• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.465-474
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• 2019

Purpose: This study examined the association between the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and the cognitive functions in Korean elderly. Methods: The subjects were 393 adults aged 60 years or older who participated in the Yangpyeong cohort between July 2009 and August 2010. The subjects were classified into deficiency, insufficiency, or adequacy groups according to the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration diagnostic criteria suggested by the US Institute of Medicine (IOM). The cognitive function was assessed based on the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-KC). The dietary intake was assessed using the quantitative food frequency questionnaire with 106 food items. Results: The proportions of deficiency, insufficiency, or adequacy in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D were 6.6%, 44.5%, and 48.9%, respectively. The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration was significantly higher in men than in women and in outdoor workers than in other occupations. The adequacy group had higher MMSE-KC scores than the other two groups, but not to a significant degree. The proportion of cognitive impairment tended to decrease with increasing serum vitamin D concentration to deficiency, insufficiency, and adequacy (p for trend = 0.029). The deficiency group had a 2.28 times higher risk of cognitive impairment than the adequacy group, but the difference was not statistically significant (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 0.18 ~ 1.07, p for trend = 0.119). Conclusion: The serum vitamin D concentration tended to be associated with the cognitive function in elderly Koreans living in rural areas. To confirm the associations, further longitudinal studies with large samples were required.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.104-114
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• 2019

This study explored to analyze the winning determinants of the lawsuit cases on the urban and housing redevelopment project based on jurimetric methods. Based on affirm-rate and staircase matrix tables, 441 lawsuit judgments are analyzed. Research findings in affirm-rate analysis indicate that past legal relation, no own defect of accreditation, no ownership or association member status, lapse of period of litigation, and no legal interest are identified as higher rate in order for the reason for plea on the merit. And so are defect on calculation of consent rate, defect in relation with written consent, approval before zoning designation, defect in relation with general meeting, and defect on zoning designation for the issue on the merit. It is noteworthy from the staircase matrix table analysis that the criteria for affecting the lawsuit outcome is determined based on key forecasting variables such as past legal relation and no ownership or association member status. This study intends to provide the implication that the unnecessary disputes can be reduced in the urban and housing redevelopment project by the implementation of jurimetric quantitative analysis methodology from the perspective of empirical law.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.158-165
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• 2019

Although evaluation of writing disabilities identification and timely intervention are required, clinicians adopt a manual scoring method and there is a possibility of error due to subjective evaluation. In this study, the size ratio and position of letters are digitized and quantified through image processing of offline handwritten characters. We tried to evaluate objectively and accurately the performance of writing through comparison with existing methods. From November 12th to 16th, 2018, 20 adults without neurological injury were selected. They used a pencil to follow the 10 words, 2 sentence stimuli after keeping the usual habit, and we collected the writing test data. The results showed that the height of the word was 1.2 times larger than the width and it tilted to the lower left. The spacing interval was 9mm on average. In the Paired T test, a high correlation was showed between our system and existing methods in the word and sentence 2. This demonstrated the possibility as a testing tool. This study evaluated objectively and precisely writing performance of offline handwritten characters through image processing and provided preliminary data for performance standards. In the future, it can be suggested as a basic data on writing diagnosis of various ages.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2019

Thermal power generation accounts for the highest percentage of domestic power generation, among which coal-fired boiler generation accounts for the highest percentage. Coal boilers generate harmful substances and fine dust during coal combustion and have a serious effect on air pollution. So, fluidized-bed boilers have been introduced as eco-friendly coal boilers. It uses a fluid medium which affect the combustion temperature of coal. Because of it fluidized-bed boilers emit less pollutants than original one. Water-wall tubes play an important role in this fluidized bed boiler. Due to the fluid medium, the wall damage is more severe than the existing boiler. However, there is no quantitative maintenance technique in Korea yet. Remote field eddy current testing is a non-destructive evaluation technique that is often used for inspection of inner and outer wall of tube. it can inspect with non-contact and high speed. However, it is an inspection that proceeds from inside the pipe, and the water-wall tube is not able to enter the interior. In this study, we designed and simulated an external remote field eddy current sensor suitable for water-wall tube of a fluidized - bed boiler using simulations. By obtaining a signal similar to the existing remote field eddy current test, the criteria for the external remote field eddy current sensor design can be presented.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.473-479
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• 2021

The diagnostic criteria for diffuse thyroid disease are ambiguous and there are many errors due to the subjective diagnosis of experts. Also, studies on ultrasound imaging of thyroid nodules have been actively conducted, but studies on diffuse thyroid disease are insufficient. In this study, features were extracted by applying the GLCM algorithm to ultrasound images of normal and diffuse thyroid disease, and quantitative analysis was performed using the extracted feature values. Using the GLCM algorithm for thyroid ultrasound images of patients diagnosed at W hospital, 199 normal cases, 132 mild cases, and 99 moderate cases, a region of interest (50×50 pixel) was set for a total of 430 images, and Autocorrelation, Sum of squares, sum average, sum variance, cluster prominence, and energy were analyzed using six parameters. As a result, in autocorrelation, sum of squares, sum average, and sum variance four parameters, Normal, Mild, and Moderate were distinguished with a high recognition rate of over 90%. This study is valuable as a criterion for classifying the severity of diffuse thyroid disease in ultrasound images using the GLCM algorithm. By applying these parameters, it is expected that errors due to visual reading can be reduced in the diagnosis of thyroid disease and can be utilized as a secondary means of diagnosing diffuse thyroid disease.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.587-598
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• 2021

