• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.140-147
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• 2024

In order to increase the utilization of biomass, an electrochemical performance was considered after manufacturing a carbon anode material (SV-C) for a Setaria viridis-based lithium ion secondary battery through a heat treatment process. When the heat treatment temperature of the Setaria viridis is as low as 750 ℃, the capacitance (1003.3 mAh/g, at 0.1 C) is high due to the negative (-) charge of oxygen present on the surface attracting lithium, along with the low crystallinity and high specific surface area (126 m²/g), but the capacity retention rate is believed to be as low as 61.0% (at 500 cycles and 1 C). In addition, it was confirmed that when the heat treatment temperature increased to 1150 ℃, the carbon layer was condensed to be excellent in arrangement, and the structural defects were reduced, resulting in a significant reduction in the specific surface area (32 m²/g) of the pores. Furthermore, when the surface defects of the anode material are reduced and the crystallinity is increased, the capacity retention rate is as high as 89.7% (at 500 cycles and 1 C), but the degree of defects is small, the active point is reduced, and the specific capacity is considered to be very low at 471.7 mAh/g. In the scope of this study, it was found that in the case of the Setaria viridis-based carbon anode material manufactured according to the heat treatment temperature, the surface oxygen content and crystallinity have higher reliability on the electrochemical properties of the anode material than the specific surface area.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.83 no.3
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• pp.620-631
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• 2022

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of features suggestive of nodal metastasis on preoperative MRI in patients with invasive breast cancer. Materials and Methods We retrospectively reviewed the preoperative breast MRI of 192 consecutive patients with surgically proven invasive breast cancer. We analyzed MRI findings of axillary lymph nodes with regard to the size, long/short ratio, cortical thickness, shape and margin of the cortex, loss of hilum, asymmetry, signal intensity (SI) on T2-weighted images (T2WI), degree of enhancement in the early phase, and enhancement kinetics. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, chi-square test, t test, and McNemar's test were used for statistical analysis. Results Increased shorter diameter, uneven cortical shape, increased cortical thickness, loss of hilum, asymmetry, irregular cortical margin, and low SI on T2WI were significantly suggestive of metastasis. ROC analysis revealed the cutoff value for the shorter diameter and cortical thickness as 8.05 mm and 2.75 mm, respectively. Increased cortical thickness (> 2.75 mm) and uneven cortical shape showed significantly higher sensitivity than other findings in McNemar's test. Irregular cortical margins showed the highest specificity (100%). Conclusion Cortical thickness > 2.75 mm and uneven cortical shape are more sensitive parameters than other findings, and an irregular cortical margin is the most specific parameter for predicting axillary metastasis in patients with invasive breast cancer.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.531-550
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• 2023

Purpose: The unique nature of life-and-death healthcare services sets them apart from other service industries. While many studies exist on the relationship between healthcare services and customer satisfaction, most of them focus on mildly ill patients, ignoring the differences between critically ill and non-seriously ill patients. This study discusses the actual quality of healthcare services for patients who are facing life-threatening illnesses and are on life support, as well as their right to protection and dignity. Methods: The survey conducted to 149 patients with the four major illnesses: cancer, heart disease, brain disease and rare and incurable disease, those who have experiences with senior general hospitals. Results: The basic statistics of this study are adequate to represent the four major critical illnesses, and the reliability and validity of this study's hypotheses, which were measured by multiple items, were analyzed, and the internal consistency was judged to be high. In addition, it was found that the convergent validity was good and the discriminant validity was also secured. When examining the goodness of fit of the hypotheses, the SRMR, which is the standardized root mean square of residuals that measures the difference between the covariance matrix of the data variables and the theoretical covariance matrix structure of the model, met the optimal criteria. Conclusion: The academic implications of this study are differentiated from other studies by moving away from evaluating the quality of healthcare services for mildly ill patients and focusing on the rights and dignity of patients with life-threatening illnesses in four senior general hospitals. In terms of academic implications, this study enriches the depth of related studies by demonstrating the right to protection and dignity as a factor of patient-centeredness based on physical environment quality, interaction quality, and outcome quality, which are presented as sub-factors of healthcare quality. We found that the three quality factors classified by Brady and Cronin (2001) are optimized for healthcare quality assessment and management, and that the results of patients' interaction quality assessment can be used to provide a comprehensive quality rating for hospitals. Health and human rights are inextricably linked, so assessing the degree to which rights and dignity are protected can be a superior and more comprehensive measurement tool than traditional health level measures for healthcare organizations. Practical implications: Improving the quality of the physical environment and the quality of outcomes is an important challenge for hospital managers who attract patients with life and death conditions, but given the scale and economics of time, money, and human inputs, improving the quality of interactions and defining them as performance indicators in hospital quality management is an efficient way to create maximum value in the short term.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.24.1-24.15
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• 2023

