• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.15-22
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• 2022

Modern technology drives the world, increasing performance while reducing labor and time expenses. Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC) tracks employee's levels of exposure to radiation sources using dosimeters. According to legal compliance, workers wear dosimeters for three months and one month at the workplace. However, TAEC has problems in tracking, issuing and returning dosimeters because the existing tracking is done manually. The study intended to develop a Personal Dose Management System (PDMS) that processes and manages the data collected by dosimeters for easy and accurate records. During the requirements elicitation process, the study looked at the existing system. PDMS' requirement gathering included document reviews, user interviews, and focused group discussions. Development and testing of the system were implemented by applying the evolutionary prototyping technique. The system provides a login interface for system administrators, radiation officers, and Occupational Exposed Workers. The PDMS grants TAEC Staff access to monitor individual exposed workers, prints individual and institutional reports and manages workers' information. The system reminds the users when to return dosimeters to TAEC, generate reports, and facilitates dispatching and receiving dosimeters effectively. PDMS increases efficiency and effectiveness while minimizing workload, paperwork, and inaccurate records. Therefore, based on the results obtained from the system, it is recommended to use the system to improve dosimeter data management at the institution.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.250-260
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• 2022

Mobile Banking Applications (MBAPs) is one of the recent fads in mobile trading applications (Apps). MBAPs permit users to execute exchanges of money and many more whenever it might suit them; however, the primary issue for mobile banking Apps is usability. Hardly any investigation analyzes usability issues dependent on user's age, gender, exchanging accomplices, or experience. The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of usability issues, and experience of mobile banking users. The survey employs a quantitative method and performs user experiment on 240 participants with six different tasks on the application's interface. The post experiment survey is done with concerning participants. On the other hand, banking experts and Information Technology (IT) expert's group is also involved after the experiment. Expert's opinions about existing mobile banking Apps and suggestions for improving usability of MBAPs are collected through physical means (like questionnaire and interview) and online means like Google form. After that comparison of the opinions of users and experts about MBAPs is performed. The experimentation measures the tasks usability of various mobile banking apps with respect to its effectiveness, efficiency, trustfulness, learnability, memorability and satisfaction. The usability testing was led at different Universities and the outcomes acquired show that there are privacy and trust issues with their mobile banking apps. There is also a gap between users and experts which should be minimized by applying customized usability models, modes concept like other application software and also by adding complete features of banking in MBAPs. It will benefit mobile banking apps users, developers and usability engineers by providing user-friendly which are up to the mark of user's requirements.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.23-34
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• 2022

This paper presents experimental studies on reinforced concrete moment resisting frames that have engineered cementitious composite (ECC) in plastic hinge length (PHL) of beam/column members and beam-column joints. A two-story frame structure reduced by a 1:3 scale was further tested through a shake-table (seismic simulator) using multiple levels of simulated earthquake motions. One model conformed to all the ACI-318 requirements for IMRF, whereas the second model used lower-strength concrete in the beam/column members outside PHL. The acceleration time history of the 1994 Northridge earthquake was selected and scaled to multiple levels for shake-table testing. This study reports the observed damage mechanism, lateral strength-displacement capacity curve, and the computed response parameters for each model. The tests verified that nonlinearity remained confined to beam/column ends, i.e., member joint interface. Calculated response modification factors were 11.6 and 9.6 for the code-conforming and concrete strength deficient models. Results show that the RC-ECC frame's performance in design-based and maximum considered earthquakes; without exceeding maximum permissible drift under design-base earthquake motions and not triggering any unstable mode of damage/failure under maximum considered earthquakes. This research also indicates that the introduction of ECC in PHL of the beam/column members' detailing may be relaxed for the IMRF structures.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.131-139
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• 2023

