• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.10-18
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• 2020

Background: The elevated risk of occupational infection such as tuberculosis among health workers in many countries raises the question of whether the quality of occupational health and safety (OHS) and infection prevention and control (IPC) can be improved by auditing. The objectives of this study were to measure (1) audited compliance of primary health-care facilities in South Africa with national standards for OHS and IPC, (2) change in compliance at reaudit three years after baseline, and (3) the inter-rater reliability of the audit. Methods: The study analyzed audits of 60 primary health-care facilities in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Baseline external audits in the time period 2011-2012 were compared with follow-up internal audits in 2014-2015. Audits at 25 facilities that had both internal and external audits conducted in 2014/2015 were used to measure reliability. Results: At baseline, 25% of 60 facilities were "noncompliant" (audit score<50%), 48% "conditionally compliant" (score >50 < 80%), and only 27% "compliant" (score >80%). Overall, there was no significant improvement in compliance three years after baseline. Percentage agreement on specific items between internal and external audits ranged from 28% to 92% and kappa from -0.8 to 0.41 (poor to moderate). Conclusion: Low baseline compliance with OHS-IPC measures and lack of improvement over three years reflect the difficulties of quality improvement in these domains. Low inter-rater reliability of the audit instrument undermines the audit process. Evidence-based investment of effort is required if repeat auditing is to contribute to occupational risk reduction for health workers.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.36-41
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• 2008

It is known that ethanolamines play a critical role for deacidification of paper sized by alum-rosin. However, amines also are effective as a chelating agent of metal. The present work was focused on whether amines could scavenge metals and prevent from the aging of paper. Metals such as alum, copper(II) and iron(III) was added to paper, and the paper treated with amines was aged in a thermo-hygrostat for 3-6 days. In the case of paper added to alum, the amines efficiency against paper aging was good in the oder of triethanolamine, diethanolamine and monoethanolamine attributable to the intensity of basicity and steric effect. Even in the case of paper treated with copper(II) chloride, iron(III) chloride, and copper(II) chloride, the significant preservation efficiency was shown by ethanolamine during accelerated aging. This outcome pinpoints the fact that ethanolamine can prevent paper aging not only from acid by neutralizing acid contained in paper but also from metals by producing of complexes with metals. These consequences above convince that ethanolamine makes it possible for mass deacidification for paper which contains acid and metals. Future studies should be conducted concerning whether, in reality, the treatment of its gas mode, in a single or multiple applications, has significant effect on lessening paper aging.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.518-540
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• 2024

Mobile technologies have enabled marketers to target consumers anywhere and anytime. However, as consumers react and respond differently depending on what situation they are in, there is an apparent need to determine when, where, and what kind of advertisement is most relevant to the consumer. This paper proposes a holistic approach to examine the response of consumers when faced with two types of contextual factors (environmental/spatial and social contexts) through the lens of the Mobile Advertising Effectiveness Framework. We focus on the contextual effects of perceived distance from the offline store and the effect of popularity cue indication. A scenario-based survey is conducted to investigate the effects of perceived distance and popularity cue on the users' attitudes, and ultimately on their response intentions, upon receipt of mobile ads. Results of the study confirm the hypotheses: first, mobile ads sent when users perceive the physical store to be in close proximity tend to evoke more positive attitudes and elicit better responses compared to when users perceive the store to be farther away. Additionally, ad messages indicating high popularity were found to be more appealing than those with low popularity. These empirical results underscore the pivotal role of context, encompassing both spatial context (proximity to offline stores) and social context (popularity cues), in shaping consumer attitudes and response intentions in mobile advertising. The findings of the study offer theoretical insights that underline the significance of holistic context-based approaches that in turn, marketers may use to design more effective mobile ad campaigns that may elicit better responses from consumers.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.27 no.6 s.65
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• pp.865-870
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• 1997

