• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.3
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• pp.293-303
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• 2022

As infrastructure ages and traffic load increases, serious public concerns have arisen for the well-being of bridges. The current health monitoring practice focuses on large-scale bridges rather than short span bridges. However, it is critical that more attention should be given to these behind-the-scene bridges. The relevant information about the construction methods and as-built properties are most likely missing. Additionally, since the condition of a bridge has unavoidably changed during service, due to weathering and deterioration, the material properties and boundary conditions would also have changed since its construction. Therefore, it is not appropriate to continue using the design values of the bridge parameters when undertaking any analysis to evaluate bridge performance. It is imperative to update the model, using finite element (FE) analysis to reflect the current structural condition. In this study, a FE model is established to simulate a concrete culvert bridge in New South Wales, Australia. That model, however, contains a number of parameter uncertainties that would compromise the accuracy of analytical results. The model is therefore updated with a neural network (NN) optimisation algorithm incorporating Monte Carlo (MC) simulation to minimise the uncertainties in parameters. The modal frequency and strain responses produced by the updated FE model are compared with the frequency and strain values on-site measured by sensors. The outcome indicates that the NN model updating incorporating MC simulation is a feasible and robust optimisation method for updating numerical models so as to minimise the difference between numerical models and their real-world counterparts.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.189-194
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• 2021

LIBS has been attracting attention as an analytical method capable of real-time measurement without sample preparation. In this study, a Lab. scale LIBS device was fabricated to examine the applicability and reproducibility of LIBS in the analysis of chloride contents in mortar. The existing analysis method and LIBS analysis were performed simultaneously on the mortar test specimen with the chloride content adjusted. Compared to the chloride content condition of the mortar, the XRF and Potentiometric Titration results also showed a similar trend. As a result of LIBS analysis, chlorine ions were detected at a wavelength of 837.59 nm according to the chloride content condition. In order to improve the precision in various concentration ranges, the LIBS signal amplification of about 50 times through the electric field enhancement was implemented. Through the verification of the aqueous solution-based reproducibility, a high correlation between the LIBS signal strength and the Cl concentration was confirmed, and the possibility of applying LIBS to the durability diagnosis of concrete damage by chloride was confirmed.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.138-150
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• 2022

Background: Epidemiology is a fundamental study of public health, including environmental health, since the features and causes of diseases discovered through epidemiology provide crucial information for developing successful disease prevention strategies. Objectives: This paper tried to define the role and function of epidemiologic research in the field of environmental health, summarize examples of epidemiological studies with regard to selected environmental health events in South Korea, and address important issues that should be considered when conducting epidemiological research in the future. Methods: Epidemiological studies of selected environmental health events were reviewed and summarized in terms of their contribution to environmental health in South Korea. Based on the information, important issues were suggested for future epidemiological studies in environmental health. Results: The role and function of epidemiologic research in the field of environmental health includes the systematic description of the health effects caused by environmental exposure, verification of the causal relationship between environmental exposure and health effects, and provision of background data for conducting prevention strategies and developing policies. A number of epidemiological studies have contributed to characterizing and assessing the environmental risks involved in a series of environmental health events in South Korea. Conclusions: Important issues for future epidemiological studies may include health effects from chronic low-level environmental exposure, application of analytical epidemiology to elucidate causal relationships, use of exposure/disease/susceptibility biomarkers, accurate reconstruction of past exposure status, cohort recruitment and long-term follow-up, and in-advance surveillance of diseases with environmental causes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.5
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• pp.619-632
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• 2022

Reinforced concrete (RC) structures may be subjected to sudden dynamic impact loads such as explosions occurring for different reasons, the collision of masses driven by rockfall, flood, landslide, and avalanche effect structural members, the crash of vehicles to the highway and seaway structures. Many analytical, numerical, and experimental studies focused on the behavior of RC structural elements such as columns, beams, and slabs under sudden dynamic impact loads. However, there is no comprehensive study on the behavior of the RC column-beam connections under the effect of sudden dynamic impact loads. For this purpose, an experimental study was performed to investigate the behavior of RC column-beam connections under the effect of low-velocity impact loads. Sixteen RC beam-column connections with a scale of 1/3 were manufactured and tested under impact load using the drop-weight test setup. The concrete compressive strength, shear reinforcement spacing in the beam, and input impact energy applied to test specimens were taken as experimental variables. The time histories of impact load acting on test specimens, accelerations, and displacements measured from the test specimens were recorded in experiments. Besides, shear and bending crack widths were measured. The effect of experimental variables on the impact behavior of RC beam-column connections has been determined and interpreted in detail. Besides, a finite element model has been established for verification and comparison of the experimental results by using ABAQUS software. It has been demonstrated that concrete strength, shear reinforcement ratio, and impact energy significantly affect the impact behavior of RC column-beam connections.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.15-25
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• 2010

In this study, a method for estimating the in-situ stress state of NC clays using piezocone penetration test (PCPT) results is proposed. The proposed method is based on a correlation between the PCPT results and strength increment ratio. According to proposed method, no additional testing procedure for collecting undisturbed soil sample is required, which can reduce overall testing cost. To verify this method various analytical solutions were adopted and used. Measured result and predicted result are compared with each other. The verification sites consist of a variety of soil conditions. From the comparison, it is seen that predicted value of effective strcss using the proposed method match well those from measured results.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.4A
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• pp.395-405
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of precast segmental PSC bridge columns with precast concrete footings. The proposed system can reduce work at a construction site and makes construction periods shorter. The precast concrete footings is intended to support precast segmental PSC bridge columns and provides an alternative to current cast-inplace systems, particularly for areas where reduced construction time is desired. Shortened construction time, in turn, leads to important safety and economic advantages when traffic disruption or rerouting is necessary. A model of precast segmental PSC bridge columns was tested under a constant axial load and a cyclically reversed horizontal load. In the companion paper, the experimental and analytical study for the performance assessment of precast segmental PSC bridge columns with precast concrete footings is performed.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.657-671
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• 2023

