• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.26-38
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• 2022

Purposes: We analyzed the profitability determinants of regional public hospitals during the entire period between 2010 and 2020 and the period before and after COVID-19. We intended to provide fundamental data for developing publicness evaluation index and task of establishing and expanding regional public hospitals. Methodology: The financial and non-financial information of the regional public hospitals were used as the main analysis data; The financial data was established by the Center for Public Healthcare Policy of National Medical Center, and the non-financial data by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. T-test and regression analysis were used. Findings: The results can be summarized in two. First, the main determinants of profitability of the regional public hospitals were appeared to be the total asset turnover rate and the labor cost rate. Second, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the regional public hospitals, the number of sickbeds, the number of isolation rooms, the total asset turnover rate and the labor cost rate appeared to be the factor worsening the profitability. Practical Implication: The results of this study suggests that the management of the regional public hospitals is not aiming for the profit making, but it performs the functions as the community healthcare safety net such as controlling infectious diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.87-95
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• 2022

The geotechnical information constructed in the National Geotechnical Information DB System has been extensively used in design, construction, underground safety management, and disaster assessment. However, it is necessary to refine the geotechnical information because it has nearly 300,000 established cases containing a lot of missing or incorrect information. This research proposes a method for automatic quality control of geotechnical information using a fully connected neural network. Significantly, the anomalies in geotechnical information were detected using a database combining the standard penetration test results and strata information of Seoul. Consequently, the misclassification rate for the verification data is confirmed as 5.4%. Overall, the studied algorithm is expected to detect outliers of geotechnical information effectively.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.51-61
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• 2006

An efficient and accurate hybrid reliability analysis method is proposed in this paper to quantify the risk of an axially loaded single pile considering pile-soil interaction behavior and uncertainties in various design variables. The proposed method intelligently integrates the concepts of the response surface method, the finite difference method, the first-order reliability method, and the iterative linear interpolation scheme. The load transfer method is incorporated into the finite difference method for the deterministic analysis of a single pile-soil system. The uncertainties associated with load conditions, material and section properties of a pile and soil properties are explicitly considered. The risk corresponding to both serviceability limit state and strength limit state of the pile and soil is estimated. Applicability, accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method in the safety assessment of a realistic pile-soil system subjected to axial loads are verified by comparing it with the results of the Monte Carlo simulation technique.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.644-655
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• 2023

Safety assessment and functional analysis of probiotic candidates are important for their industrial applications. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum is one of the most widely recognized probiotic strains. In this study we aimed to determine the functional genes of L. plantarum LRCC5310, isolated from kimchi, using next-generation, whole-genome sequencing analysis. Genes were annotated using the Rapid Annotations using Subsystems Technology (RAST) server and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) pipelines to establish the strain's probiotic potential. Phylogenetic analysis of L. plantarum LRCC5310 and related strains showed that LRCC5310 belonged to L. plantarum. However, comparative analysis revealed genetic differences between L. plantarum strains. Carbon metabolic pathway analysis based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database showed that L. plantarum LRCC5310 is a homofermentative bacterium. Furthermore, gene annotation results indicated that the L. plantarum LRCC5310 genome encodes an almost complete vitamin B₆ biosynthetic pathway. Among five L. plantarum strains, including L. plantarum ATCC 14917^T , L. plantarum LRCC5310 detected the highest concentration of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate with 88.08 ± 0.67 nM in MRS broth. These results indicated that L. plantarum LRCC5310 could be used as a functional probiotic for vitamin B₆ supplementation.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.47-55
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• 2023

This paper presents a method for predicting the threat index of combat systems using Gradient Boosting Regressors and Support Vector Regressors among machine learning models. Currently, combat systems are software that emphasizes safety and reliability, so the application of AI technology that is not guaranteed to be reliable is restricted by policy, and as a result, the electrified domestic combat systems are not equipped with AI technology. However, in order to respond to the policy direction of the Ministry of National Defense, which aims to electrify AI, we conducted a study to secure the basic technology required for the application of machine learning in combat systems. After collecting the data required for threat index evaluation, the study determined the prediction accuracy of the trained model by processing and refining the data, selecting the machine learning model, and selecting the optimal hyper-parameters. As a result, the model score for the test data was over 99 points, confirming the applicability of machine learning models to combat systems.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.1128-1149
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• 2023

In order to extend the shelf life of refrigerating raw lamb by inhibiting the growth of microorganisms, preventing the oxidation of fat and protein, and absorbing the juice outflow of lamb during storage, an active packaging system based on plastic/gelatin bilayer film with essential oil was developed in this study. Three kinds of petroleum-derived plastic films, oriented polypropylene (OPP), polyethylene terephthalate, and polyethylene, were coated with gelatin to make bilayer films for lamb preservation. The results showed significant improvement in the mechanical properties, oxygen, moisture, and light barriers of the bilayer films compared to the gelatin film. The OPP/gelatin bilayer film was selected for further experiments because of its highest acceptance by panelists. If the amount of juice outflow was less than 350% of the mass of the gelatin layer, it was difficult for the gelatin film to separate from lamb. With the increase in essential oil concentration, the water absorption capacity decreased. The OPP/gelatin bilayer films with 20% mustard or 10% oregano essential oils inhibited the growth of bacteria in lamb and displayed better mechanical properties. Essential oil decreased the brightness and light transmittance of the bilayer films and made the film yellow. In conclusion, our results suggested that the active packaging system based on OPP/gelatin bilayer film was more suitable for raw lamb preservation than single-layer gelatin film or petroleum-derived plastic film, but need further study, including minimizing the amount of essential oil, enhancing the mechanical strength of the gelatin film after water absorption.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2317-2323
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• 2024