The submental region in patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is Perceived to be larger than normal. Therefore, neck thickness has become a variable routinely measured during clinical screening of OSA subjects. In general, OSA Patients are believed to have a large tongue and a narrow airway. To test if OSA patients have a larger face and tongue than non-apneics, eighty pairs of upright and supine cephalograms were obtained from four groups of subjects subclassified in accordance with severity. The sum of distances between pairs of landmarks was calculated for each subjects and employed as a pure size variable for the face and tongue. Only tongue size becomes larger in accordance with apnea severity in both body positions (P<.01). Tongue size reflects apnea severity, yet it Provides only a small fraction of the explanation with regard to apnea severity. We conclude that size may be one factor of many which are significantly related to OSA severity.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.93-100
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• 2012

Cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and adaptation to environmental changes are regulated by protein phosphorylation. In order to enhance the understanding of molecular dynamics for biological process in detail, it is necessary to develop sensitive and comprehensive analytical methods for the determination of protein phosphorylation. Neural stem cells hold great promise for neural repair following an injury or disease. In this study, we made differentiated oligodendrocytes from human neural stem cells using over-expression of olig2 gene. We confirmed using quantitative phosphoproteome analysis approach that combines stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) and $TiO_2$ micro-column for phosphopeptide enrichment with $MS^2$ and $MS^3$ mass spectrometry. We detected 275 phosphopeptides which were modulated at least 2-fold between human neural stem cells and oligodendrocytes. Among them, 23 phosphoproteins were up-regulated in oligodendrocytes and 79 phosphoproteins were up-regulated in F3 cells.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.67 no.4
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• pp.359-368
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• 2018

In this paper, a method is presented to identify the physical and modal parameters of multistory shear building based on substructural technique using block pulse generalized operational matrix and genetic algorithm. The substructure approach divides a complete structure into several substructures in order to significantly reduce the number of unknown parameters for each substructure so that identification processes can be independently conducted on each substructure. Block pulse functions are set of orthogonal functions that have been used in recent years as useful tools in signal characterization. Assuming that the input-outputs data of the system are known, their original BP coefficients can be calculated using numerical method. By using generalized BP operational matrices, substructural dynamic vibration equations can be converted into algebraic equations and based on BP coefficient for each story can be estimated. A cost function can be defined for each story based on original and estimated BP coefficients and physical parameters such as mass, stiffness and damping can be obtained by minimizing cost functions with genetic algorithm. Then, the modal parameters can be computed based on physical parameters. This method does not require that all floors are equipped with sensor simultaneously. To prove the validity, numerical simulation of a shear building excited by two different normally distributed random signals is presented. To evaluate the noise effect, measurement random white noise is added to the noise-free structural responses. The results reveal the proposed method can be beneficial in structural identification with less computational expenses and high accuracy.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.110-122
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• 2012

This study investigated the effects of layered clay on the thermal curing behavior and tensile properties of resole phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin/clay/cellulose nanocomposites. The thermal curing behavior of the nanocomposite was characterized using conventional differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and temperature modulated (TMDSC). The addition of clay was found to accelerate resin curing, as measured by peak temperature ($T_p$) and heat of reaction (${\Delta}H$) of the nanocomposite’ curing reaction increasing clay addition decreased $T_p$ with a minimum at 3~5% clay. However, the reversing heat flow and heat capacity showed that the clay addition up to 3% delayed the vitrification process of the resole PF resin in the nanocomposite, indicating an inhibition effect of the clay on curing in the later stages of the reaction. Three different methods were employed to determineactivation energies for the curing reaction of the nanocomposite. Both the Ozawa and Kissinger methods showed the lowest activation energy (E) at 3% clay content. Using the isoconversional method, the activation energy ($E_{\alpha}$) as a function of the degree of conversion was measured and showed that as the degree of cure increased, the $E_{\alpha}$ showed a gradual decrease, and gave the lowest value at 3% nanoclay. The addition of clay improved the tensile strengths of the nanocomposites, although a slight decrease in the elongation at break was observed as the clay content increased. These results demonstrated that the addition of clay to resole PF resins accelerate the curing behavior of the nanocomposites with an optimum level of 3% clay based on the balance between the cure kinetics and tensile properties.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.38 no.3 s.116
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• pp.29-37
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• 2006

