• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.184-195
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• 1997

Background : The purpose of this research was to evaluate the appropriateness of preoperative hospital days in a tertiary care hospital and to examine the reasons of the inappropriateness, so as to provide basic information and policy for enhancing appropriateness of preoperative hospitalization and benefit of patients and hospital. Methods : The subjects of the research were the 344 patients who received operation among discharged patients during January, 1996 in surgical departments including general surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery and ophthalmology. Their medical records were reviewed and appropriateness of hospital days was evaluated by the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol. Result : The results of evaluating the appropriateness of preoperative hospitalization showed that inappropriate hospital days were 80.8%. The reasons of inappropriate hospital stays were the tests or preparation which could be done in outpatient basis' followed by 'possible tests or preparation on the operation day' and 'cancelation of operation'. Conclusion : In order to shorten the inappropriate preoperative length of stay, it is recommended that lengthening of laboratory running time and doing most of tests necessary for operations on the outpatient basis prior to admission should be considered. In addition, the operation at the same day of hospitalization and usage of day surgery should be encouraged. Finally there should be changes in the inpatient management system and attitudes and behaviors of surgeons to shorten unnecessary preoperative and maximize the benefit for patients and hospital.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.507-534
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• 2015

The present work investigates the behavior of the embankment models resting on soft soil reinforced with ordinary and stone columns encased with geogrid. Model tests were performed with different spacing distances between stone columns and two lengths to diameter ratios (L/d) of the stone columns, in addition to different embankment heights. A total number of 42 model tests were carried out on a soil with undrianed shear strength $${\sim_\sim}10kPa$$. The models consist of stone columns embankment at s/d equal to 2.5, 3 and 4 with L/d ratio equal 5 and 8. Three embankment heights; 200 mm, 250 mm and 300 mm were tested for both tests of ordinary (OSC) and geogrid encased stone columns (ESC). Three earth pressure cells were used to measure directly the vertical effective stress on column at the top of the middle stone column under the center line of embankment and on the edge stone column for all models while the third cell was placed at the base of embankment between two columns to measure the vertical effective stress in soft soil directly. The performance of stone columns embankments relies upon the ability of the granular embankment material to arch over the 'gaps' between the stone columns spacing. The results showed that the ratio of the embankment height to the clear spacing between columns (h/s-d) is a key parameter. It is found that (h/s-d)<1.2 and 1.4 for OSC and ESC, respectively; (h is the embankment height, s is the spacing between columns and d is the diameter of stone columns), no effect of arching is pronounced, the settlement at the surface of the embankment is very large, and the stress acting on the subsoil is virtually unmodified from the nominal overburden stress. When $(h/s-d){\geq}2.2$ for OSC and ESC respectively, full arching will occur and minimum stress on subsoil between stone columns will act, so the range of critical embankment height will be 1.2 (h/sd) to 2.2 (h/s-d) for both OSC and ESC models.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.41-55
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• 2018

Damping ratio and frequency have influence on dynamic serviceability or instability such as vortex-induced vibration and displacement amplification due to earthquake and critical flutter velocity, and it is thus important to make determination of damping ratio and frequency accurate. As bridges are getting longer, small scale model test considering similitude law must be conducted to evaluate damping ratio and frequency. Analysis conditions modified by similitude law are applied to experimental test considering different scale ratios. Generally, Nyquist frequency condition based on natural frequency modified by similitude law has been used to determine sampling rate for different scale ratios, and total time length has been determined by users arbitrarily or by considering similitude law with respect to time for different scale ratios. However, Nyquist frequency condition is not suitable for multimode system with noisy signals. In addition, there is no specified criteria for determination of total time length. Those analysis conditions severely affect accuracy of damping ratio. The focus of this study is made on the determination of minimum analysis conditions for different scale ratios. Influence of signal to noise ratio is studied according to the level of noise level. Free initial value problem is proposed to resolve the condition that is difficult to know original initial value for free vibration. Ambient and free vibration tests were used to analyze the dynamic properties of a system using data collected from tests with a two degree-of-freedom section model and performed on full bridge 3D models of cable stayed bridges. The free decay is estimated with the stochastic subspace identification method that uses displacement data to measure damping ratios under noisy conditions, and the iterative least squares method that adopts low pass filtering and fourth order central differencing. Reasonable results were yielded in numerical and experimental tests.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1085-1101
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• 2015

