• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.35 no.5 s.112
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• pp.381-387
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• 2005

The aim of this study was to compare the clinical performance of 4 types of orthodontic wires, indicated for initial tooth alignment: stainless steel, multistranded steel, superelastic and thermoactivated nickel-titanium. A prospective randomized clinical trial was conducted on a sample of 45 patients, at the Dental School of the State University of Rio do Janeiro, Brazil. Fixed appliances were fitted and study casts were obtained from each patient. Randomly, the wires were allocated as follows: 26 dental arches for superelastic NiTi wires, 22 for stainless steel, 22 for multistranded and 20 for thermoactivated archwires. After 8 weeks, the archwires were removed and impressions for study casts were taken again. Using a 3D digitization technique of defined anatomical points on the study cast crowns, a Dental Irregularity Index (DII) was created for each study cast. The difference between DII before and after the archwire insertion expressed the aligning effect of the wires. ANOVA tests were employed to evaluate the anatomical point approximation (positive DII) and separation (negative DII), for each area of the dental arches: upper and lower whole arch and anterior arch. Results showed no significant difference between the different archwires.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.207-212
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• 2016

Objectives: Acupuncture treatments are safe and effective for a wide variety of diseases involving autonomic dysregulation. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a noninvasive method for assessing sympathovagal balance. The low frequency/high frequency (LF/HF) spectral power ratio is an index of sympathovagal influence on heart rate and of cardiovascular health. This study tests the hypothesis that from rest to 30% to 50% of peak oxygen consumption, the nonlinear Conte-Zbilut-Federici (CZF) method of computing the LF/HF ratio is a more reliable index of changes in the HRV than linear methods are. Methods: The subjects of this study were 10 healthy young adults. Electrocardiogram RR intervals were measured during 6-minute periods of rest and aerobic exercise on a cycle ergometer at 30% and 50% of peak oxygen consumption ($VO_{2peak}$). Results: The frequency domain CZF computations of the LF/HF ratio and the time domain computations of the standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN) decreased sequentially from rest to 30% $VO_{2peak}$ (P < 0.001) to 50% $VO_{2peak}$ (P < 0.05). The SDNN and the CZF computations of the LF/HF ratio were positively correlated (Pearson's r = 0.75, P < 0.001). fast Fourier transform (FFT), autoregressive (AR) and Lomb periodogram computations of the LF/HF ratio increased only from rest to 50% $VO_{2peak}$. Conclusion: Computations of the LF/HF ratio by using the nonlinear CZF method appear to be more sensitive to changes in physical activity than computations of the LF/HF ratio by using linear methods. Future studies should determine whether the CZF computation of the LF/HF ratio improves evaluations of pharmacopuncture and other treatment modalities.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2008

This study presents a case study of condition evaluation of various asphalt pavement sections to estimate performance lives. The pavement surface conditions including cracking and rutting are first evaluated using a automatic pavement analyzer, ARAN. HPCI(Highway Pavement Condition Index) values are estimated using the pavement surface distress data. It is observed from the pavement distress survey that the major distress type of the sections is top-down cracking. The modulus value of each pavement layer is back-calculated from the defection data obtained from a FWD(Falling Weight Deflectometer) and compared with the laboratory measured dynamic modulus values. Remaining lives of the various pavement sections are estimated based on a mechanistic-empirical approach and AAHTO 1993 design guide. The structural capacities of the all pavement sections based on the two approaches are strong enough to maintain the pavement sections for the rest of design life. Since the major distress type is top-down cracking, the remaining lives of the pavement sections are estimated based on HPCI and existing performance database of highway pavements. To evaluate the causes of premature pavement distress, various material properties, such as air void, asphalt binder content, aggregate gradation, dynamic modulus and fatigue resistance, are measured from the field cores. It is impossible to accurately estimate the binder contents of field samples using the ignition method. It is concluded from the laboratory tests that the premature top down cracking is mainly due to insufficient compaction and inadequate aggregate gradation.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2013

