• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.21 no.7
• /
• pp.880-890
• /
• 2020

Objective: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are known to be at risk of osteoporosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between thoracic vertebral bone density measured on chest CT (D_Thorax) and clinical variables, including survival, in patients with COPD. Materials and Methods: A total of 322 patients with COPD were selected from the Korean Obstructive Lung Disease (KOLD) cohort. D_Thorax was measured by averaging the CT values of three consecutive vertebral bodies at the level of the left main coronary artery with a round region of interest as large as possible within the anterior column of each vertebral body using an in-house software. Associations between D_Thorax and clinical variables, including survival, pulmonary function test (PFT) results, and CT densitometry, were evaluated. Results: The median follow-up time was 7.3 years (range: 0.1-12.4 years). Fifty-six patients (17.4%) died. D_Thorax differed significantly between the different Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease stages. D_Thorax correlated positively with body mass index (BMI), some PFT results, and the six-minute walk distance, and correlated negatively with the emphysema index (EI) (all p < 0.05). In the univariate Cox analysis, older age (hazard ratio [HR], 3.617; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.119-6.173, p < 0.001), lower BMI (HR, 3.589; 95% CI, 2.122-6.071, p < 0.001), lower forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) (HR, 2.975; 95% CI, 1.682-5.262, p < 0.001), lower diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide corrected with hemoglobin (DL_CO) (HR, 4.595; 95% CI, 2.665-7.924, p < 0.001), higher EI (HR, 3.722; 95% CI, 2.192-6.319, p < 0.001), presence of vertebral fractures (HR, 2.062; 95% CI, 1.154-3.683, p = 0.015), and lower D_Thorax (HR, 2.773; 95% CI, 1.620-4.746, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with all-cause mortality and lung-related mortality. In the multivariate Cox analysis, lower D_Thorax (HR, 1.957; 95% CI, 1.075-3.563, p = 0.028) along with older age, lower BMI, lower FEV₁, and lower DL_CO were independent predictors of all-cause mortality. Conclusion: The thoracic vertebral bone density measured on chest CT demonstrated significant associations with the patients' mortality and clinical variables of disease severity in the COPD patients included in KOLD cohort.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.219-232
• /
• 2024

The aim of this study was to explore the impact of body mass index (BMI) and drumming exercise on autonomic nervous system function in adult women. Ten adult women (aged 30-50) were divided into two groups based on their BMI: a normal BMI group (Low BMI, LBMI < 23 kg/m²) and an overweight BMI group (High BMI, HBMI > 23 kg/m²). Both groups participated in a drumming exercise program, consisting of 50-minute sessions, three times a week, for a duration of 8 weeks. Body composition and heart rate variability were assessed before and after the 8-week exercise period. Heart rate variability was evaluated using linear analysis in the time domain and frequency domain. Additionally, non-linear analysis was conducted using a Poincaré plot. The autonomic nervous system index was determined by measuring parasympathetic nervous system index and sympathetic nervous system index. Following the 8-week intervention, the HBMI group exhibited a significant decrease in weight (p=0.034), BMI (p=0.044), body fat mass (p=0.032), and waist circumference (p=0.013) compared to the LBMI group. Furthermore, the HBMI group demonstrated significant increases in RMSSD (p=0.018) and TP (p=0.033) in linear analysis, as well as SD1 (p=0.018) in non-linear analysis and PNS Index (p=0.040) compared to the LBMI group. RMSSD, SD1, and PNS Index serve as indicators of parasympathetic nervous system activity in linear and non-linear analyses, respectively. These findings indicate that drumming exercise significantly enhances autonomic nervous system function in overweight women.

