• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• 제25권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 2007

Medaka(Oryzias latipes) and earthworm(Eisenia fetida) toxicity tests were carried out and ecological risk assessment in water and soil was performed with national monitoring data. NOEC of alachlor was $100\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ in the medaka early life-stage test. Embryonic development, hatchability and time to hatching of medaka eggs were affected by this chemical. The $LC_{50}$ and NOEC of alachlor were $94.1\;mg\;kg^{-1}\;and\;55.0\;mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively, in the earthworm acute toxicity test. The environmental monitoring has been carrying out by NIER since 1999. Exposure levels of alachlor in water and soil were $ND{\sim}0.54\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}\;and\;ND{\sim}0.9\;{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$, respectively, in national monitoring data which had been performed from 2000 to 2004. The measured water and soil exposure levels were applied to evaluate the environmental risk assessment. The PNEC of alachlor in water and in soil were determined as $1\;{\mu}g\;L^{-1}\;and\;55.0\;{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$, respectively using the safety factors which were suggested in EU and OECD. The HQs (PEC/PNEC) were determined to be below 1 for both water and soil when the maximum exposure levels ($0.54\;{\mu}g\; L^{-1}$ in water and $0.9\;{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$ in soil) were applied. Conclusively, our study indicated that there was not significant ecological risk of alachlor in water and soil of our monitoring sites.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.1-11
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• 2024

In the midst of the current turbulent global economy, traditional investment metrics are undergoing a metamorphosis, signaling the onset of what's often referred to as an "Investment cold season". Early-stage startups, despite their boundless potential, grapple with immediate revenue constraints, intensifying their pursuit of critical investments. While financial indicators once took center stage in investment evaluations, a notable paradigm shift is underway. Organizational culture, once relegated to the sidelines, has now emerged as a linchpin in forecasting a startup's resilience and enduring trajectory. Our comprehensive research, integrating insights from CVF and OCAI, unveils the intricate relationship between organizational culture and its magnetic appeal to investors. The results indicate that startups with a pronounced external focus, expertly balanced with flexibility and stability, hold particular allure for investment consideration. Furthermore, the study underscores the pivotal role of adhocracy and market-driven mindsets in shaping investment desirability. A significant observation emerges from the study: startups, whether they secured investment or failed to do so, consistently display strong clan culture, highlighting the widespread importance of nurturing a positive employee environment. Leadership deeply anchored in market culture, combined with an unwavering commitment to innovation and harmonious organizational practices, emerges as a potent recipe for attracting investor attention. Our model, with an impressive 88.3% predictive accuracy, serves as a guiding light for startups and astute investors, illuminating the intricate interplay of culture and investment success in today's economic landscape.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• 제8권4호
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• pp.9-14
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• 1975

Growth retardation and a variable degree of body disproportion are recognized features of malnutrition, and mild and moderate protein-calorie malnutrition(PCM). Among the various body measurements suggested to assess the prevalence of all grades of PCM as judged by growth retardation and by body disproportion, the 'mid-upper-arm circumference'-abbreviated to 'arm-circumference' has been suggested as a potential useful simple field index for the assessment of PCM showing that the measurement would give composite information simultaneously on three important effects on PCM-deficit in the muscle protein reservoirs, availability of calorie stores in the form of subcutaneous fat, and growth failure. And this is selected because of its easy accessibility, and less involvement with clinical edema. This study is conducted to make a comparison between the percentage of Korean weight for age standards and the percentage of mid-upper-arm circumference for age standards of 175 preschool children aged $3{\sim}72$ months who are selected among the low-income residents in Seoul. In this study, a comparison is made between the results obtained by expressing the observed weight of the child as a percentage of Korean standard, referred to as 'weight-for-age' and the observed arm-circumference expressed as a percentage of the age-specific arm standard of Jelliffe, referred to as 'arm-for-age'. All the measurements were taken following the techniques described by Jelliffe. The left mid upper arm was measured using a glass-fibre tape and the Fairbanks Morse beam balance was used for weighing. 80% level of weight for age Korean standard and 85% level of arm for are Jelliffe standard were used as an upper borderline limit for PCM. Comparing the 80% weight-for-age and the 85% arm-for-age standard as an upper limit for PCM, for children aged $3{\sim}72$ months, results in 84.6% agreement with the sensitivity of 86.4% and its specificity of 83.5%. If arm circumference alone had been measured and judgement made on this basis, then only 5.1% of the children would have been 'wrongly' classified. And there is a moderately close correlation between arm circumference and weight for age as the data in Table 4 shows. The problem therefore lies in the standard for arm circumference in normal children and in determining what is the lower limit of normal. Once this is clearly difined, one can rely more confidently on arm circumference measurements alone for the nutritional assessment of early childhood.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• 제45권6호
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• pp.961-967
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• 2012

