• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.199-212
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• 2020

In evaluating the competitiveness of construction companies and their development strategies, patents are a useful and objective source of technical information. In this study, the cutting-edge technologies of construction industries of China, Japan, and South Korea were investigated based on the data of patent applications filed by a total of 15 construction companies (five companies from each country). The related technologies were classified into six core technology groups based on their keywords. After that, we used four patent analysis methods: time series analysis, IP (Intellectual Property) emergence level analysis, spiral module analysis, and OS (Object-Solution) Matrix analysis, to identify the promising technologies/vacant technologies for global construction companies in China, Japan, and South Korea, and to analyze the technical competitiveness of the three countries. The findings of this study showed that each country can claim a relative technological advantage over the others. Overall, 3D printing and offsite construction technology, data acquisition technology, AR and VR technology are expected to be promising in the Asian region. The present study contributes to the body of knowledge by expanding our understanding of technological innovation for the competitiveness of companies and the technology development strategies pursued by the construction industries of China, Japan, and South Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.458-463
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• 2016

In this paper, the fuzzy structure model for the consciousness structure of social workers related to the elder abuse factors was derived and analyzed. The characteristics of the model was obtained as follows. First, the elder abuse behavior at the top layer was related to the attitude of the elderly and the work overload of social workers. Second, the attitude of the elderly and the work overload of social workers at the middle layer were related to the personality of social worker, the physical and mental dependency of client, and the personality of client. Third, the personality of social worker, the knowledge of the elderly, the personality of client, and the physical and psychological dependence of the client affected directly the elder abuse behavior without going through the middle layer. Fourth, the work overload of social workers at the middle layer was affected the attitude of the elderly. Finally, the age of social workers, the working image, the job training, and provision of punishment to the social workers were the isolated layer, in which the relationship between the elder abuse behavior and related factors was not found.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.316-322
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• 2004

A low molecular weight component named bone morphogenetic protein(BMP) chemically isolated from the organic matrix of bone, induce postfetal connective tissue cells surrounding small blood vessels to differentiate into cartilage and bone. The end product of BMP is a spherical ossicle of lamella bone filled with red bone marrow for the functional loading. This is a important point that the graft material is embedded the defect site during the implant surgery. Because present knowledge of the relationship between BMP and bone regeneration arises mainly from studies of induced bone formation in heterotopic sites, it would be helpful to determine whether BMP plays any part in the process of bone healing. The BMPs have been shown to play crucial roles in normal skeletal development as well as bone healing and are able to activate transcription of genes involved in cellular migration, proliferation, and differentiation. The delivery of BMP on matrices has been efficacious in the treatment of defect bone in implant surgery. The purpose of the histologic study was to evaluate the effect of DLB(demineralized lyophilized bone) coated with purified human BMP(hBMP-I) in immediate implant surgery with bony defect to obtain the functional structure of implant asap. The ability of a graft of hBMP-I to accelerate bony defect repair provides a rationale for its use in immediate implant surgery that have large bone defect in edentulous area.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.74-82
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• 2008

The objective of this paper is to remove noises of image based on the heuristic noises filter and to extract a tumor region by using morphology techniques in breast ultrasound image. Similar objective studies have been conducted based on ultrasound image of high resolution. As a result, efficiency of noise removal is not fine enough for low resolution image. Moreover, when ultrasound image has multiple tumors, the extraction of ROI (Region Of Interest) is not accomplished or processed by a manual selection. In this paper, our method is done 4 kinds of process for noises removal and the extraction of ROI for solving problems of restrictive automated segmentation. First process is that pixel value is acquired as matrix type. Second process is a image preprocessing phase that is aimed to maximize a contrast of image and prevent a leak of personal information. In next process, the heuristic noise filter that is based on opinion of medical specialist is applied to remove noises. The last process is to extract a tumor region by using morphology techniques. As a result, the noise is effectively eliminated in all images and a extraction of tumor regions is possible though one ultrasound image has several tumors.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.617-628
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• 2003