• The Transactions of the Korea Information Processing Society
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.189-198
• /
• 2024

Lipreading is one of the important parts of speech recognition, and several studies have been conducted to improve the performance of lipreading in lipreading systems for speech recognition. Recent studies have used method to modify the model architecture of lipreading system to improve recognition performance. Unlike previous research that improve recognition performance by modifying model architecture, we aim to improve recognition performance without any change in model architecture. In order to improve the recognition performance without modifying the model architecture, we refer to the cues used in human lipreading and set other regions such as chin and cheeks as regions of interest along with the lip region, which is the existing region of interest of lipreading systems, and compare the recognition rate of each region of interest to propose the highest performing region of interest In addition, assuming that the difference in normalization results caused by the difference in interpolation method during the process of normalizing the size of the region of interest affects the recognition performance, we interpolate the same region of interest using nearest neighbor interpolation, bilinear interpolation, and bicubic interpolation, and compare the recognition rate of each interpolation method to propose the best performing interpolation method. Each region of interest was detected by training an object detection neural network, and dynamic time warping templates were generated by normalizing each region of interest, extracting and combining features, and mapping the dimensionality reduction of the combined features into a low-dimensional space. The recognition rate was evaluated by comparing the distance between the generated dynamic time warping templates and the data mapped to the low-dimensional space. In the comparison of regions of interest, the result of the region of interest containing only the lip region showed an average recognition rate of 97.36%, which is 3.44% higher than the average recognition rate of 93.92% in the previous study, and in the comparison of interpolation methods, the bilinear interpolation method performed 97.36%, which is 14.65% higher than the nearest neighbor interpolation method and 5.55% higher than the bicubic interpolation method. The code used in this study can be found a https://github.com/haraisi2/Lipreading-Systems.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.439-449
• /
• 2023

This study was conducted to verify the role of forest roads in the extinction of large forest fires in Korea. The study area was the forest fire-damaged area of Gangneung City, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, in April 2023, which is one of the areas with the highest road density among the major forest fires that have occurred so far. The scope of the forest fire damage area was confirmed through on-site survey, and the intensity of the fire was carried out through Sentinel-2 satellite imagery analysis. After that, the relationship between the damage range and intensity and the forest road was examined. About 59.6 km of roads were built within 50 m from the boundary of the forest fire damage area, which can easily access the entire 149.1 ha of forest fire damaged area. The road density is as high as 168.9 m/ha. All forests that were fragmented by roads were fragmented into 83 places, and all of these forests could be judged to have spread by spotting fire. As a result of analyzing the distribution of damage intensity by distance from the road to see the extent of damage according to the ease of access of fire extinguishing vehicles, it was confirmed that the proportion of areas with low-intensity damage has increased sharply even from 75 m or more away from the road. The results of analyzing the distribution of damage intensity by altitude to see the extent of damage according to the ease of access of fire extinguishing showed that the proportion of areas with low-intensity damage increased as the altitude increased, while the proportion of areas with damage of more than strong intensity decreased as the altitude increased. It was confirmed that there is no data that roads inside or adjacent to forests in the forest fire area of Gangneung City are effective in extinguishing forest fires. These results are contrary to the logic that increasing the road density in forests is effective in extinguishing forest fires. In the case of this fire area in Gangneung City, the road density is 43 times higher than the current road density in Korea claimed by the Korea Forest Service of 3.9 m/ha. This study suggests that roads can be a hindrance to extinguishing forest fires.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.57 no.2
• /
• pp.143-159
• /
• 2024

Natural aggregate is an essential resource for human activities, closely related to construction. The aggregate demand has been increasing annually, and due to the nature of the resource, it is difficult to procure from distant locations. This study identifies the distribution and characteristics of aggregate-bearing areas as part of a municipal-level aggregate resource survey conducted in Nonsan City, Korea, in 2023. Nonsan City is located approximately 35 km straight distance from the Geum River estuary and lies at the passageway of the main stream of the Geum River. The topography of Nonsan City features eastern mountainous areas and western plains, creating an east-high-west-low geomorphic setting, with 33 streams distributed across the city, including tributaries of the Geum River like Nonsan Stream, Noseong Stream, and Ganggyeong Stream. All streams originate from the highlands in the north and east, converge with Nonsan Stream, and then join the west bank of the main stream of the Geum River at the western boundary of Nonsan City. Drilling core results show shallow depths in the highlands to the north and east, deepening towards the west, reaching a maximum depth of 25 m near the main stream of the Geum River. The total reserve of land aggregates is calculated to be 246,789,000 m³, with a developable amount of 172,750,000 m³. The total reserve of river aggregates is 5,236,000 m³, with a developable amount of 3,765,000 m³. The distribution of aggregates varies according to the geomorphic, geologic, and development pattern of the river system. Reserves are scarce in mountainous areas but are abundant in regions with rivers and wide alluvial plains, although reserves appear at depths greater than 4m. The distribution of aggregate resources in Nonsan City is influenced by stream activities and sea level changes, with the tidal range of the Yellow Sea acting as an unfavorable condition for the preservation of aggregate resources.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2024

