified Emission Reduction). In other words, in the financing model, the government provides a guarantee for the increased costs of a green building project in return for CER. The suggested financing model was tested and found feasible for implementing green building projects. In addition, the model in this study is applicable to private projects because guarantee has its return. To utilize CER as a return for a financial guarantee, however, certification of CDMs (Clean Development Mechanism) for green buildings must be vitalized.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.691-717
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• 2008

The Kyoto Mechanisms allows a supplementary means for compliance, CDM(Clean Development Mechanism) and JI(Joint Implementation) projects. The investment in CDM projects is increasing rapidly as the first implementation period began in 2008. This paper seeks to determine factors affecting the price of primary CER using UNFCCC CDM Project Development Document(PDD) data. This study employs the Cluster analysis and the GLS(Generalized Least Squares) method.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.55-62
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• 2010

Currently, cost estimation is very important to the government acquisition programs to support decisions about funding and to evaluate resource requirement as key decision points. Parametric cost estimating models have been used extensively to obtain appropriate cost estimates in early acquisition phase. However, they have many restrictions to ensure the cost estimating result in Korean defense environment because they are developed in the U.S.A. environment. In order to obtain a good R&D cost estimate, developing our own CERs (Cost Estimation Relationships) using historical R&D data is essential. Nevertheless, there has been little research to develop our own CERs. In this research, we established a CER development process and found some cost drivers in the historical movement weapon system R&D data. The R&D CER is developed using the PCR(Principle Component Regression) method to remove multicollinearity among data and to overcome the restriction of the insufficient number of sample. At least, this research is meaningful as a first attempt in terms of defining the CER development process and obtaining our own R&D CER based on the historical data in Korean weapon system R&D environment.