• 한국사회정책
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.61-86
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• 2017

Along with the well-established evidence on the negative effect of social isolation on physical and mental health, increasing attention has been paid to multi-dimensional nature of social isolation. One line of study on social isolation has discussed different pathways between objective and subjective social isolation and health. Another stream of the research focused on the possibly non-linear association between social isolation and health by age cohort groups. Drawing from the two lines of research, this study aimed at empirically examine to what extent objective and subjective social isolation are associated with physical and mental health independently and how the associations vary by three age cohorts(i.e. the middle-aged, the young old, the old-old). Data came from the first wave of Korean Social Life, Health and Aging Project (KSHAP) (N= 814). Findings showed 1) objective subjective isolation were significantly related with worse physical and mental health, interestingly, subjective social isolation was associated with mental health only, 2) pattern of association between social isolation and physical health varied by age cohorts. Specifically, compared to the middle-aged, the young old with higher objective social isolation exhibited lower level of physical health, while the old-old with higher subjective social isolation were likely to experience lower physical health. Based on the findings, we discussed implications and suggestions for future research and relevant policy/program development for ameliorating objective and subjective social isolation.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.74-79
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• 2022

Background: The effect of underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during a pandemic is controversial. The purpose of this study was to examine the prognosis of COVID-19 according to the underlying COPD. Methods: COVID-19 patients were assessed using nationwide health insurance data. Comorbidities were evaluated using the modified Charlson Comorbidity Index (mCCI) which excluded COPD from conventional CCI scores. Baseline characteristics were assessed. Univariable and multiple logistic and linear regression analyses were performed to determine effects of variables on clinical outcomes. Ages, sex, mCCI, socioeconomic status, and underlying COPD were selected as variables. Results: COPD patients showed older age (71.3±11.6 years vs. 47.7±19.1 years, p<0.001), higher mCCI (2.6±1.9 vs. 0.8±1.3, p<0.001), and higher mortality (22.9% vs. 3.2%, p<0.001) than non-COPD patients. The intensive care unit admission rate and hospital length of stay were not significantly different between the two groups. All variables were associated with mortality in univariate analysis. However, underlying COPD was not associated with mortality unlike other variables in the adjusted analysis. Older age (odds ratio [OR], 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.14; p<0.001), male sex (OR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.67-3.12; p<0.001), higher mCCI (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.20-1.41; p<0.001), and medical aid insurance (OR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.03-2.32; p=0.035) were associated with mortality. Conclusion: Underlying COPD is not associated with a poor prognosis of COVID-19.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.488-496
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• 2023

Ship and bridge structures are a type of long box-shaped structure, and resistance to vertical bending moment is a key factor in their structural design. In particular, because box girders are repeatedly exposed to irregular wave loads for a long time, the continuous collapse behavior of structural members must be accurately predicted. In this study, plastic collapse behavior, including buckling according to load changes of the box girder receiving pure bending moments, was analyzed using a numerical analysis method. The analysis targets were selected as three box girders used in the Gordo experiment. The cause of the difference was considered by comparing the results of the structural strength experiment with those of non-linear finite element analysis. This study proposed a combination of the entire and local sagging shape to reflect the effect of the initial sagging caused by welding heat that is inevitably used to manufacture carbon steel materials. The procedures reviewed in the study and the contents of the initial sagging configuration can be used as a good guide for analyzing the final strength of similar structures in the future.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.25-35
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• 2023

Considering the non-linear behavior of structure and soil when evaluating a nuclear power plant's seismic safety under a beyond-design basis earthquake is essential. In order to obtain the nonlinear response of a nuclear power plant structure, a time-domain SSI analysis method that considers the nonlinearity of soil and structure and the nonlinear Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) effect is necessary. The Boundary Reaction Method (BRM) is a time-domain SSI analysis method. The BRM can be applied effectively with a Perfectly Matched Layer (PML), which is an effective energy absorbing boundary condition. The BRM has a characteristic that the magnitude of the response in far-field soil increases as the boundary interface of the effective seismic load moves outward. In addition, the PML has poor absorption performance of low-frequency waves. For this reason, the accuracy of the low-frequency response may be degraded when analyzing the combination of the BRM and the PML. In this study, the accuracy of the analysis response was improved by adjusting the PML input parameters to improve this problem. The accuracy of the response was evaluated by using the analysis response using KIESSI-3D, a frequency domain SSI analysis program, as a reference solution. As a result of the analysis applying the optimal PML parameter, the average error rate of the acceleration response spectrum for 9 degrees of freedom of the structure was 3.40%, which was highly similar to the reference result. In addition, time-domain nonlinear SSI analysis was performed with the soil's nonlinearity to show this study's applicability. As a result of nonlinear SSI analysis, plastic deformation was concentrated in the soil around the foundation. The analysis results found that the analysis method combining BRM and PML can be effectively applied to the seismic response analysis of nuclear power plant structures.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2023

