• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.2253-2260
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• 2020

Background: Patients with low back pain (LBP) experience misalignments in the center of pressure (COP) and muscle imbalances due to frequent onesided posture adjustments to avoid pain. Objectives: To identify the effects of Squat Exercises with Vertical Whole-Body Vibration on the Center of Pressure and Trunk Muscle Activity. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: Thirty LBP patients with an imbalance in the COP were sampled and randomly assigned to an experimental group of 15 patients who under went an intervention involving squat exercises with vertical WBV and a control group of 15 patients who were treated via a walking intervention. As pretests before the interventions, the subjects' COP was identified by measuring their stability index (ST), and erector spinae, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, gluteus medius muscle activity was analyzed by determining the % reference voluntary contraction (%RVC) value using surface electromyography while sit to stand. After four weeks, a post test was conducted to remeasure the same variables using the same methods. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in the ST (P<.01) and trunk muscle (P<.05, P<.001) in the experimental group before and after the intervention. In terms of the differences between the left- and right-side (RL) muscle activity, only the transverse abdominis (TrA) and gluteus medius (GM) exhibited statistically significant increase (P<.05). A comparison of the groups showed statistically significant differences in the TrA with respect to muscle activity (P<.05) and in the RLTrA and RLGM in terms ofthe difference between left- and right-side muscle activity (P<.01). Conclusion: Squat exercises with vertical WBV produced effective changes in the COP of patients with LBP by reducing muscle imbalances through the delivery of a uniform force. In particular, strengthening the TrA and reducing an imbalance in the GM were determined to be important factors in improving the COP.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.119-129
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• 2022

It is essential to control the lateral displacement and differential axial shortening of the vertical elements in high-rise buildings. The differential axial shortening can cause challenges in the serviceability and safety of non-structural and structural elements, respectively. Hence, in this study, the differential axial shortening of the vertical elements and effects of long term behaviors of concrete are analyzed in 120-story high-rise buildings via the construction sequence analysis. Consequently, the axial shortening of the vertical elements is classified into elastic, creep, and shrinkage shortening, and dominant factors to the maximum axial shortening are analyzed. In addition, the serviceability of the non -structural elements is checked with a differential axial shortening at 30 years after completion of construction, and member forces at design and construction stages in girders and outrigger walls are compared.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.313-320
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• 2022

The KoreaN Cohort Study for Outcomes in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease (KNOW-CKD) was launched in 2011 with the support of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The study was designed with the aim of exploring the various clinical features and characteristics of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Koreans, and elucidating the risk factors for CKD progression and adverse outcomes of CKD. For the cohort study, nephrologists at 9 tertiary university-affiliated hospitals participated in patient recruitment and follow-up. Biostatisticians and epidemiologists also participated in the basic design and structuring of the study. From 2011 until 2016, the KNOW-CKD Phase I recruited 2238 adult patients with CKD from stages G1 to G5, who were not receiving renal replacement therapy. The KNOW-CKD Phase II recruitment was started in 2019, with an enrollment target of 1500 subjects, focused on diabetic nephropathy and hypertensive kidney diseases in patients with reduced kidney function who are presumed to be at a higher risk of adverse outcomes. As of 2021, the KNOW-CKD investigators have published articles in the fields of socioeconomics, quality of life, nutrition, physical activity, renal progression, cardiovascular disease and outcomes, anemia, mineral bone disease, serum and urine biomarkers, and international and inter-ethnic comparisons. The KNOW-CKD researchers will elaborate a prediction model for various outcomes of CKD such as the development of end-stage kidney disease, major adverse cardiovascular events, and death.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.37-45
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• 2022

