• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.368-372
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• 1999

Background: Although there have been few reports about minimal skin incision for the repair of congenital heart lesions, minimizing an unsightly scar is a particularly important factor in growing children. We have adopted a technique that permits standard full sternotomy, conventional open chest cardiopulmonary bypass, aortic cross-clamping, left atrial vent, and antegrade cardioplegia with minimal surgical scar. Material and Method: With minimal skin incision and full sternotomy, 40 patients with congenital heart disease underwent open heart surgery from April 1997 through September 1997. Defects repaired included 30 ventricular septal defects, 4 atrial septal defects, and 1 sinus Valsalva aneurysm in 35 children(M:F=17: 18), and 3 Atrial septal defects, 1 ventricular septal defect, and 1 partial atrioventricular septal defect in 5 adults(M:F=1:4). Midline skin incision was performed from the second intercostal space to 1 or 2 cm above the xiphoid process. For full sternotomy, we used the ordinary sternal saw in sternal body, and a special saw in manubrium under the skin flap. During sternal retraction, surgical field was obtained by using two retractors in a crossed direction. Result: The proportion of the skin incision length to the sternal length was 63.1${\pm}$3.9%(5.2∼11cm, mean 7.3cm) in children, and 55.0${\pm}$3.5%(10∼13.5cm, mean 12cm) in adults. In every case, the aortic and venous cannulations could be done through the sternal incision without additional femoral cannulation. There was no hospital death, wound infection, skin necrosis, hematoma formation, or bleeding complication. Conclusion: We conclude that minimal skin incision with full sternotomy can be a safe and effective alternative method for the repair of congenital heart diseases in children and adults.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.7-29
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• 2010

The form of the Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda site is that of the traditional form of the wooden pagodas constructed during the Baekjae Period. Likewise, it is an important ruin for conducting research on the form and type of the wooden pagodas constructed during the Baekjae Period. In particular, the method used for the installation of the central pillar's cornerstone is a new technique. The purpose of this research is to restore the ruin of the Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda of the Baekjae Period that remains at the Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda site. Until now, research conducted on the wooden pagoda took place mostly centered on the Hwangryongsa Temple's wooden pagoda. Meanwhile, the reality concerning Baekjae's wooden pagoda is one in which there were not many parallel cases pertain to the design for restoration. This research paper wants to conduct academic examination of the Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda to organize the intention of design and design process in a simple manner. This research included review of the Baekjae Period's wooden pagoda related ruins and the review of the existing wooden pagoda ruin to analyze the wooden pagoda construction technique of the era. Then, current status of the Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda site is identified to define the characteristics of the wooden pagoda, and to set up the layout format and the measure to estimate the size of the wooden pagoda in order to design each part. Ultimately, techniques and formats used for the restoration of the wooden pagoda were aligned with the wooden pagoda of the Baekjae Period. Basically, conditions that can be traced from the current status of the Wangheungsa Temple site excavation using the primary standards as the standard. Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda was designed into the wooden pagoda of the Baekjae's prosperity phase. The plane was formed into $3{\times}3$ compartments to design into three tier pagoda. The height was decided by factoring in the distance between the East-West corridors, size of the compartment in the middle, and the view that is visible from above the terrace when entering into the waterway. Basically, the origin of the wooden structure format is based on the Goguryeo style, but also the linkage with China's southern regional styles and Japan's ancient wooden pagoda methods was factored in. As for the format of the central pillar, it looks as if the column that was erected after digging the ground was used when setting up the columns in the beginning. During the actual construction work of the wooden pagoda, central pillar looks as if it was erected by setting up the cornerstone on the ground. The reason that the reclaimed part of pillar that use the underground central cornerstone as the support was not utilized, was because the Eccentric Load of the central pillar's cornerstone was factored in the state of the layers of soil piled up one layer at a time that is repeated with the yellow clay and sandy clay and the yellow clay that were formed separately with the $80cm{\times}80cm$ angle at the upper part of the central pillar's cornerstone was factored in as well. Thus, it was presumed that the central pillar was erected in the actual design using the ground style format. It is possible to presume the cases in which the reclaimed part of pillar were used when constructed for the first time, but in which central pillar was installed later on, after the supplementary materials of the underground column is corroded. In this case, however, technique in which soil is piled up one layer at a time to lay down the foundation of a building structure cannot be the method used in that period, and the reclamation cannot fill up using the $80cm{\times}80cm$ angle. Thus, it was presumed that the layers of soil for building structure's foundation was solidified properly on top of the central pillar's cornerstone when the first wooden pagoda construction work was taking place, and that the ground style central pillar was erected on its upper part by placing the cornerstone once again. Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda is significant from the structure development aspect of the Korean wooden pagodas along with the Hwangryongsa Temple's wooden pagoda. Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda construction technique which was developed during the prosperity phase of the Baekjae Period is presumed to have served as a role model for the construction of the Iksan Mireuksa Temple's wooden pagoda and Hwangryongsa Temple's wooden pagoda. With the plan to complement the work further by excavating more, the basic wooden pagoda model was set up for this research. Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda was constructed as at the Baekjae Kingdom wide initiative, and it was the starting point for the construction of superb pagoda using state of the art construction techniques of the era during the Baekjae's prosperous years, amidst the utmost interest of all the Baekjae populace. Starting out from its inherent nature of enshrining Sakyamuni's ashes, it served as the model that represented the unity of all the Baekjae populace and the spirit of the Baekjae people. It interpreted these in the most mature manner on the Korean peninsula at the time.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.23-43
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• 1997

The work-related diseases due to continuous overwork are mainly cerebro- and cardio-vascular ones, which is commonly called 'Karoshi', death from overwork. Many factors are capable for Karoshi : occupational stress in relation to technological renovation and industrial rationalization, competitive social structure, and accumulated fatigue accured to long time or irregular working. And its occurence is on the rise. The World Labor Report 1993 released by ILO, pointed out the diseases related to overwork and stress as one of the most important occupational health problem. In Korea, social awareness of Karoshi is at an infant stage, and reliable statistics for its occurence are not compiled in a convenient manner. Despite the rising Karoshi, there are no reliable clauses in workmen's compensation enough to settle down the disputes. Therefore, it is not uncommon that the Labour Ministry and Civil Court find difficulties in reaching an agreement. This study was intended to provide proper compensation and prevention program for workers by suggesting reasonable compensation clauses for the death from overwork. This study consists of two comparative reviews on the compensaton clauses for the death from overwork. One is to review legal standards of Karoshi among three countries, such as Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The other is to investigate the cases of Karoshi in Korea, 121 cases identified at the Labor Welfare Corperation and the Labour Ministrial process of examination and reexamination, and 73 leading cases at the High Court of Justice. The main findings of the study are as follows : 1. Comparisons of comperative review on compensation clauses for the death from overwork among three countries. 1) All of three countries have the same kinds of disease for compensation, which were cerebro-and cardiao-vascular diseases, while for cardiac disease group, Korea has the smaller number of diseases for compensation than Japan. 2) As for the definition of overwork, the three countries share equally that overload for one week prior to collapse is considered as an important factor, but accumulated chronic fatigue is disregarded. 3) As the basis of overwork, in Japan, there is a tendency to move from the conditions of an ordinary healthy adult to those of the individual concerned in Japan, whereas there is no such concern yet in Korea. 4) All the three countries use a common standard of medical judgement in demonstrating causal relationship between a job and a disease. However, Korea is progressive in the sense that in the case of CVA at worksite, the worker himself has no obligation to prove the cause. 2. The results of a comparative review on excutive decisions by Labor Ministry and judicial decisions by the Court in Korea : A judicial decision is based on the legalistic probability, but a excutive decision is not. Therefore, excutive decisions have such restrictions that : 1) TIA (transitory ischemic cerebral attack) and myocarditis are excluded from compensation, and there is little consistency of decision in the case of cause-unknown death. 2) There is a tendency not to compensate for the death from overwork since the work terms such as repeated long-time working, shift work or night-shift work are not considered as overloading. 3) There is a tendency to regard the conditions of a ordinary healthy adult rather than those of the individual concerned(age, existing diseases, health state, etc.) as the comparative basis of overload. 4) There remains a tendency not to compensate for the death from overwork in the case of collapse occuring out of workplace, on the ground of 'on the course of working' and 'in the cause of accident'. Through the study, the fact manifests itself that Korea's compensation clauses for work-related diseases due to overwork are very restrictive. So, it is necessary to extend the Labor Ministry's clauses of compensation for the death from overwork following to the recent changes of other countries and internal judicial decisions. This is very important in the perspective of occupational health that aims at health promotion of workers including prevention of the Karoshi.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 1981