To use bamboo in the pulp industry, the anatomical characteristics of 60-day-old, 1-year-old, 2-year-old, and 3-year-old moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel), and the characteristics of fiber and sheet of alkali pulp made of moso bamboo were investigated. Moso bamboo is composed of metaxylens and parenchyma cells in the inner part of the wall, and thick-walled small bundle sheathes near the outer walls. Moso bamboo showed the heterogeneity in anatomical structure. The longest fibers were shown in the middle part, and the widest width in the inner part. The lignin contents were 14.4% in 60-day-old bamboo, which was not lignified yet. The lignin contents in bamboo above 1 year were approximately 35%. The yields of alkali pulp of moso bamboo were in the range between 41 and 47%, and the yields tend to decrease with the increase of ages. The lignin contents of 60-day-old bamboo were 2.1% and those of bamboo above 1 year showed approximately 4% to 5% increment. The length, width, and curl index of fiber in alkali pulp appeared to be similar in all ages. However, coarseness increased slightly with the increase of bamboo ages. The distribution of long fiber was shown much in 60-year-old bamboo. The optical and mechanical properties of moso bamboo tended to decrease with the increase of bamboo age.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1028-1038
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• 2005

To elucidate phylogenetic relationships of Phellinus and its related genera, nuclear internal transcribed spacer and mitochondrial small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences from 65 strains were determined and compared. The combined dataset of two sequences increased informative characters and led to the production of trees with higher levels of resolution. Phylogenetic analysis of the combined dataset revealed thirteen evolutionary lineages and several unresolved species that were together subdivided into two large clusters consisting of oligonucleate species and binucleate species. These results coincided with previous cytological, morphological, and molecular studies. It is newly recognized that the Phellinus linteus complex forms a sister clade to Inonotus, and that Fulvifomes is somehow related to Inocutis. The Phellinus linteus complex of dimitic perennial taxa made an independent clade from Inonotus and suggested that hyphal miticity and fruitbody permanence had enough phylogenetic significance to keep the complex within the traditional genus Phellinus. Taxa lacking setae were clustered into Fulvifomes, Phylloporia, Inocutis, and Fomitiporia, and the first three were closely related sister groups, but Fomitiporia was a genus distantly related to them. Several taxa with branched setae were shown among distantly related genera. Molecular evidence indicated that the ancestral nuclear type could be a binucleate feature, and that there might be parallel gains of branched setae and parallel losses of setae in the Hymenochaetales.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.701-705
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• 2007

Seven rc mutant and seven normal male birds (Rhode Island Red suie, RIR) were used in this study to determine the effects of rc mutation on semen characteristics, testosterone profile and spermatogenic tissues. All birds were randomly selected at week 12 of age and housed in individual cages and were fed and watered ad libitum. The birds were exposed to a 14L:10D light cycle during experiment. Semen were collected at weeks 22 to 23 from each bird twice a week and evaluated for semen volume (SV), sperm concentration (SC), total sperm count (TSC), percent of sperm motility (%SM), dead sperm (%DS), and sperm metabolic activity (SMA). To determine the testosterone concentration (TC) in plasma, blood was collected at weeks 12, 16 and 18. Testicular tissue were collected, processed and evaluated for semineferous tubule diameter (STD), round spermatid number (RSN), percent elongated sperm (%ES) and semineferous tubules length (STL). Body weight (BW), comb weight (CW) and testes weight (TW) were weighted at the end of experiment (week 23). The SV, TSC and %SM were significantly higher in normal birds but the %DS was higher in blind birds (p<0.05). The SC did not differ significantly between the two groups but its value was higher in normal birds. The sperm metabolic activity in the first h of collection did not differ significantly between the two groups but after 24 h, the level of SMA in normal group was significantly higher (p<0.05). The level of TC did not differ significantly between the two genotype groups but normal birds had higher TC in all collections except the last one. The STD, RSN, %ES and STL in normal birds were higher when compared to blind birds but the differences were insignificant except for ES percent. The BW, CW and TW between the two groups did not differ significantly but the weights were higher in normal group compared to blind birds. Statistical analysis of semen characteristics, testosterone profile and histological factors were indicated detrimental effects of rc mutation in prepubertal RIR blind male birds due to lack of light.