In-situ pilot experiment was carried out to establish a countermeasure on the soil loss from the hill side uplands that was rehabilitated by soil remediation method nearby abandoned mine sites for 2 years. It was considered that the affect of an inclination of cover surface, a stabilization treatment of cover layer by lime and steel refining slag (SRS) and a vegetation of soil surface as an effect factors in the experiment. It was constructed 4 lysimeters (plots, 22 m long, 4 m width) on the hilly side (37% inclination). One plot was control and two plots was treated by 1% lime and SRS. A remind one plot was modified a inclination to 27% to compare the affect of inclination on the amount of cover soil loss. It was attached a reservior tank and water level gauge in the end of lysimeters to measure the amount of the surface water flow and soil loss. It was also installed the automated sensors that could be collect the precipitation, soil moisture content, tension of cover layer in each plots. It was observed that the event of precipitation were caused the soil loss and it were related the physical and chemical properties of cover soil and inclination of surface layer of plots. During the experiment, it was exceeded the national regulation (50 t/ha/yr) in 37% inclination plots even though it was vegetated on the cover soil surface. However, in 27% inclination plot, it was shown that the amount of soil loss was maintained below the national regulation and, more ever, vegetation could reduce the the amount of soil loss. Therefore it was expected that such results could be applied to the future design of rehabilitation projects on the polluted farmland nearby abandoned mine sites.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.39-48
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• 2022

Purpose: COVID-19 has negatively influenced the financial performance of restaurant firms. Previous literature suggests that the franchising strategy effectively helps restaurant firms recover from difficult business conditions through various methods for expanding business size and enhancing business efficiency. According to risk-sharing theory, restaurant franchisors may minimize operational risks by sharing the risks with their franchisees. For instance, restaurant franchisors could generate more stable cash flow using franchise fees from their franchisees. However, research on the effect of franchise's risk reduction factor on business performance during pandemic is scarce. Thus, this study aims to examine the positive moderating effect of franchising between COVID-19 and restaurants' financial performance. Research design, data, and methodology: Panel data including financial information and franchising status of restaurant firms were collected for analysis. In order to control for unobserved firm-specific factors, generalized least squared estimation in fixed effects model was conducted. Huber-White robust standard errors were used to deal with heteroscedasticity issues. Results: It was found that COVID-19 pandemic has a negative effect on the restaurants' financial performance such as ROA (return on assets), ROE (return on equity), and PM (profit margins), which confirms the findings from existing literature. More importantly, results show that the degree of franchising has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between COVID-19 and financial performance of restaurant firms. This suggests that more active engagement in franchising may decrease negative impacts of COVID-19 on the restaurants' financial performance. Conclusions: The study supports existing literature related to risk-sharing theory, by confirming that pandemics, such as COVID-19, negatively affect financial performance of the restaurants. Furthermore, it was found that franchising strategy can help lessen negative impacts of pandemics on the firm performance. These findings can contribute to the franchise and restaurant management literature by suggesting the role of franchising in reducing business risks, thereby positively affecting financial performance. Moreover, this study offers business managers of franchisors and franchisees insights for utilizing franchising in restaurant risk management. Policymakers may also gain information on aiding restaurant firms during global crisis, such as COVID-19.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.63-80
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• 2020

Purpose - Recent empirical studies have shown that FDI is expected to be strongly associated with democratic governance, political stability, and sound macroeconomic conditions of the host country. We attempt to take it a step further to see if governments implement a major change in institutional characteristics, will the institutional reform toward better governance have a substantive effect in enhancing FDI inflows. This paper thus aims to analyze the importance of good governance as an important factor in the attractiveness of FDI inflows in ASEAN+3 (Korea, China, Japan) countries. Design/methodology - To determine the effects of good governance on FDI inflows across ASEAN+3 countries recorded between 1996-2018, the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) are used to investigate the impact of good governance on FDI inflows. The model has been estimated by using fixed effects to show the robustness of the results. Findings - Our main findings can be summarized as follows: Political Stability, Rule of Law, and Voice and Accountability have a statistically significant impact on the inflow of FDI in the ASEAN+3 Countries, especially for Korean economy. Moreover, GDP growth continue to exert their positive influence. However, Regulatory Quality, Government Effectiveness and Control of Corruption, though equally important, are insignificant to attract FDI inflows. The key finding is that good governance has a significant impact on inward FDI in the ASEAN+3 countries. Originality/value - Existing studies focus on the impact of political factors on FDI across countries. This paper instead attempts to investigate which type of good governance is the most important in promoting FDI inflows across ASEAN+3 countries, which is essential for multinationals to consider when choosing a foreign site as a possible FDI destination.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.61-70
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• 2008

