• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.418-434
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• 2024

Purpose: The nutritional status of folate in Korean adults was evaluated using the newly established folate database (DB) and data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Methods: This study analyzed the folate intake of 15,054 people (6,278 men and 8,776 women) and the relationship with serum folate concentration of 5,260 people (2,272 men and 2,988 women). Results: The average daily folate intake among Korean adults was lowest in the 19 to 29-year age group and highest in those in their 50s. Folate intake was higher in groups with higher education and household income, non-smokers, participants in aerobic physical activity, and dietary supplement users regardless of sex. Among men, office workers consumed more folate than physical workers. Vegetables and grains were the first and second most contributing food groups to folate intake. The serum folate levels were higher in women than men and lowest in the 19-29 year age group for both sexes. After adjusting for energy intake, age, income, smoking, physical activity, and dietary supplement intake, serum folate concentration increased significantly as intake increased (p < 0.001). The explanatory power (R²) of folate intake on the blood folate concentration was 0.183 and 0.141 in men and women, respectively. Conclusion: The proportion of participants consuming less than the estimated average requirement was 48.1% and 65.3% in men and women, respectively. In particular, the folate intake and serum levels of young men aged 19-29 years were the lowest. Therefore, it is necessary to improve their folate nutritional status through a balanced diet. In addition, the newly established folate DB may be useful for evaluating the folate nutritional status of Koreans.

• Journal of Internet of Things and Convergence
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.35-48
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• 2024

This study analyzed the value empathy of environmentally sustainable fashion products, encompassing environmental, economic, and social values, drawing from existing literature. We sought to verify the relationship between empathic value and the likability and purchase intention towards these products. To validate these relationships, we formulated research hypotheses and conducted an online survey targeting female college students residing in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, who have experience purchasing environmentally sustainable fashion products. The survey was conducted from August 10th to August 20th, 2023, with a total distribution of 352 questionnaires. Among the collected responses, 313 valid responses were utilized for data analysis. The collected survey data underwent frequency analysis, exploratory factor analysis, reliability and validity analysis, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 26.0 software. The analysis yielded the following results. First, the empathy value of environmentally sustainable fashion products was classified into environmental protection values, economic values, and social values. Second, the economic and social values of environmentally sustainable fashion products were found to have a positive effect on favorability. Third, it was found that the environmental protection value and social value of environmentally sustainable fashion products had a positive effect on purchase intention. Fourth, it was found that Chinese female college students' favorability toward environmentally sustainable fashion products had a positive effect on their purchase intention. Based on these results, it is judged that companies need to emphasize the characteristics of products such as environmental protective value, economic value, and social value in order to promote consumers' purchase of environmentally sustainable fashion products. The purpose of this study is to help develop marketing strategies for environmentally sustainable fashion products by providing basic data, development ideas, and methods useful for environmentally sustainable fashion-related industries and companies by analyzing the relationship between empathy value, favorability, and purchase intention.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.243-254
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• 2024

In recent years, as support for venture companies and performance increase, investment scale increases. To support them goverment operates venture firm confirmation system as a part of a variety of policies. Many studies suggest venture confirmation system offer the practical assistance on performance of venture companies. However, simply venture firm confirmation system affects on performance of venture companies. This study sought to develop a theoretical research model about the impact of innovation capabilities and industrial property rights on venture companies' financial performance and technological capabilities through the venture company confirmation system. The following hypotheses were tested. First, the innovation capabilities of venture companies such as development capability, manufacturing capability, marketing capability, level of cost leadership, level of high added value, degree of clarity of business model, and degree of innovation of business model have a significant impact on the venture company confirmation system. Second, the industrial property rights of venture companies, such as the number of domestic industrial property rights, foreign industrial property rights, industrial property rights in domestic applications, and industrial property rights in overseas applications, do not have a significant impact on the venture business confirmation system. Third, the benefits of the venture business confirmation system, such as promotion of technology development, advertising effects, tax benefits, securing excellent human resources, financing and investment incentives, advantageous participation in government support systems, and deregulation, are related to the financial performance of venture businesses such as sales and operating profit., net profit and technological level. Lastly, it was confirmed that, except for research and development type venture companies, innovation capabilities and industrial property rights do not have a significant impact on financial performance and technological capabilities through the venture confirmation system. The implications of this study mean that in situations where a company's innovation capabilities are lacking, the supply and demand of the venture business confirmation system is weak. Therefore, in order to improve the benefits of the venture business verification system, it is necessary to operate the venture business verification system benefits mainly for companies with high corporate capabilities. Next, it means that industrial property rights are not related to the venture business confirmation system. Therefore, there will be no need to consider industrial property rights as an important matter in the certification of the venture business verification system. Lastly, the higher the level of benefits from the venture business confirmation system, the greater the company's performance and technological capabilities. Therefore, efforts should be made to utilize the venture business verification system in a way that can improve performance or technology through the benefits of the venture business verification system.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.127-139
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• 2024