Changes in substructure conditions, such as ballast fouling and subgrade settlement may cause the railway quality deterioration, including the differential geometry of the rails. The objective of this study is to develop and apply a hybrid cone penetrometer (HCP) to characterize the railway substructure. The HCP consists of an outer rod and an inner mini cone, which can dynamically and statically penetrate the ballast and the subgrade, respectively. An accelerometer and four strain gauges are installed at the head of the outer rod and four strain gauges are attached at the tip of the inner mini cone. In the ballast, the outer rod provides a dynamic cone penetration index (DCPI) and the corrected DCPI (CDCPI) with the energy transferred into the rod head. Then, the inner mini cone is pushed to estimate the strength of the subgrade from the cone tip resistance. Laboratory application tests are performed on the specimen, which is prepared with gravel and sandy soil. In addition, the HCP is applied in the field and compared with the standard dynamic cone penetration test. The results from the laboratory and the field tests show that the cone tip resistance is inversely proportional to the CDCPI. Furthermore, in the subgrade, the HCP produces a high-resolution profile of the cone tip resistance and a profile of the CDCPI in the ballast. This study suggests that the dynamic and static penetration tests using the HCP may be useful for characterizing the railway substructure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1369-1389
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• 2015

In order to investigate the behaviour of lying multi-stud connectors in cable-pylon anchorage zone, twenty-four push-out tests are carried out with different stud numbers and diameters. The effect of concrete block width and tensile force on shear strength is investigated using the developed and verified finite element model. The results show that the shear strength of the lying multi-stud connectors is reduced in comparison with the lying single-stud connector. The reduction increases with the increasing of the number of studs in the vertical direction. The influence of the stud number on the strength reduction of the lying multi-stud connectors is decreased under combined shear and tension loads compared with under pure shear. Yet, due to multi-stud effect, they still can't be ignored. The concrete block width has a non-negligible effect on the shear strength of the lying multi-stud connectors and therefore should be chosen properly when designing push-out specimens. No obvious difference is observed between the strength reductions of the studs with 22 mm and 25 mm diameters. The shear strengths obtained from the tests are compared with those predicted by AASHTO LRFD and Eurocode 4. Eurocode 4 generally gives conservative predictions of the shear strength, while AASHTO LRFD overestimates the shear strength. In addition, the lying multi-stud connectors with the diameters of 22 m and 25 mm both exhibit adequate ductility according to Eurocode 4. An expression of load-slip curve is proposed for the lying multi-stud connectors and shows good agreement with the test results.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1846-1849
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• 2018

Recent human gut microbiome studies have supported that the genus Bifidobacterium is one of the most beneficial bacteria for human intestinal health. To develop a new probiotic strain for functional food applications, fourteen fecal samples were collected from healthy Koreans and the strain BCBR-583 was newly selected and isolated from a 25-year-old Korean woman's fecal sample using the selective medium for Bifidobacterium. Subsequent fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase (F6PPK) test and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis of the strain BCBR-583 confirmed that it belongs to B. longum subsp. longum. The stress resistance tests showed that it has oxygen and heat tolerance activities (5- and 3.9-fold increase for 24 h at 60 and 120 rpm, respectively; $78.61{\pm}6.67%$ survival rate at $45^{\circ}C$ for 24 h). In addition, gut environment adaptation tests revealed that this strain may be well-adapted in the gut habitat, with gastric acid/bile salt resistance ($85.79{\pm}1.53%$, survival rate under 6 h treatments of gastric acid and bile salt) and mucin adhesion ($73.72{\pm}7.36%$). Furthermore, additional tests including cholesterol lowering assay showed that it can reduce $86.31{\pm}1.85%$ of cholesterol. Based on these results, B. longum BCBR-583 has various stress resistance for survival during food processing and environmental adaptation activities for dominant survival in the gut, suggesting that it could be a good candidate for fermented food applications as a new probiotic strain.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.3609-3615
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• 2014

