• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.117-126
• /
• 2019

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors have been widely used in Structural Health Monitoring due to their convenience and lower costs in comparison to conventional sensors. Triggered measurements are relevant in events such as earthquakes because unlike continuous measurements, they only record the structural response once an event happens. This is more cost effective and it makes the data more manageable because only the required measurements from the event are recorded. The most common method of triggering is amplitude triggering. However, lower input amplitudes (less than 0.1g) cannot be triggered by using this method. In this paper, sound triggering was introduced to allow triggered measurements for lower input amplitude values. The performance of the sound triggering and amplitude triggering were compared by a series of shaking-table tests. It was seen that sound-triggering method has a wider frequency (0.5~10Hz) and amplitude (0.01~1.0g) range of measurements. In addition, the sound triggering method performs better than the amplitude triggering method at lower amplitudes. The performance of the amplitude triggering, in terms of the triggering being simultaneous improves at higher input amplitudes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.185-201
• /
• 2022

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is used to provide reliable information about the structure's integrity in near realtime following extreme incidents such as earthquakes, considering the inevitable aging and degradation that occurs in operating environments. This paper experimentally investigates an integrated wireless sensor network (Wi-SN) based monitoring technique for damage detection in concrete structures. An effective SHM technique can be used to detect potential structural damage based on post-earthquake data. Two novel methods are proposed for damage detection in reinforced concrete (RC) building structures including: (i) Jerk Energy Method (JEM), which is based on time-domain analysis, and (ii) Modal Contributing Parameter (MCP), which is based on frequency-domain analysis. Wireless accelerometer sensors are installed at each story level to monitor the dynamic responses from the building structure. Prior knowledge of the initial state (immediately after construction) of the structure is not required in these methods. Proposed methods only use responses recorded during ambient vibration state (i.e., operational state) to estimate the damage index. Herein, the experimental studies serve as an illustration of the procedures. In particular, (i) a 3-story shear-type steel frame model is analyzed for several damage scenarios and (ii) 2-story RC scaled down (at 1/6th) building models, simulated and verified under experimental tests on a shaking table. As a result, in addition to the usual benefits like system adaptability, and cost-effectiveness, the proposed sensing system does not require a cluster of sensors. The spatial information in the real-time recorded data is used in global damage identification stage of SHM. Whereas in next stage of SHM, the damage is detected at the story level. Experimental results also show the efficiency and superior performance of the proposed measuring techniques.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.26 no.4A
• /
• pp.605-609
• /
• 2006

In this study, two kinds of smart accelerometers are investigated for the application of smart sensors to the structural health monitoring of infrastructures. Smart optical Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) type and Micro-Electo-Mechanical System (MEMS) type accelerometers are selected for this study and the high sensitive ICP type accelerometer is used for the reference sensor. Small size shaking table tests were performed with 3-story shear building model using random input ground motions. The output only modal identification was carried out using stochastic subspace identification and the performances of sensors are compared in modal domain indirectly. The modal sensitivity method was applied to update the story stiffness of numerical model and the updated results were verified using the additional experiments for the same structure with additional mass.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.13 no.5 s.57
• /
• pp.93-100
• /
• 2009

This study presents reasonable relationships to estimate the deformation based on beam mechanism analysis and TDR(Time Domain Reflectometry) data. To declar the length points of co-axial cable installed in civil structure, Nano material ($BaTiO_3$ powders and silver mixture) is used on co-axial cables. From the laboratory test, nano material could make the correct information about attached cable points on beam, and TDR sensor system and Fourier series (data filter) found out the deformation of beam. Therefore it is concluded that the correct deformed information of beam were acquired by Nano-TDR and Fourier filter, they are much more effective to apply at health monitoring system in civil structure compared to conventional TDR or Fiber Optic Sensor (FOS) systems.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.24 no.12
• /
• pp.1559-1567
• /
• 2015

