• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2011

Geothermal energy is believed to be an important source among the renewable energy sources to provide the base load electricity. Although there has been a drastic increase in the use of geothermal heat pump in Korea, there is no geothermal power plant in operation in Korea. Fortunately, the first EGS (Enhanced Geothermal System) Project in Korea has started in Dec 2010. This five year project is divided into two stages; two years for exploration and drilling of 3 km depth to confirm the minimum target temperature of 100 degrees, and another three years composed drilling 5 km doublet, hydraulic stimulation of geothermal reservoir with expected temperature of 180 degrees (40 kg/s) and construction of MW geothermal power plant in the surface. This EGS project would be a landmark effort that invited a consortium of industry, research institutes and university with expertises in the fields of geology, hydrogeology, geophysics, geomechanics and plant engineering.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.503-509
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• 2015

In this paper, we designed and tested an ankle joint mechanism for a gait rehabilitation robot. Gait rehabilitation programs are designed to improve the natural leg motion of patients who have lost their walking capabilities by accident or disease. Strengthening the muscles of the lower-limbs and stimulation of the nervous system corresponding to walking helps patients to walk again using gait assistive devices. It is an obvious requirement that the rehabilitation system's motion should be similar to and as natural as the normal gait. However, the system being used for gait rehabilitation does not pay much attention to ankle joints, which play an important role in correct walking as the motion of the ankle should reflect the movement of the center of gravity (COG) of the body. Consequently, we have designed an ankle mechanism that ensures the safety of the patient as well as efficient gait training. Also, even patients with low leg muscle strength are able to operate the ankle joint due to the direct-drive mechanism without a reducer. This safety feature prevents any possible adverse load on the human ankle. The additional degree of freedom for the roll motion achieves a gait pattern which is similar to the normal gait and with a greater degree of comfort.

• Composites Research
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.136-140
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• 2012

This paper describes the bone healing process of fractured long bones such as a tibia applied by composite IM rods using finite element analysis. To simulated tissue differentiation process mechano-regulation theory with a deviatoric strain was implemented and a user's subroutine programmed by a Python code for an iterative calculation was used. To broadly find the appropriate rod modulus for healing bone fractures, composite IM rods were analyzed considering the stacking sequence. To compare mechanical stimulation at fracture gap, two kinds of initial loading conditions were applied. As a result, it was found that the initial loading condition was the most sensitive factor for the healing performance. In case a composite IM rod made of a plain weave carbon fiber/epoxy (WSN3k) had a stacking sequence of $[{\pm}45]_{nT}$, the healing efficiency was the most effective under a initial load of 10%BW.

• Proceedings of the Acoustical Society of Korea Conference
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• spring
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• pp.269-273
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• 1999

Combination of mental stress task with noise background is a traditional tool employed in psychophysiology. However, intensity of background noise is a factor affecting both performance on test and psychophysiological responses associated with stress evoked by mental load in noisy environment. In the current study on 7 subjects we analyzed the influence of white noise (WN) intensity (55, 70, and 85 dB[A] ) on psychophysiological responses during word recognition test performed on noise background. There were recorded following physiological variables: electrodermal activity (EDA) , namely, skin conductance level (SCL), skin conductance response (SCR) amplitude (SCR-A), rise time and total number of SCRs (N-SCR); cardiovascular activity, e.g., heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) index, pulse transit time (PTT), finger pulse volume (PV), skin temperature (SKT) and respiratory activity, such as respiration rate (RESP-R) and inspiration wane amplitude (RESP-A) during baseline resting state and 40 s long performance on 3 similar Korean word recognition tests with different WN intensity (55, 70, and 85 dB). Electrodermal responses (SCR-A, SCL, N-SCR) demonstrated gradual increment with increased intensity of noise, and this increase of response magnitude with higher intensity of noise was typical also for r skin temperature (phasic SKT decrease) and pulse volume (phasic and tonic PV decrease). However, some cardiovascular and respiratory responses did not exhibit same tendency of gradual increase of reactivity , namely HR, as well as RESP-R and RESP-A showed decrement of response magnitudes. Important finding in terms of cardiovascular reactivity was that 55 and 70dB evoked similar profiles, while 85dB WN resulted in significantly different profile of reactions, suggesting that there exists a threshold level after which intensive auditory stimulation elicits psychophyslological responses pattern of different quality. There are discussed potential autonomic mechanism involved in mediation of observed physiological responses.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.63-68
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• 2013

Activeness of exercise is critical for stroke rehabilitation so that application of stimulation in response to patient's intention would be effective in FES cycling. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between muscle reaction force (MRF) and electromyogram (EMG) during cycling exercise, for the future usage of MRF as patients' intention signal. Seven young men ($24{\pm}1.63$ yrs) participated in this study. Cycling speed was set to 20 RPM and 60 RPM. MRF and EMG were measured in the vastus lateralis muscle of right leg. Active cycling was performed at the maximal load (16 Nm) of an ergometer. Angle dependent artifact in MRF was measured from passive cycling and was subtracted from the MRF of active cycling. The delay of MRF with respect to EMG envelope and their correlation coefficients were derived from the best of cross correlation. MRF was significantly correlated with EMG amplitude in all subjects (p<0.01). Their mean correlations were 0.84 and 0.91 for 20 RPM and 60 RPM, respectively. Mean delay in MRF was 59.14 ms and 53.14 ms for 20 RPM and 60 RPM, respectively. The result suggests that MRF can be used to assess patient's intention for exercise as a substitute to EMG. The method may be applied to FES cycling to encourage patient's effort which is critical for stroke rehabilitation.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.62-69
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• 2022

