• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine the degree of senile macular degeneration in elders aged 65 or older and identify factors associated with senile macular degeneration in elders within communities. Methods: Participants in this cross-sectional descriptive study were 388 elders without cataract, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. Data were collected through face to face interviews using a questionnaire in an urban area from June 2010 to December 2011. To detect senile macular degeneration, the participants' self-tests were carried out with Amsler grid testing. Stepwise multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the effects of health behavior and knowledge about eye health on senile macular degeneration. Results: The proportion of participants with senile macular degeneration was 11.6%. Factors that significantly increased the risk of senile macular degeneration included eye discomfort and history of ophthalmic examination (p<.05). Factors that significantly decreased the risk of senile macular degeneration included regular change of magnifiers, non-use of magnifiers, and knowledge about preventive effects of non-smoking and antioxidant vitamin intake on senile macular degeneration (p<.05). Conclusion: This study showed that programs for preventing senile macular degeneration were necessary for elders within communities and the results of this study can be used for developing those programs.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.883-893
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• 2021

Clostridium difficile present in feces of food animals may contaminate their meats and act as a potential source of C. difficile infection (CDI) to humans. C. difficile resistance to antibiotics, its production of toxins and spores play major roles in the pathogenesis of CDI. This is the first study to evaluate C. difficile prevalence in retail raw animal meats, its antibiotics susceptibilities and toxigenic activities in Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia. Totally, 240 meat samples were tested. C. difficile was identified by standard microbiological and biochemical methods. Vitek-2 compact system confirmed C. difficile isolates were 15/240 (6.3%). Toxins A/B were not detected by Xpect C. difficile toxin A/B tests. Although all isolates were susceptible to vancomycin and metronidazole, variable degrees of reduced susceptibilities to moxifloxacin, clindamycin or tetracycline antibiotics were detected by Epsilon tests. C. difficile strains with reduced susceptibility to antibiotics should be investigated. Variability between the worldwide reported C. difficile contamination levels could be due to absence of a gold standard procedure for its isolation. Establishment of a unified testing algorithm for C. difficile detection in food products is definitely essential to evaluate the inter-regional variation in its prevalence on national and international levels. Proper use of antimicrobials during animal husbandry is crucial to control the selective drug pressure on C. difficile strains associated with food animals. Investigating the protective or pathogenic potential of non-toxigenic C. difficile strains and the possibility of gene transfer from certain toxigenic/ antibiotics-resistant to non-toxigenic/antibiotics-sensitive strains, respectively, should be worthy of attention.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.242-252
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• 2024

To date, methods used to assess the interfacial transition zone (ITZ), which represents the boundary between the aggregate and paste inside concretes, have primarily relied on destructive tests, and non-destructive tests has received little attention until recently. This study assessed the interfaces of concretes with lightweight aggregates based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) for high-strength concretes and examined the possibility of estimating the compressive strength of concretes through non-destructive testing using EIS. The experimental results revealed that the impedance of the hardened cement increased with increasing compressive strength and aggregate density. In particular, when the results of impedance measurement were displayed as a Nyquist plot, the intercept of the x-axis depicting the effective conductivity was proportional to the compressive strength. Furthermore, an equivalent circuit was selected to interpret the correlation between cement aggregates and impedance. Consequently, the compressive strength was found to increase with the value of the resistances of the electrolyte filled in continuous pores in the cement aggregate. And, the pores formed in the ITZ affect this value. The resistance at the ITZ for different aggregates was also obtained, and it was found that the resistance was consistent with the results predicted by SEM images of the ITZ and correlated with the strength of the concretes. The proposed method can be used as a way to easily determine the strength of cement according to differences in aggregate.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.78-91
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• 2017

In this study, we conducted a comparative study on user's perception and behavior on public system service (PSS) using institutionalism theory and MGA (multi-group analysis) methodology. In particular, this study focuses on how institutional isomorphism is applied to public system services and how MGA can be implemented correctly in a variance based SEM (structural equation model) such as PLS (partial least square). A data set of 496 effective responses was collected from pubic system users and an empirical research was conducted using three segmented models categorized by public proximity theory (public firms = 113, government contractors = 210, private contractors = 173). For rigorous group comparisons, each model was estimated by the same indicators and approaches. PLS-SEM was used in testing research hypotheses, followed by parametric and non-parametric PLS-MGA procedures in testing categorical moderation effects. This study applied novel procedures for testing composite measurement invariance prior to multi-group comparisons. The following main results and implications are drawn : 1) Partial measurement invariance was established. Multi-group analysis can be done by decomposed models although data can not be pooled for one integrated model. 2) Multi-group analysis using various approaches showed that proximity to public sphere moderated some hypothesized paths from quality dimensions to user satisfaction, which means that categorical moderating effects were partially supported. 3) Careful attention should be given to the selection of statistical test methods and the interpretation of the results of multi-group analysis, taking into account the different outcomes of the PLS-MGA test methods and the low statistical power of the moderating effect. It is necessary to use various methods such as comparing the difference in the path coefficient significance and the significance of the path coefficient difference between the groups. 4) Substantial differences in the perceptions and behaviors of PSS users existed according to proximity to public sphere, including the significance of path coefficients, mediation and categorical moderation effects. 5) The paper also provides detailed analysis and implication from a new institutional perspective. This study using a novel and appropriate methodology for performing group comparisons would be useful for researchers interested in comparative studies employing institutionalism theory and PLS-SEM multi-group analysis technique.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.275-302
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• 2011

