• Analyses & Alternatives
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.35-77
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• 2023

This study aims to solve the entangled loop between demographic transition (DT) and economic growth by analyzing cross-country data. We undertake a national-level group analysis to verify the compressed transition of demographic variables over time. Assuming that the LA (latecomer advantage) on DT over time exists, we verify that the DT of the latecomer is compressed by providing a formal proof of LA on DT over income. As a DT has the double-kinked functions of income, we check them in multiple aspects: early maturation, leftward threshold, and steeper descent under a contour map and econometric methods. We find that the developing countries (the latecomer) have speedy DT (CDT, compressed DT) as well as speedy income such that DT of the latecomers starts at lower levels of income, lasts for a shorter period, and finishes at the earlier stage of economic development compared to that of developed countries (the early mover). To check the balance of DT, we classify countries into four groups of DT---balanced, slow, unilateral, and rapid transition countries. We identify that the main causes of rapid transition are due to the strong family planning programs of the government. Finally, we check the effect of latecomer's CDT on economic growth inversely: we undertake the simulation of the CDT effect on economic growth and the aging process for the latecomer. A worrying result is that the CDT of the latecomer shows a sharp upturn of the working-age population, followed by a sharp downturn in a short period. Compared to early-mover countries, the latecomer countries cannot buy more time to accommodate the workable population for the period of demographic bonus and prepare their aging societies for demographic onus. Thus, we conclude that CDT is not necessarily advantageous to developing countries. These outcomes of the latecomer's CDT can be re-interpreted as follows. Developing countries need power sources to pump up economic development, such as the following production factors: labor, physical and financial capital, and economic systems. As for labor, the properties of early maturation and leftward thresholds on DTs of the latecomer mean that demographic movement occurs at an unusually early stage of economic development; this is similar to a plane that leaks fuel before or just before take-off, with the result that it no longer flies higher or farther. What is worse, the property of steeper descent represents the falling speed of a plane so that it cannot be sustained at higher levels, and then plummets to all-time lows.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.1243-1244
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• 2022

In recent years, the growing interest in off-site construction has led to factories scaling up their manufacturing and production processes in the construction sector. Consequently, continuous large-scale site monitoring in low-variability environments, such as prefabricated components production plants (precast concrete production), has gained increasing importance. Although many studies on computer vision-based site monitoring have been conducted, challenges for deploying this technology for large-scale field applications still remain. One of the issues is collecting and transmitting vast amounts of video data. Continuous site monitoring systems are based on real-time video data collection and analysis, which requires excessive computational resources and network traffic. In addition, it is difficult to integrate various object information with different sizes and scales into a single scene. Various sizes and types of objects (e.g., workers, heavy equipment, and materials) exist in a plant production environment, and these objects should be detected simultaneously for effective site monitoring. However, with the existing object detection algorithms, it is difficult to simultaneously detect objects with significant differences in size because collecting and training massive amounts of object image data with various scales is necessary. This study thus developed a large-scale site monitoring system using edge computing and a small-object detection system to solve these problems. Edge computing is a distributed information technology architecture wherein the image or video data is processed near the originating source, not on a centralized server or cloud. By inferring information from the AI computing module equipped with CCTVs and communicating only the processed information with the server, it is possible to reduce excessive network traffic. Small-object detection is an innovative method to detect different-sized objects by cropping the raw image and setting the appropriate number of rows and columns for image splitting based on the target object size. This enables the detection of small objects from cropped and magnified images. The detected small objects can then be expressed in the original image. In the inference process, this study used the YOLO-v5 algorithm, known for its fast processing speed and widely used for real-time object detection. This method could effectively detect large and even small objects that were difficult to detect with the existing object detection algorithms. When the large-scale site monitoring system was tested, it performed well in detecting small objects, such as workers in a large-scale view of construction sites, which were inaccurately detected by the existing algorithms. Our next goal is to incorporate various safety monitoring and risk analysis algorithms into this system, such as collision risk estimation, based on the time-to-collision concept, enabling the optimization of safety routes by accumulating workers' paths and inferring the risky areas based on workers' trajectory patterns. Through such developments, this continuous large-scale site monitoring system can guide a construction plant's safety management system more effectively.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.95-104
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• 2022

