• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.79-86
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• 2023

As we strive to mitigate the environmental impact caused by the use of fossil fuels, the exploration of alternative energy sources has gained significant attention. Solar energy, in particular, has emerged as a promising solution due to its eco-friendly nature and virtually limitless availability. Among the various types of solar cells that harness this abundant energy source, organic solar cells have garnered considerable interest. Organic solar cells feature a photo-active layer composed of organic semiconductors, offering a range of appealing advantages such as cost-effectiveness, flexibility, translucency, and the ability to produce customizable colors. However, the commercialization of organic solar cells has been impeded by certain challenges, notably their relatively low efficiency and stability. To overcome these obstacles and pave the way for wider adoption, researchers have been exploring innovative approaches, including the implementation of ternary blend organic solar cells. This strategy involves introducing a third component into the photo-active layer alongside the organic semiconductors, with the aim of enhancing the overall performance of the solar cell. In this paper, we delve into the issues associated with organic solar cells and focus on one potential solution: ternary blend organic solar cells. Specifically, we examine the application of this approach to PM6:Y6, which stands as one of the most popular combinations of organic semiconductors. By investigating the potential of ternary blends, particularly utilizing PM6:Y6, we aim to accelerate the commercialization of organic solar cells.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.489-502
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• 2023

Urban floods pose significant challenges to cities worldwide, driven by the interplay between urbanization and climate change. This review examines recent studies of urban floods to understand their causes, impacts, and potential mitigation strategies. Urbanization, with its increase in impermeable surfaces and altered drainage patterns, disrupts natural water flow, exacerbating surface runoff during intense rainfall events. The impacts of urban floods are far-reaching, affecting lives, infrastructure, the economy, and the environment. Loss of life, property damage, disruptions to critical services, and environmental consequences underscore the urgency of effective urban flood management. To mitigate urban floods, integrated flood management strategies are crucial. Sustainable urban planning, green infrastructure, and improved drainage systems play pivotal roles in reducing flood vulnerabilities. Early warning systems, emergency response planning, and community engagement are essential components of flood preparedness and resilience. Looking to the future, climate change projections indicate increased flood risks, necessitating resilience and adaptation measures. Advances in research, data collection, and modeling techniques will enable more accurate flood predictions, thus guiding decision-making. In conclusion, urban flooding demands urgent attention and comprehensive strategies to protect lives, infrastructure, and the economy.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.71-86
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• 2023

Rock blasting tests using underground penetration-type displacement sensors were conducted, and three-dimensional finite element numerical analyses were performed to assess their applicability and mitigate slope hazards during rock blasting. Additionally, parameters influencing vibration velocity were investigated during the tests. The results confirmed that underground penetration-type displacement sensors are suitable for monitoring rock slope behavior, and the numerical analyses revealed that the most influential parameter on vibration velocity during rock blasting is the unit weight. Furthermore, it was observed that vibration velocity decreases significantly with distance from the blast source, and proximity to the source leads to substantial variations in vibration velocity due to differences in elastic modulus and unit weight. Changes in internal friction angle and adhesive strength had minimal impact.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.102-109
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• 2023

Following the accident at Fukushima, the true impact of multi-unit accidents came to light. Accordingly, research related to multi-unit accident effect analysis, risk evaluation, and accident prevention/prevention technology has been conducted. Specific examples are mobile/fixed equipment such as multi-barrier accident coping strategy (MACST) and diverse and flexible coping strategies (FLEX), which have been introduced and installed in multi-units for preventing and mitigating multi-unit accidents. These strategies are useful for enhancing the safety of nuclear power plants (NPPs); however, a more efficient strategy is required in terms of the costs of physical and human resources. To effectively and efficiently mitigate an increase in multi-unit accidents, it is necessary to not only to utilize mobile/fixed equipment but to also use crosstie options with resources that already exist at NPPs. Therefore, we analyzed the current international and domestic status of crosstie systems technology and propose a method to evaluate feasibility alongside risk based on a multi-unit probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). To analyze the international and domestic status of crosstie systems technology, actual cases and related research were studied, and a list of potential crosstie safety resources was derived. Additionally, a case study was performed on crosstie cases of two systems within the assumed six units on-site under a multi-unit accident, and a multi-unit PSA-based risk evaluation method is proposed.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.8-16
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• 2023

In Japan, high-speed ground transportation service using linear motors at speeds of 500 km/h is scheduled to begin in 2027. To accommodate 5G services in trains, a subcarrier spacing frequency of 30 kHz will be used instead of the typical 15 kHz subcarrier spacing to mitigate Doppler effects in such high-speed transport. Furthermore, to increase the cell size of the 5G mobile system, multiple base station antennas will transmit identical downlink (DL) signals to form an expanded cell size along the train rails. In this situation, the forward and backward antenna signals are Doppler-shifted in opposite directions, respectively, so the receiver in the train may suffer from estimating the exact Channel Transfer Function (CTF) for demodulation. In a previously published paper, we proposed a channel estimator based on Delay and Doppler Profiler (DDP) in a 5G SISO (Single Input Single Output) environment and successfully implemented it in a signal processing simulation system. In this paper, we extend it to 2×2 MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) with spatial multiplexing environment and confirm that the delay and DDP based channel estimator is also effective in 2×2 MIMO environment. Its simulation performance is compared with that of a conventional time-domain linear interpolation estimator. The simulation results show that in a 2×2 MIMO environment, the conventional channel estimator can barely achieve QPSK modulation at speeds below 100 km/h and has poor CNR performance versus SISO. The performance degradation of CNR against DDP SISO is only 6dB to 7dB. And even under severe channel conditions such as 500km/h and 8-path inverse Doppler shift environment, the error rate can be reduced by combining the error with LDPC to reduce the error rate and improve the performance in 2×2 MIMO. QPSK modulation scheme in 2×2 MIMO can be used under severe channel conditions such as 500 km/h and 8-path inverse Doppler shift environment.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.85-92
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• 2023

