• Title/Summary/Keyword: Performance rate

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Beak Trimming Methods - Review -

  • Glatz, P.C.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.13 no.11
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    • pp.1619-1637
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    • 2000
  • A review was undertaken to obtain information on the range of beak-trimming methods available or under development. Beak-trimming of commercial layer replacement pullets is a common yet critical management tool that can affect the performance for the life of the flock. The most obvious advantage of beak-trimming is a reduction in cannibalism although the extent of the reduction in cannibalism depends on the strain, season, and type of housing, flock health and other factors. Beak-trimming also improves feed conversion by reducing food wastage. A further advantage of beak-trimming is a reduction in the chronic stress associated with dominance interactions in the flock. Beak-trimming of birds at 7-10 days is favoured by Industry but research over last 10 years has shown that beak-trimming at day-old causes the least stress on birds and efforts are needed to encourage Industry to adopt the practice of beak-trimming birds at day-old. Proper beak-trimming can result in greatly improved layer performance but improper beak-trimming can ruin an other wise good flock of hens. Re-trimming is practiced in most flocks, although there are some flocks that only need one trimming. Given the continuing welfare scrutiny of using a hot blade to cut the beak, attempts have been made to develop more welfare friendly methods of beak-trimming. Despite the developments in design of hot blade beak-trimmers the process has remained largely unchanged. That is, a red-hot blade cuts and cauterises the beak. The variables in the process are blade temperature, cauterisation time, operator ability, severity of trimming, age of trimming, strain of bird and beak length. This method of beak-trimming is still overwhelmingly favoured in Industry and there appears to be no other alternative procedures that are more effective. Sharp secateurs have been used trim the upper beak of both layers and turkeys. Bleeding from the upper mandible ceases shortly after the operation, and despite the regrowth of the beak a reduction of cannibalism has been reported. Very few differences have been noted between behaviour and production of the hot blade and cold blade cut chickens. This method has not been used on a large scale in Industry. There are anecdotal reports of cannibalism outbreaks in birds with regrown beaks. A robotic beak-trimming machine was developed in France, which permitted simultaneous, automated beak-trimming and vaccination of day-old chicks of up to 4,500 chickens per hour. Use of the machine was not successful because if the chicks were not loaded correctly they could drop off the line, receive excessive beak-trimming or very light trimming. Robotic beak-trimming was not effective if there was a variation in the weight or size of chickens. Capsaicin can cause degeneration of sensory nerves in mammals and decreases the rate of beak regrowth by its action on the sensory nerves. Capsaicin is a cheap, non-toxic substance that can be readily applied at the time of less severe beak-trimming. It suffers the disadvantage of causing an extreme burning sensation in operators who come in contact with the substance during its application to the bird. Methods of applying the substance to minimise the risk to operators of coming in contact with capsaicin need to be explored. A method was reported which cuts the beaks with a laser beam in day-old chickens. No details were provided on the type of laser used, or the severity of beak-trimming, but by 16 weeks the beaks of laser trimmed birds resembled the untrimmed beaks, but without the bill tip. Feather pecking and cannibalism during the laying period were highest among the laser trimmed hens. Currently laser machines are available that are transportable and research to investigate the effectiveness of beak-trimming using ablasive and coagulative lasers used in human medicine should be explored. Liquid nitrogen was used to declaw emu toes but was not effective. There was regrowth of the claws and the time and cost involved in the procedure limit the potential of using this process to beak-trim birds.

Modeling and Intelligent Control for Activated Sludge Process (활성슬러지 공정을 위한 모델링과 지능제어의 적용)

