• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2889-2896
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• 2023

The waste acceptance criteria for heavy metals in mixed waste should be developed by reflecting the leaching behaviors that could highly depend on the repository design and environment surrounding the waste. The current standards widely used to evaluate the leaching characteristics of heavy metals would not be appropriate for the silo-type repository since they are developed for landfills, which are more common than a silo-type repository. This research aimed to explore the leaching behaviors of cementitious waste with Pb, Cd, and Sb metallic and oxide powders in an environment simulating a silo-type radioactive waste repository. The Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) and the ANS 16.1 standard were employed with standard and two modified solutions: concrete-saturated deionized and underground water. The compositions and elemental distribution of leachates and specimens were analyzed using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS). Lead and antimony demonstrated high leaching levels in the modified leaching solutions, while cadmium exhibited minimal leaching behavior and remained mainly within the cement matrix. The results emphasize the significance of understanding heavy metals' leaching behavior in the repository's geochemical environment, which could accelerate or mitigate the reaction.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.285-291
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• 2009

Water is a strategic resource for Singapore due to its small land mass and more than half of the mainland serves as catchment for raw water, including construction sites. Construction site typically involves earthworks and in conjunction with the frequent and intense rainstorm in Singapore, produce runoff of high turbidity due to suspended sediments. The resulting high concentration of suspended sediment in construction site runoff very often leads to aesthetically unpleasant reservoirs and potentially increases the treatment cost of raw water. To mitigate this, the local standard requires the discharged concentration of total suspended solids of construction runoff leaving a construction site to be less than 50mg/l which is a very high standard. This paper will present, examine and discuss particular issues and practices of Singapore's construction industry in meeting this requirement. The focus will be on two areas: Government lead initiatives and industry practices. How the government agencies worked together with the industry professionals to develop a system to ensure meeting of the standard is discussed. In addition, the types of industry practices, including various Best Management Practice to reduce erosion in construction sites and implement effective sedimentation on construction sites are examined.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.550-557
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• 2009

The concepts of 'sustainable development', 'sustainable construction' and 'green building' have been elevated to priority levels in all types and phases of construction project development worldwide. Consultants and contractors are now required to seriously consider the impact of their operations on the natural environment and the society, and consequently adopt sustainable construction practices in the development process to minimize and mitigate the negative impacts of their activities. However, existing sustainability rating tools apply to the design, post-construction and operation phases of a building; no tool exists for the rating of the performance of the contractor or the project team at the construction phase. This study aimed to develop a model for evaluating the sustainability of construction operations, drawing on the global best practice standards on sustainability. Practical applications of the model were carried out through case studies to evaluate the performances of fifteen construction firms in New Zealand. The developed model and the outcomes of the case studies were presented, including potential areas of weaknesses, strengths, constraints to achievement or adoption of sustainable construction practices and areas for improvement in the operations of the firms. The successful application of the developed model in practice shows its usefulness and ease of application. It is therefore recommended for adoption as a simple but effective system for measuring and reporting on sustainability performance or sustainability of construction operations of firms in New Zealand and elsewhere.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.282-287
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• 2022

Background: Muscular forces drive proximal humeral fracture deformity, yet it is unknown if arm position can help mitigate such forces. Our hypothesis was that glenohumeral abduction and humeral internal rotation decrease the pull of the supraspinatus and subscapularis muscles, minimizing varus fracture deformity. Methods: A medial wedge osteotomy was performed in eight cadaveric shoulders to simulate a two-part fracture. The specimens were tested on a custom shoulder testing system. Humeral head varus was measured following physiologic muscle loading at neutral and 20° humeral internal rotation at both 0° and 20° glenohumeral abduction. Results: There was a significant decrease in varus deformity caused by the subscapularis (p<0.05) at 20° abduction. Significantly increasing humeral internal rotation decreased varus deformity caused by the subscapularis (p<0.05) at both abduction angles and that caused by the supraspinatus (p<0.05) and infraspinatus (p<0.05) at 0° abduction only. Conclusions: Postoperative shoulder abduction and internal rotation can be protective against varus failure following proximal humeral fracture fixation as these positions decrease tension on the supraspinatus and subscapularis muscles. Use of a resting sling that places the shoulder in this position should be considered.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.23-55
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• 2023

Just as globalization has many aspects and has developed in various, sometimes contradictory ways with both positive and negative impacts, so too would the reverse process of deglobalization have wide-ranging effects for individuals, communities, and nations. Some parts of globalization began to fray during the coronavirus pandemic (e.g. failing supply chains and disarray in the global shipping industry). Deglobalization would bring about much more significant changes in focusing on local production and consumption, eschewing non-essential flights and international tourism, and replacing personal experience with virtual presence. These impacts would be particularly severe for Vietnam, since its government has placed intensive connectivity with global production at the center of its model for the rapid development on which much of its legitimacy rests and it has joined as many international, multilateral organizations, and protocols as it has been able to do. Through critical analysis of secondary data from a wide range of sources, this paper examines the motivations that people, institutions, and governments might have to pursue deglobalization and then seeks evidence for whether the changes that would bring have started to affect Vietnam. While it is difficult to be too certain about this while the pandemic continues, it is evident that pressures are building in the global north to reconfigure supply chains for greater security, to reduce carbon emissions through regulating long-distance exchanges, and to withdraw from personal contacts. It is argued that a focus on digitalization in economy and society will help to mitigate the negative effects of deglobalization on Vietnam, at least in the medium-term.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2854-2863
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• 2023

