• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제26권6호
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• pp.521-532
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• 2018

Dementia, characterized by a progressive cognitive decline and a cumulative inability to behave independently, is highly associated with other diseases. Various cardiovascular disorders, such as coronary artery disease and atrial fibrillation, are well-known risk factors for dementia. Currently, increasing evidence suggests that sex factors may play an important role in the pathogenesis of diseases, including cardiovascular disease and dementia. Recent studies show that nearly two-thirds of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease are women; however, the incidence difference between men and women remains vague. Therefore, studies are needed to investigate sex-specific differences, which can help understand the pathophysiology of dementia and identify potential therapeutic targets for both sexes. In the present review, we summarize sex differences in the prevalence and incidence of dementia by subtypes. This review also describes sex differences in the risk factors of dementia and examines the impact of risk factors on the incidence of dementia in both sexes.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제34권5호
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• pp.175-182
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• 2018

Accumulation of coal ash at the boiler wall reduces combustion and fuel efficiency. The design of a wall blower is important to effectively remove coal ash. We present numerical results for the removal of coal ash from boiler walls of domestic coal-fired power plants, associated with the computational fluid dynamics for the flow from spray nozzle to boiler wall. The numerical model simulates an erosion process in which the multiphase fluid comprising saturated vapor and fluid water is sprayed from the nozzle, and the water particles impact the boiler wall. We adopt the Finnie erosion model for water particles. We obtain the erosion rate density as a function of nozzle angle and its injection angle. As excessive coal ash removal usually induces damage to the boiler wall, the removal operation typically focuses on a large area with uniform depth rather than the maximum removal of coal ash at a specific location. In order to estimate the removal performance of the wall blower nozzle considering several functionality and reliability factors, we evaluate the optimal injection and nozzle angles with respect to the biggest cumulative and highest erosion rates, as well as the widest range and lowest standard deviation of the erosion rate distribution.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.150-158
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• 2018

The deteriorating role of Nakdong River due to the Four Major Rivers Project has caused a series of problems, including water pollution, drying streams, aggravation of the hydroecology. Geumho River and Gyeongseong-cheon had a higher concentration index and is believed to impact the water quality of the main stream. The influence index of Geumho River and Nam River between 2015 and 2016, which have a large amount of discharge, was the highest among the tributaries in terms of the load material balance. Showing the highest average concentration and average load in the index assessment, Geumho River is believed to require an intensive management for improving the water quality of the main stream. Furthermore, when the cumulative percentage of the average concentration and average load was compared based on the water quality improvement of the tributaries mixed to Nakdong River, which was set to 60%, Geumho River, Nam River, Topyeong-cheon, and Cha-cheon, which showed the highest ratio in that order, were determined to require a water quality management program as a priority.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.267-271
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• 2012

The Nuss procedure for the correction of Pectus Excavatum (PE) is associated with intense postoperative pain. Our strategy to control early postoperative pain is to combine epidural with intravenous analgesia. Our aim was to analyse our pain control strategy by reviewing all the PE cases treated at our institution. Sixty consecutive patients, aged between 12 and 26 years old, received the PE operation at our institution from January, 2007 to September, 2010. The median age was 16 (12-27) with a male/female ratio of about 7/1. An epidural catheter was employed in all the cases, with 38 patients (63%) requiring additional drugs to control pain, which remained in place for 74 hours (72-96). The pain score was higher in male patients, but lower in those younger than 16 years old. Moreover, patients that consumed benzodiazepines had a significant decrease in cumulative opioid intake (P = 0.0408). Both gender and age had an impact on pain control, while we noticed a synergistic effect between opiates and tranquillizers.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.59-68
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• 2014

The Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 had an extensive impact on the national electricity plans. This paper outlines alternative electricity scenarios that meet the goals of nuclear phase-out and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction. This paper also analyzes the results of each scenario in respect to the electricity mix, GHG emissions, costs and employment effects. The Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning system (LEAP) model was used to simulate the annual electricity demand and supply system from 2011 to 2030. The reference year was 2009. Scenarios are reference (where existing plans are continued), A1, A2, B1, B2, and C2 (where the levels of demand management and nuclear phase-out are different). The share of renewable energy in the electricity mix in 2030 for each scenario will be increased from about 1% in 2009 to 8% in the reference scenario and from 11% to 31% in five alternative scenarios. Total cumulative cost increases up to 14% more than the reference scenario by replacing nuclear power plants with renewable energy in alternative scenarios could be affordable. Deploying enough renewable energy to meet such targets requires a roadmap for electricity price realization, expansion of research, development and deployment for renewable energy technologies, establishment of an organization dedicated to renewable energy, and ambitious targets for renewable energy.