Background: The construction workers are vulnerable to fatigue due to high physical workload. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between overwork and heart rate in construction workers and propose a scheme to prevent overwork in advance. Methods: We measured the heart rates of construction workers at a construction site of a residential and commercial complex in Seoul from August to October 2021 and develop an index that monitors overwork in real-time. A total of 66 Korean workers participated in the study, wearing real-time heart rate monitoring equipment. The relative heart rate (RHR) was calculated using the minimum and maximum heart rates, and the maximum acceptable working time (MAWT) was estimated using RHR to calculate the workload. The overwork index (OI) was defined as the cumulative workload evaluated with the MAWT. An appropriate scenario line (PSL) was set as an index that can be compared to the OI to evaluate the degree of overwork in real-time. The excess overwork index (EOI) was evaluated in real-time during work performance using the difference between the OI and the PSL. The EOI value was used to perform receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to find the optimal cut-off value for classification of overwork state. Results: Of the 60 participants analyzed, 28 (46.7%) were classified as the overwork group based on their RHR. ROC curve analysis showed that the EOI was a good predictor of overwork, with an area under the curve of 0.824. The optimal cut-off values ranged from 21.8% to 24.0% depending on the method used to determine the cut-off point. Conclusion: The EOI showed promising results as a predictive tool to assess overwork in real-time using heart rate monitoring and calculation through MAWT. Further research is needed to assess physical workload accurately and determine cut-off values across industries.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.6
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• pp.611-633
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• 2024

This study intends to investigate the response of multi-cell (MC) beams to flexural loads in which the primary reinforcement is composed of both metallic and non-metallic materials. "Multi-cell" describes beam sections with multiple longitudinal voids separated by thin webs. Seven reinforced concrete MC beams measuring 300×200×1800 mm were tested under flexural loadings until failure. Two series of beams are formed, depending on the type of main reinforcement that is being used. A control RC beam with no openings and six MC beams are found in these two series. Series one and two are reinforced with metallic and non-metallic main reinforcement, respectively, in order to maintain a constant reinforcement ratio. The first crack, ultimate load, deflection, ductility index, energy absorption, strain characteristics, crack pattern, and failure mode were among the structural parameters of the beams under investigation that were documented. The primary variables that vary are the kind of reinforcing materials that are utilized, as well as the kind and quantity of mesh layers. The outcomes of this study that looked at the experimental and numerical performance of ferrocement reinforced concrete MC beams are presented in this article. Nonlinear finite element analysis (NLFEA) was performed with ANSYS-16.0 software to demonstrate the behavior of composite MC beams with holes. A parametric study is also carried out to investigate the factors, such as opening size, that can most strongly affect the mechanical behavior of the suggested model. The experimental and numerical results obtained demonstrate that the FE simulations generated an acceptable degree of experimental value estimation. It's also important to demonstrate that, when compared to the control beam, the MC beam reinforced with geogrid mesh (MCGB) decreases its strength capacity by a maximum of 73.33%. In contrast, the minimum strength reduction value of 16.71% is observed in the MC beams reinforced with carbon reinforcing bars (MCCR). The findings of the experiments on MC beams with openings demonstrate that the presence of openings has a significant impact on the behavior of the beams, as there is a decrease in both the ultimate load and maximum deflection.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.57-71
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• 2012

