• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.167-174
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• 2021

This study analyzed the feasibility of custom work service to deal with the imbalance of farm labor supply due to population aging. The economic feasibility analysis is based on the case of Bonghwang-myeon in Naju-si, where the majority of farm work is entrusted to local agricultural cooperative. To assess the project profitability and economic feasibility based on the projected cash flow for the next ten years, Return On Investment (ROI), Net Present Value (NPV), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the projects were calculated. The results showed that ROI is estimated at 13.7%, and NPV and IRR are KRW 1,504,932,000 and 15.6%, respectively, with a discount rate of 4.5%, indicating a good enough profitability. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis with government support as part of an assumption showed that without the support, NPV turns negative, implying that the project is not profitable, and that government support for at least 30% of the cost is needed to secure the economic feasibility of a project. Hence, to promote agricultural work entrustment, it is necessary for the government to partly support the agricultural machinery and facility costs, which require a considerable amount of initial investment.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.10
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• pp.327-339
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• 2021

This study examines the impact of bank restructuring on the financial performance of commercial banks in Vietnam. The data for this study was obtained from the audited financial statements of 30 Vietnamese commercial banks from 2007 to 2019. Multiple regression analysis was used for investigation. Financial performance, as evaluated by ROAA, ROEA, and NIM, is the dependent variable. Financial restructuring, ownership restructuring, and operational restructuring are the independent variables. Pooled least squares (Pooled OLS), fixed effects model (FEM), random effects model (REM), and system generalized moment regression model (System GMM) are the estimate methods used to increase the accuracy of the regression coefficient. The research results show that the variables of financial restructuring activities such as government intervention and the ratio of equity to total assets; variables of ownership restructuring such as capital adequacy ratio, privatization of state-owned commercial banks, mergers, and acquisitions; variables of operational restructuring such as employees, branches, the cost to total assets; GDP variables and the second restructuring period have a positive impact on financial performance. Variables such as debt-to-capital ratio, bad debt ratio, state ownership ratio, expense-income ratio, and inflation have a negative effect on financial performance.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.99-106
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• 2021

The fungal isolate Isaria javanica pf185 has potential as a mycopesticide because it demonstrates insecticidal activity against the green peach aphid and antifungal activity against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. For commercialization of this isolate, determination of the optimal and least expensive culture conditions is required; however, these data are not currently available. This study describes the conditions for optimal development of conidia and production of metabolites for the biocontrol of the fungal pathogen. The optimal culture conditions were examined using cultures on solid agar and liquid media. High growth temperature enhanced spore formation but reduced antifungal activity in both solid and liquid media. The highest spore yield was obtained in a medium containing glucose as a carbon source and yeast extract as a nitrogen source. Soybean powder and wheat bran were effective nitrogen sources that promoted spore production and antifungal activity of the isolate. These results revealed the basic, cost-effective growth media for commercial production of a biopesticide with insecticidal and antifungal properties for use in integrated pest management.

• Fourth Industrial Review
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.21-32
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• 2021

Purpose - International diversification, a critical issue in research and practice, undoubtedly represents a growth strategy with great potential impact on firm performance. Although the literature has widely examined the relationship between international diversification and firm performance in international business and strategic management research, it remains unconfirmed. This study, therefore, aims to clarify the relationship as it relates to information service firms. Research design, data and methodology - To examine the international diversification-performance relationship, this study uses a sample of major Korean service firms spread over four industries spanning a period of five years between 2005 and 2009. In this study. generalized least square was used to analyze the relationship between international diversification and performance of service firms. Result - The result showed the U-shaped curvilinear form between international diversification and performance in service firms. Especially, IT service firms may differ from other service firms that the negative effect of internationality may have weaker than other types of service firm. Conclusion - Based on the empirical results, the U-shape relationship between international diversification and performance is confirmed in Korea service firms. Furthermore, information service firm may reduce the initial internationalization cost by transferring codified and digitized information using information and communication technology, so that gain benefit from early international expansion.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.35-58
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• 2020

Purpose - This study examines the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) location choice for Chinese firms, focusing on the agglomeration effect for firms of the same nationality. Design/methodology - The empirical data are China's inward FDI from the top 19 economies (excluding tax havens and Taiwan) in terms of FDI during 1997-2015 and China's outward FDI from the top 18 economies (excluding tax havens). This study uses a random effects generalized least squares model for panel data analysis. Findings - The results confirm that both host countries' costs and market conditions and the degree of agglomeration affect these countries' attractiveness for FDI inflows. Specifically, agglomeration has a significant effect on China's inward and outward FDI. This study confirms that the agglomeration of firms of the same nationality has predictive power for multinational enterprises' FDI location choices. The host countries' real GDP and trade openness also positively affect FDI inflows. Interestingly, however, China's production cost has a positive effect. Thus, inward FDI aimed at entering the Chinese market is increasing in recent years relative to the previous efficiency-seeking FDI. Inward FDI in China is therefore the market-entry type, whereas outward FDI by Chinese firms is the market-oriented type. Originality/value - These results suggest that the effects of the potential determinants of Chinese outward FDI are similar to those of inward FDI as China's trade liberalization progresses.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.220-237
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• 2019

