• 한국안전학회지
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• 제24권6호
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• pp.79-85
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• 2009

This study presents an algorithm to select the best alternative plane among various bridge superstructure types(Steel box girder, Rational girder, PSC-I girder) using Value Engineering(VE). Economical efficiency, landscape, constructability, maintenance, stability, function of bridge superstructure were taken into consideration in the designing of bridge. Economical efficiency was evaluated for each alternative plan with optimal design considering Life Cycle Cost(LCC). Repair and rehabilitation histories and some factors were set to get reasonable results. In the application of Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP), consistency of Pairwise Comparisons Matrix was evaluated and the best plan was determined.

• International Journal of Quality Innovation
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.117-128
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• 2001

It is widely recognized that ISO 9000 certification bring some profits, such as enhancement of quality system and some concerns. Since one of the major concerns is cost for certification, this paper considers the cost for ISO 9000 certification in Japanese companies through review some winning reports and case studies. Specifically, a model that describes the certification activities and their cost is derived through reviewing some winning reports in order to give a framework of cost estimation. Based on the model, we estimate the certification cost in an electric division of a company through an interview survey. Furthermore, we focused on the cost for promotion and administration as a cost for the sake only certification, because these activities will not be needed if a company does not implement ISO certification. It is concluded that this cost may vary approximately 300,000-700,000 (US$) per certification by the interview and telephone surveys to Japanese steel companies.

• 한국마이크로전자및패키징학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국마이크로전자및패키징학회 1999년도 1st Korea-Japan Advanced Semiconductor Packaging Technology Seminar
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• pp.163-193
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• 1999

• 한국농업기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국농업기계학회 1993년도 Proceedings of International Conference for Agricultural Machinery and Process Engineering
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• pp.129-138
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• 1993

The shortage of agricultural labour due to industrial growth has greatly induced the mechanization in Korean agriculture. However small and scattered land holdings have been the main constraints in the process of mechanization. This paper describes the interrelationships of farm land structure, machinery selection and machinery operation areas. The sandy silt loam irrigated paddy land having single crop a year was selected as a target areas for this study. Machine operation cost is greatly influenced by operation period, plot geometry and operation area. On the improved geometry plots, optimal machine size increases slowly with increase in operation area. Operable area increases due to increased effective machine capacity on better geometry plot. The difference between the effects of operation period and plot geometry is that in the former case, the cost reduction is caused by delay in increase of machine size, whereas in the latter case timeliness cost is reduced by increase ffective capacity. The effect of farmland consolidation is greater on small plots than that on big plots. Increasing wage rates have induced the adoption of more labor saving machinery. Bigger labor saving machines require enlargement of operation area and larger plots through improvement in farm land structure. Machine cost on poor plot geometry increases more rapidly than that on the good plot geometry and as operation area increases machine cost reduces significantly. It is concluded that the development of agricultural mechanization ion Korea will depend on the improvement in farm land structure and enlargement of operation area.

• Architectural research
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• 제19권4호
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• pp.101-108
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• 2017

The use of the air conditioner is increasing due to the rise of the outdoor temperature during summer, and the problems of the fire and the cooling performance deterioration are caused due to lack of maintenance of the outdoor unit. In particular, overall performance of cooling system and efficiency in outdoor units have been degraded due to an intake of high-temperature outdoor air thereby increasing cooling energy and operating cost. Thus, this study aimed to increase efficiency of outdoor units by evaporating and cooling intake air through mist spray at the intake port surface in the outdoor unit. The measurements results showed that total power consumption of misting outdoor unit compared to that of conventional outdoor units was reduced by 21% approximately, and total power consumption of the entire system including pump was reduced by 16.7%. In addition, the operating cost including water use was reduced by 13.5% approximately. In summary, if a mist-spray nozzle kit is installed in air-cooled outdoor units, the reduction in the usage of cooling energy and operating cost will be achieved without replacement of existing cooling systems or a large scale of repairs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권2호
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• pp.644-654
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• 2024

After the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami (Japan, 2011), regulatory efforts to mitigate external hazards have increased both the safety requirements and the total capital cost of nuclear power plants (NPPs). In these circumstances, identifying not only disaster robustness but also cost-effective capacity setting of NPPs has become one of the most important tasks for the nuclear power industry. A few studies have been performed to relocate the seismic capacity of NPPs, yet the effects of multiple hazards have not been accounted for in NPP capacity optimization. The major challenges in extending this problem to the multihazard dimension are (1) the high computational costs for both multihazard risk quantification and system-level optimization and (2) the lack of capital cost databases of NPPs. To resolve these issues, this paper proposes an effective method that identifies the optimal multihazard capacity of NPPs using a multi-objective genetic algorithm and the two-stage direct quantification of fault trees using Monte Carlo simulation method, called the two-stage DQFM. Also, a capacity-based indirect capital cost measure is proposed. Such a proposed method enables NPP to achieve safety and cost-effectiveness against multi-hazard simultaneously within the computationally efficient platform. The proposed multihazard capacity optimization framework is demonstrated and tested with an earthquake-tsunami example.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• 제40권3호
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• pp.187-191
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• 2013