This study aims to develop a multi-camera based MMS (Mobile Mapping System) technology for building a HD (High Definition) map for autonomous driving and for quick update. To replace expensive lidar sensors and reduce long processing times, we intend to develop a low-cost and efficient MMS by applying multiple cameras and real-time data pre-processing. To this end, multi-camera storage technology development, multi-camera time synchronization technology development, and MMS prototype development were performed. We developed a storage module for real-time JPG compression of high-speed images acquired from multiple cameras, and developed an event signal and GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) time server-based synchronization method to record the exposure time multiple images taken in real time. And based on the requirements of each sector, MMS was designed and prototypes were produced. Finally, to verify the performance of the manufactured multi-camera-based MMS, data were acquired from an actual 1,000 km road and quantitative evaluation was performed. As a result of the evaluation, the time synchronization performance was less than 1/1000 second, and the position accuracy of the point cloud obtained through SFM (Structure from Motion) image processing was around 5 cm. Through the evaluation results, it was found that the multi-camera based MMS technology developed in this study showed the performance that satisfies the criteria for building a HD map.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.263-268
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• 2022

Health care workers (HCWs) are more than ten times more likely to be infected with coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) than the general population, thus demonstrating the burden of COVID-19 among HCWs. Factors that expose HCWs to a differentially high-risk of COVID-19 acquisition are important to elucidate, enable appropriate public health interventions to mitigate against high risk and reduce adverse outcomes from the infection. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize and critically analyze the existing evidence on SARS-CoV-2 risk factors among HCWs. With no geographical limitation, we included studies, in any country, that reported (i) the PCR laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19 as an independent variable (ii) one or more COVID-19 risk factors among HCWs with risk estimates (relative risk, odds ratio, or hazard ratio) (iii) original, quantitative study design, and published in English or Mandarian. Our initial search resulted in 470 articles overall, however, only 10 studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. Out of the 10 studies included in the review, inadequate/lack of protective personal equipment, performing tracheal intubation, and gender were the most common risk factors of COVID-19. Based on the random effects adjusted pooled relative risk, HCWs who reported the use of protective personal equipment were 29% (95% CI: 16% to 41%) less likely to test positive for COVID-19. The study also revealed that HCWs who performed tracheal intubations were 34% (95% CI: 14% to 57%) more likely to test positive for COVID-19. Interestingly, this study showed that female HCWs are at 11% higher risk (RR 1.11 95% CI 1.01-1.21) of COVID-19 than their male counterparts. This article presents initial findings from a living systematic review and meta-analysis, therefore, did not yield many studies; however, it revealed a significant insight into better understanding COVID-19 risk factors among HCWs; insights important for devising preventive strategies that protect them from this infection.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.395-417
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• 2022

This study aims to analyze the correlation of creative personality, environment, process, and product as related to scientific creativity for different levels of elementary school students. We evaluated 105 fifth graders' responses to two tests: i) the scientific creativity test for creative process and product and ii) the self-report test for creative personality and environment. In the self-report test, creative personality comprises cognitive and affective personality, and creative environment constitutes home and school environments. To attain a deeper understanding of phenomena that cannot be explained by a quantitative analysis, interviews were conducted with four students who had the highest scores in creative product and four students who had the lowest scores in creative product while having higher-than-average scores in creative process. First, correlation of creative personality and environment were not significant. Second, in the interviews, students who had the highest scores in scientific creativity had common characteristics, namely, the ability to endure current difficulties to achieve future success and the propensity to listen to other people's ideas critically. Third, students who had the highest scores in creativity hailed from families that respected their opinions, whereas students with the lowest scores belonged to families that disregarded or neglected their opinions. Finally, this study specifies the criteria that should be considered for affective and environmental aspects of scientific creativity education.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.211-232
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• 2022

Research performance evaluation has been based heavily on quantitative criteria. Various limitations however were revealed and the demand for excellence in research quality was growing and the importance of qualitative evaluation factors was increasing as well. The study investigates and introduces cases for improving research evaluation that have appeared around the world since 2010. To extract qualitative factors that can be introduced in research achievement evaluation in Korea this study investigated and organized the performance evaluation cases of foreign universities and proposed the introduction of the evaluation method in Korea. Qualitative evaluation factors were extracted by analyzing achievement evaluation documents evaluation procedures and evaluation standards of top 10 universities around the world. As a results this study proposes the use of various performance evaluation documents mulch-faceted evaluation and multi-level performance evaluation process and various qualitative performance evaluation standards. In traditional bibliometrics, while the degree of citation was measured when generating research evaluation indicators, future indicators may reflect recommendation scores as indicators, or include industrial connectivity and utilization in education / industry. It is hoped that the performance evaluation method will be balanced through this paper and ultimately the professor's research achievement evaluation will be a process that can help individuals grow into excellent researchers and develop the research environment.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.29-41
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• 2007

An assesment technique for the quantitative evaluation of tunnel safety during tunnel excavation was newly proposed in this study using displacement measurements. First of all, field measurement guidelines used at tunnel construction sites in Korea and other countries were investigated. It was found out that the criteria of the guidelines were not clear and varied depending on the construction sites. The practical use of field measurement data for the evaluation of tunnel safety was very limited due to uncertainties of the guidelines related to the interpretation of measured data during the excavation. Critical strain concept is introduced in this study for the assesment of tunnel safety during the tunnel excavation. Moreover, the characteristics of tunnel displacements caused by the tunnel excavation were investigated in detail in order to investigate the practical application of the critical strain concept. The total tunnel displacements can be subdivided into three parts: displacements occurring ahead of tunnel face, displacements occurring prior to measurements, and displacements occurring after the installation of instruments. The characteristic of each portion of displacements is analysed in this study. Finally, a general method on the use of the displacement measurement data for the critical strain concept was suggested in the concrete manner, considering the field measurement practice in Korea.