• Title/Summary/Keyword: $SO_2$ measurement

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Report on the External Audits Conducted by Korean Society of Medical Physics (한국의학물리학회 선형가속기 외부 품질관리 실시 현황보고)

  • Huh, Hyun Do;Cho, Kwang Hwan;Cho, Sam Ju;Choi, Sang Hyoun;Kim, Dong Wook;Hwang, Ui-Jung;Kim, Ki Hwan;Min, Chul Kee;Choi, Tae Jin;Oh, Young Kee;Lee, Seoung Jun;Park, Dahl;Park, Sung-Kwang;Ji, Young Hoon
    • Progress in Medical Physics
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    • v.24 no.4
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    • pp.315-322
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    • 2013
  • The aim of this work is to verify the self-quality assurances in medical institutions in Korea through the external audits by the group of experts and have a mutual discussion of the systematic problems. In order to validate the external audits 30 of 80 medical institutions across the nation were picked out considering the regional distribution and the final 25 institutions applied voluntarily to take part in this work. The basic rules were setup that any information of the participants be kept secrete and the measurements be performed with the dosimetry system already verified through intercomparision. The outputs for 2 or more photon beams, the accuracy of gantry rotation and collimator rotation and the poistional accuracy of MLC movement were measured. The findings for the output measurement showed the differences of -0.8%~4.5%, -0.79%~3.01%, and -0.7%~0.07% with respect to that of the verified dosimetry system for the 6MV, 10MV, and 15MV, respectively. For the reference absorbed dose 8 (16%) of 50 photon beams in 25 medical institutions differed 2.0% or greater from the reference value. The coincidences of Field size with x-ray beam and radiation isocenters of Gantry roration and collimator rotation gave the results of within ${\pm}2$ mm for every institute except 2 institutions. The positional accuracy of MLC movement agreed to within ${\pm}1$ mm for every institute. For the beam qualities of 6 MV photon beams kQ values showed the distribution within 0.4% between maximum and minimum. For the protocols 21 institutions (84%) used absorbed dose to water based protocol while 4 insitutions (16%) used air kerma based one. 22 institutions employed the SSD technique while 3 institutions did the SAD one. External audit plays an important role in discovering the systematic problems of self-performing Quality Assurances and having in depth discussion for mutual complementation. Training experts of international level as well as national support system are required so that both the group of experts of medical physicists and government laboratory could perform together periodical and constant external audits.

Ecological Health Assessment of Dongjin River Based on Chemical Measurement and Fish Assemblage Analysis. (동진강의 이.화학적 수질 및 서식지 분석을 통한 어류 생태영향 평가)

  • Kim, Yu-Pyo;Lee, Eui-Haeng;An, Kwang-Guk
    • Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.42 no.2
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    • pp.183-191
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    • 2009
  • This study was to evaluate ecological health of Dongjin River in October 2007. The ecological health assessments was based on the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI), Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI), and water chemistry. For the study, the models of IBI and QHEI were modified as 8 and 11 metric attributes, respectively. We also analyzed spatial patterns of chemical water quality over the period of 2005${\sim}$2008, using the water chemistry dataset, obtained from the Ministry of Environment, Korea. In Dongjin River, values of IBI averaged 19 (n=3), which is judged as a "Fair" condition after the criteria of Barbour et al. (1999). There was a distinct spatial variation. IBI score at Site 1 was estimated as 28, indicating a "Good" condition whereas, IBI at Site 2 and Site 3 were as 18 and 12, indicating "Fair" and "Poor" condition, respectively. Habitat analysis showed that QHEI values in the river averaged 117 (n=3), indicating a "Fair${\sim}$Good" condition after the criteria of Barbour et al. (1999). Values of BOD and COD averaged 2.3 mg $L^{-1}$ (scope: 0.1${\sim}$8.9 mg $L^{-1}$) and 5.5 mg $L^{-1}$ (scope: 1.8${\sim}$12.6 mg $L^{-1}$), respectively during the study. Total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) averaged 2.7mg $L^{-1}$ and 0.127mg $L^{-1}$, respectively, and the nutrients showed large longitudinal gradients between the upper and lower reach. Overall, dataset of IBI, QHEI, and water chemistry showed that river health was a gradual decline at upstream to downstream. So, Dongjin River should be protected from habitat disturbance and chemical pollutions.

