The objective of this study was to evaluate biological health conditions and physicochemical status using multi-metric models at five sites of the Keum-Ho River during August 2004 and June 2005. The research approach was based on a qualitative habitat evaluation index (QHEI), index of biological integrity (IBI) using fish assemblage, and long-term chemical data (1995
Characteristics of element responses of Panasonic UD802 personnel dosimeters in the X,
Variability is one of the major characteristics of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), and it is used for understanding the energy generation mechanism in the center of AGN and/or related physical phenomena. It it known that there exists a time lag between AGN light curves simultaneously observed at different wavelengths, which can be used as a tool to estimate the size of the area that produce the radiation. In this paper, We present long term near-infrared variability of optically bright type 1 AGN using the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer data. From the Milliquas catalogue v6.4, 73 type 1 QSOs/AGN and 140 quasar candidates are selected that are brighter than 18 mag in optical and located within 5 degree around the ecliptic poles. Light curves in the W1 band (3.4 ㎛) and W2 band (4.6 ㎛) during the period of 2010-2019 were constructed for these objects by extracting multi-epoch photometry data from WISE and NEOWISE all sky survey database. Variability was analyzed based on the excess variance and the probability Pvar. Applying both criteria, the numbers of variable objects are 19 (i.e., 26%) for confirmed AGN and 12 (i.e., 9%) for AGN candidates. The characteristic time scale of the variability (τ) and the variability amplitude (σ) were derived by fitting the DRW model to W1 and W2 light curves. No significant correlation is found between the W1/W2 magnitude and the derived variability parameters. Based on the subsample that are identified in the X-ray source catalog, there exists little correlation between the X-ray luminosity and the variability parameters. We also found four AGN with changing W1-W2 color.
The human rights of older people have gotten more attention recently in South Korea, a country that is in transition to a super-aged society. This study aimed to systematically review studies on elder abuse and related factors among community-dwelling older adults in South Korea over twenty years (1994-2016). We searched major databases (Riss, DBpia, KISS, KMbase, and PubMed) and identified published studies relevant to the topic. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria related to study quality, a total of 31 studies were selected for this review. We examined types, measurements, and risk factors of elder abuse as well as study designs in the selected studies, guided by Johannesen's theoretical framework on elder abuse. All of the reviewed studies on elder abuse in Korea were cross-sectional studies, most of which focused on older people living in urban areas, using a non-random sampling method. All of the studies focused on certain types of elder abuse only. Some adopted elder-abuse instruments that were not validated, and others used self-developed instruments without psychometric tests. As for the risk factors of elder abuse in South Korea, the physical and mental health of the victims and aggressors impacted the risk of elder abuse, but general sociodemographic factors such as age, sex, and education were less likely to be related to the risk. In addition, decreasing caregiver burden and building elder-friendly communities are important for the prevention of elder abuse. Needed are further empirical studies on elder abuse with a theoretical framework that gives consideration to the unique sociocultural contexts of Korea. It is also recommended to develop instruments to measure elder abuse reflecting the sociocultural contexts of Korea, and to examine the multi-dimensional risk factors of elder abuse.
Objective: We evaluated the clinical characteristics and prognoses of patients with septic shock who transferred to the emergency department (ED) in a tertiary referral center. Methods: This study was performed using a prospective, multi-center registry of septic shock, with the participation of 11 tertiary referral centers in the Korean Shock Society between October 2015 and February 2017. We classified the patients as a transferred group who transferred from other hospitals after meeting the inclusion criteria upon ED arrival and a non-transferred group who presented directly to the ED. Primary outcome was hospital mortality. We conducted multiple logistic regression analysis to assess variables related to in-hospital mortality. Results: A total of 2,098 patients were included, and we assigned 717 patients to the transferred group and 1,381 patients to the non-transferred group. The initial Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score was higher in the transferred group than the non-transferred group (6; interquartile range [IQR], 4-9 vs. 6; IQR, 4-8; P<0.001). Mechanical ventilator (29% vs. 21%, P<0.001) and renal replacement therapy (12% vs. 9%, P=0.034) within 24 hours after ED arrival were more frequently applied in the transferred group than the non-transferred group. Overall hospital mortality was 22% and there was no significant difference between transferred and non-transferred groups (23% vs. 22%, P=0.820). Multivariable analysis showed an odds ratio for in-hospital mortality of 1.00 (95% confidence interval, 0.78-1.28; P=0.999) for the transferred group compared with the non-transferred group. Conclusion: The transferred group showed higher severity and needed more organ support procedures than the non-transferred group. However, inter-hospital transfer did not affect in-hospital mortality.