Recent trends in design standards development in some European countries and U.S.A. have encouraged the use of probabilistic limit sate design concepts. Reliability based design criteria such as LSD, LRFD, PBLSD, adopted in those advanced countries have the potentials that they afford for symplifying the design process and placing it on a consistent reliability bases for various construction materials. A reliability based design criteria for RC flexural members are proposed in this study. Lind-Hasofer's invariant second-moment reliability theory is used in the derivation of an algorithmic reliability analysis method as well as an iterative determination of load and resistance factors. In addition, Cornell's Mean First-Order Second Moment Method is employed as a practical tool for the approximate reliability analysis and the derivation of design criteria. Uncertainty measures for flexural resistance and load effects are based on the Ellingwood's approach for the evaluation of uncertainties of loads and resistances. The implied relative safety levels of RC flexural members designed by the strength design provisions of the current standard code were evaluated using the second moment reliability analysis method proposed in this study. And then, resistance and load factors corresponding to the target reliability index(${\beta}=4$) which is considered to be appropriate level of reliability considering our practices are calculated by using the proposed methods. These reliability based factors were compared to those specified by our current ultimate strength design provisions. It was found that the reliability levels of flexural members designed by current code are not appropriate, and the code specified resistance and load factors were considerably different from the reliability based resistance and load factors proposed in this study.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.139-155
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• 2009

For the last few decades, many studies have tried to explore and unveil venture companies' success factors and unique features in order to identify the sources of such companies' competitive advantages over their rivals. Such venture companies have shown tendency to give high returns for investors generally making the best use of information technology. For this reason, many venture companies are keen on attracting avid investors' attention. Investors generally make their investment decisions by carefully examining the evaluation criteria of the alternatives. To them, credit rating information provided by international rating agencies, such as Standard and Poor's, Moody's and Fitch is crucial source as to such pivotal concerns as companies stability, growth, and risk status. But these types of information are generated only for the companies issuing corporate bonds, not venture companies. Therefore, this study proposes a method for evaluating venture businesses by presenting our recent empirical results using financial data of Korean venture companies listed on KOSDAQ in Korea exchange. In addition, this paper used multi-class SVM for the prediction of DEA-based efficiency rating for venture businesses, which was derived from our proposed method. Our approach sheds light on ways to locate efficient companies generating high level of profits. Above all, in determining effective ways to evaluate a venture firm's efficiency, it is important to understand the major contributing factors of such efficiency. Therefore, this paper is constructed on the basis of following two ideas to classify which companies are more efficient venture companies: i) making DEA based multi-class rating for sample companies and ii) developing multi-class SVM-based efficiency prediction model for classifying all companies. First, the Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA) is a non-parametric multiple input-output efficiency technique that measures the relative efficiency of decision making units(DMUs) using a linear programming based model. It is non-parametric because it requires no assumption on the shape or parameters of the underlying production function. DEA has been already widely applied for evaluating the relative efficiency of DMUs. Recently, a number of DEA based studies have evaluated the efficiency of various types of companies, such as internet companies and venture companies. It has been also applied to corporate credit ratings. In this study we utilized DEA for sorting venture companies by efficiency based ratings. The Support Vector Machine(SVM), on the other hand, is a popular technique for solving data classification problems. In this paper, we employed SVM to classify the efficiency ratings in IT venture companies according to the results of DEA. The SVM method was first developed by Vapnik (1995). As one of many machine learning techniques, SVM is based on a statistical theory. Thus far, the method has shown good performances especially in generalizing capacity in classification tasks, resulting in numerous applications in many areas of business, SVM is basically the algorithm that finds the maximum margin hyperplane, which is the maximum separation between classes. According to this method, support vectors are the