• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to verify the effects of ventilation corridor and derive adequate policy alternatives to its application for the city of Sejong, which is located in an inland of Korean Peninsula. In order to introduce the ventilation corridor in the city, it is necessary both to understand change on fresh air flow affected by the construction of new cities and to show its effects which are able to circulate air flow of the city. The study identified ventilation effects using computational fluid dynamics models. In particular, it analyzed change on wind speed and direction after constructing of a new town and cool air flow along the lowlands generated after sunset. In addition, it identified those of reducing particulate matter when arranging buildings conforming to the ventilation corridor at block level. The policy implications derived from simulation can be summarized as follows. First, it is desirable to plan ventilation corridors so that fresh air from mountains, forests, and valleys can flow into cities and mitigate the concentration of particulate matter. Furthermore, public facilities covering parks, plazas, and playgrounds should be installed preferentially to attract safe outdoor activities near to areas with low levels of particulate matter. Finally, it is adequate to prepare for a number of alternative plans by analyzing ventilation corridors when setting out district unit plan.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.414-423
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• 2020

In this paper, we propose a Dilated Convolution Gate Linear Unit (DCGLU) to mitigate the lack of sparsity and small receptive field problems caused by the segmentation map extraction process in sound event detection with weak labels. In the advent of deep learning framework, segmentation map extraction approaches have shown improved performance in noisy environments. However, these methods are forced to maintain the size of the feature map to extract the segmentation map as the model would be constructed without a pooling operation. As a result, the performance of these methods is deteriorated with a lack of sparsity and a small receptive field. To mitigate these problems, we utilize GLU to control the flow of information and Dilated Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs) to increase the receptive field without additional learning parameters. For the performance evaluation, we employ a URBAN-SED and self-organized bird sound dataset. The relevant experiments show that our proposed DCGLU model outperforms over other baselines. In particular, our method is shown to exhibit robustness against nature sound noises with three Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) levels (20 dB, 10 dB and 0 dB).

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.141-145
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• 2014

There is a burgeoning number of products on the market that contain probiotics, but do they do you any good? What exactly are probiotics? They have been defined as living organisms that, when ingested in sufficient quantities, provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. They are often referred to as "friendly bacteria" or "good bacteria." Probiotics have been claimed, amongst other things, to (i) reduce the incidence of colon cancer and other diseases of the colon, such as IBS, (ii) stimulate the immune system, (iii) have anti-hypertensive and anti-cholesterolemic properties, (iv) mitigate against the effect of antibiotics on the intestinal microbiota, and (v) protect against gastrointestinal infections. However, the scientific basis for many of these claims is not well-established. Indeed, the European Food Safety Authority has denied the use of several health claims associated with probiotics, particularly those related to mitigation of diarrhea following consumption of antibiotics. Thus, there is a need for research on the mechanisms of action of probiotics. We have been mainly interested in the use of probiotics to control enteric infections. There are several possible modes of action to explain how probiotics may protect the host from enteric pathogens, including competitive exclusion and immunomodulation. We have shown that probiotics produce bioactive molecules that interfere with bacterial cell-cell communication (also called quorum sensing), and this results in a down-regulation of virulence genes that are responsible for attachment of the pathogen to the gastrointestinal epithelium. These bioactive molecules act on a variety of bacteria, including enterohemorrhagic and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens, and there is evidence that they can inhibit the formation of biofilms by Listeria monocytogenes. These bioactive molecules, which are peptidic in nature, can exert their effects not only in vitro but also in vivo, and we have shown that they mitigate against E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in mice and Salmonella and E. coli K88 infections in pigs. They can be delivered in foods such as yoghurt and maintain their activity.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.359-368
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• 2022