Objective: To investigate survival outcomes in endometrioid endometrial cancer (EEC) patients with single vs. multiple positive pelvic lymph nodes. Methods: We performed a retrospective evaluation of all consecutive patients with histologically proven International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIIC1 EEC who underwent primary surgical treatment between 2004 and 2014 at seven Italian gynecologic oncology referral centers. Patients with pre- or intra-operative evidence of extra-uterine disease (including the presence of bulky nodes) and patients with stage IIIC2 disease were excluded, in order to obtain a homogeneous population. Results: Overall 140 patients met the inclusion criteria. The presence of >1 metastatic pelvic node was significantly associated with an increased risk of recurrence and mortality, compared to only 1 metastatic node, at both univariate (recurrence: hazard ratio [HR]=2.19; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.2-3.99; p=0.01; mortality: HR=2.8; 95% CI=1.24-6.29; p=0.01) and multivariable analysis (recurrence: HR=1.91; 95% CI=1.02-3.56; p=0.04; mortality: HR=2.62; 95% CI=1.13-6.05; p=0.02) and it was the only independent predictor of prognosis in this subset of patients. Disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) were significantly longer in patients with only 1 metastatic node compared to those with more than 1 metastatic node (p=0.008 and 0.009, respectively). Conclusion: The presence of multiple metastatic nodes in stage IIIC1 EEC represents an independent predictor of worse survival, compared to only one positive node. Our data suggest that EEC patients may be categorized according to the number of positive nodes.
As the electric vehicle market grows, there is an issue of light weight vehicles to increase battery efficiency. Therefore, it is going to replace the battery module cover that protects the battery module of electric vehicles with high strength/high heat-resistant polymer composite material which has lighter weight from existing aluminum materials. It also aims to respond to the early electric vehicle market where technology changes quickly by combining 3D printing technology that is advantageous for small production of multiple varieties without restrictions on complex shapes. Based on the composite material mechanics, the critical length of glass fibers in short glass fiber (GF)/polycarbonate (PC) composite materials manufactured through extruder was derived as 453.87 ㎛, and the side feeding method was adopted to improve the residual fiber length from 365.87 ㎛ and to increase a dispersibility. Thus, the optimal properties of tensile strength 135 MPa and Young's modulus 7.8 MPa were implemented as GF/PC composite materials containing 30 wt% of GF. In addition, the filament extrusion conditions (temperature, extrusion speed) were optimized to meet the commercial filament specification of 1.75 mm thickness and 0.05 mm standard deviation. Through manufactured filaments, 3D printing process conditions (temperature, printing speed) were optimized by multi-optimization that minimize porosity, maximize tensile strength, and printing speed to increase the productivity. Through this procedure, tensile strength and elastic modulus were improved 11%, 56% respectively. Also, by post-processing, tensile strength and Young's modulus were improved 5%, 18% respectively. Lastly, using the FEA (finite element analysis) technique, the structure of the battery module cover was optimized to meet the mechanical shock test criteria of the electric vehicle battery module cover (ISO-12405), and it is satisfied the battery cover mechanical shock test while achieving 37% lighter weight compared to aluminum battery module cover. Based on this research, it is expected that 3D printing technology of polymer composite materials can be used in various fields in the future.
