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Analysis of Environment-Related Investment Arbitration Cases under NAFTA and Their Implications for the Korea-U.S. FTA (NAFTA 환경관련 투자중재사건 분석과 한미 FTA에의 시사점)

  • Park, Deok-Young;Lee, Seu-Yeun
    • Journal of Arbitration Studies
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.103-124
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    • 2012
  • Because the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (Korea-U.S. FTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have an overlapping contracting party, the United States, their provisions have much in common. The investment chapters of these agreements, especially, show many similarities, and thanks to these similarities, it is likely that the Korea-U.S. FTA arbitration tribunal for investor-state disputes regarding the environment will put great weight on the NAFTA tribunals' interpretations of those similar provisions. Since the NAFTA tribunals have already handled many environment-related arbitration cases, their interpretations will help heighten the predictability of environment-related Korea-U.S. FTA arbitration cases. This paper analyzes the environment-related NAFTA cases in which the tribunal has issued an award, which are the Metalclad case, S.D. Myers case, Waste Management case, Methanex case, Glamis Gold case, and Chemtura case. According to this analysis, the most controversial NAFTA provisions have been Article 1102 (national treatment), Article 1105 (minimum treatment standard, fair and equitable treatment), and Article 1110 (expropriation). The NAFTA tribunals applied the requirement of these articles in a strict manner, reducing the possibility of finding a violation. After the aforementioned analysis, this paper proceeds to compare the national treatment, minimum treatment standard (fair and equitable treatment), and expropriation provisions of the Korea-U.S. FTA and NAFTA and to predict the impact that the environment-related awards under NAFTA can have on environment-related Korea-U.S. FTA cases. It is expected that the NAFTA interpretations of the national treatment and minimum treatment provisions are likely be used as they are, but not the interpretations of expropriation, because of the differences in the expropriation provisions of the two agreements.

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Alteration in Plasma BDNF Level after Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation(rTMS) in Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia : A Pilot Study (치료저항성 정신분열병 환자에서 반복적 경두개자기자극술 병행치료시 혈장 BDNF 농도 변화 : 예비 연구)

  • Oh, So-Young;Kim, Yong-Ku
    • Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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    • v.16 no.3
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    • pp.170-180
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    • 2009
  • Objectives : To assess clinical improvement and change in plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) level after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS) in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Methods : Seven patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia, who were proven to be treatment-resistant, were treated with 15 sessions of rTMS for three weeks as an adjuvant therapy to antipsychotic treatment. Clinical improvement and change in plasma BDNF level were measured after the treatment period. The symptom severity was assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS) and the Korean Version of Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia(K-CDSS) at baseline and 7 days after the treatment. Plasma BDNF level was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) at baseline and 7 days after the treatment. Results : After the rTMS treatment, there was no significant improvement in PANSS total score(Z=-1.693, p=0.090) and no significant change in plasma BDNF was found(Z=-1.183, p=0.237). Negative correlations were found between percentage change in PANSS positive subscale score and duration of illness(rho=-0.991, N=7, p<0.0005, two-tailed), and PANSS negative subscale score at baseline and percentage change in plasma BDNF level(rho=-0.821, N=7, p=0.023, two-tailed). Conclusion : This preliminary study suggests that rTMS didn't make a significant change in clinical symptoms nor in plasma BDNF level in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Percentage change in plasma BDNF, however, might be correlated with treatment resistance in schizophrenic patients. This is a pilot study with a small sample size, therefore, a further study with a larger sample size is needed.

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Evaluation of Dosimetric Effect and Treatment Time by Plan Parameters for Endobronchial Brachytherapy

