• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2024

With continuous advancements in industry, science, and technology, there is a steady increase in the number and utilization of new chemicals. The growing societal emphasis on chemical safety management is paralleled by an increasing public demand for robust safety measures. While various ministries at the government level oversee the safety management of chemical substances, the occurrence of accidents related to chemical substances remains frequent each year due to problems such as aging facilities and careless handling. Upon analyzing domestic chemical accident cases, incidents occurred predominantly in the sequence of leakage, explosion, fire, and others. The main causes of these accidents were examined, revealing facility defects and non-compliance with safety management as the primary contributing factors. In this study, Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP) was employed to identify hazardous risk factors associated with the handling of hydrofluoric acid in workplaces, and a risk assessment was performed using Bow-Tie method. Based on the results of this study, it is expected to enhance safety management plans aimed at preventing chemical accidents in workplaces dealing with similar facilities. Ultimately, these insights contribute to the development of an advanced chemical safety management system, capable of proactively preventing potential chemical accidents.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.28-36
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• 2024

Objectives: This study investigated the impact of socioeconomic factors and sexual orientation-related attributes on the rates of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination and infection among men who have sex with men (MSM). Methods: A web-based survey, supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea, was conducted among paying members of the leading online portal for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer and questioning (LGBTQ+) community in Korea. The study participants were MSM living in Korea (n=942). COVID-19 vaccination and infection were considered dependent variables, while sexual orientation-related characteristics and adherence to non-pharmacological intervention (NPI) practices served as primary independent variables. To ensure analytical precision, nested logistic regression analyses were employed. These were further refined by dividing respondents into 4 categories based on sexual orientation and disclosure (or "coming-out") status. Results: Among MSM, no definitive association was found between COVID-19 vaccination status and factors such as socioeconomic or sexual orientation-related attributes (with the latter including human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] status, sexual orientation, and disclosure experience). However, key determinants influencing COVID-19 infection were identified. Notably, people living with HIV (PLWH) exhibited a statistically significant predisposition towards COVID-19 infection. Furthermore, greater adherence to NPI practices among MSM corresponded to a lower likelihood of COVID-19 infection. Conclusions: This study underscores the high susceptibility to COVID-19 among PLWH within the LGBTQ+ community relative to their healthy MSM counterparts. Consequently, it is crucial to advocate for tailored preventive strategies, including robust NPIs, to protect these at-risk groups. Such measures are essential in reducing the disparities that may emerge in a post-COVID-19 environment.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.801-809
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• 2024

In the digital age, the importance of personal information has magnified, underscoring the need for enhanced personal information protection, especially within public institutions. Despite ongoing efforts since 2007, significant breaches in public sector information underline persistent vulnerabilities. This study advocates for a transition from a diagnostic to an assessment framework to fortify privacy management in public institutions, as mandated by recent legislative revisions. The amended Personal Information Protection Act introduces an assessment approach, aiming to comprehensively assess and mitigate risks by expanding the scope of evaluation and implementing robust regulatory measures. This study examines the limitations of the current diagnostic practices through literature review and case analysis and proposes a systematic approach to adopting the new assesment system. By enhancing the assessment framework, the study expects to improve the effectiveness of personal information management in public institutions, thereby restoring public trust and ensuring a stable progression into a more secure digital era. The transition to an assessment system is designed not only to address the gaps in the current framework but also to provide a methodical assessment that supports ongoing improvement and compliance with enhanced legal standards.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.15-27
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• 2024

Ecosystem-disturbing plant species pose a significant threat to native ecosystems due to their high reproductive capacity, making it essential to monitor their distribution and develop effective mitigation strategies. Consequently, it is crucial to enhance the evaluation of the impacts of these species in environmental impact assessments by incorporating scientific evidence alongside qualitative assessments. This study introduces a dispersal model into the species distribution model to simulate the potential spread of ecosystem-disturbing plant species, reflecting their ecological characteristics. Additionally, we developed mitigation scenarios and quantitatively calculated reduction rates to propose effective mitigation strategies. The species distribution model showed a reliable AUC (Area Under the Curve) of at least 0.890. The dispersal model's results were also credible, with 31 out of 34 validation coordinates falling within the predicted spread range. Simulating the impact of the spread of ecosystem-disturbing plant species over the next five years revealed that one project site had potential habitats for Ambrosia artemisiifolia, necessitating robust mitigation measures such as seed removal. Another project site, with potential habitats for Symphyotrichum pilosum, indicated that physical removal methods within the site were effective due to the species' relatively short dispersal distance. These findings can serve as fundamental data for project executors and reviewers in evaluating the impact of the spread of ecosystem-disturbing plant species during the planning stages of projects.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bioinformatics Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.26-51
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• 2003

