• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.373-380
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• 2018

This study classified hairdressing techniques into hairdressing equipment, beauty/care, and styling and investigated current trends in patent applications. In addition, it analyzed what aspects should be concentrated on in terms of future hairdressing techniques and their growth potential. The results found the following: Hairdressing techniques have been on the rise since 1990 in terms of patent activities. In particular, they have been most active in 'electric hairdressing equipment such as hair dryers and hair straighteners. According to analysis of applicants' application trends, technique leaders were different by sector. In hairdressing techniques, in other words, expertise should be developed by sector. It is anticipated that this study would facilitate and expand the hairdressing market by analyzing hairdressing technique patent trends and establishing future directions for R&D in hairdressing techniques.

• Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.191-196
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• 2018

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cancer are serious health problems worldwide, and their prevalences have been on the rise in recent years. It has been reported that adropin plays an important role in the development of T2DM, oxidative stress, inflammation, and obesity. However, there is limited information available on T2DM from human studies, especially for the Korean population. In this study, we aimed to investigate the correlation between adropin levels and obesity of Korean T2DM patients. Methods: Thirty-six T2DM patients were recruited for this study. The participants were further classified into female (n = 12) and male (n = 24). Their body composition, metabolic parameters, inflammatory factors, and oxidative stress were measured. Results: The severity of obesity is more manifested in male than in female. Plasma triglyceride (TG) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels of male were significantly higher than female. The plasma adropin and adiponectin level of female was significantly higher than male. The body weight, body mass index (BMI), body fat mass were negatively correlated with the plasma adropin level in female, whereas adropin has positive correlation with adiponectin in female. The hs-CRP was negatively correlated with the plasma adropin level in female and male. malondialdehyde, reactive oxidative species, and $TNF-{\alpha}$ was not significantly correlated with adropin in patients with T2DM. Conclusions: These findings suggest that adropin may be more used as a biomarker for predicting the risk of obesity and inflammation in Korean patients with T2DM, especially women.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2019

This research mainly focuses on examining the applicability of the deterministic model SLOSH (Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes) on Seas covering South Korea. Also, a simple bathtub approach which estimates coastal inundation area is validated as a first step of estimating effects of sea-level rise on the coastal cities of South Korea according to climate change. Firstly, the typhoon-induced surges are obtained from the model SLOSH by adopting historical typhoons MAEMI (0314) and BOLAVEN (1215). The results are compared to observational, typhoon-induced surge heights at several tidal stations. The coastal inundation area is estimated by comparing the maximum envelop of waves (MEOW) and the elevation of coastal land. It reproduces well the inundation area. It can be seen that this research gained applicability for estimating further potential coastal inundation with climate changes.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.1-8
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• 2022

Objectives : Dioscorea batas Decaisne (DB) has been known to be good for the digestive system on Eastern Asia. However, the protective effect of DB on acute pancreatitis (AP) has not been studied. In this study, we tried to investigate the protective effect of DB water extract on caerulein-induced AP. Methods : To measure the protective effect of DB on AP, Mice were injected with cholecystokinin analogue caerulein (50 ㎍/kg) hourly for 6 times. DB water extract (200 or 400 mg/kg) or saline (control group) was administered orally 1 h before the first injection of caerulein. The mice were sacrificed at 6 h after the last injection of caerulein. The pancreas tissues and serum samples were immediately taken for further analysis. Results : Administration of DB water extract showed the inhibitory effect on the increase of pancreas weight/body weight ratio, pancreatic histological damage. And the rise of serum lipase level was significantly reduced in DB water extract treatment group during AP in mice. However administration of DB water extract did not show significant reduction in serum amylase level. Also, mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines Interleukin (IL)-6 and Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-𝛼 but not IL-1𝛽 were inhibited by administration of DB water extract. Conclusions : Taken together, we found that administration of DB water extract ameliorates the severity of caerulein-induced AP, which suggests the potential to be an effective treatment on AP.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2023

Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is known to be effective in improving symptoms of numerous diseases such as depression and epilepsy by increasing vagus nerve activity through electrical stimulation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of vagus nerve stimulation on the activity of autonomic nervous system and the changes in postprandial blood glucose levels. Seven healthy adults participated in a non-invasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation experiment. taVNS (25 Hz, 200 ㎲, biphasic pulse) was applied to the cymba concha (taVNS group) or the earlobe (Sham-taVNS group) of the left ear. As autonomic nervous system signals, skin conductance level, skin temperature, and heart rate were recorded during the application of taVNS. Postprandial blood glucose changes due to food intake were recorded at 5 min intervals for 25 minutes after taVNS or sham-taVNS. The taVNS showed a significantly lower skin conductance level than the shamtaVNS (p < 0.05). The increase rate of postprandial blood glucose was significantly lower in the taVNS than in the sham-taVNS (p < 0.05). These results showed that taVNS reduced the activity of the sympathetic nerve system and alleviated early rise in postprandial blood glucose. Although further studies in diabetic patients are needed, this study suggest that taVNS has a potential for clinical use to improve postprandial blood glucose.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.493-502
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• 2022