  • Cheon, Seong-pyo;Kim, Bongchul;Kim, Sungshin;Kim, Chang-Won;Kim, Sanghyun;Woo, Hae-Jin
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.22 no.10
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    • pp.1905-1919
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    • 2000
  • The main motivation of this research is to develop an intelligent control strategy for Activated Sludge Process (ASP). ASP is a complex and nonlinear dynamic system because of the characteristic of wastewater, the change in influent flow rate, weather conditions, and etc. The mathematical model of ASP also includes uncertainties which are ignored or not considered by process engineer or controller designer. The ASP is generally controlled by a PID controller that consists of fixed proportional, integral, and derivative gain values. The PID gains are adjusted by the expert who has much experience in the ASP. The ASP model based on $Matlab^{(R)}5.3/Simulink^{(R)}3.0$ is developed in this paper. The performance of the model is tested by IWA(International Water Association) and COST(European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) data that include steady-state results during 14 days. The advantage of the developed model is that the user can easily modify or change the controller by the help of the graphical user interface. The ASP model as a typical nonlinear system can be used to simulate and test the proposed controller for an educational purpose. Various control methods are applied to the ASP model and the control results are compared to apply the proposed intelligent control strategy to a real ASP. Three control methods are designed and tested: conventional PID controller, fuzzy logic control approach to modify setpoints, and fuzzy-PID control method. The proposed setpoints changer based on the fuzzy logic shows a better performance and robustness under disturbances. The objective function can be defined and included in the proposed control strategy to improve the effluent water quality and to reduce the operating cost in a real ASP.

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Impacts of Increasing Volatility of Profitability on Investment Behavior (수익변동성 확대와 설비투자 위축)

  • LIM, Kyung-Mook
    • KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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    • v.30 no.1
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    • pp.1-31
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    • 2008
  • Various opinions have been suggested to explain the slump in equipment investment, such as increased government regulations, shareholder-oriented management by expanded foreign equity investment, response against M&A threats, conservative investment trends seen after a series of bankruptcy of large conglomerates (amidst crumbling myth of "Too Big to Fail"), and financial restructuring. Some also argued that the increased uncertainty in business environment is mainly responsible for conservative management, though there are few domestic studies made regarding the situation. But, in other countries, including the U.S., studies have shown that more volatility is seen now surrounding stock prices, profitability, and sales growth rate reflecting business performance. Also, there are other studies showing such expanded volatility have led to conservative management by businesses. In this regard, this study reviews the volatility conditions of business performance of Korean companies based on profitability, and then attempts to analyze the impact on investment brought on by increased volatility. Each company's profitability volatility used here is from the standard deviation of companies for the past five years. As a profitability indicator, the ROA (= operating profit/total asset) is used. According to the analysis, profitability volatility has remarkably increased from the mid 3% in 1994 to low 5% in 2005. Profitability volatility of the Korean companies has expanded to a great extent since the financial crisis. The crisis might have served to raise the volatility in the macroeconomic conditions. If increased volatility observed during the economic crisis had gradually declined after the crisis, the situation could be interpreted as a temporary phenomenon, not to be too concerned over. But, this was not the case for Korea. The volatility level, after the crisis, has not dropped back to its pre-crisis level. Hence, in the Korea's case, high volatility cannot be explained by the impact of financial crisis. Not only that, the fact that such expansion is seen in every industrial sector indicates that this phenomenon cannot be explained by the composition change of industries alone. An undergoing study shows that with a rapid spread of globalization, industries fiercely competing with China experience more volatility. Such increased volatility tends to contract investment, and since the crisis the impact of volatility on investment has slightly increased. It is noteworthy that this study only includes a part of 'uncertainty' that could be measured statistically. For instance, the profitability volatility indicator used in this study is unable to reflect all the effects that the tacit reduction of protection by the government or regulations might have made. So, the result here also indicates that other 'uncertain' factors not mentioned in this study may have served to contract investment sentiment. It would be impossible for policies to completely remove uncertainties measured by profitability volatility, but at least it is necessary to put effort to reduce the macroeconomic volatility in the future economic management. Stabilized macroeconomic management may not be enough to diminish all volatility that occurs within each company, but it would make a meaningful contribution in encouraging investment.

Performance Evaluation of Advance Warning System for Transporting Hazardous Materials (위험물 운송을 위한 조기경보시스뎀 성능평가)

