• Title/Summary/Keyword: Resource Availability

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Hair microscopy: an easy adjunct to diagnosis of systemic diseases in children

  • Dharmagat Bhattarai;Aaqib Zafar Banday;Rohit Sadanand;Kanika Arora;Gurjit Kaur;Satish Sharma;Amit Rawat
    • Applied Microscopy
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    • v.51
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    • pp.18.1-18.12
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    • 2021
  • Hair, having distinct stages of growth, is a dynamic component of the integumentary system. Nonetheless, derangement in its structure and growth pattern often provides vital clues for the diagnosis of systemic diseases. Assessment of the hair structure by various microscopy techniques is, hence, a valuable tool for the diagnosis of several systemic and cutaneous disorders. Systemic illnesses like Comel-Netherton syndrome, Griscelli syndrome, Chediak Higashi syndrome, and Menkes disease display pathognomonic findings on hair microscopy which, consequently, provide crucial evidence for disease diagnosis. With minimal training, light microscopy of the hair can easily be performed even by clinicians and other health care providers which can, thus, serve as a useful tool for disease diagnosis at the patient's bedside. This is especially true for resource-constrained settings where access and availability of advanced investigations (like molecular diagnostics) is a major constraint. Despite its immense clinical utility and non-invasive nature, hair microscopy seems to be an underutilized diagnostic modality. Lack of awareness regarding the important findings on hair microscopy may be one of the crucial reasons for its underutilization. Herein, we, therefore, present a comprehensive overview of the available methods for hair microscopy and the pertinent findings that can be observed in various diseases.

Strategies for Enhancing Zinc Anode Stability and Safety in Aqueous Zinc Secondary Battery (수계 아연 이차 전지 아연 음극 안정성 및 안전성 향상 전략)

  • Jong-Jin Park;Gyeongtae Seo;Yong-Tae Kim
    • Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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    • v.57 no.5
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    • pp.368-378
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    • 2024
  • The growing environmental concerns due to increased fossil fuel consumption have intensified the demand for sustainable and economically viable energy sources. Among the various energy storage devices, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are widely used in electronic devices and electric vehicles due to their high energy density and excellent cycle life. However, LIBs face challenges such as safety concerns due to side reactions, thermal expansion, and explosion risks, along with issues of limited resource availability and high costs. As a result, multivalent metals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and aluminum are being explored as alternatives to lithium. Recently, there has been significant interest in developing aqueous zinc-ion battery (AZIB) due to their use of water as an electrolyte solvent, which enhances safety by reducing the risk of fire even in the event of a short circuit. Additionally, AZIBs offer benefits such as non-toxicity, fast ion conductivity, high volumetric capacity, and cost-effectiveness due to the abundance of zinc. Despite these advantages, AZIBs face challenges including dendrite formation on the zinc anode during cycling, leading to short circuits, corrosion, and hydrogen gas evolution, which can compromise battery performance and safety. This review discusses the underlying mechanisms of these issues and explores various strategies to stabilize the zinc anode and improve the overall performance of AZIBs.

Research of the Inflight Meal Service Quality (항공사 기내식 서비스품질 연구)

  • Ko, Seon-Hee
    • Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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    • v.9 no.4
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    • pp.373-380
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    • 2018
  • The purpose of this study was to identify the importance and performance ranking and differences in inflight meal service quality. Data were collected from A airlines passengers. In order to secure the validity and reliability of the measurement tools, exploratory factor analysis were conducted, accordingly meal, service, cleanliness were deduced. IPA results are as follows. First, the quadrant I consisted of meal flavor, meal quality, meal menu, balanced diet, korean food availability, cleanliness of dishes, cleanliness of crew clothes. In the II quadrant, appropriate temperature, appropriateness of meal distribute time, cleanliness of the meal were found. So, the airline managers should have the most interest in these attributes and had to improve first. The quadrant III showed meal quantity, liquor diversity, polite attitude, immediate response to the meal, knowledge of the meal, meal freshness. Lastly, the quadrant IV showed a variety of beverage and special meal order. It is considered that resource allocation is necessary for minimizing the amount of resources invested to the quadrant IV, and then it should be allocated the quadrant II, which is high in importance but low in performance.