This study investigated the association between $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations obtained with portable real-time monitors and those obtained with gravimetric methods in national urban air-quality monitoring sites in Seoul, South Korea. We used the SidePak AM510 Personal Aerosol Monitor (TSI Inc., 500 Cardigan Road Shoreview, MN) and DustTrak DRX 8533 (TSI Inc., 500 Cardigan Road Shoreview, MN) as portable real-time monitors for measuring $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations and compared these values with those measured with the PMS-103 or SEQ 47/50 models operated by Federal Reference Method (FRM) or the European Committee for Standardization(ECS), respectively, in national urban air-quality monitoring sites in Seoul. Measurements were conducted every other day in the winter and spring seasons of 2014. The estimated daily mean concentrations of $PM_{2.5}$ ranged between 13.4 and $161.9{\mu}g/m^3$ using AM 510 and between 22.0 and $156.0{\mu}g/m^3$ using DustTrak. The Spearman correlation coefficient for $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations between AM 510 and gravimetric results was 0.99, and the correlation between DustTrak and gravimetric results was 0.87. The correction factor suggested was 0.42 and 0.29 for AM 510 and DustTrak, respectively. We found that $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations measured with real-time monitors could overestimate true $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations and therefore the application of a correction factor (0.43) is strongly suggested for quantification when Real-time monitors were operated of $PM_{2.5}$ levels at urban atmospheric environment of South Korea.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.98-115
• /
• 2003

Concerns about growing health insurance expenditures became a national Issue in 2001 when the National Health Insurance went into a deficit. Increases in spending for ambulatory care shared the largest portion of the problem. Methods and systems to control the spending should be developed and a system to measure case mix of providers is one of core components of the control system. The objectives of this article is to examine the feasibility of applying Korean Diagnosis Related Groups (KDRGs) to classify health insurance claims for ambulatory care and to identify problem areas of the classification. A database of 11,586,270 claims for ambulatory care delivered during January 2002 was obtained for the study, and the final number of claims analyzed was 8,319,494 after KDRG numbers were assigned to the data and records with an error KDRG were excluded from the study. The unit of analysis was a claim and resource use was measured by the sum of charges incurred during a month at a department of a hospital of at a clinic. Within group variance was assessed by th coefficient of variation (CV), and the classification accuracy was evaluated by the variance reduction achieved by the KDRG classification. The analyses were performed on both all and non-outlier data, and on a subset of the database to examine the validity of study results. Data were assigned to 787 KDRGs among 1,244 KDRGs defined in the classification system. For non-outlier data, 77.4％ of KDRGs had a CV of charges from tertiary care hospitals less than 100％ and 95.43％ of KDRGs for data from clinics. The variance reduction achieved by the KDRG classification was 40.80％ for non-outlier claims from tertiary care hospitals, 51.98％ for general hospitals, 40.89% for hospitals, and 54.99% for clinics. Similar results were obtained from the analyses performed on a subset of the study database. The study results indicated that KDRGs developed for a classification of inpatient care could be used for ambulatory care, although there were areas where the classification should be refined. Its power to predict tile resource utilization showed a potential for its application to measure case mix of providers for monitoring and managing delivery of ambulatory care. The issue concerning the quality of diagnostic information contained in insurance claims remains to be improved, and significance of future studies for other classification systems based on visits or episodes is guaranteed.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.61-65
• /
• 2016

Currently, a variety of Information and Communication Technology(ICT) is being broadly utilized for mental health. Especially, mobile application is one of the effective ICT, and several applications have been developed after the spread of smartphones. The mobile-based mental health has several strengths, such as better treatment accessibility and easier check-ups of symptoms or daily activities by real-time monitoring. Better follow-ups of treatment course, more customized feedback and better transportability enable patients to be more adherent. However, there are some limitations of mobile technology about the mental health, such as technical troubles of electric errors, data safety problems and personal information extrusion. Therefore, full considerations should be given during the development and provision of the technology. Most of all, mental health specialists should actively participate in the development process by incorporation of evidence-based experiences and assurance of good clinical qualities.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.304-316
• /
• 2022