  • Oh Sei-Chang;Cho Yong-Sung
    • The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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    • v.4 no.1 s.6
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    • pp.15-29
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    • 2005
  • Truck Shipment Safety Information, which is a part of the development of NERIS is divided into Optimal Route Guidance System and Emergency Response System. This research is for establishing an advance warning system, which aims for preventing damages(fire, explosion, gas-escape etc.) and detecting incidents that are able to happen during transporting hazardous materials in advance through monitoring the position of moving vehicles and the state of hazardous materials in real-time. This research is peformed to confirm the practical possibility of application of the advance warning system that monitors whether the hazardous materials transport vehicles move the allowed routes, finds the time and the location of incidents of the vehicles promptly and develops the emergency system that is able to respond to the incidents as well by using the technologies of CPS, CDMA and CIS with testing the ability of performance. As the results of the test, communication accuracies are 99$\%$ in freeway, 96$\%$ in arterial, 97$\%$ in hilly sections, 99$\%$ in normal sections, 96$\%$ in local sections, 99$\%$ in urban sections and 98$\%$ in tunnels. According to those results, the system has been recorded a high success rate of communication that enough to apply to the real site. However, the weak point appeared through the testing is that the system has a limitation of communication that is caused in the rural areas and certain areas where are fewer antennas that make communication possible between on-board unit and management server. Consequently, for the practical use of this system, it is essential to develop the exclusive en-board unit for the vehicles and find the method that supplements the receiving limitation of the GPS coordinates inside tunnels. Additionally, this system can be used to regulate illegal acts automatically such as illegal negligence of hazardous materials. And the system can be applied to the study about an application scheme as a guideline for transporting hazardous materials because there is no certain management system and act of toxic substances in Korea.

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Development and Validation of Predictive Model for Foodborne Pathogens in Preprocessed Namuls and Wild Root Vegetables (전처리 나물류 및 구근류에서 병원성 미생물의 성장예측모델 개발 및 검증)

  • Enkhjargal, Lkhagvasarnai;Min, Kyung Jin;Yoon, Ki Sun
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.42 no.10
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    • pp.1690-1700
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    • 2013
  • The objective of this study is to develop and validate predictive growth models for Bacillus cereus (diarrhea type) vegetative cells, spores and Staphylococcus aureus in preprocessed Namul (bracken and Chwinamul) and root vegetables (bellflower and burdock). For validation of model performance, growth data for S. aureus in preprocessed vegetables were collected at independent temperatures (18 and $30^{\circ}C$) not used in the model development. In addition, model performance of B. cereus (diarrhea type) in preprocessed vegetables was validated with an emetic type of B. cereus strain. In primary models, the specific growth rate (SGR) of the B. cereus spores was faster than that of the B. cereus vegetative cells, regardless of the kinds of vegetables at 24 and $35^{\circ}C$, while lag time (LT) of the B. cereus spores was longer than that of the B. cereus vegetative cells, except for burdock. The growth of B. cereus and S. aureus was not observed in bracken at temperatures lower than 13 and $8^{\circ}C$, respectively. The LT models for B. cereus (diarrhea type) in this study were suitable in predicting the growth of B. cereus (emetic type) on burdock and Chwinamul. On the other hand, SGR models for B. cereus (diarrhea type) were suitable for predicting the growth of B. cereus (emetic type) on all preprocessed vegetables. The developed models can be used to predict the risk of B. cereus and S. aureus in preprocessed Namul and root vegetables at the retail markets.

Experimental Study on Autothermal Reformation of Methanol with Various Oxygen to Methanol Ratios for Fuel Cell Applications (연료전지용 메탄올 자열 개질기의 산소-메탄올 비율에 따른 성능 실험)

  • Hwang, Ha-Na;Shin, Gi-Soo;Jang, Sang-Hoon;Choi, Kap-Seung;Kim, Hyung-Man
    • Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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    • v.35 no.4
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    • pp.391-397
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    • 2011
  • The use of Hydrogen as a fuel is receiving considerable attention and as a result, research on novel methods of hydrogen production is necessary so that the hydrogen demands in the future can be satisfied. This study presents experimental data on methanol Autothermal Reformation that quantifies the relationship between the oxygen-to-methanol ratio ($O_2/CH_3OH$) and reformer efficiency. For each catalyst configuration, the $O_2/CH_3OH$ was varied from 0.1 to 0.4, with an increment of 0.05, to investigate the effects of $O_2/CH_3OH$ on the reactor performance, including temperature profile, conversion, and efficiency. $O_2/CH_3OH$ was increased from 0.15 to 0.20, and the catalyst bed temperature increased by $235^{\circ}C$ to approximately $550^{\circ}C$. The catalyst bed temperature increased with increasing $O_2/CH_3OH$ as the reaction shifted from endothermic to exothermic reaction and as a result, excess heat, which raised the reactor temperature, was generated. The reactor performance was shown to be highly dependent on $O_2/CH_3OH$. The optimum $O_2/CH_3OH$ = 0.30 found in the experimental tests is 30% higher than the theoretical optimum of 0.23. This is attributed to a combination of factors such as the concentrations of the $O_2$ and $CH_3OH$ gas, reaction rate, catalyst effects, heat loss from the reactor, and the difference between the actual amounts of reaction products formed and the theoretical amounts of the reaction products.

