• Title/Summary/Keyword: Value Improvement

Search Result 3,990, Processing Time 0.039 seconds

Improvement of the Thinning System by Exploring the Stand Density Management Criteria for Chamaecyparis obtusa in South Korea (편백림의 임분밀도 관리 기준 탐색을 통한 시업체계 개선)

  • Su Young Jung;Kwang Soo Lee;Hyun Soo Kim;Joon Hyung Park
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
    • /
    • v.113 no.1
    • /
    • pp.131-142
    • /
    • 2024
  • The purpose of this study was to estimate the optimal stand density criteria for each growth stage of Chamaecyparis obtusa (Siebold & Zucc.) Endl. to achieve the timber production goal for cypress forests and develop an optimal silvicultural system for forest thinning. A relative yield index (Ry) value of 0.75, presented as a stand density management criterion index, was estimated by analyzing the relationship characteristics between the composition ratio and stand density of slender trees from 216 sample plots of the recruited cypress forests. The analysis of the feasibility of achieving each production target in the existing silvicultural system for C. obtusa revealed that the growth rate according to the parameters of forest land productivity, such as site index and thinning intensity according to the increase in age, was not properly reflected. In the thinning system for each timber production target analyzed in this study, 353 high-quality large hardwoods from 498.1 m3/ha, 703 high-quality medium hardwoods from 376.2 m3/ha, and 1,758 small-diameter hardwoods from 249.5 m3/ha could be harvested. Although the silvicultural system prepared on the basis of the results of this study cannot be uniformly applied according to various management goals, this study is meaningful in that it presents empirical reference standards based on the stand density management diagram that reflects the growth characteristics of cypress forests in South Korea.

Assessment of stingless bee densification to improve pollination service: a case study in strawberry cultivation in field conditions

  • Priscila Silva Miranda;Zilda Cristina Malheiros Lima;Raquel Perez-Maluf;Paulo Henrique Marques Monroe;Aldenise Alves Moreira
    • Journal of Ecology and Environment
    • /
    • v.48 no.2
    • /
    • pp.173-181
    • /
    • 2024
  • Background: Pollination is an ecosystem service of utmost importance for agriculture. In this context, the study aimed to evaluate the pollination service of naturally occurring bees and after densification with colonies of stingless bees (Nannotrigona testceicornis and Tetragonisca angustula) in commercial strawberry plantation. The study was carried out in the four seasons of the year and under two experimental conditions: natural pollination (NP) and pollination under bee densification. The supply of flowers and bee density were estimated. For bee densification, four boxes of colonies of Iraí bees and four of Jataí bees were placed near the strawberry plantation. Five treatments were established for each condition, considering NP and pollination with bee densification on different days from flower anthesis, ranging from the 1st to the 5th day. Fruits were harvested, quantified, and submitted to evaluations to determine biometry, degree of deformity, and percentage of fertilized achenes. Results: There was a higher density in summer compared to other seasons in both conditions evaluated. The weight was greater (20.19 g) when fruits were pollinated on the first day after floral anthesis under pollination conditions with bee densification. It was observed that free pollination provided fruits with greater a greater of deformation of flowers on the fourth and fifth day after anthesis. However, when bee density became higher, the greatest degree of deformity was observed only in fifth-day fruits. The densification with stingless bees provided a 50% increase in the number of bees present on strawberry plants in summer and also a 15% increase in fruit weight and the occurrence of a lower degree of fruit deformity. Conclusions: Density with stingless bees provided a 50% increase in the number of bees present on strawberry plant in the summer, with an improvement in fruit quality and aggregate commercial value, providing a 15% increase in fruit weight and a lower degree of deformity under the conditions of densification of Iraí (N. testceicornis) and Jataí (T. angustula) bees. Under the evaluated conditions, the introduction of stingless bee boxes in the summer is recommended.

