• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.93-111
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• 2020

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in Korea is conducted for specific development projects within Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system. However, as HIA is being carried out in the implementation stage of the development project, it sometimes has failed to take proper actions despite the significant adverse health impact. Considering an environment conflict regarding adverse health impact in developing industrial complex and the current application of HIA in EIA system, it is necessary to come up with an adequacy evaluation in the industrial complex development considering health impact. This study proposes an adequacy evaluation method considering health impact for the industrial complex development and embodies the method by applying it to actual cases. Referring to methodologies of US EPA's CalEnviroScreen 3.0 and US ATSDR's Public Health Assessment, this study proposed using indicators divided by community characteristic, background exposure and development burden as an adequacy evaluation method to consider health impact. Five indicators for community characteristic, three indicators for background exposure and seven indicators for development burden were selected through literature survey, and the weights for each indicator were calculated through Analytic Hierarchy Process's survey of experts related to HIA. Through a pilot application in the three government-led industrial complex development projects, the method was further elaborated by clarifying the evaluation data and subdividing the evaluation criteria for each indicator. Adequacy criteria of plan considering health impact could be presented in three ways to be linked to the government's policy stance on the industrial complex development criteria of total score, criteria of total score and community characteristic score, and criteria of total score and community characteristic allowed by development burden.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.13-24
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• 2023

Due to recent climate change, the amount of rainfall during the summer season in South Korea has been decreasing, leading to an increase in areas affected by frequent droughts. Droughts have the characteristic of occurring over a wide area and being unpredictable in terms of their onset and end, necessitating proactive research to cope with them. In this study, we conducted an assessment of agricultural drought vulnerability in Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, focusing on irrigation facilities and paddy fields. The assessment criteria were meteorological impact, drought occurrence status, supplementary water supply capacity, and drought response capability, with nine specific indicators selected. The drought response capability was analyzed by applying a scoring system as a key component of the agricultural drought vulnerability assessment, while the other indicators were quantified using an entropy weighting technique. The results of the assessment showed that Anmyeon-eup and Taean-eup were the safest areas, while Wonbuk-myeon, Nam-myeon, and Gonam-myeon were the most vulnerable. It is expected that the findings can be utilized to enhance understanding and proactive measures for coping with agricultural drought, and to determine the priority of drought response in different regions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.175-182
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• 2011

The desire for living without hazardous damages grows these days, the city strategy to make the safer community has become an issue. The global assessment for the flood index require the process considering different climate of the world cities. In this study, the actual rainfall observations of the world's major cities were collected. To compare different rainfall characteristics, we calculated some indicators such as frequency factor etc using the probable maximum precipitation. Using the results of these indicators, major cities in Korea show greater variability in the rainfall characteristics when compared to other major cities in the world. These results are expected to be useful for the development of global flood risk assessment as well as the setting the direction for future flood prevention measures.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.91-107
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• 2022

Purpose - This study quantitatively examines the level of financial inclusion of a microfinance institution in each region and how this is changing recently, and examines the level of financial inclusion by region and various financial characteristic factors related to it. It was empirically verified what kind of significant impact actually has on the institution's major management performance indicators (stability, profitability, efficiency, and public interest). Design/methodology/approach - It was confirmed that the institution's financial inclusion index declined rapidly after 2015 as a whole, although there were some differences by region depending on regional characteristics. However, considering the fact that the number of branches per 100,000 adult population is steadily increasing nationwide, it was found that, contrary to what is known, the simple decrease in the number of branches of the institution was not the main cause. Findings - The analysis results of this study show that the institution's efforts for financial inclusion have a positive impact on profitability, stability, efficiency, and public interest, and that the institution pursues profitability, efficiency, stability, and public interest. showed that some trade-offs exist. In other words, overall, it was analyzed that profitability of the institution has a positive effect on efficiency, and efficiency has a positive effect on stability and public interest. Research implications or Originality - Since the institution's efforts to improve its profitability do not have a negative impact on its stability and public interest, it is judged that it is important to take a strategic stance, so excessive loan supply that exceeds the scope of the institution's own control needs to be avoided as much as possible. More detailed financial supply strategies and business management capabilities that enhance the asset soundness and management efficiency of safes need to be demonstrated.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.322-329
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• 2018