• 대한원격탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한원격탐사학회 2006년도 Proceedings of ISRS 2006 PORSEC Volume II
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• pp.535-538
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• 2006

The coastline of the Choa Phraya Rivermouth in the Upper Gulf of Thailand has been changed drastically. The western side especially at Ban Laem Sing was eroded for 400 meter in 26 years or with the rate of 15 meter per year on the average. The Metropolitan Electricity Authority has granted five years research project to us to study the efficiency of the electric pole fence as a mean to reduce the wave force and increase sedimentation rate inside for mangrove replantation. If the method works efficiently, it will be used to reclaim the coastal land loss in other areas in Thailand. The project was done since 2005 after the fence was constructed completely in October 2005. The oceanographic surveys were conducted before and after the construction in northeast monsoon season to study the impact of physical oceanographic forces on the coastline change. The sedimentation rates were measured each month. It is rather low about 2 cm/month. The subsiding rate from the load of deltaic sediment and groundwater withdraw using boring data is about 30 mm/year. The cumulative sinking rate is 55.8 cm from 1978 to 1995. We have tried to design the method of mangrove plantation in this area. The remote sensing data such as LANDSAT and aerial photos from 1987 to 2002 for 15 years were used to compute the rate of coastline change at each 50 m section along the western side of the rivermouth.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.87-101
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• 2002

In the past few years, many Korean companies have implemented various ERP systems. Despite the enormous efforts and costs, however, there have been doubts about the effectiveness of ERP implementation. The purpose of this study is to identify whether the announcement of ERP implementation affects the market value of the firm. To achieve the research objective, event-study methodology was used assessing the cumulative abnormal returns(CARs) for 33 firms' announcements of ERP investments. Findings of the study are summarized as follows: First, the announcements of ERP implementation have no effect on the firm value though the sign is negative. Second, there is marginally significant difference in the market value of the firm between the first mover of ERP implementation and its followers. In order to figure out any possible reasons of such unexpected results, several investors and fund managers of major investment firms were interviewed. They reached the two agreements that ERP hardly increases the firm value. One was mainly due to the misfit between the foreign business processes built in the ERP systems and Korean firms' traditional business processes. The other was the possibility of financial deterioration caused by substantial costs for ERP implementation.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.1-21
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• 2004

Recently, many internet firms have opted the strategic alliances with other on/off-line firms in order to gain and sustain their competitive advantages. Previous research on market reaction to such alliances, however, shows mixed results. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to analyze the announcement effects of the alliances among internet firms in the stock market. Focusing on on-line firms that have been outside the scope of previous research, this study applied the event study methodology and examined the cumulative abnormal returns(CAR) for 245 alliance announcements between October 1998 and May 2002. Further, this study conducted a survey to categorize various types of announcements and 40 usable returns has been analyzed. The notable results from this study include: 1) The strategic alliances announcements do not have statistically positive effects on stock prices of the announcing firms. 2) Contrary to the results of the previous research, the CARs associated with marketing alliances are higher than those with technology alliances. 3) The degree of fitness among firms' disposition, their alliance purpose, and alliance type chosen influences the performance of their alliances.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제13권7호
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• pp.3109-3112
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• 2012

Background: Many studies have focused on possible associations between the glutathione S-transferase M 1 (GSTM1) null genotype and risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but the impact remains unclear owing to obvious inconsistencies among the findings. The present study aimed to quantify the strength of any association in a meta-analysis. Methods: We searched the PubMed, Embase and CBM databases for studies concerning the association between the GSTM1 null genotype and risk of RCC. We estimated the summary odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) to assess the association. Results: The meta-analysis showed the GSTM1 null genotype was not associated with risk of RCC overall (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 0.92-1.18, P = 0.501). For Caucasians, the GSTM1 null genotype was also not associated with risk of RCC (OR=1.02, 95% CI 0.90-1.16, P = 0.761). The cumulative meta-analyses showed a trend of no obvious association between GSTM1 null genotype and risk of RCC as information accumulated. Sensitivity analyses by omitting those studies also did not materially alter the overall combined ORs. No evidence of publication bias was observed. Conclusion: Meta-analyses of available data show that the GSTM1 null genotype is not significantly associated with risk of renal cell carcinoma.

• 한국토양비료학회지
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• 제44권4호
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• pp.545-550
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• 2011

Urea intercalated into montmorillonite (MT) exhibits remarkably enhanced N use efficiency, maintaining its fast effectiveness. This study dealt with the release property of urea from metal-urea-clay hybrid with MT (MUCH) under continuous-flow conditions and the cumulative impacts of its successive application on physicochemical properties of soils. Releases of urea were completed within 4 hrs under continuous-flow condition regardless of the types and the leaching solutions. However, urea release property was significantly affected by both the form of fertilizer and the presence of electrolytes in solution. The fast release property of urea from MUCH in continuous-flow condition was not significantly affected by soil properties such as soil pH and soil texture. In addition, its successive application did not lead to any noticeable change in soil physicochemical properties, water stable aggregate rate, water holding capacity and cation exchange capacity in both sandy loam and clay loam soils. Therefore, this study strongly supported that urea intercalated into MT could be applied as fast-effective N fertilizer, in particular for additional N supply.