• Title/Summary/Keyword: Evaluating Tool

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Evaluation of Biocompatibility of Extracorporeal Circuit - Development of a Quantification Technique using in-vivo Injection of Tc99m Radioactive Platelets - (체외순환도관의 혈액적합성 평가 - 방사선 동위원소(Tc99m) 활성화 혈소판의 생체 내 주입을 이용한 정량분석법의 개발 -)

  • Lee, Sung-Ho;Sun, Kyung;Choi, Jai-Geol;Son, Ho-Sung;Jung, Jae-Seung;Ahn, Sang-Soo;Oh, Hye-Jung;Lee, Whan-Sung;Lee, Hye-Won;Kim, Kwang-Taik;Jeong, Yoon-Seop;Kim, Young-Ha;Kim, Hyoung-Mook
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.35 no.3
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    • pp.171-176
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    • 2002
  • Background: Blood-foreign interaction cause activation of coagulation and inflammatory process that may lead to multiorgan dysfunction and determine the surgical outcomes. Of the methods for assessing the biocompatibility, the platelet adhesion study is considered as the most valuable evaluation step in blood-foreign interaction. As the most studies have used in-vitro or ex-vivo conditions, we have developed a technique of quantification for platelet adhesion on the blood contact surface by using in-vivo injection of radioactive platelets. Material and Method: A coupled bypass circuit was designed to connect the proximal and descending thoracic aorta in 6 piglets(20∼25 Kg). One side of the circuit tube was consisted of a heparin coated PVC tube(10mm in ID, n=6, Experimental group), and the other, a non-heparin coated PVC tube(10mm in ID, n=6, Control group). After cannulation, the blood was circulated through the circuit for 2 hours. Platelet concentrate was prepared from homologous pig blood 24 hours before the experiment. The platelet concentrate was incubated with Tc-99m-HMPAO for 30 min and then centrifuged for 10 min. The supernatant was discarded and the radio-labeling efficacy was measured. The radio-labeled platelet concentrate was mixed with the autologous plasma to make the volume 5 ml, and the mixture was injected intravenously into the experimental animal. After 2 hour circulation, 5 pieces of the specimen(10mm in length each) were obtained from each PVC tube. The radioisotopes were counted with a gamma counter(Cobra ll, Packard, USA), and the ratio of radioisotope count was compared between the control and experimental group. Result: The radioisotope count number was 537.3221.1 Ci/min in the control group and 311.1 184.5 Ci/min in the experimental group(p=0.0104). The ratio between the groups was 1 to 0.58 (p=0.004). Conclusion: In vivo quantification using technetium-99m-HMPAO labeled platelets is simple and reproducible in evaluating platelet adhesion on a foreign surface. We suggest this technique to be a useful tool for blood compatibility test.

Evaluation on Climate Change Vulnerability of Korea National Parks (국립공원의 기후변화 취약성 평가)

