• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.373-378
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• 2011

Our aim was to investigate the genotoxicity of ambient air in the Krak$\acute{o}$w area after Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accident and compare with results from Chernobyl fallout. For the detection of ambient air genotoxicity the technique for screening gene mutation frequency in somatic cells of the $Tradescantia$ stamen hairs ($Trad$-SH assay) was used. Since 11th of March 2011 (Fukushima NPP accident), several pots containing at least 15 shoots of bioindicating plants were exposed to ambient air at 2 sites in the Krak$\acute{o}$w surrounding area, one in the city center, and about 100 pots in a control site (in the glasshouse of the Institute of Nuclear Physics) Continuous screening of mutations was performed. Progenies of 371,090 cells exposed were analyzed. Mutation frequency obtained in the first 10 days has shown a mean control level (GMF*100=$0.06{\pm}0.01$). At scoring period related to influence of a potential Fukushima fallout, a significant increase of gene mutation frequencies above the control level was observed at each site in the range, 0.10~0.33 depending on the location, (mean value for all sites GMF*100=$0.19{\pm}0.05$) that was associated with a strong expression of toxic effects. In the reported studies following the Chernobyl NPP accident monitoring $in$ $situ$ of the ambient air genotoxicity was performed in the period since April $29^{th}$ till June $3^{rd}$ 1986 also with Trad-SH bioindicator. In general, mutation frequency increases due to Chernobyl fallout(GMF*100=$0.43{\pm}0.02$) were corresponding to fluctuation of radioactivity in the air reported from physical measures, and to published reports about increase in chromosome aberration levels. Although, recent data obtained from monitoring of the ambient air quality in the Krak$\acute{o}$w and surroundings are lower when compared to results reported after Chernobyl NPP accident, though results express a significant increase above the control level and also are corresponding with increased air radioactivity reported from physical measurements. Statistically significant in comparison to control increase in gene mutation rates and more prolonged than that after Chernobyl fallout increase of GMF was observed during the period following the Fukushima NPP failure.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.156-163
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• 2017

To verify the usefulness of a steam sterilizer equipped with an electronic Bowie-Dick test system, this study was carried out using two methods, utilizing both a steam sterilizer and an electronic Bowie-Dick tester. The first method is to confirm the error detection of the chemical Bowie-Dick test pack and the electronic Bowie-Dick tester in a malfunctioning sterilizer environment. For this purpose, the Bowie-Dick test program for the steam sterilizer was used to test three types of test packs commonly used in hospitals and the electronic Bowie-Dick tester by changing the set values of temperature, time, and vacuum frequency. The second is an experiment to check the sterilizer's normal operation with the electronic Bowie-Dick tester and the usefulness of grasping the cause of the malfunction. The results showed that the sterilization temperature was the same as that of the test pack at a temperature $1{\sim}6^{\circ}C$ lower than the reference temperature of $134^{\circ}C$. In the test with the sterilization exposure time as a variable, there was a normal discoloration at a time difference of 30~90 s. In the experiment using the number of vacuum cycles, the test was correct by performing the normal discoloration only at the normal condition of 3 times. The test results of 30 hospitals were 100 failure tests by a total of 291 Bowie-Dick tests. Of these, the failure factors related to an internal temperature that the chemical test packs could not detect were the greatest, and the four factors related to temperature, including the internal temperature, were found to be 71.18% of total malfunctions. In addition, the Bowie-Dick tester was provided within 30 min after the start of the Bowie-Dick test to confirm the performance of the sterilizer and the detailed cause. A steam sterilizer equipped with an electronic Bowie-Dick test system is used to manage individual sterilizers. In the current steam sterilizer with many temperature-related errors, it is possible to check the malfunction of the temperature difference that the test pack cannot detect, and the cause of error for the sterilizer is immediately detected after the test. The steam sterilizer equipped with the electronic Bowie-Dick test system assists with infection control with accurate sterilizer performance assurance.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.485-509
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• 2015

