• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2002

We have earlier developed a 40-channel SQUID system. An important figure of merit of a MEG system is the localization error, within which the underlying current source can be localized. With this system, we investigated the localization error in terms of the standard deviation of the coordinates of the ECDs and the systematic error due to inadequate modeling. To do this, we made localization of single current dipoles from tangential components of auditory evoked fields. Equivalent current dipoles (ECD) at N1m peak were estimated based on a locally fitted spherical conductor model. In addition, we made skull phantom and simulation measurements to investigate the contribution of various errors to the localization error. It was found that the background noise was the main source of the errors that could explain the observed standard deviation. Further, the amount of systematic error, when modeling the head with a spherical conductor, was much less than the standard deviation due to the background noise. We also demonstrated the performance of the system by measuring the evoked fields to grammatical violation in sentence comprehension.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.145-156
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• 2023

Within the context of publicly traded Sharia-compliant companies in Malaysia, this study investigated the influence that board and company characteristics have on corporate donations. The primary focus of the study was (i) two board characteristics derived from upper echelons theory, namely gender composition and education level, and (ii) four firm variables derived from stakeholder theory, specifically company size, profitability, leverage, and industry category. This study used a total of 402 Shariah-compliant companies that operated in accordance with Shariah law. The information utilized in this study was culled by hand from the annual reports of various companies covering the years 2017 through 2019. According to the findings, the educational level of a company's board of directors has a significant impact on the amount of money donated to charitable organizations by Shariah-compliant companies. The level of expertise possessed by board members can be of assistance to businesses in becoming more aware of the necessity of making contributions or donations. Corporate contribution practices among Shariah-compliant companies in Malaysia were also significantly influenced by the firm's size, profitability, and the industry category in which the business was classified. The findings of the study contribute to a better understanding of the impact that board and company variables have on the activities of corporate donors.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.526-533
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• 2011

Contracting is said to be a high-risk business, and a common cause of business failure is related to cash management. A contractor's financial viability depends heavily on how actual payments from an owner deviate from those defined in the contract. The paper presents a method for contractors to evaluate the punctuality and fullness of owner payments based on historical behaviour. It does this by classifying owners according to their late and incomplete payment practices. A payment profile of an owner, in the form of aging claims submitted by the contractor, is used as a basis for the method's development. Regression trees are constructed based on three predictor variables, namely, the average time to payment following a claim, the total amount ending up being paid within a certain period and the level of variability in claim response times. The Tree package in the publicly available R program is used for building the trees. The analysis is particularly useful for contractors at the pre-tendering stage, when contractors predict the likely payment scenario in an upcoming project. Based on the method, the contractor can decide whether to tender or not tender, or adjust its financial preparations accordingly. The paper is a contribution in risk management applied to claim and dispute resolution practice. It is argued that by contractors having a better understanding of owner payment behaviour, fewer disputes and contractor business failures will occur.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.536-545
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• 2024

Radioactive iodine is a representative fission product to be quantified for the safety assessment of nuclear facilities. In integral severe accident analysis codes, the iodine behavior is usually described by a multi-physical model of iodine chemistry in aqueous phase under radiation field and mass transfer through gas-liquid interface. The focus of studies on iodine source term evaluations using the combination approach is usually put on the chemical aspect, but each contribution to the iodine amount released to the environment has not been decomposed so far. In this study, we attempted the decomposition by revising the two-film theory of molecular-iodine mass transfer. The model involves an effective overall mass transfer coefficient to consider the iodine chemistry. The decomposition was performed by regarding the coefficient as a product of two functions of pH and the overall mass transfer coefficient for molecular iodine. The procedure was applied to the EPICUR experiment and suppression chamber in BWR.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.295-307
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• 2023