  • Kim, Chong-Chun;Kim, Tae-Geun
    • Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.49 no.1
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    • pp.42-50
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    • 2016
  • The purpose of this study is to set the direction to manage national parks to cope with climate change, and offer basic data to establish the relevant policies. Towards this end, this study analyzed the current and future climate change vulnerability of national parks using the 24 proxy variables of vulnerability in the LCCGIS program, a tool to evaluate climate change vulnerability developed by the National Institute of Environmental Research. To analyze and evaluate the current status of and future prospect on climate change vulnerability of national parks, the proxy variable value of climate exposure was calculated by making a GIS spatial thematic map with $1km{\times}1km$ grid unit through the application of climate change scenario (RCP8.5). The values of proxy variables of sensitivity and adaptation capability were calculated using the basic statistics of national parks. The values of three vulnerability evaluation items were calculated regarding the present (2010s) and future (2050s). The current values were applied to the future equally under the assumption that the current state of the proxy variables related to sensitivity and adaptation capability without a future prediction scenario continues. Seoraksan, Odaesan, Jirisan and Chiaksan National Parks are relatively bigger in terms of the current (2010s) climate exposure. The national park, where the variation of heat wave is the biggest is Wolchulsan National Park. The biggest variation of drought occurs to Gyeryongsan National Park, and Woraksan National Park has the biggest variation of heavy rain. Concerning the climate change sensitivity of national parks, Jirisan National Park is the most sensitive, and adaptation capability is evaluated to be the highest. Gayasan National Park's sensitivity is the lowest, and Chiaksan National Park is the lowest in adaptation capability. As for climate change vulnerability, Seoraksan, Odaesan, Chiaksan and Deogyusan National Parks and Hallyeohaesang National Park are evaluated as high at the current period. The national parks, where future vulnerability change is projected to be the biggest, are Jirisan, Woraksan, Chiaksan and Sobaeksan National Parks in the order. Because such items evaluating the climate change vulnerability of national parks as climate exposure, sensitivity and adaptation capability show relative differences according to national parks' local climate environment, it will be necessary to devise the adaptation measures reflecting the local climate environmental characteristics of national parks, rather than establishing uniform adaptation measures targeting all national parks. The results of this study that evaluated climate change vulnerability using climate exposure, sensitivity and adaptation capability targeting Korea's national parks are expected to be used as basic data for the establishment of measures to adapt to climate change in consideration of national parks' local climate environmental characteristics. However, this study analyzed using only the proxy variables presented by LCCGIS program under the situation that few studies on the evaluation of climate change vulnerability of national parks are found, and therefore this study may not reflect overall national parks' environment properly. A further study on setting weights together with an objective review on more proper proxy variables needs to be carried out in order to evaluate the climate change vulnerability of national parks.

A Study on the Distinct Element Modelling of Jointed Rock Masses Considering Geometrical and Mechanical Properties of Joints (절리의 기하학적 특성과 역학적 특성을 고려한 절리암반의 개별요소모델링에 관한 연구)

  • Jang, Seok-Bu
    • Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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    • 1998.05a
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    • pp.35-81
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    • 1998
  • Distinct Element Method(DEM) has a great advantage to model the discontinuous behaviour of jointed rock masses such as rotation, sliding, and separation of rock blocks. Geometrical data of joints by a field monitoring is not enough to model the jointed rock mass though the results of DE analysis for the jointed rock mass is most sensitive to the distributional properties of joints. Also, it is important to use a properly joint law in evaluating the stability of a jointed rock mass because the joint is considered as the contact between blocks in DEM. In this study, a stochastic modelling technique is developed and the dilatant rock joint is numerically modelled in order to consider th geometrical and mechanical properties of joints in DE analysis. The stochastic modelling technique provides a assemblage of rock blocks by reproducing the joint distribution from insufficient joint data. Numerical Modelling of joint dilatancy in a edge-edge contact of DEM enable to consider not only mechanical properties but also various boundary conditions of joint. Preprocess Procedure for a stochastic DE model is composed of a statistical process of raw data of joints, a joint generation, and a block boundary generation. This stochastic DE model is used to analyze the effect of deviations of geometrical joint parameters on .the behaviour of jointed rock masses. This modelling method may be one tool for the consistency of DE analysis because it keeps the objectivity of the numerical model. In the joint constitutive law with a dilatancy, the normal and shear behaviour of a joint are fully coupled due to dilatation. It is easy to quantify the input Parameters used in the joint law from laboratory tests. The boundary effect on the behaviour of a joint is verified from shear tests under CNL and CNS using the numerical model of a single joint. The numerical model developed is applied to jointed rock masses to evaluate the effect of joint dilation on tunnel stability.