Dosimetry of the Low Fluence Fast Neutron Beams for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (붕소-중성자 포획치료를 위한 미세 속중성자 선량 특성 연구)

  • Lee, Dong-Han;Ji, Young-Hoon;Lee, Dong-Hoon;Park, Hyun-Joo;Lee, Suk;Lee, Kyung-Hoo;Suh, So-Heigh;Kim, Mi-Sook;Cho, Chul-Koo;Yoo, Seong-Yul;Yu, Hyung-Jun;Gwak, Ho-Shin;Rhee, Chang-Hun
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.19 no.1
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    • pp.66-73
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    • 2001
  • Purpose : For the research of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), fast neutrons generated from the MC-50 cyclotron with maximum energy of 34.4 MeV in Korea Cancer Center Hospital were moderated by 70 cm paraffin and then the dose characteristics were investigated. Using these results, we hope to establish the protocol about dose measurement of epi-thermal neutron, to make a basis of dose characteristic of epi-thermal neutron emitted from nuclear reactor, and to find feasibility about accelerator-based BNCT. Method and Materials : For measuring the absorbed dose and dose distribution of fast neutron beams, we used Unidos 10005 (PTW, Germany) electrometer and IC-17 (Far West, USA), IC-18, ElC-1 ion chambers manufactured by A-150 plastic and used IC-l7M ion chamber manufactured by magnesium for gamma dose. There chambers were flushed with tissue equivalent gas and argon gas and then the flow rate was S co per minute. Using Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code, transport program in mixed field with neutron, photon, electron, two dimensional dose and energy fluence distribution was calculated and there results were compared with measured results. Results : The absorbed dose of fast neutron beams was $6.47\times10^{-3}$ cGy per 1 MU at the 4 cm depth of the water phantom, which is assumed to be effective depth for BNCT. The magnitude of gamma contamination intermingled with fast neutron beams was $65.2{\pm}0.9\%$ at the same depth. In the dose distribution according to the depth of water, the neutron dose decreased linearly and the gamma dose decreased exponentially as the depth was deepened. The factor expressed energy level, $D_{20}/D_{10}$, of the total dose was 0.718. Conclusion : Through the direct measurement using the two ion chambers, which is made different wall materials, and computer calculation of isodose distribution using MCNP simulation method, we have found the dose characteristics of low fluence fast neutron beams. If the power supply and the target material, which generate high voltage and current, will be developed and gamma contamination was reduced by lead or bismuth, we think, it may be possible to accelerator-based BNCT.

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Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography for Evaluation of the Steno-occlusive Disease of the Supraaortic Arteries: Comparison with Computed Tomography Angiography and Digital Subtraction Angiography (조영증강 자기공명 혈관조영술을 이용한 대동맥궁 위 혈관의 협착 및 페쇄 질환 평가: 전산화 단층 혈관조영술 및 디지털 감산혈관조영술과의 비교)

  • Jeh, Su-Kyung;Kim, Bum-Soo;Jung, So-Lyung;Ahn, Kook-Jin;Shin, Yong-Sam;Lee, Kwan-Sung;Kim, Young-In;Lee, Kwang-Soo
    • Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.152-160
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    • 2009
  • Purpose : To intra-individually compare diagnostic accuracy of high-resolution contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) with computed tomography angiography (CTA) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for the assessment of supraaortic steno-occlusive disease. Materials and Methods : Twenty-eight patients (20 men, 8 women, 53-79 years of age) underwent supraaortic CE-MRA, CTA and DSA. CE-MRA was performed on two 1.5T MR scanners (voxel dimension: $0.66{\times}0.66{\times}1.1$ or $1.2\;mm^3$), and CTA on 64-slice CT scanners (voxel dimension: $0.42{\times}0.42{\times}0.63\;mm^3$). All the three examinations were completed within 40 days (median 19 days; range 1-40 days). Retrospective evaluation and measurement of diameter of 6 extracranial and 9 intracranial arterial segments was done by 2 experienced radiologists. Results: A total of 420 arterial segments were examined by CE-MRA, CTA and DSA. On DSA, 34 stenoocclusive lesions were noted at extracranial (n= 19) and intracranial (n = 15) vessels. For extracranial stenosis greater than 70%, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) were 94.7%, 98.7%, 90.0% and 99.3% on CE-MRA, and 94.7%, 99.3%, 94.7% and 99.3% on CTA. For intracranial stenosis greater than 50%, sensitivity; specificity, PPV and NPV were 93.3%, 98.3%, 77.8%and 99.6% on CE-MRA, and 86.7%, 97.9%, 72.2% and 99.1 % on CTA, with DSA as the standard of reference. Conclusion : Supraaortic CE-MRA is as reliable as CTA in depicting the arterial stenosis, and is effective in screening of significant stenosis of both extracranial and intracranial arterial stenosis.