  • Choi, Chang Heon;Park, Jong Min;Park, So-Yeon;Kang, SungHee;Cho, Jin Dong;Kim, Jung-in
    • Progress in Medical Physics
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    • v.28 no.2
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    • pp.39-44
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    • 2017
  • This study aims to analyze dose distribution and treatment time of endobronchial brachytherapy (EBBT) by changing the position step size of the dwell position. A solid water phantom and an intraluminal catheter were used in the treatment plan. The treatment plans were generated for 3, 5, 7, and 10 cm treatment lengths, respectively. For each treatment length, the source position step sizes were set as 2.5, 5, and 10 mm. Three reference points were set 1 cm away from the central axis of the catheter, along the axis, for uniform dose distribution. Volumetric dose distribution was calculated to evaluate the dosimetric effect. The total radiation delivery time and total dwell time were estimated for treatment efficiency, which were increased with position step sizes. At half-life time, the differences between the position step sizes in the total radiation delivery time were 18.1, 15.4, 18.0, and 24.0 s for 3, 5, 7, and 10 cm treatment lengths, respectively. The dose distributions were more homogenous by increasing the position step sizes. The dose difference of the reference point was less than 10%. In brachytherapy, this difference can be negligible. For EBBT, the treatment time is the key factor while considering the patient status. To reduce the total treatment time, EBBT can be performed with 2.5 mm position step size.

A Scheduling System for the Patient Treatment on a Heavy-ion Radiotherapy

  • Toyama, Hinako;Shibayama, Kouichi;Kanatsu, Syusuke;Kuroiwa, Toshitaka;Watanabe, Hideo;Wakaisami, Mitsuji;Tsuji, Hiroshi;Endo, Masahiro;Tsujii, Hirohiko
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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    • 2002.09a
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    • pp.177-179
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    • 2002
  • We have developed a scheduling system for heavy ion radiotherapy considering the condition of three treatment rooms and treatment planning for each patient. This system consists of a database (patient information, treatment method and machine schedule), a schedule for radiotherapy and WEB server. All operation of this system, such as data input, to change and to view the schedule, are performed by using a WEB browser. In order to protect personal information for the patients, access privilege to each information are limited by according to the occupational category. This system is connected with a hospital central information management system (AMIDAS) and an irradiation-managing computer for the heavy ion radiotherapy. A basic information for the patient is got from AMIDAS and the daily schedule sends to the treatment control computer at each treatment room through the irradiation-managing computer every morning. The daily, weekly, monthly schedules in the treatment room and the treatment condition of each patient are shared on the WEB browser with the all participants of the heavy ion therapy. This system could be useful to save a time to generate a treatment schedule and to inform us the most up-to-date treatment schedule and the related information at the same time.

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The Retrospective Analysis on Obese and Overweight Female Patients with Korean Medical Treatment and Its Effectiveness for Clinical Setting of Seasonal Treatment (비만 및 과체중 여성에 대한 한의 비만치료의 효과 및 계절별 치료기간 설정을 위한 후향적 분석)

  • Shin, Won Yong;Seo, Gi Seong;Song, Joo Hyun;Baek, Cheol Hyun
    • Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.10-19
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    • 2017
  • Objectives: The aim of study was to investigate the effect of herbal medicine on obesity and to define which seasonal factor could be utilized to make an obesity treatment program more effective. Methods: Three hundred and forty-four subjects were recruited and data were analyzed for weight, body fat, muscular volume, body fat ratio, body mass index (BMI) change and treatment duration. At first, age classification was performed for the comparisons. Moreover, starting season of treatment was categorized to determine it's influence over the treatment. Results: It was found the administration of herbal medicine could diminish every analyzed fields of entire patients. Compared among age groups, there were no significant differences of all fields. However, the categorization of start season showed significant differences of weight, BMI change and treatment duration. In addition, the analysis of assumed 10% weight loss elicited patients started treatment in spring and winter should spend 12 and 13 weeks and summer would be 9.5 weeks. Conclusions: It was found herbal medicine would be effective for female obesity and expected patients could achieve 5.91 kg weight loss for 65.88 days treatment. Summer group had significant shorter treatment duration and it was presumed summer group had more concentration for achievement. Days required for assumed 10% weight loss was calculated to be 84 days in spring, 67 days in summer, 96 days in winter. Hereafter, further controlled study with more numbers of patients should be needed to determine the goal of medical treatment for obesity.