Assessment of Educational Needs in Uzbekistan: For the Capacity Building in Textiles and Fashion Higher Education (우즈베키스탄 섬유·패션 고등교육의 역량 강화를 위한 교육협력사업 수요조사)

  • Cho, Ahra;Lee, Hyojeong;Jin, Byoungho Ellie;Lee, Yoon-Jung
    • Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
    • /
    • v.35 no.3
    • /
    • pp.169-190
    • /
    • 2023
  • Uzbekistan, one of the top five cotton-producing countries in the world, primarily focuses its textile and fashion industry on raw cotton exports and the sewing industry. For Uzbekistan to achieve high added value, it is essential for the textile and fashion industry, which is currently at the CMT(cut, make, and trim) stage, to upgrade to OEM (original equipment manufacturing), ODM (original design manufacturing), and OBM (original brand manufacturing). South Korea recognizes Uzbekistan as a potential manufacturing base and trading partner and has invested Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds for the development of Uzbekistan's textiles and apparel sector. This study aims to evaluate Uzbekistan's fashion higher education in the context of global competitiveness and measure the need and prospects for education ODA from the Korean government in this field. Comprehensive investigations, including surveys of academics, industry experts, and government officials, in-depth interviews, and focus group interviews, were conducted to understand Uzbekistan's current fashion education environment. According to the research results, despite the textile and fashion sectors playing a pivotal role in the Uzbek economy, there is room for improvement in the curricula and teaching and learning methods of the fashion higher education programs. This study holds significance as foundational data for establishing education ODA strategies.

A Study on Effects of a MAKEathon Programme Focusing on Problem-Solving for Sustainable Development (지속가능발전 문제해결 중심 메이커톤 프로그램의 개발 및 효과)

  • Lee, Hana;Park, Curie;Lee, Yoon-Jung
    • Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
    • /
    • v.35 no.4
    • /
    • pp.117-133
    • /
    • 2023
  • The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate a MAKEathon programme designed to address climate change and dietary concerns, and to enhance competencies related to entrepreneurship and sustainable development. The programme was developed as a voluntary-based extracurriculum for the middle and high school students in South Korea. In order to verify the effectiveness, surveys were conducted before and after the program, focusing on the measures of the three competencies i.e. sustainable development competencies, creativity, and entrepreneurship, as well as the programme satisfaction and demographic background. Paired t-tests of pre-/post-tests were conducted on the responses of 29 participants and the results indicate significant improvement in the three competencies and high programme satisfaction. These findings underscore the value of incorporating extracurricular programmes related to sustainability in home economics education, suggesting potential for broader application in topics like clothing, food, and housing. Such programmes are poised to enhance educational effectiveness in teaching problem-solving for sustainable development.

Mitral Annular Tissue Velocity Predicts Survival in Patients With Primary Mitral Regurgitation

  • You-Jung Choi;Chan Soon Park;Tae-Min Rhee;Hyun-Jung Lee;Hong-Mi Choi;In-Chang Hwang;Jun-Bean Park;Yeonyee E. Yoon;Jin Oh Na;Hyung-Kwan Kim;Yong-Jin Kim;Goo-Yeong Cho;Dae-Won Sohn;Seung-Pyo Lee
    • Korean Circulation Journal
    • /
    • v.54 no.6
    • /
    • pp.311-322
    • /
    • 2024
  • Background and Objectives: Early diastolic mitral annular tissue (e') velocity is a commonly used marker of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic implications of e' velocity in patients with mitral regurgitation (MR). Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 1,536 consecutive patients aged <65 years with moderate or severe chronic primary MR diagnosed between 2009 and 2018. The primary and secondary outcomes were all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, respectively. According to the current guidelines, the cut-off value of e' velocity was defined as 7 cm/s. Results: A total of 404 individuals were enrolled (median age, 51.0 years; 64.1% male; 47.8% severe MR). During a median 6.0-year follow-up, there were 40 all-cause mortality and 16 cardiovascular deaths. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant association between e' velocity and all-cause death (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.770; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.634-0.935; p=0.008) and cardiovascular death (aHR, 0.690; 95% CI, 0.477-0.998; p=0.049). Abnormal e' velocity (≤7 cm/s) independently predicted all-cause death (aHR, 2.467; 95% CI, 1.170-5.200; p=0.018) and cardiovascular death (aHR, 5.021; 95% CI, 1.189-21.211; p=0.028), regardless of symptoms, LV dimension and ejection fraction. Subgroup analysis according to sex, MR severity, mitral valve replacement/repair, and symptoms, showed no significant interactions. Including e' velocity in the 10-year risk score improved reclassification for mortality (net reclassification improvement [NRI], 0.154; 95% CI, 0.308-0.910; p<0.001) and cardiovascular death (NRI, 1.018; 95% CI, 0.680-1.356; p<0.001). Conclusions: In patients aged <65 years with primary MR, e' velocity served as an independent predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular deaths.