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Imaging dose evaluations on Image Guided Radiation Therapy (영상유도방사선치료시 확인 영상의 흡수선량평가)

  • Hwang, Sun Boong;Kim, Ki Hwan;kim, il Hwan;Kim, Woong;Im, Hyeong Seo;Han, Su Chul;Kang, Jin Mook;Kim, Jinho
    • The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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    • v.27 no.1
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    • pp.1-11
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    • 2015
  • Purpose : Evaluating absorbed dose related to 2D and 3D imaging confirmation devices Materials and Methods : According to the radiographic projection conditions, absorbed doses are measured that 3 glass dosimeters attached to the centers of 0', 90', 180' and 270' in the head, thorax and abdomen each with Rando phantom are used in field size $26.6{\times}20$, $15{\times}15$. In the same way, absorbed doses are measured for width 16cm and 10cm of CBCT each. OBI(version 1.5) system and calibrated glass dosimeters are used for the measurement. Results : AP projection for 2D imaging check, In $0^{\circ}$ degree absorbed doses measured in the head were $1.44{\pm}0.26mGy$ with the field size $26.6{\times}20$, $1.17{\pm}0.02mGy$ with the field size $15{\times}15$. With the same method, absorbed doses in the thorax were $3.08{\pm}0.86mGy$ to $0.57{\pm}0.02mGy$ by reducing field size. In the abdomen, absorbed dose were reduced $8.19{\pm}0.54mGy$ to $4.19{\pm}0.09mGy$. Finally according to the field size, absorbed doses has decreased by average 5~12%. With Lateral projection, absorbed doses showed average 5~8% decrease. CBCT for 3D imaging check, CBDI in the head were $4.39{\pm}0.11mGy$ to $3.99{\pm}0.13mGy$ by reducing the width 16cm to 10cm. In the same way in thorax the absorbed dose were reduced $34.88{\pm}0.93(10.48{\pm}0.09)mGy$ to $31.01{\pm}0.3(9.30{\pm}0.09)mGy$ and $35.99{\pm}1.86mGy$ to $32.27{\pm}1.35mGy$ in the abdomen. With variation of width 16cm and 10cm, they showed 8~11% decrease. Conclusion : By means of reducing 2D field size, absorbed dose were decreased average 5~12% in 3D width size 8~11%. So that it is necessary for radiation therapists to recognize systematical management for absorbed dose for Imaging confirmation. and also for frequent CBCT, it is considered whether or not prescribed dose for RT refer to imaging dose.

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The Clinical Effect and Construction of a Stereotactic Whole Body Immobilization Device (전신 정위 고정장치 제작과 임상효과에 대한 연구)

  • 정진범;정원균;서태석;최경식;진호상;지영훈
    • Progress in Medical Physics
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.30-38
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    • 2004
  • Purpose: To develop a whole body frame for the purpose of reducing patient motion and minimizing setup error for extra-cranial stereotactic radiotherapy, and to evaluate the repositioning setup error of a patient in the frame. Materials and Methods: The developed whole body frame is composed of a base plate, immobilizer, vacuum cushion, ruler and belts. The dimension of the base plate is 130 cm in length, 50 cm in width and 1 cm in thickness. The material used in the base plate of the frame was bakelite and the immobilizer was made of acetal. In addition, Radiopaque angio-catheter wires were engraved on the base plate for a coordinate system to determine the target localization. The measurement for radiation transmission and target localization is peformed in order to test the utilization of the frame. Also, a Matlab program analyzed the patients setup error by using the patient's setup images obtained from a CCTV camera and digital record recorder (DVR). Results: A frame that is useful for CT simulation and radiation treatment was fabricated. The frame structure was designed to minimize collisions from the changes in the rotation angle of the gantry and to maximize the transmission rate of the Incident radiation at the lateral or posterior oblique direction. The lightening belts may be used for the further reduction of the patient motion, and the belts can be adjusted so that they are not in the way of beam direction. The radiation transmission rates of this frame were measured as 95% and 96% at 10 and 21 MV, respectively. The position of a test target on the skin of a volunteer is accurately determined by CT simulation using the coordinate system in the frame. The estimated setup errors by Matlab program are shown 3.69$\pm$1.60, 2.14$\pm$0.78 mm at the lateral and central chest, and 7.11 $\pm$2.10, 6.54$\pm$2.22 mm at lateral and central abdomen, respectively. The setup error due to the lateral motion of breast is shown as 6.33$\pm$ 1.55 mm. Conclusion: The development and test of a whole body frame has proven very useful and practical in the radiosurgery for extra-cranial cancers. It may be used in determining target localization, and it can be used as a patient immobilization tool. More experimental data should be obtained in order to improve and confirm the results of the patient setup error.

