• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.133-142
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• 1998

In Bayesian SPECT reconstruction, the incorporation of elaborate forms of priors can lead to improved quantitative performance in various statistical terms, such as bias and variance. In particular, the use of higher-order smoothing priors, such as the thin-plate prior, is known to exhibit improved bias behavior compared to the conventional smoothing priors such as the membrane prior. However, the bias advantage of the higher-order priors is effective only when the hyperparameters involved in the reconstruction algorithm are properly chosen. In this work, we further investigate the quantitative performance of the two representative smoothing priors-the thin plate and the membrane-by observing the behavior of the associated hyperparameters of the prior distributions. In our experiments we use Monte Carlo noise trials to calculate bias and variance of reconstruction estimates, and compare the performance of ML-EM estimates to that of regularized EM using both membrane and thin-plate priors, and also to that of filtered backprojection, where the membrane and thin plate models become simple apodizing filters of specified form. We finally show that the use of higher-order models yields excellent "robustness" in quantitative performance by demonstrating that the thin plate leads to very low bias error over a large range of hyperparameters, while keeping a reasonable variance. variance.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1765-1794
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• 2019

Genetic Programming (GP) is an intelligence technique whereby computer programs are encoded as a set of genes which are evolved utilizing a Genetic Algorithm (GA). In other words, the GP employs novel optimization techniques to modify computer programs; imitating the way humans develop programs by progressively re-writing them for solving problems automatically. Trial programs are frequently altered in the search for obtaining superior solutions due to the base is GA. These are evolutionary search techniques inspired by biological evolution such as mutation, reproduction, natural selection, recombination, and survival of the fittest. The power of GAs is being represented by an advancing range of applications; vector processing, quantum computing, VLSI circuit layout, and so on. But one of the most significant uses of GAs is the automatic generation of programs. Technically, the GP solves problems automatically without having to tell the computer specifically how to process it. To meet this requirement, the GP utilizes GAs to a "population" of trial programs, traditionally encoded in memory as tree-structures. Trial programs are estimated using a "fitness function" and the suited solutions picked for re-evaluation and modification such that this sequence is replicated until a "correct" program is generated. GP has represented its power by modifying a simple program for categorizing news stories, executing optical character recognition, medical signal filters, and for target identification, etc. This paper reviews existing literature regarding the GPs and their applications in different scientific fields and aims to provide an easy understanding of various types of GPs for beginners.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.124-130
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• 2022

In this paper, we proposed a portable electronic cardiogram and stethoscope (ECGS) that can simultaneously perform the electrocardiogram (ECG) and auscultation tests to increase the reliability of diagnosis of heart disease. To measure the ECG and heart sound (HS) at the same time, three ECG electrodes and a microphone sensor were combined into a triangular shape with a width of 90 mm and a height of 97 mm that can be held in one hand. In order to prevent skin problems when they contact the patient's skin, a capacitive coupled electrode was selected as the ECG electrode and a silicone material was used in a chest piece with the microphone sensor. For the signals measured from the electrodes and the chest piece, filters were respectively configured to pass only the signals of 0.01-100 Hz and 20-250 Hz, which are frequency bands for ECG and HS. The filtered ECG and HS analog signals were converted into digital signals and transmitted to a PC using wireless communication for monitoring them. The HS could be auscultated simultaneously using an earphone. The monitored ECG had an SNR of about 34 dB and a P-QRS-T waveform is clearly visible. In addition, the HS had an SNR of about 28 dB and both S₁ and S₂ are clearly visible. It is expected that it can aid doctors' inexperience in analyzing the ECG and HS.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2021.06a
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• pp.128-128
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• 2021

Most of the studies about stormwater low impact development technologies used generalized observations without fully understanding the mechanisms affecting the whole performance of the systems from catchment to the facility itself. At present, these LID technologies have been treated as black box due to fluctuating flow and environmental conditions affecting its operation and treatment performance. As such, the implications of microbial community to the overall performance of the tree-box filter were investigated in this study. Summer season was found to be the most suitable season for microorganism growth since more microorganism were found during this season. Least microorganism count was found in spring because of the plant growth during this season since plant penology influences the seasonal dynamics of soil microorganisms. Litterfall during fall season might have affected the microorganism count during winter since, during this season, the compositional variety of soil organic matter changes affecting growth of soil microbial communities. Microbial analyses of sediment samples collected in the system revealed that the most dominant microorganism phylum is Proteobacteria in all the seasons in both inlet and outlet comprising 37% to 47% of the total microorganism count. Proteobacteria was followed by Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi which comprises 6% to 20%, 9% to 20% and 2% to 27%, respectively of the total microorganism count for each season. These findings were useful in optimizing the design and performance of tree box filters considering physical, chemical and biological pollutant removal mechanisms.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.325-325
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• 2020

