• International Journal of Highway Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.77-85
• /
• 2016

OBJECTIVES : A fog generated field test was conducted to analyze the relationship between the luminance of variable speed-limit signs and the legibility distance under various fog density conditions. By using this study, appropriate luminance values can be selected depending on the density of fog. METHODS : An actual tunnel was selected as the area to conduct the test, as other places cannot maintain the fog condition because of rapid air current. Ninety-two subjects were recruited for this test, which took place during the course of three days. Visibility-distance detecting sensor was used to measure the visibility distance due to the fog density time, simultaneously with the evaluation of legibility distance by subjects. RESULTS : The test results show the relationship between luminance values and the legibility distance corresponding to the visibility distance due to fog. According to the technical test results, lower luminance value such as $7000cd/m^2$ corresponds to less legibility distance compared to higher values such as $20000cd/m^2$ or $40000cd/m^2$. However, the amount of difference between $20000cd/m^2$ and $40000cd/m^2$ is negligible in our test. CONCLUSIONS : The results of this study can be used to select appropriate luminance of valuable speed signs under fog conditions. Hence, drivers can expect to have more room to respond to adverse weather conditions, thereby reducing the risk of accidents.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.644-649
• /
• 2009

This study was conducted to determine the influence of cultural conditions such as temperature, time, water content, koji-thickness and agitation on the production of saccharifying amylase by Rhizopus sp. ZB9 isolated from Korean Nuruk during the preparation of rice koji, which is used in brewing Korean rice wines, Takju and Yakju. Rice kojies were made under different cultural conditions, and the saccharifying activities of each koji were tested. The temperature range suitable for the production of saccharifying amylase was $28{\sim}36^{\circ}C$. Based on the saccharifying activity and color, 60 hours of cultivation at $28^{\circ}C$ was believed to produce the optimum results. The water contents of steamed rice suitable for the production of saccharifying amylase were 35~40%. An increase in koji-thickness induced no adverse effects on the production of saccharifying amylase, but agitation-work during cultivation had a harmful effect.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.713-719
• /
• 2009

A natural wetland in the Nakdong River basin which effectively removes non-point source pollutants was investigated for 2 years to understand wetland topography, vegetation types, and water quality characteristics. The water depth of the natural wetland was in the range of 0.5~1.9 m which is suitable for the growth of non-emergent hydrophytes. The wetland has a high length to width ratio (3.3:1) and a relatively large wetland to watershed area ratio (0.057). A broad-crested weir at the outlet increases the retention time of the wetland whose hydrology is mainly dependent on storm events. The concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the growing season and the winter season showed anoxic and oxic conditions, respectively. Diurnal variations of DO and pH in the growing season were also observed due to weather change and submerged plants. COD and TP concentrations were low in the winter season due to low inflow rate and increased retention time. Increased TP concentrations in the spring season were caused by degradation of dead wetland plants. Nitrogen in the wetland was mostly in organic nitrogen form (>75%). During the growing season, ammonium concentration was high but nitrate nitrogen concentration was low, possibly due to anoxic and low pH conditions which are adverse conditions for ammonificaiton and nitrification. The results of this study can be used as preliminary data for design, operation, monitoring and management of a constructed wetland which is designed to treat diffuse pollutants in the Nakdong river watershed.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
• /
• v.9 no.6
• /
• pp.453-462
• /
• 2017

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vitro cytotoxicity of thermoplastic denture base resins and to identify the possible adverse effects of these resins on oral keratinocytes in response to hot water/ food intake. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Six dental thermoplastic resin materials were evaluated: three polyamide materials (Smile tone, ST; Valplast, VP; and Luciton FRS, LF), two acrylic materials (Acrytone, AT; and Acryshot, AS), and one polypropylene resin material (Unigum, UG). One heat-polymerized acrylic resin (Vertex RS, RS) was chosen for comparison. After obtaining extracts from specimens of the denture resin materials (${\phi}=10$ mm and d=2 mm) under different extraction conditions ($37^{\circ}C$ for 24 hours, $70^{\circ}C$ for 24 hours, and $121^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour), the extracts (50%) or serial dilutions (25%, 12.5%, and 6.25%) in distilled water were co-cultured for 24 hours with immortalized human oral keratinocytes (IHOKs) or mouse fibroblasts (L929s) for the cytotoxicity assay described in ISO 10993. RESULTS. Greater than 70% viability was detected under all test conditions. Significantly lower IHOK and L929 viability was detected in the 50% extract from the VP ($70^{\circ}C$) and AT ($121^{\circ}C$) samples (P<.05), but only L929 showed reduced viability in the 50% and 25% extract from LF ($37^{\circ}C$) (P<.05). CONCLUSION. Extracts obtained from six materials under different extraction conditions ($37^{\circ}C$, $70^{\circ}C$, and $121^{\circ}C$) did not exhibit severe cytotoxicity (less than 70% viability), although their potential risk to oral mucosa at high temperatures should not be ignored.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.1105-1113
• /
• 2013

Understanding the characteristics of truck-involved crashes is of keen interest because such crashes are highly associated with greater potential leading to severer injury. The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting injury severity of truck-involved crashes on freeways. In addition, a binary logistic regression technique is applied to identify causal factors affecting truck crash severity under normal and adverse weather conditions. Major findings from the analyses are discussed with truck operations strategies including speed enforcement, variable speed limit, and truck lane restriction, from the safety enhancement point of view. The results of this study would be useful for developing traffic control and operations strategies to reduce truck-involved crashes and injury severity in practice.

• Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.179-183
• /
• 1996

Streptoccus Pneumoniae (pneumococcus), the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia, has an ample polysaccharide (PS) capsule that is highly antigenic and is the source of PS vaccine. This investigation was undertaken to optimize the culture conditions for the production of capsulard PS by type 1 pneumococcus. Among several culture media, brain heart infusion (BHI) and Casitone based media were found to support luxuriant growth of pneumococcus type 1 at the same level. Because BHI medium is rather expensive and more complex than the Casitone based media, the Casitone based media was uwed to study optimization of the culture condition. The phase of growth which accomodated maximum PS production was logarithmic phase. Concentrations of glucose greater than 0.2% did not ehnahce growth or PS production. Substitution of netrogen sources with other resources or supplementation of various concentrations of metal ion (with the exception of calcium ion) had adverse affects on growth and PS production. On the other hand, low level aeration was beneficial for increased PS production. Addition of 3 mg/1 concentration of methionine, phenylalanine, and threonine were found to enhance growth and PS production. The synerigistic effect of all the favorable conditions observed in pneumococcal growth assays provided a two-fold cummulative increase in capsular PS production.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.46 no.6
• /
• pp.803-816
• /
• 2014

Defense-in-depth is a fundamental safety principle for the design and operation of nuclear power plants. Despite its general appeal, defense-in-depth is not without its drawbacks, which include its potential for concealing the occurrence of hazardous states in a system, and more generally rendering the latter more opaque for its operators and managers, thus resulting in safety blind spots. This in turn translates into a shrinking of the time window available for operators to identify an unfolding hazardous condition or situation and intervene to abate it. To prevent this drawback from materializing, we propose in this work a novel safety principle termed "observability-in-depth". We characterize it as the set of provisions technical, operational, and organizational designed to enable the monitoring and identification of emerging hazardous conditions and accident pathogens in real-time and over different time-scales. Observability-in-depth also requires the monitoring of conditions of all safety barriers that implement defense-in-depth; and in so doing it supports sensemaking of identified hazardous conditions, and the understanding of potential accident sequences that might follow (how they can propagate). Observability-in-depth is thus an information-centric principle, and its importance in accident prevention is in the value of the information it provides and actions or safety interventions it spurs. We examine several "event reports" from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission database, which illustrate specific instances of violation of the observability-in-depth safety principle and the consequences that followed (e.g., unmonitored releases and loss of containments). We also revisit the Three Mile Island accident in light of the proposed principle, and identify causes and consequences of the lack of observability-in-depth related to this accident sequence. We illustrate both the benefits of adopting the observability-in-depth safety principle and the adverse consequences when this principle is violated or not implemented. This work constitutes a first step in the development of the observability-in-depth safety principle, and we hope this effort invites other researchers and safety professionals to further explore and develop this principle and its implementation.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.83-96
• /
• 2017

As a way to address global warming, among the renewable energy sources, there have been heavy investments worldwide for the development of offshore wind farms. However, such development has a drawback: investment costs are higher than those for onshore wind farms due to required operations such as offshore transportation and installation. In particular, delays in installation due to adverse maritime weather conditions are factors that affect the economics of offshore wind farms' operation. Therefore, in this study, we analyze the optimal schedule of the construction of an offshore wind farm from a macro perspective by considering the weather conditions in Korea. For this purpose, we develop a mathematical model and apply it to a 2.5 GW offshore wind farm project on the southwestern coast of the country. We use data from the Korea Meteorological Agency for maritime weather conditions and attempt to reflect the actual input data based on precedent cases overseas. The results show that it takes 6 months to install 35 offshore wind turbines. More specifically, it is pointed out that it is possible to minimize costs by not working in winter.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.290-297
• /
• 2016

The absorbent loss due to degradation in $CO_2$ capture process using aqueous alkanol amine solution has adverse effect on the economics of overall process. The degradation causes absorbent loss, equipment corrosion, foaming, adhesive material producing and viscosity increase in operation. In this study, the degradation characteristics of $CO_2$ capture process using MEA (monoehtanolamine) under various conditions such as $O_2$ partial pressure, $CO_2$ loading and absorbent temperature. The effects of iron, which generated from the equipment corrosion, on absorbent degradation were studied using $Fe_2SO_4$ containing MEA solution. The produced gases were analyzed by FT-IR(Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer) and the specifically measured $NH_3$ concentration was used as a degradation degree of aqueous MEA solution. The experiments showed that the higher $CO_2$ loadings (${\alpha}$), $O_2$ fraction ($y_{O2}$) and reaction temperature enhanced the more degradation of aqueous MEA solution. Comparing other operation parameters, the reaction temperature most affected on the degradation. Therefore, it could be concluded that the above parameters affects on degradation should be considered for the selections of $CO_2$ absorbent and operating conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.482-488
• /
• 2018

Generally, after stern tube bearing shows a significant increase in local load due to propeller load, which increases the potential adverse effects of bearing failure. To prevent this, research on regarding shaft alignment has been carried out with a focus on reducing the relative slope between the shaft and support bearing(s) under quasi-static conditions. However, for a more detailed evaluation of a shafting system, it is necessary to consider dynamic conditions. In this context, the results revealed that eccentric propeller force under transient conditions such as a rapid rudder turn at NCR, lead to fluid-induced instability and imbalanced vibration in the stern tube. In addition, compared with NCR condition, it has been confirmed that eccentric propeller forces given a rapid rudder starboard turn can lift a shaft from the stern tube bearing in the stern tube, contributes to load relief for the stern tube bearing.