• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.113-119
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• 2023

Most infrastructure structures were completed during periods of economic growth. The number of infrastructure structures reaching their lifespan is increasing, and the proportion of old structures is gradually increasing. The functions and performance of these structures at the time of design may deteriorate and may even lead to safety accidents. To prevent this repercussion, accurate inspection and appropriate repair are requisite. To this end, demand is increasing for computer vision and deep learning technology to accurately detect even minute cracks. However, deep learning algorithms require a large number of training data. In particular, label images indicating the location of cracks in the image are required. To secure a large number of those label images, a lot of labor and time are consumed. To reduce these costs as well as increase detection accuracy, this study proposed a learning structure based on mean teacher method. This learning structure was trained on a dataset of 900 labeled image dataset and 3000 unlabeled image dataset. The crack detection network model was evaluated on over 300 labeled image dataset, and the detection accuracy recorded a mean intersection over union of 89.23% and an F1 score of 89.12%. Through this experiment, it was confirmed that detection performance was improved compared to supervised learning. It is expected that this proposed method will be used in the future to reduce the cost required to secure label images.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2024

Purpose: When performing nuclear medicine examinations, body wraps or plastic supports are used to support and immobilize the patient's upper extremities to prevent patient safety accidents. However, the existing plastic supports compromised patient and staff safety, including finger entrapment and falls. Moreover, the body wrap provided by manufacturers compromised image quality such as upper extremities cutoff during whole body bone scan. Therefore, a new design of body wrap was developed to improve the issue, and this study aims to evaluate the usability of this medical body wrap. Materials and Methods: To evaluate the usability of the newly designed medical body wrap, a quality assessment of whole body bone scan images and a user satisfaction survey were conducted. Adult patients (male:female=129:152, age: 60.3±12.4 years, BMI: 24.0±4.2) aged 16 years or older who underwent a whole body bone scan during two periods: June to July 2022 (before improvement, n=139) and June to July 2023 (after improvement, n=142) were randomly selected for image quality evaluation. Five radiotechnologists visually evaluated the posterior view of the whole body bone image, including the left and right elbow (2 points), arm (2 points), whether the hand is extended (2 points), whether the hand is included (2 points), and the number of visible fingers (10 points), with a total of 18 points, which were converted to 100 points and analyzed for difference before and after improvement using an independent sample t-test. The user satisfaction questionnaire was evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale among 16 radiotechnologists from three general hospitals who experienced the new body wrap. Results: The image quality assessment was 82.0±13.8 before the improvement and 89.3±10.1 after the improvement, an average of 7.3 points higher, with a statistically significant difference (t=5.02, p<0.01). The user satisfaction survey showed an overall satisfaction rating of 4.1±0.8 for ease of use, 3.8±0.7 for scan preparation time, 3.9±0.7 for patient safety, 3.8±1.2 for scan accuracy, and 4.2±0.7 for recommendation (87.5% questionnaire response rate). Conclusion: The developed body wrap showed higher image quality and user satisfaction compared to the old method. Considering these results, it is deemed that the new body wrap may be more useful than existing methods.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2024

If flammable liquid leaks, vapor evaporated from the pool can cause poisoning or suffocation to workers, leading to secondary accidents such as fires and explosions. To prevent such damage, ventilation facilities shall be installed when designing indoor workplaces. At this time, the behavior varies depending on the characteristics of the leaked chemical, so it is necessary to select a suitable vent location according to the material. Therefore, 3D CFD simulations were introduced to derive optimal vent position and ventilation efficiency was quantitatively evaluated by vent position. At this time, assuming a situation in which flammable liquids leak at indoor workplaces to form pools, the concentration of vapor evaporated from pools was compared to derive the optimal vent position. As a result of research on toluene with high vapor density, ventilation efficiency was confirmed to be the highest at the upper supply-lower exhaust, and it is judged that introducing it can achieve about 3.7 times ventilation effect at the same maintenance cost. Through this study, it is expected that the workplace will be able to secure workers' safety by applying simulation results and installing ventilation ports.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.403-409
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• 2024

In this paper, the guidelines for the design of an Artificial Intelligence(AI) based Integrated Process Safety Management(PSM) system to enhance workplace safety using data from process safety reports submitted by hazardous and risky facility operators in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act is proposed. The system composed of the proposed guidelines is to be implemented separately by individual facility operators and specialized process safety management agencies for single or multiple workplaces. It is structured with key components and stages, including data collection and preprocessing, expansion and segmentation, labeling, and the construction of training datasets. It enables the collection of process operation data and change approval data from various processes, allowing potential fault prediction and maintenance planning through the analysis of all data generated in workplace operations, thereby supporting decision-making during process operation. Moreover, it offers utility and effectiveness in time and cost savings, detection and prediction of various risk factors, including human errors, and continuous model improvement through the use of accurate and reliable training data and specialized datasets. Through this approach, it becomes possible to enhance workplace safety and prevent accidents.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.176-183
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• 2024