Background: Paraben is a widely used substance with a preservative effect found in various materials such as food, medicine, personal care products, and cosmetics. Objectives: This study was conducted to identify the level of urinary paraben concentrations (i.e., methyl-, ethyl-, and propyl-) among Korean adults and to explore the factors related with the exposure levels. Methods: We analyzed the third period (2015~2017) of the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS). R statistical software (version 4.1.1) was used to estimate representative values for the whole population with weight variables to reflect sampling design. Whether urinary concentrations tended to increase as the level of paraben exposure-related characteristics increased was tested and P_trend was calculated using general linear models. Results: Urinary concentrations of all three parabens (i.e., methyl-, ethyl- and propyl-) were higher in women than in men (P_trend<0.0001, 0.008, and <0.0001), and the values of methylparaben and propylparaben tended to increase as the age of subjects increased (P_trend<0.0001, and <0.0001). Urinary concentrations of methylparaben and propylparaben were associated with intensity of exercise (P_trend<0.001, and 0.004), and that of propylparaben was higher in non-smokers (P_trend=0.01). In terms of paraben exposure-related variables, urinary concentrations of parabens (i.e., methyl-, ethyl- and propyl-) increased as the daily average frequency of teeth-brushing (P_trend<0.0001, 0.03 and 0.0001), the frequency of use of hair products (P_trend=0.005, 0.05 and 0.04), the frequency of use of makeup products (P_trend<0.001, 0.001 and <0.001), and the frequency of use of antibacterial products (P_trend=0.005, 0.02 and 0.02) increased. Conclusions: In our study, urinary concentrations of all three parabens are associated with gender, teethbrushing, hair products, make-up products, and antibacterial products. Methyl- and proyl-parabens were associated with age and intensity of exercise, and propyl-paraben was associated with smoking.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.1A
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• pp.69-78
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• 2008

In this study, in order to verify the reinforcement effects of the cracked concrete tubes and culverts, static load test was conducted. After the load carrying capacity of the original concrete tubes (nominal diameter 0.8 m, 1.0 m, 1.5 m) and box culverts (inner width 2.0 m. 2.5 m) was reduced by the cracking test, the cracked concrete specimens were strengthened by installing profile with steel stiffener and high strength mortar. And then, the maximum load tests were conducted the renewal concrete tubes and box culverts. According to the method application, the load carrying capacity increased 1.66~3.50 times than it of the original tubes before applying the method. In case of the original box culverts, the load carrying capacity increased 1.66~3.10 times than the case before installing profile and high strength mortar. Also non-linear analysis was carried out by using the commercial FEM program of ABAQUS 6.6. Solid (C3D8R) elements and concrete damage plasticity option was applied to the analysis. For reflecting confined reinforcing bars in the analysis, the composite material properties were used.

• 한국노년학
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.977-996
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• 2019

The current study aimed to examine the gender differences in trajectories of nine successful aging indicators (chronic disease, depression, activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, mini mental state examination, social activity, personal contact, health satisfaction, and general life satisfaction) with age, controlling the effect of education. The data were from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, which had been conducted biennially from 2006 to 2016. The sample included 822 men and 1,236 women who responded to all of the panel surveys and were 65 years old or above in 2006. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that older men had fewer chronic diseases; lower levels of depression; higher levels of activities of daily living, cognitive function, and social activity; and better perceived health satisfaction and general life satisfaction at age 65 years compared to women. However, both men and women showed increase in the number of chronic diseases and depression level, and decrease in physical, cognitive, and social functions with age. In addition, perceived health and life satisfaction also decreased after the age of 65. The trajectories of most of the indicators were non-linear, and markedly increased or decreased around mid-70s. Study limitations and implications were further discussed.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.617-636
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• 2023