EHA (Electro-Hydrostatic Actuator) is more energy efficiency than a centralized hydraulic system. In particular, the EHA used for aircraft has a redundant design in preparation for failure scenario. Also, due to the aircraft's internal space limitation, the actuator's length must be optimized. Therefore, a series configuration of double rod and single rod cylinder is advantageous. However, due to the asymmetry of the cross-sectional area of the piston, the force fighting phenomenon between the two cylinder areas occurs during redundant operation with a general control system. In this paper, the force fighting phenomenon of redundant EHA was simulated. A controller with load compensation and a force control-based position controller as a method to suppress its stimulation

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.391-399
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• 2009

The purposes of the present investigation was to evaluate the effects of loaded and unloaded swimming stimulation after central nerve system injury in the rats. SCI model rats were damaged in L1-L2 injected with 6-OHDA. The twenty one Sprague-Dawley adult male rats weights($200\pm10g$) were randomly divided into control group and 2 swimming groups and then swimming groups divided into 15 minute unloaded swimming group and 15 minute loaded swimming group by swimming intensity. Behavioral Change was evaluated by the BBB(Basso, Brestti, Brenahan) scales test and the maximal angles of the inclined board on which the rat could maintain its intial position for the progressive locomotor recovery. Using enzyme-linked immunosolbent assays(ELISA), we measured concentrations of brain-delived growth factor(BDNF) in serum after swimming. There was significant change of BBB scores in control group as compared to unloaded swimming group and loaded swimming group(p<.05), and unloaded swimming group were significantly higher than loaded swimming group(p<.05). The maximal angles of the inclined plane test were higher in the unloaded swimming group and loaded swimming group than the control group(p<.05), and loaded swimming group were significantly lower than unloaded swimming group(p<.05). There were singnificant difference of concentration of BDNF in serum change in each group(p<.05). The results suggest that swimming applied from the early phase after spinal cord injury may be beneficial in the early recovery of motor function.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.33 no.4 s.92
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• pp.387-394
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• 2000

Water pollution characteristics were investigated in the Kyongan stream and major inlet parts of Paltang Reservoir from April to July, 2000. Water quality in the Kyongan stream was extremly deteriorated by treated wastewater discharge at near sewage wastewater treatment plant (SWTP) located in the upstream, and it is likely to influence eutrophication of the lower part of the stream. Water quality of the Kyongan stream showed a typical hypertrophic condition. Influxed concentrations with $NH_4$ and SRP into the main stream from SWTP were declined precipitously as water flowed toward the lower part of the stream, and chlorophyll- a explosively increased in the midstream. Average concentrations of $NH_4$, SRP and chlorophyll-a in the main stream were $1,343\;{\mu}g\;N/l$, $1,779\;{\mu}g\;P/l$ and $188\;{\mu}g\;l$, respectively. Particularly, phosphorus load was very high, and its influence on the algal growth stimulation was remarkable. In comparison with the water quality inflowing into Paltang Resevoir, pollution status of the Kyongan stream was more worse than that in the Pukhan River and the Namhan River. The results of this study indicate that the management of point source, SWTP effluent, is urgent to mitigate eutrophication of Paltang Reservoir, and requires further necessary controls of inorganic phosphorus loading.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2024

FUN14 domain-containing protein 1 (FUNDC1), an outer mitochondrial membrane protein, contributes to removal of damaged mitochondria through mitophagy. In this study, to elucidate the role of the FUNDC1 in the amyloid beta peptide (A_β)-induced neuropathy, changes in the degree of mitochondrial dysfunction and cell injury caused by A_β treatment were examined in the HT-22 neuronal cells in which the FUNDC1 expression was transiently silenced or overexpressed. We found that A_β treatment causes a time-dependent decrease of the FUNDC1 expression. In the A_β-treated cells, there were a drop in MTT reduction ability, depletion of cellular ATP, disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential, stimulation of cellular ROS production, and increased mitochondrial Ca²⁺ load. Activation of caspase-3 and induction of apoptotic cell death were also observed. Transient silencing of the FUNDC1 expression by transfection with the FUNDC1 small interfering RNA per se caused mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptotic cell death like the effect of A_β treatment. Conversely, in cells in which the FUNDC1 was transiently overexpressed by FUNDC1-Myc transfection, overexpression itself had no effect on the mitochondrial functional integrity and cell survival but showed a significant prevention effect against mitochondrial and cell injury caused by A_β treatment. Overall, these results suggest that the FUNDC1 is importantly involved in the A_β-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and cell injury in the HT-22 neuronal cells.