• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.73-87
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• 2016

Combining power generation and water production by desalination is economically advantageous. Most desalination projects use fossil fuels as an energy source, and thus contribute to increased levels of greenhouse gases. Environmental concerns have spurred researchers to find new sources of energy for desalination plants. The coupling of nuclear power production with desalination is one of the best options to achieve growth with lower environmental impact. In this paper, we will per-form a sensitivity study of coupling nuclear power to various combinations of desalination technology: {1} thermal (MSF [Multi-Stage Flashing], MED [Multi-Effect Distillation], and MED-TVC [Multi-Effect Distillation with Thermal Vapour Compression]); {2} membrane RO [Reverse Osmosis]; and {3} hybrid (MSF-RO [Multi-Stage Flashing & Reverse Osmosis] and MED-RO [Multi-Effect Distillation & Reverse Osmosis]). The Korean designed reactor plant, the APR1400 will be modeled as the energy production facility. The economical evaluation will then be executed using the computer program DEEP (Desalination Economic Evaluation Program) as developed by the IAEA. The program has capabilities to model several types of nuclear and fossil power plants, nuclear and fossil heat sources, and thermal distillation and membrane desalination technologies. The output of DEEP includes levelized water and power costs, breakdowns of cost components, energy consumption, and net saleable power for any selected option. In this study, we will examine the APR1400 coupled with a desalination power plant in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as a prototypical example. The KSA currently has approximately 20% of the installed worldwide capacity for seawater desalination. Utilities such as power and water are constructed and run by the government. Per state practice, economic evaluation for these utilities do not consider or apply interest or carrying cost. Therefore, in this paper the evaluation results will be based on two scenarios. The first one assumes the water utility is under direct government control and in this case the interest and discount rate will be set to zero. The second scenario will assume that the water utility is controlled by a private enterprise and in this case we will consider different values of interest and discount rates (4%, 8%, & 12%).

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.295-302
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• 2021

As glucocorticoids are well-known as important regulators of stress and the immune system, their function and clinical use have elicited substantial interest in the field of reproduction. In particular, the effect of glucocorticoid therapy on endometrial receptivity during assisted reproduction, including in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles, has led to a great deal of interest and controversy. However, previous studies have not been able to provide consistent and reliable evidence due to their small, non-controlled designs and use of different criteria. Considering the potential risk of exposure to glucocorticoids for mothers and fetuses in early pregnancy, the use of glucocorticoids in IVF cycles should be carefully evaluated, including the balance between risk and benefit. To date, there is no conclusive evidence that the use of glucocorticoids improves the pregnancy rate in IVF cycles with unselected subjects, and a further investigation should be considered with a proper study design.

• Asian Journal of Business Environment
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.17-29
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• 2021

Purpose: The aim of this study is to explore the dynamic linkage between conditional stock market volatility and macroeconomic uncertainty of Bangladesh. Research design, data, and methodology: This study uses monthly data covering the time period from January 2005 to December 2018. A comprehensive set of macroeconomic variables, namely industrial production index (IP), consumer price index (CPI), broad money supply (M2), 91-day treasury bill rate (TB), treasury bond yield (GB), exchange rate (EX), inflow of foreign remittance (RT) and stock market index of DSEX are used for analysis. Symmetric and asymmetric univariate GARCH family of models and multivariate VAR model, along with block exogeneity and impulse response functions, are implemented on conditional volatility series to discover the possible interactions and causal relations between macroeconomic forces and stock return. Results: The analysis of the study exhibits time-varying volatility and volatility persistence in all the variables of interest. Moreover, the asymmetric effect is found significant in the stock return and most of the growth series of macroeconomic fundamentals. Results from the multivariate VAR model indicate that only short-term interest rate significantly influence the stock market volatility, while conditional stock return volatility is significant in explaining the volatility of industrial production, inflation, and treasury bill rate. Conclusion: The findings suggest an increasing interdependence between the money market and equity market as well as the macroeconomic fundamentals of Bangladesh.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.15-27
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• 2011

This article was examined that the behavior of which they select hair equipment and a product may be significantly influenced by an interest in appearance during adolescence. This study was presented that according to gender, a girl student has higher confidence in appearance than a boy student, and also the higher the confidence in the girl's appearance, and they use more hair products. Moreover, the boy students are higher in than a girl student in the rate of dependence on hair equipment, so the boy students intend to use hair equipment. Therefore, this study was presented that the gender and an interest in appearance is important variables which influence to hair fashion of adolescence on an equipment and a product during presenting a hair-style, an interest in appearance of adolescence significantly influences on explaining the degree of hair equipment and leverage products as well.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.23-46
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• 2004

Tax exhaustion effect hypothesis says that firms with low expected marginal tax rates on their interest deductions employ less debt in their capital structure. We use logit analysis to study how financing decision is related to tax after controlling non tax effects. We treat non debt tax shields as proxy of marginal corporate tax rates which affect the probability of using the deductibility of debt tax shields and empirically test the tax effect on financing decision in Korea. In conclusion, we provide evidence that debt financing is positively related to tax in the former sub-period. This results partially support for tax exhaustion effect hypothesis and low tax rate firms have lower debt levels than high tax rate firms.

