• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.90-94
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• 2000

In this paper, we propose an efficient method of estimating a critical threshold which is used to reject unreliable patterns in a HMM based recognition system. The rejection methods based on the anti-models which are formulated as the statistical hypothesis determine whether or not to accept an input pattern by comparing the likelihood ratio of HMM and anti-models to a critical threshold. It is quite difficult to fix a threshold for the probability of a HMM because the range of such probabilities varies severely depending on the chosen class model. We estimate the critical threshold, which is very class-dependent, using the likelihood scores for the training database. In our experiments, we applied the proposed estimating method of the threshold to the HMM based 3D hand gesture recognition system. We found that this method can be used successfully for rejecting unreliable input gestures regardless of the types of anti-models.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.127-137
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• 1997

Equilibrium concentrations of major elements in an underground repository with a capacity of 100,000 drums have been simulated using the geochemical computer code (EQMOD). The simulation has been carried out at the conditions of pH 12 to 13.5, and Eh 520 and -520 mV. Solubilities of magnesium and calcium decrease with the increase of pH. The solubility of iron increases with pH at Eh -520 mV of reducing environment while it almost entirely exists as the precipitate of Fe(OH)$_3$(s) at Eh 520 mV of oxidizing environment. All of cobalt and nickel are predicted to be dissolved in the liquid phase regardless of pH since the solubility limit is greater than the total concentration. In the case of cesium and strontium, all forms of both ions are present in the liquid phase because they have negligible sorption capacity on cement and large solubility under disposal atmosphere. And thus the total concentration determines the equilibrium concentration. Adsorbed amount of iodide and carbonate are dependent on adsorption capacity and adsorption equilibrium constant. Especially, the calcite turns out to be a solubility-limiting phase on the carbonate system. In order to validate the model, the equilibrium concentrations measured for a number of systems which consist of iron, cement, synthetic groundwater and radionuclides are compared with those predicted by the model. The concentrations between the model and the experiment of nonadsorptive elements cesium, strontium, cobalt nickel and iron, are well agreed. It indicates that the assumptions and the thermodynamic data in this work are valid. Using the adsorption equilibrium constant as a free parameter, the experimental data of iodide and carbonate have been fitted to the model. The model is in a good agreement with the experimental data of the iodide system.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.46-56
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• 2004

Spectral attenuation of light and upwelling radiance were measured in the western coast of Korea on board the R/V Inchon 888 of the Korean National Fisheries Research and Development Institute(NFRDI) during four seasons. The goal of these efforts was to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of the inherent and apparent optical properties of the water, and the factors that control their distribution. Our data indicate that while stratification of the water column, phytoplankton, and wind stress determined the vertical distribution of the optical parameters offshore, it was the tidal current and sediment type that controlled both the vertical and horizontal distribution in the coastal areas. These findings led to the development of a model that estimates the spectral attenuation of light with respect to depth and time for the Yellow Sea. The model integrates water leaving radiance from satellites, sediment types, current vectors, sigma-t, bathymetry, and in situ optical measurements in a learning algorithm capable of extracting optical properties with only knowledge of the environmental conditions of the Yellow Sea. The performance of the model decreases with increase in depth. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of the model is 2% for the upper five meters, 8-10% between 6 and 50 meters, and 15% below 51 meters.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2005

The seismic response characteristics of a port structure were investigated by the earthquake analyses of the structure subjected to high-, low-frequency component, and Uljin earthquakes. In the Fluid-Structure-Soil Interaction(FSSI) analysis, the fluid is modeled by the 4-node quadrilateral element which is a modification of a structural plane element, and the port structure and foundation is modelled by the plane strain element. Since the present method directly models the fluid-structure-soil interaction system using finite element method, it can be easily applied to the dynamic analysis of a 2-D fluid-port-soil system with complex geometry. The results of the seismic coefficient. added mass, and FSSI methods are compared. The results showed that the earthquake with high frequency components more affects the seismic response of the structure than that of low frequency components.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.355-386
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• 2006

This paper analyses recent regional development policies being carried out in Japan and the U.S. Such policies are formed on the sustainability principle aiming at the realization of circula-flow economy and zero waste society. The study here illuminates Japan's Eco-town project and three cases of eco-industrial developments in Minnesota. Such projects have gone from improving industry competitiveness through constructing clean production systems on the company level to improving national competitiveness through constructing a 'circular society' on the government level. Japan included the realization of a 'circular society' as its government's top agenda because it recognized that environmental pollution stems from the inefficient use of natural resources. Eco-town project is a regional development policy specifically reflecting such recognition. The eco-efficiency based city development approaches in Minnesota are but small examples of the new wave in regional development in the developed countries. We need to go beyond emphasizing eco-friendly and ethical management to just the companies. The government itself needs to design national policies based on environmental sustainability.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.125-132
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• 2012

Urea-SCR system, which converts nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and water in the presence of a reducing agent, usually AdBlue urea solution, is known as one of the powerful NOx reduction systems for mobile as well as stationary applications. For its consistent and reliable operation in mobile applications, such various problems as transient injection, ammonia slip, and freezing in cold weather have to be resolved. In this work, therefore, numerical study on three-dimensional unsteady heating problems were analyzed to understand the melting and heat transfer characteristics such as urea liquid volume fraction, temperature profiles and generated natural convection behavior in urea solution by using the commercial software Fluent 6.3. After validating by comparing numerical and experimental data with pure gallium melting phenomena, numerical experiment for urea melting is conducted with three different coolant heating models named CH1, 2, and 3, respectively. Finally, it can be found that the CH3 model, in which more coolant is concentrated on the lower part of the urea tank, has relatively better melting capability than others in terms of urea quantity of $1{\ell}$ for start-up schedule.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.3 no.6
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• pp.539-546
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• 1999

