• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.163-179
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• 2022

Two dominant phenomena in modern world; population ageing and digitalization, have led public sector organizations to heavily rely on B2C(Business-to-Consumer) mobile applications. Yet, fatal concerns and complaints have often been raised by the mobile application users, notably from social welfare sector. With the continual expansion of digital landscape as well as the growth of life expectancy, usage of mobile applications has become prevalent across the stakeholders involved in social welfare sector. 'Smart Long-Term Care (SLTC)', inter alia, is a primary example of such mobile applications, designed to support Long-Term Residential Care (LTRC) service. The main goal of SLTC is to serve more convenient and practical LTRC service for both caregivers and care receivers. To examine user satisfaction of SLTC mobile application, this study investigates existing challenges and means to improve user satisfaction. Hence, we conducted this study using two methods: in-depth interview and topic modeling. Interestingly, two research outcomes commonly indicated that 5 factors (stability, accessibility, usefulness, responsiveness, and ease of use) were found significant in affecting user satisfaction of SLTC. Our findings suggest that the aforementioned factors can be seen as potential causes of the genuinely low user satisfaction. Eventually, this work will be a stepping-stone to elevate the overall quality level of LTRC service along with the user satisfaction degree of SLTC mobile application.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.1666-1674
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• 2022

Objective: Letrozole, a potent aromatase inhibitor, is known to have the potential to modify male reproductive function by altering sex hormone levels. This study aimed to evaluate the semen and testicular characteristics and hormonal profile of aged Mrakhoz bucks (Capra hircus) treated with letrozole. Methods: Twelve Markhoz male goats, aged between 4.5 to 5.5 years with an average body weight (BW) of 61.05±4.97 kg were used for the study. Animals were randomly divided into two equal groups and subcutaneously received either 0.25 mg/kg BW of letrozole or a control every week for 2 months. The semen collections were performed every 10 days, and blood samples and testicular biometric records were collected at 20 days intervals. Results: Letrozole causes increased testosterone and follicle-stimulating hormone levels, testosterone to estradiol ratio, semen index and reaction time during the period from 20th to 60th days (p<0.05). Furthermore, letrozole-treated bucks had higher semen volume, sperm concentration, and total sperm per ejaculate from 30th to 60th days (p<0.05). However, no differences occurred between the groups in scrotal circumference, relative testicular volume, semen pH, abnormality, acrosome integrity, and membrane integrity of sperm during the study (p>0.05). The serum luteinizing hormone levels, sperm viability, motility, and progressive motility increased, and estradiol levels decreased after 40th to 60th days of letrozole treatment (p<0.05). Conclusion: Letrozole application to aged Markhoz bucks provokes reproductive hormonal axis which, in turn, induces enhancement of semen production and quality.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.497-505
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• 2022

Topological photonic nanocavities are considered to possess outstanding optical performance, and provide new platforms for realizing strong interaction between light and matter, due to their robustness to impurities and defects. Here hybrid plasmonic topological photonic nanocavities are proposed, by embedding various plasmon nanoantennas such as gold nanospheres, cylinders, and rectangles in a topological photonic crystal corner-state nanocavity. The maximum quality factor Q and minimum effective mode volume V_eff of these hybrid nanocavities can reach the order of 10⁴ and 10^-4 (𝜆/n)³ respectively, and the high figures of merit Q/V_eff for all of these hybrid nanocavites are stable and on the order of 10⁵ (𝜆/n)^-3. The relative positions of the plasmon nanoantennas will influence the coupling strength between the plasmon structures and the topological nanocavity. The hybrid nanocavity with gold nanospheres possesses much higher Q, but relatively large V_eff. The presence of a gold rectangular structure can confine more electromagnetic energy within a smaller space, since its V_eff is smallest, although Q is lowest among these structures. This work provides an outstanding platform for cavity quantum electrodynamics and has a wide range of applications in topological quantum light sources, such as single-photon sources and nanolasers.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.74.1-74.13
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• 2020