closest to the maximum margin hyperplane. If it is impossible to classify, we can use the kernel function. In the case of nonlinear class boundaries, we can transform the inputs into a high-dimensional feature space, This is the original input space and is mapped into a high-dimensional dot-product space. Many studies applied SVM to the prediction of bankruptcy, the forecast a financial time series, and the problem of estimating credit rating, In this study we employed SVM for developing data mining-based efficiency prediction model. We used the Gaussian radial function as a kernel function of SVM. In multi-class SVM, we adopted one-against-one approach between binary classification method and two all-together methods, proposed by Weston and Watkins(1999) and Crammer and Singer(2000), respectively. In this research, we used corporate information of 154 companies listed on KOSDAQ market in Korea exchange. We obtained companies' financial information of 2005 from the KIS(Korea Information Service, Inc.). Using this data, we made multi-class rating with DEA efficiency and built multi-class prediction model based data mining. Among three manners of multi-classification, the hit ratio of the Weston and Watkins method is the best in the test data set. In multi classification problems as efficiency ratings of venture business, it is very useful for investors to know the class with errors, one class difference, when it is difficult to find out the accurate class in the actual market. So we presented accuracy results within 1-class errors, and the Weston and Watkins method showed 85.7% accuracy in our test samples. We conclude that the DEA based multi-class approach in venture business generates more information than the binary classification problem, notwithstanding its efficiency level. We believe this model can help investors in decision making as it provides a reliably tool to evaluate venture companies in the financial domain. For the future research, we perceive the need to enhance such areas as the variable selection process, the parameter selection of kernel function, the generalization, and the sample size of multi-class.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.31
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• pp.27-56
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• 2006

Today's financial institutions usually take environmental issues seriously into consideration as they could not evade lender liability in an increasing number of cases. On the international scene, a brand-new concept of the "Equator Principles" in the New Millenium has driven more and more international banks to adopt these Principles in project financing. Sustainable development has been a key word in understanding new trends of the governments, financial institutions, corporations and civic groups in the 21st century. The Equator Principles are a set of voluntary environmental and social guidelines for sustainable finance. These Principles commit bank officers to avoid financial support to projects that fail to meet these guidelines. The Principles were conceived in 2002 on an initiative of the International Finance Corporation(IFC), and launched in June 2003. Since then, dozens of major banks, accounting for up to 80 percent of project loan market, have adopted the Principles. Accordingly, the Principles have become the de facto standard for all banks and investors on how to deal with potential social and environmental issues of projects to be financed. Compliance with the Equator Principles facilitates for endorsing banks to participate in the syndicated loan and help them to manage the risks associated with large-scale projects. The Equator Principles call for financial institutions to provide loans to projects under the following circumstances: - The risk of the project is categorized in accordance with internal guidelines based upon the environmental and social screening criteria of the IFC. - For Category A and B projects, borrowers or sponsors are required to conduct a Social and Environmental Assessment, the preparation of which must meet certain requirements and satisfactorily address key social and environmental issues. - The Social and Environmental Assessment report should address baseline social and environmental conditions, requirements under host country laws and regulations, sustainable development, and, as appropriate, IFC's Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines, etc. - Based on the Social and Environmental Assessment, Equator banks then make agreements with borrowers on how they mitigate, monitor and manage the risks through a Social and Environmental Management System. Compliance with the plan is included in the covenant clause of loan agreements. If the borrower doesn't comply with the agreed terms, the bank will take corrective actions. The Equator Principles are not a mere declaration of cautious banks but a full commitment of lenders. A violation of the Principles in the process of project financing, which led to an unexpected damage to the affected community, would not give rise to any specific legal remedies other than ordinary lawsuits. So it is more effective for banks to ensure consistent implementation of the Principles and to have them take responsible measures to solve social and environmental issues. Public interests have recently mounted up with respect to environmental issues on the occasion of the Supreme Court's decision (2006Du330) on the fiercely debated reclamation project at Saemangeum. The majority Justices said that the expected environmental damages like probable pollution of water and soil were not believed so serious and that the