• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2014

Objectives : This study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of further acupuncture research as an effective and safe treatment for reducing cancer-related upper abdominal pain in patients treated with Neurolytic celiac plexus block(NCPB). Methods : This study is a randomized controlled pilot clinical trial of 3-week duration. Fourteen patients will be recruited and randomly allocated to 2 groups: an acupuncture plus NCPB group(experimental group) and a NCPB group(control group). All patients will undergo one session of NCPB, but only the experimental group will receive three acupuncture sessions a week for 2 weeks(6 in total). The primary outcome will be measured using the visual analogue scale, and the secondary outcome will be measured using the Painvision system and the consumption of additional analgesics. Assessments will be made at baseline and at 1, 2, and 3 weeks thereafter(that is, the 3-week assessment will be made 1 week after treatment cessation). Conclusions : This clinical trial will inform the design of a full-scale trial. The outcomes will provide information to facilitate the incorporation of acupuncture into existing pain management methods such as NCPB in the treatment of cancer-related upper abdominal pain patients.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2017

Soil erosion has been issued in many countries since it causes negative impacts on ecosystem at the receiving water bodies. Therefore best management practices to resolve the problem in a watershed have been developed and implemented. As a prior process, there is a need to define soil erosion level and to identify the area of concern regarding soil erosion so that the practices are effective as they are designed. Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) were developed to estimate potential soil erosion and many Geographic Information System (GIS) models employ USLE to estimate soil erosion. Sediment Assessment Tool for Effective Erosion Control (SATEEC) is one of the models, the model provided several opportunities to consider various watershed peculiarities such as breaking of slope length, monthly variation of rainfall, crop growth at agricultural fields, etc. SATEEC is useful to estimate soil erosion, however the model can be implemented with ArcView software that is no longer used or hard to use currently. Therefore SATEEC based on ArcView was rebuild for the ArcGIS software with all modules provided at the previous version. The rebuilt SATEEC, ArcSATEEC, was programmed in ArcPy and works as ArcGIS Toolset and allows considering monthly variations of rainfall and crop growth at any watershed in South-Korea. ArcSATEEC was applied in Daecheong-dam watershed in this study, monthly soil erosion was estimated with monthly rainfall and crop growth variation. Annual soil erosion was computed by summing monthly soil erosion and was compared to the conventional approach to estimate annual soil erosion. The annual soil erosion estimated by the conventional approach and by summing monthly approach did not display much differences, however, ArcSATEEC was capable to provide monthly variation of soil erosion.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1275-1286
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• 2012

Coastal marine ecosystem plays important role of spawning and nursery grounds for fisheries resources. Yongil Bay is one of major coastal marine ecosystems, which is located in the southwestern East Sea of Korea. Species composition and abundance of marine organism in the Yongil Bay were investigated by season from March to November 2009. Gill net and pot fisheries were used for survey of pelagic and demersal species composition, and collected 106 species, 67 families, and 7 taxa of fisheries resources from the coastal ecosystem. Species were included 2 species in Ascidiacea, 2 species in Bivalvia, 6 in Cephalopoda, 22 in Crustacea, 5 in Echinodermata, 12 in Gastropoda, and 57 in Pisces. Diversity indices (Shannon index, H') showed seasonal variation with low value of 2.11 in winter, and high value of 2.63 in autumn. Main dominant species were Asterias amurensis, Pleuronectes yokohamae, Siphonalia spadicea fuscolineata, Trachurus japonicas, Sillago japonica, Conger myriaster, Volutharpa ampullaceal, Engraulis japonicus, Asterina pectinifera, and Portunus (Portunus) sanguinolentus that were occupied over 71.5% of total individuals, and 52.9% of wet weight. Seasonal variations of fisheries resources composition were discussed on correlationships with those of environmental factors in the coastal ecosystem of the Yongil Bay in Korea. Those results from this study will provide scientific data and information to develop the ecosystem-based coastal fisheries assessment and management system in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.662-669
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• 2017