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Evaluating the Usefulness of the ICT Tuberculosis Test Kit for the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis (결핵 진단에서 ICT Tuberculosis Test Kit의 효용성)

  • Chang, Chul-Hun;Son, Han-Chul;Ryu, Ki-Chan;Park, Soon-Kew;Lee, Seon-Ho;Kim, Sung-Ryul;Park, Ki-Hyung;Kim, Woo-Seok;Koo, Kyong-Soo
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.46 no.4
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    • pp.473-480
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    • 1999
  • Background: Early diagnosis of tuberculosis is critical, especially in Korea, an area where tuberculosis is endemic. Because antibody responses to some membrane proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are not comparable, and the policy of BCG vaccination and the prevalence of tuberculosis are different from country to country, the usefulness of the serological diagnostic tests is questionable in Korea, even though they have been confirmed to be useful in other countries. In the specific context of Korea, we tried to evaluate the validity of the ICT Tuberculosis Test (ICT), a membrane-based antibody kit that purports to detect the 5 M. tuberculosis complex-specific antigens including 38-kDa protein. Method: 68 patients with tuberculosis were tested : 37 had no history of previous tuberculosis, and 31 were reactivated cases. The control group comprised 77 subjects : 25 healthy adults, 35 hospital workers with frequent contact with tuberculosis patients, and 17 in-patients with non-tuberculous respiratory diseases. Results: The diagnostic sensitivities of the ICT were 87% and 73% in patients with versus without previous history of tuberculosis, respectively. The sensitivities of smear-positive and smear-negative patient groups were 81% and 73%, respectively. Both of the two patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis tested positive through the ICT. The specificities of the ICT were 88%, 94%, and 94% in healthy adults, hospital workers, and non-tuberculous patients, respectively, with an overall specificity of 92%. Conclusion: It is suggested that when combined with traditional techniques, the ICT is an useful tool for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. The procedure is simple, easy to perform, rapid, and needs no equipment. It shows 73% sensitivity and 92% specificity for the diagnosis of tuberculosis.

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Quantitative Evaluation of the Accuracy of 3D Imaging with Multi-Detector Computed Tomography Using Human Skull Phantom (두개골 팬텀을 이용한 다검출기 CT 3차원 영상에서의 거리측정을 통한 정량적 영상특성 평가)

  • 김동욱;정해조;김새롬;유영일;김기덕;김희중
    • Progress in Medical Physics
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    • v.14 no.2
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    • pp.131-140
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    • 2003
  • As the importance of accuracy in measurings of 3-D anatomical structures continues to be stressed, an objective and quantitative of assessing image quality and accuracy of 3-D volume-rendered images is required. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quantitative accuracy of 3-D rendered images obtained with MDCT, scanned at various scanning parameters (scan modes, slice thicknesses and reconstruction slice thickness). Twelve clinically significant points that play an important role for the craniofacial bone in plastic surgery and dentistry were marked on the surface of a dry human skull. The direct distances between the reference points were defined as gold standards to assess the measuring errors of 3-D images. Then, we scanned the specimen with acquisition parameters of 300 mA, In kVp, and 1.0 sec scan time in axial and helical scan modes (pitch 3:1 and 6:1) at 1,25 mm, 2.50 mm, 3.75 mm and 5.00 mm slice thicknesses. We performed 3-D visualizations and distance measurements with volumetric analysis software and statistically evaluated the quantitative accuracy of distance measurements. The accuracy of distance measurements on the 3-D images acquired with 1.25, 2.50, 3,75 and 5.00 mm slice thickness were 48%, 33%, 23%, 14%, respectively, and those of the reconstructed 1.25 mm were 53%, 41%, 43%, 36% respectively. Meanwhile, there were insignificant statistical differences (P-value<0.05) in the accuracy of the distance measurements of 3-D images reconstructed with 1.25 mm thickness. In conclusion, slice thickness, rather than scan mode, influenced the quantitative accuracy of distance measurements in 3-D rendered images with MDCT. The quantitative analysis of distance measurements may be a useful tool for evaluating the accuracy of 3-D rendered images used in diagnosis, surgical planning, and radiotherapeutic treatment.

