• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.84 no.2
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• pp.125-133
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• 2021

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can manifest in a range of symptoms, including both asymptomatic systems which appear nearly non-existent to the patient, all the way to the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Specifically, COVID-19-associated pneumonia develops into ARDS due to the rapid progression of hypoxia, and although arterial blood gas analysis can assist in halting this deterioration, the current environment provided by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to an overall lack of medical resources or equipment, has made it difficult to administer such tests in a widespread manner. As a result, this study was conducted in order to determine whether the levels of oxygen saturation (SpO₂) and the fraction of inhaled oxygen (FiO₂) (SF ratio) can also serve as predictors of ARDS and the patient's risk of mortality. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted from February 2020 to Mary 2020, with the study's subjects consisting of COVID-19 pneumonia patients who had reached a state of deterioration that required the use of oxygen therapy. Of the 100 COVID-19 pneumonia cases, we compared 59 pneumonia patients who required oxygen therapy, divided into ARDS and non-ARDS pneumonia patients who required oxygen, and then investigated the different factors which affected their mortality. Results: At the time of admission, the ratios of SpO₂, FiO₂, and SF for the ARDS group differed significantly from those of the non-ARDS pneumonia support group who required oxygen (p<0.001). With respect to the predicting of the occurrence of ARDS, the SF ratio on admission and the SF ratio at exacerbation had an area under the curve which measured to be around 85.7% and 88.8% (p<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified that the SF ratio at exacerbation (hazard ratio [HR], 0.916; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.846-0.991; p=0.029) and National Early Warning Score (NEWS) (HR, 1.277; 95% CI, 1.010-1.615; p=0.041) were significant predictors of mortality. Conclusion: The SF ratio on admission and the SF ratio at exacerbation were strong predictors of the occurrence of ARDS, and the SF ratio at exacerbation and NEWS held a significant effect on mortality.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.86-94
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• 2021

PCB-based deployable solar panel is mainly used for CubeSat due to its lightweight and easy of electrical connection. However, as the size of solar panel increases, there is a limit to ensuring the structural safety of solar cells due to excessive dynamic displacement under launch vibration environment. In previous mechanical designs, for the minimization of dynamic deflection, panel stiffness is increased by applying additional stiffeners made of various materials such as aluminum or composite. However, it could have disadvantages for CubeSat design requirements due to limited mass and volumes. In this study, a high-damping 6U solar panel was proposed. It had superior damping characteristic with a multi-layered stiffener laminated with viscoelastic acrylic tapes. Basic characteristics of this solar panel were measured through free-vibration tests. Design effectiveness of the solar panel was validated through qualification-level launch vibration test. Based on test results, vibration characteristics of a typical PCB solar panel and the high-damping laminated solar panel were predicted and a comparative analysis was performed.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.165-178
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• 2021

The influence of Soil-Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) fitting parameters for an unsaturated natural slope was evaluated through seepage and slope stability analysis as a function of rainfall. Soil samples were collected from the study area in Jirisan National Park and the physical and mechanical characteristics of unsaturated soil layers were measured in laboratory tests. The saturation depth was calculated via seepage analysis by changing fitting parameters α, the parameter related to the Air Entry Value (AEV) and n, the parameter related to the slope of the SWCC in the range of natural conditions. Slope stability analysis using the limit equilibrium method considered the calculated depth of saturation. Results from seepage analysis for various rainfall conditions indicate the saturation depth in the soil layer suddenly increased as the fitting parameter α decreased; the saturation time for the entire soil layer also decreased. Slope stability analysis considering the calculated depth of saturation shows that the slope safety factor rapidly decreased as the fitting parameter α decreased, whereas the variation in slope safety factor was very small when n increased. Hence, fitting parameter α has a large effect on saturation depth during rainfall and therefore on slope stability, whereas slope stability is relatively unaffected by the fitting parameter n.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.117-129
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• 2022