Assessing the stability of small fishing vessels is important to prevent capsize accidents in coastal waters that primarily occur on small fishing vessels. However, the regulations regarding stability assessment for small vessels under 24 m are inadequate according to the domestic Fisheries Act. Based on safety standards issued by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in 2022 to enhance safety and welfare, vessels adhering to the enhanced safety standards for standard ship types are required to establish stability regardless of their length. This study aims to utilize these aforementioned standards to assess the stability of vessels under 24 m, investigating the suitability of applying these criteria to these vessels and examining the impact on various small vessels with different superstructures. Initially, a 4.99-ton fishing vessel designed according to the standard ship type was selected as the subject vessel. Compliance with the standards was evaluated based on the initial stability of the vessel using the transverse metacentric height (GM) and transverse restoring moment arm at the limit angle (GZ_α). Additionally, six types of small vessels with identical hull forms and specifications to the subject vessel were further examined using prevalent superstructure designs in small fishing vessels. The stability of the subject small vessel was also assessed. A study of a 4.99-ton standard fishing vessel confirmed that the safety standards for standard fishing vessels with enhanced safety welfare were applicable to small fishing vessels under 4.99-ton class and that the stability of small fishing vessels with superstructure modifications was not significantly changed.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.414-421
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• 2024

In this paper, we design and verify a system that can detect piping leakage noise in an environment with significant reverberation and reflection using a multi-channel acoustic sensor module as a technology to prevent major plant accidents caused by leakage. Four-channel microphones arranged in a tetrahedron are designed as a single sensor module to measure three-dimensional sound intensity vectors. In an environment with large effects of reverberation and reflection, the measurement error of each sensor module increases on average, so after placing multiple sensor modules in the field, measurement results showing locations with large errors due to effects such as reflection are excluded. Using the intersection between three-dimensional vectors obtained from several pairs of sensor modules, the coordinates where the sound source is located are estimated, and outliers (e.g., positions estimated to be outside the site, positions estimated to be far from the average position) are detected and excluded among the points. For achieving aforementioned goal, an excluding algorithm by deciding the outliers among the estimated positions was proposed. By visualizing the estimated location coordinates of the leakage sound on the site drawing within 1 second, we construct and verify a system that can detect the location of the leakage sound in real time and enable immediate response. This study is expected to contribute to improving accident response capabilities and ensuring safety in large plants.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.556-569
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• 2015

With about 75% of the population of Korea criticizing the government's disaster policy and a failure to respond to large-scale emergency like the Sewol ferry sinking means that there is a deep distrust in the government. In order to prevent dreadful disasters such as the Sewol ferry sinking, it is important to secure a prime time with respect to disaster safety. Improving crisis management skills and managerial role of police officers who are in close proximity to the people is necessary for the success of disaster management. With disaster management as one of the most essential missions of the police, as a part of a national crisis management, a step by step strengthening of the disaster safety management system of the police is necessary, as below. First, at the prevention phase, law enforcement officers were not injected into for profit large-scale assemblies or events, but in the future the involvement, injection should be based on the level of potential risk, rather than profitability. In the past and now, the priortiy was the priority was on traffic flow, traffic communication, however, the paradigm of traffic policy should be changed to a safety-centered policy. To prevent large-scale accidents, police investigators should root out improper routines and illegal construction subcontracting. The police (intelligence) should strengthen efforts to collect intelligence under the subject of "safety". Second, with respect to the preparatory phase, on a survey of police officers, the result showed that 72% of police officers responded that safety management was not related to the job descriptions of the police. This, along with other results, shows that the awareness of disaster safety must be adopted by, or rather changed in the police urgently. The training in disaster safety education should be strengthened. A network of experts (private, administrative, and police) in safety management should be established to take advantage of private resources with regard to crisis situtions. Third, with respect to the response phase, for rapid first responses to occur, a unified communication network should be established, and a real-time video information network should be adopted by the police and installed in the police situation room. Fourth, during the recovery phase, recovery teams should be injected, added and operated to minimize secondary damage.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.442-453
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• 2021

Purpose: The objective of this study is to suggest desirable direction of Korean accident investigation organization by analyzing the operation status and way of overseas developed countries' investigation agency. Method: To accomplish the objective of this study, we were examined four main characteristics of accident investigation agencies of the U.S., Japan, and Sweden, focusing on (1); the background of the establishment, (2);organizational structure, (3);major tasks and functions, (4); accident investigation procedures. Result: First, the purpose of its establishment and task is to prevent recurrence of disasters and accidents, at the same time, administrating and researching duties such as legal system, policy, recommending improvement and conducting scientific disaster-cause analysis to contribute safety for the government. Second, it is operated as an independent organization under the president, not belonging to the ministry, in order to enable fair investigation in an impartial position. Third, it has the authority to be recognized for its expertise in the results of investigation. In other words, it is operated as a permanent organization with professional personnel, and secures authority through the accident research with indepth investigation and high-quality recommendations. Conclusion: The overseas investigation agencies rapidly manage and coordinate their operational practices in order to resolve national requirements and social conflicts with fairness, accuracy and expertise in accident investigations. In order to prevent the recurrence of similar events, Korea needs to efficiently reconstruct its investigative functions distributed by each government department. In addition, institutional improvement is needed to make general adjustments at the national level, organize and operate control tower for when the accident has happened.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Fire Investigation
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.103-121
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• 2006