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Correlation between 5-Minute $^{99m}Tc-Pertechnetate$ Uptake and 24-Hour $^{131}I$ Uptake in Patients with Thyroid Disease (갑상선환자에서의 5분 $^{99m}Tc-Pertechnetate$ 섭취율과 방사성옥소섭취율의 상관관계)

  • Lee, Chan-Woo;Won, Kyu-Chang;Yoon, Hyun-Dae;Cho, In-Ho;Kim, Tae-Nyeun;Shin, Dong-Gu;Lee, Hyoung-Woo;Shim, Bong-Sup;Lee, Hyun-Woo
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.280-289
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    • 1992
  • The 20-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ uptake became readily available for routine use and it replaced $^{131}I$ for thyroid imaging. However measuring thyroid uptake during a 5-minute minimizes pertechnetate uptake by the salivary glands and presence of contaminated saliva from those glands in to the pharynx and esophagus. A study was carried out to determine the suitability of the utility of a S-minute and 20-minute interval from administration of $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ to imaging and uptake measurement as a replacement for the 24 hour standard originally established with $^{131}I$, and to evaluate the relationship between 5-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ uptake and other thyroid functions. A 5-minute and 20-minute uptake of $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ were measured in 70 patients with thyroid disease at Yeungnam University Hospital from March 1, 1991 to Feb. 29, 1992. The results were as follows. 1) The 5-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ uptake in Graves' disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, simple goiter, non toxic nodular goiter, subacute thyroiditis and euthyroid were 18.2%, 14.6%, 2.8%, 3.2%, 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively. There was a significant difference between the mean of the euthyroid group and the mean of the Graves' disease. So differenciation between them can be easily made. 2) The 5 minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ thyroid uptake was well correlated with 24 hour $^{131}I$ thyroid uptake (r=0.75, p<0.001). These data provided an equation for estimating the 24 hour uptake of iodide given the 5 minute pertechnetate uptake: Estimated 24-hour $^{131}I$ thyroid Uptake= 7.188*ln (5 minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ uptake)+16.94 3) The 20-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ thyroid uptake was well correlated with 24-hour $^{131}I$ uptake (r=0.72, p<0.001) and 5-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ thyroid uptake (r=0.96, p<0.001). 4) In the Graves' disease, The 5-minute $^{99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ thyroid uptake was well correlated with serum $T_3-resin$ uptake (r=0.46, p<0.01), serum total $T_3$ (r=0.55, p<0.05), serum total $T_4$ (r=0.46, p<0.05). These results suggest that 5-minute ${99m}Tc-pertechnetate$ thyroid uptake has been found at least as useful as 24-hour $^{131}I$ uptake for diagnostic confirmation at our hospital, the logistical advantages of completing the diagnosis. The exam in 5-minutes led us to abandon the 24-hour study in the majority of patients, but the 24-hour $^{131}I$ uptake is still obtained in patients with planned or potential radioiodine therapy.

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Development and assessment of pre-release discharge technology for response to flood on deteriorated reservoirs dealing with abnormal weather events (이상기후대비 노후저수지 홍수 대응을 위한 사전방류 기술개발 및 평가)