Treatment satisfaction and oral health behavior of the before and after dental implanting treatment (치과 임플란트 시술 전·후의 구강보건행동 및 치료만족도)

  • Kim, Jung-Sook;Park, Ji-Young;Baek, Ji-Min;Lee, Jong-Hwa
    • Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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    • v.13 no.6
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    • pp.1087-1094
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    • 2013
  • Objectives : In this study, for before/after dental implant surgery, our aim is to provide the basic data based on the decision of the treatment by measuring satisfaction of the treatment and finding out the intention to revisit a hospital and also by recommendation. Methods : We conducted the frequency analysis, a cross-tabulations, paired t-test and a correlation analysis of 146 data who had visited at 6 dental clinics and hospitals located in Daegu for dental implant surgery, with SPSS (PASW 18.0 for Windows, SPSS Inc, USA) to find out the satisfaction of the treatment before/after dental implant surgery. Results : The satisfaction related to before/after dental implant surgery of oral health was all statistically significant on a masticatory, social and psychological function, the satisfaction towards the treatment, the intention to revisit a hospital and also by recommendation. Independent variables explained the satisfaction of the treatment before/after dental implant surgery as 19.1% and indicated a significantly high value in general. Conclusions : The satisfaction was higher on satisfactory of the postoperative treatment than on satisfactory of the preoperative treatment in spite of these limitations. Therefore, the dental medical team should take into account dental implanting as a way which improves the satisfaction of the treatment related with oral health and have continuous managements and careful concerns.

The Effect of Oxidizing Agents on Alkaloid Reduction of Tobacco Extract (담배추출물의 알카로이드감소에 미치는 산화제의 영향)

  • 황건중
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.33-46
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    • 1982
  • This experiment was carried out for the purpose of reducing alkaloid in reconstituted tobacco sheet and effluent of reconstituted tobacco sheet manufacturing company by treating oxidizing agents such as ozone, sodium hypochlorite, perchloric acid and hydrogen peroxide to tobacco extract created from the manufacturing process of reconstituted tobacco sheet. The effect of alkaloid reduction in tobacco extract by the volume added, time of treatment and pH of oxidizing agents were as follows: 1. When the solid rate of tobacco extract stood at 10 percent, the content of alkaloid, total sugar, total nitrogen and chlorine was 1,600mg/l, 11,000mg/l, 3,200mg/l and 4,000mg/l, respectively. 2. The effect of alkaloid reduction through ozone treatment was in proportion to time of ozone treatment. Alkaloid showed a 31.2 percent reduction under 8 hours' ozone treatment and 0.23g ozone consumed to remove lmg alkaloid. 3. Alkaloid reduction through sodium hypochlorite treatment was influenced by quantity of chlorine in sodium hypochlorite solution. To remove lmg alkaloid, 36.3mg chlorine was used. Reduction of alkaloid was not affected by time of sodium hypochlorite treatment, while showed the best reaction under pH 5-7. 4. The effect of alkaloid reduction by perchloric acid was under the control of the volume added and time of treatment of perchloric acid. The volume of perchloric acid required to remove alkaloid was on the decrease as time of treatment was getting longer. lmg alkaloid was removed by 0.15g perchloric acid under 8 hours' perchloric acid treatment. 5. Alkaloid reduction reacted slowly to the volume added and time of treatment of hydrogen peroxide. Under 8 hours' hydrogen peroxide treatment, it showed maximum removal, registering 10 percent alkaloid reduction.

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Effectiveness of en-masse retraction using midpalatal miniscrews and a modified transpalatal arch: Treatment duration and dentoskeletal changes

  • Lee, Jungkil;Miyazawa, Ken;Tabuchi, Masako;Sato, Takuma;Kawaguchi, Misuzu;Goto, Shigemi
    • The korean journal of orthodontics
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    • v.44 no.2
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    • pp.88-95
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    • 2014
  • Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the treatment duration and dentoskeletal changes between two different anchorage systems used to treat maxillary dentoalveolar protrusion and to examine the effectiveness of en-masse retraction using two miniscrews placed in the midpalatal suture. Methods: Fifty-seven patients (9 men, 48 women), who had undergone level anchorage system treatment at Aichi-Gakuin University Dental Hospital (Nagoya, Japan) were divided into two groups according to the method of maxillary posterior anchorage reinforcement: midpalatal miniscrews (25 patients, mean age 22 years) and conventional anchorage (32 patients, mean age 19 years). The en-masse retraction period, overall treatment duration, pre-treatment effective ANB angle, and change in the effective ANB angle were compared with an independent-samples t -test. Results: Compared to the headgear group, the duration of en-masse retraction was longer by approximately 4 months in the miniscrew group (p < 0.001). However, we found no significant difference in the total treatment duration between the groups. Moreover, a greater change in the effective ANB angle was observed in patients treated with miniscrews than in those treated with the conventional method (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The level anchorage system treatment using miniscrews placed in the midpalatal area will allow orthodontists more time to control the anterior teeth during en-masse retraction, without increasing the total treatment duration. Furthermore, it achieves better dentoskeletal control than does the conventional anchorage method, thereby improving the quality of the treatment results.