Deep learning applications are increasingly being leveraged for disease detection tasks in medical imaging modalities such as X-ray, Computed Tomography (CT), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Most data-centric deep learning challenges necessitate the use of supervised learning methodologies to attain high accuracy and to facilitate performance evaluation through comparison with the ground truth. Supervised learning mandates a substantial amount of image and label sets, however, procuring an adequate volume of medical imaging data for training is a formidable task. Various data augmentation strategies can mitigate the underfitting issue inherent in supervised learning-based models that are trained on limited medical image and label sets. This research investigates the enhancement of a deep learning-based rib fracture segmentation model and the efficacy of data augmentation techniques such as left-right flipping, rotation, and scaling. Augmented dataset with L/R flipping and rotations(30°, 60°) increased model performance, however, dataset with rotation(90°) and ⨯0.5 rescaling decreased model performance. This indicates the usage of appropriate data augmentation methods depending on datasets and tasks.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.293-300
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• 2023

The global energy storage markets have gravitated to high-energy-density and low cost of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) as the predominant system for energy storage such as electric vehicles (EVs). High-Ni layered oxides are considered promising next-generation cathode materials for LIBs owing to their significant advantages in terms of high energy density. However, the practical application of high-Ni cathodes remains challenging, because of their structural and surface instability. Although extensive studies have been conducted to mitigate these inherent instabilities, a two-step process involving the synthesis of the cathode and a dry/wet coating is essential. This study evaluates a one-step β-Li₂SnO₃ layer coating on the surface of LiNi_0.8Co_0.2O₂ (NC82) via the thermal segregation of Sn owing to the solubility limit with respect to the synthesis temperature. The doping, segregation, and phase transition of Sn were systematically revealed by structural analyses. Moreover, surface-engineered 5 mol% Sn-coated LiNi_0.8Co_0.2O₂ (NC82_Sn5%) exhibited superior capacity retention compared to bare NC82 owing to the stable surface coating layer. Thus, the developed one-step coating method is suitable for improving the properties of high-Ni layered oxide cathode materials for application in LIBs.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.168-177
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• 2023

Background & Objectives: Fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) offer advantages in adherence and cost-effectiveness compared to free combinations (FCs), but they can also complicate the prescribing process, potentially leading to therapeutic duplication (TD). This study aimed to identify the prescribing patterns of FDCs for dyslipidemia and investigate their associated risk of TD. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study involving drugs that included statins, using Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service-National Patient Sample (HIRA-NPS) data from 2018. The unit of analysis was a prescription claim. The primary outcome was TD. The risk ratio of TD was calculated and adjusted for patient, prescriber, and the number of cardiovascular drugs prescribed using a multivariable Poisson model. Results: Our study included 252,797 FDC prescriptions and 515,666 FC prescriptions. Of the FDC group, 46.52% were male patients and 56.21% were aged 41 to 65. Ezetimibe was included in 71.61% of the FDC group, but only 0.25% of the FC group. TD occurred in 0.18% of the FDC group, and the adjusted risk ratio of TD in FDC prescriptions compared to FC was 6. 44 (95% CI 5. 30-7. 82). Conclusions: Prescribing FDCs for dyslipidemia was associated with a higher risk of TD compared to free combinations. Despite the relatively low absolute prevalence of TD, the findings underline the necessity for strategies to mitigate this risk when prescribing FDCs for dyslipidemia. Our study suggests the potential utility of Clinical Decision Support Systems and standardizing nomenclature in reducing medication errors, providing valuable insights for clinical practice and future research.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.1-15
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• 2023

Using youth panel data, this study attempted to diagnose the effect of residential characteristics (housing type and housing type) and various household background variables on the implementation of youth NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training), and to suggest appropriate policy directions. As a result of the analysis, it was found that young individuals residing in unfavorable living conditions such as those who rent on a monthly basis or live in multi-household, villa, or officetel settings, had a higher likelihood of transitioning to NEET. Those who received financial support from their parents were more likely to transition to NEET. Therefore, comprehensive youth NEET support policies such as customized housing and job policies according to the characteristics of NEET should be established. In particular, even though they have reached adulthood, it is shown that the likelihood of becoming NEET is very high for youth who live together with their parents without being economically independent or who receive financial assistance from their parents. In order to mitigate and prevent these young people from NEET transition, transitioning from school to the labor market should be facilitated with policy support.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.151-168
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• 2022

Torsion is one of the most important causes of building collapse during earthquakes. Sometimes, despite the symmetric form of the building, infill walls disturb the symmetry of the lateral resisting system. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of urban layout on developing torsion caused by infill walls. For this purpose, a typological study was conducted based on the conditions of perimeter walls on 364 buildings and then 9 cases were selected. The dimensions of the selected buildings are constant and the conditions of the perimeter walls including facades with openings and cantilevered facades are variable. The selected buildings with 60 different layouts of infill walls were analyzed and the behavior of each one was evaluated based on the torsional irregularity criteria of seismic codes. The results of the analyses showed that if the perimeter walls of a building are symmetric, asymmetric interior walls will not be important in developing torsion and effective parameters in symmetry of the perimeter infill walls are the number of walls, area of openings, aspect ratio, and construction details. Finally, architectural solutions to mitigate the torsional effects of infill walls were proposed for buildings with solid infill walls on some sides, for buildings where the perimeter walls of one side are on the cantilevered part, and for buildings where the perimeter walls of two adjacent sides are on the cantilevered part. In three-sided buildings, where two adjacent façades are cantilevered, it is often impossible to use the potential of the infill walls.