Medical linear accelerators with an energy of 8 MV or higher are radiated owing to photonuclear reactions and neutron capture reactions. It is necessary to quantitatively evaluate the concentration of radioactive isotopes when replacing or disposing them. HPGe detectors are commonly used to identify isotopes and measure radioactivity. However, because the detection efficiency is generally calibrated using a standard material with a density of 1.0 g/cm³, a self-absorption effect occurs if the density of the measured material is high. In this study, self-absorption correction factors were calculated for tungsten, lead, copper, and SUS-303, which are the main materials of medical linear accelerator head parts, for each gamma-ray energy using MCNP 6.2 code. The self-absorption effect was more pronounced as the energy of the emitted gamma rays decreased and the density of the measured materials increased. These correction factors were applied to the radioactivity measurements of the in-built and portable HPGe detectors. Furthermore, compared to the surface dose rate measured by the survey meter, the accuracy of the measurements of radioactivity improved by an average of 124.31 and 100.53 % for inbuilt and portable HPGe detectors, respectively. The results showed a good agreement, with an average difference of 3.70 and 5.24 %.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.334-346
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• 2022

There is a lack of knowledge and information on the understanding and application of the Process Safety Management (PSM) system, recognized as a major cause of industrial accidents in small-and medium-sized workplaces. Hence, it is necessary to prepare a protocol to secure the practical and continuous levels of implementation for PSM and eliminate human errors through tracking management. However, insufficient research has been conducted on this. Therefore, this study investigated and analyzed the various violations in the administrative measures, based on the regulations announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, in approximately 200 small-and medium-sized PSM workplaces with fewer than 300 employees across in korea. This study intended to contribute to the prevention of major industrial accidents by developing a facility maintenance web program that removed human errors in small-and medium-sized workplaces. The major results are summarized as follows. First, It accessed the web via a QR code on a smart device to check the equipment's specification search function, cause of failure, and photos for the convenience of accessing the program, which made it possible to make requests for the it inspection and maintenance in real time. Second, it linked the identification of the targets to be changed, risk assessment, worker training, and pre-operation inspection with the program, which allowed the administrator to track all the procedures from start to finish. Third, it made it possible to predict the life of the equipment and verify its reliability based on the data accumulated through the registration of the pictures for improvements, repairs, time required, cost, etc. after the work was completed. It is suggested that these research results will be helpful in the practical and systematic operation of small-and medium-sized PSM workplaces. In addition, it can be utilized in a useful manner for the development and dissemination of a facility maintenance web program when establishing future smart factories in small-and medium-sized PSM workplaces under the direction of the government.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.76-83
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• 2006

In order to investigate the impacts of non-selective herbicide, glufosinate-ammonium (ammonium 4-[hydroxy(methyl)phosphinoyl] -DL-homoalaninate, GLA) to the non-target organisms, earthworm was exposed to GLA in the field soil for a month, and microbial populations in the soil were investigated after application of GLA. Simultaneously, the residues of GLA and its metabolite, 3-MPP were analyzed in the same soil. Meanwhile, to elucidate the influence of GLA to the growth of non-target crops incase of inter-furrow application, the amounts of carotenoid, chlorophyll, amino acid, proteins and sugars in the leaves of potato and chinese cabbage grown in the same field were investigated. In result, the dead earthworm was not observed during the test period, and the increasing rates of bodyweight were $9.410{\sim}11.603%$ in GLA-treated plots and 5.645% in GLA-untreated plots. The populations of fungi, bacteria and actinomycetes in the GLA-treated soils were $6.2{\times}10^4$, $1.5{\times}10^6$ and $5.7{\times}10^4$, respectively. They maintained relatively similar levels to the control which were $3.7{\times}10^4$, $3.7{\times}10^5$ and $3.7{\times}10^4$, respectively. In residue analysis, the limit of detection of GLA was 0.02 mg $kg^{-1}$, that of 3-MPP was the same level, and the half-life of GLA was 15 days in sandy clay loam soil. This result indicates that GLA was degraded very quickly in field soil. On the other hand, the amounts of physiological, biochemical components such as carotenoid, amino acid, chlorophyll, protein and sugar were ranged from 90.0 to 104.3% in potato and from 99.0 to 112.7% in chinese cabbage. Comparing with hand-weeded plots, it is indicated that GLA had not affected to the growth of non-target crops when applied at inter-furrow in crops-growing field.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.570-581
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• 2013

To improve productivity of aquaculture animals with management of culturing grounds, survey of mariculture management area in Ongjin-gun about water quality and sedimentary environment had been conducted on June, August and November in 2011. Water temperature in surface and bottom waters ranged from 9.49 to $24.14^{\circ}C$. Salinity and dissolved oxygen concentrations were in the range of 23.19~31.49 and 5.48~9.36 mg/L, respectively, depending on the variation of water temperature. The average concentration of COD was 1.57 mg/L and the concentrations of DIN and DIP showed entirely low level. As the result of grain size analysis, sand(56.66 %) and silt(34.60 %) were predominated. The Mz of sediment showed a variation of 2.59 to $6.62{\O}$ and sorting appeared to be poorly sorted. The concentrations of COD and IL in surface sediment ranged from 1.00 to $11.03mg/g{\cdot}dry$ and 0.72 to 5.29 %, respectively, which showed relatively good positive correlations. On the environmental assessment of trace metals in surface sediment, geoaccumulation index ($I_{geo}$) class indicated that sediments were not contaminated by most of metallic elements except Cr and As. Our result implies that this study area showed good water quality and sediments were not polluted by organic matters and metallic elements.