• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.183-190
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to determine the change trend of emergency department visits among elderly patients with chronic diseases. Using the National Emergency Department Information System data, from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2019, the selected patient data were evaluated for the emergency department discharge main diagnosis codes for eight chronic diseases. The incidence of elderly chronic diseases, emergency department visits, and admission rates were analyzed. Since 2014, there has been a consistent increase in the number of elderly patients visiting the emergency department, especially among those aged over 85 years. The number of emergency department visits among the elderly chronically ill patients also increased, with a significant increase in ischemic heart disease and arthrosis cases. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the number of chronically ill patients in each year from 2014-2019 (P<0.001). With respect to the trend of admission rates to the emergency department by chronic disease, most diseases showed an increasing trend (P<0.001). however, hyperlipidemia showed a continuous decreasing trend in all age groups since 2014 (P<0.001). Among the elderly chronically ill patients, a greater increase in the admission rate following emergency department visits was noted in those over 85 years of age, with a significant difference in all diseases, except for hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and tuberculosis (P<0.001). As the aging population grows, the emergency department admission rates among the elderly chronically ill patients will rise rapidly. This could create issues with respect to the use and consumption of emergency medical resources. Hence, it is necessary to manage chronic diseases effectively in the elderly.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.531-543
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• 2022

Integrated water resources management (IWRM) has focused on efficient response to various water related disasters by climate change. In particular, more flexible usage of conventional water resources infrastructures is expected to provide an eco-friendly water management. Multi-purpose dams and water supply dams are well known as water management facilities for securing and supplying water in drought season. Recently, based on the report '2021 multi-purpose use of hydropower dams in Han river', contribution of hydropower dams on water resources management is becoming more significant beyond the traditional role of hydropower generation. In drought conditions, the dams control water supply depending on the pre-defined drought stages. In the case of multi-purpose dams, an operation standard during drought has been already prepared and applied; however, for the hydropower dams, specific standards are not fully prepared yet in South Korea. In this study, a method for calculation of standard water storage and discharge reduction of hydropower dams according to drought stage is newly proposed reflecting the characteristics of hydropower dams. The proposed method was applied to the hydropower dams in Han river, where six hydropower dams are located. A case study of the historical droughts occurred in 2014-2017 demonstrated that the proposed hydropower dam operation rule could improve the water supply stability under severe drought conditions compared to the conventional operations. In the future, the role of hydropower dams for water resources management is expected to become more important, and this study can be widely used for water supply planning such as drought response using hydropower dams.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.73-82
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• 2017

Purpose: To assess the chronological changes of disease-related kyphosis after chemotherapy alone. Materials and Methods: A total of 101 children aged 2 to 15 years with spinal tuberculosis, accompanied by various stages of disease processes were enrolled for analysis. By utilizing the images in them, the growth plate condition and chronological changes of kyphosis after chemotherapy were analyzed at two points in time; the first assessment was at post-chemotherapy one-year and second at the final discharge. Results: Complete disc destruction in the cervical, dorsal and lumbosacral spines was observed in 2 out of 40 children (5.0%), 8 out of 30 children (26.7%), and 6 out of 31 children (19.4%), respectively. In those cases, the residual kyphosis inevitably developed. In the remaining children, the discs were intact or partially damaged. Among the 101 children kyphotic deformity was maintained without change in 20 children (19.8%). Kyphosis decreased in 14 children (13.9%), while it increased in 67 children (66.3%) with non-recoverably damaged growth plate. Conclusion: Although it is tentatively possible to predict the deformity progress or non-progress and spontaneous correction at the time of the initial treatment, its predictive accuracy is low. Therefore, assessment of the chronological changes should be performed at the end of chemotherapy. In children with progressive curve change, assessment of deformity should be continued until maturity.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.97-106
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• 2023