Purpose: This study was to analyze the quality of life of married women practicing a natural family planning method based on given parameters in order to obtain some specific basic data for developing holistic programs to enhance the quality of life of married women practicing natural family planning. Methods: The subjects of this study were selected from married women who had been practicing natural family planning over two years. Data were collected from May 20 2001 to March 5 2002 using a structured questionnaire and interviews. The total number of subjects was 239. Collected data were analyzed using PC-SAS, which utilized descriptive statistics. In addition, LISREL 8.0 program was used to utilize covariance matrix. Results: The hypothetical model was reasonably fitted to commonly accepted data. Revision was required for the x2 value and RMR, and the model was revised by eliminating 6 paths. The revised model was fit well for commonly accepted data (x2 = 86.26, GFI = 0.97, NFl = 0.98, NNFI = 0.99, AGFI = 0.96, RMR = 0.02, CN= 422). Variables that influence the practice of natural family planning were communication of spouses, knowledge about natural family planning, self-efficacy and perceived benefits. Variables that control the quality of life were self-efficacy, internal health locus of control, attitude toward natural family planning, communication of spouses, perceived benefits and natural family planning behaviors. Conclusions: These findings prove that the quality of life of married women practicing natural family planning can be improved through developing programs that enhances communication of spouses, self-efficacy and perceived benefits.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.69-78
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• 2023

This investigation delves into the adverse repercussions stemming from the impact of arsenic on steel pipes concealed within soil designated for rice cultivation. Simultaneously, the study aims to ascertain effective techniques for detecting arsenic in the soil and to provide strategies for mitigating the corrosion of steel pipes. The realm of nanotechnology presents promising avenues for addressing the intricate intersection of renewable energy, oil, and environmental pollution from a novel perspective. Nanostructured materials, characterized by distinct chemical and physical attributes, unveil novel pathways for pioneering materials that exert a substantial impact across diverse realms of food production, storage, packaging, and quality control. Within the scope of the food industry, the scope of nanotechnology encompasses processes, storage methodologies, packaging paradigms, and safeguards to ensure the safety of consumables. Of particular note, silver nanoparticles, in addition to their commendable antibacterial efficacy, boast anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory prowess, environmental compatibility, minimal irritability and allergenicity, resilience to microbial antagonism, thermal stability, and robustness. Confronting the pressing issue of arsenic contamination within both environmental settings and the food supply is of paramount importance to preserve public health and ecological equilibrium. In response, this study introduces detection kits predicated upon silver nanoparticles, providing an expeditious and economically feasible avenue for identifying arsenic concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 3 ppm within rice. Subsequent quantification employs Hydride Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (HG-AAS), which features a detection threshold of 0.05 ㎍/l. A salient advantage inherent in the HG-AAS methodology lies in its capacity to segregate analytes from the sample matrix, thereby significantly reducing instances of spectral interference. Importantly, the presence of arsenic in the soil beneath rice cultivation establishes a causative link to steel pipe corrosion, with potential consequences extending to food contamination-an intricate facet embedded within the broader tapestry of renewable energy, oil, and environmental pollution.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.1-19
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• 2000

We have witnessed several kinds of new discourses and practices in health and medicine since the 1970s, such as popular concerns with alternative or complementary medicine, inordinate attention to the promotion of 'healthy' living, rapid resurrection of traditional medicine and ecological management of health. Four structural and situational factors are discussed to underlie these new trends：(i) as 'crisis' in health care of the 1970s was translated into health care reform of the 1980s backed up by neo-liberal political philosophy, the state responsibility for nation's health is being transferred to the individual ；(ii) it resulted from the limits of biomedical paradigm in dealing with chronic diseases；(iii) medico-scientific knowledge of disease is transformed into the subjective discourses and technologies of health in postmodern society ； and (iv) it is deeply associated with the considerable increase in environmental risk perception of health and disease. There are some inherent countervailing forces in these new discourses and practices. First, while they derive from lifestyle-oriented behavioral change, medicalization of life and death is still consolidated in the new trends. Second, inasmuch as new tides are reliant upon science, they. are likely to be remote from techne that means not the practical application of theoretical knowing but a special form of practical knowing. Third, as new discourses and activities accomplished＇in the name of health＇increasingly occupy important strategies in forming the self-identity, they serve as moral apparatus which involves prescriptions about how we should live our lives and conduct our bodies, both individually and collectively. Therefore, two points are suggested to consider seriously whether these streams will succeed in improving the‘healthy’living of all the people. Instead of limiting tile perspective to medicine, healing and health care, a new matrix that interweave welfare, ecology and labor along with them is timely needed for enhancing the health for all. In addition, as the World Health Report fm strongly shows, inequality in health heavily depends upon socio-economic development of a society, and it is not the richest countries that have the best health status, but those that have the smallest income differences between rich and poor.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.1036-1057
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• 2013