This study evaluated the effect of fluid flow on the power density in a horizontal-flow microbial fuel cell (MFC). The maximum power densities in four types of flow induced by different channel types in the anode chamber were investigated. The fluid flow at each channel was analyzed using tracer tests. Results of polarization curves showed that the maximum power densities of case 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 95.7, 129.1, 190.9 and 114.2 mW/m2, respectively. Case 3 with a set of guide walls where flow had an S type-like shape showed the highest power density. Based on the Morrill Dispersion Index (MDI) value of case 4, microbial activity would be enhanced since the reactor allows even distribution of substrate but the overflow occurrence would not guarantee stable performance. Therefore, case 3 could be an effective reactor type for MFC because of high electricity generation and stable performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.82 no.1
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• pp.116-127
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• 2021

Purpose To evaluate the feasibility of texture analysis of gray-scale ultrasound (US) images for staging of hepatic fibrosis. Materials and Methods Altogether, 167 patients who had undergone routine US and laboratory tests for a fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index were included. Texture parameters were measured using a dedicated in-house software. Regions of interest were placed in five different segments (3, 5, 6, 7, 8) for each patient. The FIB-4 index was used as the reference standard for hepatic fibrosis grade. Comparisons of the texture parameters between different fibrosis groups were performed with the Student's t-test or Mann-Whitney U-test. Diagnostic performance was evaluated by receiver operating curve analysis. Results The study population comprised of patients with no fibrosis (FIB-4 < 1.45, n = 50), mild fibrosis (1.45 ≤ FIB-4 ≤ 2.35, n = 37), moderate fibrosis (2.35 < FIB-4 ≤ 3.25, n = 27), and severe fibrosis (FIB-4 > 3.25, n = 53). Skewness in hepatic segment 5 showed a difference between patients with no fibrosis and mild fibrosis (0.2392 ± 0.3361, 0.4134 ± 0.3004, respectively, p = 0.0109). The area under the curve of skewness for discriminating patients with no fibrosis from those with mild fibrosis was 0.660 (95% confidence interval, 0.551-0.758), with an estimated accuracy, sensitivity, specificity of 64%, 87%, 48%, respectively. Conclusion A significant difference was observed regarding skewness in segment 5 between patients with no fibrosis and patients with mild fibrosis.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.363-371
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• 2021

The goal of this study was to investigate the influence of exercise training with or without blood flow restriction (BFR) on physical performance and balance in elderly females. Participants (N = 43) were randomly divided into combined exercise with BFR group (n = 14, EX-BFR), only combine exercise group (n =14, EX) or a non-exercise control group (n = 15, CON). Both EX-BFR and EX groups had completed exercise training for 12 weeks. During the training period, the CON group maintained their normal lives. After baseline tests, two-way repeated measures ANOVA with contrast testing was conducted using SPSS 22.0. Study results found that physical performance and balance in both EX-BFR and EX groups were significantly improved, and fall index in both EX-BFR and EX groups were significantly decreased. There were no changes in the CON group. In addition, the % change and effect size of all variables in the EX-BFR group were larger than the EX group. So, the results showed that the EX-BFR group had performed more intense exercise caused by restricted blood flow during the training period compared to the EX group. Thus, exercise with BFR training may additionally influence physical performance and balance in elderly females.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2008

Progeny tests of Abies holophylla were established with 32 open-pollinated families at Hwaseong and Gangneung in 1994. Growth characteristics (height, DBH and volume index) were measured at the age of 15, showing that Gangneung site showed in general better performance than Hwaseong site. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the growth characteristics showed that there was a significant difference among families in Gangneung but not in Hwaseong, and Hwaseong site showed that DBH and volume index were statistically different among replications. At Gangneung site, family ${\times}$ replication interaction was significant in DBH and volume index. Based on the combined analysis of both sites, all characteristics except height showed highly significant differences between sites and among families. On the other hand, family ${\times}$ replication interaction was not significant, implying that growth pattern of families could be similar at Gangneung and Hwaseong. Individual heritabilities ($hi^2$) at Gangneung were 0.485 in height, 0.611 in DBH and 0.538 in volume index, and the values of $hi^2$ at Hwaseong were 0.121 in height, 0.054 in DBH and 0.080 in volume index, respectively. Based on both sites, $hi^2$ was estimated as 0.204 in height, 0.326 in DBH and 0.238 in volume index. Individual heritabilities (0.054~0.611) were lower than family heritabilities (0.089~0.723) for all growth characteristics. Realized gain was estimated to be 2.5% in height, 9.2% in DBH and 23.6% in volume. When inferior families (about 50% of all families) are genetically thinned from a seed orchard, genetic gain would be 9.55% in height, 17.0% in DBH and 46.8% in volume.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.640-645
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• 2016