It is essential to increase the implementation rate in order to increase the effectiveness of mitigation measures that can mitigate the negative impact of development projects. In the case of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA),research on the implementation evaluation of development projects is insufficient, even though the effectiveness of mitigation measures has been steadily raised. Therefore, this study evaluated the implementation rate of the mitigation measures and identified the cause of the difference in the implementation rate for each mitigation measures in order to understand the current status of the ecological mitigation measures. The implementation rate of urban and road development projects mitigation measures was 56.0% and 64.4%, respectively. the implementation rate of 'Monitoring' mitigation measures was the highest in all development project. But, 'Habitat creation' and 'Accident prevention measures' were low. In addition, it was found that the implementation rate of the mitigation measures were high when the contents of the mitigation measure described in the report were specific. Through this study, it was found that in order to increase the implementation rate of the EIA ecological environment animal mitigation measures, it is necessary to reflect the environmental and geographical characteristics of the target site in detail. Furthermore, it is judged that this study can be used as a basic basis for enhancing the effectiveness of the EIA system introduced to mitigate the negative impact on the environment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.120-128
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• 2022

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are a basic component in the electronics industry and are widely used in nearly all electronic products, such as mobile phones, tablet computers, and digital cameras, as well as in electric equipment. PCB manufacturing involves the use of many chemicals and chemical processes and therefore has more risks than other manufacturing sectors. This study aims to identify the causes of possible accidents during PCB manufacturing through risk assessment, develop and implement safety measures, and evaluate the effectiveness of these measures. Note that the safety measures developed to mitigate the risks of a certain process were also implemented for other similar processes. The risk assessments conducted over seven years, from 2015 to 2021, at a PCB manufacturing company identified 361 hazardous processes. Between 2016 and 2019, 41-56 hazardous processes were identified per year; such processes decreased to fewer than 20 per year after 2020. Application of the risk assessment results to the improvement of the hazardous processes with the similar characteristics seems to be effective in decreasing the risks. Equipment-related factors such as lack of appropriate maintenance, low work standards, and defective protection devices were responsible for 59.8% of all possible accidents. Because PCB manufacturing involves many chemicals, skin contact with hazardous substances, electric shock, fire, and explosion were the most common types of possible accidents (81.7%). In total, 505 safety measures were implemented, including 157 related to purchase and improvement of equipment and devices for safety (31.1%), 147 related to the installation/modification of fire prevention facilities (29.1%), and 69 related to the use of standard electrical appliances (13.7%). Risk assessment conducted after implementing the safety measures showed that these measures significantly decreased risk; 247 processes (68.4%) had a risk level of 3, corresponding to "very low," and 114 processes (31.6%) showed a risk level of 4, corresponding to "low." In particular, risk assessment of 104 processes with risk scores of 12 and 10 other processes with risk score of 16 showed that the risk decreased to 4 after implementing the safety measures. Thus, implementing these measures in similar manufacturing sectors that involve chemical processes can mitigate risk.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.22-30
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• 2023

Mongolia is experiencing some of the world's most serious air pollution problems. The air pollution is especially severe during the winter when raw coal and low-grade fuels are used to heat homes in Ger villages. The impact of this pollution has created significant health and socioeconomic challenges for the country. In order to mitigate this air pollution, this study analyzed the fuel quality of the low-grade fuels and Mongolian waste cooking oils used in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Then the environmental characteristics of traditional stove combustion and a prototype combustion heating device were compared and analyzed. In addition, the effect of replacing the heating devices was evaluated by analyzing their risks to humans. Analysis of the fuel characteristics showed that briquettes had relatively low environmental properties as a result of their high ash, N and S content. Also, after analyzing the combustion characteristics, it was found that the air quality improvement effect was higher when waste cooking oil was burned compared to the three types of coal that were analyzed. Finally, this study evaluated the impact of replacing the Mongolia traditional stove with a prototype stove that uses waste cooking oil. The results of this study are expected to help to mitigate the air quality problems currently observed in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.97-104
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• 2017