Background: Massive rotator cuff tears (RCTs) are complicated by muscle atrophy, fibrosis, and intramuscular fatty degeneration, which are associated with postoperative tendon-to-bone healing failure and poor clinical outcomes. We evaluated muscle and enthesis changes in large tears with or without suprascapular nerve (SN) injury in a rat model. Methods: Sixty-two adult Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into SN injury (+) and SN injury (-) groups (n=31 each), comprising tendon (supraspinatus [SSP]/infraspinatus [ISP]) and nerve resection and tendon resection only cases, respectively. Muscle weight measurement, histological evaluation, and biomechanical testing were performed 4, 8, and 12 weeks postoperatively. Ultrastructural analysis with block face imaging was performed 8 weeks postoperatively. Results: SSP/ISP muscles in the SN injury (+) group appeared atrophic, with increased fatty tissue and decreased muscle weight, compared to those in the control and SN injury (-) groups. Immunoreactivity was only positive in the SN injury (+) group. Myofibril arrangement irregularity and mitochondrial swelling severity, along with number of fatty cells, were higher in the SN injury (+) group than in the SN injury (-) group. The bone-tendon junction enthesis was firm in the SN injury (-) group; this was atrophic and thinner in the SN injury (+) group, with decreased cell density and immature fibrocartilage. Mechanically, the tendon-bone insertion was significantly weaker in the SN injury (+) group than in the control and SN injury (+) groups. Conclusions: In clinical settings, SN injury may cause severe fatty changes and inhibition of postoperative tendon healing in large RCTs. Level of evidence: Level Basic research, controlled laboratory study.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.563-570
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• 2023

The Safety Transmission Unit(STU) is a critical device used in railway systems to ensure safe and efficient operations by providing communication between trains and railway infrastructure. It is responsible for transmitting vital information and commands, allowing for the control and coordination of train movements. The STU plays a crucial role in maintaining the safety of passengers, crew, and the overall railway network. This paper presents the design and testing of a STU for the next-generation wireless-based train control system. An analysis of european and domestic standards was conducted to review requirements and ensure the design of a STU for the train control system meets international standards. Based on this analysis, hardware and software designs were developed to create an internationally recognized level of safety for the communication device. To verify the functionality of the STU, a simulator was developed, and it was confirmed that the designed features were successfully implemented.

• Journal of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.185-200
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• 2023

The Korea Augmentation Satellite System (KASS) is the first satellite navigation enhancement system in Korea developed in compliance with international standards. Technologies accumulated during the development process should be spread to industries such as academia and serve as the basis for developing the domestic satellite navigation field. This paper introduces the development process from design to implementation, testing, and verification of KASS control systems (KCS). First, development standards, milestones, requirements, and interface standards are presented as KCS development methods, and major functional design, physical design, and hardware/software implementation are described based on the allocated requirements. Subsequently, the verification environment, procedures, and results of the development product are covered and the developed operational and maintenance procedures are described. In addition, based on the experience gained through the development, suggestions were made for beneficial technology development and organization when promoting satellite navigation projects in the future. Since this work has important historical value for the development of domestic satellite navigation, it is expected that the development results will be shared with academia and industry in the future and be used as basic data for similar development.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.13-22
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• 2023

In this paper, through experimental research, the period when rock bolts exert support effects is presented as grout strength and through numerical analysis, the rock bolt pull-out behavior according to ground conditions and strength reduction factors is analyzed. As a result, it is determined that rock bolts exhibit their reinforcing effect at a grout strength of 5 MPa (cured for 18 hours). The influence of the boundary interface strength reduction factor was found to be significant for rock bolt displacement in weak ground conditions, for shear stress between grout and ground in highly elastic ground conditions, and for grout stress in all ground conditions. These findings are expected to contribute to the establishment of specific standards for rock bolt testing and numerical analysis, and to facilitate improved design and implementation of rock bolt reinforcement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.4
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• pp.469-484
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• 2023