Objectives: This study examines the situation regarding smoking among high school students in Seoul Province and identifies smoking-related factors. Methods: The study sample consisted of 1,000 high school second-grade students from 6 high schools in Seoul. The PRECEDE model was used to assess the students' needs. We carried out an educational diagnosis on attitudes, outcome expectations and social norms. Date were collected from June. 7 to 21, 2011, and were analyzed using SPSS-15.0 according to the study objectives. Results: Of 906 respondents, 9.4% had experiences to smoking: 12.7% were male and 5.7% were female. Smoking-related factors from among general characteristics were statistically significant depending on the degree of gender($x^2$=14.515, p=.001), school performance($x^2$=40.289, p=.001) and friends 'smoking status($x^2$=88.615, p=.001). Factors concerning attitudes toward smoking were statistically significant depending on the students' perceptions as follows: 'Smoking is fun(t=-14.801, p=.000)', 'Smoking looks cool(t=-10.349, p=.000)', 'People who smoke have more friends(t=-11.295, p=.000)', 'Smoking helps me manage stress(t=-15.059, p=.000)' and 'Smoking is not harmful to the body if you exercise(t=-6.388, p=.000)'. Factors concerning outcome expectations were statistically significant depending on their perceptions as follows: 'Tobacco smells good(t=-8.939, p=.000)' and 'Smoking helps in weight management (t=-7.304, p=.000)'. Factors concerning social norms were statistically significant depending on the following perception: 'My friends will not like it if I smoke(t=4.605, p=.000)'. The following influence high school students attitudes toward smoking: School performance (OR=11.66, 95%CI=1.67~81.37; OR=18.27, 95%CI=2.58~129.24; OR=26.74, 95%CI=3.06~233.79), Friends smoking status(OR=80.05, 95%CI=6.94~922.77), 'Smoking is fun(OR=12.90, 95%CI=3.87~43.04; OR=63.41, 95%CI=10.66~377.09)', 'Smoking looks cool(OR=0.15, 95%CI=0.03~0.64)', 'Smoking is not harmful to the body if you exercise(OR=1.44, 95%CI=0.03~0.62)', 'When there is no work to do, smoking is a good way to pass the time(OR=21.68, 95%CI=4.27~109.90)', 'When you are angry, smoking calms you down.(OR=13.39, 95%CI=3.92~45.65; OR=8.69, 95%CI=1.67~45.13)' and 'My parents consider it important that I do not smoke(OR=10.05, 95%CI=1.00~100.43)'. Conclusions: The study suggests that effective ways to discourage of high school students from smoking are changing their attitudes toward smoking, reducing the motivation to smoke, and controlling the number of cigarettes. Therefore, aiming at preventive education. Schools must provide accurate information about the effects of smoking. Thus, health education should actively involve preventive education not only in schools but also at home, the societal and national levels. Cooperation between various sectors of society is required for this.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.76-84
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• 2002

Objectives：This study was conducted to investigate the effect of oxygen on attention and memory functions in healthy adolescents. Methods：The participant subjects were recruited from local advertisement. All subjects are students attending ordinary middle and high school. Their degree of achievement was average or below average. Before the study, its nature and purpose were fully explained to the patients and their parents, and a written informed consent was obtained from each child's parent and a written assent from each child for entire the procedure. The Ethics Committee and Clinical Research Committee of Gyeongsang National University Hospital approved the protocol. For baseline assessment, all subjects received tests for attention and memory. All tests were conducted by a certified psychologist. Stroop test, continuous performance test and trail making test A and B were used for evaluation of attention. As memory tests, we used memory assessment scale(MAS), standardized memory assessment tools. Ten to fourteen days after initial assessments, same tests was applied to the same subjects after prior 5 minute oxygen inhalation. Results：1) Attention test：Improved performances in trail making part B, and stroop test were found in normobaric oxygen inhalation group compared to air inhalation group. Improved reaction time in those tests seemed to reflect the enhanced executive prefrontal activity. 2) Memory test：More words and digits memorization were found in short-term memory subscale score in MAS in oxygen inhalation group compared to air inhalation group. This finding suggested the improved working memory function after oxygen inhalation. Conclusion：Though interpreted cautiously, these results suggested that normobaric oxygen inhalation could enhance executive function and working memory of prefrontal lobe. Further study, however, should be performed to investigate the mechanism of effects of oxygen on cognitive enhancement.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.153-163
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• 2017