The ability to creatively pursue new knowledge and perspectives across various disciplines has established itself as a basic literacy for living in the 21st-century convergence era. With the development of various creative education programs, assessment tools that can objectively and systematically evaluate learners' academic achievement are also required. Therefore, this paper proposed the self assessment, peer assessment, creativity assessment, and reflection tool based on the hyper blended practical model as assessment tools for creative convergence education programs for elementary and secondary school students. The developed assessment tools attempted to develop more completed evaluation methods by modifying two items and deleting four items through validity tests. In addition, the evaluation tool was applied to 596 elementary and secondary school students nationwide, and the application results were analyzed through one-way ANOVA and Wordcloud system. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the self assessment and the reflection tool need to develop questions according to the grade group. In addition, we proposed to use these assessment tools in blended classes or various educational activities in the changing classroom environment. We hope that this paper provides implications for developing evaluation systems and tools for creative convergence education.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.21-32
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• 2022

Steel pile foundations are widely used for offshore constructions due to their high bearing capacity and efficiency. Typically, offshore structures that have reached the end of their design life are required to be demolished. However, pile foundations are often left on site due to technical and economic limitations. The pile left on the site not only pollutes the environment, but can also cause obstacles for the construction of new structures. Therefore, research is required to completely eliminate these foundations at the site. In this study, a new type of double-wall pile foundation that can drastically reduce the pull-out load was conceptually proposed, and a series of model tests were performed to validate the performance of the double-wall pile foundation. The installation and extraction of the double-wall pile were simulated in dry sand in the model test, and the measured up-lift load was compared to that of the conventional pile. According to the result, the maximum up-lift load induced by the decommissioning of the double-wall pile was reduced by 45% when compared to the traditional pile in dense sand. This study verified the mechanism for reducing the up-lift load of the double-wall foundation and confirmed the possibility of completely decommissioning a pile that has reached the end of its nominal service life.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

Defense fields widely operate unmanned systems to lower vulnerability and enhance combat effectiveness. In the navy, swarm unmanned surface vehicles(USVs) form a cluster within communication range, share situational awareness information among the USVs, and cooperate with them to conduct military missions. This paper proposes an interface system, i.e., Interface Adapter System(IAS), to achieve inter-USV and intra-USV interoperability. We focus on the mission planning subsystem(MPS) for interoperability, which is the core subsystem of the USV to decide courses of action such as automatic path generation and weapon assignments. The central role of the proposed system is to exchange interface data between MPSs and other subsystems in real-time. To this end, we analyzed the operational requirements of the MPS and identified interface messages. Then we developed the IAS using the distributed real-time middleware. As experiments, we conducted several integration tests at swarm USVs simulation environment and measured delay time and loss ratio of interface messages. We expect that the proposed IAS successfully provides bridge roles between the mission planning system and other subsystems.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.164-174
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• 2021

The study examines the shearing and crushing characteristics of land-derived subaqueous granular materials in a gravel-bed river. A series of large-sized ring shear tests were performed to examine the effect of shear time and shear velocity on the shear stress characteristics of aquarium gravels with a 6-mm mean grain size. Three different shear velocities (i.e., 0.01, 0.1, and 1 mm/sec) were applied to measure the shear stress under the drained (long-term shearing) and undrained (short-term shearing) conditions. Different initial shear velocities, i.e., 0.01→0.1→1 mm/sec and 0.1→0.01→1 mm/sec, were considered in this study. The test results show that the grain crushing effect is significant regardless of drainage conditions. The shear stress of coarse-grained materials is influenced by initial shear velocities, regardless of the drainage conditions. In particular, particle breakage increases as grain size increases. The shearing time and initial shear velocity are the primary influencing factors determining the shear stress of gravels. The granular materials may be broken easily into particles through frictional resistance, such as abrasion, interlocking and fracture due to the particle-particle interaction, resulting in the high mobility of granular materials in a subaqueous environment.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.77.1-77.14
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• 2020