This study investigates the impact of edutech characteristics and both tangible and intangible educational services on the intention to re-enroll, which is directly related to the management performance of private institutes. The study aims to propose strategies to improve re-enrollment intentions and management performance based on the findings. Private education has grown continuously, complementing the limitations of public education and increasing parental dependence. This study tested the hypothesis that edutech characteristics, intangible services, and tangible services, increasingly utilized with the development of information and communication technology, would influence re-enrollment intentions. It also examined whether rapport-building behavior with parents would have a moderating effect on this relationship. The hypothesis testing results showed that among the edutech characteristics, content, intangible services such as reliability and empathy, and tangible services such as tangibility and payment accessibility positively impacted re-enrollment intentions. The hypothesis that rapport-building behavior would moderate the relationship between educational services and re-enrollment intentions was supported for empathy in intangible services and tangibility in tangible services. Based on these findings, the study proposed three strategies to improve management performance of private institutes. First, in terms of improving and managing edutech characteristics, it suggested introducing and updating edutech content and ensuring operational stability. Second, for improving and managing intangible services, it recommended managing instructor recruitment and training to enhance quality and competence, maintaining professionalism through continuous education by credible institutions, and providing level-based education for students based on the qualitative improvement of educational programs. Third, to improve and manage tangible services, it suggested setting appropriate tuition fees, offering various payment methods (online, mobile, card, bank transfer) unrestricted by time and place, and equipping interiors and facilities that enable focused learning. Additionally, considering the moderating effect of rapport-building behavior, it emphasized that improvements and management requiring costs are necessary, but making parents feel a high level of tangibility through rapport-building is also important. Furthermore, given the increasing importance of edutech based on information and communication technology, the study highlighted the need for various support measures such as government technological support and venture certification system support for institutes with an entrepreneurial spirit aiming to introduce innovative technologies such as AI technology based on large language models and AR/VR-applied metaverse environments. This study is expected to help improve the management performance of private institutes by specifically suggesting items and methods for improvement and management in the educational field.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.319-333
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• 2024

Background: This study aims to identify the factors that influence the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) for the elderly living alone and to discuss how to manage CHE for the elderly living alone. Methods: This study utilizes 6th (2016), 7th (2018), and 8th (2020) data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging to identify the incidence rate of CHE among the elderly living alone and conducts a panel logit analysis. The dependent variable is the incidence of CHE (thresholds: 10%, 20%, 30%), and the independent variables include demographic factors (gender, age group, region), socioeconomic factors (education level, economic activity status, income quintile, financial support rate from children), health-related factors (subjective health status, regular exercise, smoking, drinking, number of chronic diseases), and healthcare coverage factors (type of health insurance, private health insurance). Results: Descriptive statistics classified by gender show that female elderly living alone are more vulnerable than male elderly living alone in terms of disease prevalence and socioeconomic status. In addition, the incidence of CHE is higher for elderly women living alone than for elderly men living alone across all thresholds. The main results of the panel logit analysis show that higher education, income quintile, and financial support rate from children are associated with lower odds of CHE, while poorer subjective health and a higher number of chronic diseases are associated with higher odds of CHE. Medical aid recipients are less likely to incur CHE than those covered by national health insurance. Conclusion: The implications of this study are as follows. First, vulnerable elderly living alone with multiple chronic diseases and low income and education levels are more likely to incur CHE. Second, it is necessary to review policies such as a CHE support program and chronic disease management programs focused on vulnerable elderly individuals living alone. Third, the CHE support program should be operated in a patient-centered manner, with consideration given to a customized system for selecting and supporting elderly individuals living alone who are in need.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1-12
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• 2024

