• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.83-91
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• 2006

Recently, the intensive rainstorm possibly induced by global warming plays a key role on the instability of railway adjacent slopes. The instability of slopes results as covering and loss of railway lines induced by slided soil mass. According to the site investigation on the failed slopes triggered by rainfall, low types of slope failure were observed: shallow, intermediate, gully erosion, and soil-rock interface failures. The observation reveals the different characteristics of slope failure depending on the thickness of soil layer, morphological features of slope, etc. Based upon the observations, flume tests were conducted to analyze the sliding mechanism of each failure. The variables of flume test are soil layer thickness, rainfall intensity, and morphology of slope under the constant condition of the percentage of fine, initial soil moisture content, slope angle and compaction energy. Test results show that shallow failure was mostly observed from the surface of the slope and caused by the soil erosion; in addition, compared to the other types of failure, the occurrence of initial erosion is late, however, the development of erosion is fast. In gully erosion failure, the collected water from the water catchment area helps erosion of the upper soil layer and transfer of residual corestone, which impedes the erosion process once the upper soil layers are eroded and corestone are exposed. The soil-rock interface failure shows the most fast initial erosion process among the failure types. Interestingly, the common feature observed from the different types of failure was the occurrence of the initial deformation near the toe of slopes which implies the existence of surbsurface flow along the downslope direction.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.95-104
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• 2022

Micro hydropower is a readily available renewable energy source that can be harvested utilizing hydrokinetic turbines from shallow water canals, irrigation and industrial channel flows, and run-off river stream flows. These sources generally have low head (<1 m) and low velocity which makes it difficult to harvest energy using conventional turbines. A horizontal-axis screw turbine was designed and numerically tested to extract power from such low-head water sources. The 3-bladed screw-type turbine is placed horizontally perpendicular to the incoming flow, partially submerged in a narrow water channel at no-head condition. The turbine hydraulic performances were studied using Computational Fluid Dynamics models. Turbine design parameters such as the shroud diameter, the hub-to-shroud ratios, and the submerged depths were obtained through a steady-state parametric study. The resulting turbine configuration was then tested by solving the unsteady multiphase free-surface equations mimicking an actual open channel flow scenario. The turbine performance in the shallow channel were studied for various Tip Speed Ratios (TSR). The highest power coefficient was obtained at a TSR of 0.3. The turbine was then scaled-up to test its performance on a real site condition at a head of 0.3 m. The highest power coefficient obtained was 0.18. Several losses were observed in the 3-bladed turbine design and to minimize losses, the number of blades were increased to five. The power coefficient improved by 236% for a 5-bladed screw turbine. The fluid losses were minimized by increasing the blade surface area submerged in water. The turbine performance was increased by 74.4% after dipping the turbine to a bottom wall clearance of 30 cm from 60 cm. The final output of the novel horizontal-axis screw turbine showed a 2.83 kW power output at a power coefficient of 0.63. The turbine is expected to produce 18,744 kWh/year of electricity. The design feasibility test of the turbine showed promising results to harvest energy from small hydropower sources.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.101-108
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• 2009

The bioequivalence of two pioglitazone tablets, Actos$^{(R)}$ tablet (Takeda Chemical Industries, reference drug) and Pioglitazone tablet (Boryung Company, test drug) was evaluated according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration. Twenty-eight healthy male Korean volunteers received each medicine (pioglitazone dose of 30 mg) in a $2{\times}2$ crossover study with one week washout interval. After drug administration, blood samples were collected at specific time intervals from 0-36 hours. The plasma concentrations of pioglitazone were determined by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The total chromatographic run time was 5 min and calibration curves were linear over the concentration range of 5-2000 ng/mL for pioglitazone. The method was validated for selectivity, sensitivity, linearity, accuracy and precision. The pharmacokinetic parameters were determined from the plasma concentration-time profiles of both formulations. The primary calculated pharmacokinetic parameters were compared statistically to evaluate bioequivalence between the two preparations. The 90% confidence intervals of the $AUC_t$ ratio and the $C_{max}$ ratio for Pioglitazone tablet and Actos$^{(R)}$ tablet were log0.9422~log1.1040 and log0.9200~log1.1556, respectively. Based on the statistical considerations, we can conclude that the test drug, Pioglitazone tablet was bioequivalent to the reference drug, Actos$^{(R)}$ tablet.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.6B
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• pp.651-660
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• 2006

Although a harbor may be constructed with calmness in harbor in mind, which satisfies the design standard, it is frequently reported that the motion of moored ships disrupt the cargo handling. This is because of current design standard, which only deals with the wave height in the decision making process of cargo handling, and, now, a new kind of estimation method of operating ratio for calmness based on the motion of moored ship is in need. In this research, a computational method that analyses the harbor operation rate in harbor was put forward by considering the relation of allowable quantity of motion for cargo handling and the computation of the motion of moored ship at wharf by using moored ship motion analysis model. Here, a new estimetion method was applied at Onsan harbor, and it was compared with the current estimation method, and, then, the difference between the two methods was showed. The harbor operating ratio gained by a new method was dropped by 2~11% at ENE and NE directions when it was compared with the operating ratio based on the current design standard. However, when a harbor structure layout is to be designed, a harbor operating ratio test according to the wave height and a harbor operation rate test, which considers the motion of moored ship, are to be run side by side at a harbor designing process.

