• Title/Summary/Keyword: sustainability assessment

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A Study on Medical Fee System of the convalescent hospital -Focused on the case of patient group adjustment - (요양병원 수가제도에 대한 소고 -환자군 조정 판결을 중심으로 -)

  • Kwon, Hye Ok
    • The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.195-218
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    • 2017
  • The increase in medical expenses for convalescent hospitals is increasing abnormally, which puts enormous burden on the National health insurance finances. This is a phenomenon that has been associated with the social phenomenon of rapid aging. The fact that the convalescent hospitals are paid the fixed amount per day for hospitalization became the incentive for some hospitals to use the patients as means of making money. And these hospitals intend to get regular care or take medicines at other hospitals in order to reduce medical expenses, even when the medical fee is paid. In order to prevent such financial leaks, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service adjusted the patient group for inpatients in a hospital with the above behavior, and then cut the cost of medical care benefits. However, Above decision was canceled by the court on the grounds that there was no basis rule. However, based on the above case, I think that it can be an opportunity to draw up the problem and to improve of the Medical Fee System of hospital. The modified medical fee system can strengthen the medical function of the convalescent hospital. In addition, it seems reasonable to exclude admission for "physically disabled group". Even if admission is allowed for the physically disabled group due to social needs, it should be excluded from the National health insurance for the fianacial soundness and the sustainability of the system.

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Assessment of the Contribution of Poultry and Pig Production to Greenhouse Gas Emissions in South Korea Over the Last 10 Years (2005 through 2014)

  • Boontiam, Waewaree;Shin, Yongjin;Choi, Hong Lim;Kumari, Priyanka
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.29 no.12
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    • pp.1805-1811
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    • 2016
  • The goal of this study was to estimate the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), namely methane ($CH_4$), nitrous oxide ($N_2O$), and carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) from poultry and pig production in South Korea over the last 10 years (2005 through 2014). The calculations of GHG emissions were based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines. Over the study period, the $CH_4$ emission from manure management decreased in layer chickens, nursery to finishing pigs and gestating to lactating sows, but there was a gradual increase in $CH_4$ emission from broiler chickens and male breeding pigs. Both sows and nursery to finishing pigs were associated with greater emissions from enteric fermentation than the boars, especially in 2009. Layer chickens produced lower direct and indirect $N_2O$ emissions from 2009 to 2014, whereas the average direct and indirect $N_2O$ emissions from manure management for broiler chickens were 12.48 and $4.93Gg\;CO_2-eq/yr$, respectively. Annual direct and indirect $N_2O$ emissions for broiler chickens tended to decrease in 2014. Average $CO_2$ emission from direct on-farm energy uses for broiler and layer chickens were 46.62 and $136.56Gg\;CO_2-eq/yr$, respectively. For pig sectors, the $N_2O$ emission from direct and indirect sources gradually increased, but they decreased for breeding pigs. Carbon dioxide emission from direct on-farm energy uses reached a maximum of $53.93Gg\;CO_2-eq/yr$ in 2009, but this total gradually declined in 2010 and 2011. For boars, the greatest $CO_2$ emission occurred in 2012 and was $9.44Gg\;CO_2-eq/yr$. Indirect $N_2O$ emission was the largest component of GHG emissions in broilers. In layer chickens, the largest contributing factor to GHG emissions was $CO_2$ from direct on-farm energy uses. For pig production, the largest component of GHG emissions was $CH_4$ from manure management, followed by $CO_2$ emission from direct on-farm energy use and $CH_4$ enteric fermentation emission, which accounted for 8.47, 2.85, and $2.82Gg-CO_2/yr$, respectively. The greatest GHG emission intensity occurred in female breeding sows relative to boars. Overall, it is an important issue for the poultry and pig industry of South Korea to reduce GHG emissions with the effective approaches for the sustainability of agricultural practices.

