• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.37-54
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• 2020

Purpose - This study is to investigate the determinants of suppliers' dependence on buyers in the home country by developing a theoretical model of innovative activities. The high dependence of auto parts suppliers on a single local buyer in South Korea due to firm ownership issues and incremental innovation is examined using data from a set of organizations that supply intermediate goods to this automotive manufacturer. Furthermore, we tested the moderating effect of FDI and global knowledge sourcing on the relationship between firm ownership and suppliers' dependence on the local buyer. Design/methodology - To test the hypotheses, we examined a sample of 101 suppliers over 10 years in the Korean automobile parts industry. In this empirical analysis, we utilized a fixed-effects generalized least squares model using panel data. Findings - In this study, domestic firms (automobile parts suppliers) were more dependent on a single local buyer (automobile assembler) than foreign-owned suppliers operating in Korea. In addition, incremental innovation was the mediating mechanism between domestic firms and dependence on the local buyer. To reduce this dependence on the buyer, we suggest two different international strategies: geographical diversification through FDI and global knowledge sourcing. Originality/value - Previous studies showed that asymmetric dependence between firms has many adverse effects. This study proved that domestic and foreign-owned suppliers have different levels of dependence on local buyers due to their heterogeneous characteristics and business strategies. We distinguish two different types of innovation - radical innovation and incremental innovation - that previous studies have often treated as equal when it comes to firm autonomy. Finally, we propose that both FDI and international knowledge sourcing as global strategies to weaken suppliers' asymmetric dependence on a single buyer.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.360-368
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• 2022

PURPOSE. This study assessed the physical and mechanical properties of interim crown materials fabricated using various digital techniques after accelerated aging. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Three groups of interim dental restorative materials (N = 20) were tested. The first group (CO) was fabricated using a conventional manual method. The second group (ML) was prepared from prefabricated resin blocks for the milling method and cut into specimen sizes using a cutting disc. The third group (3D) was additively manufactured using a digital light-processing (DLP) 3D printer. Aging acceleration treatments using toothbrushing and thermocycling simulators were applied to half of the specimens corresponding to three years of usage in the oral environment (N = 10). Surface roughness (Ra), Vickers microhardness, 3-point bending, sorption, and solubility tests were performed. A 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Fisher's multiple comparison test were used to compare the results among the groups. RESULTS. The mean surface roughness (Ra) of the resin after accelerated aging was significantly higher in the CO and ML groups than that before aging, but not in the 3D group. All groups showed reduced hardness after accelerated aging. The flexural strength values were highest in the 3D group, followed by the ML and CO groups after accelerated aging. Accelerated aging significantly reduced water sorption in the ML group. CONCLUSION. According to the tested material and 3D printer type, both 3D-printed and milled interim restoration resins showed higher flexural strength and modulus, and lower surface roughness than those prepared by the conventional method after accelerated aging.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.667-681
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• 2020

Background and objective: Recently, there has been an increasing need for relaxation and familiarity with nature in residential and living spaces faced daily by urban residents, leading to a growing social interest in urban gardens. The aim of this study was to determine how gardens in a city provide physical and social benefits, comparing cases in Korea and overseas. Methods: We used the keywords "garden" and "city" for Korea, and "urban," "garden," and "green" for overseas. We then determined the Korean and overseas research trends in urban gardens by analyzing 63 Korean and 90 overseas articles deemed suitable for this study. Results: As to the types of urban gardens, the most significant type was community gardens, both in Korea and overseas (30.2% and 48.6%, respectively), followed by rooftop gardens in Korea (22.2%) and kitchen gardens overseas (22.2%). Due to the narrow and complex urban structure in Korea, people focus on using rooftop, wall, and alley spaces, and tend to arrange container-type flexible gardens. Overseas there has been a focus on promoting health and reducing food inequality through allotment and kitchen gardens, and a tendency to use a larger area as a fixed form than Korea. In addition, it was found that gardens in urban areas had a positive effect on urban biodiversity. Conclusion: To sum up, gardens in Korea are close to living spaces, and gardens overseas influence the ecosystem with an emphasis on food production. Therefore, creating urban gardens is a method of urban regeneration with a high utility that goes beyond mere food production, both in Korea and overseas, providing comprehensive benefits for the environment (37.73%) and society (62.27%). As such, continuous research on this area of study is needed to create policy guidelines for Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2022

Global efforts to identify groups at high risk for schistosomiasis have mainly concentrated on identifying their geographical distribution. Investigations on the socioeconomic characteristics of high-risk groups are relatively scarce. This study aimed to explore the associations between schistosomiasis among students and their parents' occupations. A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted targeting 105,167 students in 1,772 primary schools across Sudan in 2017. From these students, 100,726 urine and 96,634 stool samples were collected to test for Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni infection. A multi-level mixed effect analysis was used with age and sex as fixed factors, and school as a random factor. The odd ratios (ORs) of practicing open defecation among farmers' children were almost 5 times higher than their counterparts whose parents were government officials (OR=4.97, 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 4.57-5.42, P<0.001). The ORs of contacting water bodies for watering livestock among farmers' children were more than 4 times higher than those of children whose parents were government officials (OR=4.59, 95% CIs: 4.02-5.24, P<0.001). This study shows that schistosomiasis represents a disease of poverty and that farmers' children constituted a high-risk group.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.67-70
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• 2022

