• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.385-391
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• 2005

Background : The incidence of nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) infections in Korea is increasing. This retrospective study was performed to examine the recovery rate of NTM from respiratory specimens as well as the isolated NTM colony characteristics, and to assess the clinical significance of a NTM isolation. Methods : The results of the respiratory specimens requested for an acid-fast bacilli (AFB) examination during 2002 at Asan Medical Center, along with the patients clinical characteristics were analyzed. Results : A total 26,820 respiratory specimens were requested for the acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear and culture during the study period. The proportion of M. tuberculosis and NTM isolation was 5.7% and 2.2%, respectively. Among the AFB smear and culture positive specimens, 12.2% were found to be NTM. The scotochromogen showing a low colony count < 20, which appeared to be contaminants, were isolated in 31.8% of the 584 NTM isolates. Excluding the low-colony scotochromogens, the M. avium-intracellulare complex was the most common NTM isolates (42.1%), and was also the most common causative organism for NTM pulmonary diseases. 8.4% (23/275) and 17.8% (49/275) of patients with NTM isolates met the American and British Thoracic Society diagnostic criteria for NTM pulmonary disease, respectively. Conclusion : In case of a positive AFB-smear or culture result, the possibility of NTM being a causative organism should always be considered, even in Korea, which has an intermediate incidence of tuberculosis.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2000

Objective: Our present studies were conducted to examine more effective isolating method of preantral follicles from mouse ovaries. Methods: ICR mice (3-6 weeks old) were sacrificed through cervical dislocation and their ovaries were removed and put into watch glasses containing Hams F-10 supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). Preantral follicles were isolated by three different methods; 1) enzymatical method and 2) mincing method, and 3) scraping method. Enzymatical method was carried out as following. Ovaries were bisected with a pair of fine 30G needles. Bisected ovaries were incubated at $37^{\circ}C$ and 5% $CO_2$ incubator in 2-well dish containing Hams F-10 supplemented with collagenase 600 lU/ml and DNAse 20 lU/ml. After 20 min., follicles were isolated by repeated pipetting. Isolated preantral follicles were collected, and the remnant of tissues was placed in incubator and previous procedure was repeated. Mincing method was carried out with a pair of fine 30G needles attached to 1 ml syringes and minced ovary. Scraping method was carried out with a pair of fine 30G needles and scratched to surface of ovary. The differences between isolating methods were analyzed using Student's t-test and Chi-square. Results were considered statistically significant when ${\rho}$ value was less than 0.05. Results: In handling time, mincing or scraping method ($28{\pm}3.42$ min or $16{\pm}1.58$ min) were significantly (p<0.00001) shorter than enzymatical method ($72{\pm}1.69$ min), and scraping method was significantly (p<0.01) shorter than mincing method. Total number of isolated follicles was significantly (p<0.0001) higher in enzymatical method ($49.8{\pm}3.91$) than in mincing or scraping method ($25.3{\pm}2.33$ or $20.5{\pm}1.75$). Isolated follicles in ${\leq}$90${\mu}m$ were significantly (p<0.005) higher in enzymatical method ($15{\pm}1.71$) than in mincing or scraping method ($7.8{\pm}0.98$ or $8.1{\pm}1.31$). In 91~130 ${\mu}m$, isolated follicles were significantly (p<0.0005) higher in enzymatical method ($33{\pm}3.27$) than in mincing or scraping method ($16.3{\pm}1.82$ or $10.7{\pm}1.38$). In ${\geq}$ 131 ${\mu}m$, isolated follicles were not significantly differences between all groups. In equal sizes, the rate of isolated follicles in ${\leq}$ 90 ${\mu}m$ was highest in scraping method (39.6% vs. enzymatical method: 30.1%, p<0.05; mincing method: 30.9%, p=0.11719, NS). Rate of follicles in $91{\sim}130$ ${\mu}m$ was significantly (p<0.05) lower in scraping method (52.7%) than in enzymatical or mincing method (66.3% or 64.5%). Rate of follicles in ${\geq}$131 ${\mu}m$ was highest in scraping method (8.3% vs. enzymatical or scraping method: 3.6%, p<0.05 or 4.6%, p=0.19053, NS). Conclusions: This study suggests that scraping method is simple and useful for isolation of preantral follicles, because this method reduced handling time and recovered enough follicles. The recovered rate of isolated follicles in diameter of 91 ~ 130 ${\mu}m$ was highest in all methods.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.36-43
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• 2015