We are living in more comfortable circumstances with the social developments and the improvement of the standard of living, but, on the other hand, we are exposed to an increase of the occurrences of tires on account of large-sized, higher stories, deeper underground building and the use of various energy resources. The materials of the floor in a residence modern society have been going through various alterations in accordance with the uses of a residence and are now used as final goods in interioring the bottom of apartments, houses and shops. There are so many kinds of materials you usually come in contact with, but in the first place, we need to make an experiment on the spread of the fire with the hypocaust used as the floors of apartments, etc. and the floor covers you usually can get easily. We, scientific investigators, can get in contact with the accidents caused by incendiarism or an accidental fire closely connected with petroleum stuffs on the floor materials that give rise to lots of problems. on this account, I'd like to propose that we conduct an experiment on fire shapes by each petroleum stuff and that discriminate an accidental tire from incendiarism. In an investigation, it seems that finding a live coal could be an essential part of clearing up the cause of a tire but it could not be the cause of a fire itself. And besides, all sorts of tire cases or fire accidents have some kind of legislation and standard to minimize and at an early stage cope with the damage by tires. That is to say, we are supposed to install each kind of electric apparatus, automatic alarm equipment, automatic fire extinguisher in order to protect ourselves from the danger of fires and check them at any time and also escape urgently in case of fire-outbreaking or build a tire-proof construction to prevent flames from proliferating to the neighboring areas. Namely, you should take several factors into consideration to investigate a cause of a case or an accident related to fire. That means it's not in reason for one investigator or one investigative team to make clear of the starting part and the cause of a tire. accordingly, in this thesis, explanations would be given set limits to the judgement and verification on the cause of a fire and the concrete tire-spreading part through investigation on the very spot that a fire broke out. The fire-discernment would also be focused on the early stage fire-spreading part fire-outbreaking resources, and I think the realities of police tire investigations and the problems are still a matter of debate. The cause of a fire must be examined into by logical judgement on the basis of abundant scientific knowledge and experience covering the whole of fire phenomena. The judgement of the cause should be made with fire-spreading situation at the spot as the central figure and in case of verifying, you are supposed to prove by the situational proof from the traces of the tire-spreading to the fire-outbreaking sources. The causal relation on a fire-outbreak should not be proved by arbitrary opinion far from concrete facts, and also there is much chance of making mistakes if you draw deduction from a coincidence. It is absolutely necessary you observe in an objective attitude and grasp the situation of a tire in the investigation of the cause. Having a look at the spot with a prejudice is not allowed. The source of tire-outbreak itself is likely to be considered as the cause of a tire and that makes us doubt about the results according to interests of the independent investigators. So to speak, they set about investigations, the police investigation in the hope of it not being incendiarism, the fire department in the hope of it not being problems in installments or equipments, insurance companies in the hope of it being any incendiarism, electric fields in the hope of it not being electric defects, the gas-related in the hope of it not being gas problems. You could not look forward to more fair investigation and break off their misgivings. It is because the firing source itself is known as the cause of a fire and civil or criminal responsibilities are respected to the firing source itself. On this occasion, investigating the cause of a fire should be conducted with research, investigation, emotion independent, and finally you should clear up the cause with the results put together.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.329-345
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• 2020

Purpose: This study examined the status of food allergy management and importance-performance analysis (IPA) between elementary, and middle and high school employees in school foodservice. Methods: The participants were employees in elementary (n = 171) and middle and high schools (n = 187) in the Jeonbuk area. The demographic characteristics, the status of food allergy management, food allergy education, and the importance and performance status were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Approximately 55.0% of employees in elementary and 32.6% in middle and high schools recognized that the foods in menu tables induced allergies. Approximately 93.0% of employees in elementary and 85.0% in middle and high school thought that food allergy management was an important part of school foodservice because of the possibility of health emergencies. Elimination and replacement meals were provided more in middle and high schools than in elementary schools. Food allergy education from nutrition teachers had been given to 62.6% of employees in elementary and 50.3% in middle and high schools. To prevent food allergy accidents, 72.4% of employees in elementary schools and 65.2% in middle and high schools wanted more accurate information on students with food allergies. As a result of IPA, elementary, middle, and high school employees were aware of the importance and performed well: 'Strict control of allergy-inducing foods because of cross-contamination'. On the other hand, they were not aware of the importance and performed them insufficiently: 'Know how to use epinephrine to prepare for emergencies'. Conclusion: Therefore, it is necessary to improve the consciousness of nutrition teachers for the effective application of food allergy education, especially the recognition of allergy-inducing foods and emergency responsive ability.