An analysis of the genetic diversity of a riparian marginal species, Aristolochia contorta (수변 경계종인 쥐방울덩굴의 유전적 다양성 분석)

  • Nam, Bo Eun;Park, Hyun Jun;Son, Ga Yeon;Kim, Jae Geun
    • Journal of Wetlands Research
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.100-105
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    • 2020
  • Northern pipevine (Aristolochia contorta) commonly inhabits marginal areas between waterside and terrestrial vegetation. In particular, A. contorta is ecologically important in the marginal areas as a food plant of dragon swallowtail butterfly (Sericinus montela), which is designated as vulnerable species in the Republic of Korea. For long-term sustainability of the plant population, assessment of the genetic diversity of exist populations should be conducted. Genomic DNA of A. contorta leaf samples were extracted from four populations where the vigorous growth were observed in the South Korea. Intra-population genetic diversity and inter-population genetic distance were assessed using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) with five polymorphic random primers. Overall genetic diversity was lower, compared to other wetland species (h: 0.0607 ~ 0.1401; I: 0.0819 ~ 0.1759), while GP showed the highest intra-population genetic diversity. Despite of the geographical distance, GP showed the larger genetic distance from other populations. This result seemed to be caused by the fragmented habitat and lower sexual reproduction of A. controta. Mixture of the different source populations and construction of the proper environmental condition such as shade and physical support for sexual reproduction should be considered for conservation of A. contorta population.

An Assessment on the Possibilities to Promote Bicycle Use and a Research on its Determining Factors (자전거 이용활성화 가능성 진단 및 결정요소 도출)

  • Shin, Hee-Cheol;Kim, Dong-Jun;Jeong, Seong-Yub;Moon, Jang-Won
    • Land and Housing Review
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.125-135
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    • 2011
  • Automobile-oriented urban transport system, continued from the past in Korea, is giving rise to inefficiency and social costs in transport sector. With revitalizing usage of bicycle, human-powered transport mode, it is possible to enhance sustainable green growth, improvement of the city-competitiveness, and the quality of life. In this study, the possibility of bicycle usage promotion in Korean cities is examined at 7 points of views. As a result, though the bicycle usage is low now, we figured that there are many positive signs to increase bicycle usage in Korea. Also, we draw a diverse key policies for building green urban transport system that bicycle have a most important role on transport system. So policies to promote bicycle usage are reviewed to analyze on bicycle-oriented 5 cities, in which have high bicycle mode share. By this review, this study could draw 41 key effective policies to 3 aspects (bicycle infrastructure, safety and promotion, and policy sustainability). In addition to, importance of 21 key effective policies about bicycle infrastructure is suggested as considering city's characteristics.

Simulation of Land Use Change by Storylines of Shared Socio-Economic Reference Pathways (사회경제 경로 시나리오에 따른 토지이용 변화 시뮬레이션)

  • KIM, Ho-Yong
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.1-13
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    • 2016
  • In an effort to establish adaptive measures for low carbon use and climate change, this study developed storylines for shared socio-economic reference pathways(SSP) and simulated change in land use for each storyline. First, cellular automata modeling was performed using past data, and a transition rule for the local characteristics of each planning area under study was derived by comparing with the results of the base year. Second, three storylines were formulated based on the hypothesized change in land use for the SSP. SSP1, the scenario for sustainability, assumed that the land was developed into a compact city, SSP2 assumed the development of a road through the middle of the land while maintaining the current situation, and SSP3 assumed unsustainable development into a fragmented world. Third, change in land use depending on planning area was predicted by integrating the SSP scenarios with cellular automata(CA) modeling. According to the results of analysis using the SSP scenarios, the urban area ratio increased slightly up to 2020 in SSP1 and up to 2030 in SSP2 and did not change any more subsequently, but it increased continuously until 2050 in SSP3 that assumed low level urban planning. These results on change in land use are expected to contribute towards making reasonable decisions and policies on climate change, and the outcomes of simulation derived from spatial downscaling, if applied to vulnerability assessment, will be useful to set the priority of policies on climate change adaptation.