The edible crab is among the rich resources that can be used as materials for food products, but living crabs and crabs marinated in soy sauce are the only widely utilized materials for food products. For seafood development, research is needed to promote the use of crabs in various products. In this study, the quality changes of fried rice prepared with crab meat, crab emulsion sauce and crab cooker effluent were investigated. The pH and acidity values did not show any significant difference at $-20^{\circ}C$. The acidity of the fried rice continuously increased during storage at 4 and $25^{\circ}C$. The VBN and TBA values of the fried rice stored at 4 and $25^{\circ}C$ were significantly higher than those of the fried rice stored at $-20^{\circ}C$ during the storage period. The viable cell count of the fried rice stored at $-20^{\circ}C$ changed little during the storage period while that of the fried rice stored at 4 and $25^{\circ}C$ rapidly increased over 2 weeks. For the fried rice stored at $-20^{\circ}C$, the overall quality did not show significant differences during the storage period. In conclusion, the best storage temperature for both quality and safety was found to be $-20^{\circ}C$. At such storage temperature, the quality of the stored instant rice using crab meat did not change, and through research the expanding possibilities of using crab materials were confirmed.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.387-394
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• 2010

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the whitening efficacy and longevity of home bleaching. Materials and Methods: A total of 28 patients were divided into either experimental group (Opalescence F; 15% carbamide peroxide) or control group randomly. The patients in experimental group were instructed to wear individual trays applied with bleaching gel for 2 hours a day for 4 weeks. Any treatments weren't applied to the patients in control group. The color measurements of central incisors, lateral incisors & canines of upper and lower arch were recorded at base line, immediately after the finishment of treatmemt (4 weeks), 8 weeks and 12 weeks using Colorimeter (Chroma Meter, 2600d Konica Minolta co.) and Vitapan classical shade guide (Vita Zahnfabrik). Results: A significantly stronger color change was observed for overall teeth samples in experimental group immediately after treatment (at 4 weeks) compared to ones in control group (p < 0.05). There was also a significant difference between baseline and 8 weeks or 12 weeks separately though color rebouncing phenomenon occurred as time went by (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The clinical effecacy and longevity of home bleaching without combined application of in-office bleaching was observed through this experiment.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.172-176
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• 1996

Effect of culture conditions such as pH, temperature, agitation speed and oxygen transfer rate on xylitol production from xylose by Candide parapsilosis ATCC 21019 mutant was investigated in a jar fermentor. The initial concentration of xylosr was fixed at 50 g/l in this experiment. When pH was increased, cell growth and xylose consumption rate were increased, but maximum xylitol production was shown in the range of pH 4.5 and 5.5 with a yield of 0.68 g/g-xylose. The optimal temperature for xylitol production was determined to be $30^{\circ}C$. Considering the importance of dissolved oxygen tension, for xylitol production, the effect of oxygen transfer rate coefficient $(k_La)$ on fermentation parameters was carefully evaluated in the range of $20{\sim}85\;hr{-1}\;of\;k_La$ (corresponding to $100{\sim}300$rpm of agitation speed). The xylitol production was maximized at $30\;hr^{-1}\;of\;k_La$(150 rpm). A higher oxygen transfer rate supported better cell growth with lower xylitol yield. It was determined that maximum xylitol concentration, xylitol yield and productivity was 35.8 g/l, 71.6% and $0.58\;g/l{\sim}hr^{-1}$, respectively, at $30\;hr^{-1}\;of\;k_La$ In order to further increase xylitol productivity, ferementation using the concentrated biomass(20 g/l) was carried out at the conditions of pH 4.5, $30^{\circ}C$ and $30\;hr\;1$ of oxygen transfer rate. The final xylitol concentration of 40 g/l was obtained at 18 hours of culture time. From this result, it was calculated that xylitol yield was 80ft on the basis of xylose consumption and volumetric productivity was $2.22\;g/l{\sim}hr$ which was increased by $3{\sim}4$ fold compared with $0.5{\sim}0.7\;g/l-hr$ obtained in a normal fermentation condition.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.545-552
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• 2015