There have been many studies about efficiency of amendments for heavy metal stabilization through chemical assessment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of several soil amendments (lime, agric-lime, dolomite, steel slag, fly ash and acid mine drainage sludge) on heavy metals stabilization through not only chemical but also biological assessments (phytotoxicity test) in abandoned mining area soil. In order to achieve the goal, we conducted preliminary screening experiment targeting 12 types of crop plants such as radish, young radish, chinese cabbage, winter grown cabbage, cabbage, bok choy, chicory, crown daisy, carrot, chives, spinach, and spring onion. The results of inhibition rates of early plant growth in metal-contaminated soil against non-contaminated soil and the correlations between inhibitions items showed that the bok choy was appropriate specie with respect to confirm the effect of several amendments. Several amendment treatments on contaminated soil brought about the changes in the root and shoot elongation of bok choy after 1 week. Agric-lime, dolomite and steel slag treatments showed the great efficiency of reducing on mobility of heavy metals using chemical assessment. But in contrary, these treatments resulted in the reduction of root and shoot elongation and only AMD sludge increased that of elongation, significantly. When considering both chemical and biological assessments, AMD sludge could be recommended the compatible amendment for target contaminated soil. In conclusion, biological assessment was also important aspect of decision of successful soil remediation.

• 한국무역상무학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국무역상무학회 2006년도 제35회 하계 정기세미나
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• pp.45-72
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• 2006

The Equator Principles are a set of voluntary environmental and social guidelines for ethical project finance. These principles commit banks and other signatories to not finance projects that fail to meet these guidelines. The principles were conceived in 2002 on an initiative of the International Finance Corporation and launched in 2003. Since then, dozens of major banks have adopted the Principles, and with these banks among them accounting for more than three quarters of all project loan market volume the Principles have become the de facto standard for all banks and investors on how to deal with potential social and environmental effects of projects to be financed. While regarding the Principles an important initiative, NGOs have criticised the Principles for not producing real changes in financing activities and for allowing projects to go through that should have been screened out by the Principles, such as the Sakhalin-II oil and gas project in Russia. In early 2006, a process of revision of the principles was begun. The Equator Principles state that endorsing banks will only provide loans directly to projects under the following circumstances: - The risk of the project is categorized in accordance with internal guidelines based upon the environmental and social screening criteria of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). - For all medium or high risk projects (Category A and B projects), sponsors complete an Environmental Assessment, the preparation of which must meet certain requirements and satisfactorily address key environmental and social issues. - The Environmental Assessment report addresses baseline environmental and social conditions, requirements under host country laws and regulations, applicable international treaties and agreements, sustainable development and use of renewable natural resources, protection of human health, cultural properties, and biodiversity, including endangered species and sensitive ecosystems, use of dangerous substances, major hazards, occupational health and safety, fire prevention and life safety, socio-economic impacts, land acquisition and land use, involuntary resettlement, impacts on indigenous peoples and communities, cumulative impacts of existing projects, the proposed project, and anticipated future projects, participation of affected parties in the design, review and implementation of the project, consideration of feasible environmentally and socially preferable alternatives, efficient production, delivery and use of energy, pollution prevention and waste minimization, pollution controls (liquid effluents and air emissions) and solid and chemical waste management. - Based on the Environmental Assessment, Equator banks then make agreements with their clients on how they mitigate, monitor and manage those risks through an 'Environmental Management Plan'. Compliance with the plan is required in the covenant. If the borrower doesn't comply with the agreed terms, the bank will take corrective action, which if unsuccessful, could ultimately result in the bank canceling the loan and demanding immediate repayment. - For risky projects, the borrower consults with stakeholders (NGO's and project affected groups) and provides them with information on the risks of the project. - If necessary, an expert is consulted. The Principles only apply to projects over 50 million US dollars, which, according to the Equator Principles website, represent 97% of the total market. In early 2006, the financial institutions behind the Principles launched stakeholder consultations and negotiations aimed at revising the principles. The draft revised principles were met with criticism from NGO stakeholders, who in a joint position paper argued that the draft fails by ignoring the most serious critiques of the principles: a lack of consistent and rigorous implementation.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.181-195
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• 2015