This paper presents the experimental results obtained by applying frequency-domain structural health monitoring techniques to assess the damage suffered on a special type of damper called Web Plastifying Damper (WPD). The WPD is a hysteretic type energy dissipator recently developed for the passive control of structures subjected to earthquakes. It consists of several I-section steel segments connected in parallel. The energy is dissipated through plastic deformations of the web of the I-sections, which constitute the dissipative parts of the damper. WPDs were subjected to successive histories of dynamically-imposed cyclic deformations of increasing magnitude with the shaking table of the University of Granada. To assess the damage to the web of the I-section steel segments after each history of loading, a new damage index called Area Index of Damage (AID) was obtained from simple vibration tests. The vibration signals were acquired by means of piezoelectric sensors attached on the I-sections, and non-parametric statistical methods were applied to calculate AID in terms of changes in frequency response functions. The damage index AID was correlated with another energy-based damage index -ID- which past research has proven to accurately characterize the level of mechanical damage. The ID is rooted in the decomposition of the load-displacement curve experienced by the damper into the so-called skeleton and Bauschinger parts. ID predicts the level of damage and the proximity to failure of the damper accurately, but it requires costly instrumentation. The experiments reported in this paper demonstrate a good correlation between AID and ID in a realistic seismic loading scenario consisting of dynamically applied arbitrary cyclic loads. Based on this correlation, it is possible to estimate ID indirectly from the AID, which calls for much simpler and less expensive instrumentation.

• Healthcare Informatics Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.346-358
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• 2018

Objectives: The association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and mortality or serious cardiovascular events over a long period of time is not clearly understood. The aim of this observational study was to estimate the clinical effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on an outcome variable combining mortality, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and cerebrovascular insult (CVI) during a follow-up period of 15.5 years ($186{\pm}58$ months). Methods: The data set consisted of 978 patients with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ${\geq}5.0$. One-third had used CPAP treatment. For the first time, a data-driven causal Bayesian network (DDBN) and a hypothesis-driven causal Bayesian network (HDBN) were used to investigate the effectiveness of CPAP. Results: In the DDBN, coronary heart disease (CHD), congestive heart failure (CHF), and diuretic use were directly associated with the outcome variable. Sleep apnea parameters and CPAP treatment had no direct association with the outcome variable. In the HDBN, CPAP treatment showed an average improvement of 5.3 percentage points in the outcome. The greatest improvement was seen in patients aged ${\leq}55$ years. The effect of CPAP treatment was weaker in older patients (>55 years) and in patients with CHD. In CHF patients, CPAP treatment was associated with an increased risk of mortality, AMI, or CVI. Conclusions: The effectiveness of CPAP is modest in younger patients. Long-term effectiveness is limited in older patients and in patients with heart disease (CHD or CHF).

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.683-690
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• 1996

In this study, the diffusion barrier properties of $1000 \AA$ thick molybdenum compounds (Mo, Mo-N, $MoSi_2$, Mo-Si-N) were investigated using sheet resistance measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). Each barrier material was deposited by the dc magnetron sputtering, and annealed at 300-$800^{\circ}C$ for 30min in vacuum. Mo and $MoSi_2$ barrier were failed at low temperature due to Cu diffusion through grain bound-aries and defects of Mo thin film and the reaction of Cu with Si within $MoSi_2$ respectively. A failure temperature could be raised to $650^{\circ}C$-30min in the Mo barrier system and to $700^{\circ}C$-30min in the Mo-silicide system by replacing Mo and $MoSi_2$ with Mo-N and Mo-Si-N, respectively. The crystallization temperature in the Mo-silicide film was raised by the addition of $N_2$. It is considered that not only the N, stuffing effect but also the variation of crystallization temperature affects the reaction of Cu with Si within Mo-silicide. It was found that Mo-Si-N is more effective barrier than Mo, $MoSi_2$, or Mo-N to copper penetration preventing Cu reaction with the substrate for 30min at a temperature higher than $650^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.348-352
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• 2007