This study analyzed morphological changes in the Singwangcheon and Naengcheon streams in Pohang caused by flooding due to Typhoon Hinnamnor. Analysis of the changes in river channel area from the past to recent times using aerial photos and drone-taken images showed that the river width had gradually decreased since the 1960s. However, after the flood, the river width increased again. Changes in the river cross-section before and after the flood show that a large amount of coarse sediment was deposited inside the river bend while the outer bank was eroded. The water levels calculated using HEC-RAS for the pre-flood cross-section based on the flood frequency discharges and estimated discharge from Oer Reservoir were significantly lower than the observed water level, which means that the cross-sectional change was not considered. The results of this study suggest that it is necessary to consider cross-sectional changes due to sediment transport when estimating the flood level of small and medium-sized mountain streams, and it is needed to investigate the geomorphic changes after floods.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.56 no.12
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• pp.955-967
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• 2023

Climate change is expected to amplify the future flooding risks in rural areas which could have devastating implications for the sustainability of the agricultural sector and food security in South Korea. In this study, spatially disaggregated and statistically bias-corrected outputs from three global circulation models (GCMs) archived in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phases 5 and 6 (CMIP5 and 6) were used to project the future climate by 2100 under medium and extreme scenarios. A hydrological model was developed to simulate the flood phenomena at the Shindae experimental site located in the Chungcheongbuk Province, South Korea. Hourly rainfall, inundation depth, and discharge data collected during the two extreme events that occurred in 2021 and 2022 were used to calibrate and validate the hydrological model. Probability analysis of extreme rainfall data suggested a higher likelihood of intense and unprecedented extreme rainfall events, which would be particularly notable during 2051-2100. Consequently, the flooded area under an inundation depth of >700 mm increased by 13-36%, 54-74%, and 71-90% during 2015-2030, 2031-2050, and 2051-2100, respectively. Severe flooding probability was notably higher under extreme CMIP6 scenarios than under their CMIP5 counterparts.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.50 no.10
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• pp.703-714
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• 2017

This paper analyzes the impact of two climate change scenarios on flow rate and water quality of the Yongdam Dam and its basin using CE-QUAL-W2 and SWAT, respectively. Under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios by IPCC, simulations were performed for 2016~2095, and the results were rearranged into three separate periods; 2016~2035, 2036~2065 and 2066~2095. Also, the result of each year was divided as dry season (May~Oct) and wet season (Nov~Apr) to account for rainfall effect. For total simulation period, arithmetic average of flow rate and TSS (Total Suspended Solid) and TP (Total Phosphorus) were greater for RCP 4.5 than those of RCP 8.5, whereas TN (Total Nitrogen) showed contrary results. However, when averaged within three periods and rainfall conditions the tendencies were different from each other. As the scenarios went on, the number of rainfall days has decreased and the rainfall intensities have increased. These resulted in waste load discharge from the basin being decreased during the dry period and it being increased in the wet period. The results of SWAT model were used as boundary conditions of CE-QUAL-W2 model to predict water level and water quality changes in the Yongdam Dam. TSS and TP tend to increase during summer periods when rainfalls are higher, while TN shows the opposite pattern due to its weak absorption to particulate materials. Therefore, the climate change impact must be carefully analyzed when temporal and spatial conditions of study area are considered, and water quantity and water quality management alternatives must be case specific.

• Journal of the Geological Society of Korea
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.529-544
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• 2018

Dongrae hot spring belongs to the residual magma type and has a long history of bathing since the Silla dynasty in Korea. Due to long development of hot spring water, it is expected that the amount of hot spring water in Dongrae hot spring has been changed. In this study, long-trem water level data of Dongrae hot spring were examined for recognizing the change of the hot spring. By the fluctuation analysis of the hot spring water level from January 1992 to July 2018, the maximum and minimum annual drawdowns of no. 27 well were 137.70 and 71.60 meters, respectively, with an average drawdown of 103.39 m. On the other hand, the maximum and minimum annual drawdowns of no. 29 well were 137.80 and 71.70 meters, with an average drawdown of 103.49 m. Besides, drawdown rate became bigger in recent years. As a result of analyzing autocorrelation of the two wells, the correlation coefficient ranged from 0.919 to 0.991, showing seasonal groundwater level fluctuation. The cross correlation analysis between water level and precipitation as well as water level and hot spring discharge resulted in the correlation coefficients of -0.280 ~ 0.256 and 0.428 ~ 0.553, respectively. Therefore, using Dongnae hot-spring water level data from 1992 to 2018, the Mann-Kendall test and Sen's test showed that the continuous decline of water level was mainly caused by the pumping of the hot spring water among various reasons.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.spc
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• pp.30-36
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• 2022