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A Study on Utilizing DEA in Efficiency Evaluation of Social Welfare Agencies (자료포락분석(DEA)을 이용한 사회복지관의 효율성 평가에 관한 연구 : 부산지역 사례를 중심으로)

  • Son, Kwang-Hoon
    • Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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    • v.52
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    • pp.117-141
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    • 2003
  • This study is to identify the efficiency in Busan social welfare agencies between input factors and output factors. For this purpose, gathered are the 2001 services reports of those study agencies. This study used 4 difference model, model 1; comparing input factor(social worker number & labor cost) about output factor(the total number of program used person), model 2; comparing input factor(the total number of social welfare agencies staff & the total working expenses) about output factor(the total number of program used person), model 3; comparing input factor(the total number of volunteer, social welfare agencies staff & a period of operation) about output factor(the total number of program used person), model 4; comparing input factor(the total number of volunteer, social welfare agencies staff, a period of operation & the total working expenses) about output factor(the total number of program used person). Charnes's study(1978) provided an analytical tool for efficiency services output of non-profit organizations, and DEA(Data Envelopment Analysis) was a analytical framework for evaluating the impact of social service outcome. the finding are as follows : (1) In the results of comparing 4 models as same standard, we can find 35-55%(16-25) efficiency agencies among the 45 social welfare agencies. (2) For all DMU becoming the efficiency 1 to standard of output factor, model 1; 33 agencies are increasing the social worker number($\Delta$0.8 number), 10 agencies are raising the labor cost of social worker($\Delta$1,189,000 Won), model 2; 30 agencies are increasing the total number of social welfare agencies staff($\Delta$1.25 number), 14 agencies are raising the total working expenses($\Delta$1,447,000 Won), model 3; 8 agencies are increasing the total number of social welfare agencies staff($\Delta$2.26 number), 14 agencies are increasing the total number of volunteer($\Delta$52 number), and 10 agencies are increasing a period of operation($\Delta$13 month), model 4; 24 agencies are increasing the total number of social welfare agencies staff($\Delta$1.8 number), 12 agencies are raising the total working expenses($\Delta$5,017,000 Won), 12 agencies are increasing the total number of volunteer($\Delta$43.2 number), and 23 agencies are increasing a period of operation($\Delta$16 month).

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Prediction of commitment and persistence in heterosexual involvements according to the styles of loving using a datamining technique (데이터마이닝을 활용한 사랑의 형태에 따른 연인관계 몰입수준 및 관계 지속여부 예측)