Large scale protein interaction maps provide a new, global perspective with which to analyse protein function. PSIMAP, the Protein Structural Interactome Map, is a database of all the structurally observed interactions between superfamilies of protein domains with known three-dimensional structure in thePDB. PSIMAP incorporates both functional and evolutionary information into a single network. It makes it possible to age protein domains in terms of taxonomic diversity, interaction and function. One consequence of it is to predict the most important protein domain structure in evolution. We present a global analysis of PSIMAP using several distinct network measures relating to centrality, interactivity, fault-tolerance, and taxonomic diversity. We found the following results: ${\bullet}$ Centrality: we show that the center and barycenter of PSIMAP do not coincide, and that the superfamilies forming the barycenter relate to very general functions, while those constituting the center relate to enzymatic activity. ${\bullet}$ Interactivity: we identify the P-loop and immunoglobulin superfamilies as the most highly interactive. We successfully use connectivity and cluster index, which characterise the connectivity of a superfamily's neighbourhood, to discover superfamilies of complex I and II. This is particularly significant as the structure of complex I is not yet solved. ${\bullet}$ Taxonomic diversity: we found that highly interactive superfamilies are in general taxonomically very diverse and are thus amongst the oldest. This led to the prediction of the oldest and most important protein domain in evolution of lift. ${\bullet}$ Fault-tolerance: we found that the network is very robust as for the majority of superfamilies removal from the network will not break up the network. Overall, we can single out the P-loop containing nucleotide triphosphate hydrolases superfamily as it is the most highly connected and has the highest taxonomic diversity. In addition, this superfamily has the highest interaction rank, is the barycenter of the network (it has the shortest average path to every other superfamily in the network), and is an articulation vertex, whose removal will disconnect the network. More generally, we conclude that the graph-theoretic and taxonomic analysis of PSIMAP is an important step towards the understanding of protein function and could be an important tool for tracing the evolution of life at the molecular level.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.55-62
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• 2015

Purpose - This study aims to investigate the success factors pertaining to K-POPs from an analysis of the internal business environment. Much research has investigated Korean Moves or how to popularize them. The research mainly focused on aspects of Korean Moves. However, few studies have attempted to examine Korean Moves or K-POPs from a managerial viewpoint. The current research tries to investigate the success factors of K-POP from strategic perspectives, specifically utilizing internal resource based view perspectives. It differentiates itself by looking at the competitiveness of K-POP from the internal resources. Research design, data, and methodology - In the entertainment industry, where creativity is heavily stressed, competitiveness is often regarded within the organization as a form of intangible asset, knowledge, or technology that is often related with the organization's personnel. Some research has tried to reveal the competitiveness of K-POP using Porter's competitiveness of nations framework. Others utilize the adapted model of Porter's structure. However, these models only look at the outside environment, and not inside a firm's resource, knowledge, or capabilities. This research utilizes the VRIO model to examine the internal resources and capabilities of K-POP producers. The model measures whether a firm's internal resources and capabilities are valuable, rare, difficult to imitate by competitors, or organizable. The research covered businesses whose yearly revenue exceeds $10 Million in music planning and recording in South Korea. There were only thirteen such companies (one percent of the total population). Of these, companies for whom 20 percent or more of the sales revenue comes from the abroad are targeted. Only seven are selected and these participated in the research. In order to find a firm's internal resources, we conducted qualitative research methodology. Their business names and persons who participated in this research are not revealed due to case sensitive issues. Instead, we use unrelated initials for their names and their statements. Results - From the in-depth interview with top-tier K-POP producers and managers, the current research tried to identify resources and capabilities that helped to strengthen their competitiveness. These resources and capabilities are sought from the scope of the VRIO model, which looks at the internal resources and capabilities from the scope of value, rarity, imitability, and organization. Interviews with the top tier producers and managers reveal the internal success factors of K-POPs. We conclude that these resources and capabilities are from internally accumulated producing know-how, unique managing (training) system, and outstanding all-round entertainment capabilities of the performers. Conclusions - These results indicate that the core resources and capabilities of K-POP are robust. It will take a significant amount of time and money to imitate for followers, because these resources and capabilities are the result of time investment and are embedded into producers' and performers' know-how. Taking Luo (2000)'s argument, K-POP is in the second stage of the globalization process, which is configuring and allocation resource capabilities to a global scope.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.87-95
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• 2017

