• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.4114-4121
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• 2021

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP), the first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh with a capacity of 2.4 GWe, is under construction on the bank of the river Padma, at Rooppur in Bangladesh. Measurement of background radioactivity in the natural environment adjacent to RNPP finds great importance for future perspectives. Soil and sediment samples collected from upstream and downstream positions of the Padma River (adjacent to RNPP) were collected and analyzed by HPGe gamma-ray spectrometry for primordial radionuclides. The average activity concentrations (in Bqkg^-1) of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K radionuclides in soil samples were found to be 44.99 ± 3.89, 66.28 ± 6.55 and 553 ± 82.17 respectively. Respective values in sediment samples were found to be 44.59 ± 4.58, 67.64 ± 7.93, 782 ± 108. Relevant radiation hazard indices and dosimetric parameters were calculated and compared with the world average data recommended by US-EPA. Analytical results show non-negligible radiation hazards to the surrounding populace. Measured data will be useful to monitor any change of background radioactivity in the surrounding environment of RNPP following its operation for the generation of nuclear energy.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1589-1597
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• 2021

Due to the low output rate and time delay of vehicle's navigation results, the electro-optical tracking system(EOTS) cannot estimate accurate target positions. If an inertial measurement unit(IMU) is additionally mounted into the EOTS and inertial navigation system(INS) is constructed, the high navigation output rate can be obtained. And the time-delay can be compensated by using the augmented Kalman filter. An accurate initial attitude is required in order to have accurate navigation outputs. In this paper, an attitude determination algorithm is proposed using the augmented Kalman filter in order to compensate measurement delay of the EOTS and have accurate initial attitude. The proposed initial attitude determination algorithm consists of an augmented Kalman filter, an INS, and an integrated Kalman filter. The augmented Kalman filter compensates the time-delay of the vehicle's navigation results and the integrated Kalman filter estimates the navigation error of the INS. In order to evaluate performance of the proposed algorithm, vehicle's navigation outputs and IMU measurements were generated using sensors' model-based measurement generator and initial attitude estimation errors of the proposed algorithm and the conventional algorithm without the augmented Kalman filter were compared for the generated measurements. The evaluation results show that the proposed algorithm has better accuracy.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.4084-4104
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• 2021

Visual place recognition (VPR) is a fundamental yet challenging task of mobile robot navigation and localization. The existing VPR methods are usually based on some pairwise similarity of image descriptors, so they are sensitive to visual appearance change and also computationally expensive. This paper proposes a simple yet effective four-step method that achieves adaptive convolutional neural network (CNN) landmark matching for VPR. First, based on the features extracted from existing CNN models, the regions with higher significance scores are selected as landmarks. Then, according to the coordinate positions of potential landmarks, landmark matching is improved by removing mismatched landmark pairs. Finally, considering the significance scores obtained in the first step, robust image retrieval is performed based on adaptive landmark matching, and it gives more weight to the landmark matching pairs with higher significance scores. To verify the efficiency and robustness of the proposed method, evaluations are conducted on standard benchmark datasets. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method reduces the feature representation space of place images by more than 75% with negligible loss in recognition precision. Also, it achieves a fast matching speed in similarity calculation, satisfying the real-time requirement.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.32-40
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• 2022

The trade-off between morphology and physical function may vary according to ecological traits. Taking a quantitative approach, we attempted to analyze the differences in the skeletal shape of the lower body and limbs in relation to the ecological traits of four anuran species (Dryophytes japonicus, Glandirana rugosa, Pelophylax nigromaculatus, and Lithobates catesbeianus) occurring in South Korea. Body size, locomotor mode, microhabitat, trophic positions, and predator defense mechanisms were selected for the ecological traits of the anurans. The pelvis, ilium, and urostyle, which are associated with locomotor performance, were selected for the skeletal shape of the lower body. The ratio of limbs, which is related to locomotor mode and microhabitat, was confirmed by analyzing the skeletons of the forelimbs (radio-ulnar and humerus) and hindlimbs (femur and tibiofibular). Both landmark-based geometric morphometrics and traditional methods were used for skeletal shape comparison. The skeletal shape of the lower body was completely different among the four species, whereas the ratio of the limbs was only different in D. japonicus. The skeletal shape of the lower body may be related to body mass and predator defense mechanisms, whereas the ratio of the limbs was related to the locomotor mode and microhabitat. Quantifying these morphological differences among various species can help elucidate the mechanisms of behavioral and morphological changes in response to ecological effects.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.12-17
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• 2022