Background: As prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission in healthcare settings has become a critical component in its effective management, COVID-19 specific infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines were developed and implemented by numerous countries. Although largely based on the current evidence-base, guidelines show much heterogeneity, as they are influenced by respective health system capacities, epidemiological risk, and socioeconomic status. This study aims to analyze the variations and concurrences of these guidelines to draw policy implications for COVID-19 response and future guidelines development. Methods: The contents of the COVID-19 IPC guidelines were analyzed using the categories and codes developed based on "World Health Organization guidelines on core components." Data analysis involved reviewing, appraising and synthesizing data from guidelines, which were then arranged into categories and codes. Selection of countries was based on the country income level, availability of COVID-19 specific IPC guideline developed at a national or district level. Results: The guidelines particularly agreed on IPC measures regarding application of standard precautions and providing information to patients and visitors, monitoring and audit of IPC activities and staff illnesses, and management of built environment/equipments. The guidelines showed considerable differences in certain components, such as workplace safety measures and criteria for discontinuation of precautions. Several guidelines also contained unique features which enabled a more systematic response to COVID-19. Conclusion: The guidelines generally complied with the current evidence-based COVID-19 management but also revealed variances stemming from differences in local health system capacity. Several unique features should be considered for benchmark in future guidelines development.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.542-553
• /
• 2018

Since many previous studies reported the health effect of air pollution and indicated traffic as a major pollution source, significant policy efforts have been made to control traffic to reduce air pollution. However, there have been few studies that evaluated such policy implementation. In Seoul, Korea, the exclusive median bus lane system was implemented in 2004, and the metropolitan government applied air pollution reduction policies such as conversion of diesel buses to compressed natural gas buses and installation of emission control devices. This paper aimed to investigate the impact of the exclusive median bus lane system on air pollution reduction. Using hourly concentrations of particulate matter ($PM_{10}$) and nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$) measured at 131 regulatory monitoring sites in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do for 2001-2014, we calculated annual and daily average concentrations at each site. We assessed the impact of the policy using differences-in-differences analysis by annual and daily average models after adjusting for geographic and/or meteorological variables. This method divides population into treatment and control groups with and without policy application, and compares the difference between the two time periods before and after the policy implementation in the treatment group with the difference in the control group. We classified all monitoring sites into treatment and control groups using two definitions: 1) Seoul vs. Gyeonggi-do; 2) within vs. outside 300 meters from the median bus lane. Pre- and post-policy periods were defined as 2001-2005 and 2006-2014, and 2004 and 2014 in the annual and daily models, respectively. The decrease in $PM_{10}$ concentrations between the two periods across monitoring sites in the treatment group was larger by $1.73-5.88{\mu}g/m^3$ than in the control group. $NO_2$ also showed the decrease without statistical significance. Our findings suggest that an efficient public transport policy combined with pollution abatement policies can contribute to reduction in air pollution.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.165-170
• /
• 2014

Shear horizontal (SH) waves propagate as a type of plate wave in a thin sheet. The dispersion characteristics of SH waves can be used for signal analysis. Therefore, SH-waves are useful for monitoring the structural health of a thin-sheet-structure. An electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT), which is a non-contact ultrasonic transducer, can generate SH-waves easily by varying the shape and array of magnets and coils. Therefore, an EMAT can be applied to an automated ultrasonic testing system for structural health monitoring. When used as a sensor, however, the EMAT has a weakness in that electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise can occur easily in the automated system because of motors and electric devices. Alternatively, a fiber optic sensor works well in the same environment with EMI noise because it uses a light signal instead of an electric signal. In this paper, a fiber Fabry-P$\acute{e}$rot interferometer (FFPI) was proposed as a sensor to receive the SH-waves generated by an EMAT. A simple test was performed to verify the performance of the FFPI sensor. It is thus shown that the FFPI can receive SH-wave signals clearly.