• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.121-135
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• 2011

We provide an economic evaluation model to help managers make reasonable decision for the investment in the appropriate type of cloud computing. Cloud computing can be classified into public, private and hybrid architecture and we evaluate their attractiveness using traditional NPV and real option methods. We conduct economic analysis by comparing traditional software delivery model with various types of cloud computing. The work compares each mode of cloud computing against each other using passive NPV and dynamic real-option method. For more objective and conservative evaluation of investment alternatives, we eliminate conventional benefits that are often subjective or hard to measure, and count only the reduction of investment cost and maintenance cost as benefit. We argue that hybrid and public cloud computing can be undervalued without their intrinsic options such as abandonment, expansion and contraction.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.283-290
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• 2014

Background: This study aimed to examine the relationship between home-visit nursing services and health care utilization under the public long-term care insurance program in Korea. Methods: We analyzed the long-term care need assessment database and the long-term care and the health insurance claim databases of National Health Insurance Service between July 2011 and June 2012. The sample includes a total of 20,065 home-visit nursing recommended-older beneficiaries who use home-visit nursing and/or home-visit care, based on a standard benefit model developed by the Health Insurance Policy Institute of National Health Insurance Service. The beneficiaries were categorized into home-visit nursing use and non-use groups, and the home-visit nursing use group was again divided into high-use and low-use groups home-visit nursing, based on their total annual home-visit nursing expenditure. Two-part models and negative-binomial regression models were used for the statistical analysis. Results: The home-visit nursing use was negatively associated with the number of outpatient visit and cost, while adjusting for all covariates. The home-visit nursing use was also negatively associated with the inpatient cost among the high home-visit nursing use group. Conclusion: The findings implies home-visit nursing use prevents health care utilization. Further studies and policy strategies that can promote and strengthen home-visit nursing services under the public long-term care insurance are necessary in Korea.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.73-116
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• 2005

When people contact the government they can use a variety of channels. That is, they go in person to an office, use a telephone service, access information via the Internet, send a letter, or use a third party. Since the Australian Government first recognised the potential of online technology to improve service delivery in its 1997 Investing for Growth statement, it has articulated its policies and strategies for e-government in a number of papers. E-government involves government agencies delivering better programs and services online through the use of new information and communication technologies. The policy papers included Government Online-The Commonwealth's Strategy, launched in April 2000, and a new framework for e-government, Better Services. Better Government, launched in November 2002. Most recently, the Government released Australia's Strategic Framework for the Information Economy in July 2004. These papers outlined the broad directions and priorities for the future of e-government in Australia, and sought to maintain the momentum of agencies' actions under Government Online. One of its key objectives was for agencies to achieve greater efficiency in providing services and a return on their investments in ICT (Information and Communication Technology)-based service delivery. They also stated that investing in e-government should deliver tangible returns, whether they take the form of cost reductions, increased efficiency and productivity, or improved services to business and the broader community Implementation of the Government policy has led to considerable agency investment in ICT-based service delivery. However government policy also requires managers to ensure that program and service delivery is efficient and effective. Efficient and effective use of ICT has the potential to improve service delivery and to make financial savings. This paper outlines how people are using the channels to contact the government in Australia. It also examines the level of satisfaction they have with those services and their preferences and expectations. In addition, this paper aims at identifying the methods used by Australian Government to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of their delivery of services, and at assessing the adequacy of these methods.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.917-930
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• 2018

Intracellular synthesis of silver/silver chloride nanoparticles (Ag/AgCl-NPs) using Meyerozyma guilliermondii KX008616 is reported under aerobic and anaerobic conditions for the first time. The biogenic synthesis of Ag-NP types has been proposed as an easy and cost-effective alternative for various biomedical applications. The interaction of nanoparticles with ethanol production was mentioned. The purified biogenic Ag/AgCl-nanoparticles were characterized by different spectroscopic and microscopic approaches. The purified nanoparticles exhibited a surface plasmon resonance band at 419 and 415 nm, confirming the formation of Ag/AgCl-NPs under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, respectively. The planes of the cubic crystalline phase of the Ag/AgCl-NPs were confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Fourier-transform infrared spectra showed the interactions between the yeast cell constituents and silver ions to form the biogenic Ag/AgCl-NPs. The intracellular Ag/AgCl-NPs synthesized under aerobic condition were homogenous and spherical in shape, with an approximate particle size of 2.5-30nm as denoted by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The reaction mixture was optimized by varying reaction parameters, including temperature and pH. Analysis of ultrathin sections of yeast cells by TEM indicated that the biogenic nanoparticles were formed as clusters, known as nanoaggregates, in the cytoplasm or in the inner and outer regions of the cell wall. The study recommends using the biomass of yeast that is used in industrial or fermentation purposes to produce Ag/AgCl-NPs as associated by-products to maximize benefit and to reduce the production cost.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Fire Science and Engineering Conference
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• 1997.11a
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• pp.392-403
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• 1997

There is a strong international move towards performance based fire regulations for buildings with New Zealand and Australia at the forefront of research in this fold. The reform of regulations is thought to offer more innovation and flexibility in building design and greater cost effectiveness in construction. An important part of the research in this area is related to the development of agreed approaches to fire safety design, such as the Fire Code Reform Centre's "Fire Engineering Guidelines" or New Zealand's "Fire Engineering Design Guide". Such design process documents have incorporated or referenced much of the latest research in areas such as: tenability criteria fire compartment models egress models risk assessment. Use of such design guidelines or equivalents in major projects in countries such as Hong Kong and Australia have highlighted where fro engineering can offer real benefits to building designers and ultimately building owners and operators. However, there is still much research to be done and use of a systematic, logical design approach clearly identifies where design data or modelling techniques are still urgently required. Such areas are: fire growth rates and peak heat release rates for non-residential occupancies pre-movement times related to egress experimental validation and limits of applicability of CFD and other compartment Ire models probability/reliability data on fire protection systems for risk based analysis. Examples from case studies will be shown where lack of such research and poor judgement can lead to inferior design solutions or where unnecessarily conservative designs can lead to cost excesses. In summary, the link between Ire engineering designers and the research community is very important to highlight areas of fire research that will have the most benefit to the building and construction industry.nstruction industry.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.128-136
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• 2021