This paper presents an optimization of the reinforced concrete ribbed slab in terms of minimum CO₂ emissions and an economic justification of the final optimal design. The design variables are six geometry variables including the slab thickness, the ribs spacing, the rib width at the lower and toper end, the depth of the rib and the bar diameter of the reinforcement, and the seventh variable defines the concrete strength. The objective function is considered to be the minimum amount of carbon dioxide gas (CO₂) emission and at the same time, the optimal design is economical. Seven significant design constraints of American Concrete Institute's Standard were considered. A robust metaheuristic optimization method called improved dolphin echolocation and ant colony optimization (IDEACO) has been used to obtain the best possible answer. At optimal design, the three most important sources of CO₂ emissions include concrete, steel reinforcement, and formwork that the contribution of them are 63.72, 32.17, and 4.11 percent respectively. Formwork, concrete, steel reinforcement, and CO₂ are the four most important sources of cost with contributions of 67.56, 19.49, 12.44, and 0.51 percent respectively. Results obtained by IDEACO show that cost and CO₂ emissions are closely related, so the presented method is a practical solution that was able to reduce the cost and CO₂ emissions simultaneously.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.428-442
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• 2004

Dustfall samples were collected by the modified American dust jar (bulk type) at 5 sampling sites in the Nakdong river area from lune 2002 to May 2003. Nineteen chemical species (Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Si, V, Zn, $Cl^-$, $NO_3^-$, $SO_4^{2-}$, and $NH_4^+$) were analyzed via the combination of ICP/AES, AAS, IC and UV. The purposes of this study were to qualitatively evaluate the chemical composition of dustfalls by examining their regional and seasonal distribution patterns. Computation of the enrichment factor showed that well-defined anthropogenic sources, particularly in Pb were found in the order Gamjeondong (industrial area), Wondong, Silla University, Samrangiin and Mulgum. The seasonal mean of soil contribution showed its highest value (16.3%) during the winter with an annual mean of 11.2%. The concentration ratio of [$SO_4^{2-}/NO_3^-$] was found to be highest (5.12) during the winter, while the lowest ratio value (3.30) was seen during the all. fall, Also regional equivalent ratios of [$SO_4^{2-}/NO_3^-$] were found in the order: Silla University (6.78), Gamjeondong (4.98), Mulgum (3.95), Wondong (3.85), and Samrangjin (2.87). Seasonal distribution of water soluble components for total dustfall were found in the order: spring (71.6%), summer (61.2%), fall (49.2%) and winter (48.6%) with a mean ratio of 57.6%. Regional contribution of sea salts of water soluble ions were found in the order: Silla university (34.5%), Gamjeondong (28.3%), Wondong (17.3%), Samrangiin (17.2%) and Mulgum (13.8%), the total mean contribution rate was 22.1%. As for the chemical composition of dustftll on the lower Nakdong river, there is a decreased influence of sea salt and artificial anthropogenic sources and increased influence of soil particle inland. Also, the total amount of deposition on the lower Nakdong river has decreased, with the river's surface serving as a confounding factor in resuspending dusts.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.195-202
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• 2016

The government has run and managed various forms of direct payment systems, such as the paddy and field direct payment, to ease the instability of farm incomes with respect to market opening, and preserve farm income. Direct payments to the agricultural sector is a center in the key policy instrument that plays an important role in income stabilization. Despite the large amount of spending in the farm unit, the status of direct payment, and policy effects the analysis of direct payments, such as stability of income contribution, are insufficient. This paper, using the farm unit DB in 2014 and 2015, performed farm level analysis of direct payment, and derived the implications of the performance evaluation system. As a result, the distribution of direct payment showed considerable bias to the left side compared to the normal distribution curve. Approximately half of the farms (49.3%) in 2014 DB should receive below 100,000 won per year by a direct payment. A larger-scale farm showed a significantly increased income effect and income stabilizing effect because direct payments make higher contributions to farm income in proportional to the area. In the more elderly farmers, a high contribution by direct payment to farm income was found to be an advantage; however, in small-scale farms of less than 0.5ha, direct payment contribution on farm household income was only 3%. In large-scale farms, 10ha or more, the contribution to farm income were found to be 29.4%. The income of large farms was 10 times larger than small farmers, and the direct payment entitlements that were received were 110 times larger. Through this policy, direct payments are required for future improvements and modifications.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.19-34
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• 2022