Purpose: Ankle dorsiflexion is an essential element of normal functions, including walking, activities of daily living and sport activities. The tibialis anterior (TA) muscle functioned as a dorsiflexor and as a dynamic stabilizer of the ankle joint during walking and jumping. This study aimed to compare TA muscle thickness using ultrasonography according to the four different toe and ankle postures for the selective TA strengthening exercise. Methods: This study were recruited 26 (males: 15, females: 11) aged 20-30 years, with no injury ankle and calf in the medical history, had normal dorsiflexion and inversion range of motion (ROM). The thickness of the TA muscle was measured by ultrasonography in the four different toe and ankle postures: 1. Ankle dorsiflexion with all toe extension and ankle inversion (ITEDF); 2. Ankle dorsiflexion with all toe flexion and ankle inversion (ITFDF); 3. Ankle dorsiflexion with all toe extension and neutral position (NTEDF); 4. Ankle dorsiflexion with all toe flexion and neutral position (NTFDF). One-way repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni correction were used to confirm the significant difference among conditions. The level of statistical significance was set at α=0.01. Results: TA muscle thickness with ITFDF was significantly greater than in any other ankle positions, including ITEDF, NTFDF, and NTEDF (p<0.01). Conclusion: Among the four toe and ankle postures, isometric contraction in ITFDF postures showed the greatest increase in thickness of TA rather than ITEDF, NTEDF, and NTFDF postures. Based on these results, ITFDF can be recommended in an efficient way to selectively strengthen TA muscle.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.167-179
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• 2022

This article develops a long-term condition assessment method for stay cables in cable stayed bridges using the monitored cable tension forces under operational condition. Based on the concept of influence surface, the matched cable tension ratio of two cables located at the same side (either in the upstream side or downstream side) is theoretically proven to be related to the condition of stay cables and independent of the positions of vehicles on the bridge. A sensor grouping scheme is designed to ensure that reliable damage detection result can be obtained even when sensor fault occurs in the neighbor of the damaged cable. Cable forces measured from an in-service cable-stayed bridge in China are used to demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method. Damage detection results show that the proposed approach is sensitive to the rupture of wire damage in a specific cable and is robust to environmental effects, measurement noise, sensor fault and different traffic patterns. Using the damage sensitive feature in the proposed approach, the metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall and F1 score, which are used to evaluate the performance of damage detection, are 97.97%, 95.08%, 100% and 97.48%, respectively. These results indicate that the proposed approach can reliably detect the damage in stay cables. In addition, the proposed approach is efficient and promising with applications to the field monitoring of cables in cable-stayed bridges.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.377-389
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• 2021

Reinforced concrete vertical silos are universal structures that store large amounts of granular materials. Due to the asymmetric structure, heavy load, uneven storage material distribution, and the difference between the storage volume and the storage material bulk density, the corresponding earthquake is very complicated. Some scholars have proposed the calculation method of horizontal forces on reinforced concrete vertical silos under the action of earthquakes. Without considering the effect of torsional effect, this article aims to reveal the expansion factor of the silo group considering the torsional effect through experiments. Through two-way seismic simulation shaking table tests on reinforced concrete column-supported group silo structures, the basic dynamic characteristics of the structure under earthquake are obtained. Taking into account the torsional response, the structure has three types of storage: empty, half and full. A comprehensive analysis of the internal force conditions under the material conditions shows that: the different positions of the group bin model are different, the side bin displacement produces a displacement difference, and a torsional effect occurs; as the mass of the material increases, the structure's natural vibration frequency decreases and the damping ratio Increase; it shows that the storage material plays a role in reducing energy consumption of the model structure, and the contribution value is related to the stiffness difference in different directions of the model itself, providing data reference for other researchers; analyzing and calculating the model stiffness and calculating the internal force of the earthquake. As the horizontal side shift increases in the later period, the torsional effect of the group silo increases, and the shear force at the bottom of the column increases. It is recommended to consider the effect of the torsional effect, and the increase factor of the torsional effect is about 1.15. It can provide a reference for the structural safety design of column-supported silos.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.109-116
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• 2022

