• Title/Summary/Keyword: Environmental Monitoring System

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Development of Usability Evaluation Criteria for Senior-Friendly Autonomous Transportation Robot

  • Kim, Seon Chil;Kim, Sun Jung;Choi, Kyongon
    • Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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    • v.33 no.5
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    • pp.407-422
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    • 2014
  • Objective: The purpose of the study is to develop quantitative usability evaluation criteria for senior-friendly autonomous transportation robot. Background: The Republic of Korea has become the most rapidly aging society, and is anticipated to enter the post-aged society in 2026. To raise the quality of life of a senior with limited mobility and to reduce the burden of caregivers, many high-tech assistive products with information technologies are developed nowadays. The senior-friendly autonomous transportation robot is one person robot vehicle to move a senior to the destination for hospitals, nursing homes or silver town complex. With built-in navigation system and environmental monitoring censors, it automatically seeks the path to the destination and avoids collision to obstacles and pedestrians on the way. Due to the early stage of the product, few usability studies in this field have been done, mostly on general service robots to assist seniors, power wheelchairs and delivery robots. ISO and KS standards for the service robots are focused on safety. Method: Based on the reference usability index, the early draft of the usability evaluation questionnaires was developed. After small group tests and interviews, the experts modified the initial draft to the Usability Evaluation Criteria for Senior-Friendly Autonomous Transportation Robot (UEC-SFATR). Result: UEC-SFATR consisted of 4 subscales - Safety, Controllability, Efficiency and Satisfaction. All of the 4 subscales of UEC-SFATR were passed the reliability criteria by 4 groups of seniors, divided by gender and familiarity of smart-devices. Conclusion: UEC-SFATR covers wider area of user experiences of the SFATR and is a good measurement tool to help both the users and developers of the robot. Application: This study provides guide to the future product development and product competitiveness evaluation by quantifying user experiences for the SFATR.

Local Seismic Activity around the Lützow-Holm Bay, East Antarctica

  • Kaminuma, Katsutada;Kanao, Masaki
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.26 no.3
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    • pp.523-529
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    • 2004
  • The seismic monitoring at Syowa Station$(69^{\circ}S,\;39^{\circ}E: SYO)$, located on the continental margin of the Eastern Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, began in 1959. Phase readings of the earthquakes have been reported since 1967 and have been annually published as part of the Data Report Series of the National Institute of Polar Research since 1968. An observation of a tripartite seismic network was carried out at SYO for a period of three years from 1987 to 1990. Epicenters of local earthquakes were determined for the first time by using the array network for the three-year period. Many different types of earthquakes, such as the mainshock-aftershock type, twin earthquake, earthquake swarms, etc., were detected during the period. After this, local events around SYO have been detected empirically from their waveforms recorded on seismograms. The seismic activity for the period of 1987-1990 was higher than that of the following decade. Earthquake epicenters, occurring during that period, were highly localized along the coast and in the central part of the $L\"{u}tzow-Holm$ Bay (LHB). Nine local earthquakes, recorded during the period of 1990-1996, showed many different types of events. The seismicity for the period of 1990-1996 was very low and the magnitudes ranged from 0.1 to 1.4. The locations of some events were determined by using the single station method for SYO, i.e., using the particle motions of the initial phase and S-P time. Two local events were detected in 1998 and one event in 2001. It would be estimated that the stress concentration was related to the glacial rebound around the LHB. Afterwards, we will be able to eventually examine the relationship between the seismicity around Antarctica and deglacial phenomena such as crustal uplift, and sea level change within the earth environmental system.

A Disposable Grating-Integrated Multi-channel SPR Sensor Chip for Detection of Biomolecule (회절격자가 집적된 일회용 다중채널 SPR 생체분자 검출 칩)

  • Jin, Young-Hyun;Cho, Young-Ho
    • The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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    • v.58 no.1
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    • pp.147-154
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    • 2009
  • This paper presents a grating~integrated SPR (Surface Plasmon Resonance) sensor chip for simple and inexpensive biomolecule detection. The grating-integrated SPR sensor chip has two sensing channels having a nano grating for SPR coupling. An external mirror is used for multi channel SPR sensing. The present sensor chip replaces bulky and expensive optical components, such as fiber-optic switches or special shaped prisms, resulting in a simple and inexpensive wavelength modulated multi-channel SPR sensing system. We fabricate a SPR sensor chip integrated with 835 nm-pitch gratings by a micromolding technique to reduce the fabrication cost. In the experimental characterization, the refractive index sensitivity of each sensing channel is measured as $321.8{\pm}8.1nm$/RI and $514.3{\pm}8.lnm$/RI, respectively. 0.5uM of the target biomolecule (streptavidin) was detected by a $1.13{\pm}0.16nm$ shift of the SPR dip in the 10%-biotinylated sample channel, while the SPR dip in the reference channel for environmental perturbation monitoring remained at the same position. From the experimental results, multi-channel biomolecule detection capability of the present grating-integrated SPR sensor chip has been verified. On the basis of the preliminary experiments, we successfully measured the binding reaction rate for the $2\;nM{\sim}200\;nM$ monoclonal-antibiotin, thus verifying biomolecule concentration detectability of the present SPR sensor chip. The binding reaction rates measured from the present SPR sensor chip agredd well with those from a commercialized SPR sensor.