The Effect of Robot-Used Play through Appreciation of Picture Books on Children's Sequential Thinking (그림책 감상을 통한 로봇 활용 놀이가 유아의 순서적 사고에 미치는 영향)

  • An Ji Su;Nam Ki Won
    • The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
    • /
    • v.10 no.4
    • /
    • pp.357-365
    • /
    • 2024
  • The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of children's robot-based play on sequential thinking through appreciation of picture books. For this purpose, 15 children aged 5 years old in each kindergarten located in Seoul were selected and J kindergarten (experimental group) supported <Picture book appreciation robot play> and C kindergarten (comparison group) supported <Picture book appreciation free play>. In order to examine the difference in play experience between the two groups, the score data before and after play support was collected using the sequential thinking test tool, and the collected data were analyzed using SPSS 28.0 program to perform ANCOVA (Covariance Analysis). As a result, the experimental group that experienced robot-based play through picture book appreciation showed significant improvement in the total score of sequential thinking and the sub-areas of dynamics, behavior, and intention compared to the control group.The results of this study are valuable as a play study to discover the value of robots as a creative play medium led by young children and to promote sequential thinking ability, which is emphasized as the capacity of future society.

User Information Needs Analysis based on Search Terms Log of the Presidential Archives Portal (대통령기록포털 검색어 로그 분석 기반 이용자 정보요구 분석)

  • Suhyeon Lee;Hyo-Jung Oh
    • Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
    • /
    • v.24 no.3
    • /
    • pp.23-44
    • /
    • 2024
  • In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the importance of curation services that analyze user information requests to provide tailored information within extensive information resources. This study aims to identify user information needs by analyzing search term logs from the Presidential Archives Portal to enhance the utilization value of presidential records, which possess high historical significance. In addition, by evaluating the portal's search performance, this study seeks to determine whether the Presidential Archives Portal is providing archival information services that meet users' information needs and to suggest areas for improvement through digital record curation services. To achieve these objectives, topic analysis and word network analysis were conducted based on search term logs spanning the past eight years. The search quality of the Presidential Archives Portal was evaluated from an accuracy perspective, focusing on areas with high user demand, and recommendations were drawn based on the results of the analysis. As a preliminary study for digital record curation of presidential records, this study is significant because it identifies specific user information needs and quantifies the search quality of archival portal sites to improve user satisfaction.

Evaluation of the operational efficiency of major coastal ports in China based on the PCA-DEA model (PCA-DEA 모델을 기반으로 한 중국 주요연안 항만의 운영 효율성 평가)

  • Haiqing Zhang;Hyangsook Lee
    • Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
    • /
    • v.40 no.1
    • /
    • pp.87-118
    • /
    • 2024
  • Coastal ports play an essential role in developing a country and a city. Port efficiency is an important factor affecting port trade, and the importance of port efficiency for port performance has been recognized in previous literature. DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) and SFA (Stochastic Frontier Analysis) are widely used in this field of research. However, these two methods are limited in selecting input and output variables. In addition, the literature studies on Chinese coastal ports mainly focus on the study of port clusters in local areas, which lacks a holistic approach and generally lacks up-to-date data. Therefore, to fill the gap in this area of research, this paper introduces a model combining principal component analysis and data envelopment analysis to analyze the operational efficiency of the top 17 coastal ports in China in terms of throughput based on the most recent data available in 2021. This paper identifies container throughput as the output variable, and 13 second indicators are selected as input variables from four primary indicators: land, capital, labor, and infrastructure. Four principal components were selected from 13 second indicators using PCA.After that, DEA (BBC) and DEA (CCR) were used to analyze the 17 ports, among which five were Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Guangzhou, Xiamen, and Dongguan, respectively, DEA efficient, and the remaining 12 ports were non-DEA efficient. Finally, improvement directions for each port are derived, and brief suggestions are made. This paper provides some reference value for developing and constructing coastal ports in China.

Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Activity of Pomegranate Leaf Extract (석류 잎 추출물의 항염 및 항산화 활성)

  • Yu-Jeong Choi;Jeong-Wook Jo;Hyung-Joo Kim
    • Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
    • /
    • v.41 no.3
    • /
    • pp.613-622
    • /
    • 2024
  • This study aims to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of pomegranate (Punica granatum) leaves and to explore the potential of pomegranate leaf extract as an anti-aging cosmetic ingredient. The ethyl acetate fraction of ethanolic extract of pomegranate leaf (EFP) was assessed for its total polyphenol and flavonoid contents, as well as its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The beneficial components and skin improvement potential of pomegranate leaves were investigated. The results showed that the total polyphenol content of EFP was 871.6±16.3 mg gallic acid/g, and the flavonoid content was 36.6±0.3 mg quercetin/g. In the ABTS radical scavenging assay, EFP exhibited a dose-dependent antioxidant activity with an EC50 value of 24.62±0.48 ㎍/mL. In the skin cell cytotoxicity assay, EFP demonstrated high cell viability at concentrations below 50 ㎍/mL, indicating minimal cytotoxicity. In the nitric oxide (NO) production inhibition assay, EFP effectively inhibited NO production even at low concentrations, with near-complete inhibition at 6 ㎍/mL. These results suggest that EFP has the potential to be utilized as a natural cosmetic ingredient with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

A Multimodal Profile Ensemble Approach to Development of Recommender Systems Using Big Data (빅데이터 기반 추천시스템 구현을 위한 다중 프로파일 앙상블 기법)

  • Kim, Minjeong;Cho, Yoonho
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.21 no.4
    • /
    • pp.93-110
    • /
    • 2015
  • The recommender system is a system which recommends products to the customers who are likely to be interested in. Based on automated information filtering technology, various recommender systems have been developed. Collaborative filtering (CF), one of the most successful recommendation algorithms, has been applied in a number of different domains such as recommending Web pages, books, movies, music and products. But, it has been known that CF has a critical shortcoming. CF finds neighbors whose preferences are like those of the target customer and recommends products those customers have most liked. Thus, CF works properly only when there's a sufficient number of ratings on common product from customers. When there's a shortage of customer ratings, CF makes the formation of a neighborhood inaccurate, thereby resulting in poor recommendations. To improve the performance of CF based recommender systems, most of the related studies have been focused on the development of novel algorithms under the assumption of using a single profile, which is created from user's rating information for items, purchase transactions, or Web access logs. With the advent of big data, companies got to collect more data and to use a variety of information with big size. So, many companies recognize it very importantly to utilize big data because it makes companies to improve their competitiveness and to create new value. In particular, on the rise is the issue of utilizing personal big data in the recommender system. It is why personal big data facilitate more accurate identification of the preferences or behaviors of users. The proposed recommendation methodology is as follows: First, multimodal user profiles are created from personal big data in order to grasp the preferences and behavior of users from various viewpoints. We derive five user profiles based on the personal information such as rating, site preference, demographic, Internet usage, and topic in text. Next, the similarity between users is calculated based on the profiles and then neighbors of users are found from the results. One of three ensemble approaches is applied to calculate the similarity. Each ensemble approach uses the similarity of combined profile, the average similarity of each profile, and the weighted average similarity of each profile, respectively. Finally, the products that people among the neighborhood prefer most to are recommended to the target users. For the experiments, we used the demographic data and a very large volume of Web log transaction for 5,000 panel users of a company that is specialized to analyzing ranks of Web sites. R and SAS E-miner was used to implement the proposed recommender system and to conduct the topic analysis using the keyword search, respectively. To evaluate the recommendation performance, we used 60% of data for training and 40% of data for test. The 5-fold cross validation was also conducted to enhance the reliability of our experiments. A widely used combination metric called F1 metric that gives equal weight to both recall and precision was employed for our evaluation. As the results of evaluation, the proposed methodology achieved the significant improvement over the single profile based CF algorithm. In particular, the ensemble approach using weighted average similarity shows the highest performance. That is, the rate of improvement in F1 is 16.9 percent for the ensemble approach using weighted average similarity and 8.1 percent for the ensemble approach using average similarity of each profile. From these results, we conclude that the multimodal profile ensemble approach is a viable solution to the problems encountered when there's a shortage of customer ratings. This study has significance in suggesting what kind of information could we use to create profile in the environment of big data and how could we combine and utilize them effectively. However, our methodology should be further studied to consider for its real-world application. We need to compare the differences in recommendation accuracy by applying the proposed method to different recommendation algorithms and then to identify which combination of them would show the best performance.