This study examined the difference in the item characteristics in multiple-choice aptitude tests focusing on the response position, response length and question types. A university aptitude test consisting of 80 questions was used for this study. The subjects were 3120 senior high school students from 80 schools nation-wide (liberal arts-1650, natural sciences-1467 patients). The results suggest that item prediction is higher for numbers 2 and 3 (located in the middle) than numbers 1 and 4. The item discrimination was higher for pick-the-'wrong'-items than pick-the-'right'-items. In addition, longer choices are preferred. The suggestions for future research are provided based on these findings.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.45-56
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• 1998

In order to select a proper ground improvement technology and to assess the quality and rate of improvement in the soft deposits. it is essential to characterize in-situ properties of the soft marine clay layer that may have many thin silt or sand seams. In this paper, both piezocone and flat dilatometer tests were performed to characterize in situ properties of a marine clay. Both tests provided quite similar site classifications, and in both tests the penetration pore water pressure was the better indicator for the classification of marine clay layer, especially in which sand or silt seams are frequently interbedded. Undrained strengths determined by both the cone tip resistance and the excess pore water pressure measured from piezocone were very similar in clayey soil layers. And the untrained strength determined by dilatometer had an approximately average value of undiained strengths obtained from piezocone. In addition, the theoretical time factor that can consider pore pressure dissipation effect during cone penetration may provide a reliable estimation of the coefficient of consolidation, especially for a coastal site which includes many silt or sand fractions or seams.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.285-298
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• 2003

Shear properies of geosynthetic/geosynthetic and geosynthetic/soil interfaces which are widely met in landfill sites were evaluated from the inclined board tests. The inclined board testing apparatus is known to reproduce the shear behavior on the low normal stress most accurately. In this study, the friction angle of each interface was estimated and the tensile force mobilized at the geosynthetic was measured as well. The test results showed that the friction angle of each interface and the tensile force of the geosynthetics depended on the amount of normal stress, the type of the geosynthetics used, and the combinations of geosynthetics and soils. In addition, the sand/geotextile/geomembrane interface system was simulated in this study, and it was observed that the tensile force developed at the geomembrane decreased due to the protection effect of the geotextile located above the geomembrane. The test results of this research was compared with those of direct shear tests published, too. Finally, by comparing the measured tensile force of the geosynthetics when the initial displacement of the box occurs, when the slope is called as the critical slope, with suggested analytic solution, the accuracy of analytic solution and the applicability to design were identified.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.43-48
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• 2017

PURPOSES : The purpose of this study is to verify the effects of fiber grid reinforcement on the thickness reduction of asphalt pavement. Test sections were constructed on the national highway to evaluate the structural capacity of asphalt pavement with the reinforced fiber grid and normal asphalt pavement. METHODS : Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) tests were performed to measure the structural capacity of test sections. The loads of the FWD test are 4.1 ton, 8.0 ton, 10.0 ton, and loaded twice, respectively. The test sections consist of a reference asphalt pavement section, an asphalt pavement section reduced with a 5-cm base layer thickness, and a fiber grid reinforced asphalt pavement section reduced with a 5-cm base layer thickness. In addition, strain data was collected using strain gauges installed in the test sections. RESULTS : The results of the FWD tests showed that the deflections of the pavement section reinforced with the fiber grid was reduced by about 14% compared with that of the reference asphalt pavement section. The strain at the bottom of the asphalt surface layer of the pavement section reduced to a 5-cm base thickness and reinforced with a fiber grid was similar to that at the bottom of the asphalt layer of the reference asphalt pavement. CONCLUSIONS : The results of the FWD and strain tests showed the possibility of the pavement thickness reduction by reinforcement with a fiber grid.