Purpose - The structural changes of Korean agriculture are complex due to heterogeneous production processes and farms' features. This study analyzed trends of dualism in Korean agriculture over the period 2000-15 based on farm-level data to clarify the specific trends of dualism in terms of farm income, farm-size, and farm operators' age. From the results of this study, we would be able to understand the features of structural changes in Korean agriculture more profoundly. Research design, data, and methodology - We incorporated farm-level data in South Korea: Agricultural census and Farm household economy survey. As measures of inequality, we used size-weighted quantiles, and normalized Gini coefficients as well as mean and conventional quantiles. The size-weighted quantiles are more robust to changes in the number of small farms, but they are more sensitive to changes in the distribution of farm-size. Thus, they would be more useful to identify trends of dualism of Korean agriculture. Results - The results show that the farmland distribution of crop farms became more skewed and dispersed. However, the herd distribution of livestock farms became more concentrated. To be specific, their mean and 1st quantile increases more rapidly than their size-weighted 2nd quantile and size-weighted 3rd quantile. Gini coefficients of livestock farms regarding their herd distribution decreased by 0.1 on average. In the case of income distribution, the results indicate that the polarization regarding farm household/agricultural/non-agricultural income became more severe. However, we also found that the distribution of transfer income became concentrated continuously. The results imply that transfer income including subsidies would decrease farm income polarization. Lastly, during the study periods, Korean farms were aging over time, and age distribution of them more concentrated. Conclusions - The structure of Korean agriculture has been changing, even though the absolute size of it decreased over time. Land (herd) distribution became more dispersed (concentrated). Inequality regarding agricultural income became more severe, and it made farm household income more polarized even though transfer income would decrease income gaps among farms. Lastly, farms continue to age regardless of farm types and this might affect the structural changes in Korean agriculture in the future.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.10-20
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• 2010

In recent studies, $PM_{2.5}$ has been reported to be more harmful to human health than $PM_{10}$ because it penetrates more deeply into the lung. We estimated $PM_{2.5}$ related health benefits in Seoul from implementing the World Health Organization (WHO)'s guidelines (annual average $10{\mu}g/m^3$, 24-hour average $25{\mu}g/m^3$) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s National Ambient Air Quality Standard (annual average $15{\mu}g/m^3$, 24-hour average $35{\mu}g/m^3$). U.S. EPA's Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program was utilized for the analysis. It was predicted that the attainment of the WHO annual guideline and U.S. EPA's annual standard, relative to the concentration in 2006, would result in reduction of 2,333~2,895 premature deaths and 1,703~2,121 premature deaths, respectively. If the WHO and EPA's daily standard for $PM_{2.5}$ are attained, 1,211~1,394 and 1,012~1,165 premature deaths could be avoided, respectively. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the estimates were robust regardless of air quality simulation methods for attaining the $PM_{2.5}$ goals. This study provides a quantitative approach to evaluate health risks from air pollution as well as to assess the potential health benefits of improving atmospheric $PM_{2.5}$ concentration. Even considering the intrinsic limitations and uncertainties of the analysis, it is an important information to rationalize the enforcement of $PM_{2.5}$ management policies and measures in Seoul, Korea.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.1252-1261
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• 2011

In this paper, we propose the comparison method of pattern similarity for video segmentation algorithm. The shot boundary type is categorized as 2 types, abrupt change and gradual change. The representative examples of gradual change are dissolve, fade-in, fade-out or wipe transition. The proposed method consider the problem to detect shot boundary as 2-class problem. We concentrated if the shot boundary event happens or not. It is essential to define similarity between frames for shot boundary detection. We proposed 2 similarity measures, within similarity and between similarity. The within similarity is defined by feature comparison between frames belong to same shot. The between similarity is defined by feature comparison between frames belong to different scene. Finally we calculated the statistical patterns comparison between the within similarity and between similarity. Because this measure is robust to flash light or object movement, our proposed algorithm make contribution towards reducing false positive rate. We employed color histogram and mean of sub-block on frame image as frame feature. We performed the experimental evaluation with video dataset including set of TREC-2001 and TREC-2002. The proposed algorithm shows the performance, 91.84% recall and 86.43% precision in experimental circumstance.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.115-148
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• 2007

Under the influence of ever-globalized world economy, Yangsan Port of Shanghai, a central hub of Chinese economy, was opened up on Dec. 1, 2005 in the expectation of heart of northeast Asian harbor logistics. It has triggered severer competitions among northeast Asian ports. In an effort to keep robust standing as a central port of northeast Asia, Korea has still built additional new ports and opened up 3 docks in Nov. 2005. Amid these changing port environments, it is foremost to take the competitive edges of new ports in advance of major rival ports in the interest of preoccupying the standing of those new ports as the central hub of northeast logistics. According to the developmental strategies of new ports can be summed up as follows: First, it is required to separate port development from marketing as a part of separating developmental entity from management/maintenance entity. Second, it is required to develop dedicated port for feeder vessels along with new ports to save more time and cost spent by shipping companies. Third, the attraction of jumbo shipping companies to port development needs differentiated countermeasures for each shipping company, and those measures should be taken in advance before jumbo shippers decide their own shipping strategies in future. Fourth, in terms of incentives for attracting jumbo shipping companies, it is required to offer the incentives to them in using new ports in connection with Busan ports. Fifth, it is critical to set up a benchmark of competitors(ports) for establishing one-stop automatic administration process system upon developing ports. Finally, it is required to prepare a plan for using rearward lands in connection with ports for more efficient use of development complex behind port.