As large-scale earthquakes have occurred in Korea and their aftermath continues to be felt, laws and regulations on seismic design have been emphasized, and in Korea, the seismic design standards have been newly revised after the Gyeongju earthquake. In the revised seismic design standards, a stability review for the destruction of the support activity of the breakwater was newly added. Therefore, in this study, we conducted a stability analysis on the seismic reinforcement method for the study site, and checked the ground acceleration of the subgrade and the displacement of the structure over time. As a result of the stability analysis, the safety factor increased by at least 0.5 and up to 1.7. As a result of the time history analysis, the displacement of the superstructure decreased by up to 290 mm and down to 12 mm in both the shallow and deep sections before and after reinforcement, and the ground acceleration decreased by up to 5.33 m/s and down to 0.31 m/s after reinforcement.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.105-114
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• 2024

Clinical laboratories endeavor to secure quality by establishing effective quality management systems. However, laboratory environments are complex, and single quality control procedures may inadequately detect many errors. Patient-based real-time quality control (PBRTQC) is a laboratory tool that monitors the testing process using algorithms such as Bull's algorithm and several variables, such as average of normal, moving median, moving average, and exponentially weighted moving average. PBRTQC has many advantages over conventional quality control, including low cost, commutability, continuous real-time performance monitoring, and sensitivity to pre-analytical errors. However, PBRTQC is not easily implemented as it requires statistical algorithm selection, the design of appropriate rules and protocols, and performance verification. This review describes the basic concepts, methods, and procedures of PBRTQC and presents guidelines for implementing a patient-based quality management system. Furthermore, we propose the combined use of PBRTQC when the performance of internal quality control is limited. However, clinical evaluations were not conducted during this review, and thus, future evaluation is required.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.481-496
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• 2023

Purpose: The main theme of this study is to derive a profit curve by a cubic cost function for nonlinear CVP analysis. According to the analytical approach to derive a nonlinear profit function in this study, it is possible with only the existing cost structure to calculate the profit maximization and downtime point sales unlike the classical CVP analysis. Furthermore, the profit curve by the mathematical model of this study could serve as a tool to quantify the qualitative evaluation of each stage of the industry life cycle. Methods: This study followed the mathematical approach from the cubic cost function model of microeconomics, and using real data of the Bank of Korea Results: The nonlinear profit function suggested by this study is as follows; ${\pi}(x)=-a\left(x-\frac{f}{1-v}\right)^3+(1-v)x-k$ where $a=\frac{1}{3}v\left(\frac{(1-v)}{f}\right)^2,k=f-a\left(1-\frac{f}{1-v \right)^3$ Conclusion: The process and results of this study would be able to contribute not only in practice of nonlinear CVP analysis required in the management accounting or financial management, but also in cost theory of microeconomics. Also, since the life cycle of all industries in Korea was verified to the growth or mature stage, decision makers should pay careful attention to determining life cycle stages and consider the profit curve by the average variable cost ratio over multi periods.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.100-109
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• 2014

In stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), the accurate location of treatment sites should be guaranteed from the respiratory motions of patients. Lots of studies on this topic have been conducted. In this letter, a new verification method simulating the real respiratory motion of heterogenous treatment regions was proposed to investigate the accuracy of lung SBRT for Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy. Based on the CT images of lung cancer patients, lung phantoms were fabricated to equip in $QUASAR^{TM}$ respiratory moving phantom using 3D printer. The phantom was bisected in order to measure 2D dose distributions by the insertion of EBT3 film. To ensure the dose calculation accuracy in heterogeneous condition, The homogeneous plastic phantom were also utilized. Two dose algorithms; Analytical Anisotropic Algorithm (AAA) and AcurosXB (AXB) were applied in plan dose calculation processes. In order to evaluate the accuracy of treatments under respiratory motion, we analyzed the gamma index between the plan dose and film dose measured under various moving conditions; static and moving target with or without gating. The CT number of GTV region was 78 HU for real patient and 92 HU for the homemade lung phantom. The gamma pass rates with 3%/3 mm criteria between the plan dose calculated by AAA algorithm and the film doses measured in heterogeneous lung phantom under gated and no gated beam delivery with respiratory motion were 88% and 78%. In static case, 95% of gamma pass rate was presented. In the all cases of homogeneous phantom, the gamma pass rates were more than 99%. Applied AcurosXB algorithm, for heterogeneous phantom, more than 98% and for homogeneous phantom, more than 99% of gamma pass rates were achieved. Since the respiratory amplitude was relatively small and the breath pattern had the longer exhale phase than inhale, the gamma pass rates in 3%/3 mm criteria didn't make any significant difference for various motion conditions. In this study, the new phantom model of 4D dose distribution verification using patient-specific lung phantoms moving in real breathing patterns was successfully implemented. It was also evaluated that the model provides the capability to verify dose distributions delivered in the more realistic condition and also the accuracy of dose calculation.