• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.146-153
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• 2009

The year 2008 was a hard year for Korea's construction companies. The real estate downturn resulted in halting new construction and stopping existing work, and inflation of global oil prices caused price hikes in rebar and concrete materials. As a solution to reducing the budget, the newly appointed government announced plans to increase low cost bid contracts from 10 billion to 30 billion won. When such economical and political factors negatively impact the construction market, projects based on low cost contracts are the hardest hit. Many problems already inherent in low cost bid contracts become accentuated. Consequently, this provides an opportune time to actually study and analyze the issues in these projects. This paper introduces the findings made from investigating four projects struggling to make ends meet in the year 2008. Results show that flow of cash (i.e., liquidity), or lack thereof, was the root cause which in turn was hampered by failed mechanisms for design changes, material inflation. Attributing cash flow risk to the bottom of the production structure (i.e., small business subcontractors) was also a problem within the industry. Contractors need a better way to prepare against material price fluctuations, and owners need to assist in expediting payment during times of extreme downturn.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.83-92
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• 2014

This paper attempts to conduct a comparative analysis on the economic effects of integrated-energy and manufactured gas supply sectors. To this end, an input-output (I-O) analysis is applied using most recently published 2011 I-O table. In particular, the two sectors are specified as exogeneous to identify the economic effects on own and other sectors. Production-inducing effect, value-added creation effect, and employment-inducing effect are quantified based on demand-driven model. Supply shortage effect and price pervasive effect are analyzed employing supply-driven model and Leontief price model, respectively. The results show that production-inducing effect, value-added creation effect, and employment-inducing effect of integrated-energy and manufactured gas supply sectors are estimated to be 1.5461 vs. 1.0297, 0.4759 vs. 0.1941, and 2.2885 vs. 0.4053 respectively. Price pervasive effects of the 10% increase in integrated-energy and manufactured gas supply sectors are computed to be 0.0127% and 0.1585%, respectively. This information can be utilized in forecasting the economic effects of introducing integrated-energy or manufactured gas as a heating source and the impacts of a rise in price of integrated-energy or manufactured gas on price level of other sectors.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.221-243
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• 2017

In this study, I examine overall conditions and problems of personal asset management processes by the old age people in Korea from the global perspectives. Major recommended policy implications for those are as follows.. First, the IRR (income replacement ratio) of public pensions in Korea is found to rank nearly the lowest among the OECD member countries. The relatively low fund performance compared to that of developed countries as well as this low IRR can be pointed out as major problems of public pension in Korea. It is recommended to reinforce specialty in fund management as a top priority to solve out these problems related with public pensions in Korea. Second, it is needed to set retirement pensions to be mandatory for almost all the firms in Korea to substitute for the above lower IRR of public pensions and to recover from the highest elderly poverty ratio among the OECD countries. Third, it is required to discuss about the expansion of tax refund policy application in the individual pension sector and many financial investment products under the correction of current budget control to motivate voluntary subscription for individual pension planning and to stabilize elderly lives of ordinary people in Korea. Fourth, it is required to induce market mechanism in controling price and longevity risk of reverse mortgages for the long-run sustainability.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.675-688
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• 2022

Produced by steaming mature silkworms, HongJam is a natural functional food with various health-promoting effects. The current standard HongJam production protocol involves freezing and freeze-drying steamed mature silkworms for convenient long-term storage and/or selling it to customers. However, freeze-drying HongJam requires a range of processes and costs, which have contributed to its high resale value. In this study, we found that the cost of manufacturing HongJam powder could be reduced by homogenizing steamed mature silkworms using a high-speed blender and digital homogenizer, followed by spray drying. After the homogenized HongJam solution was digested by directly adding food-graded proteases, food-graded protease-digested homogenized HongJam solution was spray-dried. Food-graded digested protease or non-digested homogenized HongJam solutions could be used to produce food for special medical use for patients with general or specific diseases. This more efficient HongJam processing protocol proposed in this study can facilitate the development of sericulture farms and related industries by reducing the production costs of HongJam and its associated products.

• 한국석유지질학회:학술대회논문집
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• autumn
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• pp.28-46
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• 2001

Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases and impurities such as nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide and a clean energy producing no pollution materials for combustion. Currently, the demand of the natural gas is rapidly increasing due to worldwide environmental problems. According to Hubbert's study in the past, the natural gas was predicted as rapidly depleted resources, and then the results led to high gas price and limitation of usage during 1980s. Afterward, the study of natural gas resources based on geology identified the additional natural gas resources that were not considered in Hubbert's study. They are unconventional gas, additional resources in the existed reservoirs, and natural gas in deep subsurface areas. Such additional resouces made the future of natural gas bright and pormised low and stable gas price in the future. Deep natural gas is defined as the gas existing at or below 15,000ft$(4,752{\cal}m)$ in depth from the surface. According to the study from the U.S. Geological Survey(USGS) in 1995, 1,412 TCF of technically recoverable natural gas was remained to be discovered or developed in the onshore of United States. A significant part of that resource base, 114 TCF, exists at deep sedimentary basins, and it shows wide distribution with various geological environments. In 1995, the deep gas contributed to $6.7\% of total supply amount of natural gas in the United States and is expected to be $18.7\% by 201.5. However, the development of the deep gas is a high risky business due to expensive investment and high portion of dry holes, although it is developed. Thus, for developing the deep gas economically, it is necessary to overcome many technical challenges. In this paper, for increasing success rate of the deep gas, 1) geologic and compositional characteristics, and production cost have been analyzed according to depth, 2) technical problems related to deep gas production have been summarized, and 3) finally future study areas for increasing application of the deep gas have been suggested. For reference, this paper was written based on the study results from USGS and Gas Research Institute(GRI), for the United States is doing the most active R&D in the deep gas area, and thus, has many reliable data.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2020

The present study identified the restrictions on the use of sous-vide products in the Korean HMR market for small and medium-sized manufacturing companies. A detailed literature review revealed that the HMR market in Korea is close to saturation. Notably, the technologically advanced products produced using sous-vide seem to display significant potential to overcome market saturation. The sous-vide method differs from conventional cooking techniques and is characterized by maintenance of food texture along with flavor enhancement. However, due to the unfamiliarity of the manufacturers with this method and the unclear food safety regulations, mass food manufacturing companies do not agree on using this method; hence, sous-vide production is usually undertaken by small/medium sized companies catering primarily through online marketing portals. This study highlights the various restrictions to the implementation of sous-vide production, and discusses several practical implications of sous-vide production that would help users of this technique enter the HMR market.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.573-605
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• 2015

This study proposed scenarios of tax reform regarding taxation on bituminous coal for power generation since July 2015 and July 2014, estimated its impact on SMP, settlement price, tax revenue from year 2015 to year 2029. These scenarios are compared with those of the standard scenario. To estimate them, the power system simulation was performed based on the government plan, such as demand supply program and the customized model to fit Korea's power system and operation. Imposing a tax on bituminous coal for power generation while maintaining tax neutrality reducing tax rate on LNG, the short-term SMP is lowered than the one of the standard scenario. Because the cost of nuclear power generation is still smaller than costs of other power generation, and the nuclear power generation rarely determines SMPs, the taxation impact on SMP is almost nonexistent. Thus it is difficult to slow down the electrification of energy consumption due to taxation of power plant bituminous coal in the short term, if SMP and settlement price is closely related. However, in the mid or long term, if the capacity of coal power plant is to be big enough, the taxation of power plant bituminous coal will increase SMP. Therefore, if the tax reform is made to impose on power plant bituminous coal in the short term, and if the tax rate on LNG is to be revised after implementing big enough new power plants using bituminous coal, the energy demand would be reduced by increasing electric charges through energy tax reform. Both imposing a tax on power plant bituminous coal and reducing tax rate on LNG increase settlement price, higher than the one of the standard scenario. In the mid or long term, the utilization of LNG complex power plants would be lower due to an expansion of generating plants, and thus, the tax rate on LNG would not affect on settlement price. Unlike to the impact on SMP, the taxation on nuclear power plants has increased settlement price due to the impact of settlement adjustment factor. The net impact of energy taxation will depend upon the level of offset between settlement price decrease by the expansion of energy supply and settlement price increase by imposing a tax on energy. Among taxable items, the tax on nuclear power plants will increase the most of additional tax revenue. Considering tax revenues in accordance with energy tax scenarios, the higher the tax rate on bituminous coal and nuclear power, the bigger the tax revenues.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.105-118
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to gain better understanding of the importance of dental prosthesis order platform services and to identify the essential elements for their enhancement and wider adoption among dental professionals. Materials and Methods: A survey was conducted to assess the perspectives of dentists, dental technicians, dental hygienists, and dental industry professionals toward dental prosthesis ordering and associated platform services (a total of 53 respondents). The questionnaire was devised after an expert review and assessed for reliability using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Factor analysis revealed that 57 factors across five categories accounted for 88.417% of the total variance. The survey was administered through an online questionnaire platform, and data analysis was conducted using a statistical software, employing one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's honestly significant difference test (α = 0.05). Results: The essential elements identified were accurate information input, effective communication, delivery of distortion-free impressions, convenience in data transmission and storage, development of stable and affordable platform services (P < 0.05). Furthermore, significant differences were observed in the importance of these items based on age, dental profession, and career experience (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The dental prosthesis ordering platform services, the requirements of dental personnel were stability, economic efficiency, and ease of transmitting and storing prosthesis data. The findings can serve as important indicators for the development and improvement of dental prosthesis order platform services.