Background: The quality of a vaccine depends strongly on the effects of the adjuvants applied simultaneously with the antigen in the vaccine. The adjuvants enhance the protective effect of the vaccine against a viral challenge. Conversely, oil-type adjuvants leave oil residue inside the bodies of the injected animals that can produce a local reaction in the muscle. The long-term immunogenicity of mice after vaccination was examined. ISA206 or ISA15 oil adjuvants maintained the best immunity, protective capability, and safety among the oil adjuvants in the experimental group. Objectives: This study screened the adjuvant composites aimed at enhancing foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) immunity. The C-type lectin or toll-like receptor (TLR) agonist showed the most improved protection rate. Methods: Experimental vaccines were fabricated by mixing various known oil adjuvants and composites that can act as immunogenic adjuvants (gel, saponin, and other components) and examined the enhancement effect on the vaccine. Results: The water in oil (W/O) and water in oil in water (W/O/W) adjuvants showed better immune effects than the oil in water (O/W) adjuvants, which have a small volume of oil component. The W/O type left the largest amount of oil residue, followed by W/O/W and O/W types. In the mouse model, intramuscular inoculation showed a better protection rate than subcutaneous inoculation. Moreover, the protective effect was particularly weak in the case of inoculation in fatty tissue. The initial immune reaction and persistence of long-term immunity were also confirmed in an immune reaction on pigs. Conclusions: The new experimental vaccine with immunostimulants produces improved immune responses and safety in pigs than general oil-adjuvanted vaccines.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.80-89
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• 2022

Purpose: In Japan, the long-term care insurance and health insurance acts have stipulated the visiting rehabilitation system to provide support at the national level. The prior case of Japan would provide guidelines for seeking a suitable policy direction in South Korea. This study aims to examine the historical transition process of the visiting rehabilitation system in Japan, and the issues that emerged in the process of the institutionalization of this system. Methods: To examine the historical transition process of the system, the regulations announced by the government and their reports were reviewed. The relevant issues were qualitatively analyzed based on the opinions of scholars, therapists, and interested organizations that were reported in published papers on the topic. Result: The visiting rehabilitation system has been implemented in the following chronological order: The Health and Medical Service Act for the aged (1982-2006), the Health Insurance Act (1988-), and the Long-term Care Insurance Act (2000-). Currently, visiting rehabilitation is provided through hospitals, clinics, visiting nursing stations, etc. The following issues came to the fore in the process of the institutionalization of the system: (1) the complexity of the system, (2) the necessity of changing perceptions into a life model approach, (3) insufficient service provision by therapists, (4) the lack of human resources and an education system, (5) the lack of awareness of care managers and doctors about visiting rehabilitation, and (6) the necessity of quality enhancement through a team approach. Conclusion: It is deemed worthwhile to refer to the visiting rehabilitation system in Japan and the issues that emerged in the process of institutionalizing the system while seeking a policy direction for a similar system in South Korea.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.181-186
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• 2022

The world's electric automobile sector has shifted beyond technological environmental changes to a stage that has an impact on the market environment. And automakers are shifting from the existing strategy of "technological advantage → brand enhancement → sales expansion of existing internal combustion engine vehicles" to the expansion of the electric automobile market itself, which is to enhance market competitiveness. In addition, competition in the electric automotive parts market is expected to intensify due to the expansion of the business areas of existing parts makers and the entry of new companies, and development cooperation is expected to actively proceed to improve the efficiency of major eco-friendly parts. Along with this prospect, electric vehicles are expected to change the overall structure of the automobile industry, the overall growth of the electric vehicle value chain such as batteries, power trains (motors, power management and control systems), electric vehicle production, and charging infrastructure Is expected. Therefore, in this thesis, in order to cultivate a variety of high-quality human resources that companies want to keep pace with the changing automobile industry, we study a professional manpower training program that leads the growth engine of the electric automobile industry.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1622-1631
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• 2022