Comparison of Dry Matter Intake, Digestibility, and Nitrogen Balance in Spotted Deer (Cervus nippon) fed Forest by-product Silage, Arrowroot (Pueraria thunvegiana) Silage and Oak Browse (Quercus aliena) Hay (꽃사슴에 있어서 육림부산물 사일리지, 칡 사일리지 및 갈잎건초 급여에 따른 건물채식량, 소화율 및 질소출납의 비교)

  • Jeon, B.T.;Kim, Y.H.;Lee, S.M.;Kim, K.H.;Moon, S.H.
    • Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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    • v.44 no.1
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    • pp.87-94
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    • 2002
  • A comparison of intake, digestibility and nitrogen balance in spotted deer(Cervus nippon) fed forest by-product silage(FBS), arrowroot silage(ARS) and oak leaf hay(OLH) was made to examine the feeding value of forest by-product silage. Dry matter digestibility of ARS was significantly higher(p$<$0.05) than that of OLH while crude protein digestibility was significantly higher(p$<$0.05) in ARS and FBS than in OLH. The digestibility of crude fiber was highest in FBS. Dry matter intake of OLH was significantly higher(p$<$0.05) than that of ARS, and there was no significant difference with FBS. Nitrogen intake was higher in OLH and ARS than in FBS, but there was no significant difference. Fecal nitrogen was highest(p$<$0.05) in OLH and urinary nitrogen was highest(p$<$0.05) in ARS. Retained nitrogen was highest in FBS, however, there was no significant difference among treatments. In Conclusion. FBS was estimated as a useful roughage source for deer, showing high digestibility, dry matter intake and nitrogen utilization.

Creating a school nutrition environment index and pilot testing it in elementary and middle schools in urban South Korea

  • Park, Sohyun;Kwon, Kwang-il;Kweon, Soon Ju;Wang, Youfa;Gittelsohn, Joel
    • Nutrition Research and Practice
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    • v.11 no.5
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    • pp.402-411
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    • 2017
  • BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The role of a school's nutrition environment in explaining students' eating behaviors and weight status has not been examined in an Asian setting. The purpose of this study was to create a school nutrition environment index and to pilot test the index in elementary and middle schools in urban South Korea. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study used a mixed-methods approach. Environment assessment tools were developed based on formative research, which comprised literature reviews, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. Key elements from the formative research were included in the assessment tool, which consisted of a structured survey questionnaire for school dietitians. Fifteen school dietitians from 7 elementary and 8 middle schools in Seoul completed the questionnaire. RESULTS: The formative research revealed four main sections that guided a summary index to assess a school's nutrition environment: resource availability, education and programs, dietitians' perceptions and characteristics, and school lunch menu. Based on the literature reviews and interviews, an index scoring system was developed. The total possible score from the combined four index sections was 40 points. From the 15 schools participating in the pilot survey, the mean school nutrition-environment index was 22.5 (standard deviation ${\pm}3.2$; range 17-28). The majority of the schools did not offer classroom-based nutrition education or nutrition counseling for students and parents. The popular modes of nutrition education were school websites, posters, and newsletters. CONCLUSIONS: This paper illustrates the process used to develop an instrument to assess a school's nutrition environment. Moreover, it presents the steps used to develop a scoring system for creation of a school nutrition environment index. As pilot testing indicated the total index score has some variation across schools, we suggest applying this instrument in future studies involving a larger number of schools. Future studies with larger samples will allow investigation of the validity and reliability of this newly developed tool.