This study evaluated the ecotoxicological properties of livestock waste water treated by a LID (Low Impact Development) system, using a mixture of bio-reeds and bio-ceramics as suitable bed media for a subsequent treatment process of a livestock wastewater treatment plant. The relationship between the pollutant reduction rate and the ecotoxicity was analyzed with the effluents from the inlet pilot plant, with vegetated swale and wetlands and the batch type of an infiltration trench. Each pilot plant consisted of a bio process using bio-reeds and bio-ceramics as bed media, as well as a general process using general reeds and a bed as a control group. The results indicated that, after applying the HRT 24 hour LID method, the ecotoxicity was considerably lowered and the batch type pilot plant was shown to be effective for toxicity reduction. The LID method is expected to be effective for water quality management, considering ecotoxicity by not only as a nonpoint source pollution abatement facility but also, as a subsequent treatment process linked with a livestock manure purification facility. It is necessary to take the LID technic optimization study further to apply it as a subsequent process for livestock wastewater treatment.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.54-61
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• 2019

This paper reports a comparative review of the service quality attributes of Electronic Customs Clearance (UNI-PASS) by applying the Kano model, Timko's BW coefficients, and IGA model, as reported by Tontini et al. in terms of a service quality evaluation of electronic customs clearance as the comprehensive national customs administration information system. In addition, this study examined which quality attributes should be focused on to improve the service quality and enhance customer satisfaction using the electronic customs clearance service. The Kano, Timko, and IGA models were classified into the four common quality attributes: attractive quality, one-dimensional quality, must-be quality, and indifferent quality. Because the integrated approach was used, one-dimensional quality was included in the area for critical improvement, while the must-be quality was included in the area for intensive maintenance. In addition, the indifferent quality was included in the area of carefree, while the attractive quality was included in the area of competitive advantage.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.321-334
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• 2021

A fixed reflectivity-rainfall relationship approach, such as the Marshall-Palmer relationship, for an entire year and different seasons, can be problematic in cases where the relationship varies spatially and temporally throughout a region. From this perspective, this study explores the use of long-term radar reflectivity for South Korea to obtain a nationwide calibrated Z-R relationship and the associated uncertainties within a Bayesian inference framework. A calibrated spatially structured pattern in the parameters exists, particularly for the wet season and parameter for the dry season. A pronounced region of high values during the wet and dry seasons may be partially associated with storm movements in that season. Overall, the radar rainfall fields based on the proposed modeling procedure are similar to the observed rainfall fields. In contrast, the radar rainfall fields obtained from the existing Marshall-Palmer relationship show a systematic underestimation. In the event of high impact weather, it is expected that the value of national radar resources can be improved by establishing an active watershed-level hydrological analysis system.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.6_2
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• pp.1881-1890
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• 2021

Particulate matter (PM) affects the human, ecosystems, and weather. Motorized vehicles and combustion generate fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), which can contain toxic substances and, therefore, requires systematic management. Consequently, it is important to monitor and predict PM_2.5 concentrations, especially in large cities with dense populations and infrastructures. This study aimed to predict PM_2.5 concentrations in large cities using meteorological and chemical variables as well as satellite-based aerosol optical depth. For PM_2.5 concentrations prediction, a random forest (RF) model showing excellent performance in PM concentrations prediction among machine learning models was selected. Based on the performance indicators R², RMSE, MAE, and MAPE with training accuracies of 0.97, 3.09, 2.18, and 13.31 and testing accuracies of 0.82, 6.03, 4.36, and 25.79 for R², RMSE, MAE, and MAPE, respectively. The variables used in this study showed high correlation to PM_2.5 concentrations. Therefore, we conclude that these variables can be used in a random forest model to generate reliable PM_2.5 concentrations predictions, which can then be used to assess the vulnerability of schools to PM_2.5.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.126-145
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• 2017