This paper aims to examine the effectiveness of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) in attracting and retaining top talent for startups and venture companies in the context of their implementation in July 2024. The study investigates whether RSUs align with their original intent and identifies additional measures to enhance their effectiveness. Additionally, the paper explores strategies to actively adopt and revitalize RSUs in the business field from the perspectives of experts representing key market participants within the early-stage startup ecosystem in Korea. The study employs a three-pronged approach. First, a pre-study examines how RSUs overcome the limitations of existing stock compensation schemes, the benefits they offer, and the key conditions for ensuring market-friendly effectiveness. Second, experts involved in the RSU bill's early stages identify five issues that need to be addressed to ensure the bill's market-friendly effectiveness: RSU vesting conditions, RSU vesting targets, RSU vesting scope, RSU vesting timing, and RSU vesting-related tax benefits. Third, the study conducts an FGI with experts representing key market players in the early-stage startup ecosystem to examine the effectiveness and activation measures of the proposed RSU scheme, RSU adoption within the early-stage startup ecosystem minimizing conflict of interests with existing shareholders such as venture capital investor. Finally, experts emphasize the importance of clearly defining and communicating RSU benefits to businesses for effective RSU activation. This study's significance lies in its derivation of various insights from FGI research on the effective adoption and activation of RSUs within the early-stage startup ecosystem. Moreover, it is expected to provide a methodology for gauging opinion-gathering procedures for new bills introduced to foster startup and venture company growth.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.375-387
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• 2024

This study investigated the ecological characteristics of Fraxinus chiisanensis Nakai, one of the endemic and rare plant species in Korea, based on its distribution status, characteristics of the growth environment, and species composition. A vegetation survey that analyzed the correlation between species distribution patterns and environmental variables, along with the traits of the emergent plant species, was performed according to the explanation of environmental growth conditions and phytosociological method for the location where F. chiisanensis is found. A total of 19 dominant locations and 9 non-dominant locations of F. chiisanensis were observed in 28 study sites in 12 regions, and a total of 155 taxa were observed. According to the vegetation climate of Korea, the growth environment of the study site where F. chiisanensis is located is characterized as cold and is primarily situated within the northern temperate deciduous broadleaf forest zone. The average elevation was 859m above sea level, with an average rock exposure of 60.4%, soil exposure of 24.7%, and an average slope of 18.7°. The taxa belonging to the top P-NCD(Percentage of Net Contribution Degree) among the emergent species were mostly designated as the taxa emerging in valley vegetation. The correlation analysis of environmental variables revealed that altitude had the strongest correlation, with rock exposure showing the second highest correlation. The ongoing dynamics of the F. chiisanensis forest are anticipated to persist due to the high P-NCD values exhibited by the F. chiisanensis within the shrub and herbaceous layers among the taxa associated with tree species. Most F. chiisanensis habitats are currently situated within protected regions such as national parks, provincial parks, and county parks, where there are relatively minimal human-induced disturbances. However, there is potential for damage in areas not designated as protected, such as forest tending operation sites or new hiking trails. Concerns about declining habitat quality have prompted suggestions for management strategies such as establishing Forest Genetic Resource Reserves in these locations. In addition, follow-up and further research should be conducted to identify possible sites for distribution and establish candidate conservation areas based on various environmental conditions of F. chiisanensis.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.5-18
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• 2024

Chemical oxygen demand (COD), an organic material measurement index, has a limit to the management of the total amount of all organic materials including non-degradable organic materials due to low oxidation rate. So total organic carbon (TOC) that can measure organic materials more accurately is introduced and used as a measurement index. Several environmental companies including company A in Gyeonggi-do dilute raw wastewater first and then treats it with chemicals. And an activated carbon is used at the rear stage to treat total organic carbon even though various treatment processes can be applied to reduce TOC in wastewater. There are some problems such as use of a lot of diluting water and generation of an excessive amount of sludge, so it is urgent to come up with an alternative plan. Therefore, in this study, an application experiment was conducted on two different methods for improving the TOC reduction efficiency of waste water from Company A. The first method is the evaluation of the substitution potential of powered activated carbon(PAC), an adsorbent currently used, by manufacturing cellulose-based graphene like carbon (CGLC). This first study showed that CGLC had about 10% higher TOC adsorption efficiency than commercial PAC, showing the possibility of being applied as an alternative adsorbent for PAC in water treatment sites. The second method relates to the removal of TOC by sulfate radials produced by persulfate (PS) activation. Two activation methods were applied: using CGLC and PAC as carbon-based catalyst and using the high temperature of wastewater for PS activation. As a result of using PAC and CGLC as PS activation materials, the TOC removal rate was lower than the adsorption amount of TOC by CGLC and PAC due to excessive chlorine ions present in the real wastewater. However, as a result of using the high water temperature (55~60℃) of the field wastewater for PS activation, it showed a much greater TOC removal efficiency than PAC alone, CGLC alone, and using a carbon-based catalyst for PS activation. When PS was injected more than 0.5%, it showed a TOC removal efficiency of 95% or more within 24 hr. In addition, when PS was injected more than 0.3%, the TOC concentration could be lowered to less than 75 ppm, which is the wastewater discharge standard applied to company A. When these results were summarized, raw wastewater of high temperature can be treated with a simple process of only adding of PS and discharged by treating TOC below the wastewater discharge standard applied to company A.