• 한국노년학
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.577-592
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to examine which factors determine fall experience among Korean elderly. To achieve this purpose, it uses the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging(KLoSA), wave 1 and 2. Participants aged 65 from wave 1 were selected. From wave 2, a dependent variable was selected and it was fall experiences since the first interview in 2006. Other than this variable, all independent variables were selected from wave 1. In analyses, x2 or t-test were conducted to examine whether independent variables significantly differ between falls and no falls. Then, since a dependent variable consisted of two categories-falls or no falls, multiple logistic regressions were run. Female, using hearing aid, having two diseases, having three or more diseases, depression, and exercise 5 times/a week or more elevated the odds ratios of fall experience. compared to their reference categories. Particularly, if Korean elderly had three or more diseases or depression, their likelihood of fall experience would have about 2 times higher than their reference categories. In conclusion, health practitioners should make the elderly be recognized how much these risk factors are important to falls. Also, Korean government should support Korean elderly having these risk factors to prevent them from falling.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.1-13
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• 2023

Hydronic heated road pavement (HHP) systems have been well established and documented to provide road safety in winter season over the past two decades. However, most of the systems run on asphalt, only a few are tested with concrete, and there rarely is a comparison between those two common road materials in their performance. The aim of this study is to investigate the thermal performance of the concrete HHP systems, including surface temperature variations of experimental pavements in winter season. For preliminary study a small-scale experimental system was installed to evaluate the heat transfer characteristics of the concrete HHP in the test field. The system consists of 3 concrete slabs made of 1 m in width, 1 m in length, and 0.25 m in height. In these slabs, circulating water piping was embedded with different pipe depths of 0.08 m (Case A), 0.12 m (Case B), and 0.20 m (Case C) and same horizontal space of 0.16 m. Heating performance in winter season was tested with different inlet temperatures of 25℃, 30℃, 35℃ and 40℃ during the entire measurement period. Overall, the surface temperature of the concrete HHPs remained above 3℃ in all experimental conditions applied in this study. The results of the surface temperature measurement with respect to the pipe depth showed that Case B was the highest among the three cases. However, the closer the circulating water pipe was to the pavement surface, the greater the heat exchange rate. This results is considered that the heat is continuously accumulated inside the pavements and then the temperature inside the pavements increases, while the amount of heat dissipation decreases as the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet of circulating water decreases. In this preliminary test the applicability of the concrete HHP on road deicing was confirmed. Finally, the results can be used as a basis for studying the effects of various variables on road pavements through numerical analysis and for conducting large-scale empirical experiments.

• Korean small business review
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.67-93
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• 2009