The goal of this study was to explain the phenomenon of making efforts to overcome the need-reality collision as a cultural characteristic of Koreans. Specifically, we examined whether the behavior varies depending on the degree of relational agency in the situation where conflicts between one's needs and reality have occurred. To this end, a total of 217 participants participated in the online experiment, and the data of 156 participants were finally analyzed. After responding to the relational agency scale, the participants were exposed to a decision-making scenario in which conflicting factors existed. The scenario were about buying a house and making a wedding hall contract, and in each scenario, two important values were set to conflict with each other in the market. Participants read the scenario and entered the level they wanted for each value. After that, they encounter a situation in which he or she has not found the candidate site corresponding to the level he or she wants. Then, the participants responded to their willingness to make additional efforts themselves. As a result of the study, the degree of relational agency of the participants showed a positive relationship with the degree of additional effort. In addition, the degree of the desired level beyond the reality (expectancy discrepancy) showed a nonlinear (reverse U-shape) influence on the additional effort while controlling for individual difference. Furthermore, the interaction effect between relational agency and expectancy discrepancy was significant. Specifically, individuals with low agency did not have a significant relationship between the degree of expectancy discrepancy and the dependent variable, but individuals with high relational agency had a significant non-linear relationship between the degree of expectancy discrepancy and the dependent variable. Based on the results of the study, the role and function of Koreans' psychological characteristics (relational agency) in the scene of managing needs-reality collision were discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.99 no.6
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• pp.922-928
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• 2010

There is a little information on the effect of calcium cloride ($CaCl_2$) which is used as deicing salt in Korea on the physiological responses of the street trees. Prunus sargentii is one of the most widespread tree species of street vegetation in Korea. In this study, the effect of $CaCl_2$ on photosynthetic apparatus such as chlorophyll fluorescence image and light response curve of P. sargentii in relation to their leaf and root collar growth responses were investigated. To study the effect of $CaCl_2$ treatment in the early spring, we irrigated twice in rhizosphere of P. sargentii (3-year-old) planted plastic pots with solution of 0.5%, 1.0%, 3.0% $CaCl_2$ concentration before leaf expansion. Results after treatments, total chlorophyll contents and the chlorophyll a/b, photosynthetic rate, quantum yield, dark respiration decreased with increasing $CaCl_2$ concentration. On the contrary, light compensation point increased with increasing $CaCl_2$ concentration. Through the linear regressions of correlation of photosynthetic rate with photosynthetic parameters (quantum yield, dark respiration and light compensation point), we found a significant relationship (p<0.05) between photosynthetic rate and quantum yield and light compensation point except dark respiration. Calcium cloride ($CaCl_2$) induced inhibition of photochemical efficiency ($F_v/F_M$) and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) were found in treatments of $CaCl_2$, and these reduction rates between control and CaCl2 treatments were drastically showed at 80 days. We suggest that physiological activities are limited from treatment of $CaCl_2$. These reductions of photosynthetic apparatus ability caused eventually the reduction of leaf and diameter at root collar growth.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.49-58
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• 2010

This paper presents experimental results of a series of 1-g shaking table model tests performed on end-bearing single piles and pile groups to investigate the effect of particle size on the dynamic behavior of soil-pile systems. Two soil-pile models were tested twice: first using Jumoonjin sand, and second using Australian Fine sand. In the case of single-pile models, the lateral displacement was almost within 1% of pile diameter which corresponds to the elastic range of the pile. The back-calculated p-y curves show that the subgrade reaction of the Jumoonjin-sand-model ground was larger than that of the Australian Fine-sand-model ground at the same displacement. This phenomenon means that the stress-strain behavior of Jumoonjin sand was initially stiffer than that of Australian Fine sand. This difference was also confirmed by resonant column tests and compression triaxial tests. And the single pile p-y backbone curves of the Australian fine sand were constructed and compared with those of the Jumoonjin sand. As a result, the stiffness of the p-y backbone curves of Jumunjin sand was larger than those of Australian fine sand. Therefore, using the same p-y curves regardless of particle size can lead to inaccurate results when evaluating dynamic behavior of soil-pile system. In the case of the group-pile models, the lateral displacement was much larger than the elastic range of pile movement at the same test conditions in the single-pile models. The back-calculated p-y curves in the case of group pile models were very similar in both sands because the stiffness difference between the Jumoonjin-sand-model ground and the Australian Fine-sand-model ground was not significantly large at a large strain level, where both sands showed non-linear behavior. According to a series of single pile and group pile test results, the evaluation group pile effect using the p-multiplier can lead to inaccurate results on dynamic behavior of soil-pile system.