Recently, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport presented the '6th Construction Technology Promotion Basic Plan' and 'Smart Construction Revitalization Plan (2022.7.20)'. Off-Site Construction (OSC), which involves construction and production of PC (Precast Concrete) and Modular, etc., has advantages in shortening the construction period, reducing costs, improving quality, reducing construction waste, and reducing safety accidents. However, the construction cost is high compared to the traditional RC construction method, which has hindered its utilization and spread. In this study, OSC utilization was improved. An economic analysis indicator and methodology that can support decision-making in the planning and design stages for multi-unit housing were proposed. The factors used in the economic analysis of OSC (based on the PC method) of apartment houses were reviewed. As for the indicators used in the cost and benefit section, 'Construction Period', 'Disaster Occurrence', 'Waste Generation', and 'Greenhouse gas Emission', which reflect the technical advantages of OSC, were derived. In addition, a scenario analysis was conducted based on actual apartment housing case data for the presented economic analysis indicators and benefit calculation standards. The level of benefit that offsets the difference between the existing RC construction method and the construction cost was reviewed. In future studies, it will be necessary to conduct additional case studies to apply the measurement criteria for detailed indicators and supplement the benefit indicators.
Recently concerns have been raised due to the unbalanced supply of crops: the price of crops has been unstable and at one point the price went up so high that the word Agflation(agriculture+ inflation) was coined. Korea, in particular, is a small-sized country and needs to secure the stable supply of crops by investing in the produce importation at a national level. Investment in foreign produce importation is becoming more important as a measure for sufficient supply of crops, limited supply of domestic crops, weakened farming conditions worldwide, as well as recent changes in the use of crops due to the development of bio-fuels, influence of carbon emission on crops, the price increase in crops, and influx of foreign hot money. However, there are many problems with investing in foreign produce importation: lack of support from the government; lack of farming information and technology; difficulty in securing the capital; no immediate pay-off from the investment and insufficient management. Although foreign produce is originally more price-competitive than domestic produce, it loses its competiveness in the process of importation (due to high tariffs) and poor distribution system, which makes it difficult to sell in Korea. Therefore, investment in foreign produce importation is being questioned for feasibility; to make it possible, foreign produce must maintain the price-competitiveness. Especially, harvest of agricultural products depends on natural and geographical conditions of each country and those products have indigenous properties, so distribution system according to import and export of agricultural products should be treated more carefully than that of other industries. Distribution costs are differentiated into each item and include cost of sorting and wrapping, cost of wrapping materials, cost of domestic transport, cost of international transport and cost of clearing customs for import and export. So transporting and storing agricultural products generates considerable costs compared with other products. Also, due to upgrade of dietary life, needs for stability, taste and visible quality toward food including agricultural products are being raised and wrong way of storage causes decomposition of food and loss of freshness, making the storage more difficult than that in room temperature, so storage and transport in distribution of agricultural products needs specialty. In addition, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. However, existing distribution system of agricultural products is exposed to various problems including problems in distribution channel, making distribution and strategy for distribution and those problems are as follows. First, in case of investment in overseas agricultural industry, stable supply of the products is difficult because areas of production are dispersed widely and influenced by outer factors due to including overseas distribution channels. Also, at the aspect of quality, standardization of products is difficult, distribution system is quite complicated and unreasonable due to long distribution channels according to international trade and financial and institutional support is not enough. Especially, there are quite a lot of ineffective factors including multi level distribution process, dramatic gap between production cost and customer's cost, lack of physical distribution facilities and difficulties in storage and transport due to lack of wrapping containers. Besides, because import and export of agricultural products has been manages under the company's own distribution according to transaction contract between manufacturers and exporting company, efficiency is low due to excessive investment in fixed costs and lack of specialty in dealing with agricultural products causes fall of value of products, showing the limit to lose price-competitiveness. Especially, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. Second, among tangible and intangible services which promote the efficiency of the whole distribution, a function building distribution environment which includes distribution information, system for standard and inspection, distribution finance, system for diversification of risks, education and training, distribution administration and tax system is wanted. In general, such a function building distribution environment is difficult to be changed and supplement innovatively because its effect compared with investment does not