Low impact development (LID) is a widely used technology that aims to reduce the peak flow volume and amount of pollutants in stormwater runoff while introducing physicochemical, biological or a combination of both mechanisms in order to improve water quality. This research aimed to determine the effect of hydrologic factors in removing the pollutants on stormwater runoff by an LID facility. Monitored storm events from 2010-2018 were analysed to evaluate the hydraulic and hydrological performance of a small constructed wetland (SCW). Standard methods for the examination water and wastewater were employed to assess the water quality of the collected samples (APHA et al, 1992). Primary hydrologic data were obtained from the Korea Meteorological Administration. The recorded average rainfall intensity and antecedent dry days (ADD) of SCW were 5.26 mm/hr and 7 days respectively. During the highest rainfall event (27 mm/hr), the removal efficiency of SCW for all the pollutants was ranging from 67% to 91%. While on the lowest rainfall event (0.7 mm/hr), the removal efficiency was ranging from -36% to 62%. Rainfall intensity has a significant effect to the removal efficiencies of each facility due to its dilution factor. In addition to that, there was no significant correlation of ADD to the mean concentrations of pollutants. Generally, stormwater runoff contains significant amount of pollutants that can cause harmful effects to the environment if not treated. Also, the component of this LID facility such as pre-treatment zone, media filters and vegetation contributed to the effectivity of the LID facilities in reducing the amounts of pollutants present in stormwater runof.

• Composites Research
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.69-79
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• 2023

Oil-water separation is a critical process for several industrial applications, including oil production, wastewater treatment, food processing, and environmental area such as marine oil spills. The separation efficiency of oil-water mixtures can be influenced by various factors such as mixture composition, oil and water conditions, and the separation technology used. Over the years, various technologies have been developed to separate water and oil by physical, chemical and biological methods. This paper presents an overview of the various methods and technologies available for oil-water separation, including gravity separation, centrifugal separation, and separation using adsorbents, filters. The strengths and limitations of each method are discussed, along with recent research trends and future prospects. Furthermore, this paper aims to provide direction for future research and industrial application of sustainable and environmentally friendly oil-water separation technologies. In conclusion, we provide a comprehensive overview of recent oil-water separation technologies that will be beneficial to researchers and industrialists in the field of oil-water separation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.178-187
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• 2016

Objectives: Diisocyanates are a potent inducer of diseases of the airways, especially asthma. In this study, toluenediamine(TDA) and methylenedianiline(MDA) in urine were evaluated as biomarkers of exposure to tolunenediisocyanate(TDI) and methylenediphenyl diisocyanate(MDI), respectively. Methods: Workers exposed to TDI and MDI, as well as non-occupationally exposed subjects, were studied and pre- and post-shift urine samples were collected from 8 control subjects and 8 workers from a factory which manufactures polyurethane products for reducing noise and vibration in automobiles. Airborne TDI and MDI(n=8) were sampled on solvent-free glass filters impregnated with n-butylamine and detected by liquid chromatography atmospheric pressure ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Urinary TDA and MDA were detected as pentafluoropropionic acid anhydride(PFPA) derivatives by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Results: The median levels of urinary 2,6-TDA(p<0.001), 2,4-TDA(p=0.001), and MDA(p<0.001) of workers in post-shift samples were significantly higher than those of controls. The median levels of urinary 2,6-0TDA($0.63{\mu}g/g$ creatinine vs $0.34{\mu}g/g$ creatinine, p=0.017) and MDA($4.21{\mu}g/g$ creatinine vs $3.18{\mu}g/g$ creatinine, p=0.017) of workers in post-shift samples were significantly higher than those of the pre-shift samples. There were significant correlations between the urinary 2,6-TDA, 2,4-TDA, and MDA of workers in post-shift samples and the airborne 2,6-TDI(rho=0.952, p<0.001), 2,4-TDI(rho=0.833, p=0.001), and MDI(rho=0.952, p<0.001). Conclusions: These urinary diamines, metabolites of diisocyanates, in post-shift samples were useful biomarkers to assess occupational exposure to diisocyanates.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.191-200
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• 2023