Wireless body area network (WBAN) is a promising candidate for future health monitoring system. Nevertheless, the path to mature solutions is still facing a lot of challenges that need to be overcome. Energy efficient scheduling is one of these challenges given the scarcity of available energy of biosensors and the lack of portability. Therefore, researchers from academia, industry and health sectors are working together to realize practical solutions for these challenges. The main difficulty in WBAN is the uncertainty in the state of the monitored system. Intelligent learning approaches such as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) were proposed to tackle this issue. A Markov Decision Process (MDP) is a form of Markov Chain in which the transition matrix depends on the action taken by the decision maker (agent) at each time step. The agent receives a reward, which depends on the action and the state. The goal is to find a function, called a policy, which specifies which action to take in each state, so as to maximize some utility functions (e.g., the mean or expected discounted sum) of the sequence of rewards. A partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDP) is a generalization of Markov decision processes that allows for the incomplete information regarding the state of the system. In this case, the state is not visible to the agent. This has many applications in operations research and artificial intelligence. Due to incomplete knowledge of the system, this uncertainty makes formulating and solving POMDP models mathematically complex and computationally expensive. Limited progress has been made in terms of applying POMPD to real applications. In this paper, we surveyed the existing methods and algorithms for solving POMDP in the general domain and in particular in Wireless body area network (WBAN). In addition, the papers discussed recent real implementation of POMDP on practical problems of WBAN. We believe that this work will provide valuable insights for the newcomers who would like to pursue related research in the domain of WBAN.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2005

Since Anton van Leeuwen­hoek first observed a surface-associated multicellular structure of bacterial cells in the 17th century, it has been shown to exhibit an ability to form a biofilm by numerous bacterial species. The biofilm formation is composed of distinct developmental stages, which include an attachment/adhesion of a single cell, a proliferation toward monolayered coverage, a propagation to aggregated microcolony, a maturation to 3-dimensional structure, and subsequently a local degradation. Investigation to identify the essential factors for bacterial biofilm formation has been performed via classical genetic approaches as well as recently developed technologies. The initial stage requires bacterial motility provided by a flagellum, and outermembrane components for surface signal interaction. Type IV-pilus and autoaggregation factors, e.g., type I-fimbriae or Ag43, are necessary to reach the stages of monolayer and micro colony. The mature biofilm is equipped with extracellular polymeric matrix and internal water-filled channels. This complex architecture can be achieved by differential expressions of several hundred genes, among which the most studied are the genes encoding exopolysaccharide biosyntheses and quorum-sensing regulatory components. The status of our knowledge for the biofilms found in humans and natural ecosystems is discussed in this minireview.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.171-177
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• 2013

The dairy industry has consistently grown via the expansion of dairy-based food categories. Dairy product consumption is stable since the nutrient composition in dairy products is ideal for human health. However, dairy products are highly susceptible to food-borne pathogens. Controlling the safety of dairy products is thus important when considering the nutrient-rich matrix of this food category. Currently, immunoassays or molecular biology techniques have been used to evaluate the safety of dairy products in Korea. These methods are based on the detection of proteins and thus have low reproducibility and sensitivity. Recent techniques to detect food-borne pathogens have focused on genetic analyses. Rapid detection methods for food-borne pathogens in milk and dairy products using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques, such as conventional PCR, real-time PCR, repetitive sequence-based (rep)-PCR, PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), and digital PCR, are reviewed in this article. The aim of this review was to contribute knowledge of the relationship between microflora and the quality of dairy products. This study will also assist in the immediate monitoring of food-borne pathogens in milk and dairy products when an outbreak related to this food category occurs.