Carotenoids, which are natural pigments found abundantly in wide-ranging species, have diverse functions and high industrial potential. The carotenoid biosynthesis pathway is very complex and has multiple branches, while the accumulation of certain metabolites often affects other metabolites in this pathway. The DsLCYB gene that encodes lycopene cyclase was selected in this study to evaluate β-carotene production and the accumulation of β-carotene in the alga Dunaliella salina. Compared with the wild type, the transgenic algal species overexpressed the DsLCYB gene, resulting in a significant enhancement of the total carotenoid content, with the total amount reaching 8.46 mg/g for an increase of up to 1.26-fold. Interestingly, the production of α-carotene in the transformant was not significantly reduced. This result indicated that the regulation of DsLCYB on the metabolic flux distribution of carotenoid biosynthesis is directional. Moreover, the effects of different light-quality conditions on β-carotene production in D. salina strains were investigated. The results showed that the carotenoid components of β-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin were 1.8-fold and 1.23-fold higher than that in the wild type under red light stress, respectively. This suggests that the accumulation of β-carotene under red light conditions is potentially more profitable.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.182-187
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• 2023

We aim to provide our surgical techniques, and outcomes of functional scrotal reduction procedures with complete preservation of the genitourinary original anatomy in a simple way without using complicated skin grafting or skin advancement flaps in Patients with huge and long-standing scrotal lymphedema 18 patients ages ranged from 14-65 with a median of 30 years. Functional scrotal and penoscrotal reduction was attained in all cases, without distortion of the genitourinary anatomy and without the need for advancement, rotational or free flaps, maximal scrotal diameter was reduced from median of 61[48-92] cms to a median of 25[21-29] cms (P<0.0001) and remained almost unchanged at the end of the follow up period 26[22-34] cms (P<0.0001). Sexual performance and voiding capacity were improved in all patients, testicular vascularity was unaffected and the Glasgow Benefit Inventory (GBI) for the quality of life showed marked enhancement in the total 55.5[50-72], general 55.5[50-72], social 100[50-100] and physical 16.6[16-33] points subscales. According to our experience, surgery remains the gold standard treatment for management of huge scrotal lymphedema, successful preservation of the genitourinary functions can be attained despite the size in most cases with excellent cosmoses.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.23-35
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• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the marital status, drinking behavior, and mental health characteristics of alcohol consumers, and to explore the relationship between marital status and mental health among alcohol consumers. Methods: The research data utilized raw data from the 8th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2020), Second Round. A total of 3,713 participants were included in the final analysis. Data analysis was performed using the statistical software SPSS version 26.0. Results: The relationship between the study participants and mental health revealed that compared to those with a spouse, individuals who were divorced or separated had an odds ratio (OR) of 2.598 for 'depression' and an OR of 2.142 for 'suicidal thoughts'. In the case of 'stress perception', individuals who were divorced or separated had an OR of 3.434. In terms of gender, females had an OR of 4.867 for 'depression', an OR of 2.510 for 'suicidal thoughts', and an OR of 1.847 for 'stress perception', compared to males. Regarding age, the odds of 'depression' were 1.801 times higher in the 60 to 79 age group compared to the 18 to 39 age group. For smoking status, smokers had an OR of 2.812 for 'depression' compared to non-smokers. The OR for 'suicidal thoughts' was 3.047, and the OR for 'stress perception' was 1.463. However, the relationship between mental health and binge drinking frequency and quantity of alcohol consumed in a single session was not significant. Conclusion: The divorced, separated, or bereaved groups may be vulnerable to 'depression,' 'suicidal ideation,' and 'stress.' Therefore, there is an expectation to explore strategies for the development and enhancement of community-based mental counseling and health education support programs, aiming to improve the mental well-being and quality of life of individuals and the local community.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.49-56
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• 2023

Machine learning methods diversely applied to the Internet of Things (IoT) field have been successful due to the enhancement of computer processing power. They offer an effective way of detecting malicious intrusions in IoT because of their high-level feature extraction capabilities. In this paper, we proposed a novel feature selection method for malicious intrusion detection in IoT by using an evolutionary technique - Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms. The proposed model is performing the classification of BoT-IoT dataset to evaluate its quality through the training and testing with classifiers. The data is reduced and several preprocessing steps are applied such as: unnecessary information removal, null value checking, label encoding, standard scaling and data balancing. GA has applied over the preprocessed data, to select the most relevant features and maintain model optimization. The selected features from GA are given to ML classifiers such as Logistic Regression (LR) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) and the results are evaluated using performance evaluation measures including recall, precision and f1-score. Two sets of experiments are conducted, and it is concluded that hyperparameter tuning has a significant consequence on the performance of both ML classifiers. Overall, SVM still remained the best model in both cases and overall results increased.