Comparison of the Clinical Performance between Two Pulse Oximeters in NICU: Nellcor $N-595^{(R)}$ versus Masimo $SET^{(R)}$ (신생아 중환자실에서 맥박산소측정기의 감지도 비교: Nellcor $N-595^{(R)}$ versus Masimo $SET^{(R)}$)

  • Lee, Heun-Ji;Choi, Jang-Hwan;Min, Sung-Ju;Kim, Do-Hyun;Kim, Hee-Sup
    • Neonatal Medicine
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.245-249
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    • 2010
  • Purpose: Numerous false alarms by pulse oximetry, which is widely used in neonatal intensive care unit, can delay response to true alarms. Masimo $SET^{(R)}$ was introduced lately, to overcome false alarms by motion. We compared the clinical performance of two devices (Nellcor $N-595^{(R)}$ and Masimo $SET^{(R)}$) for the evaluation of the false alarm frequency during usual motion artifacts and stable state. Methods: A total of 20 preterm infants weighing 1,000-2,500 g were enrolled in the study. The sensors of two devices were placed on the different feet on the same infants, and both devices were programmed to emit an alarm for episode of hypoxemia (SpO2$\leq$85%). The false alarms were defined as episodes of poor correlation with ECG heart rate, poor waveforms, and the absence of obvious signs of hypoxia. We compared the frequency of false alarms between the two devices. Results: The mean chronological age was 20.8 days and the mean body weight was 1,668 g on the study day. The frequency of total false alarm was significantly fewer for Masimo $SET^{(R)}$ pulse oximetry (48 in Nellcor $N-595^{(R)}$, 27 in Masimo $SET^{(R)}$) although the false alarm during usual motion artifacts was not significantly between two devices (32 in Nellcor $N-595^{(R)}$, 19 in Masimo $SET^{(R)}$). Conclusion: The Masimo $SET^{(R)}$ pulse oximetry has fewer false alarm rates and identified more true hypoxic events than Nellcor $N-595^{(R)}$ pulse oximetry. Therefore, it is useful for adequate oxygen therapy and helps to decrease unnecessary handling by clinicians and nurses.

Effects of Dietary Non-Specific Immuno-Stimulator(NIS) on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics in Finishing Pigs (비육돈 사료내 비특이성 면역증강제(NIS)의 급여가 성장 및 도체특성에 미치는 영향)

  • 권오석;김인호;홍종욱;김지훈;민병준;이원백;손경승
    • Food Science of Animal Resources
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    • v.24 no.1
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    • pp.44-49
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    • 2004
  • This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of non-specific immuno-stimulator(NIS) supplementation on growth performance and carcass characteristics in finishing pigs. A total of eighty[Duroc${\times}$Yorkshir${\times}$Landrace] pigs(60.55${\pm}$3.72 kg in average initial body weight) were used for a 9-week assay. Dietary treatments included as follows 1) CON(basal diet), 2) NIS1(basal diet for 6 weeks and 0.05% NIS for 3 weeks), 3) NIS2(basal diet for 3 weeks and 0.05% NIS for 6 weeks) and 4) NIS3(0.05% NIS for 9 weeks). Average daily gain during the feeding period was not significantly different among the treatments (p>0.05). However, average daily feed intake was higher in NIS2 than CON(p<0.05). Backfat thickness did not differ among the treatments(p>0.05). The appearance rate of A or B carcass grade was much higher in NIS1 (58%) and NIS3 (75%) than CON(50%) and NIS2(50%). L*(lightness) value of loin was higher in NIS1 and NIS3 than CON and NIS2. However, there was no effect by dietary NIS(p>0.05). Although a*(redness) value of loin was lower in CON than other treatments, there was no significant difference among the treatments(p>0.05). No remarkable differences were found in sensory properties(marbling, firmness and color) among the treatments. The results from the present study suggest that NIS could be an effective feed additive to improve pork quality. However, further research is needed to investigate effect of carcass characteristics.