Effects of organic matter sources on nitrogen supply potential in arable land (농경지에서 유기물 시용에 의한 질소 공급 효과)

  • Lee, Ye-Jin;Yun, Hong-Bae;Song, Yo-Sung;Lee, Chang-Hoon;Sung, Jwa-Kyung;Ha, Sang-Keun
    • Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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    • v.42 no.4
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    • pp.431-437
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    • 2015
  • Recently, assessment of nitrogen balance has been required for environmental agriculture. Nutrient management using organic matters in farmlands has been strongly required as a means of extending resource-cycling agriculture and reduction of nitrogen balance. Organic matters-derived nutrients and soil-available nitrogen should be necessarily considered to manage nutrient balance in soil-plant system. In this study, we reviewed the amount of N supply according to types of organic matter such as livestock compost and green manure in arable land. In case of applied livestock compost in soil, nitrogen mineralization was influenced by nitrogen amount of livestock manure and mixed materials. And nitrogen mineralization of green manure in arable land was influenced by types of crop and return period of green manure because of change of C/N ratio. Also, nitrogen supply by organic matter in arable land can be changed by environmental factors such as temperature, moisture in soil. Therefore, nitrogen supply according to C/N ratio of organic matter and analysis method for estimation of soil nitrogen supply availability should be evaluated to set up the nutrient management model.

Separated Control Signaling Protocol for WDM Optical Networks (파장 분할 다중화 방식을 사용하는 광 전송망을 위한 분리 제어 신호 방식)

  • No, Seon-Sik;Kim, Su-Hyeon;So, Won-Ho;Kim, Yeong-Cheon
    • Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea TC
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    • v.37 no.6
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    • pp.1-11
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    • 2000
  • In this paper, we propose a novel control signaling protocol that efficiently controls connection setup and increases the utilization of network resources. The proposed protocol, Separated Control Signaling Protocol(SCSP), separates bearer control from call control lot WDM optical networks. The main function of call control is to check the availability of network resources such as wavelengths and receivers at destination node. Bearer control is to reserve and assign wavelengths. The signaling architecture of this protocol consists of call controller and hearer controller The call controller handles call setup and release, activates the beater controller, and manages the status of call and bearer. The bearer controller reserves wavelengths, sets up bearer, tears down bearer. and notifies the status of beater to call controller. The state transition diagrams of each controller are designed. Using control messages and related primitives, the information flows for call setup and bearer setup, hearer teardown and call release, and reaction for setup failures are described to evaluate the performance. The simulation results show that the separated control signaling protocol is superior to conventional one in terms of call blocking probability and resource utilization.

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Policy Measures for Improving Health Care Services in Rural Areas (농촌보건의료서비스 향상을 위한 제도 개선방안)

  • Moon, O.R.;Lee, L.S.;Park, J.Y.;Ko, D.H.;Lee, K.H.
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.97-119
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    • 1991
  • Korea has made a rapid economic development since the last three decades. This has helped Korea narrow the gap in health service differences in resource availability and in quality of care. However urban and rural differentials are still remarkable. This study has maintained that health status of rural residents is inferior to that of urban dwellers. Therefore, this study was carried out to develop policy measures for improving health services in rural areas. In order to achieve the objective of this study the authors collaborated closely and made field visits, interviews and conducted an extensive literature review regarding rural health services. The following policy options are recommended as a summary ; First, the quality of rural health personnel is a single most important factor influencing the level of rural health services. An innovative program for public health doctors to the internship and/or residency training program such as specialty board program of family medicine. Second, dissatisfaction regarding employment of public health doctors is problematic. More rational employment and deployment programs are needed to meet their personal desire. One way to do this is to make it wide open and competitive. Third this study shows how to increase physician productivity in the rural public health sector. Incentive system needs to be elaborated for the career development of rural health workers. University linked job opportunity as clinical professor is an example. Fourth, without straightening the function of health centers and subcenters, the future of rural health services is doomed to failure. Straightening primary health care is one way to enrich the program of public health facilities and reactivating the operation of health center/hospital is another. A close linkage of public facilities with private hospitals is a minimum requirement for the operation of health delivery system within a health district. Fifth, some measures are urgently required to enhance hospital services in medically underserved areas. Financial subsidy, tax exemption, long-term public loans and higher priority of health manpower deployment are some of them. Sixth, new health programs should be in tiated to meet changing needs of peoples in rural areas. Home health care program, hospice program, nursing home, residential program for the elderly are recommended.