Bone is a complex tissue in which resorption and formation continue throughout life. The bone tissue contains various types of cells, of which the bone forming osteoblasts and bone resorbing osteoclasts are mainly responsible for bone remodeling. Periodontal disease represents example of abnormal bone remodeling. Osteoclasts are multinucleated cells present only in bone. It is believed that osteoclast progenitors are hematopoietic origin, and they are recruited from hematopoietic tissues such as bone marrow and circulating blood to bone. Cells present in the osteoclast microenvironment include marrow stromal cells, osteoblasts, macrophages, T-lymphocytes, and marrow cells. These cells produce cytokines that can affect osteoclast formation. In vitro model systems using bone marrow cultures have demonstrated that $IL-l{\beta},\;IL-3,\;TNF-{\alpha},$ bFGF can stimulate the formation of osteoclasts. In contrast, IL-4 inhibits osteoclast formation. Knowledge of cytokines and bFGF that affect osteoclast formation and their capacity to modulate the bone-resorbing process should provide critical insights into normal calcium homeostasis and disorders of bone turnover such as periodontal disease, osteoporosis and Paget's disease.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.847-867
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• 2014

There are continuous efforts to mitigate structural losses from earthquakes and manage risk through seismic risk assessment; seismic fragility curves are widely accepted as an essential tool of such efforts. Seismic fragility curves can be classified into four groups based on how they are derived: empirical, judgmental, analytical, and hybrid. Analytical fragility curves are the most widely used and can be further categorized into two subgroups, depending on whether an analytical function or simulation method is used. Although both methods have shown decent performances for many seismic fragility problems, they often oversimplify the given problems in reliability or structural analyses owing to their built-in assumptions. In this paper, a new method is proposed for the development of seismic fragility curves. Integration with sophisticated software packages for reliability analysis (FERUM) and structural analysis (ZEUS-NL) allows the new method to obtain more accurate seismic fragility curves for less computational cost. Because the proposed method performs reliability analysis using the first-order reliability method, it provides component probabilities as well as useful byproducts and allows further fragility analysis at the system level. The new method was applied to a numerical example of a 2D frame structure, and the results were compared with those by Monte Carlo simulation. The method was found to generate seismic fragility curves more accurately and efficiently. Also, the effect of system reliability analysis on the development of seismic fragility curves was investigated using the given numerical example and its necessity was discussed.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.212-217
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• 2013

Falling is one of the major public problems to the elderly, resulting in limitations of daily living activities. It can be induced by the functional loss of the balance ability and muscle strength in the elderly. It has been, however, not well investigated to suggest an effective methodology improving the balance ability and muscle strength for the prevention of the falling due to lack of information about the characteristics of the balance and muscle activations responded to the dynamic motions. The aim of the current study is, therefore, to identify the characteristics of the balance and muscle activations responded to the dynamic motions in Anterior-Posterior(AP) and Medial Lateral(ML) directions. For that, a motion capture system with eight infrared cameras, surface electromyogram system and Wii Fit system with a customized variable unstable base were used and kinematic and kinetic data obtained from the systems were analyzed for five healthy male($24.8{\pm}3.3years$, $177.4{\pm}2.0cm$, $73.9{\pm}12.9kg$, $23.5{\pm}4.0kg/m$). The results showed that the characteristics of the balance and muscle activations were differently responded to between the dynamic motions in Anterior-Posterior(AP) and Medial Lateral(ML) directions. These findings may indicate that customized dynamic motions should be applied to the training of the balance ability and muscle strength for the effective prevention of the falling. This study may be meaningful to providing basic information to establish a guideline improving effectively the balance ability and muscle strength.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.343-349
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• 2012

Objective : Pedicle-based dynamic stabilization systems, in which semi-rigid rods or cords are used to restrict or control spinal segmental motion, aim to reduce or eliminate the drawbacks associated with rigid fusion. In this study, we analyzed the two-year clinical outcomes of patients treated with the NFlex (Synthes Spine, Inc.), a pedicle-based dynamic stabilization system. Methods : Five sites participated in a retrospective study of 72 consecutive patients who underwent NFlex stabilization. Of these 72 patients, 65 were available for 2-year follow-up. Patients were included based on the presence of degenerative disc disease (29 patients), degenerative spondylolisthesis (16 patients), lumbar stenosis (9 patients), adjacent segment degeneration (6 patients), and degenerative lumbar scoliosis (5 patients). The clinical outcome measures at each assessment were Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to measure back pain, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) to measure functional status. Radiographic assessments included evidence of instrumentation failure or screw loosening. Results : Sixty-five patients (26 men and 39 women) with a mean age of 54.5 years were included. Mean follow-up was 25.6 months. The mean VAS score improved from 8.1 preoperatively to 3.8 postoperatively, representing a 53% improvement, and the ODI score from 44.5 to 21.8, representing a 51% improvement. Improvements in pain and disability scores were statistically significant. Three implant-related complications were observed. Conclusion : Posterior pedicle-based dynamic stabilization using the NFlex system seems effective in improving pain and functional scores, with sustained clinical improvement after two years. With appropriate patient selection, it may be considered an effective alternative to rigid fusion.