Development of a Small Size Hammer Mill for Farm Use (I) (농가용(農家用) 소형(小型) 사료(飼料) 분쇄기(粉碎機) 개량(改良)에 관(關)한 연구(硏究) (I))

  • Chang, D.I.;Kim, S.R.;Kim, M.S.;Lee, B.D.;Yi, K.J.
    • Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.334-344
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    • 1983
  • This study was conducted to investigate the variables affecting the performance of hammer mills by the theoretical and dimensional analysis, and evaluate the power requirements of hammer mills for farm use in Korea. From the theoretical analysis, 16 variables affecting the performance of hammer mills were defined. In order to develop the mathematical relationships among the variables, the dimensional analysis was made for power requirements and $12{\pi}$ parameters were obtained. For the evaluation of the power requirements of hammer mills, approximate rates of grinding for 1HP, 3HP, 5HP, 6HP, 8HP, and 10HP were analyzed. Then, the fineness of grinding recommendation and average feeding rate of grain for livestock which is native cattle, dairy cattle, beef cattle, swine, broilers, and layers, were estimated. Finally number of livestock feeding shelled corn and barley were estimated from the above for one hour's hammer mill operation having the various power requirements. From this study it is known that 5HP is considered as an enough power for feed grinding of any kinds of livestock of Korean farm, as far as the grinding capacity is concerned.

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The Study of Reducing Radiation Exposure Dose and Comparing SUV According to Applied IRIS (Iterative Reconstruction in Image Space) for PET/CT (PET/CT 검사 시 IRIS (Iterative Reconstruction in Image Space) 적용에 따른 CT 피폭선량 감소와 PET SUV 비교 연구)

  • Do, Yong Ho;Song, Ho Jun;Lee, Hyung Jin;Lee, Hong Jae;Kim, Jin Eui
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.29-34
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    • 2012
  • Purpose : Presently, hardwares and softwares for reducing radiation exposure are continually developed for PET/CT examination. Purpose of this study is to evaluate effectiveness of reducing radiation exposure dose of CT and SUV changes of PET when applied each kernel to ACCT (Attenuation Correction Computed Tomography) according to adopted IRIS (Iterative Reconstruction in Image Space) software. Materials and Methods : Biograph mCT (Siemens, Germany) was used as a PET/CT scanner. Using AAPM CT performance phantom, from standard (120 kVp, 100 mAs), 7 scans were conducted by reducing 15 mAs each. After image reconstruction by FBP (Filtered Back Projection) and IRIS, noise and spatial resolution were evaluated. The same method was applied to anthropomorphic chest phantom and acquired images were compared. NEMA IEC body phantom was used for SUV evaluation. Injected dose rate for hot sphere (hot) and background cylinder (BKG) were 1:8. CT dose condition (120 kVp, 50 mAs) was the same for each scan and PET scan durations were 1, 2, 3 and 4min. After scanning, each kernel of IRIS was applied to ACCT. And PET images were reconstructed by ACCT adopted IRIS for comparing SUV changes. Results : AAPM phantom test for noise evaluation, SD for FBP 100 mAs, IRIS 55 mAs were 8.8 and 8.9. FBP 85 mAs, IRIS 40 mAs were 9.5 and 9.7. FBP 70 mAs, IRIS 25 mAs were 11.9 and 11.1. Above mAs condition for FBP and IRIS, SD showed similar values. And for spatial resolution test, there was no significant difference. For chest phantom test, when applied the same mAs and kernel to both of FBP and IRIS, every applied kernels showed reduced noise. Lower mAs and higher kernel value showed higher noise reduction. There was no considerable difference only except for I70 very sharp kernel for SUV comparison using NEMA IEC body phantom. Conclusion : In this study, low mAs (55 mAs) applied IRIS and standard mAs (100 mAs) applied FBP showed similar noise. And only except for I70 kernel, there was no significant SUV changes. It is possible to reduce needless radiation exposure and acquire better image quality than FBP's through applying appropriate kernel of IRIS to PET/CT.

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