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is one of the main microorganisms that causes bovine mastitis, and its well-known virulence characteristics and interactions with the environment are used to aid the design of more efficient therapies. Objectives: To determine whether the virulence traits, such as antibiotic resistance and biofilm-forming and internalization abilities, of S. aureus isolated from bovine mastitis are related to dairy production system types. Methods: The study was performed in the Mexican states of Guanajuato and Michoacan. Semi-intensive dairy farms (SIDFs) and family dairy farms (FDFs) (454 and 363 cows, respectively) were included. The 194 milk samples from mastitis affected quarters were collected and 92 strains of S. aureus were isolated and identified by biochemical and molecular tests. Antibiotic resistance, biofilm and internalization assays were performed on 30 randomly selected isolated strains to determine virulence traits, and these strains were equally allocated to the 2 dairy production systems. Results: All 30 selected strains displayed a high degree of resistance (50%-91.7%) to the antibiotics tested, but no significant difference was found between SIDF and FDF isolates. S. aureus strains from SIDFs had an average biofilm forming capacity of up to 36% (18.9%-53.1%), while S. aureus strains from FDFs registered an average of up to 53% (31.5%-77.8%) (p > 0.05). Internalization assays revealed a higher frequency of internalization capacity for strains isolated from FDFs (33.3%) than for those isolated from SIDFs (6.7%) (p > 0.05). fnbpA gen was detected in 46.6% of FDF strains and 33.3% of SIDF strains, and this difference was significant (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings show that the virulence traits of S. aureus isolates analyzed in this study, depend significantly on several factors, such as phenotype, genotype, and environmental conditions, which are significantly related to dairy production system type and daily management practices.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.125-134
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• 2022

The Global Expansion Roadmap published by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, which is organized by space agencies around the world, presents future lunar exploration guidance and stresses a lunar habitat program to utilize lunar resources. The Moon attracts attention as an outpost for deep space exploration. Simulating lunar surface environments is required to evaluate the performances of various equipment for future lunar surface missions. In this paper, an experimental study was conducted to simulate high vacuum pressure and cryogenic temperature of the permanent shadow regions in the lunar south pole, which is a promising candidate for landing and outpost construction. The establishment of an efficient dirty thermal vacuum chamber (DTVC) operation process has never been presented. One-dimensional ground cooling tests were conducted with various vacuum pressures with the Korean Lunar Simulant type-1 (KLS-1) in DTVC. The most advantageous vacuum pressure was found to be 30-80 mbar, considering the cooling efficiency and equipment stability. However, peripheral cooling is also required to simulate a cryogenic for not sublimating ice in a high vacuum pressure. In this study, an efficient peripheral cooling operation process was proposed by applying the frost ratio concept.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2022

Background: It is estimated that about 13 million artisanal and small-scale miners carry out their activities under harsh, precarious, unfriendly, and risky conditions. Yet, our understanding of the extent to which these workers use personal protective equipment (PPE) and navigate through the various risks and hazards they face is still limited. This article has two main objectives. First, it explores the extent of usage of PPE among artisanal and small-scale miners for the prevention of hazards and risks. Second, it examines the coping strategies used by these miners as a response to experiences of occupational injuries and risks Methods: A cross-sectional survey of small-scale miners was conducted in six communities across three districts in Ghana, West Africa. The mixed methods approach was adopted. A total of 148 small-scale miners participated in the study. Six focus group discussions (FGDs) were held across the six communities. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Chi-square tests were used to analyse the relationship between some socio-demographic characteristics (sex, age, and educational background) and the usage of PPE. Open-ended questions and responses from FGDs were analysed based on the content and verbatim quotations from miners. Results: Findings suggest that 78% of the miners interviewed do not use the appropriate PPE citing reasons such as cost, and their personal discomfort associated with use of PPE. There was no significant relationship between socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., sex, age, education and major mining activity) and the usage of PPE. The study further revealed four main coping strategies used by miners to handle the risks. These are rest, taking unprescribed medication and hard drugs, registration with health insurance scheme and savings and investments. Conclusion: This study shows that very few artisanal miners use PPE despite the significant hazards and risks to which they are exposed. The study recommends to the government to put in place measures to ensure that miners adhere to health and safety regulations before undertaking mining activities. This means that health and safety plans and use of PPE should be linked to the license acquisition process for miners.