• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2009

Ergogenic aids are substances, devices, and practices that enhance an individual's energy use and production, and recovery from fatigue. L-carnitine increases enhance performance and aerobic capacity by stimulating lipid oxidation in muscle cells during long term exercise. L-carnitine is a well known and widely used ergogenic aid. In the present study, the effect of L-carnitine at concentrations of 100 nM, 1 μM, 10 μM, and 100 μM on the amplitude of field potential in rat cardiac muscle slices was measured using multi-channel extracellular recording (MED 64) system. In the present result, L-carnitine was shown to enhance field potential as a does-dependent manner. The increasing effect of the L-carnitine on field potential was not affected by application of the glibenclamide, an ATP-dependant K⁺ channel antagonist. The increasing effect of L-carnitine on field potential was suppressed by application of the diazoxide, an ATP-dependent K⁺ channel agonist. Present data show that L-carnitine potentiates field potentials by inhibition on ATP-dependant K⁺ channel in cardiac muscles. The enhancing effect of the L-carnitine on the field potential in cardiac muscles can be suggested as one of the underlying mechanism of ergogenic aid of the L-carnitine.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.230-238
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• 2023

Small and medium-sized food manufacturing enterprises are largely reliant on manual labor, from inputting raw materials to palletizing the final product. Recently, there has been a trend toward smartness and digitization through the implementation of robotics and sensor data technology. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of improvement through 3D simulation on two repetitive work processes within a food manufacturing company. These processes involve workers whose speed cannot match the capacity of the applied equipment. Two manual processes were selected: the weighing and packing process performed by workers after skewer assembly, and the manual batch process of counting randomly delivered frozen foods, packing (both internal and external), and palletizing. The production volume, utilization rate, and number of workers were chosen as verification indicators. As a result of the simulation for improving the 3D process, production increased by 13.5% and 56.8% compared to the existing process, respectively. This was particularly evident in the process of applying palletizing robots. In both processes, as the utilization rate and number of input workers decreased, robots could replace tasks with high worker fatigue, thereby reducing work overload. This study demonstrates the potential to visually compare the process flow improvement using 3D simulations and confirms the possibility of pre-validation for improvement.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2010

Recreation forests are in the spotlight as the place for personality development, mind and body comfort, companionship, and environment education in forests and valleys. Visitors to recreation forests have been on the increase along with booming in recreation forest building since 1988. Recreation forests are being categorized according to some features such as regional and environmental condition. Recreation forests, however, have not met the expectations of some visitors who want to take a rest with calmness due to the influence of the 5-day-work-week system, increasing interest in rest, leisure, and well-being, and users converge during weekends, summer, and the tourist season. In order to improve visitors' satisfaction efficiently, this study surveyed the level of satisfaction in each cluster based on the precedent study which had classified 85 national or public recreation forests in Korea into clusters. Questionnaires were distributed properly to each cluster and, of the 1,132 questionnaires collected, 1,015 were valid and used for analysis. Reliability of questionnaires and statistical validity of the model were verified. As a result, there are meaningful differences in the ranking of independent variables which affect the level of satisfaction according to clusters. Variables in rest and fatigue recovery have the strongest influence on the level of satisfaction in the clusters of potential factor, internal activation factor, and mixed potential capacity factor. In the use performance and visiting condition factor cluster, appropriateness of visit cost is most influential and, in the education cluster, connectivity with tourist attractions around it is most affective. These results can provide priority in services and maintenance of recreation forests for improving the level of satisfaction and differentiate the distribution of resources according to clusters.