This study was conducted to provide basic data that can be used when establishing Net Zero policies and implementation plans for non-urban settlements by quantitatively analyzing the Net Zero contribution to green infrastructure in rural areas corresponding to non-urban settlements. The main purpose is to first, systematize green infrastructure in rural areas, secondly derive basic units for each element of green infrastructure, and thirdly quantify and present the impact on Net Zero in Korea using these. In this study, CVR(Content Validity Ration) analysis was performed to verify the adequacy of green infrastructure elements in rural areas derived through research and analysis of previous studies, is as follows. First, Hubs of Green infrastructure in rural area include village forests, wetlands, farm land, and smart farms with a CVR value of .500 or higher. And Links of Green infrastructure in rural area include streams, village green areas, and LID (rainwater recycling). Second, the basic unit for each green infrastructure element was presented by classifying it into minimum, maximum, and median values using the results of previous studies so that it could be used for spatial planning and design for Net Zero. Third, when Green infrastructure in rural areas is applied to non-urban settlements in Korea, it is analyzed that it has the effect of indirectly reducing CO₂ by at least 70.76 million tons and up to 141.16 million tons. This is 3.4 to 6.7 times the amount of CO₂ emission from the agricultural sector in 2019, and it can be seen that the contribution to Net Zero is very high. It is expected to greatly contribute to the transformation of the ecosystem. This study quantitatively presented the carbon-neutral contribution to settlements located in non-urban areas, and by deriving the carbon reduction unit for each element of green infrastructure in rural areas, it can be used in spatial planning and design for carbon-neutral at the village level. It has significance as a basic research. In particular, the basic unit of carbon reduction for each green infrastructure factors will be usable for Net Zero policy at the village level, presenting a quantitative target when establishing a plan, and checking whether or not it has been achieved. In addition, based on this, it will be possible to expand and apply Net Zero at regional and city units such as cities, counties, and districts.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.48-70
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to make an analysis of the impact of the DRG payment system on medical care pattern and cost of cataract surgery in a general hospital. The subjects were 173 patients whose DRG severity grade was zero, selected from among the hospitalized who underwent cataract surgery before and after the joining to the demonstrational operation of the third year DRG payment system. Their medical records and the details of their medical bills were examined to find out the length of hospital stay, medical care pattern provided to them, the cost of medical care, and the quality of medical care. The length of stay and the amount of medical care supplied during being in hospital dropped significantly for both single-eye and double-eyes cataract surgery groups. The amount of antibiotic use went down during the hospitalization and upon discharge from the hospital, but decreased after discharge. The total medical bills and the rate of basic examination implementation increased in the OPD before hospitalization but after discharge dropped. For double-eyes cataract patients, the rate of double-eyes cataract surgery went down. The total medical bills of DRG payment system converted into the fee-for-service system was greater by 113.3% for the single-eye cataract surgery group and by 102.9% for the doble-eyes cataract surgery group, compared to that by the fee-for-service. The contribution shared by the insurance corporation increased for both single-eye and double-eyes cataract surgery groups, but the copayment by the insured went down. Regarding the treatment outcome, no difference was found in complication rate, resurgery rate and mortality rate before and after the joining to the DRG payment system was implemented. The use of special lens lessened significantly. The amount of medical care supplied during hospitalization decreased but the complication rate didn't increase. But the increased use of low-price artificial cataract and the avoidance of double-eyes cataract surgery was observed. The phenomenon decreased number of OPD visit and the decreased total medical bills of OPD care after discharge in this hospital required further evaluation.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.1233-1245
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• 2004

Though biometrics to authenticate a person is a good tool in terms of security and convenience, typical authentication algorithms using biometrics may not be executed on resource-constrained devices such as smart cards. Thus, to execute biometric processing on resource-constrained devices, it is desirable to develop lightweight authentication algorithm that requires only small amount of memory and computation. Also, among biological features, face is one of the most acceptable biometrics, because humans use it in their visual interactions and acquiring face images is non-intrusive. We present a new face authentication algorithm in this paper. Our achievement is two-fold. One is to present a face authentication algorithm with low memory requirement, which uses support vector machines (SVM) with the feature set extracted by genetic algorithms (GA). The other contribution is to suggest a method to reduce further, if needed, the amount of memory required in the authentication at the expense of verification rate by changing a controllable system parameter for a feature set size. Given a pre-defined amount of memory, this capability is quite effective to mount our algorithm on memory-constrained devices. The experimental results on various databases show that our face authentication algorithm with SVM whose input vectors consist of discriminating features extracted by GA has much better performance than the algorithm without feature selection process by GA has, in terms of accuracy and memory requirement. Experiment also shows that the number of the feature ttl be selected is controllable by a system parameter.