Long-term Assessment of Soil Chemical Properties in Different Soil Texture Orchard Fields in Gyeongnam Province

  • Kim, Min Keun;Sonn, Yeon-Kyu;Kang, Seong-Soo;Heo, Jae-Young;Kim, Dae-Ho;Choi, Yong-Jo;Lee, Sang-Dae;Shin, Hyun-Yul;Ok, Yong Sik;Lee, Young Han
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.48 no.4
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    • pp.240-245
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    • 2015
  • The monitoring of soil fertility changes in orchard is very important for agricultural sustainability. Field monitoring was performed to evaluate the soil chemical properties of 140 orchard (23 sites for sandy loam, 88 sites for loam, 28 sites for silt loam, and 1 site for loamy fine sand) in Gyeongnam province every 4 years from 2002 to 2014. Soil chemical properties such as pH, electrical conductivity, amount of organic matter (OM), available phosphate ($P_2O_5$), lime requirement (LR), exchangeable potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sodium were analyzed. The amount of OM, exchangeable K, Ca, and Mg were significantly increased as cultivation year increases. The frequency distribution within optimum range of subsoil chemical properties in 2014 was 34.3% for pH, 35.0% for OM, 17.1% for available $P_2O_5$, 22.9% for exchangeable K, 15.7% for exchangeable Ca, and 22.1% for exchangeable Mg. In addition, the available $P_2O_5$ and exchangeable calcium were excess level with portions of 69.3% and 48.6%, respectively. The soil chemical properties in the topsoil and subsoil showed that soil pH was significantly higher in sandy loam soil than those from the loam and silt loam soils. The OM, exchangeable K, Mg, and LR of loam soil were higher than those from the sandy loam soil. These results indicated that a balanced management of soil chemical properties as affected by soil texture can improve the amount of fertilizer applied for sustainable agriculture in orchard field.

A Mathematical Programming Method for Minimization of Carbon Debt of Bioenergy (바이오에너지의 탄소부채 최소화를 위한 수학적 계획법)

  • Choi, Soo Hyoung
    • Clean Technology
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    • v.27 no.3
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    • pp.269-274
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    • 2021
  • Bioenergy is generally considered to be one of the options for pursuing carbon neutrality. However, for a period of time, combustion of harvested plant biomass inevitably causes more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than combustion of fossil fuels. This paper proposes a method that predicts and minimizes the total amount and payback period of this carbon debt. As a case study, a carbon cycle impact assessment was performed for immediate switching of the currently used fossil fuels to biomass. This work points out a fundamental vulnerability in the concept of carbon neutrality. As an action plan for the sustainability of bioenergy, formulas for afforestation proportional to the decrease in the forest area and surplus harvest proportional to the increase in the forest mass are proposed. The results of optimization indicate that the carbon debt payback period is about 70 years, and the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases by more than 50% at a maximum and 3% at a steady state. These are theoretically predicted best results, which are expected to be worse in reality. Therefore, biomass is not truly carbon neutral, and it is inappropriate as an energy source alternative to fossil fuels. The method proposed in this work is expected to be able to contribute to the approach to carbon neutrality by minimizing present and future carbon debt of the bioenergy that is already in use.

Comparative assessment of the effective population size and linkage disequilibrium of Karan Fries cattle revealed viable population dynamics

  • Shivam Bhardwaj;Oshin Togla;Shabahat Mumtaz;Nistha Yadav;Jigyasha Tiwari;Lal Muansangi;Satish Kumar Illa;Yaser Mushtaq Wani;Sabyasachi Mukherjee;Anupama Mukherjee
    • Animal Bioscience
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    • v.37 no.5
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    • pp.795-806
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    • 2024
  • Objective: Karan Fries (KF), a high-producing composite cattle was developed through crossing indicine Tharparkar cows with taurine bulls (Holstein Friesian, Brown Swiss, and Jersey), to increase the milk yield across India. This composite cattle population must maintain sufficient genetic diversity for long-term development and breed improvement in the coming years. The level of linkage disequilibrium (LD) measures the influence of population genetic forces on the genomic structure and provides insights into the evolutionary history of populations, while the decay of LD is important in understanding the limits of genome-wide association studies for a population. Effective population size (Ne) which is genomically based on LD accumulated over the course of previous generations, is a valuable tool for e valuation of the genetic diversity and level of inbreeding. The present study was undertaken to understand KF population dynamics through the estimation of Ne and LD for the long-term sustainability of these breeds. Methods: The present study included 96 KF samples genotyped using Illumina HDBovine array to estimate the effective population and examine the LD pattern. The genotype data were also obtained for other crossbreds (Santa Gertrudis, Brangus, and Beefmaster) and Holstein Friesian cattle for comparison purposes. Results: The average LD between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was r2 = 0.13 in the present study. LD decay (r2 = 0.2) was observed at 40 kb inter-marker distance, indicating a panel with 62,765 SNPs was sufficient for genomic breeding value estimation in KF cattle. The pedigree-based Ne of KF was determined to be 78, while the Ne estimates obtained using LD-based methods were 52 (SNeP) and 219 (genetic optimization for Ne estimation), respectively. Conclusion: KF cattle have an Ne exceeding the FAO's minimum recommended level of 50, which was desirable. The study also revealed significant population dynamics of KF cattle and increased our understanding of devising suitable breeding strategies for long-term sustainable development.