It is generally known that a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) consumes immense energy even if it can produce energy. With an aim to increase the energy independence rate of WWTP from 3.5% in 2010 to 50% in 2030, the Korean government has invested enormous research funds. In this study, cost-effective operating alternatives were investigated by analyzing the energy efficiency and economic feasibility for biogas and power generation using new and renewable energy. Based on the US EPA Energy Conservation Measures and Korea ESCO projects, energy production and independence rate were also analyzed. The main energy consumption equipment in WWTP is the blower for aeration, discharge pump for effluent, and pump for influent. Considering the processes of WWTP, the specific energy consumption rate of the process using media and MBR was the lowest (0.549 kWh/㎥) and the highest (1.427 kWh/㎥), respectively. Energy-saving by enhancing anaerobic digester efficiency was turned out to be efficient when in conjunction with stable wastewater treatment. The result of economic analysis (B/C ratio) was 2.5 for digestive gas power generation, 0.86 for small hydropower, 0.49 for solar energy, and 0.15 for wind energy, respectively. Furthermore, it was observed that the energy independence rate could be enhanced by installing energy production facilities such as solar and small hydropower and reducing energy consumption via the replacement of high-efficiency operating.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.65-75
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• 2020

The value of tangible assets depreciates over their useful life and this depreciation should be adequately reflected in any tax or financial reports. However, the method used to calculate depreciation can impact the financial performance of solar projects due to the time value of money. Korean tax law stipulates only one method for calculating the depreciation of solar photovoltaic facilities: the straight-line method. Conversely, USA's tax law accepts other depreciation methods as solar incentives, including the modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) and Bonus depreciation method. This paper compares different depreciation methods in the financial analysis of a 10 MW solar system to determine their effect on the financial results. When depreciation was calculated utilizing the MACRS and Bonus depreciation method, the internal rate of return (IRR) was 10.9% and 16.4% higher, respectively, than when the Korean straight-line depreciation method was used. Additionally, the increased IRR resulting from the use of the two US methods resulted in a 20.5% and 27.4% higher net present value, respectively. This shows that changing the depreciation calculation method can redistribute the tax amount during the project period, thereby increasing the discounted cash flow of the solar project. In addition to increasing profitability, USA's depreciation methods alleviate the uncertainty of solar projects and provide more flexibility in project financing than the Korean method. These results strongly suggest that Korean tax law could greatly benefit from adopting USA's depreciation methods as an effective incentive scheme.

• Clean Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2009

The adoption of compressed natural gas (CNG) as a vehicle fuel is a common phenomenon as it is accelerating worldwide. Increasing number of CNG driven vehicles around the world has jumped up from one million in 1996 to five million in 2006. CNG as a vehicle fuel is very popular to the end users because of its clean-burning properties and cost effective solution compared to other alternative fuels like diesel and gasoline. The use of CNG as a fuel reduces vehicular emission that is consisted of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), oxides of nitrogen ($NO_x$), carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) etc. This research highlights the characteristics of CNG vehicles, CNG arrangement in the vehicles, CNG fueling procedures and most importantly the environmental and economic factors that are highly considered as cost effective solution for the flexibility of using CNG in the automobiles.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.195-208
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze whether there are differences in medical expenses according to medical security type in the use of medical services with high disease burden such as coronary intervention. Methods: Chi-square test and covariance analysis(ANCOVA) were conducted to identify the differences in the characteristics and costs according to medical security type of 1,904 patients who underwent coronary intervention in a university hospital from 2011 to 2012. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to determine whether the cost affects medical expenses. Results: In the medical aid group, the proportion of women, those without a job, those without a spouse, and those who received hemodialysis was high, length of stay was high, patients using the emergency room and those who died was high. The medical aid patients were significantly higher in the non-benefit medical expenses, optional medical expenses, physician and admission, meals, medications and injections. National health insurance patients were significantly higher in procedure. The medical security type was found to be significant as a variable affecting the medical expenses. Conclusions: Provision of medical expenses should be managed in advance by providing prevention and education services for the vulnerable, and care services in the region should be provided to suppress the occurrence of medical expenses due to the increase in the number of days spent. In addition, it is necessary to support medical expenses to prevent unsatisfactory medical services from occurring for non-benefit and optional care.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.84-91
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• 2013

In 2012, Korean overseas construction market has achieved 64.9 billion dollars of contract order and its amount has increased since the mid 2000's. However, importance of qualitative growth based on profitability as well as quantitative growth is also emphasized. This study analyzed overseas plant project's subcontract process management which is closely related to cost management as one of the qualitative growth methods. In order to select major subcontract processes, extensive literature review and focus group interview(FGI) were implemented and then professionals with years of experience in the overseas plant projects were participated in the questionnaire survey. The collected data were analyzed by Benefit-Structure Analysis(BSA) model. The findings of this study include: (1) the seven and six subcontract processes are positioned in the area of importance control factor and in the area of maintenance/control factor, respectively; (2) administration capability attainment is needed for the six subcontract processes in the area of importance control factor and sustainable management system is required for the processes in the maintenance/control factor area. The further research will identify key subcontract processes to be managed for overseas plant projects by Korean EPC contractors based on the findings of this research.