• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.976-983
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• 2023

Purpose: The dynamic behavior of a bridge structure under seismic loading depends on many uncertainties, such as the nature of the seismic waves and the material and geometric properties. However, not all uncertainties have a significant impact on the dynamic behavior of a bridge structure. Since probabilistic seismic performance evaluation considering even low-impact uncertainties is computationally expensive, the uncertainties should be identified by considering their impact on the dynamic behavior of the bridge. Therefore, in this study, a global sensitivity analysis was performed to identify the main parameters affecting the dynamic behavior of bridges with I-curved girders. Method: Considering the uncertainty of the earthquake and the material and geometric uncertainty of the curved bridge, a finite element analysis was performed, and a surrogate model was developed based on the analysis results. The surrogate model was evaluated using performance metrics such as coefficient of determination, and finally, a global sensitivity analysis based on the surrogate model was performed. Result: The uncertainty factors that have the greatest influence on the stress response of the I-curved girder under seismic loading are the peak ground acceleration (PGA), the height of the bridge (h), and the yield stress of the steel (fy). The main effect sensitivity indices of PGA, h, and fy were found to be 0.7096, 0.0839, and 0.0352, respectively, and the total sensitivity indices were found to be 0.9459, 0.1297, and 0.0678, respectively. Conclusion: The stress response of the I-shaped curved girder is dominated by the uncertainty of the input motions and is strongly influenced by the interaction effect between each uncertainty factor. Therefore, additional sensitivity analysis of the uncertainty of the input motions, such as the number of input motions and the intensity measure(IM), and a global sensitivity analysis considering the structural uncertainty, such as the number and curvature of the curved girders, are required.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.103-110
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• 2009

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of helical tomotherapy on a wide curved area of the skin, and its accuracy in calculating the absorbed dose in the superficial region. Materials and Methods: Two types of treatment plans were made with the cylinder-shaped 'cheese phantom'. In the first trial, 2 Gy was prescribed to a 1-cm depth from the surface. For the other trial, 2 Gy was prescribed to a 1-cm depth from the external side of the surface by 5 mm. The inner part of the phantom was completely blocked. To measure the surface dose and the depth dose profile, an EDR2 film was inserted into the phantom, while 6 TLD chips were attached to the surface. Results: The film indicated that the surface dose of the former case was 118.7 cGy and the latter case was 130.9 cGy. The TLD chips indicated that the surface dose was higher than these, but it was due to the finite thickness of the TLD chips. In the former case, 95% of the prescribed dose was obtained at a 2.1 mm depth, while the prescribed does was at 2.2 mm in the latter case. The maximum dose was about 110% of the prescribed dose. As the depth became deeper, the dose decreased rapidly. Accordingly, at a 2-cm depth, the dose was 20 % of the prescribed dose. Conclusion: Helical tomotherapy could be a useful application in the treatment of a wide area of the skin with curvature. However, for depths up to 2 mm, the planning system overestimated the superficial dose. For shallower targets, the use of a compensator such as a bolus is required.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.21-46
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• 1990

This paper, a sequel to Yoo and Lee (1990), attempts to investigate the interindustry determinants of technical efficiency in Korea's manufacturing industries, and also to conduct an exploratory analysis on the stability of technical efficiency over time. The hypotheses set forth in this paper are most found in the existing literature on technical efficiency. They are, however, revised and shed a new light upon, whenever possible, to accommodate any Korea-specific conditions. The set of regressors used in the cross-sectional analysis are chosen and the hypotheses are posed in such a way that our result can be made comparable to those of similar studies conducted for the U.S. and Japan by Caves and Barton (1990) and Uekusa and Torii (1987), respectively. It is interesting to observe a certain degree of similarity as well as differentiation between the cross-section evidence on Korea's manufacturing industries and that on the U.S. and Japanese industries. As for the similarities, we can find positive and significant effects on technical efficiency of relative size of production and the extent of specialization in production, and negative and significant effect of the variations in capital-labor ratio within industries. The curvature influence of concentration ratio on technical efficiency is also confirmed in the Korean case. There are differences, too. We cannot find any significant effects of capital vintage, R&D and foreign competition on technical efficiency, all of which were shown to be robust determinants of technical efficiency in the U.S. case. We note, however, that the variables measuring capital vintage effect, R&D and the degree of foreign competition in Korean markets are suspected to suffer from serious measurement errors incurred in data collection and/or conversion of industrial classification system into the KSIC (Korea Standard Industrial Classification) system. Thus, we are reluctant to accept the findings on the effects of these variables as definitive conclusions on Korea's industrial organization. Another finding that interests us is that the cross-industry evidence becomes consistently strong when we use the efficiency estimates based on gross output instead of value added, which provides us with an ex post empirical criterion to choose an output measure between the two in estimating the production frontier. We also conduct exploratory analyses on the stability of the estimates of technical efficiency in Korea's manufacturing industries. Though the method of testing stability employed in this paper is never a complete one, we cannot find strong evidence that our efficiency estimates are stable over time. The outcome is both surprising and disappointing. We can also show that the instability of technical efficiency over time is partly explained by the way we constructed our measures of technical efficiency. To the extent that our efficiency estimates depend on the shape of the empirical distribution of plants in the input-output space, any movements of the production frontier over time are not reflected in the estimates, and possibilities exist of associating a higher level of technical efficiency with a downward movement of the production frontier over time, and so on. Thus, we find that efficiency measures that take into account not only the distributional changes, but also the shifts of the production frontier over time, increase the extent of stability, and are more appropriate for use in a dynamic context. The remaining portion of the instability of technical efficiency over time is not explained satisfactorily in this paper, and future research should address this question.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.380-386
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• 2010

Objectives: The introduction of nickel-titanium alloy endodontic instruments has greatly simplified shaping the root canal systems. However, these new instruments have several unexpected disadvantages. One of these is tendency to screw into the canal. In this study, the influence of taper on the screw-in effect of the Ni-Ti rotary instrument were evaluated. Materials and Methods: A total of 20 simulated root canals with an S-shaped curvature in clear resin blocks were divided into two groups. ProFile .02, .04, .06 (Dentsply-Maillefer) and GT rotary files .08, .10, .12 (Dentsply) were used in Profile group, and K3 .04, .06, .08, .10, and .12 (SybronEndo, Glendora) were used in K3 group. Files were used with a single pecking motion at a constant speed of 300 rpm. A special device was made to measure the force of screw-in effect. A dynamometer of the device recorded the screwin force during simulated canal preparation and the recorded data was stored in computer with designed software. The data were subjected to one-way ANOVA and Tukey's multiple range test for post-hoc test. p value of less than 0.05 was regarded significant. Results: The more tapered instruments generated more screw-in forces in Profile group (p < 0.05). In K3 group, 0.08, 0.10. and 0.12 tapered instruments showed more screw-in force than 0.04 tapered one, and 0.08 and 0.12 tapered instruments showed more screw-in force than 0.06 tapered one (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The more tapered instruments seems to produce more screw-in force. To avoid this screw-in force during instrumentation, more attention may be needed when using more tapered instruments.