• Clean Technology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.276-286
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• 2024

Since the Paris Agreement and the surge in global interest in climate change, the importance of measuring and managing national-level resource productivity has steadily grown. However, concerns about the reliability of productivity indicators persist due to inherent uncertainties. This study estimated the metal and non-metal resource productivities of 38 OECD countries through multiple regression analysis and conducted a comparative analysis of their ranking changes according to their current resource productivities. The study results revealed that the 38 OECD countries could be classified into four categories. First, countries with low overall resource productivities due to a high economic dependence on low-value metal resources by weight exhibited a substantial rise in their non-metal resource productivity rankings. Second, countries that have minimal metal industries in their national economies but generate high value-added from these sectors showed a notable increase in their metal resource productivity rankings. Third, countries with a low proportion of metal industry in their economies and low metal resource productivities experienced significant declines in their metal resource productivity rankings. Fourth, countries with a small disparity between their metal and non-metal resource productivities showed minimal changes in their rankings for both categories. These results highlight that changes in metal resource productivity rankings were more pronounced than those for non-metal resources, which implies that the influence of non-metal resources (biomass, fossil fuels, non-metallic minerals) dominates national-level resource productivity because their economic value is higher than metal resources. These findings suggest that it is necessary to manage the economic value of each resource type as distinct statistical data to provide a more nuanced understanding of national resource productivity.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.403-413
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• 2024

This study aims to investigate the material properties of specimens made from pyrophyllite and pyrophyllite-aluminum mixed powders using high-speed, high-pressure dynamic compression technology. The aluminum powder exhibited a highly uniform particle size distribution ranging from 10 to 100 ㎛, whereas the pyrophyllite powder displayed four distinct particle size distributions: 0.1~1 ㎛, 1~10 ㎛, 80~100 ㎛, and 200~1,000 ㎛. Using high-speed, high-pressure dynamic compression technology with a drop time of approximately 0.34~0.4 seconds and a dynamic load of about 207 tonf, it was possible to fabricate pyrophyllite and pyrophyllite-aluminum mixed powder specimens with a volume of about 548 mm². The Shore hardness measurement results showed that specimen BG100 had an average of 43.7, BG90 had an average of 33.2, and BG85, BG80, BG75, and BG70 had an average of 31.0, indicating that the specimen with the least aluminum content exhibited the highest Shore hardness value. The thermogravimetric analysis revealed mass losses at two points: the first mass loss occurred at around 270℃ with a loss of approximately 1.45%, and the second mass loss occurred at around 600℃, where BG70 and BG80 showed a mass loss of about 2.53%, and BG75, BG85, and BG90 showed a mass loss of about 3.43%. Scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated that the microstructure of the specimens was similar regardless of the mixing ratio, with three elements-O, Si, and Al-being detected in all specimens. The mapping analysis of BG90 revealed an oxygen weight ratio of 50.80%, silicon weight ratio of 37.36%, and aluminum weight ratio of 11.85%. In the case of BG85, the results were 43.09% oxygen, 43.50% silicon, and 13.41% aluminum; for BG80, the results were 44.83% oxygen, 40.30% silicon, and 14.87% aluminum; for BG75, the results were 44.71% oxygen, 35.49% silicon, and 19.80% aluminum; and for BG70, the results were 34.95% oxygen, 35.73% silicon, and 29.32% aluminum.