Nutritional Metabolomics (영양 대사체학)

  • Hong, Young-Shick
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.43 no.2
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    • pp.179-186
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    • 2014
  • Metabolomics is the study of changes in the metabolic status of an organism as a consequence of drug treatment, environmental influences, nutrition, lifestyle, genetic variations, toxic exposure, disease, stress, etc, through global or comprehensive identification and quantification of every single metabolite in a biological system. Since most chronic diseases have been demonstrated to be linked to nutrition, nutritional metabolomics has great potential for improving our understanding of the relationship between disease and nutritional status, nutrient, or diet intake by exploring the metabolic effects of a specific food challenge in a more global manner, and improving individual health. In particular, metabolite profiling of biofluids, such as blood, urine, or feces, together with multivariate statistical analysis provides an effective strategy for monitoring human metabolic responses to dietary interventions and lifestyle habits. Therefore, studies of nutritional metabolomics have recently been performed to investigate nutrition-related metabolic pathways and biomarkers, along with their interactions with several diseases, based on animal-, individual-, and population-based criteria with the goal of achieving personalized health care in the future. This article introduces analytical technologies and their application to determination of nutritional phenotypes and nutrition-related diseases in nutritional metabolomics.

Estimation of Total Dust Concentration Complying with the TLV of Airborne Man-made Mineral Fibers by Regression Analysis (회귀분석에 의한 공기중 인조광물 섬유 허용기준과 부합하는 총분진 농도의 추정)

  • Shin, Yong Chul;Yi, Gwang Yong
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.158-166
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    • 1999
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between airborne total dust and man-made mineral fibers (MMMF), and to estimate total dust concentration to maintain below the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV$^{(R)}$) for the MMMF. The regression coefficients between airborne total dust concentrations and fiber concentrations determined in the industries producing glass fibers, rock wool. refractory ceramic and continuous filament glass fibers products were 0.41, 0.42, 0.20 and 0.19, respectively. The size characteristics of fibers as well as the amounts of contaminated non-fibrous dusts could affect the correlation intensities. When total dust and fiber exposure data were compared with the occupational exposure limits, there was a large gap between two evaluation results. The regression coefficient between total dust and fiber data was increased ($r^2=0.88$) in the process of insulation installation generating in the higher levels of glass or rock wool fibers. In this case, an estimated total dust concentration of glass wool or rock wool fibers complying with the ACGIH TLV (1 f/cc) was $1.7mg/m^3$. In conclusion, the total dust and fibers concentrations was highly correlated at the higher exposure levels so that total dust-monitoring data could be used to control simply and economically and to estimate worker's exposure to fibers.

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cDNA Cloning and Expression of a Cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) from the Pale Chub, Zacco platypus

  • Jeon, Hyoung-Joo;Park, Young-Chul;Lee, Wan-Ok;Lee, Jong-Ha;Kim, Jin-Hyoung
    • Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.44 no.4
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    • pp.364-372
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    • 2011
  • The pale chub (Zacco platypus) is generally found in Asian countries, such as Korea, Japan, and China. Nevertheless, very little information exists about the genes involved in the metabolism of xenobiotics in this species. This species is useful in monitoring the environmental impact on various pollutants in freshwater as a sentinel fish species. We cloned the full-length cDNA sequence of xenobiotic metabolizing cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) gene from Z. platypus and characterized it. Tissue distribution and timedependent induction of CYP1A were studied by real-time RT-PCR. Induction pattern of CYP1A was studied by exposing the fish to an arylhydrocarbon receptor agonist, ${\beta}$-naphthoflavone (BNF). The liver showed the highest level of expression in basal state as well as BNF- treated fish. However, appreciable levels of expression were also recorded in Gill and kidney and the least level of expression was observed in the eye. The results of the time-course study revealed an induction in the liver, brain, and gills after 6 h and 12 h in most of the tissues. This study provides an insight into the xenobiotics metabolizing system of Z. platypus and offers baseline information for further research related to biomarker, stress, and adaptive response of this ecologically important fish species in the freshwater environment.