Background Our objective was to compare the complication rates of two common breast reconstruction techniques performed at our hospital and the cost-effectiveness for each test group. Methods All patients who underwent deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap and transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap by the same surgeon were selected and matched according to age and mastectomy with or without axillary clearance. Patients from each resultant group were selected, with the patients matched chronologically. The remainder were matched for by co-morbidities. Sixteen patients who underwent immediate breast reconstruction with pedicled TRAM flaps and 16 patients with DIEP flaps from 1999 to 2006 were accrued. The average total hospitalisation cost, length of hospitalisation, and complications in the 2 year duration after surgery for each group were compared. Results Complications arising from both the pedicled TRAM flaps and DIEP flaps included fat necrosis (TRAM, 3/16; DIEP, 4/16) and other minor complications (TRAM, 3/16; DIEP, 1/16). The mean hospital stay was 7.13 days (range, 4 to 12 days) for the pedicled TRAM group and 7.56 (range, 5 to 10 days) for the DIEP group. Neither the difference in complication rates nor in hospital stay duration were statistically significant. The total hospitalisation cost for the DIEP group was significantly higher than that of the pedicled TRAM group (P<0.001). Conclusions Based on our study, the pedicled TRAM flap remains a cost-effective technique in breast reconstruction when compared to the newer, more expensive and tedious DIEP flap.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• 제49권2호
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• pp.166-173
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• 2022

The introduction of acellular dermal matrix (ADM) to breast reconstruction has allowed surgeons to reexplore the prepectoral implant placement technique in postmastectomy breast reconstruction. Our institution adopted a novel approach using meshed ADM to lessen the financial burden of increased ADM utilization with the prepectoral breast reconstruction. This is a retrospective, single-center review of two-stage prepectoral breast reconstruction using meshed human-derived ADM for anterior prosthesis coverage. Patient demographics, oncologic data, perioperative characteristics, and complications were examined and reported as means with standard deviations. Cost-saving with the meshed technique was evaluated. Forty-eight patients (72 breasts) with a mean age of 48.5 ± 15.0 years (range 26-70 years) were included in the study. The mean follow-up time was 13.2 ± 4.4 months (range 4.1-25.8 months). Nineteen breasts (24.6%) experienced complications, with seromas being the most common complication (12.5%, n = 9). Expander removal and reoperation occurred at a rate of 8.3 and 9.7%, respectively. The average time to drain removal was 18.8 ± 6.6 days (range 8-32 days). Meshed ADM provided an average cost savings of $6,601 for unilateral and $13,202 for bilateral reconstructions. Our study found that human-derived meshed ADM can be safely used in two-staged prepectoral tissue expander-based breast reconstruction and can result in significant cost savings.

• 한국신뢰성학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신뢰성학회 2005년도 학술발표대회 논문집
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• pp.251-257
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• 2005

Software system which is essential in operating the computer has gradually become an indispensable element in many aspects of our daily lives and an important factor in numerous systems. In recent years, software cost sometimes exceeds the cost of maintaining the hardware system. In addition to the cost necessary to develop the new software system and to maintain the system, the penalty costs incurred due to software failures are even more significant. In this paper, a cost model incorporating the warranty cost, debugging costto remove each fault detected in the software system, and delivery delay cost is developed. A software reliability model based on non-homogeneous Poisson process(NHPP) is established and the optimal software release policies to minimize the expected total software cost are discussed. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the results.

• 대한의생명과학회지
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.275-287
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• 2020

Since its introduction in the forensic field, quantitative PCR (qPCR) has played an essential role in DNA analysis. Quality of DNA should be evaluated before short tandem repeat (STR) profiling to obtain reliable results and reduce unnecessary costs. To this end, various human DNA quantification kits have been developed. Among these kits, the PowerQunat® System was designed not only to determine the total amount of human DNA and human male DNA from a forensic evidence item, but also to offer data about degradation of DNA samples. However, a crucial limitation of the PowerQunat® System is its high cost. Therefore, to minimize the cost of DNA quantification, we evaluated kit performance using a reduced volume of reagents (1/2-volume) using DNA samples of varying types and concentrations. Our results demonstrated that the low-volume method has almost comparable performance to the manufacturer's method for human DNA quantification, human male DNA quantification, and DNA degradation index. Furthermore, using a reduced volume of regents, it is possible to run 2 times more reactions per kit. We expect the proposed low-volume method to cut costs in half for laboratories dealing with large numbers of DNA samples.