Solid waste management (SWM) is one of the poorly rendered services in developing countries - limited resources, increasing population, rapid urbanization and application of outdated systems leads to inefficiency. Lack of proper planning and inadequate data regarding solid waste generation and collection compound the SWM problem. Decision makers need to formulate solutions that consider multiple goals and strategies. Given the large number of available options for SWM and the inter-relationships among these options, identifying SWM strategies that satisfy economic or environmental objectives is a complex task. The paper develops a mathematical model for a municipal Integrated SWM system, taking into account waste generation rates, composition, transportation modes, processing techniques, revenues from waste processing, simulating waste management as closely as possible. The constraints include those linking waste flows and mass balance, processing plants capacity, landfill capacity, transport vehicle capacity and number of trips. The linear programming model integrating different functional elements was solved by LINGO optimization software and various possible waste management options were considered during analysis. The model thus serves as decision support tool to evaluate various waste management alternatives and obtain the least-cost combination of technologies for handling, treatment and disposal of solid waste.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.1155-1167
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• 2018

We developed a small sensor observation system (SSOS) at a relatively low cost to observe the atmospheric boundary layer. The accuracy of the SSOS sensor was compared with that of the automatic weather system (AWS) and meteorological tower at the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Comparisons between SSOS sensors and KMA sensors were carried out by dividing into ground and lower atmosphere. As a result of comparing the raw data of the SSOS sensor with the raw data of AWS and the observation tower by applying the root-mean-square-error to the error, the corresponding values were within the error tolerance range (KMA meteorological reference point: humidity ${\pm}5%$, atmospheric pressure ${\pm}0.5hPa$, temperature ${\pm}0.5^{\circ}C$. In the case of humidity, even if the altitude changed, it tends to be underestimated. In the case of temperature, when the altitude rose to 40 m above the ground, the value changed from underestimation to overestimation. However, it can be confirmed that the errors are within the KMA's permissible range after correction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.825-836
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• 2019

One of the most challenging safety precautions for workers in dynamic, radioactive environments is avoiding radiation sources and sustaining low exposure. This paper presents a sampling-based algorithm, DL-RRT*, for minimum dose walk-path re-planning in radioactive environments, expedient for occupational workers in nuclear facilities to avoid unnecessary radiation exposure. The method combines the principle of random tree star ($RRT^*$) and $D^*$ Lite, and uses the expansion strength of grid search strategy from $D^*$ Lite to quickly find a high-quality initial path to accelerate convergence rate in $RRT^*$. The algorithm inherits probabilistic completeness and asymptotic optimality from $RRT^*$ to refine the existing paths continually by sampling the search-graph obtained from the grid search process. It can not only be applied to continuous cost spaces, but also make full use of the last planning information to avoid global re-planning, so as to improve the efficiency of path planning in frequently changing environments. The effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method was verified by simulating radiation field under varying obstacles and radioactive environments, and the results were compared with $RRT^*$ algorithm output.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.5
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• pp.155-161
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• 2019

Following the first successful trial of surfactant replacement therapy for preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) by Fujiwara in 1980, several animal-derived natural surfactants and synthetic surfactants have been developed. Synthetic surfactants were designed to overcome limitations of natural surfactants such as cost, immune reactions, and infections elicited by animal proteins contained in natural surfactants. However, first-generation synthetic surfactants that are protein-free have failed to prove their superiority over natural surfactants because they lack surfactant protein (SP). Lucinactant, a second-generation synthetic surfactant containing the SP-B analog, was better or at least as effective as the natural surfactant, suggesting that lucinactant could act an alternative to natural surfactants. Lucinactant was approved by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration in March 2012 as the fifth surfactant to treat neonatal RDS. CHF5633, a second-generation synthetic surfactant containing SP-B and SP-C analogs, was effective and safe in a human multicenter cohort study for preterm infants. Many comparative studies of natural surfactants used worldwide have reported different efficacies for different preparations. However, these differences are believed to due to site variations, not actual differences. The more important thing than the composition of the surfactant in improving outcome is the timing and mode of administration of the surfactant. Novel synthetic surfactants containing synthetic phospholipid incorporated with SP-B and SP-C analogs will potentially represent alternatives to natural surfactants in the future, while improvement of treatment modalities with less-invasive or noninvasive methods of surfactant administration will be the most important task to be resolved.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.219-235
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• 2019

Scheduled inspections of common crossings are one of the main cost drivers of railway maintenance. Prognostics and health management (PHM) approach and modern monitoring means offer many possibilities in the optimization of inspections and maintenance. The present paper deals with data driven prognosis of the common crossing remaining useful life (RUL) that is based on an inertial monitoring system. The problem of scheduled inspections system for common crossings is outlined and analysed. The proposed analysis of inertial signals with the maximal overlap discrete wavelet packet transform (MODWPT) and Shannon entropy (SE) estimates enable to extract the spectral features. The relevant features for the acceleration components are selected with application of Lasso (Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) regularization. The features are fused with time domain information about the longitudinal position of wheels impact and train velocities by multivariate regression. The fused structural health (SH) indicator has a significant correlation to the lifetime of crossing. The RUL prognosis is performed on the linear degradation stochastic model with recursive Bayesian update. Prognosis testing metrics show the promising results for common crossing inspection scheduling improvement.