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Estimation of Agricultural By-products and Investigation on Nutrient Contents for Alternatives of Imported Oil-cakes (수입유박 대체 비료자원 발굴을 위한 농업부산물 발생량 추정 및 양분 함량 조사)

  • An, Nan-Hee;Lee, Sang-min;Cho, Jung-Rai;Lee, Cho-Rong
    • Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.71-81
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    • 2019
  • This research was conducted to improve availability of agricultural by-products, national natural resources that could be used as fertilizer source, by estimating the amount of production and collecting main contents of fertilizer substances from previous studies and data, in order to be used as basic data to investigate national resources that could be used as alternatives for imported oil-cakes in the future. Conversion factor was used to estimate annual production of agricultural by-products for main 34 crop types in 2018. For total agricultural by-products, rice straws accounted at 50.3% for the highest proportion, followed by 8.7% of rice husks, showing that by-products from rice harvest accounted at 59.0% for all by-products. Further, there were listed the contents of fertilizer substances (nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash) in 40 types of by-products from agricultural areas. The average contents of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in agricultural by-products were 1.43%, 0.59%, and 1.90%, respectively. As a result of estimating the annual nitrogen supply amount from 26 agricultural by-products in 2018, it was found that it could supply 44,911 tons of nitrogen. The investigated by-products contained fertilizer substances such as nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, but the contents were lower compared to castor oil-cake used as main component of organic fertilizer. Therefore, resource management plan needs to be established for efficient use of by-products because time, location, and nutrient content of agricultural by-product production were extremely different. Research on fertilizer and manure using agricultural by-products need to be conducted to develop and distribute alternatives for imported oil-cakes.

Effect of Mature Miscanthus sacchariflorus var. No. 1 on In Vitro Rumen Fermentation Characteristics and Its Dry Matter Digestibility (생육 후기 거대억새의 In vitro 반추위 발효특성 및 건물 소화율)

  • Cho, Sang-Buem;Mbiriri, David Tinotenda;Oh, Sung-Jin;Lee, A-Reum;Yang, Jin-Ho;Ryu, Chae-Hwa;Park, Chang-Min;Moon, Yun-Ho;Chae, Jung-Il;Choi, Nag-Jin
    • Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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    • v.32 no.2
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    • pp.165-174
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    • 2012
  • This study was conducted to develop Miscanthus as a new roughage resource for ruminant animals. Miscanthus sacchariflorus var. No 1, a newly developed germtype in Korea, was harvested at late maturity stage and its effect on rumen pH, ammonia nitrogen, gas production, volatile fatty acid (VFA) production and digestibility were evaluated using in vitro rumen fermentation. The effects of Miscanthus were compared with rice straw. Miscanthus showed significantly higher pH compared to rice straw (p<0.01). As for ammonia nitrogen, there was no significant difference after 12 h of incubation (p>0.05). Gas production in Miscanthus was significantly lower than that of rice straw in overall incubation time (p<0.05) after 6 h of incubation. In VFA production, acetate, propionate, butyrate, valerate and total VFA production in Miscanthus were lower than those in rice straw. However, production of iso-butyrate and iso-valerate were not different in between two forage materials. Dry matter digestibility of Miscanthus was significantly lower than rice straw (p<0.05) during 12~24 h of incubation. As a result, the availability of Miscanthus as roughage source showed approximately 80% that of rice straw.