• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2007

To obtain the overall distribution patterns and characteristics of the East Sea Intermediate Water (ESIW), the historical data obtained by the Japan Maizuru Marine Observatory (MMO) and the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI) were analyzed. To obtain water characteristics of the ESIW on isopycnal surfaces, temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen were interpolated at every 0.01 interval of potential density. And then the interpolated values were averaged at the same potential density. This potential density average method preserved the salinity minimum layer more clearly compared to the depth average method. The potential density(${\sigma}_{\theta}$) range of the ESIW was $26.9{\sim}27.3$. The representative potential density of the ESIW was found to be 27.2, because the characteristics of the ESIW was clear at this density. From the horizontal distributions of physical properties on the isopycnal surface of $27.2{\sigma}_{\theta}$ it is suggested that the low salinity ESIW circulates anticlockwise over the whole basin with the high salinity intermediate water. The low salinity intermediate water extended from the northwestern part to the east along the sub-polar front and to the Ulleung Basin along the east coast of Korea.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.73-79
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• 2019

Continuous and tremendous data (canopy temperature and meteorological variables) are necessary to determine Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI). This study investigated the optimal monitoring time and interval of canopy temperature and meteorological variables (air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation and wind speed) to determine CWSIs. The Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient (NSE) was used to quantitatively describe the accuracy of sampling method depending upon various time intervals (t=5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 60 minutes) and CWSIs per every minute were used as a reference. The NSE coefficient of wind speed was 0.516 at the sampling time of 60 minutes, while the ones of other meteorological variables and canopy temperature were greater than 0.8. The pattern of daily CWSIs increased from 8:00 am, reached the maximum value at 12:00 pm, then decreased after 2:00 pm. The statistical analysis showed that the data collection at 11:40 am produced the closest CWSI value to the daily average of CWSI, which indicates that just one time of measurement could be representative throughout the day. Overall, the findings of this study contributes to the economical and convenient method of quantifying CWSIs and irrigation management.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.639-648
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• 2017

Electronic warfare systems for extracting information of the threat signals can be employed under the circumstance where the power of the received signal is weak. To precisely and rapidly detect the threat signals, it is required to use methods exploiting whole energy of the received signals instead of conventional methods using a single received signal input. To utilize the whole energy, numerous sizes of windows need to be implemented in a detector for dealing with all possible unknown length of the received signal because it is assumed that there is no preliminary information of the uncooperative signals. However, this grid search method requires too large computational complexity to be practically implemented. In order to resolve this complexity problem, an approach that reduces the number of windows by selecting the smaller number of representative windows can be considered. However, each representative window in this approach needs to cover a certain amount of interval divided from the considering range. Consequently, the discordance between the length of the received signal and the window sizes results in degradation of the detection performance. Therefore, we propose the weighted energy detector which results in improved detection performance comparing with the conventional energy detector under circumstance where the window size is smaller than the length of the received signal. In addition, it is shown that the proposed method exhibits the same performance under other circumstances.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.414-422
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• 2018

Objective: Dietary nutrients may play a significant role in depressive disorders. However, sufficient evidences in epidemiological studies are limited. We investigated the cross-sectional association between dietary nutrients and the prevalence of depressive disorder in Korean adults using representative Korean data. Methods: Participants were 2,938 adults aged 19 ~ 64 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) conducted in 2014. Dietary intakes were assessed using 24-h recall method. Depressive disorder was assessed using Patients Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9, self-depression test) as applied in 2014 KNHANES only. We defined depressive disorder as having a PHQ-9 score of ${\geq}10$, which was characterized as moderate depression and more. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the adjusted odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CIs) of depressive disorder. Results: Among the 2,938 subjects, 170 were identified as having depressive disorder. The multivariate-adjusted regression analysis demonstrated that the risk of depression was significantly associated with riboflavin (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.24-0.85, p for trend = 0.018), thiamin (OR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.23-0.99, p for trend = 0.045), and vitamin C (OR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.34-0.95, p for trend = 0.025) in the highest versus lowest tertiles of intake. Conclusion: The high consumption of riboflavin, thiamin, and vitamin C was associated with the low prevalence of depressive disorder in Korean adults.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.522-530
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• 2020