The objective of this study was to evaluate the present conventional selection program of a swine nucleus farm and compare it with a new selection strategy employing genomic enhanced breeding value (GEBV) as the selection criteria. The ZPLAN+ software was employed to calculate and compare the genetic gain, total cost, return and profit of each selection strategy. The first strategy reflected the current conventional breeding program, which was a progeny test system (CS). The second strategy was a selection scheme based strictly on genomic information (GS1). The third scenario was the same as GS1, but the selection by GEBV was further supplemented by the performance test (GS2). The last scenario was a mixture of genomic information and progeny tests (GS3). The results showed that the accuracy of the selection index of young boars of GS1 was 26% higher than that of CS. On the other hand, both GS2 and GS3 gave 31% higher accuracy than CS for young boars. The annual monetary genetic gain of GS1, GS2 and GS3 was 10%, 12%, and 11% higher, respectively, than that of CS. As expected, the discounted costs of genomic selection strategies were higher than those of CS. The costs of GS1, GS2 and GS3 were 35%, 73%, and 89% higher than those of CS, respectively, assuming a genotyping cost of $120. As a result, the discounted profit per animal of GS1 and GS2 was 8% and 2% higher, respectively, than that of CS while GS3 was 6% lower. Comparison among genomic breeding scenarios revealed that GS1 was more profitable than GS2 and GS3. The genomic selection schemes, especially GS1 and GS2, were clearly superior to the conventional scheme in terms of monetary genetic gain and profit.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.5
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• pp.673-686
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• 2023

Determining the properties of pile from cone penetration test (CPT) is costly, and need several in-situ tests. At the present study, two novel hybrid learning models, namely PSO-RF and HHO-RF, which are an amalgamation of random forest (RF) with particle swarm optimization (PSO) and Harris hawks optimization (HHO) were developed and applied to predict the pile set-up parameter "A" from CPT for the design aim of the projects. To forecast the "A," CPT data along were collected from different sites in Louisiana, where the selected variables as input were plasticity index (PI), undrained shear strength (S_u), and over consolidation ratio (OCR). Results show that both PSO-RF and HHO-RF models have acceptable performance in predicting the set-up parameter "A," with R² larger than 0.9094, representing the admissible correlation between observed and predicted values. HHO-RF has better proficiency than the PSO-RF model, with R² and RMSE equal to 0.9328 and 0.0292 for the training phase and 0.9729 and 0.024 for testing data, respectively. Moreover, PI and OBJ indices are considered, in which the HHO-RF model has lower results which leads to outperforming this hybrid algorithm with respect to PSO-RF for predicting the pile set-up parameter "A," consequently being specified as the proposed model. Therefore, the results demonstrate the ability of the HHO algorithm in determining the optimal value of RF hyperparameters than PSO.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2021

In cold regions, the integrity of the infrastructures built on weak soils can be extensively damaged by weathering actions due to the cyclic freezing and thawing. This damage can be mitigated by exploiting soil stabilization techniques. Generally, ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is the most commonly used binding material for investigating the chemo-hydromechanical behavior. However, due to the environmental issue of OPC producing a significant amount of carbon dioxide emission, calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement can be used as one of the eco-sustainable alternatives. Although recently several studies have examined the strength development of CSA treated sand, no research has been concerned about CSA cement-stabilized sand affected by cyclic freeze and thaw. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive laboratory work to assess the effect of the cyclic freeze-thaw action on strength and durability of CSA cement-treated sand. For this purpose, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) tests were performed on the stabilized soil specimens cured for 7 and 14 days which are subjected to 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 freeze-thaw cycles. The test results show that the strength and durability index of the samples decrease with the increase of the freeze-thaw cycles. The loss of the strength and durability considerably decreases for all soil samples subjected to the freeze-thaw cycles. Overall, the use of CSA as a stabilizer for sandy soils would be an eco-friendly option to achieve sufficient strength and durability against the freeze-thaw action in cold regions.