This is a review paper on mathematical modeling of actively controlled piezo smart structures. Paper has four sections to discuss the techniques to: (i) write the equations of motion (ii) implement sensor-actuator design (iii) model real life environmental effects and, (iv) control structural vibrations. In section (i), methods of writing equations of motion using equilibrium relations, Hamilton's principle, finite element technique and modal testing are discussed. In section (ii), self-sensing actuators, extension-bending actuators, shear actuators and modal sensors/actuators are discussed. In section (iii), modeling of thermal, hygro and other non-linear effects is discussed. Finally in section (iv), various vibration control techniques and useful software are mentioned. This review has two objectives: (i) practicing engineers can pick the most suitable philosophy for their end application and, (ii) researchers can come to know how the field has evolved, how it can be extended to real life structures and what the potential gaps in the literature are.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.309-316
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• 2014

Testing normality is very important because the most common assumption is normality in statistical analysis. We propose a new plot and test statistic to goodness-of-fit test for normality based on the generalized Lorenz curve. We compare the new plot with the Q-Q plot. We also compare the new test statistic with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS), Cramer-von Mises (CVM), Anderson-Darling (AD), Shapiro-Francia (SF), and Shapiro-Wilks (W) test statistic in terms of the power of the test through by Monte Carlo method. As a result, new plot is clearly classified normality and non-normality than Q-Q plot; in addition, the new test statistic is more powerful than the other test statistics for asymmetrical distribution. We check the proposed test statistic and plot using Hodgkin's disease data.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.324-328
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• 2007

Vibration monitoring of rolling element bearings is probably the most established diagnostic technique for rotating machinery. Acoustic Emission (AE) Analysis is an extremely powerful technology that can be used within a wide range of applications of non destructive testing. Therefor, this paper investigates the detection methods using AE for rolling element bearings about low-speed. Two transducers, the accelerometer and acoustic emission sensor, are used to acquire data and the results are compared for the capacity of early fault detection.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.491-510
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• 2011

Before deciding if structures exposed to high temperature are to be repaired or demolished, their final state should be carefully examined. Destructive and non-destructive testing methods are generally applied for this purpose. Compressive strength and color change in mortars are observed as a result of the effects of high temperature. In this study, ordinary and pozzolan-added mortar samples were produced using different aggregates, and exposed to 100, 200, 300, 600, 900 and $1200^{\circ}C$. The samples were divided into two groups and cooled to room temperature in water and air separately. Compression tests were carried out on these samples, and the color change was evaluated by the Munsell Color System. The relationships between the change in compressive strength and color of mortars were determined by using a multi-layered feed-forward Neural Network model trained with the back-propagation algorithm. The results showed that providing accurate estimates of compressive strength by using the color components and ultrasonic pulse velocity design parameters were possible using the approach adopted in this study.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1003-1006
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• 2017

In this paper, during radio-frequency performance testing in a shield box, the non-uniform electric field distribution between multiple mobile phones is examined by numerical simulation, and two ways to improve the field uniformity among mobile phones under test are proposed. The results demonstrate that the proposed methods can greatly improve the field uniformity.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.07b
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• pp.1538-1541
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• 2005

For reliability evaluation of AC-PDP, one of the most important factor is sealing property. In this paper, the reliability evaluation test method of the commercialized sealing glass frit in AC-PDP was studied. 6 inch AC-PDP panels were tested for evaluation of sealing glass frit by vibration shock test, thermal shock test, non -destructive X-ray inspection, residual stress inspection and residual gas detection. These test methods are proposed as a standard for testing the reliability of sealing glass frit. The main failure mode of sealing glass frit in AC-PDP seems to be the crack propagation from thermal cycling rather than mechanical factor.