  • Park, Yoon-Joo
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.69-85
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    • 2016
  • Successful relationship with loving partners is one of the most important factors in life. In psychology, there have been some previous researches studying the factors influencing romantic relationships. However, most of these researches were performed based on statistical analysis; thus they have limitations in analyzing complex non-linear relationships or rules based reasoning. This research analyzes commitment and persistence in heterosexual involvement according to styles of loving using a datamining technique as well as statistical methods. In this research, we consider six different styles of loving - 'eros', 'ludus', 'stroge', 'pragma', 'mania' and 'agape' which influence romantic relationships between lovers, besides the factors suggested by the previous researches. These six types of love are defined by Lee (1977) as follows: 'eros' is romantic, passionate love; 'ludus' is a game-playing or uncommitted love; 'storge' is a slow developing, friendship-based love; 'pragma' is a pragmatic, practical, mutually beneficial relationship; 'mania' is an obsessive or possessive love and, lastly, 'agape' is a gentle, caring, giving type of love, brotherly love, not concerned with the self. In order to do this research, data from 105 heterosexual couples were collected. Using the data, a linear regression method was first performed to find out the important factors associated with a commitment to partners. The result shows that 'satisfaction', 'eros' and 'agape' are significant factors associated with the commitment level for both male and female. Interestingly, in male cases, 'agape' has a greater effect on commitment than 'eros'. On the other hand, in female cases, 'eros' is a more significant factor than 'agape' to commitment. In addition to that, 'investment' of the male is also crucial factor for male commitment. Next, decision tree analysis was performed to find out the characteristics of high commitment couples and low commitment couples. In order to build decision tree models in this experiment, 'decision tree' operator in the datamining tool, Rapid Miner was used. The experimental result shows that males having a high satisfaction level in relationship show a high commitment level. However, even though a male may not have a high satisfaction level, if he has made a lot of financial or mental investment in relationship, and his partner shows him a certain amount of 'agape', then he also shows a high commitment level to the female. In the case of female, a women having a high 'eros' and 'satisfaction' level shows a high commitment level. Otherwise, even though a female may not have a high satisfaction level, if her partner shows a certain amount of 'mania' then the female also shows a high commitment level. Finally, this research built a prediction model to establish whether the relationship will persist or break up using a decision tree. The result shows that the most important factor influencing to the break up is a 'narcissistic tendency' of the male. In addition to that, 'satisfaction', 'investment' and 'mania' of both male and female also affect a break up. Interestingly, while the 'mania' level of a male works positively to maintain the relationship, that of a female has a negative influence. The contribution of this research is adopting a new technique of analysis using a datamining method for psychology. In addition, the results of this research can provide useful advice to couples for building a harmonious relationship with each other. This research has several limitations. First, the experimental data was sampled based on oversampling technique to balance the size of each classes. Thus, it has a limitation of evaluating performances of the predictive models objectively. Second, the result data, whether the relationship persists of not, was collected relatively in short periods - 6 months after the initial data collection. Lastly, most of the respondents of the survey is in their 20's. In order to get more general results, we would like to extend this research to general populations.

The Diagnostic Value of Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid microscopic study and PCR in Pulmonary tuberculosis (폐결핵에 있어서 기관지폐포세척액 결핵균검사 및 PCR의 진단적 가치)

  • Park, Moon-Hwan;Choi, Choon-Han;Kim, Nam-Jin
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.43 no.2
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    • pp.128-137
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    • 1996
  • Background : We can diagnose pulmonary tuberculosis with sputum AFB smear and culture, but sputum AFB smear has low sensitivity and culture needs long period, and they are not available in the patients who can not expectorate effectively. Recently developed, PCR is a fast diagnostic tool in tuberculosis, but false positive and false negative are important problems. So, we studied the diagnostic value of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid AFB smear, culture, PCR through the bronchoscopy. Methods : The 67 pulmonary tuberculosis patients and 43 non-pulmonary tuberculosis patients were analyzed with their sputum specimen AFB smear and culture. Also, bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage were done, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid AFB smear, culture and PCR were done. Results: 1) In the cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, the sensitivity of sputum AFB smear and culture were 32.8% and 57.4%, respectively. And the sensitivity of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid AFB smear and culture were 47.8% and 80.6%. respectively. 2) In the cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, the sensitivity and the positive predictive value(for predicting a positive culture) of PCR were 80.6% and 81.5%, respectively. 3) In the cases of sputum AFB smear-negative and culture-negative pulmonary tuberculosis, the sensitivity of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid AFB smear, culture, PCR, and the positive predictive value(for predicting a positive culture) of PCR were 23.1%, 100%, 88.5%, and 82.4%, respectively. 4) The specificity of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid PCR was 77.0%. 5) The median number of days between obtaining a specimen and starting therapy was 5 days for sputum AFB smear, 9 days for bronchoalveolar lavage fluid AFB smear, 26 days for bronchoalveolar lavage fluid PCR, 32 days for sputum culture, 56 days for bronchoalveolar lavage fluid culture. Conclusion : The sensitivity of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid AFB smear and culture are higher than sputum AFB smear and culture. So, the bronchoscopy must be considered for evaluating suspected cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in patients from whom smears of expectorated sputum do not reveal mycobacteria or from whom no sputum can be obtained. Especially, combined with PCR, it is expected that pulmonary tuberculosis can be diagnosed more rapidly and more accurately, so bronchoalveolar lavage fluid APB smear and PCR can be helpful in the early treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis.