Polyethersulfone (PES) is a widely employed membrane material for water and industrial purification applications owing to its hydrophilicity and ease of phase separation. However, PES membranes and filters prepared using the nonsolvent induced phase separation method often encounter significant flux decline due to pore clogging and cake layer formation on the dense membrane surfaces. Our investigation revealed that tight microfiltration or loose ultrafiltration membranes can be subject to physical fouling due to the formation of a dense skin layer on the bottom side caused by water intrusion to the gap between the shrank membrane and the substrate. To investigate the effect of the bottom surface porosity on membrane fouling, two membranes with the same selective layers but different sub-layer structures were prepared using single and double layer casting methods, respectively. The double layered PES membrane with highly porous bottom surface showed high flux and physical fouling tolerance compared to the pristine single layer membrane. This study highlights the importance of physical optimization of the membrane structure to prevent membrane fouling.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.174-182
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• 2020

The permissible limit of ammonia concentration in drinking water recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) is 1.5 mg/L. However, in the case of groundwater in Kathmandu, Nepal, the concentration of ammonia fluctuates dramatically from 0 to 120 mg/L at different locations and groundwater depths (Chapagain et al., 2010). Such a high concentration of ammonia causes aesthetic problems in drinking water, such as bad taste and odor; hence, prior treatment is required. In Kathmandu, half of the population utilizes groundwater, which is also employed for drinking water, but owing to a lack of knowledge of household water filters, residents of Kathmandu tend to depend greatly on commercially available jar water than on the installation of a proper household filtration method. Thus, in our study, we employed adsorption and reverse osmosis (RO) as two of the most viable decentralized/household treatment options to address the issue of high contamination of ammonia in drinking water. We evaluated their performances from technical and the economic perspectives using synthetically prepared groundwater at varying ammonia concentrations (50 mg/L and 15 mg/L). Consequently, it was found that adsorption via ion exchange (IE) resin was a comparatively better ammonia removal technology than RO, with 100% ammonia removal even after regeneration; the removal by RO was limited to up to 90%. Furthermore, our study suggests that IE is the most suitable ammonia removal technology for places with lower water consumption (< 50 L/day), whereas RO seemed to be a cost-effective technology for places with higher water consumption, where the daily water demand exceeds 50 L/day. Lastly, these assessments suggest that installing a suitable household treatment system would be more efficient and sustainable from both technical and economic points of view than purchasing commercially bottled water.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.231-238
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• 1995

Tc-99m-MIBI (Sestamibi) myocardial SPECT along with TI-201 tomographic Imaging has demonstrated wide application and high image quality sufficient for the diagnosis of myocardial perfusion defect, which consequently reflects regional myocardial blood flow. The qualitative values of myocardial SPECT with Tc-99m-MIBI as well ds the quantitative cases depend in some degree on the reconstruction techniques of multiple projections. Filtered backprojection (FBP) Is the common standard method for reconstruction rather than the complicated and time-consuming arithmetic methods. In FBP it is known that the distribution of radioactivity in reconstructed transverse slices varies with the selected litter parameters such as cutoff frequencies and order (Butterworth case) The cutoff frequencies used in clinicAl practice partially remove and decrease the true radioactive distribution and alter the pixel counts, which lead to underestimation of true counts in specific myocardial regions. In this study, we have investigated the effect of cutoff frequencies of reconstruction filter on the artifactually induced perfusion defects, which are often demonstrated near inferior and/or inferoseptal cardiac walls due to the intense hepatic uptake of Tc-99m-MIBI. A computerized method for Identifying the relative degree of artifactual perfusion defect and for comparing those degrees along with the relative amount of hepatic uptake to myocardium was developed and patient images were studied to observe the quantitative degree of underestimation of myocardial perfusion, and to propose some reasonable threshold of cutoff frequency in the diagnosis of perfusion defect quantitatively. We concluded that from the quantitative viewpoint cutoff frequencies may be used as high as possible with the sacrifice of homogeneity of image quality, and those frequencies lower than the common 0.3 Wyquist frequency would reveal severe degradation of radioactive distribution near inferior and/or inferoseptal myocardium when applying Butterworth or low pass filter.