• Asian Journal of Business Environment
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2016

Purpose - This paper aims to find and analyze factors that determine the flows of bilateral foreign direct investment in intra-ASEAN. It specifically focuses on the dimension of macro-economic, natural resources, human resources, and the quality of governance. Research design, data, and methodology - Data were collected from 64 bilateral relations between ASEAN nations from 2002 to 2013. Panel gravity model was utilized to find factors that determine the flows of bilateral foreign direct investment. Results - Significant factors were identified that determine the flows of bilateral foreign direct investment: GDP home country, GDP host country, real interest rate, distance, and total natural resources rent. Unexpectedly, natural resources have a negative effect. Conclusions - In a situation of increasing the flow of FDI among the countries of ASEAN, the government should control the interest rates and maintain good relations with nearby countries. The negative effect of total natural resource rents implies that ASEAN countries should not depend on their natural resources to attract foreign investments.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.215-221
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• 2017

Objective: This questionnaire study aimed to estimate the overall frequencies of positive perception towards orthodontic treatment among adults categorized according to age, sex, and area of living, and to identify barriers or negative perceptions preventing them from receiving orthodontic treatment. Methods: The participants included 598 adults aged over 20 years (230 men and 368 women) who visited the Dental Hospital of Seoul St. Mary's Hospital. The participants' opinions regarding their consideration of receiving orthodontic treatment were recorded using a specially designed questionnaire. Results: The overall rate of positive perception towards orthodontic treatment was 48.5%. Compared to adults in their 20s (63.2%), those in their 40s and 50s had a lower percentage of interest in orthodontic treatment (46.2% and 45.1%, respectively; p < 0.05). Overall, women (52.2%) had a higher rate of interest than did men (42.6%; p < 0.05). The area of living had no effect on the percentage of interest. The order of priority of chief complaints differed according to age: protrusion for those in the 20s and 30s, and spacing for those in the 40s to 60s. Overall, the main reason for not seeking treatment was the treatment fee. Respondents aged over 40 considered themselves "too old" for orthodontic treatment. Conclusions: The middle-aged had a relatively high percentage of interest (above 45%) in orthodontic treatment. However, demographic characteristics were not significantly associated with the positive interest. These results highlight the need for educating the middle-aged about the limitations and possibilities of orthodontic treatment to increase its acceptance.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.165-170
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• 2021

This study analyzed the effect of housing price changes on the performance of Korean regional banks using DOLS model. The analysis shows that housing price changes does not have a statistically significant effect on the loan growth, profitability and soundness of regional banks. Among macroeconomic variables, only short-term interest rates have a significant positive effect on any model. This means that a rise in short-term interest rates significantly increases loans by regional banks, which leads to a significant increase in profitability, but has a significant negative impact on soundness. On the other hand, bank characteristics variables are found to have a significant negative effect on the loan growth, profitability and soundness of Korean regional banks.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2000.05a
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• pp.63-70
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• 2000

Light Rail is highlighted for its construction cost and operation ＆ maintenance cost in Korea. However, lack of analysis on driverless operation effect causes many disputes. In this paper, using latest driverless operation cost data. analysed cost reduction effect of it, with comparing present KNR's metropolitan subway signal system. It showed there is enough economic appropriateness B/C 1.241 on interest rate 6%, 1.076 on 8% and 0.943 on 10%, though it couldn't include passenger travel time value.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.75
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• pp.95-116
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• 2017

The global financial crisis has slowed overall growth in the global economy. In addition, uncertainty is increasing in the world economy due to the Trade protectionism, sluggish world trade, and a rise in the rate of interest caused by expansion of fiscal spending by major countries. In this study, we analyzed various factors affecting the container import and export volume, which has a high correlation with export and import of commodities in international trade. In particular, we will examine how exchange rate fluctuations and domestic and overseas economic conditions affect container imports and exports. For the empirical analysis, monthly time series data were used from January 2000 to January 2017. We use the Error Correction Model (VECM) for the empirical analysis and the GARCH model for the exchange rate fluctuation. As a result, container export and import volume had a negative relationship with exchange rate and exchange rate volatility, which had a positive effect on domestic and international economic conditions. However, the effects are different before and after the financial crisis.