A deep recursive bidirectional Cuda Deep Neural Network Long Short Term Memory (Bi-CuDNNLSTM) layer is recruited in this paper to predict the entire force time histories, and the corresponding hysteresis and backbone curves of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers using experimental fast and slow cyclic tests. The proposed stacked Bi-CuDNNLSTM layers involve multiple uncertain input variables, including horizontal actuator displacements, vertical actuators axial loads, the effective height of the bridge pier, the moment of inertia, and mass. The functional application programming interface in the Keras Python library is utilized to develop a deep learning model considering all the above various input attributes. To have a robust and reliable prediction, the dataset for both the fast and slow cyclic tests is split into three mutually exclusive subsets of training, validation, and testing (unseen). The whole datasets include 17 RC bridge piers tested experimentally ten for fast and seven for slow cyclic tests. The results bring to light that the mean absolute error, as a loss function, is monotonically decreased to zero for both the training and validation datasets after 5000 epochs, and a high level of correlation is observed between the predicted and the experimentally measured values of the force time histories for all the datasets, more than 90%. It can be concluded that the maximum mean of the normalized error, obtained through Box-Whisker plot and Gaussian distribution of normalized error, associated with unseen data is about 10% and 3% for the fast and slow cyclic tests, respectively. In recapitulation, it brings to an end that the stacked Bi-CuDNNLSTM layer implemented in this study has a myriad of benefits in reducing the time and experimental costs for conducting new fast and slow cyclic tests in the future and results in a fast and accurate insight into hysteretic behavior of bridge piers.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.18.1-18.13
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• 2024

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties of relined and non-relined fiberglass posts when cemented to root canal dentin using a conventional dual-cure resin cement or a self-adhesive resin cement. Materials and Methods: Two types of resin cements were utilized: conventional and self-adhesive. Additionally, 2 cementation protocols were employed, involving relined and non-relined fiberglass posts. In total, 72 bovine incisors were cemented and subjected to push-out bond strength testing (n = 10) followed by failure mode analysis. The cross-sectional microhardness (n = 5) was assessed along the root canal, and interface analyses (n = 3) were conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Data from the push-out bond strength and cross-sectional microhardness tests were analyzed via 3-way analysis of variance and the Bonferroni post-hoc test (α= 0.05). Results: For non-relined fiberglass posts, conventional resin cement exhibited higher pushout bond strength than self-adhesive cement. Relined fiberglass posts yielded comparable results between the resin cements. Type II failure was the most common failure mode for both resin cements, regardless of cementation protocol. The use of relined fiberglass posts improved the cross-sectional microhardness values for both cements. SEM images revealed voids and bubbles in the incisors with non-relined fiberglass posts. Conclusions: Mechanical properties were impacted by the cementation protocol. Relined fiberglass posts presented the highest push-out bond strength and cross-sectional microhardness values, regardless of the resin cement used (conventional dual-cure or self-adhesive). Conversely, for non-relined fiberglass posts, the conventional dual-cure resin cement yielded superior results to the self-adhesive resin cement.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.187-192
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• 2023

The United States (US) National Science Foundation's (NSF's) National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a continental-scale observation facility, constructed and operated by Battelle, that collects long-term ecological data to better understand and forecast how US ecosystems are changing. All data and samples are collected using standardized methods at 81 field sites across the US and are freely and openly available through the NEON data portal, application programming interface (API), and the NEON Biorepository. NSF led a decade-long design process with the research community, including numerous workshops to inform the key features of NEON, culminating in a formal final design review with an expert panel in 2009. The NEON construction phase began in 2012 and was completed in May 2019, when the observatory began the full operations phase. Full operations are defined as all 81 NEON sites completely built and fully operational, with data being collected using instrumented and observational methods. The intent of the NSF is for NEON operations to continue over a 30-year period. Each challenge encountered, problem solved, and risk realized on NEON offers up lessons learned for constructing and operating distributed ecological data collection infrastructure and data networks. NEON's construction phase included offices, labs, towers, aquatic instrumentation, terrestrial sampling plots, permits, development and testing of the instrumentation and associated cyberinfrastructure, and the development of community-supported collection plans. Although colocation of some sites with existing research sites and use of mostly "off the shelf" instrumentation was part of the design, successful completion of the construction phase required the development of new technologies and software for collecting and processing the hundreds of samples and 5.6 billion data records a day produced across NEON. Continued operation of NEON involves reexamining the decisions made in the past and using the input of the scientific community to evolve, upgrade, and improve data collection and resiliency at the field sites. Successes to date include improvements in flexibility and resilience for aquatic infrastructure designs, improved engagement with the scientific community that uses NEON data, and enhanced methods to deal with obsolescence of the instrumentation and infrastructure across the observatory.