The objective of this study is to enhance the model's speed of estimating weather variables (e.g., minimum/maximum temperature, sunshine hour, PRISM (Parameter-elevation Regression on Independent Slopes Model) based precipitation), which are applied to the Agrometeorological Early Warning System (http://www.agmet.kr). The current process of weather estimation is operated on high-performance multi-core CPUs that have 8 physical cores and 16 logical threads. Nonetheless, the server is not even dedicated to the handling of a single county, indicating that very high overhead is involved in calculating the 10 counties of the Seomjin River Basin. In order to reduce such overhead, several cache and parallelization techniques were used to measure the performance and to check the applicability. Results are as follows: (1) for simple calculations such as Growing Degree Days accumulation, the time required for Input and Output (I/O) is significantly greater than that for calculation, suggesting the need of a technique which reduces disk I/O bottlenecks; (2) when there are many I/O, it is advantageous to distribute them on several servers. However, each server must have a cache for input data so that it does not compete for the same resource; and (3) GPU-based parallel processing method is most suitable for models such as PRISM with large computation loads.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.74-80
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• 1994

As a preliminary study about the reduction of the antigenicity of whey protein isolate(WPI) by treatment of chymotrypsin, trypsin, pancreatin, and protease from Aspergillus oryzae, the properties and antigenicities of whey protein hydrolysates(WPH) were investigated. When degrees of hydrolysis (DH) were measured by use of trinitrobenzensulfonic acid(TNBS), the DH of the WPH treated by pancreatin or protease from Aspergillus oryzae$(5.05{\sim}11.47)$ were much higher than those of the tryptic or chymotryptic WPH$(15.67{\sim}20.20)$. And the pretreatments of heat$(75^{\circ}C)$, 20 min and/or pepsin resulted in higher DH of WPH, generally. When the molecular distributions of the WPH were determined by high performance size exclusion chromatography(HPSEC), the ratios of polypeptides with molecular weight more than 10kDa ranged from 12% to 36%, and the average molecular weights and the average peptide lengths of the WPH were $4,252{\sim}9,132$ dalton and $38{\sim}83$ amino acids, respectively. And there was no bitter taste in all of the WPH. Results of SDS-PAGE showed that most of intact native proteins were eliminated by the enzymatic hydrolysis but there were a few bands of peptides larger than 14.2 kDa in some WPH. When antigenicity was assayed by competitive inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(cELISA), monovalent antigenicity of WPH to rabbit anti-WPI antiserum were lowered to $10^{-1.7}-10^{-4.9}$ times and less by the enzymatic hydrolysis. And the pretreatments of heat and pepsin resulted in the lowest antigenicicy within a group of enzymatic hydrolysis, especially in case of the pancreatic hydrolysate(PDP) whose antigenicity was found almost to be removed.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2006

In Korea, a resident registration card has various personal information such as a present address, a resident registration number, a face picture and a fingerprint. A plastic-type resident card currently used is easy to forge or alter and tricks of forgery grow to be high-degree as time goes on. So, whether a resident card is forged or not is difficult to judge by only an examination with the naked eye. This paper proposed an automatic recognition method of a resident card which recognizes a resident registration number by using a refined ART2-based RBF network newly proposed and authenticates a face picture by a template image matching method. The proposed method, first, extracts areas including a resident registration number and the date of issue from a resident card image by applying Sobel masking, median filtering and horizontal smearing operations to the image in turn. To improve the extraction of individual codes from extracted areas, the original image is binarized by using a high-frequency passing filter and CDM masking is applied to the binaried image fur making image information of individual codes better. Lastly, individual codes, which are targets of recognition, are extracted by applying 4-directional contour tracking algorithm to extracted areas in the binarized image. And this paper proposed a refined ART2-based RBF network to recognize individual codes, which applies ART2 as the loaming structure of the middle layer and dynamicaly adjusts a teaming rate in the teaming of the middle and the output layers by using a fuzzy control method to improve the performance of teaming. Also, for the precise judgement of forgey of a resident card, the proposed method supports a face authentication by using a face template database and a template image matching method. For performance evaluation of the proposed method, this paper maked metamorphoses of an original image of resident card such as a forgey of face picture, an addition of noise, variations of contrast variations of intensity and image blurring, and applied these images with original images to experiments. The results of experiment showed that the proposed method is excellent in the recognition of individual codes and the face authentication fur the automatic recognition of a resident card.