This study One of the key elements of corporate competitiveness in the modern world of unlimited competition is human resource management. The reason that the world's leading companies are devoting a lot of investment and effort for good human resource development and management is that human resource can impact firm survival. In particular, there is little research on the internal and external environmental stimuli and job stress in the employee of small business which are often led to turnover, while they have suffered from chronic shortage of manpower. The purpose of this study is to determine the turnover factors in the small logistics companies and contribute to stable maintenance of workforce, facilitating human resource management and minimizing turnover. This study empirically analyzed the factors of the turnover in the organization of logistics companies from Busan Port, South Korea, which became one of the national infrastructure and the fifth world largest harbor. The conclusion proposed the development and direction of the human resource management which could promote the job environment improving the turnover factors and creating sustainable work condition through conducting preventive measures. The results indicated that the highest turnover rates was found in the category of field work, and the highest turnover group was from the 'less than one year', which implies that high turnover rates after and during job training might be greater cost to the companies than early turnover. The most common reasons for the high employee turnover were 'excessive workload' and 'dissatisfaction with wages'. Followed reasons including 'troubles with managers' and 'failure in organizational adaptation' can be understood in line with worse working conditions of the small logistic companies. It turned out that the preventive programs of the logistic enterprises had little effect through 'incentives system' and 'improving wage system' which are mainly conducted. The human resource managers appreciated the importance of 'wage raise' and 'benefits improvement'. This study is aimed at contributing to efficient human resource management through understanding of the turnover causes and human resource managers applying preventive measures. In particular, this can benefit small port logistics companies securing competitiveness and promoting persistent growth and development.

• Proceedings of The Korean Society of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Conference
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.1-24
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• 2014

This study uses geo-spatial crop modeling to quantify the biophysical impact of weather extremes. More specifically, the study analyzes the weather extreme which affected maize production in the USA in 2012; it also estimates the effect of a similar weather extreme in 2050, using future climate scenarios. The secondary impact of the weather extreme on food security in the developing world is also assessed using trend analysis. Many studies have reported on the significant reduction in maize production in the USA due to the extreme weather event (combined heat wave and drought) that occurred in 2012. However, most of these studies focused on yield and did not assess the potential effect of weather extremes on food prices and security. The overall goal of this study was to use geo-spatial crop modeling and trend analysis to quantify the impact of weather extremes on both yield and, followed food security in the developing world. We used historical weather data for severe extreme events that have occurred in the USA. The data were obtained from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In addition we used five climate scenarios: the baseline climate which is typical of the late 20th century (2000s) and four future climate scenarios which involve a combination of two emission scenarios (A1B and B1) and two global circulation models (CSIRO-Mk3.0 and MIROC 3.2). DSSAT 4.5 was combined with GRASS GIS for geo-spatial crop modeling. Simulated maize grain yield across all affected regions in the USA indicates that average grain yield across the USA Corn Belt would decrease by 29% when the weather extremes occur using the baseline climate. If the weather extreme were to occur under the A1B emission scenario in the 2050s, average grain yields would decrease by 38% and 57%, under the CSIRO-Mk3.0 and MIROC 3.2 global climate models, respectively. The weather extremes that occurred in the USA in 2012 resulted in a sharp increase in the world maize price. In addition, it likely played a role in the reduction in world maize consumption and trade in 2012/13, compared to 2011/12. The most vulnerable countries to the weather extremes are poor countries with high maize import dependency ratios including those countries in the Caribbean, northern Africa and western Asia. Other vulnerable countries include low-income countries with low import dependency ratios but which cannot afford highly-priced maize. The study also highlighted the pathways through which a weather extreme would affect food security, were it to occur in 2050 under climate change. Some of the policies which could help vulnerable countries counter the negative effects of weather extremes consist of social protection and safety net programs. Medium- to long-term adaptation strategies include increasing world food reserves to a level where they can be used to cover the production losses brought by weather extremes.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.58-75
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• 1988