In order to prevent water vapor and oxygen permeation in the organic light emitting diodes (OLED), Al₂O₃ thin-film encapsulation (TFE) technology were investigated. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) method was used for making the Al₂O₃ TFE layer because it has superior barrier performance with advantages of excellent uniformity over large scales at relatively low deposition temperatures. In this study, the thickness of the Al₂O₃ layer was varied by controlling the numbers of the unit pulse cycle including Tri Methyl Aluminum(Al(CH₃)₃) injection, Ar purge, and H₂O injection. In this case, several process parameters such as injection pulse times, Ar flow rate, precursor temperature, and substrate temperatures were fixed for analysis of the effect only on the thickness of the Al₂O₃ layer. As results, at least the thickness of 39 nm was required in order to obtain the minimum WVTR of 9.04 mg/m²day per one Al₂O₃ layer and a good transmittance of 90.94 % at 550 nm wavelength.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.101-112
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• 2023

When a submerged floating tunnel is connected to the ground, there is a risk of stress concentration at the shore connection owing to the displacement imbalance caused by low confinement pressures in water and high confinement pressures in the ground. Here, the effects of the boundary condition and stiffness of the joints installed at the shore connection on the behaviors of a submerged floating tunnel and its shore connection were analyzed using a numerical method. The analysis results obtained with fixed and ground boundaries were similar due to the high stiffness of the ground boundary. However, the stability of the shore connection was found to be improved with the ground boundary as a small displacement was allowed at the boundary. The effect of the joint stiffness was evaluated by investigating the dynamic behavior of the submerged floating tunnel, the magnitude of the load acting on the bored tunnel, and the stress distribution at the shore connection. A lower joint stiffness was found to correspond to more effective relief of the stress concentration at the shore connection. However, it was confirmed that joints with low stiffness also increase the submerged floating tunnel displacement and decrease the frequency of the dynamic behavior, causing a risk of increased resonance when wave loads with low frequency are applied. Therefore, it is necessary to derive the optimal joint stiffness that can achieve both stress concentration relief and resonance prevention during the design of shore connections to secure their dynamic stability.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.47-67
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to determine factors of FDI inflows which positively influence economic development. While MNCs ultimately decide on which country to engage in FDI, it can be affected by the general investment environment of host countries. Thus, it may be closely linked to national macro socio-economic factors. In the fixed-effect panel regression analysis using 30 years of data of 13 developed countries and 15 developing countries, results indicate that labor redemption exerts the greatest influence on global FDI inflows; this implies that FDI decisions are based on locations featuring higher productivity by the reduction of labor costs. According to the level of economic development, the motive of FDI inflows differs. In developed countries, GDP, government expenditure and consumer expenditure exert the greatest influence on FDI inflows; which shows characteristics of market seeking and horizontal investment. However, in developing countries, labor redemption and human capital exert the greatest influence on FDI inflows; which shows characteristics of efficiency seeking and vertical investment.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.86 no.2
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• pp.120-132
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• 2023

Background: To systematically review studies on inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and lung cancer incidence in chronic airway disease patients. Methods: We conducted electronic bibliographic searches on OVID-MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database before May 2020 to identify relevant studies. Detailed data on the study population, exposure, and outcome domains were reviewed. Results: Of 4,058 screened publications, 13 eligible studies in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma evaluated lung cancer incidence after ICS exposure. Pooled hazard ratio and odds ratio for developing lung cancer in ICS exposure were 0.81 (95% confidence interval, 0.64 to 1.02; I²=95.7%) from 10 studies and 1.02 (95% confidence interval 0.50 to 2.07; I²=94.7%) from three studies. Meta-regression failed to explain the substantial heterogeneity of pooled estimates. COPD and asthma were variously defined without spirometry in 11 studies. Regarding exposure assessment, three and 10 studies regarded ICS exposure as a time-dependent and fixed variable, respectively. Some studies assessed ICS use for the entire study period, whereas others assessed ICS use for 6 months to 2 years within or before study entry. Smoking was adjusted in four studies, and only four studies introduced 1 to 2 latency years in their main or subgroup analysis. Conclusion: Studies published to date on ICS and lung cancer incidence had heterogeneous study populations, exposures, and outcome assessments, limiting the generation of a pooled conclusion. The beneficial effect of ICS on lung cancer incidence has not yet been established, and understanding the heterogeneities will help future researchers to establish robust evidence on ICS and lung cancer incidence.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.2D
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• pp.265-273
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• 2006

On the occasion of high price oil generation, we have to promote activation policy for public transportation and hold back to use passenger car, it is very important to improve of sidewalk environment for pedestrian. Evaluation for sidewalk environment will be fixed with sensibility to feel pedestrian. So, study for sensibility about comfort etc. to feel pedestrian will be carried out. In this paper, researchers interests in engineering methods to make material considering sensibility and image of human. Therefore, we carried out recognition experiment for sidewalk environment with Kansei engineering, and made a quantitativedata of sensibility adjective that it was surveyed by semantic deferential method. After grasp factors by principal analysis, we found factor effect to design criterion and sidewalk environment preference. So, we could identify a design factor for comfort environment.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.391-399
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• 2023

Recently, low-temperature pyrolysis technology has been studied as a recycling method for waste plastic. Low-temperature pyrolysis technology for waste plastic produces pyrolysis oil that can be used as an energy resource, but solid residue remains. Waste plastic pyrolysis residues are mostly landfilled due to their limited use. In this study, it is investigated that mixed waste plastic pyrolysis residues could be recycled into activated carbon. It was confirmed that the fixed carbon content of the residue was 33.69 % from proximate Analysis. Chemical activation was used to manufacture activated carbon. KOH was used as an activator. To investigate the effect of the mixing ratio of KOH and residue, samples were mixed at ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. The mixed sample was chemically activated at an activation temperature of 800 ℃ for 1 hour. As a result of analyzing the characteristics of activated carbon through BET, it was confirmed that the specific surface area increased as the mixing ratio of KOH increased.