  • Moon, Soojin;Jeong, Changsam;Choi, Byounghan;Kim, Seungwook;Jang, Daewon
    • Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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    • v.56 no.11
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    • pp.775-784
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    • 2023
  • With the increasing trend of extreme rainfall that exceeds the design frequency of man-made structures due to extreme weather, it is necessary to review the safety of agricultural reservoirs designed in the past. However, there are no local government-managed reservoirs (13,685) that can be discharged in an emergency, except for reservoirs over a certain size under the jurisdiction of the Korea Rural Affairs Corporation. In this case, it is important to quickly deploy a mobile siphon to the site for preliminary discharge, and this study evaluated the applicability of a mobile siphon with a diameter of 200 mm, a minimum water level difference of 6 m, 420 (m2/h), and 10,000 (m2/day), which can perform both preliminary and emergency discharge functions, to the Yugum Reservoir in Gyeongju City. The test bed, Yugum Reservoir, is a facility that was completed in 1945 and has been in use for about 78 years. According to the hydrological stability analysis, the lowest height of the current dam crest section is 27.15 (EL.m), which is 0.29m lower than the reviewed flood level of 27.44 (EL.m), indicating that there is a possibility of lunar flow through the embankment, and the headroom is insufficient by 1.72 m, so it was reviewed as not securing hydrological safety. The water level-volume curve was arbitrarily derived because it was difficult to clearly establish the water level-flow relationship curve of the reservoir since the water level-flow measurement was not carried out regularly, and based on the derived curve, the algorithm for operating small and medium-sized old reservoirs was developed to consider the pre-discharge time, the amount of spillway discharge, and to predict the reservoir lunar flow time according to the flood volume by frequency, thereby securing evacuation time in advance and reducing the risk of collapse. Based on one row of 200 mm diameter mobile siphons, the optimal pre-discharge time to secure evacuation time (about 1 hour) while maintaining 80% of the upper limit water level (about 30,000 m2) during a 30-year flood was analyzed to be 12 hours earlier. If the pre-discharge technology utilizing siphons for small and medium-sized old reservoirs and the algorithm for reservoir operation are implemented in advance in case of abnormal weather and the decision-making of managers is supported, it is possible to secure the safety of residents in the risk area of reservoir collapse, resolve the anxiety of residents through the establishment of a support system for evacuating residents, and reduce risk factors by providing risk avoidance measures in the event of a reservoir risk situation.

Comparison of Naphthalene Degradation Efficiency and OH Radical Production by the Change of Frequency and Reaction Conditions of Ultrasound (초음파 주파수 및 반응조건 변화에 따른 나프탈렌 분해효율과 OH 라디칼의 발생량 비교)

  • Park, Jong-Sung;Park, So-Young;Oh, Je-Ill;Jeong, Sang-Jo;Lee, Min-Ju;Her, Nam-Guk
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.79-89
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    • 2009
  • Naphthalene is a volatile, hydrophobic, and possibly carcinogenic compound that is known to have a severe detrimental effect to aquatic ecosystem. Our research examined the effects of various operating conditions (temperature, pH, initial concentration, and frequency and type of ultrasound) on the sonochemical degradation of naphthalene and OH radical production. The MDL (Method detection limit) determined by LC/FLD (1200 series, Agilient) using C-18 reversed column is measured up to 0.01 ppm. Naphthalene vapor produced from ultrasound irradiation was detected under 0.05 ppm. Comparison of naphthalene sonodegradion efficiency tested under open and closed reactor cover fell within less than 1% of difference. Increasing the reaction temperature from $15^{\circ}C$ to $40^{\circ}C$ resulted in reduction of naphthalene degradation efficiency ($15^{\circ}C$: 95% ${\rightarrow}$ $40^{\circ}C$: 85%), and altering pH from 12 to 3 increased the effect (pH 12: 84% ${\rightarrow}$pH 3: 95.6%). Pseudo first-order constants ($k_1$) of sonodegradation of naphthalene decreased as initial concentration of naphthalene increased (2.5 ppm: $27.3{\times}10^{-3}\;min^{-3}\;{\rightarrow}$ 10 ppm : $19.3{\times}10^{-3}\;min^{-3}$). Degradation efficiency of 2.5 ppm of naphthalene subjected to 28 kHz of ultrasonic irradiation was found to be 1.46 times as much as when exposed under 132 kHz (132 kHz: 56%, 28 kHz: 82.7%). Additionally, its $k_1$ constant was increased by 2.3 times (132 kHz: $2.4{\times}10^{-3}\;min^{-1}$, 28 kHz: $5.0{\times}10^{-3}\;min^{-1}$). $H_2O_2$ concentration measured 10 minutes after the exposure to 132 kHz of ultrasound, when compared with the measurement under frequency of 28 kHz, was 7.2 times as much. The concentration measured after 90 minutes, however, showed the difference of only 10%. (concentration of $H_2O_2$ under 28 kHz being 1.1 times greater than that under 132 kHz.) The $H_2O_2$ concentration resulting from 2.5 ppm naphthalene after 90 minutes of sonication at 24 kHz and 132 kHz were lower by 0.05 and 0.1 ppm, respectively, than the concentration measured from the irradiated M.Q. water (no naphthalene added.) Degradation efficiency of horn type (24 kHz) and bath type (28 kHz) ultrasound was found to be 87% and 82.7%, respectively, and $k_1$ was calculated into $22.8{\times}10^{-3}\;min^{-1}$ and $18.7{\times}10^{-3}\;min^{-1}$ respectively. Using the multi- frequency and mixed type of ultrasound system (28 kHz bath type + 24 kHz horn type) simultaneously resulted in combined efficiency of 88.1%, while $H_2O_2$ concentration increased 3.5 times (28 kHz + 24 kHz: 2.37 ppm, 24 kHz: 0.7 ppm.) Therefore, the multi-frequency and mixed type of ultrasound system procedure might be most effectively used for removing the substances that are easily oxidized by the OH radical.