1.Objectives of the Study It is a well known fact that a prompt and reliable data on demographic information is essential in a proper planning and evaluation of any program of national or community level. Especially vital statistics are an important demographic component among demographic information. Realizing the importance of vital statistics, the government has made some efforts for years to improve the vital registration system which has a close relationship with the production of vital statistics. However, it is still observed that there are some limitations in utilizing vital registration data due to considerable amount of vital events which are never registered and registered but not in time or inaccurately, even though vital registration system in Korea has sound legal basis. In this connection, the objectives of the study is as follows :(1) To examine some problems of the vital registration system in various aspects, (2) To make improvement programme of continuous Demographic Survey as a supplementary source of vital statistics, and (3) To find out some alternatives for making it possible to produce and utilize the reliable vital statistics by developing analytical methodologies on that. 2. Current Situation of Vital Registration System All the vital events, i.e. births, deaths, marriages and divorces, are to be registered in time under the Civil Registration Law, Statistics Law and Regulation on Vital Statstics as a duty of people. Some recent tendencies in each of recent registration are summarized as below: (1) The completeness of vital registration .Out of all births which are occurred during a year, around 75% of those compared to the estimates are registered in the year of occurrence. .In case of death registration, the percentage of registration in the year of occurrene has been gradually increased from 86.2% in the year of 1980, but it is still below the level of 90% compared to the estimates. .The percentage of registration for marriages and divorces in the year of occurrence out of total registered numbers was revealed to be 69% and 73% respectively in 1985. (2) Continuous Demographic Survey .It is a kind of sample survey for the purpose of producing reliable vital statistics which could not be provided by the vital registration. .It covers about 17, 000 sample households at national level and important information for vital events are collected in every month by 323 expertized enumerators who are regular staff of the government. .Although the result of the survey seems to be more reliable than of vital registration, the reliability of the data is still bellow the acceptable level if compared with relevant information from other sources such as population census or special surveys. 3. Problems of Vital Registration System There are four major obstacles in improving vital registration system in Korea; (1) In general, policy priority is not given on any programme of improving vital registration system. It is, therefore, very difficult to formulate comprehensive programme through having cooperation from related authorities and sufficient financial assistance. (2) In all the laws related and system itself, there is substantial degree of overlap and irrationality. Registration of each vital event is maintained according to several laws and regulation such as Civil Registration Law, Statistics Law, Resident Registration Law and Regulation on Vital Statistics. However they are mutually overlapped and overall supervision can not be done systematically due to lack of co-operation among the authorities concerned. (3) The administration of vital registration system seems to be working inefficiently, because of most of civil servants who are in charge of vital registration are lacking of conception on vital statistics and also there is a certain extent of regidity in handling the works. Therefore, they are doing their jobs in a passive way. (4) A substantial proportion of vital events occurred is not registered within the legal time limit (i.e. within one month after the occurrence in case of birth and death) or not registered forever. Some of social customs and superstitution seem to be the potential causes especially in case of births and deaths. 4. Recommendations for the Improvement of Vital Statistics (1) Reporting systems such as civil registration, vital statistics and resident registration should be integrated under the single law. Also, administrative supervision, personnel and budget with regard to the registration system should be under the control of a single ministry. (2) It is necessary to simplify the procedures and methods of reporting vital events, i.e., reducing number of sheets of the form, making corrections easily, reducing registration items, etc. (3) Continuous Demographic Survey as a supplementary source of vital registration should be improved and special ad-hoc surveys should be conducted wth regular interval. (4) In-depth analysis should be done using various sources of data on vital statistics. 5. Concluding Remarks From this study, we can notice that temporary campaign and motivation programs are not sufficient to improve the quality of vital statistics. Strong intentions and continuous efforts of the government are needed for the improvement of the vital registration system. Furthermore, most of the data collected through the registration are not properly analyzed and utilized, partly due to the lack of appreciation among high-level governmental officials of the need for vital statistics. It is, therefore, requested that long-term improvement programs of vital statistics be implemented with policy priority and continuous efforts be given to this purpose as a long-term goal of development in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.94-104
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• 2018