Objective: To present a hybrid approach that incorporates a constrained beam-hardening estimator (CBHE) and deep learning (DL)-based post-refinement for metal artifact reduction in dental cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Methods: Constrained beam-hardening estimator (CBHE) is derived from a polychromatic X-ray attenuation model with respect to X-ray transmission length, which calculates associated parameters numerically. Deep-learning-based post-refinement with an artifact disentanglement network (ADN) is performed to mitigate the remaining dark shading regions around a metal. Artifact disentanglement network (ADN) supports an unsupervised learning approach, in which no paired CBCT images are required. The network consists of an encoder that separates artifacts and content and a decoder for the content. Additionally, ADN with data normalization replaces metal regions with values from bone or soft tissue regions. Finally, the metal regions obtained from the CBHE are blended into reconstructed images. The proposed approach is systematically assessed using a dental phantom with two types of metal objects for qualitative and quantitative comparisons. Results: The proposed hybrid scheme provides improved image quality in areas surrounding the metal while preserving native structures. Conclusion: This study may significantly improve the detection of areas of interest in many dentomaxillofacial applications.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.231-242
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• 2023

Li₂O-based cathodes utilizing oxide-peroxide conversion are innovative next-generation cathodes that have the potential to surpass the capacity of current commercial cathodes. However, these cathodes are exposed to severe cathode-electrolyte side reactions owing to the formation of highly reactive superoxides (O^x-, 1 ≤ x < 2) from O^2- ions in the Li₂O structure during charging. Succinonitrile (SN) has been used as a stabilizer at the cathode/electrolyte interface to mitigate cathode-electrolyte side reactions. SN forms a protective layer through decomposition during cycling, potentially reducing unwanted side reactions at the interface. In this study, a composite of Li₂O and Ni-embedded reduced graphene oxide (LNGO) was used as the Li₂O-based cathode. The addition of SN effectively thinned the interfacial layer formed during cycling. The presence of a N-derived layer resulting from the decomposition of SN was observed after cycling, potentially suppressing the formation of undesirable reaction products and the growth of the interfacial layer. The cell with the SN additive exhibited an enhanced electrochemical performance, including increased usable capacity and improved cyclic performance. The results confirm that incorporating the SN additive effectively stabilizes the cathode-electrolyte interface in Li₂O-based cathodes.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.145-157
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• 2023

Due to a recent increase in maritime activities in South Korea, the frequency of maritime distress is escalating and poses a significant threat to lives and property. The aim of this study was to validate a drift trajectory prediction technique to help mitigate the damages caused by maritime distress incidents. In this study, OpenDrift was verified using satellite drifter data from the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency. OpenDrift is a Monte-Carlo-based Lagrangian trajectory modeling framework that allows for considering leeway, an important factor in predicting the movement of floating marine objects. The simulation results showed no significant differences in the performance of drift trajectory prediction when considering leeway using four evaluation methods (normalized cumulative Lagrangian separation, root mean squared error, mean absolute error, and Euclidean distance). However, leeway improved the performance in an analysis of location prediction conformance for maritime search and rescue operations. Therefore, the findings of this study suggest that it is important to consider leeway in drift trajectory prediction for effective maritime search and rescue operations. The results could help with future research on drift trajectory prediction of various floating objects, including marine debris, satellite drifters, and sea ice.

• Annual Conference of KIPS
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• 2009.04a
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• pp.1428-1431
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• 2009

현재 사이버 공간에서 일어나고 있는 정보보호 위반사건들은 이미 실생활에 구체적인 악영향을 미치고 있고 이런 정보보호 관련 이슈사항에 대한 여러 보완 및 개선 방안이 제시되고 있다. 그런데 분산 서비스거부공격(DDoS)에 의한 피해규모는 나날이 커지는 반면에 인터넷의 구조적 특성으로 명확한 대응책보다는 조기탐지를 통해 사전에 대응함으로써 피해규모를 줄이거나 공격을 완화시켜 가용성을 확보하는 방법만 고안되고 있다. 그러나 우리는 공격을 완화시켜 주는 추가적인 고가의 네트워크 장비 구축 없이 기존 시스템을 활용한 분산 방화벽 모델을 제안한다. DDoS 공격이 이루어질 때 방화벽의 세션테이블과 간단한 관리기능을 그리드 컴퓨팅 기법 중 하나인 워크릿(worklet)으로 구성하여 방화벽 하위 웹 서버 군(group)에 배포시켜 각각의 웹 서버가 방화벽의 세션테이블 기능을 부분적으로 수행하는 것이다. 이렇게 함으로써 공격이 진행되는 중이라도 기존 구조에서는 할 수 없었던 정당한 인터넷 서비스 요청에 응답할 수 있어 가용성이 증대되는 효과를 얻을 수 있다.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.814-819
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• 2005

There is growing consciousness of the environmental performance of buildings in Hong Kong. The Buildings Department, the Lands Department and the Planning Department of the Hong Kong Government issued the first of a series of joint practice notes [1] to promote the construction of green and innovative buildings. Green features are architectural features used to mitigate migration of noise and various air-borne pollutants and to moderate the transport of heat, air and transmission of daylight from outside to indoor environment in an advantageous way. This joint practice note sets out the incentives to encourage the industry in Hong Kong to incorporate the use of green features in building development. The use of green features in building design not only improves the environmental quality, but also reduces the consumption of non-renewable energy used in active control of indoor environment. Larger window openings in the walls of a building may provide better natural ventilation. However, it also increases the penetration of direct solar radiation into indoor environment. The use of wing wall, one of the green features, is an alternative to create effective natural ventilation. This paper therefore presents a preliminary numerical study of its ventilation performance using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The numerical results will be compared with the results of the wind tunnel experiments of Givoni.