Amphibians are a taxonomic group that ecologically connects terrestrial ecosystems and aquatic ecosystems. They play a very important role in the food chain of the ecosystem. It is known that there are about 5,948 species distributed all over the world, but after the Industrial Revolution, due to industrialization and urbanization, there has been a decrease in species and populations. In particular, it is becoming a factor in exacerbating habitat fragmentation or fragmentation due to artificial canals. In orderto improve the survivalrate of wild animals in artificial canals, escape facilities are installed to reduce it. This study analyzed the slope, height of the escape facility, escape rate, and travel distance in the operating facility for Bombina orientalis, which mainly inhabits near forests. The slope of the escape facility showed a relatively similar escape success rate regardless of height at 50° and 60°, while at 70°, it showed a relatively high escape success rate at only 40cm in height. The success rate of escape from the waterway escape facility in operation was 14.71%, showing a very low utilization rate, and the recognition rate of the artificial canal escape facility was found to be very low as it moved along the side wall of the artificial canal. Therefore, in the case of a waterway escape facility for Bombina orientalis, it is possible to construct it at an angle of 60°, and if the side walls of the artificial canals are built within 60°, Bombina orientalis can move freely in both directions, overcoming the low utilization rate of existing waterway escape facilities. It is expected to minimize the impact of movement and death of artificial canals. In addition, if the spacing between escape facilities is narrowed from the installation standard of 30m and ramps are constructed in both directions upstream and downstream, the escape success rate of amphibians,reptiles, and small mammals otherthan lady frogs is expected to improve.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.59-70
• /
• 2024

As urbanization progresses, the demand for parks and green space is increasing. Park green spaces in the city are important spaces in the city because they are recognized as spaces where people can freely engage in outdoor activities. The park service area is a measure that shows the extent to which services are provided based on distance. In this process, the concept of accessibility plays an important role, and walking, in particular, as the most basic means of transportation for people and has a great influence on the use of parks. However, the current park service area analysis focuses on discovering underprivileged areas, so detailed evaluation of beneficiary areas is insufficient. This study seeks to evaluate park service areas based on the pedestrian accessibility and the pedestrian network. Park services are services that occur when users directly visit the park, and accessibility is expected to be reflected in terms of usability. To quantify the pedestrian network, this study used space syntax to analyze pedestrian accessibility based on integration values. The integration values are an indicators that quantify the level of accessibility of the pedestrian network, and in this study, the higher the integration value, the higher the possibility of park use. The results of the study are as follows. First, Bundang-gu's park service area accounts for 43%, and includes most sections with high pedestrian accessibility, but some sections with good pedestrian accessibility are excluded. This can be seen as a phenomenon that occurs when residential areas and commercial and business areas are given priority during the urban planning process, and then park and green areas are selected. Second, based on Bundang-gu, the park service area and pedestrian accessibility within the park service area were classified by neighborhood unit. Differences appear for each individual neighborhood unit, and it is expected that the availability of the park will vary accordingly. In addition, even in areas created during the same urban planning process, there were differences in the evaluation of park service areas according to pedestrian accessibility. Using this, it is possible to evaluate individual neighborhood units that can be reflected in living area plans, and it can be used as a useful indicator in park and green space policies that reflect this in the future.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.348-353
• /
• 2008