Administration should continue to implement the project seeking ways to make it more environment friendly. In this case, though the Category A Saemangeum Project was carried out by a government agency, the Supreme Court behaved itself as a signal giver to approve or stop the environment-related project like an Equator bank in project financing. At present, there is no Equator bank in Korea in contrast to three big banks in Japan. Also Korean contractors, which are aggressively bidding for Category A-type projects in South East Asia and Mideast, might find themselves in a disadvantageous position because they are generally ignorant of the environmental assessment associated with project financing. In this regard, Korean banks and overseas project contractors should care for the revised Equator Principles and the latest developments in project financing more seriously. It's because its scope has expanded to the capital cost of US$10 million or more across all industry sectors regardless of developing countries or not. It should be noted that, for a Korean bank, being an Equator bank is more or less burdensome in a short-term period, but it must be conducive to minimizing risks and building up good reputation in the long run.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.59-67
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• 2016

In landscape design by public institutions, although the costs and species of landscape trees stipulated by the Korean Public Procurement Service(PPS) are generally adhered to, the PPS regulations about planting trees with well-developed rootlets are almost entirely neglected. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of buried container modules, which are a new technology and product in landscape production that is able to reduce the defect rate while complying with regulations. To this end, this study measured rootlet density, rootlet development length, rootlet survival rate on excavation, and impairments of tree growth for 3 months after root pruning, and compared these variables for the container modules with those for trees that underwent root pruning in bare ground, and those that were cultivated in a container above ground. The results were as follows: First, the rootlet density was 88% for the trees in container modules, which was very high. Trees that underwent standard root pruning in bare ground had a somewhat lower density of 64%. Meanwhile, the trees that were cultivated in pots above ground died, invalidating measurement. Second, in terms of rootlet development and rootlet survival rate, the trees in container modules showed a mean length of 10.4cm, and 100% survival rate, indicating that there was no rootlet damage caused by excavation. For the trees that only underwent root pruning in bare ground, the mean length was 25.6cm and the rootlet survival rate was only half that of the trees in container modules, at 56%, demonstrating considerable damage. Rootlet development did not occur at all in the trees grown in pots. Third, the trees in container modules and those that underwent root pruning in bare ground did not show any deaths during the root pruning process, or any impairments such as stunted leaf growth. Conversely, the trees grown in pots nearly all died, and severe impairments of tree growth were observed. As shown by the results above, when we evaluated the performance of buried container modules, they showed the most outstanding performance of the three models tested in this study. The container modules prevent defects by stimulating early rooting in environments that with poor conditions for growth, or in trees that are not suited to the summer environment Therefore, it is expected that they would be an optimal means by which to enable compliance with rules such as the regulation presented by the PPS.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.140-151
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• 2002

Object and Method:Minor physical anomalies(MPAs) are frequently seen in patients with schizophrenia. MPAs are considered to arise from the anomalous development of ectoderm-originated tissues in the developing fetus. Since the central nervous system originates from ectoderm, MPAs can be regarded as externally observable and objective indicators of the aberrant development which might have taken place in the central nervous system. To investigate whether MPAs are more frequent in schizophrenic patients, the frequencies of MPAs were compared between schizophrenic patients and normal controls. Total 245 schizophrenic patients diagnosed with DSM-IV(male : 158, female : 87), and 418 normal control subjects(male : 216, female : 202) were included in this study. The MPAs were measured using the modified Waldrop scale with fifteen items in six bodily regions; head, eye, ear, mouth, hand, and foot. Result:The total scores of Waldrop scale were $4.40{\pm}1.93$($mean{\pm}standard$ deviation) in patients and $3.43{\pm}1.68$ in controls for females, and for males, $4.58{\pm}1.75$ in patients and $4.28{\pm}1.59$ in controls. For females, the excess of MPAs in schizophrenic patients was statistically significant(t-test : p<0.001). For males, schizophrenic patients also showed more MPAs than normal controls, but this tendency did not reach statistical significance (t-test : p=0.094). When the modified Waldrop total scores excluding head circumference were compared, the total scores in schizophrenic patients were significantly higher for both male and female subjects(t-test : male p<0.001, female p=0.001). The individual anomaly items included in Waldrop scale were also investigated. The items of epicanthus, hypertelorism, malformed