The Seokgaejae section is located along a timber access road and a driveway across Bonghwa County, North Gyeongsang Province, and Samcheog city, Gangwon Province. Its stratigraphic column shows all of the ten strata of the lower Paleozoic Taebaek Group, Joseon Supergroup. The Seokgaejae section is proved to be scientifically important. Thirty-eight domestic/international journal papers have been published on this early Paleozoic stratigraphic site, and many distinguished researchers over the world have visited the site. However, the section has never been considered to be designated as a national natural monument and was not included in the adjacent Gangwon Paleozoic National Geopark due to management or administrative issues. Although the Seokgaejae section sufficiently satisfies many of the national natural monument criteria, designation for the natural monument may not be justified because of the facts that the outcrop was artificially exposed by road construction; the chance of destruction of the outcrop is relatively few; demage on the outcrop to some extent does not impair the intrinsic value of the section; and the geomorphological/landscape value of the section is low. The application of the recently modified geological heritage assessment model to the Seokgaejae section shows very high scores on the scientific/educational, intrinsic, and functional values. Based on the improved geological heritage grade standard, the Seokgaejae section conforms to the national-level protection criteria. It is strongly recommended to manage the Seokgaejae section as a principal geosite by including it in the Gangwon Paleozoic National Geopark. This case study on the Seokgaejae section also suggests that the process of application and endorsement of a national geopark need further improvement. As well as the improvement of the system or policy related to geological heritages, further efforts of the experts in various fields of geoscience are required in order for other geological heritages not to be neglected from now on.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.26-35
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• 2021

Objective: This study was conducted to assess the level of pregnancy-associated glycoprotein (PAG) in whole and skim milk samples, and its suitability for early pregnancy diagnosis in goats. Methods: A two-step sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system for estimation of milk PAG was developed and validated, which employed caprine-PAG specific polyclonal antisera. Whole and skim milk samples (n = 210 each) from fifteen multiparous goats were collected on alternate days from d 10 to d 30, and thereafter weekly till d 51 post-mating. PAG levels in milk samples were estimated by ELISA and the pregnancies were confirmed at d40 post-mating by transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS). Results: The level of PAG in whole and skim milk samples of both pregnant and nonpregnant goats remained below the threshold values until d 24 after mating. Thereafter, PAG concentration in whole and skim milk increased steadily in pregnant goats, whereas it continued below the threshold in non-pregnant does. The PAG profiles in whole and skim milk of pregnant goats were almost similar and exhibited strong positive relationship (r = 0.891; p<0.001). Day 26 post-mating was identified as the first time-point for significantly (p<0.05) higher milk PAG concentration in pregnant goats than to non-pregnant goats. When compared to TRUS examination for pregnancy diagnosis, the accuracy and specificity of PAG ELISA using whole and skim milk samples were 94.5% and 95.4%; and 95.3% and 100%, respectively. The high values of area-under-curve (0.904 [whole milk] and 0.922 [skim milk]), demonstrate outstanding discrimination ability of the milk assays. Among the sampling dates chosen, d 37 post-mating was identified as the best suitable time point for collection of milk samples to detect pregnancy in goats. Conclusion: The PAG concentration in whole and skim milk of goats collected between days 26 and 51 post-breeding can be used for the accurate prediction of pregnancy and may be useful for assisting management decisions in goat flocks.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.232-243
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• 2021

This study analyzed how K-MOOC was used and identify the academic achievements in higher education. The participants who completed the survey questionnaire were composed of 379 students who were in curriculum-related extra-curriculum using K-MOOC. Results show that the participation rate in individual learning activities was high, thus indicating the activities were perceived positively. In addition, students perceived positively their academic achievements of receiving, valuing, and responding in affective area, as well as synthesis and evaluation of knowledge in cognitive area. Students were also satisfied that they had no psychological burden to the credit of the course and they could take a course from another college. By contrast, platform instability, too much online content, and tedious activities in the lessons were perceived negatively. Nonetheless, the group assessment results suggested that the students taking a course related to their major had further engagement in discussions, and their academic achievement was higher. Based on the foregoing findings, the study proposed developing a subject matter with various theme, utilization plans, interaction reinforcement, and quality management by supporting instructional design strategies in order to expand the use of K-MOOC both as a general education and a major curriculum. The results obtained in this study represent baseline data that may assist in the decision making for university system and operation plan.