Background: In 2008, Korea implemented a new type of social insurance known as "long-term care insurance". We examined the association between ownership of long-term care facilities and the incidence of pressure ulcers after the implementation of "long-term care insurance". This study is a population-based retrospective cohort study from 2006 to 2013. Methods: We used medical claims data from the Korean National Health Insurance Corporate Elderly Cohort Database from 2006 to 2013. These data comprise a nationally representative sample. To avoid confounders, only patients admitted to one long-term care facility and who stayed for >70% of the follow-up time were included; as a result, 3,107 individuals were enrolled. The main independent variable was the operating entity of the long-term care facility (local government, corporate bodies, and private for-profit owners), and the dependent variable was the 1-year incidence of pressure-ulcers. Survival analysis (Cox proportional hazard model) was used as an analysis method. Results: Compared to patients admitted to local government long-term care facilities, patients admitted to private long-term care facilities had a significantly higher 1-year risk of pressure ulcers (hazard ratio [HR], 1.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29-2.91); the risk was especially high among patients who were cognitively dependent (HR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.25-4.37). Conclusion: Patients admitted to private for-profit long-term care facilities were more likely to have pressure ulcers compared to those in local government and corporate body long-term care facilities. Appropriate assessment tools and publicly available information, as well as more restricted legal requirements, are needed to improve the care quality and outcomes of patients in long-term care facilities.

• The World Journal of Men's Health
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.366-375
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• 2021

Purpose This study aimed to understand the characteristics of sexual behaviors among Korean adults to facilitate the development of strategies and policies focused on sexual health in groups categorized by sociodemographic characteristics. Materials and Methods A nationally representative probability sample of 2,500 individuals (1,273 men and 1,227 women) aged 18-69 years obtained using a stratified multiple-stage sampling method based on Statistics Korea (KOSTAT) participated in a cross-sectional online survey. The survey consisted of structured questionnaires comprising questions on demographic information, lifetime sexual behavior, and sexual behavior in the previous 12 months. The mean age at first sexual intercourse was lower in men than in women (21.9±4.4 vs. 24.1±4.4 years, p=0.001). The overall prevalence rate of sexual events with casual partners within previous 12 months was 13.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 11.6%-14.5%). It was found to more commonly exist among lower age groups and men. The overall regular condom use rates with relationship partner and casual partner were 14.8% (95% CI, 13.2%-16.4%) and 39.6% (95% CI, 33.9%-45.3%), respectively. Condom use rate with casual partners among 20s and 30s men was 51.2%. Overall, only 10.4% of the respondents had received sexual education about sexually transmitted infections. This study provided contemporary sexual behaviors in Korean adults, and identified socio-demographic factors that seem to influence sexual behaviors. Low condom use rates and low rate of receiving sexual education were concerns. The result of this study would be useful to health professionals to formulate policies and strategies related to sexual health.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.1067-1077
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• 2022

Objective: To determine whether Sonazoid-enhanced ultrasound (SZUS) was noninferior to SonoVue-enhanced ultrasound (SVUS) in diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using the same diagnostic criteria. Materials and Methods: This prospective, single-center, noninferiority study (NCT04847726) enrolled 105 at-risk participants (71 male; mean age ± standard deviation, 63 ± 11 years; range, 26-86 years) with treatment-naïve solid hepatic nodules (≥ 1 cm). All participants underwent same-day SZUS (experimental method) and SVUS (control method) for one representative nodule per participant. Images were interpreted by three readers (the operator and two independent readers). All malignancies were diagnosed histopathologically, while the benignity of other lesions was confirmed by follow-up stability or pathology. The primary endpoint was per-lesion diagnostic accuracy for HCC pooled across three readers using the conventional contrast-enhanced ultrasound diagnostic criteria, including arterial phase hyperenhancement followed by mild (assessed within 2 minutes after contrast injection) and late (≥ 60 seconds with a delay of 5 minutes) washout. The noninferiority delta was -10%p. Furthermore, different time delays were compared as washout criteria in SZUS, including delays of 2, 5, and > 10 minutes. Results: A total of 105 lesions (HCCs [n = 61], non-HCC malignancies [n = 19], and benign [n = 25]) were evaluated. Using the 5-minutes washout criterion, per-lesion accuracy of SZUS pooled across the three readers (72.4%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 64.1%-79.3%) was noninferior to that of SVUS (71.4%; 95% CI, 63.1%-78.6%), meeting the statistical criterion for non-inferiority (difference of 0.95%p; 95% CI, -3.8%p-5.7%p). The arterial phase hyperenhancement combined with the 5-minutes washout criterion showed the same sensitivity as that of the > 10-minutes criterion (59.0% vs. 59.0%, p = 0.989), and the specificities were not significantly different (90.9% vs. 86.4%, p = 0.072). Conclusion: SZUS was noninferior to SVUS for diagnosing HCC in at-risk patients using the same diagnostic criteria. No significant improvement in HCC diagnosis was observed by extending the washout time delay from 5 to 10 minutes.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.491-501
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• 2018

