• Applied Microscopy
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.110-120
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• 2017

Non-isothermal thermogravimetry (TG) measurements on melt-quenched $Bi_xSe_{100-x}$ specimens (x=0, 2.5, 7.5 at%) were made at a heating rate ${\beta}=10^{\circ}C/min$ in the range $T=35^{\circ}C{\sim}950^{\circ}C$. The as-measured TG curves confirm that $Bi_xSe_{100-x}$ samples were thermally stable with minor loss at $T{\leq}400^{\circ}C$ and mass loss starts to decrease up to $600^{\circ}C$, beyond which trivial mass loss was observed. These TG curves were used to estimate molar (Se/Bi)-ratios of $Bi_xSe_{100-x}$ samples, which were not in accordance with initial composition. Shaping features of conversion curves ${\alpha}(T)-T$ of $Bi_xSe_{100-x}$ samples combined with a reliable flow chart were used to reduce kinetic mechanisms that would have caused their thermal mass loss to few nth-order reaction models of the form $f[{\alpha}(T)]{\propto}[1-{\alpha}(T)]^n$ (n=1/2, 2/3, and 1). The constructed ${\alpha}(T)-T$ and $(d{\alpha}(T)/dT)-T$ curves were analyzed using Coats-Redfern (CR) and Achar-Brindley-Sharp (ABS) kinetic formulas on basis of these model functions, but the linearity of attained plots were good in a limited ${\alpha}(T)-region$. The applicability of CR and ABS methods, with model function of kinetic reaction mechanism R0 (n=0), was notable as they gave best linear fits over much broader ${\alpha}(T)-range$.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.217-232
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• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Filipino children aged 6-10 yrs are consuming poor quantities and quality of food based on the 2013 Philippine National Nutrition Survey. During these years healthy eating habits must be formed through family influence. Within this background, a complete package of nutrition intervention-feeding and nutrition classes, was pilot tested in selected schools to determine 1) changes in nutrition attitude and behavior and 2) food intake of schoolchildren after the intervention. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A quasi-experimental design was used in the study. School children aged 7-9 yrs enrolled in selected Philippine public elementary schools and their mothers/caregivers were the study participants. Profile and socio-demographic data were collected from each participant at baseline. The nutrition behavior and food intake of children were determined using the modified Child and Diet Evaluation Tool (CADET) and the 24-h food recall form, respectively. Data were analyzed using Stata version 15. RESULTS: No significant differences in characteristics were found among the 339 child-mother pairs in the 4 study groups. The modified CADET recorded improved mean attitude scores of children ranging from 22 to 24 points at endline in the group receiving both lunch feeding and nutrition education classes (group 3). The perceived better behavior of children was reported by their mothers in terms of increased intake of milk and vegetables and decreased consumption of sugar. These improvements were supported by the actual food intake of children obtained from the 24-h food recall. CONCLUSIONS: Family involvement, particularly of mothers/caregivers, appeared to be an important factor in shaping the children's eating behavior. An intervention package with lunch feeding and nutrition classes resulted in a substantial improvement in children's behavior and actual food intake with increased levels of vegetables and milk while lowering sugar consumption. The adoption of the intervention package in public elementary schools should therefore be pursued.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.32-48
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• 2024

Background: Longitudinal connectivity in river systems strongly affects biological components related to ecosystem functioning, thereby playing an important role in shaping local biodiversity and ecosystem health. Environmental DNA (eDNA)-based metabarcoding has an advantage of enabling to sensitively diagnose the presence/absence of species, becoming an efficient/effective approach for studying the community structure of ecosystems. However, little attention has been paid to eDNA-based biomonitoring for river systems, particularly for assessing the river longitudinal connectivity. In this study, by using eDNA we analyzed and compared species diversity and composition among artificial barriers to assess the longitudinal connectivity of the fish community along down-, mid- and upstream in the Hotancheon from the Geum River basin. Moreover, we investigated temporal variation in eDNA fish community structure and species diversity according to season. Results: The results of species detected between eDNA and conventional surveys revealed higher sensitivity for eDNA and 61% of species (23/38) detected in both methods. The results showed that eDNA-based fish community structure differs from down-, mid- and upstream, and species diversity decreased from down to upstream regardless of season. We found that there was generally higher species diversity at the study sites in spring (a total number of species across the sites [n] = 29) than in autumn (n = 27). Nonmetric multidimensional scaling and heatmap analyses further suggest that there was a tendency for community clusters to form in the down-, mid- and upstream, and seasonal variation in the community structure also existed for the sites. Dominant species in the Hotancheon was Rhynchocypris oxycephalus (26.07%) regardless of season, and subdominant species was Nipponocypris koreanus (16.50%) in spring and Odontobutis platycephala (15.73%) in autumn. Artificial barriers appeared to negatively affect the connectivity of some fish species of high mobility. Conclusions: This study attempts to establish a biological monitoring system by highlighting the versatility and power of eDNA metabarcoding in monitoring native fish community and further evaluating the longitudinal connectivity of river ecosystems. The results of this study suggest that eDNA can be applied to identify fish community structure and species diversity in river systems, although some shortcomings remain still need to be resolved.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.2255-2265
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• 2013