Background: Cachexia is a multi-factorial syndrome presenting with chronic illness, decreases in body weight, and loss of adipose tissue and skeletal muscle, mostly in patients with advanced cancer and chronic wasting disease. Even after years of intensive researches, there remains no convincing therapy to prevent cancer cachexia. Methods: In this in vivo study, we have established C26 adenocarcinoma-induced cancer cachexia model in mice to explore the underlying core changes in cytokine, signal transduction, and muscle wasting. The ultimate aim of establishing animal model is to find optimal therapeutics to mitigate cancer cachexia. Results: We have administered C26 adenocarcinoma cells onto BALB/c mice and observed 4 weeks to assess the progression of cancer cachexia. Significant loss of weight accompanied with loss of appetite was noted. As C26 adenocarcinoma xenograft progressed, mortality was started from 3 weeks, accompanied with significant sarcopenia and decreased mice movement. Surges in TNF-α and IL-6 were noted with the commencement of cancer cachexia. Conclusion: Using C26 adenocarcinoma cancer cachexia model, we can screen the optimal therapeutics to mitigate cancer cachexia, in which agents to modulate IL-6, TNF-α, and NF-κB were essential.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.79-92
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• 2024

Global warming is a key challenge subjecting animals to heat stress conditions resulting in multiple physiological alterations in tropical climate. Dietary approach seems to be the more friendly approach to curb the adverse effects of heat stress in rabbits. Some herbs have been categorized to have high potential for promotion of immune responses for amelioration of heat stress. Thus, this research aims to evaluate the potential of Mistletoe (Viscum album), Moringa (Moringa oleifera) and Phyllanthus (Phyllanthus amarus) leaf meal as herbal supplements for the alleviation of heat stress in female rabbits by measuring improvement in sex and stress hormonal responses in serum biochemistry. 80 Rabbit does were exposed to 4 dietary groups supplemented with each of Mistletoe, Moringa, Phyllanthus and a control in an 84-day trial at the summit of thermal stress in South west Nigeria. Growth indices were monitored throughout the study, blood samples were compiled at the end of the trial to assess serum biochemistry, stress and sex hormonal responses of the Does using standard protocols. The results revealed that final weight and weight gain of Does fed on Phyllanthus were significantly (p < 0.05) higher (11.46% and 14.25%, respectively) than Does on control. The herbal supplements enhance glucose, protein, albumin and globulin, reduced cholesterol, and creatinine of Does under heat stress conditions. Among the herbal treatment groups, mistletoe, moringa and phyllanthus had 12.42%, 18.39% and 16.90%, respectively, lower corticosterone than control groups which had 39.76ng/ml. Triiodothyronine of Does fed control were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than Does on Moringa oleifera and Phyllanthus amarus supplements. Estradiol and Follicle stimulating hormone of rabbit Does fed on moringa supplement were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than other treatments. In conclusion, the herbal supplements tend to mitigate the detrimental outcome of thermal stress on Does by suppressing stress hormones. Moringa oleifera and Phyllanthus amarus enhanced sex hormones while Phyllanthus amarus confered growth promoting effects on the Does.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.91-107
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• 2024

Single-channel seismic exploration has proven effective in delineating subsurface geological structures using small-scale survey systems. The seismic data acquired through zero- or near-offset methods directly capture subsurface features along the vertical axis, facilitating the construction of corresponding seismic sections. However, substantial noise in single-channel seismic data hampers precise interpretation because of the low signal-to-noise ratio. This study introduces a novel approach that integrate noise reduction and signal enhancement via matrix rank optimization to address this issue. Unlike conventional rank-reduction methods, which retain selected singular values to mitigate random noise, our method optimizes the entire singular value spectrum, thus effectively tackling both random and erratic noises commonly found in environments with low signal-to-noise ratio. Additionally, to enhance the horizontal continuity of seismic events and mitigate signal loss during noise reduction, we introduced an adaptive weighting factor computed from the eigenimage of the seismic section. To access the robustness of the proposed method, we conducted numerical experiments using single-channel Sparker seismic data from the Chukchi Plateau in the Arctic Ocean. The results demonstrated that the seismic sections had significantly improved signal-to-noise ratios and minimal signal loss. These advancements hold promise for enhancing single-channel and high-resolution seismic surveys and aiding in the identification of marine development and submarine geological hazards in domestic coastal areas.