In this study the community characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates distributed in stream of Gaya Mountain were figured out and the correlation with the physicochemical water quality factors were calculated. During the study period, total 4 phyla, 6 classes, 13 orders, 36 families, 100 species of benthic macroinvertebrates were recorded. Ephemeroptera were the most dominant followed by Trichoptera, Plecoptera, Diptera, Non-insecta, Hemiptera, and Odonata. The overall dominant species was Cincticostella levanidovae by dominance rate in 17.72%, subdominant species was Hydatophylax nigrovittatus by dominance rate in 6.15%. The biotic indices showed the diversity index 5.17, richness index 12.44, dominant index 0.24 and evenness index 0.78, there is no absolutely dominant benthic macroinvertebrates in the stream of Gaya Mountain. We identified the correlation between the species number and individuals of main taxa and the physicochemical water quality factors. Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera showed a negative correlation with water temperature, but they represented a positive correlation with the dissolved oxygen. This results suggest that water temperature and dissolved oxygen are important physicochemical water quality factors affects the distribution of Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera, the indicators of clean water stream.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.150-164
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• 2022

The objective of this study is to analyze the biodiversity changes and characteristics of the benthic macroinvertebrate community in the Nakdong River with eight weirs, which was constructed as one of the Four Major River Restoration Projects from May to October 2020. The study also includes the analysis of changes in the major groups of benthic macroinvertebrates for about ten years, from 2010 to 2020. The surveys collected 97 species of benthic macroinvertebrates belonging to 83 genera, 52 families, 18 orders, five classes, three phyla, and 128.1 individuals/m². Chironomidae sp. and Tubificidae spp., which are pollutant indicators, dominated throughout the sections. The community analysis result shows the average dominant index and the diversity index of 0.62±0.20 and 1.87±0.63, respectively, and indicated the most stability of the freshwater ecosystem in the upper stream of the Nakdong River. The survey showed dominance by Chironomidae sp. at the center of the Nakdong River weir and the most unstable community in Chilgok and Gangjeong Goryeong weirs. The results of the community stability analysis showed a high distribution of the characteristic group I with high resilience and resistance and small distribution of characteristic group III with low resistance and resilience, indicating a very unstable condition of communities in the Nakdong River weir section. Predators were relatively abundant among the functional feeding groups (FFGs), whereas shredders, gathering-collectors, and filtering-collectors were relatively lower. Among the habitat orientation groups (HOGs), burrowers and climbers were dominant, indicating a wide distribution of groups in ecosystems with low dissolved oxygen. An endangered species level II of Macromia daimoji was found in Sangju and Nakdan weirs. The analysis results for 10 years from 2010 showed that the number of species and populations increased immediately after the dam construction but plummeted in 2016 and are now stabilizing. Chironomidae spp. has been dominant in all sections over the past 10 years, and they are currently maintained at a rate of about 50%. The EPT groups have decreased significantly since 2011, and the Plecoptera and Trichoptera of the group have not yet been restored. The population of Tubificidae spp. showed an increase after construction was completed in 2012 and drastically increased in 2015 and 2020. The species of Cristaria plicata, designated as endangered species level I, has not been observed since 2011 in Hapcheon Changnyeong weir. Moreover, Macromia daimoji was rarely observed in seven weirs until 2015, and it has been confirmed that the current distribution habitat has decreased rapidly.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.256-265
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• 2020

Objectives: We compared the associations of 3 computed tomography (CT)-based abdominal adiposity indexes with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among middle-aged Korean men and women. Methods: The participants were 1366 men and 2480 women community-dwellers aged 30-64 years. Three abdominal adiposity indexes-visceral fat area (VFA), subcutaneous fat area (SFA), and visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio (VSR)-were calculated from abdominal CT scans. NAFLD was determined by calculating the Liver Fat Score from comorbidities and blood tests. An NAFLD prediction model that included waist circumference (WC) as a measure of abdominal adiposity was designated as the base model, to which VFA, SFA, and VSR were added in turn. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and net reclassification improvement (NRI) were calculated to quantify the additional predictive value of VFA, SFA, and VSR relative to WC. Results: VFA and VSR were positively associated with NAFLD in both genders. SFA was not significantly associated with NAFLD in men, but it was negatively associated in women. When VFA, SFA, and VSR were added to the WC-based NAFLD prediction model, the AUC improved by 0.013 (p<0.001), 0.001 (p=0.434), and 0.009 (p=0.007) in men and by 0.044 (p<0.001), 0.017 (p<0.001), and 0.046 (p<0.001) in women, respectively. The IDI and NRI were increased the most by VFA in men and VSR in women. Conclusions: Using CT-based abdominal adiposity indexes in addition to WC may improve the detection of NAFLD. The best predictive indicators were VFA in men and VSR in women.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.167-174
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• 2017