A sensor is needed to continuously and automatically measure the change in HNS concentration in industrial facilities that directly discharge to the sea after water treatment. The basic function of the sensor is to be able to detect ppb levels even at room temperature. Therefore, a method for increasing the sensitivity of the existing sensor is proposed. First, a method for increasing the conductivity of a film using a conductive carbon-based additive in a nanoparticle thin film and a method for increasing ion adsorption on the surface using a catalyst metal were studied.. To improve conductivity, carbon black was selected as an additive in the film using ITO nanoparticles, and the performance change of the sensor according to the content of the additive was observed. As a result, the change in resistance and response time due to the increase in conductivity at a CB content of 5 wt% could be observed, and notably, the lower limit of detection was lowered to about 250 ppb in an experiment with organic solvents. In addition, to increase the degree of ion adsorption in the liquid, an experiment was conducted using a sample in which a surface catalyst layer was formed by sputtering Au. Notably, the response of the sensor increased by more than 20% and the average lower limit of detection was lowered to 61 ppm. This result confirmed that the chemical resistance sensor using metal oxide nanoparticles could detect HNS of several tens of ppb even at room temperature.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.311-317
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• 2009

This study was performed using animals to confirm the effect of tourmaline-ionized water (TIW) the properties of which were changed by tourmaline energy and electric discharge. In the ICR mice fed high-fat diet, body weight increasing rate of the TIW-treated group (Exp) was generally decreased and moreover exhibited significance at 11th week (P<0.05) compared with the control (Con) group fed distilled water, although water intake of the Exp group was lower than that of the Con group. In the ICR mice with $CCl_4$-induced hepatotoxicity, AST and ALT activities of the Exp group were not significant but showed some decreasing trend, and histological damage of liver was less compared with thatof the Con group. On the study of ethanol-induced hangovers in Sprague-Dawley rat, blood alcohol concentration was significantly decreased (P<0.01), activity of GST, antioxidant enzyme related to the alcohol metabolism, was increased in liver tissue (P<0.05), and AST and ALT show a tendency to be decreasedin the Exp group. These results suggest that drinking TIWhas not only some obesity preventing effect but also an alcohol detoxification effect and liver protecting effect in vivo. It is supposed due to a structural change of water cluster and a property which maintains the changed structure through tourmaline energy and electric discharge. Therefore, TIW has a potentiality to be developed as functional water with several beneficial effects as well as for daily drinking, but further study on the mechanism related with efficacy will be necessary.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.99-107
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• 2017

This paper proposes a battery model coefficient correction method for improving the accuracy of existing lithium battery equivalent models. BMS(battery management system) has been researched and developed to minimize shortening of battery life by keeping SOC(state of charge) and state of charge of lithium battery used in various industrial fields such as EV. However, the cell balancing operation based on the battery cell voltage can not follow the SOC change due to the internal resistance and the capacitor. Various battery equivalent models have been studied for estimation of battery SOC according to the internal resistance of the battery and capacitors. However, it is difficult to apply the same to all the batteries, and it tis difficult to estimate the battery state in the transient state. The existing battery electrical equivalent model study simulates charging and discharging dynamic characteristics of one kind of battery with error rate of 5~10% and it is not suitable to apply to actual battery having different electric characteristics. Therefore, this paper proposes a battery model coefficient correction algorithm that is suitable for real battery operating environments with different models and capacities, and can simulate dynamic characteristics with an error rate of less than 5%. To verify proposed battery model coefficient calibration method, a lithium battery of 3.7V rated voltage, 280 mAh, 1600 mAh capacity used, and a two stage RC tank model was used as an electrical equivalent model of a lithium battery. The battery charge/discharge test and model verification were performed using four C-rate of 0.25C, 0.5C, 0.75C, and 1C. The proposed battery model coefficient correction algorithm was applied to two battery models, The error rate of the discharge characteristics and the transient state characteristics is 2.13% at the maximum.