This study presents the width function-based Clark model. To this end, rescaled width function with distinction between hillslope and channel velocity is used as time-area curve and then it is routed through linear storage within the framework of not finite difference scheme used in original Clark model but analytical expression of linear storage routing. There are three parameters focused in this study: storage coefficient, hillslope velocity and channel velocity. SCE-UA, one of the popular global optimization methods, is applied to estimate them. The shapes of resulting IUHs from this study are evaluated in terms of the three statistical moments of hydrologic response functions: mean, variance and the third moment about the center of IUH. The correlation coefficients to the three statistical moments simulated in this study against these of observed hydrographs were estimated at 0.995 for the mean, 0.993 for the variance and 0.983 for the third moment about the center of IUH. The shape of resulting IUHs from this study give rise to satisfactory simulation results in terms of the mean and variance. But the third moment about the center of IUH tend to be overestimated. Clark model proposed in this study is superior to the one only taking into account mean and variance of IUH with respect to skewness, peak discharge and peak time of runoff hydrograph. From this result it is confirmed that the method suggested in this study is useful tool to reflect the heterogeneity of drainage path and hydrodynamic parameters. The variation of statistical moments of IUH are mainly influenced by storage coefficient and in turn the effect of channel velocity is greater than the one of hillslope velocity. Therefore storage coefficient and channel velocity are the crucial factors in shaping the form of IUH and should be considered carefully to apply Clark model proposed in this study.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.77-85
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• 1996

Purpose : Multileaf collimator(MLC) is very suitable tool for conformal radio-therapy and commissioning measurements for a multileaf collimator installed on a dual energy accelerator with 6 and 10MV photons are required, For modeling the collimator with treament planning software, detailed dosimetric characterization of the multileaf collimator including the penumbra width, leaf transmission between leaf leakage and localization of the leaf ends and sides is an essential requirement. materials and Methods : Measurement of characteristic data of the MLC with 26 pair block leaves installed on CLINAC 2100C linear accelerator was performed. Low sensitive radiographic film(X-omatV) was used for the penumbra measurement and separate experiments using radiographic film and thermoluminescent dosimeters were performed to verify the dose distribution, Measured films were analized with a photodensitometer of WP700i scanner. Results : For 6 & 10 MV x-ray energies, approximately $2.0\%$ of photons incident on the multileaf collimator were transmitted and an additional $0.5\%$ leakage occurs between the leaves. Localizing the physical end of the leaves showed less than 1mm deviation from the $50\%$ decrement line and this difference is attributed to the curved shaped end on the leaves One side of a sin히e leaf corresponded to the $50\%$ decrement line, but the opposite face was aligned with a lower value. This difference is due to the tongue and groove used to decrease between leaf leakage. Alignment of the leaves to form a straight edge resulted larger penumbra at far position from isocenter as compare with divergent alloy blocks. When the MLC edge is stepped by sloping field, the isodose lines follow the leaf pattern and Produce scalloping isodose curves in tissue. The effective penumbra by 45 degree stepped MLC is about 10mm at 10cm depth for 6MV x-ray. The difference of effective penumbra in deep tissue between MLC and divergent alloy blocks is small (5mm). Conclusion : Using the characteristic data of MLC, the MLC has the clinlical acceptability and suitability for 3-D conformal radiotherapy except small field size.