Potential of Contaminant Removal Using a Full-Scale Municipal Water Treatment System with Adsorption as Post-Treatment (실 규모 물 처리 공정 및 후속 흡착 처리에 의한 오염원 제거 잠재성 평가)

  • Haeil Byeon;Geonhee Yeo;Anh-Hong Nguyen;Youngwoong Kim;Donggun Kim;Taehun Lee;Seolhwa Jeong;Younghoa Choi;Seungdae Oh
    • Land and Housing Review
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.167-177
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    • 2024
  • This study aimed to assess the efficacy of an adsorption process in removing organic matter and micropollutant residuals. After a full-scale water circulation system, the adsorption process was considered a post-treatment step. The system, treating anthropogenically impacted surface waters, comprises a hydro-cyclone, coagulation, flocculation, and dissolved air flotation unit. While the system generally maintained stable and satisfactory effluent quality standards over months, it did not meet the highest standard for organic matter (as determined by chemical oxygen demands). Adsorption experiments utilized two granular activated carbon types, GAC 830 and GCN 830, derived from coal and coconut-shell feedstocks, respectively. The assessment encompassed organic materials along with two notable micropollutants: acetaminophen (APAP) and acid orange 7 (AO7). Adsorption kinetics and isotherm experiments were conducted to determine adsorption rates and maximum adsorption amounts. The quantitative findings derived from pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm models suggest the effectiveness of the adsorption process. The findings of this study propose the potential of employing the adsorption process as a post-treatment to enhance the treatment of contaminants that are not satisfactorily treated by conventional water circulation systems. This enhancement is crucial for ensuring the sustainability of urban water cycles.

Occurrence and Behavior Analysis of Soil Erosion by Applying Coefficient and Exponent of MUSLE Runoff Factor Depending on Land Use (국내 토지이용별 MUSLE 유출인자의 계수 및 지수 적용을 통한 토양유실 발생 및 거동 분석)

  • Lee, Seoro;Lee, Gwanjae;Yang, Dongseok;Choi, Yujin;Lim, Kyoung Jae;Jang, Won Seok
    • Journal of Wetlands Research
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    • v.21 no.spc
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    • pp.98-106
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    • 2019
  • The coefficient and exponent of the MUSLE(Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation) runoff factor in the SWAT(Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model are 11.8 and 0.56 respectively, which are equally applied to the estimation of soil erosion regardless of land use. they could derive overestimation or underestimation of soil erosion, which can cause problems in the selection of soil erosion-vulnerable area and evaluation of reduction management. However, there are no studies about the estimation of coefficients and exponent for the MUSLE runoff factor by land use and their applicability to the SWAT model. Thus, in order to predict soil erosion and sediment behavior accurately through SWAT model, it is necessary to estimate the coefficient and exponent of the MUSLE runoff factor by land use and evaluate its applicability. In this study, the coefficient and exponent of MUSLE runoff factor by land use were estimated for Gaa-cheon Watershed, and the differences in soil erosion and sediment from SWAT model were analyzed. The coefficient and exponent of runoff factor estimated by this study well reflected the characteristics of soil erosion in domestic highland watershed. Therefore, in order to apply the MUSLE which developed based on observed data of US agricultural basin to the domestic watershed, it is considered that a sufficient modification and supplementation process for the coefficient and exponent of the MUSLE runoff factor depending on land use is necessary. The results of this study can be used as a basic data for selecting soil erosion vulnerable area in the non-point source management areas and establishing and evaluating soil erosion reduction management.