Micro hydropower is a readily available renewable energy source that can be harvested utilizing hydrokinetic turbines from shallow water canals, irrigation and industrial channel flows, and run-off river stream flows. These sources generally have low head (<1 m) and low velocity which makes it difficult to harvest energy using conventional turbines. A horizontal-axis screw turbine was designed and numerically tested to extract power from such low-head water sources. The 3-bladed screw-type turbine is placed horizontally perpendicular to the incoming flow, partially submerged in a narrow water channel at no-head condition. The turbine hydraulic performances were studied using Computational Fluid Dynamics models. Turbine design parameters such as the shroud diameter, the hub-to-shroud ratios, and the submerged depths were obtained through a steady-state parametric study. The resulting turbine configuration was then tested by solving the unsteady multiphase free-surface equations mimicking an actual open channel flow scenario. The turbine performance in the shallow channel were studied for various Tip Speed Ratios (TSR). The highest power coefficient was obtained at a TSR of 0.3. The turbine was then scaled-up to test its performance on a real site condition at a head of 0.3 m. The highest power coefficient obtained was 0.18. Several losses were observed in the 3-bladed turbine design and to minimize losses, the number of blades were increased to five. The power coefficient improved by 236% for a 5-bladed screw turbine. The fluid losses were minimized by increasing the blade surface area submerged in water. The turbine performance was increased by 74.4% after dipping the turbine to a bottom wall clearance of 30 cm from 60 cm. The final output of the novel horizontal-axis screw turbine showed a 2.83 kW power output at a power coefficient of 0.63. The turbine is expected to produce 18,744 kWh/year of electricity. The design feasibility test of the turbine showed promising results to harvest energy from small hydropower sources.

• 한국체육학회지인문사회과학편
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.643-655
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate biomechanical differences between young and old adults during downhill walking on a treadmill in order to understand the mechanisms of elderly falls. Eighteen healthy young females(YG: yrs: 21.17±1.5) and eighteen healthy old females(OG: yrs: 66.67±1.33) participated in this study. They were asked to walk at their preferred speed on a treadmill at level, 7.5° and 15° decline. OG walked more wobbly in the medial and lateral directions than YG(p<.05). As slope got steeper, OG had smaller ROM(range of motion) of ankle and knee joints compared with YG. However, there was no difference in ROM of the hip between OG and YG, but maximum extension angle of OG was smaller compared with YG(p<.05). Smaller extensor moment was generated on OG during downhill walking(p<.05). It was hypothesized that more risk factors would be found on older people compared to young people during downhill. However, older people actually walks with a safer strategy compared to young people during downhill. Finally, current findings about biomechanical characteristics of elderly walking would provide useful fundamental information for a follow-up study regarding the prevention of elderly fall during their daily life.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.465-476
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• 2023

This study introduces the development of a precast concrete double-wall, applicable to basement construction in apartment buildings. Unlike traditional precast concrete double walls, the developed double-wall doesn't require specialized manufacturing equipment such as a lathe. The constructability of these advanced technologies was validated through a full-scale mock-up test using the precast concrete double wall. The test specimens were constructed to represent a structural wall with a thickness of 250mm. It was observed that the quality of the in-situ concrete, filled between two single panels of 110mm thickness each, was excellent. The construction efficiency of the developed double-wall system for basement construction in an apartment building was also examined. Expert interviews about installation times of precast concrete elements were conducted to evaluate the speed of the basement floor's installation. The results showed that installation of precast concrete elements, including the proposed double walls, could be completed within 20 to 29 days for a basement in an apartment building. This indicates a three-fold increase in construction efficiency compared to traditional methods relying on in-situ casting.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.449-459
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• 2023

The design and development of underground nuclear waste repositories should cover the performance evaluation of the different components such as the construction materials because the long term stability will depend on their response to the surrounding conditions. In South Korea, Gyeonju bentonite has been proposed as a candidate to be used as buffer and backfilling material, especially in the form of blocks to speed up the construction process. In this study, various cylindrical samples were prepared with different dry density and water content, and their physical and mechanical properties were analyzed and correlated with X-ray CT observations. The main objective was to characterize the samples and establish correlations for non-destructive estimation of physical and mechanical properties through the utilization of X-ray CT images. The results showed that the Uniaxial Compression Strength and the P-wave velocity have an increasing relationship with the dry density. Also, a higher water content increased the values of the measure parameters, especially for the P-wave velocity. The X-ray CT analysis indicated a clear relation between the mean CT value and the dry density, Uniaxial Compression Strength, and P-wave velocity. The effect of the higher water content was also captured by the mean CT value. Also, the relationship between the mean CT value and the dry density was used to plot CT dry densities using CT images only. Moreover, the histograms also provided information about the samples heterogeneity through the histograms' full width at half maximum values. Finally, the particle size and heterogeneity were also analyzed using the Madogram function. This function identified small particles in uniform samples and large particles in some samples as a result of poor mixing during preparation. Also, the μ_max value correlated with the heterogeneity, and higher values represented samples with larger ranges of CT values or particle densities. These image-based tools have been shown to be useful on the non-destructive characterization of bentonite samples, and the establishment of correlations to obtain physical and mechanical parameters solely from CT images.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.2D
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• pp.299-309
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• 2006