Algal blooms in lakes are one of major environmental issues in Korea. A three-dimensional, hydrodynamic and water quality model was developed and tested in Lake Euiam to assess the performance and limitations of numerical modeling with multiple algal groups using field data commonly collected for algal management. In this study, EFDC was adopted as the basic model framework. Simulated vertical profiles of water temperature, dissolved oxygen and nutrients monitored at five water quality monitoring stations from March to October 2013, which are closely related to algal dynamics simulation, showed good agreement with those of observed data. The overall spatio-temporal variations of three algal groups were reasonably simulated against the chlorophyll-a levels of those estimated from the limited monitoring data (chlorophyll-a level and cell numbers of algal species) with the RMSEs ranging from 2.6 to $17.5mg/m^3$. Also, note that $PO_4-P$ level in the water column was a key limiting factor controlling the growth of three algal groups during most of simulation period. However, the algal modeling results were not fully attainable to the levels of observation during short periods of time showing abrupt increase in algae throughout the lake. In particular, the green algae/cyanobacteria and diatom simulations were underestimated in late June to early July and early October, respectively. The results shows that better understanding of internal algal processes, neglected in most algal modeling studies, is necessary to predict the sudden algal blooms more accurately because the concentrations of external $PO_4-P$ and specific algal groups originated from the tributaries (mainly, dam water releases) during the periods were too low to fully capture the sharp rise of internal algal levels. In this respect, this study suggests that future modeling efforts should be focused on the quantification of internal cycling processes including vertical movement of algal species with respect to changes in environmental conditions to enhance the modeling performance on complex algal dynamics.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.725-736
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• 2023

The compliance of deep geological disposal facilities for high-level radioactive waste with safety objectives requires consideration of uncertainties owing to temporal changes in the disposal system. A comprehensive review and analysis of the characteristics of this evolution should be undertaken to identify the effects on multiple barriers and the biosphere. We analyzed the evolution of the buffer, backfill, plug, and closure regions during the early phase of the post-closure period as part of a long-term performance assessment for an operating license application for a deep geological repository in Finland. Degradation mechanisms generally expected in engineered barriers were considered, and long-term evolution features were examined for use in performance assessments. The importance of evolution features was classified into six categories based on the design of the Finnish case. Results are expected to be useful as a technical basis for performance and safety assessment in developing the Korean deep geological disposal system for high-level radioactive waste. However, for a more detailed review and evaluation of each feature, it is necessary to obtain data for the final disposal site and facility-specific design, and to assess its impact in advance.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.402-412
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• 2020

