• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제2권2호
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• pp.93-99
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• 2008

A community-based longitudinal study was conducted in the Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region of Ghana with the objective of assessing how caregiving practices influence nutritional status of young children in Ghana. The study subjects were one hundred mothers with infants between the ages of 6 and 12 months. Each child was visited at home monthly for a period of six months. On each visit, information was collected on caregiver household and personal hygiene, child's immunization status, child's dietary diversity, caregiver responsiveness during feeding, caregiver hygienic practices related to feeding and child's weight and length. At the end of the study, summary scores were generated for each variable and quality of care practice determined based on their distribution. Classification of child nutritional status was based on z-scores for both weight-for-age and length-for-age. The results revealed that caregivers who exhibited better quality of care practice had well-nourished children. Such caregivers were more likely to practice good household and personal hygiene than those of poorly nourished children (97.1% vs 31.8%, p<0.001). They were also more likely to complete their children's immunization schedules (88.2% vs 62.2%, p<0.001), provide good quality diets from highly diversified sources (79% vs 23%, p<0.001), exhibit high responsiveness during feeding (100% vs 22.7%, p<0.001) and feed under hygienic conditions (100% vs 22.7%, p<0.001). Based on the findings it was concluded that good caregiving practices are associated with improved child nutritional status.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.293-302
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• 2020

Connections play a significant role in strength of structures against earthquake-induced loads. According to the post-seismic reports, connection failure is a cause of overall failure in reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Connection failure results in a sudden increase in inter-story drift, followed by early and progressive failure across the entire structure. This article investigated the cyclic performance and behavioral improvement of shape-memory alloy-based connections (SMA-based connections). The novelty of the present work is focused on the effect of shape memory alloy bars is damage reduction, strain recoverability, and cracking distribution of the stated material in RC moment frames under seismic loads using 3D nonlinear static analyses. The present numerical study was verified using two experimental connections. Then, the performance of connections was studied using 14 models with different reinforcement details on a scale of 3:4. The response parameters under study included moment-rotation, secant stiffness, energy dissipation, strain of bar, and moment-curvature of the connection. The connections were simulated using LS-DYNA environment. The models with longitudinal SMA-based bars, as the main bars, could eliminate residual plastic rotations and thus reduce the demand for post-earthquake structural repairs. The flag-shaped stress-strain curve of SMA-based materials resulted in a very slight residual drift in such connections.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권12호
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• pp.337-343
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• 2021

The study's objective is to ascertain the state of the creative industry's market structure, the behavior of entrepreneurs ("conduct"), and the performance of the creative industry in Indonesia. Additionally, this study evaluates the relationship between structure, conduct, and performance within the context of the relationship between the three. This study analyzes longitudinal data from 2005 to 2015 for sub-sectors within the creative industry. The first step is to group statistical sub-sectors into creative-industry categories. The next step is to quantify and analyze the structure, behavior, and performance indicators of each creative industry subsector. Then, using a random effect panel data model, the relationship between structure and performance was estimated and examined. The findings of this study suggest that market share and concentration ratio calculations indicate that the creative industry in Indonesia has a monopolistic market structure. With this market framework, the creative industry's conduct can have an effect on prices. This is undoubtedly consistent with the features of the creative industry, which emphasize innovation as a means of adding value. The panel data estimation findings suggest the need for long-term efforts to maintain a market framework that enables businesses to compete fairly, innovate, and bring value.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제38권6호
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• pp.691-703
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• 2021

In this study, experiments were conducted to evaluate the flexural performance of prestressed hybrid wide flange (PHWF) beams with hollowed steel webs. A total of four PHWF beams were fabricated, where the width and spacing of the steel webs and the presence of cast-in-place (CIP) concrete were set as the main test parameters, and their flexural behavior and crack patterns, and the longitudinal strain distribution in a section with respect to the width and spacing of the steel webs were analyzed in detail. The experiment results showed that, as the ratio of the width to the spacing of the steel webs decreased, the flexural stiffness and strength of the PHWF beams without CIP concrete decreased. In addition, in the case of composite PHWF beam with CIP concrete, fully composite behavior between the precast concrete and the CIP concrete was achieved through the embedded steel member. Finite element analyses were performed for the PHWF beams considering the bond properties between the hollowed steel webs and concrete, and nonlinear flexural analyses were also conducted reflecting the pre-compressive strains introduced only into the bottom flange. From the comparison of the test and analysis results, it was confirmed that the analysis models proposed in this study well evaluated the flexural behavior of PHWF beams with and without CIP concrete.