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A Comparison of coincidence between the Light field & the Radiation field using film and BIS (필름과 BIS 영상장치를 이용한 광/방사선조사야 일치성 비교평가)

  • Bang, Dong-Wan;Seok, Jin-Yong;Jeong, Yun-Ju;Choi, Byeong-Don;Park, Jin-Hong
    • The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.33-41
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    • 2004
  • Purpose : Film has been the primary tool in coincidence testing between the light field and the radiation field, which constitutes the quality assurance list of a linear accelerator. But there is a great chance of errors being different among the observer when using film. Thus this study set out to use the BIS(Beam Image System) in addition to film in comparing and evaluating coincidence results between the two fields and in searching for the improvement measures. Materials & Methods : Photon beam of 6 and 15MV was exposed to film and the BIS using a linear accelerator. The light and radiation fields were each $50{\times}50,\;100{\times}100,\;and\;200{\times}200mm^2$. The gantry angle was $0^{\circ}$ when using film and $0^{\circ}\;and\;270^{\circ}$ when using the BIS. The devices adopted to test coincidence between the two fields were a ruler and film scanner when using film. With the BIS, the width of the scanned light and radiation fields was measured for errors with setting the X and Y axis. Results : The visual measurements of the observer with film resulted that the radiation field was bigger than the light field and that their maximum error was 1.9mm. The results were the same with the measurements using the film scanner except for the average error, which was less than 1.9mm. On the contrary, the measurements using the BIS showed that the light field was bigger than the radiation field at the gantry angle of $0^{\circ}\;and\;270^{\circ}$. The maximum error was 0.96mm, and the error range was $<{\pm}2mm$ both in the X and Y axis. The average error of ${\Delta}X$, Y was the smallest in the order of the visual film measurements, film scanner measurements, and BIS measurements Conclusion . This requires a careful measurement for accurate quality assurance since errors are much different according to each observer that tests coincidence between visual fields with film. And an observer needs to use another image device or develop a measuring device of his own if it seems necessary for accurate measurements.

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A Integrated Model of Land/Transportation System

  • 이상용
    • Proceedings of the KOR-KST Conference
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    • 1995.12a
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    • pp.45-73
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    • 1995
  • The current paper presents a system dynamics model which can generate the land use anq transportation system performance simultaneously is proposed. The model system consists of 7 submodels (population, migration of population, household, job growth-employment-land availability, housing development, travel demand, and traffic congestion level), and each of them is designed based on the causality functions and feedback loop structure between a large number of physical, socio-economic, and policy variables. The important advantages of the system dynamics model are as follows. First, the model can address the complex interactions between land use and transportation system performance dynamically. Therefore, it can be an effective tool for evaluating the time-by-time effect of a policy over time horizons. Secondly, the system dynamics model is not relied on the assumption of equilibrium state of urban systems as in conventional models since it determines the state of model components directly through dynamic system simulation. Thirdly, the system dynamics model is very flexible in reflecting new features, such as a policy, a new phenomenon which has not existed in the past, a special event, or a useful concept from other methodology, since it consists of a lots of separated equations. In Chapter I, II, and III, overall approach and structure of the model system are discussed with causal-loop diagrams and major equations. In Chapter V _, the performance of the developed model is applied to the analysis of the impact of highway capacity expansion on land use for the area of Montgomery County, MD. The year-by-year impacts of highway capacity expansion on congestion level and land use are analyzed with some possible scenarios for the highway capacity expansion. This is a first comprehensive attempt to use dynamic system simulation modeling in simultaneous treatment of land use and transportation system interactions. The model structure is not very elaborate mainly due to the problem of the availability of behavioral data, but the model performance results indicate that the proposed approach can be a promising one in dealing comprehensively with complicated urban land use/transportation system.

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