Objectives: The aims of this study were to compare concentrations and the correspondence of human blood cadmium by using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), which are representative methods of heavy metal analysis. Methods: We randomly selected 79 people who agreed to participate in the research project. After confirming the linearity of the calibration curves for GF-AAS and ICP-MS, the concentrations of cadmium in a quality control standard material and blood samples were measured, and the correlation and the degree of agreement were compared. Results: The detection limit of ICP-MS (IDL: $0.000{\mu}g/L$, MDL: $0.06{\mu}g/L$) was lower than that of GF-AAS (IDL: $0.085{\mu}g/L$, MDL: $0.327{\mu}g/L$). The coefficient of variation of the quality control standard material showed stable values for both ICP-MS (clinchek-1: 5.35%, clinchek-2: 6.22%) and GF-AAS (clinchek-1: 7.92%, clinchek-2: 5.22%). Recovery was relatively high for both ICP-MS (clinchek-1: 95.1%, clinchek-2: 92.8%) and GF-AAS (clinchek-1: 91.4%, clinchek-2: 98.8%), with more than 90%. The geometric mean, median, and percentile of blood samples were all similar. The agreement of the two instruments compared with the bias of the analytical values found that about 81% of the analytical values were within ${\pm}30%$ of the deviation from the ideal reference line (y=0). As a result of the agreement limit, the value included in the confidence interval was about 94%, which shows high agreement. Conclusion: In this study, we confirmed there was no significant difference in concentrations of a quality control standard material and blood samples. Since ICP-MS showed lower concentrations than GF-AAS at concentrations below the method detection limit of GF-AAS, it is expected that more precise results will be obtained by analyzing blood cadmium with ICP-MS.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1394-1408
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• 1968

The tidal discharge is defined as the quantity of water flowing through a certain cross-section per unit of time, in contrast to river discharges, tidal discharges change periodically in magnitude and direction. Thus the total volumes of water flowing into again out of the system-called flood volume and ebb volume, respectively, depend on both the tidal and the river discharges. To ditermine the tidal discharge and the flood and ebb volumes of the Yong-san river, the discharges were measured at spring, mean and neap tide and simultaneous gage reading were taken at Samhak-do, Lower Myo-do, Myongsan-ni and Naju. The general procedure for measuring the tidal discharges was as follows. First, several cross-sections were measured and one of them was chosen. First, several cross-sections were measured and one of them was chosen. Then verticals were serected in the chosen cross section. Because comparatively few verticals should be representative of the discharge distribution over the river profile, the selection was done in accordance with the somtimes irregular bottom profile. The velocities were measured with the same current meters. The observations which included water level readings were continued for a period of about 13 hours. The current direction meter, a pyramid shaped resistance body, suspend in the water on a thin wire. The bubble in a circular tilting level fixed to the wire indicates the direction of the current. Reading were taken at intervals of 1m for depths of 10m or less, and for depths over 10m at intervals of 2m, going downwards and upwards. The averages of the two velocities were used for the computation of the discharges. The discharges and the flood and ebb volumes were ditermined by a graphical method. The mean velocities, corrected for their direction when necesary, were ditermined for each time interval and each vertical, and these velocities were plotted against the time. The resulting curves show possible mistakes very clearly, and the effect of observation errors could be reduced. The corrected velocities read from the curve at half-hour intervals were multiplied by the depth at the virtical at the corresponding time. The discharges thus found were ploted against the position of the vertical in the transit and joined by a smooth curve, integration of the curve rendered the total discharges as they occurred of half-hour intervals. Plotting these total discharges against the time yeilded during the day. The flood and ebb volumes were obtained by integration of the total discharge curve.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.141-149
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• 2020

In this paper, I studied the relation between narrative construction (especially focusing on motif) and humor mechanism based on binge watching environment. Several motif theories such as B. Tomachevski, Horst and Ingrid Dämmrich and S. Chatman are used as a basic study method in chapter II. In popular sitcom , sometimes kernels(according to S. Chatman's term) in certain season's story are changed into satellites(according to S. Chatman's term) in other season's stories. The motif of Ross and Rachel's conflict is a representative example for this switching process. Especially on binge watching environment, as the interval length is much more shortened, viewers tend to reflect their own emotional memory into characters less strongly than segment watching environment. As a result, the possibility 'heavy' stories such as seperation are quickly changed into 'light' humorous matters is increased. This kind of hierarchy variation of repeated motif make the viewers laugh, because they can feel sudden liberating energy by eliminating psychological pressure. It means the characteristics of sitcom's humor on binge watching environment can also be explained by the theory of 'laugh as a eliminating tension', which I. Kant representatively said.