China still has more than 30,000 patients of advanced schistosomiasis while new cases being reported consistently. D-dimer is a fibrin degradation product. As ascites being the dominating symptom in advanced schistosomiasis, the present study aimed to explore a prediction model of ascites with D-dimer and other clinical easy-achievable indicators. A case-control study nested in a prospective cohort was conducted in schistosomiasis-endemic area of southern China. A total of 291 patients of advanced schistosomiasis were first investigated in 2013 and further followed in 2014. Information on clinical history, physical examination, and abdominal ultrasonography, including the symptom of ascites was repeatedly collected. Result showed 44 patients having ascites. Most of the patients' ascites were confined in the kidney area with median area of $20mm^2$. The level of plasma D-dimer and pertinent liver function indicators were measured at the initial investigation in 2013. Compared with those without ascites, cases with ascites had significantly higher levels of D-dimer ($0.71{\pm}2.44{\mu}g/L$ vs $0.48{\pm}2.12{\mu}g/L$, P=0.005), as well ALB (44.5 vs 46.2, g/L) and Type IV collagen (50.04 vs $44.50{\mu}g/L$). Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses indicated a moderate predictive value of D-dimer by its own area under curve (AUC) of 0.64 (95% CI: 0.54-0.73) and the cutoff value as $0.81{\mu}g/L$. Dichotomized by the cutoff level, D-dimer along with other categorical variables generated a prediction model with AUC of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.68-0.89). Risks of patients with specific characteristics in the prediction model were summarized. Our study suggests that the plasma D-dimer level is a reliable predictor for incident ascites in advanced schistosomiasis japonica patients.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.57-79
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• 2016

It is a rising trend that the number of users using one of the social media channels, the Social Network Service, so called the SNS, is getting increased. As per to this social trend, more companies have interest in this networking platform and start to invest their funds in it. It has received much attention as a tool spreading and expanding the message that a company wants to deliver to its customers and has been recognized as an important channel in terms of the relationship marketing with them. The environment of media that is radically changing these days makes possible for companies to approach their customers in various ways. Particularly, the social network service, which has been developed rapidly, provides the environment that customers can freely talk about products. For companies, it also works as a channel that gives customized information to customers. To succeed in the online environment, companies need to not only build the relationship between companies and customers but focus on the relationship between customers as well. In response to the online environment with the continuous development of technology, companies have tirelessly made the novel marketing strategy. Especially, as the one-to-one marketing to customers become available, it is more important for companies to maintain the relationship marketing with their customers. Among many SNS, Facebook, which many companies use as a communication channel, provides a fan page service for each company that supports its business. Facebook fan page is the platform that the event, information and announcement can be shared with customers using texts, videos, and pictures. Companies open their own fan pages in order to inform their companies and businesses. Such page functions as the websites of companies and has a characteristic of their brand communities such as blogs as well. As Facebook has become the major communication medium with customers, companies recognize its importance as the effective marketing channel, but they still need to investigate their business performances by using Facebook. Although there are infinite potentials in Facebook fan page that even has a function as a community between users, which other platforms do not, it is incomplete to regard companies' Facebook fan pages as communities and analyze them. In this study, it explores the relationship among customers through the network of the Facebook fan page users. The previous studies on a company's Facebook fan page were focused on finding out the effective operational direction by analyzing the use state of the company. However, in this study, it draws out the structural variable of the network, which customer committment can be measured by applying the social network analysis methodology and investigates the influence of the structural characteristics of network on the business performance of companies in an empirical way. Through each company's Facebook fan page, the network of users who engaged in the communication with each company is exploited and it is the one-mode undirected binary network that respectively regards users and the relationship of them in terms of their marketing activities as the node and link. In this network, it draws out the structural variable of network that can explain the customer commitment, who pressed "like," made comments and shared the Facebook marketing message, of each company by calculating density, global clustering coefficient, mean geodesic distance, diameter. By exploiting companies' historical performance such as net income and Tobin's Q indicator as the result variables, this study investigates influence on companies' business performances. For this purpose, it collects the network data on the subjects of 54 companies among KOSPI-listed companies, which have posted more than 100 articles on their Facebook fan pages during the data collection period. Then it draws out the network indicator of each company. The indicator related to companies' performances is calculated, based on the posted value on DART website of the Financial Supervisory Service. From the academic perspective, this study suggests a new approach through the social network analysis methodology to researchers who attempt to study the business-purpose utilization of the social media channel. From the practical perspective, this study proposes the more substantive marketing performance measurements to companies performing marketing activities through the social media and it is expected that it will bring a foundation of establishing smart business strategies by using the network indicators.