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of innovative small and medium sized enterprises(SMEs) listed on Korea Securities Market and Kosdaq Market of Korea Exchange. The innovative SMEs is defined as the firms with high level of R&D intensity which is measured by (R&D investment/total sales) ratio, according to Chauvin and Hirschey (1993). The R&D investment plays an important role as the innovative driver that can increase the future growth opportunity and profitability of the firms. Therefore, the R&D investment have large, positive, and consistent influences on the market value of the firm. In this point of view, we expect that the innovative SMEs can adjust dividend payment faster than the noninnovative SMEs, on the ground of their future growth opportunity and profitability. And also, we expect that the financial unconstrained firms can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, on the ground of their financing ability of investment funds through the market accessibility. Aivazian et al.(2006) exert that the financial unconstrained firms with the high accessibility to capital market can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms. We collect the sample firms among the total SMEs listed on Korea Securities Market and Kosdaq Market of Korea Exchange during the periods from January 1999 to December 2007 from the KIS Value Library database. The total number of firm-year observations of the total sample firms throughout the entire period is 5,544, the number of firm-year observations of the dividend firms is 2,919, and the number of firm-year observations of the non-dividend firms is 2,625. About 53%(or 2,919) of these total 5,544 observations involve firms that make a dividend payment. The dividend firms are divided into two groups according to the R&D intensity, such as the innovative SMEs with larger than median of R&D intensity and the noninnovative SMEs with smaller than median of R&D intensity. The number of firm-year observations of the innovative SMEs is 1,506, and the number of firm-year observations of the noninnovative SMEs is 1,413. Furthermore, the innovative SMEs are divided into two groups according to level of financial constraints, such as the financial unconstrained firms and the financial constrained firms. The number of firm-year observations of the former is 894, and the number of firm-year observations of the latter is 612. Although all available firm-year observations of the dividend firms are collected, deletions are made in the case of financial industries such as banks, securities company, insurance company, and other financial services company, because their capital structure and business style are widely different from the general manufacturing firms. The stock repurchase was involved in dividend payment because Grullon and Michaely (2002) examined the substitution hypothesis between dividends and stock repurchases. However, our data structure is an unbalanced panel data since there is no requirement that the firm-year observations data are all available for each firms during the entire periods from January 1999 to December 2007 from the KIS Value Library database. We firstly estimate the classic Lintner(1956) dividend adjustment model, where the decision to smooth dividend or to adopt a residual dividend policy depends on financial constraints measured by market accessibility. Lintner model indicates that firms maintain stable and long run target payout ratio, and that firms adjust partially the gap between current payout rato and target payout ratio each year. In the Lintner model, dependent variable is the current dividend per share(DPS_t), and independent variables are the past dividend per share(DPS_t-1) and the current earnings per share(EPS_t). We hypothesized that firms adjust partially the gap between the current dividend per share(DPS_t) and the target payout ratio(Ω) each year, when the past dividend per share(DPS_t-1) deviate from the target payout ratio(Ω). We secondly estimate the expansion model that extend the Lintner model by including the determinants suggested by the major theories of dividend, namely, residual dividend theory, dividend signaling theory, agency theory, catering theory, and transactions cost theory. In the expansion model, dependent variable is the current dividend per share(DPS_t), explanatory variables are the past dividend per share(DPS_t-1) and the current earnings per share(EPS_t), and control variables are the current capital expenditure ratio(CEA_t), the current leverage ratio(LEV_t), the current operating return on assets(ROA_t), the current business risk(RISK_t), the current trading volume turnover ratio(TURN_t), and the current dividend premium(DPREM_t). In these control variables, CEA_t, LEV_t, and ROA_t are the determinants suggested by the residual dividend theory and the agency theory, ROA_t and RISK_t are the determinants suggested by the dividend signaling theory, TURN_t is the determinant suggested by the transactions cost theory, and DPREM_t is the determinant suggested by the catering theory. Furthermore, we thirdly estimate the Lintner model and the expansion model by using the panel data of the financial unconstrained firms and the financial constrained firms, that are divided into two groups according to level of financial constraints. We expect that the financial unconstrained firms can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, because the former can finance more easily the investment funds through the market accessibility than the latter. We analyzed descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and median to delete the outliers from the panel data, conducted one way analysis of variance to check up the industry-specfic effects, and conducted difference test of firms characteristic variables between innovative SMEs and noninnovative SMEs as well as difference test of firms characteristic variables between financial unconstrained firms and financial constrained firms. We also conducted the correlation analysis and the variance inflation factors analysis to detect any multicollinearity among the independent variables. Both of the correlation coefficients and the variance inflation factors are roughly low to the extent that may be ignored the multicollinearity among the independent variables. Furthermore, we estimate both of the Lintner model and the expansion model using the panel regression analysis. We firstly test the time-specific effects and the firm-specific effects may be involved in our panel data through the Lagrange multiplier test that was proposed by Breusch and Pagan(1980), and secondly conduct Hausman test to prove that fixed effect model is fitter with our panel data than the random effect model. The main results of this study can be summarized as follows. The determinants suggested by the major theories of dividend, namely, residual dividend theory, dividend signaling theory, agency theory, catering theory, and transactions cost theory explain significantly the dividend policy of the innovative SMEs. Lintner model indicates that firms maintain stable and long run target payout ratio, and that firms adjust partially the gap between the current payout ratio and the target payout ratio each year. In the core variables of Lintner model, the past dividend per share has more effects to dividend smoothing than the current earnings per share. These results suggest that the innovative SMEs maintain stable and long run dividend policy which sustains the past dividend per share level without corporate special reasons. The main results show that dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs is faster than that of the noninnovative SMEs. This means that the innovative SMEs with high level of R&D intensity can adjust dividend payment faster than the noninnovative SMEs, on the ground of their future growth opportunity and profitability. The other main results show that dividend adjustment speed of the financial unconstrained SMEs is faster than that of the financial constrained SMEs. This means that the financial unconstrained firms with high accessibility to capital market can adjust dividend payment faster than the financial constrained firms, on the ground of their financing ability of investment funds through the market accessibility. Futhermore, the other additional results show that dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs classified by the Small and Medium Business Administration is faster than that of the unclassified SMEs. They are linked with various financial policies and services such as credit guaranteed service, policy fund for SMEs, venture investment fund, insurance program, and so on. In conclusion, the past dividend per share and the current earnings per share suggested by the Lintner model explain mainly dividend adjustment speed of the innovative SMEs, and also the financial constraints explain partially. Therefore, if managers can properly understand of the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of innovative SMEs, they can maintain stable and long run dividend policy of the innovative SMEs through dividend smoothing. These are encouraging results for Korea government, that is, the Small and Medium Business Administration as it has implemented many policies to commit to the innovative SMEs. This paper may have a few limitations because it may be only early study about the relations between financial constraints and dividend smoothing of the innovative SMEs. Specifically, this paper may not adequately capture all of the subtle features of the innovative SMEs and the financial unconstrained SMEs. Therefore, we think that it is necessary to expand sample firms and control variables, and use more elaborate analysis methods in the future studies.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.191-199
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• 2000