Ensemble of Nested Dichotomies for Activity Recognition Using Accelerometer Data on Smartphone (Ensemble of Nested Dichotomies 기법을 이용한 스마트폰 가속도 센서 데이터 기반의 동작 인지)

  • Ha, Eu Tteum;Kim, Jeongmin;Ryu, Kwang Ryel
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.123-132
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    • 2013
  • As the smartphones are equipped with various sensors such as the accelerometer, GPS, gravity sensor, gyros, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, and so on, there have been many research works on making use of these sensors to create valuable applications. Human activity recognition is one such application that is motivated by various welfare applications such as the support for the elderly, measurement of calorie consumption, analysis of lifestyles, analysis of exercise patterns, and so on. One of the challenges faced when using the smartphone sensors for activity recognition is that the number of sensors used should be minimized to save the battery power. When the number of sensors used are restricted, it is difficult to realize a highly accurate activity recognizer or a classifier because it is hard to distinguish between subtly different activities relying on only limited information. The difficulty gets especially severe when the number of different activity classes to be distinguished is very large. In this paper, we show that a fairly accurate classifier can be built that can distinguish ten different activities by using only a single sensor data, i.e., the smartphone accelerometer data. The approach that we take to dealing with this ten-class problem is to use the ensemble of nested dichotomy (END) method that transforms a multi-class problem into multiple two-class problems. END builds a committee of binary classifiers in a nested fashion using a binary tree. At the root of the binary tree, the set of all the classes are split into two subsets of classes by using a binary classifier. At a child node of the tree, a subset of classes is again split into two smaller subsets by using another binary classifier. Continuing in this way, we can obtain a binary tree where each leaf node contains a single class. This binary tree can be viewed as a nested dichotomy that can make multi-class predictions. Depending on how a set of classes are split into two subsets at each node, the final tree that we obtain can be different. Since there can be some classes that are correlated, a particular tree may perform better than the others. However, we can hardly identify the best tree without deep domain knowledge. The END method copes with this problem by building multiple dichotomy trees randomly during learning, and then combining the predictions made by each tree during classification. The END method is generally known to perform well even when the base learner is unable to model complex decision boundaries As the base classifier at each node of the dichotomy, we have used another ensemble classifier called the random forest. A random forest is built by repeatedly generating a decision tree each time with a different random subset of features using a bootstrap sample. By combining bagging with random feature subset selection, a random forest enjoys the advantage of having more diverse ensemble members than a simple bagging. As an overall result, our ensemble of nested dichotomy can actually be seen as a committee of committees of decision trees that can deal with a multi-class problem with high accuracy. The ten classes of activities that we distinguish in this paper are 'Sitting', 'Standing', 'Walking', 'Running', 'Walking Uphill', 'Walking Downhill', 'Running Uphill', 'Running Downhill', 'Falling', and 'Hobbling'. The features used for classifying these activities include not only the magnitude of acceleration vector at each time point but also the maximum, the minimum, and the standard deviation of vector magnitude within a time window of the last 2 seconds, etc. For experiments to compare the performance of END with those of other methods, the accelerometer data has been collected at every 0.1 second for 2 minutes for each activity from 5 volunteers. Among these 5,900 ($=5{\times}(60{\times}2-2)/0.1$) data collected for each activity (the data for the first 2 seconds are trashed because they do not have time window data), 4,700 have been used for training and the rest for testing. Although 'Walking Uphill' is often confused with some other similar activities, END has been found to classify all of the ten activities with a fairly high accuracy of 98.4%. On the other hand, the accuracies achieved by a decision tree, a k-nearest neighbor, and a one-versus-rest support vector machine have been observed as 97.6%, 96.5%, and 97.6%, respectively.