The control and prediction of surface settlement, gradient and ground displacement are the main factors in shallow tunnel design and construction in urban area. For deformation analysis of shallow tunnel due to excavation it is important to identify possible deformation mechanism of shear bands developing from tunnel shoulder to the ground surface. This paper investigaties quantitatively the deformation behavior of shallow tunneling by model tunnel test and strain softening analysis Incorporating the reduction of shear stiffness and strength parameters. The comparison of model tunnel test result and numerical simulation using strain softening analysis showed good agreement in crown settlement, normalized subsidence settlement and developing shear bands above tunnel shoulder. In this study, it is blown that the strain softening modeling is applicable to the nonlinear deformation analysis of shallow tunnel.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.91-107
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• 2022

Purpose - This study quantitatively examines the level of financial inclusion of a microfinance institution in each region and how this is changing recently, and examines the level of financial inclusion by region and various financial characteristic factors related to it. It was empirically verified what kind of significant impact actually has on the institution's major management performance indicators (stability, profitability, efficiency, and public interest). Design/methodology/approach - It was confirmed that the institution's financial inclusion index declined rapidly after 2015 as a whole, although there were some differences by region depending on regional characteristics. However, considering the fact that the number of branches per 100,000 adult population is steadily increasing nationwide, it was found that, contrary to what is known, the simple decrease in the number of branches of the institution was not the main cause. Findings - The analysis results of this study show that the institution's efforts for financial inclusion have a positive impact on profitability, stability, efficiency, and public interest, and that the institution pursues profitability, efficiency, stability, and public interest. showed that some trade-offs exist. In other words, overall, it was analyzed that profitability of the institution has a positive effect on efficiency, and efficiency has a positive effect on stability and public interest. Research implications or Originality - Since the institution's efforts to improve its profitability do not have a negative impact on its stability and public interest, it is judged that it is important to take a strategic stance, so excessive loan supply that exceeds the scope of the institution's own control needs to be avoided as much as possible. More detailed financial supply strategies and business management capabilities that enhance the asset soundness and management efficiency of safes need to be demonstrated.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.9-14
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• 2023

In this study, an experiment was conducted to confirm the applicability of the external shape control of the ultrasonic knife to the CFRTP material, which is the base material of thermoplastic. TC910 based on polyamide6 (PA6) was used as the material. The slope 와 and tool transfer speed of the material and tool were selected as process factors for processing, and the following results were obtained. Under all cutting conditions using an ultrasonic knife, friction heat caused by high-frequency vibration was issued at 150℃ at the contact part between the material and the knife during cutting. As a result of the cutting force analysis, the faster the transfer speed, the higher the cutting force as the angle of entry of the blade increased, and the size of the cutting force changed during cutting. As for the size of the burr in accordance with the transfer speed condition, the smallest burr occurred at 150mm/min in the side part, and the smallest burr occurred at 150mm/min and 200mm/min in the case of the outlet burr. The size of the burr according to the entry angle tended to decrease as the tool entry angle increased, and the side part tended to increase as the tool entry angle increased. As a result of the cutting surface analysis, it was confirmed that the base material was eluted under all conditions, and the faster the transfer speed, the lower the elution phenomenon of the base material. Based on the above results, cutting the CFRTP material with an ultrasonic knife is possible, but the effect on heat generation caused by friction needs to be minimized, and further research needs to be conducted on this.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.18-31
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the impact of anthropometric indices of obesity (body mass index [BMI], waist circumference, waist hip ratio, and body fat percentage) on the incidence of hypertension in adults with prehypertension. Methods: A longitudinal study design using secondary data form the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study was employed. The study included 1,838 adults with prehypertension tracked every two years from 2001 to 2018. Statistical analyses, including frequency assessments, number of cases per 1,000 person-years, log-rank tests, Kaplan-Meier curves, and Cox's proportional hazards regression, were conducted using SPSS version 25. Results: Over the observation period (15,783.6 person-years), 1,136 individuals developed hypertension. The incidence of hypertension was significantly higher in the obesity groups defined by BMI (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.33), waist circumference (HR = 1.34), waist hip ratio (HR = 1.29), and body fat percentage (HR = 1.31) compared to the non-obese group. These findings indicate an increased risk of hypertension associated with obesity as measured by these indices. Conclusion: The study underscores the importance of avoiding obesity to prevent hypertension in individuals with prehypertension. Specifically, BMI, waist circumference, waist hip circumference, and body fat percentage were identified as significant risk factors for hypertension. The results suggest the need for individualized weight control interventions, emphasizing the role of health professionals in addressing the heightened hypertension risk in this population.