This study was initiated to investigate the influence of biophysical condition on the composting characteristics, and conducted to develop technology for using recycled compost as a bulking agent cost to reduce operating cost. To methods of aeration, continuous aeration (CA: run No. I) and intermittent aeration (IA: run No. 2) were performed with three 12.3 liter laboratory scale vessels for ten days. Manure and rice hulls were mixed for thirst trial (I), rice hulls and recycled compost after first trial were mixed for second trial (II), dairy manure and only recycled compost after second trial were mixed for third trial (III). During the composting process, temperatures of the compost mass and ammonia emissions were measured. The quality and maturity of compost were ascertained by examining the characteristics and composition of the compost. Also, loss of mass was determined by measuring the mass of materials in the vessels before and after composting. The results in this study are as follows: 1. The periods of optimum temperature ($>55^{\circ}C$) to kill pathogens were maintained from 38 to 78 hours for CA and from 60 to 98 hours for IA. 2. The more recycled compost mixed, the more ammonia emitted. The maximum ammonia emissions were 287 ppm at CA and 420 ppm at IA. 3. Biofiltration system was required for the compo sting system using only recycled compost as an amendment, because the ammonia emissions was produced above 100 ppm at the end of composting process. 4. The quality and maturity of compost: - Fresh compost, were required drying, because moisture contents of the compost were approximately 70% in all tests. - The pH values were observed to rise smoothly, from 7.9 to 8.3 at CA and from 8.4 to 8.6 at IA. The CfN ratios of the fresh compost were ranged form 21.05 to 16.42 for CA and from 22.81 to 14.75 for IA. The final C/N ratios for test II and III were below 20.were below 20.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.175-184
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• 2000

A lab-scale MF membrane reactor was installed to investigate the membrane permeability, characteristics of membrane fouling at each conditions, and quality of permeate (liquid livestock manure) in the separation of solid-matters using membrane. Experiment was divided three filtration type such as follows; continuous filtration, gravity filtration, and intermittent filtration. As a result of experiment, flux 1 LMH was maintained for 7days, and trans-membrane pressure(TMP) was increased gradually under 10cmHg, but it was increased immediately after 10cmHg, respectively. However, the flux was increased, the Tmax was decreased exponential more and more. During the pure-flux test, most of the fouling of membrane was reversible. At the gravity filtration, permeate could be obtained as 1.75 LMH for 3.5days without any other electronic pressure. As an investigation of membrane surface, this study could be decided that the reason of fouling at the lower flux (Run 1 and 2) was attached matters in membrane surface, but at the higher flux (Run 4-6) was concentration polarization.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.193-208
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• 2020

In this study, we investigate the effects of technology innovation investments and employment on credit ratings of very small start-up businesses using the data period of 2009 till 2015 test two hypotheses: asymmetric information hypothesis or competence hypothesis. We use financial and non-financial data of 51,903 observations of 12,028 small businesses from a database of a commercial bank and fixed effects panel models and two-stage instrumental variable models. We find that in the short-run small size startups show lower credit ratings than non-startups, and that both technology innovation activities and employment capability improve their credit ratings. In the long-run, technology innovation investments do not improve their credit ratings of later years while employment capability improve their credit ratings of the subsequent year. In addition, the age of startups improves their credit ratings of the current year and until the subsequent two years while employee productivity, fixed ratio and ROA positively affect their credit ratings for up to three years. However, short-term and overall debt ratios, cost of borrowings and firm-size negatively affect their credit ratings for up to three years. The results of the study on credit ratings suggest that credit rating agencies seem to consider both technology innovation activities and employment capability in the credit ratings of small start-ups as 'competence factors' rather than 'asymmetric information factors' with inefficiency and cost burdens. The results also suggest that we must find ways to reflect properly the severe asymmetric information of the early-stage start-ups, and technology innovation activities and employment capability in the credit rating formula.