In recent decades, infrastructural development has exploded, particularly in the coastal region of Saudi Arabia. The rising demand of most consumed aggregate in construction can be effectively compensated by the alternative material like scoria which lavishly exists in the western region. Scoria is characterized as lightweight aggregate beneficially used to develop lightweight concrete (LWC) - a potential alternative of normal weight concrete (NWC) ensuring reduction in the structural element's size, increase in building height, comparatively lighter foundation, etc. Hence, the goal of this study is to incorporate scoria-based structural lightweight concrete and evaluate its impact on superstructure and foundation design beside contributing to the economy of construction. Fresh, mechanical, and rheological properties of the novel LWC have been investigated. The structural analyses employ the NWC as well as LWC based structures under seismic and wind loadings. The commercial finite element package - ETABS was employed to find out the change in structural responses and foundations. The cost estimation and SWOT analysis for superstructure and foundation have also been carried out. It was revealed that the developed LWC enabled a more flexible structural design. Notable reduction in the steel and concrete prices of LWC might be possible in the low-rise building. It is postulated that the cost-effective and eco-friendly LWC will promote the usage of scoria as an effective alternative in Saudi Arabia and GCC countries for structurally viable LWC construction.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.433-438
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• 2022

A carbon cycle model based method is proposed in order to evaluate the effectiveness of various policies and projects to achieve carbon neutrality. The proposed model was validated by properly reproducing the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the rise of the global average temperature from the data of anthropogenic carbon emissions and deforestation since the industrial revolution. As a case study, a carbon cycle impact assessment was performed for deforestation, reforestation, and afforestation. It was verified that the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is attributed not only to fossil fuel usage, but also to deforestation, and that even if deforestation is immediately followed by reforestation, it takes very long to return to the initial concentration. The proposed method is expected to be eventually applicable to simulation of potential climate control in the future, contributing to safety verification of various climate engineering techniques.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.1242-1242
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• 2022

Annually, several construction workers fall ill, are injured, or die due to heat-related exposure. The prevalence of work-related heat illness may rise and become an issue for workers operating in temperate climates, given the increase in frequency and intensity of heatwaves in the US. An increase in temperature negatively impacts physical exertion levels and mental state, thereby increasing the potential of accidents on the job site. To reduce the impact of heat stress on workers, it is critical to develop and implement measures for monitoring physical exertion levels and mental state in hot conditions. For this, limited studies have evaluated the utility of wearable biosensors in measuring physical exertion and mental workload in hot conditions. In addition, most studies focus solely on male participants, with little to no reference to female workers who may be exposed to greater heat stress risk. Therefore, this study aims to develop a process for objective and continuous assessment of worker physical exertion and mental workload using wearable biosensors. Physiological data were collected from eight (four male and four female) participants performing a simulated drilling task at 92oF and about 50% humidity level. After removing signal artifacts from the data using multiple filtering processes, the data was compared to a perceived muscle exertion scale and mental workload scale. Results indicate that biosensors' features can effectively detect the change in worker physical and mental state in hot conditions. Therefore, wearable biosensors provide a feasible and effective opportunity to continuously assess worker physical exertion and mental workload.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.110-122
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• 2023

Over the last few decades, various innovative technologies have emerged that have significantly contributed to making life easier for humans. Various information and communication technologies (ITCs) have emerged as a result of the global technological revolution, including big data, IoT, 4G and 5G networks, cloud computing, mobile computing, and artificial intelligence. These technologies have been adopted in urban planning and development, which gave rise to the concept of smart cities in the 1990s. A smart city is a type of city that uses ITCs to exchange and share information to enhance the quality of services for its citizens. With the global population increasing at unprecedented levels, cities are overwhelmed with a myriad of challenges, such as the energy crisis, environmental pollution, sanitation and sewage challenges, and water quality issues, and therefore, have become a convergence point of economic, social, and environmental risks. The concept of a smart city is a multidisciplinary, unified approach that has been adopted by governments and municipalities worldwide to overcome these challenges. Though challenging, this transformation is essential for cities with differing technological and social features, which all have the potential to determine the success or failure of the digital transformation of cities into smart cities. In recent years, researchers, businesses, and the government have all turned their attention to the emerging field of smart cities. Accordingly, this paper aims to represent a thorough understanding of the movement toward smart cities. The key themes identified are smart city definitions and concepts, smart city dimensions, and smart city architecture of different layers. Furthermore, this article discusses the challenges and some examples of smart cities.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.49-62
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• 2023

Background: Over the past three decades, gradual eustatic sea-level rise has been considered a primary exogenous factor in the increased frequency of flooding and biological changes in several salt marshes. Under this paradigm, the potential importance of short-term events, such as ocean storminess, in coastal hydrology and ecology is underrepresented in the literature. In this study, a simulation was developed to evaluate the influence of wind waves driven by atmospheric oscillations on sedimentary and vegetation dynamics at the Skallingen salt marsh in southwestern Denmark. The model was built based on long-term data of mean sea level, sediment accretion, and plant species composition collected at the Skallingen salt marsh from 1933-2006. In the model, the submergence frequency (number yr^-1) was estimated as a combined function of wind-driven high water level (HWL) events (> 80 cm Danish Ordnance Datum) affected by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and changes in surface elevation (cm yr^-1). Vegetation dynamics were represented as transitions between successional stages controlled by flooding effects. Two types of simulations were performed: (1) baseline modeling, which assumed no effect of wind-driven sea-level change, and (2) experimental modeling, which considered both normal tidal activity and wind-driven sea-level change. Results: Experimental modeling successfully represented the patterns of vegetation change observed in the field. It realistically simulated a retarded or retrogressive successional state dominated by early- to mid-successional species, despite a continuous increase in surface elevation at Skallingen. This situation is believed to be caused by an increase in extreme HWL events that cannot occur without meteorological ocean storms. In contrast, baseline modeling showed progressive succession towards the predominance of late-successional species, which was not the then-current state in the marsh. Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that variations in the NAO index toward its positive phase have increased storminess and wind tides on the North Sea surface (especially since the 1980s). This led to an increased frequency and duration of submergence and delayed ecological succession. Researchers should therefore employ a multitemporal perspective, recognizing the importance of short-term sea-level changes nested within long-term gradual trends.