The energy corporation of Kosovo continuously monitors and analyzes the impact of its own activities on the environment. Regarding the environmental situation, energy corporation of Kosovo- ECK regularly informs and reports objectively to the competent state institutions, local municipal institutions and interested parties. ECK, through numerous contacts with the competent authorities, firstly with different ministers, harmonizes the positions regarding environmental issues in the direction of achieving certain environmental standards or legal requirements in order to gradually be in accordance with them, based on the real possibilities, especially the financial ones. From this point of view, the environmental issue is very sensitive, quite complex and represents one of the biggest challenges of society currently and in the future. The researched variables show a continuous increase in the need for electricity production in Kosovo and this increase in production conditions a wide range of environmental impacts both at the local, regional and global levels. The aim of the work is to reduce the emission of pollutants through the main variables without inhibiting the economic development of the country, i.e. to bring the pollution as a result of the activities of the ECK operation into compliance with the permitted environmental norms. As a result of ECK's operational activities, the following follows: Air pollution mainly as a result of emissions from TCs in the air, transport, etc. Water pollution - as a result of technological water discharges, Land degradation - as a result of surface mining activities of the entire mining area. The purpose of the paper is to research and analyze the main water variables in the area of the Kosova B power plant, which is to determine the degree of their pollution from the activities of the power plants, as well as to assess the real state of surface water quality and control the degree of pollution of these waters. Methodology of the work: The analyzes of the water samples were done in the company Institute "INKOS" JSC by simultaneous methods using different reagents.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.400-405
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• 2022

Legislative approaches to regulating the digital sex industry are increasingly being debated at the international and national levels. There is a trend showing an increased interest in the decriminalization of sex work. At the same time, in many countries, activities related to digital prostitution remain criminalized. In this regard, it is important to analyze the international legal experience of the criminalization and decriminalization of digital prostitution, as well as to pay attention to the key problematic issues that arise during the criminalization and decriminalization of such an issue. The object of the study is the international experience of criminalization and decriminalization of digital prostitution. The subject of the study is social relations that arise, change, and cease during the criminalization and decriminalization of digital prostitution. The research methodology consists of such methods as philosophical, logical, special-legal, system analysis methods, and formal-dogmatic methods. Research results. As a result of the study of the international legal experience of criminalization and decriminalization of digital prostitution, it was concluded that the criminalization and/or decriminalization of digital prostitution is treated differently in different countries. Workers in this industry advocate decriminalization, not legalization, because decriminalization puts power directly in the hands of sex workers and creates no legal barriers. Countries that have decriminalized digital prostitution believe that sex work is real work and should be treated respectfully, and banning resources such as OnlyFans is not in favor of such workers. Regarding positions on the criminalization of prostitution, countries use different models of such criminalization, including the model of legalization of digital prostitution, which, on the one hand, allows prostitution, but establishes criminal liability for deviations from the rules established by the state.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.311-317
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• 2020

The most recent concept in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is an anatomical single bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. For an anatomical anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, the tibial tunnel is made anterior than before, and the femoral tunnel is made in a lower and oblique direction compared to the classical method using the transtibial technique. The anteromedial portal technique, outside-in technique, and modified transtibial technique have been performed to produce femoral tunnels with anatomical positions. Each method has different advantages and disadvantages and is chosen based on the operator's preferences, experience, instruments, and implants.