ears, syndactylia were significantly more frequent in schizophrenic patients. In contrast, the items of adherent ear lobes, asymmetric ears, furrowed tongue, curved fifth finger, single palmar crease and big gap between toes did not show any differences in frequency between schizophrenic patients and normal controls. Since a lot of statistical analyses showed different results between male and female subjects, it seems to be necessary to consider gender as an important controlling variable for the analysis, however only the item of head circumference showed statistically significant gender-related difference according to log-linear analysis. Conclusion:With a relatively large sample size, the frequencies of MPAs enlisted in Waldrop scale were compared between schizophrenic patients and normal controls in this study. MPAs were more frequently seen in schizophrenic patients and, especially, several specific items in the Waldrop scale showed prominent excess in schizophrenic patients. Although definite conclusions cannot be drawn due to the inherent limitation of the study using Waldrop scale, these results seem to support the possibility that aberrant neurodevelopmental process might be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia in some of the patients.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.42-61
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• 2020

Even though research on heritage interpretation has been conducted steadily since the mid-20th century, the actual concept of such interpretation has not been clear. In The ICOMOS Charter for the Interpretation and Presentation of Cultural Heritage Sites, which is a leading international standard of heritage management, the definition of heritage interpretation is still vague. Also, defining its concept is tricky because it is based on the 'situation,' which could change at any moment. Therefore it seems that previous research has focused only on the social function of heritage interpretation. Since socio-philosophy research has become increasingly crucial in heritage studies, the concept of heritage interpretation needs to be precise. Therefore, this paper looks at research history chronologically, divides its social role into two different branches, and finally reifies the definition of the concept. Two social values of heritage interpretation can be distinguished as 'modern heritage interpretation,' and 'inclusive interpretation.' Modern heritage interpretation directs studies into conveying heritage's value to the public as measured by a few experts. It is an educational and communicative role. Inclusive heritage interpretation focuses on seeking comprehensive recognition of diverse values and finds ways to promote reconciliation among multiple stakeholders of heritage. Even though these two functions have developed in different social backgrounds, it is apparent that both have been generated in an unclear, overlapping, and complicated context. The concept of heritage interpretation is too complex to simplify as 'interpretation' itself. This paper defines such interpretation as 'all activities involved in the process of value creation of heritage.' Two social values relate to the concept of 'interpretation': they all have a common recognition of fundamental characteristics of heritage. This is used to establish a collective identity in society. However, it is more appropriate to conceptualize inclusive heritage interpretation as 're-interpretation' because it denies modern heritage interpretation and identifies new negotiated value.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.6 no.2 s.24
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• pp.120-128
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• 2005

ISO 9001, the quality management system issued by the International Organization for Standardization, is being used by architectural design and engineering firms in order to strengthen the capability of business activities through the implementation of the international and advanced quality management systems. However, there have been significant problems in stable implementation and settlement of ISO 9001 in construction industry, which seem to be caused by key employees' lack of proper recognition and comprehension. The purpose of this research, accordingly, is to find and analyze nonconformity results which were found when the third party registrars audited the conformity of companies' quality management systems for ISO 9001 certification especially in architectural design and engineering firms. For this purpose this research was conducted by a cluster analysis of 647 audit reports out of representative 15 architectural design and engineering firms that have been audited periodically from 1997 to 2003 by the third party registrars. The analysis showed that the most frequent problems were generated in the areas of $\ulcorner$Design and Development$\lrcorner$ , $\ulcorner$production and Service Provision$\lrcorner$ , and $\ulcorner$General requirements$\lrcorner$ of the quality management system. The following, the areas of $\ulcorner$Monitoring and Measurement$\lrcorner$ and $\ulcorner$purchasing$\lrcorner$ were also analyzed as main factors which caused frequent nonconformity results. This research also shows that the corrective actions for nonconformity results are closely connected with the whole management activities in architectural design and engineering firms. Consequently, corrective actions for disposition of nonconformities should be implemented more specifically in order to settle and activate the quality management systems in architectural design and engineering firms.