Socioeconomic Disparities in Breast Cancer Screening among US Women: Trends from 2000 to 2005

  • Kim, Jae-Young;Jang, Soong-Nang
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.41 no.3
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    • pp.186-194
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    • 2008
  • Objectives : This study describes trends in the socioeconomic disparities in breast cancer screening among US women aged 40 or over, from 2000 to 2005. We assessed 1) the disparities in each socioeconomic dimension; 2) the changes in screening mammography rates over time according to income, education, and race; and 3) the sizes and trends of the disparities over time. Methods : Using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from 2000 to 2005, we calculated the age-adjusted screening rate according to relative household income, education level, health insurance, and race. Odds ratios and the relative inequality index (RII) were also calculated, controlling for age. Results : Women in their 40s and those with lower relative incomes were less likely to undergo screening mammography. The disparity based on relative income was greater than that based on education or race (the RII among low-income women across the survey years was 3.00 to 3.48). The overall participation rate and absolute differences among socioeconomic groups changed little or decreased slightly across the survey years. However, the degree of each socioeconomic disparity and the relative inequality among socioeconomic positions remained quite consistent. Conclusions : These findings suggest that the trend of the disparity in breast cancer screening varied by socioeconomic dimension. Continued differences in breast cancer screening rates related to income level should be considered in future efforts to decrease the disparities in breast cancer among socioeconomic groups. More focused interventions, as well as the monitoring of trends in cancer screening participation by income and education, are needed in different social settings.

Damage Localization of Bridges with Variational Autoencoder (Variational Autoencoder를 이용한 교량 손상 위치 추정방법)

  • Lee, Kanghyeok;Chung, Minwoong;Jeon, Chanwoong;Shin, Do Hyoung
    • KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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    • v.40 no.2
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    • pp.233-238
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    • 2020
  • Most deep learning (DL) approaches for bridge damage localization based on a structural health monitoring system commonly use supervised learning-based DL models. The supervised learning-based DL model requires the response data obtained from sensors on the bridge and also the label which indicates the damaged state of the bridge. However, it is impractical to accurately obtain the label data in fields, thus, the supervised learning-based DL model has a limitation in that it is not easily applicable in practice. On the other hand, an unsupervised learning-based DL model has the merit of being able to train without label data. Considering this advantage, this study aims to propose and theoretically validate a damage localization approach for bridges using a variational autoencoder, a representative unsupervised learning-based DL network: as a result, this study indicated the feasibility of VAE for damage localization.

A Study on School Health Promotion Services (학교보건사업을 통한 건강증진 사업에 대한 연구)

  • Nam, Chul Hyun
    • Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.193-211
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    • 1997
  • The study was designed to gain necessary basic data in order to grasp the health knowledge, attitude, and practice level of students and teachers of elementary, middle and high schools. This study was conducted through interviews of 3,400 students and 1,022 teachers attending 14 different schools large, middle and small cities and rural towns during a period of nine months (from Oct. 2 1995 to Jun. 30 1996). By the results of this study, the recommendations can be summarized as follows: 1. A school health development committee should be established of 10 members: school health related teachers (physical trainers, nurses, and teachers in charge of health), parents, persons related to health administration, local medical doctors, and student reprensentatives in order to support and immplement school health development plans. 2. Like advanced countries, a health class of 2~4 hours should beplaced in middle and high schools. A nurse majoring in health from a university should be the teacher. 3. A curriculum of health should contain the following: education on health, sex, alcohol, tabacco, the misuse of the drugs, the structure and function of human body, the growth of the body, mental health, safety and emergency care, the prevention of disease, proper eating habits and nutrition, daily health life, family health education, society health, community health, environmental pollution and individual responsibility. 4. Create a school health promotion center, with a nurse's office, and a sports center which has health machines (bars, aerobics, training, twist machine, belt massage, running machine, bench press, chest waist, hack hip extension machine) as well as a physical strength measuring machine (muscular strength, alertness, flexibility, endurance, lung functions and so on), so that the teaching staff and students can use them and train their bodies. 5. Through a refresher education program, urge teachers to understand school health promotion services. 6. Regulate a standard and establish a system of monitoring the physical enviroment of the school (the height of desks and chairs, illumination facilities, ventilation facilities, safe drinking water). 7. Create a check list of health to evaluate improvement.

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Water Quality Assessment at Coastal Area of the East Sea of Korea (한국 동해연안의 수질 평가)

  • Kim, Young-Sug;Lee, Yong-Hwa;Choi, Hee-Gu
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.15-24
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    • 2012
  • This study aims to investigate characteristics of water quality factors by using survey results of national marine environmental monitoring system from 2004 to 2010 at coastal area of the East Sea of Korea. In this study, we chose statistical methods to analyze the correlation among water quality parameters and principal component analysis for characteristics of each water environment. In addition to this, we evaluated each water's pollution level based on eutrophication standard of OECD, Eutrophication Index(EI), and Organic Pollution Index(OPI). Major factors were chlorophyll a and salt according to the analysis at coastal area of the East Sea. The sea was divided into the south and the central part by Jukbyeon. Also, Jukbyeon in the central part of the East Sea and Gampo in the southern sea coastal waters have been classified separately. The nutritional status of coastal area of East Sea presented Mesotrophic to Oligotrophic level and EI showed less than 1. OPI in all of the coastal area at the East Sea represented that the water quality condition was favorable.