The Effects of Microcurrent Treatment and Ultrasound Treatment on the Pain Relief and Functional Recovery after Total Knee Replacement (미세전류치료와 초음파치료가 슬관절전치환술 후 통증경감과 기능회복에 미치는 영향)

  • Cho, Woon-Su;Kim, Yong-Nam;Kim, Yong-Seong;Hwang, Tae-Yeon;Jin, Hee-Kyung
    • The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.118-126
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    • 2012
  • Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate pain relief and functional recovery after total knee replacement. Methods: The treatment was performed by dividing individuals into a control group ($n_1=5$), ultrasound treatment group ($n_2=5$), and micro-current treatment group ($n_3=5$). The control group applied the hot pack for 15 minutes, Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) for 15 minutes, and Continuous Passive Movement (CPM) for 40 minutes. The ultrasound therapy group applied the frequency of 1 MHz, intensity of 1.0 $W/cm^2$ for five minutes following the same treatment as the control group. The micro-current therapy group applied the intensity of 25 ${\mu}A$, and pulsation frequency 5 pps for 15 minutes following the same treatment as the control group. After treatment, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Korean Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (K-WOMAC), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Range of Movement (ROM) and wound length was measured. Results: VAS showed significant effect in the control group and micro-current therapy group during the treatment period. According to the treatment of K-WOMACK, BBS, ROM, and Healing wounds showed main effects between groups. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, data showed improvement of pain relief, wound healing effects, and range of motion recovery. Thus, these selected treatments were effective after total knee replacement. In other words, electrical treatment continues to influence pain relief and functional recovery after total knee replacement.

Analysis on the Actual Conditions of Wastewater Treatment Facilities in Chungcheongnam-do Province Industrial Complexes (충청남도 산업단지의 오·폐수처리실태 분석)

  • Lim, Bong-Su;Kim, Do-Young;Yi, Sang-Jin;Oh, Hye-Jung
    • Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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    • v.23 no.6
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    • pp.850-862
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    • 2007
  • This study was carried out to survey the actual conditions of wastewater treatment facilities to obtain basic data for the management of wastewater from industrial complexes in Chungcheongnam-do province. Wastewater production flow per site area by watersheds was $49.2m^3/km^2/d$ for Sapgyoho, $8.1m^3/km^2/d$ for Anseongcheon, $5.7m^3/km^2/d$ for Seohae, and $2.9m^3/km^2/d$ for Geumgang. Sapgyoho showed 75% of the total production flow, which was the highest value, Geumgang showed 4% of total flow, which was the lowest value. Average total extra rate as production flow/capacity flow in the wastewater treatment facilities for industrial complex is 49%. Considering by watersheds, the extra rates of Seohae, Geumgang, Anseongcheon, and Sapgyoho, are 73%, 65%, 62%, and 33% respectively. This means that the design of capacity flow in wastewater treatment facilities was too large. Effluent concentration of wastewater treatment facilities did not exceed discharge limit mostly. The removal efficiency rate for water quality item was 90% in BOD, 70% in COD, 80% in SS, 30 to 80% in TN, and 20 to 90% in TP, so the organic removal was good, but the nutrient removal was low and interval of variation was high. The removal efficiency rate of the agricultural was industrial complexes is lower than the national and local complexes. The construction cost of the wastewater treatment facilities in Chungcheongnam-do was $1,756Won\;per\;m^3$, treatment cost was $189Won\;per\;m^3$, and they were about two times and 1.2 times higher than the nation-wide cost, respectively. The treatment cost consists of 39% for man power, 21% for chemical, 16% for power, 11% for sludge treatment, and 13% for others.