Railway noise and vibration has been recognized as major problems with the speed-up of rolling stock. As a kind of solution to these problems, the decrease of stiffness of track pad have been tried. However, in this case, overturning of rail due to lateral force should be considered because it can have effect on the safety of running train. Therefore, above two things - decrease of stiffness of track pad and overturning of rail due to lateral force - should be considered simultaneously for the appropriate determination of spring coefficient of track pad. With this viewpoint, minimum spring coefficient of track pad is estimated through the comparison between the theoretical relationship about the overturning of rail and 3-dimensional FE analysis result. Two kinds of Lateral force and wheel load are used as input loads. Extracted values from the conventional estimation formula and the Shinkansen design loads are used. It is found that the overturning of rail changes corresponding to the change of the stiffness of track pad and the ratio of lateral force to wheel load. Moreover, it is found that the analysis model can have influence on the results. Through these procedure, minimum spring coefficient of track pad is estimated.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.633-640
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• 2023

With the recent development of static and dynamic modulated brachytherapy methods in brachytherapy, which use radiation shielding to modulate the dose distribution to deliver the dose, the amount of parameters and data required for dose calculation in inverse treatment planning and treatment plan optimization algorithms suitable for new directional beam intensity modulated brachytherapy is increasing. Although intensity-modulated brachytherapy enables accurate dose delivery of radiation, the increased amount of parameters and data increases the elapsed time required for dose calculation. In this study, a GPU-based CUDA-accelerated dose calculation algorithm was constructed to reduce the increase in dose calculation elapsed time. The acceleration of the calculation process was achieved by parallelizing the calculation of the system matrix of the volume of interest and the dose calculation. The developed algorithms were all performed in the same computing environment with an Intel (3.7 GHz, 6-core) CPU and a single NVIDIA GTX 1080ti graphics card, and the dose calculation time was evaluated by measuring only the dose calculation time, excluding the additional time required for loading data from disk and preprocessing operations. The results showed that the accelerated algorithm reduced the dose calculation time by about 30 times compared to the CPU-only calculation. The accelerated dose calculation algorithm can be expected to speed up treatment planning when new treatment plans need to be created to account for daily variations in applicator movement, such as in adaptive radiotherapy, or when dose calculation needs to account for changing parameters, such as in dynamically modulated brachytherapy.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.142-156
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• 2024

The transition to electric vehicles is a crucial step toward achieving carbon neutrality in the transportation sector. Adequate charging infrastructure at residential locations is essential. In South Korea, the predominant form of housing is multifamily dwellings, necessitating the provision of public charging stations for numerous residents. Although the government mandates the availability of charging facilities and designated parking areas for electric vehicles, it bases the supply of charging stations solely on the number of parking spaces. Slow chargers, mainly 3.5kW charging outlets and 7kW slow chargers, are commonly used. While the former is advantageous for installation and use, its slower charging speed necessitates the coexistence of both types of chargers. This study presents an optimization model that allocates chargers capable of meeting charging demands based on daily driving distances. Furthermore, using the metaheuristic algorithm Tabu Search, this model satisfies the optimization requirements and minimizes the costs associated with charger supply and usage. To conduct a case study, data from personal travel surveys were used to estimate the driving distances, and a hypothetical charging scenario and environment were set up to determine the optimal supply of 22 units of 3.5kW charging outlets for the charging demands of 100 BEVs.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.156-162
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• 2024

Nerve conduction study (NCS) is an essential test for the diagnosis and follow-up of peripheral neuropathy. NCS can objectively quantify peripheral nerve function. NCS is affected by physiological factors such as height, age, body mass index, etc. Hence, the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnosis Medicine (AANEM) is currently forming a Normal Data Task Force (NDTF) to present the normal value, but the number is significantly less. Currently, no research has been carried out on the correlation between nerve conduction speed and height and lower limb length in Koreans. Hence, this study sought to compare the nerve conduction velocity of the lower limbs according to the height and lower limb length. A total of 49 subjects were recruited. When the motor nerve conduction velocity and sensory nerve conduction velocity were compared according to the height and leg length, there was a statistically significant negative correlation of the peroneal and left tibial motor nerves with the height. Also, a statistically significant negative correlation was observed with the superficial peroneal sensory nerve and the sural nerve and the leg length. However, in this study, all the subject are in twentys age, whereas the NDTF is divided by age. Hence, additional studies involving subjects of various age groups are needed.