Objective: To evaluate the performance of predicting early recurrence using preoperative factors only in comparison with using both pre-/postoperative factors. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 549 patients who had undergone curative resection for single hepatcellular carcinoma (HCC) within Milan criteria. Multivariable analysis was performed to identify pre-/postoperative high-risk factors of early recurrence after hepatic resection for HCC. Two prediction models for early HCC recurrence determined by stepwise variable selection methods based on Akaike information criterion were built, either based on preoperative factors alone or both pre-/postoperative factors. Area under the curve (AUC) for each receiver operating characteristic curve of the two models was calculated, and the two curves were compared for non-inferiority testing. The predictive models of early HCC recurrence were internally validated by bootstrap resampling method. Results: Multivariable analysis on preoperative factors alone identified aspartate aminotransferase/platelet ratio index (OR, 1.632; 95% CI, 1.056-2.522; p = 0.027), tumor size (OR, 1.025; 95% CI, 0.002-1.049; p = 0.031), arterial rim enhancement of the tumor (OR, 2.350; 95% CI, 1.297-4.260; p = 0.005), and presence of nonhypervascular hepatobiliary hypointense nodules (OR, 1.983; 95% CI, 1.049-3.750; p = 0.035) on gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging as significant factors. After adding postoperative histopathologic factors, presence of microvascular invasion (OR, 1.868; 95% CI, 1.155-3.022; p = 0.011) became an additional significant factor, while tumor size became insignificant (p = 0.119). Comparison of the AUCs of the two models showed that the prediction model built on preoperative factors alone was not inferior to that including both pre-/postoperative factors {AUC for preoperative factors only, 0.673 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.623-0.723) vs. AUC after adding postoperative factors, 0.691 (95% CI, 0.639-0.744); p = 0.0013}. Bootstrap resampling method showed that both the models were valid. Conclusion: Risk stratification solely based on preoperative imaging and laboratory factors was not inferior to that based on postoperative histopathologic risk factors in predicting early recurrence after curative resection in within Milan criteria single HCC patients.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• 제21권8호
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• pp.342-347
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• 2020

Recently, as the collaborative robot has been introduced into the domestic industrial robot market, it is installed mainly in the manufacturing industry. Collaborative robots are subject to the safety regulations of industrial robots by Article 93 of the Safety Inspection of the Industrial Safety and Health Act. The sites where collaborative robots are to be installed must perform risk assessments for robots-humans, work environments, and work methods and reduce the risks according to ISO 10218-2 and ISO 12100. On the other hand, because it is early in the introduction of collaborative robots, new risks for collaborative robots have not been issued, and risk assessments are unfamiliar and difficult to apply in the workplace. The risk assessment of collaborative robots aims to identify and reduce the risk of a high probability of occurrence by focusing on the abnormal behavior of humans, human errors, equipment defects, and interlock functions. In this study, a risk assessment was applied to a domestic automobile parts production plant, and improvement measures were drawn. This risk assessment is expected to be useful for improving the safety of small businesses by continuously discovering risk assessment examples of collaborative robots.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.207-216
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• 2010

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the effects of neonatal developmental intervention program (NDT) in promoting motor development and growth and to determine the usefulness of Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination (HNNE) and Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) in premature infants. Methods: We performed NDT on selected premature infants (PI, n=42) and compared them with the full term control group (FC, n=20). NDT protocol and development assessment (HNNE, NBAS) were manipulated by the physical therapist in the neonatal intensive care unit. The data of this study were collected prospectively. Results: The PI with GA <34 weeks (VPI) subgroup showed a more use of mechanical ventilator and surfactant, severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia and intraventricular hemorrhage, and patent ductus arteriosus treated surgically than the PI with GA $\geq$34 weeks but less than 37 weeks (LPI) subgroup. The average scores improved significantly in the PI group between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd assessment by repeated measure (P=0.000). Also, the PI group showed significantly higher total scores and average score at 40 weeks postmenstrual age, P=0.000, respectively than in the FC group. The LPI subgroup showed more weight gain and change in the head circumference between the 1st and 3rd assessment by repeated measure, respectively, P<0.05. The PI group showed no apnea, bradycardia and late sepsis associated with intervention and assessment. Conclusion: The NDT might be a safe and useful intervention to promote motor and growth outcomes in premature infants. Also, the HNNE and NBAS might be safe and useful tools for assessing neurodevelopment in premature infants.