In submicron processes, the feature size of ULSI devices is critical, and it is necessary both to reduce the RC time delay for device speed performance and to enable higher current densities without electromigration. In case of contacts between semiconductor and metal in semiconductor devices, it may be very unstable during the thermal annealing process. To prevent these problems, we deposited tungsten carbon nitride (W-C-N) ternary compound thin film as a diffusion barrier for preventing the interdiffusion between metal and semiconductor. The thickness of W-C-N thin film is $1,000{\AA}$ and the process pressure is 7mTorr during the deposition of thin film. In this work we studied the interface effects W-C-N diffusion barrier using the XRD and 4-point probe.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.17-25
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• 2019

PHM (Prognostics and Health Management) of aircraft engines is applied to predict the remaining useful life before failure or the lifetime limit. There are two methods to establish a predictive model for this: The physics-based method and the data-driven method. The physics-based method is more accurate and requires less data, but its application is limited because there are few models available. In this study, the data-driven method is applied, in which a multi-layer perceptron based neural network algorithms is applied for the life prediction. The neural network is trained using the data sets virtually made by the C-MAPSS code developed by NASA. After training the model, it is applied to the test data sets, in which the confidence interval of the remaining useful life is predicted and validated by the actual value. The performance of proposed method is compared with previous studies, and the favorable accuracy is found.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.20-27
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• 2003

For the treatment of cancer using computer controlled linear accelerator, it is important to ensure that all equipments are operated properly. Therefore, many studies were performed and published on the safe use of radiotherapy machine controlled by computer logic and microprocessor These studies provided methods of preventing accident from software and hardware failure. In Korea, the use of computer controlled linear accelerator has increased over the past 10 years. However, there are no standard protocols for quality assurance (QA) of linear accelerator. In this study, three QA protocols from America, Japan, and Europe were collected and summarized. In addition, agreement and disagreement among the protocols were analyzed. In conclusion, the QA items included in the protocols were similar among the various QA protocols although there were differences in performance frequencies.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.145-158
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• 2014

The objective of this study is to improve the survivability and reliability of the FBG sensor network in the structural health monitoring (SHM) system. Therefore, a model reconstruction soft computing recognition algorithm based on support vector regression (SVR) is proposed to achieve the high reliability of the FBG sensor network, and the grid search algorithm is used to optimize the parameters of SVR model. Furthermore, in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model reconstruction algorithm, a SHM system based on an eight-point fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor network is designed to monitor the foreign-object low velocity impact of a CFRP composite plate. Simultaneously, some sensors data are neglected to simulate different kinds of FBG sensor network failure modes, the predicting results are compared with non-reconstruction for the same failure mode. The comparative results indicate that the performance of the model reconstruction recognition algorithm based on SVR has more excellence than that of non-reconstruction, and the model reconstruction algorithm almost keeps the consistent predicting accuracy when no sensor, one sensor and two sensors are invalid in the FBG sensor network, thus the reliability is improved when there are FBG sensors are invalid in the structural health monitoring system.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-39
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• 2016

The finite element method (FEM), discrete element method (DEM), and Discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) are among the standard numerical techniques applied in computational geo-mechanics. However, in some cases there no possibility for modelling by traditional finite analytical techniques or other mesh-based techniques. The solution presented in the current study as a completely Lagrangian and mesh-free technique is smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). This method was basically applied for simulation of fluid flow by dividing the fluid into several particles. However, several researchers attempted to simulate soil-water interaction, landslides, and failure of soil by SPH method. In fact, this method is able to deal with behavior and interaction of different states of materials (liquid and solid) and multiphase soil models and their large deformations. Soil indicates different behaviors when interacting with water, structure, instrumentations, or different layers. Thus, study into these interactions using the mesh based grids has been facilitated by mesh-less SPH technique in this work. It has been revealed that the fast development, computational sophistication, and emerge of mesh-less particle modeling techniques offer solutions for problems which are not modeled by the traditional mesh-based techniques. Also it has been found that the smoothed particle hydrodynamic provides advanced techniques for simulation of soil materials as compared to the current traditional numerical methods. Besides, findings indicate that the advantages of applying this method are its high power, simplicity of concept, relative simplicity in combination of modern physics, and particularly its potential in study of large deformations and failures.