This study examined photogrammetric reconstruction techniques that can measure the original form of a cultural property utilizing photographs taken in the past. During the research process, photographs taken in the past as well as photograph on the internet of Soswaewon Garden in Damyang(scenic site 40) were collected and utilized. The landscaping structures of Maedae, Aiyangdan, Ogokmun Wall, and Yakjak and natural scenery Gwangseok, of which photographs can be taken from any 360 degree direction from a close distance or a far distance without any barriers in the way, were selected and tested for the possibility of reproducing three-dimensional shapes. The photography method of 151 landscape photographs (58.6%) from internet portal sites for the aforementioned five landscape subjects containing information on the date the photograph was taken, focal length, and exposure were analyzed. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that the majority of the photographs tend to focus on important parts of each subject. In addition, we discovered that there are two or three photography methods that internet users preferred in regards to each landscape subject. For the purposes of the experiment, photographs in which a single scene consistently appears for each landscape subject and it was determined that there was a high level of preference related to the photography method were analyzed, and three-dimensional mesh shape model was produced with a photoscan program to analyze the reproducibility of three-dimensional shapes. Based on the results of the reproduction, it was relatively possible to reproduce three-dimensional shapes for artifacts such as Ogukmun wall, Maedae, and Aeyangdan, but it was impossible to reproduce three-dimensional images for natural scenery or an object that has similar texture such as Yakjak and Gwangseok. As a result of experimentation related to the reconstruction of three-dimensional shapes with the photographs taken on site using a photography method similar to that of the photographs selected as previously mentioned, there was success related to reproducing the three-dimensional shapes of Yakjak and Gwangseok, of which it was not possible to do so through the photographs that had been collected previously. In addition, through comparison of past and present images, it was possible to measure the exact sizes as well as discover any changes that have taken place. If past photographs taken by tourists or landscape architects of cultural properties can be obtained, the three-dimensional shapes from a particular period of time can be reproduced. If this technology becomes widespread, it will increase the level of accuracy and reliability in regards to measuring the past shapes of cultural landscape properties and examining any changes to the properties.

• Atmosphere
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.61-70
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• 2022

This study evaluates the economic values for the several first precipitation events during Changma period. The selected three years are 2015, 2019, and 2020, where average precipitation amounts across the 58 Korean stations are 12.8, 20.1 and 13.3 mm, respectively. The four categories are used to assess the values including air quality improvement, water resource acquisition/accumulation, drought mitigation, and forest fire prevention/recovery. Economic values for these three years are estimated 50~150 billion won. Among the four factors considered, the effect of air quality improvement is most highly valued, amounting to 70 to 90% of the total economic values. Wet decomposition of air pollution (PM₁₀, NO₂, CO, and SO₂) is the primary reason. The next valuable element is water resource acquisition, which is estimated 9~15 billion won. Effects of drought mitigation and fire prevention are deemed relatively small. This study is the first to estimate the value of the precipitation events during Changma onset. An analysis for more Changma years will be performed to achieve a more reliable estimate.