Oxygen isotope has not been used actively in water mass studies because of difficulties on the analysis though it has advantages as a water mass tracer. The most popular method to analysis the oxygen isotope ratio in water samples is equilibration method: isotopic equilibrium of water with $CO_2$ at constant temperature. The precision of oxygen isotope analysis using commercial automatic $H_2O/CO_2$ equilibrator is ${\pm}0.1%o$. This value is not sufficient for studies in open ocean. The object of this study is to improve the analytical precision enough to apply open ocean studies by modification of the instrument. When sample gas is transferred by the pressure difference, the fractionation which is preferential transportation of light isotope can be occurred since the long transportation path between the equilibrator and mass spectrometer. And the The biggest source of error during the analysis is long distance and large volume of the pathway of sample gas between. Therefore, liquid nitrogen trap and high vacuum system are introduced to the system. The precisions of 14 time analysis of same seawater sample are ${\pm}0.081%o$ and ${\pm}0.021%o$ by built-in system and by modified system in this study, respectively.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.42-55
• /
• 2008

To evaluate the accuracy of currents measured by HF radar in the coastal sea off Keum River estuary, we compared the facing radial vectors of two HF radars, and HF radar-derived currents with in-situ measurement currents. Principal component analysis was used to extract regression line and RMS deviation in the comparison. When two facing radar's radial vectors at the mid-point of baseline are compared, RMS deviation is 4.4 cm/s in winter and 5.4 cm/s in summer. When GDOP(Geometric Dilution of Precision) effect is corrected from the RMS deviations that is analyzed from the comparison between HF radar-derived and current-metermeasured currents, the error of velocity combined by HF radar-derived current is less than 5.1 cm/s in the stations having moderate GDOP values. These two results obtained from different method suggest that the lower limit of HF radar-derived current's accuracy is 5.4 cm/s in our study area. As mentioned in previous researches, RMS deviations become large in the stations located near the islands and increase as a function of mean distance from the radar site due to decrease of signal-to-noise level and the intersect angle of radial vectors. We found that an uncertain error bound of HF radar-derived current can be produced from the separation process of RMS deviations using GDOP value if GDOP value for each component is very close and RMS deviations obtained from current component comparison are also close. When the current measured in the stations having moderate GDOP values is separated into tidal and subtidal current, characteristics of tidal current ellipses analyzed from HF radar-derived current show a good agreement with those from current-meter-measured current, and time variation of subtidal current showed a response reflecting physical process driven by wind and density field.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.339-350
• /
• 2024

Purpose: This study analyzes accessibility of 10 hydrogen charging stations in Seoul and identifies areas that were difficult to access. The purpose is to re-analyze accessibility by adding a new location in terms of equity and safety of location placement, and then draw implications by comparing the improvement effects. Method: By applying the location-allocation model and the service area model based on network analysis of the ArcGIS program, areas with weak access were identified. The location selection method applied the 'Minimize Facilities' method in consideration of the need for rapid arrival to insufficient hydrogen charging stations. The limit distance for arrival within a specific time was analyzed by applying the average vehicle traffic speed(23.1km/h, Seoul Open Data Square) in 2022 to three categories: 3,850m(10minutes), 5,775m(15minutes), 7,700m(20minutes). In order to minimize conflicts over the installation of hydrogen charging stations, special standards of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy applied to derive candidate sites for additional installation of hydrogen charging stations among existing gas stations and LPG/CNG charging stations. Result: As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that accessibility was significantly improved by installing 5 new hydrogen charging stations at relatively safe gas stations and LPG/CNG charging stations in areas where access to the existing 10 hydrogen charging stations is weak within 20 minutes. Nevertheless, it was found that there are still areas where access remains difficult. Conclusion: The location allocation model is used to identify areas where access to hydrogen charging stations is difficult and prioritize installation, decision-making to select locations for hydrogen charging stations based on scientific evidence can be supported.