appear immediately despite of its necessity. Especially, in case of distribution of agricultural products, as a function of collecting and distributing is performed individually through various channels, the importance of distribution information and standardization is getting more focus due to the problem of repetition of work and lack of specialty. Also, efficient management of distribution is quite difficult due to lack of professionals in distribution, so support to professional education is needed. Third, though effort to keep self-sufficiency ratio of staple food, rice is regarded as important at the government level, level of dependency on overseas of others crops is high. Therefore, plan for stable securing food resources aside from staple food is also necessary. Especially, governmental organizations of agricultural products distribution in Korea are production-centered and have unreasonable structure whose function at the aspect of distribution and consumption is quite insufficient. And development of new distribution channels which can deal with changes in distribution environment and they do not achieve actual results of strategy for distribution due to non-positive strategy for price distribution. That is, it implies the possibility that base for supply will become vulnerable because it does not mediate appropriate interests on total distribution channels such as manufacturers, wholesale dealers and vendors by emphasizing consumer protection excessively in the distribution of agricultural products. Therefore, this study examined fundamental concept and actual situation for our investment to overseas agriculture, drew necessities, considerations, problems, etc. of overseas agricultural investment and suggested improvements at the level of distribution for price competitiveness of agricultural products cultivated in overseas under five aspects; government's indirect support, distribution's modernization and distribution information function's strengthening, government's political support for distribution facility, transportation route, load and unloading works' improvement, price competitiveness' securing, professional manpower's cultivation by education and training, etc. Here are some suggestions for foreign produce importation. First, the government should conduct a survey on the current distribution channels and analyze the situation to establish a measure for long-term development plans. By providing each agricultural area with a guideline for planning appropriate production of crops, the government can help farmers be ready for importation, and prevent them from producing same crops all at the same time. Government can sign an MOU with the foreign government and promote the importation so that the development of agricultural resources can be stable and steady. Second, the government can establish a strategy for an effective distribution system by providing farmers and agriculture-related workers with the distribution information such as price, production, demand, market structure and location, feature of each crop, and etc. In order for such distribution system to become feasible, the government needs to reconstruct the current distribution system, designate a public organization for providing distribution information and set the criteria for level of produce quality, trade units, and package units. Third, the government should provide financial support and a policy to seek an efficient distribution channel for foreign produce to be delivered fresh: the government should expand distribution facilities (for selecting, packaging, storing, and processing) and transportation vehicles while modernizing old facilities. There should be another policy to improve the efficiency of unloading, and to lower the cost of distribution. Fourth, it is necessary to enact a new law covering exceptional cases for importing produce in order to maintain the price competitiveness; currently the high tariffs is keeping the imported produce from being distributed domestically. However, the new adjustment should be made carefully within the WTO regulations since it can create a problem from giving preferential tariffs. The government can also simplify the distribution channels in order to reduce the cost in the distribution process. Fifth, the government should educate distributors to raise the efficiency and to modernize the distribution system. It is necessary to develop human resources by educating people regarding the foreign agricultural environment, the produce quality, management skills, and by introducing some successful cases in advanced countries.
The wall shear stress in the vicinity of end-to end anastomoses under steady flow conditions was measured using a flush-mounted hot-film anemometer(FMHFA) probe. The experimental measurements were in good agreement with numerical results except in flow with low Reynolds numbers. The wall shear stress increased proximal to the anastomosis in flow from the Penrose tubing (simulating an artery) to the PTFE: graft. In flow from the PTFE graft to the Penrose tubing, low wall shear stress was observed distal to the anastomosis. Abnormal distributions of wall shear stress in the vicinity of the anastomosis, resulting from the compliance mismatch between the graft and the host artery, might be an important factor of ANFH formation and the graft failure. The present study suggests a correlation between regions of the low wall shear stress and the development of anastomotic neointimal fibrous hyperplasia(ANPH) in end-to-end anastomoses. 30523 T00401030523 ^x Air pressure decay(APD) rate and ultrafiltration rate(UFR) tests were performed on new and saline rinsed dialyzers as well as those roused in patients several times. C-DAK 4000 (Cordis Dow) and CF IS-11 (Baxter Travenol) reused dialyzers obtained from the dialysis clinic were used in the present study. The new dialyzers exhibited a relatively flat APD, whereas saline rinsed and reused dialyzers showed considerable amount of decay. C-DAH dialyzers had a larger APD(11.70