• 한국가시화정보학회지
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.115-122
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• 2021

Oral cancer surgery typically consists of resection of lesion, neck dissection and reconstruction, and it has an impact on the position of hyoid bone. Therefore, morphological change of airway can occur since the geometric parameter of airway is correlated with the hyoid bone. Airflow is affected by geometry of the airway. In this study, flow characteristics were compared between pre- and post-surgery models by both particle image velocimetry (PIV) and numerical simulation. 3D model of upper airway was reconstructed based on CT data. Velocity is accelerated by the reduced channel area, and vortex and recirculation region are observed in pre- and post-surgery models. For the post-surgery model, high pressure distribution is developed by significantly decreased hydraulic diameter, and the longitudinal flow stream is also interrupted.

• 수산해양기술연구
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• 제57권4호
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• pp.374-381
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• 2021

A newly recorded chaetodontid species, Chaetodon speculum Cuvier, 1831 was collected in July, 2021 from Pohang, Korea. Its body color is yellow with black stripe across the eyes and a large spot occupying one fourth of the upper part of the body. C. speculum is very similar to congeneric species, C. zanzibarensis, but it can be distinguished by the size of the spot, shape of the lateral line, number of longitudinal line scales and geographic distribution. C. speculum is readily identified between post-larval stage and adult stage because of its similar external shape. Molecular analysis based on mitochondrial DNA COI sequences showed our specimen perfectly matched C. speculum. Therefore, we propose the new Korean name, "Heug-jeom-na-bi-go-gi" for C. speculum.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제85권2호
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• pp.233-246
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• 2023

Bending and buckling analysis of multi-directional porous functionally graded sandwich plate has been performed for two cases namely: FG skin with homogeneous core and FG core with homogeneous skin. The principle of virtual displacements was employed and the solution was obtained using Navier's technique. This theory imposes traction-free boundary conditions on the surfaces and does not require shear correction factors. The validation of the present study has been performed with those available in the literature. The composition of metal-ceramic-based FGM changes in longitudinal and transverse directions according to the power law. Different porosity laws, such as uniform distribution, unevenly and logarithmically uneven distributions were used to mimic the imperfections in the functionally graded material that were introduced during the fabrication process. Several sandwich plates schemes were studied based on the plate's symmetry and the thickness of each layer. The effects of grading parameters and porosity laws on the bending and buckling of sandwich plates were examined.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.365-375
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• 2022

This study examines the relationship between board gender diversity and financial performance. The annual data of Palestinian nonfinancial listed enterprises from 2015 to 2019 was analyzed using a longitudinal panel analysis for the study's purposes. When conditional mean regression methodologies were used in the study, the results indicate that there is an insignificant relation between board gender diversity and firm financial performance. However, when analyzing women directors' effect on a firm's financial performance, endogeneity is always a concern, therefore, we test for endogeneity by employing the Darbin-Wu Housman test and then by using 2SLS. Nevertheless, when looking at the dispersion of a firm's performance using quantile regression, the results show that having women on the board improves financial performance slightly, especially for high-financial-performing firms. The findings indicate that there is a legal significant gap hindering the protection of gender diversity in boardrooms, and limiting the existence and representation of women in leadership positions, specifically, board of directors. The results of this study contribute to corporate governance and business culture literature by shedding the light on the importance of board gender diversity, to improve the firm financial performance, and hence, protect the interests of all shareholders' categories.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.69-79
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• 2022

For long underground box utility tunnels, post-tensioned precast concrete is often used. Between precast tunnel segments, sealed waterproof flexible joints are often specified. Fault displacement can lead to excessive deformation of the joints, which can lead to reduction in waterproofing due to diminished contact pressure between the sealant strip and the tunnel segment. This paper authenticates utilization of a finite element model for a prefabricated tunnel fault-crossing founded on ABAQUS software. In addition, material parameter selection, contact setting and boundary condition are reviewed. Analyzed under normal fault action are: the influence of fault displacement; buried depth; soil friction coefficient, and angle of crossing at the fault plane. In addition, distribution characteristics of the utility tunnel structure for vertical and longitudinal/horizontal relative displacement at segmented interface for the top and bottom slab are analyzed. It is found that the effect of increase in fault displacement on the splice joint deformation is significant, whereas the effects of changes in burial depth, pipe-soil friction coefficient and fault-crossing angle on the overall tunnel and joint deformations were not so significant.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제86권6호
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• pp.731-738
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• 2023

This article presents an analytical approach to explore the bending behaviour of of two-dimensional (2D) functionally graded (FG) nanobeams based on a two-variable higher-order shear deformation theory and nonlocal strain gradient theory. The kinematic relations are proposed according to novel trigonometric functions. The material gradation and material properties are varied along the longitudinal and the transversal directions. The equilibrium equations are obtained by using the virtual work principle and solved by applying Navier's technique. A comparative evaluation of results against predictions from literature demonstrates the accuracy of the proposed analytical model. Moreover, a detailed parametric analysis checks for the sensitivity of the bending and stresses response of (2D) FG nanobeams to nonlocal length scale, strain gradient microstructure scale, material distribution and geometry.