• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• 제24권5호
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• pp.655-665
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• 2022

This study evaluated the validity of a newly developed mobility protocol examining the comfort functions and requirements of personal protective equipment (PPE) for COVID-19 healthcare workers. Eight males (age: 24.7 ± 3.0 y, height: 173.4 ± 2.3 cm, and body weight 69.9 ± 3.7 kg) participated in the following three PPE conditions: (1) Plastic gown ensemble, (2) Level D ensemble, and (3) Powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) ensemble. The mobility protocol consisted of 10 different tasks in addition to donning and doffing. The 10 tasks were repeated twice at an air temperature of 25oC with 74% RH. The results showed significant differences among the three PPE conditions in mean skin temperature, local skin temperatures (the forehead, thigh, calf, and foot), clothing microclimate (the chest and back), thermal sensation, thermal comfort, and humidity sensation, while there were no significant differences in heart rate or total sweat rate. At rest, the subjects felt less warm and more comfortable in the PAPR than in the Level D condition (P<0.05). However, subjective perceptions in the PAPR and Level D conditions became similar as the tasks progressed and mean skin and leg temperature became greater for the PAPR than the Level D condition (P<0.05). An interview was conducted just after completing the mobility test protocol, and suggestions for improving each PPE item were obtained. To sum up, the mobility test protocol was valid for evaluating the comfort functions of PPE for healthcare workers and obtaining requirements for improving the mobility of each PPE item.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• 제41권5호
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• pp.570-588
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• 2022

We scrutinized the acoustic outputs from the 70 shock wave generators of the 15 product models whose technical documents were available, among the 46 ballistic extracorporeal shock wave therapeutic devices of 11 domestic and 6 foreign manufacturers, approved by the Minster of Food & Drug Safety (Rep. Korea). We found that the acoustic Energy Flux Density (EFD), the most popular exposure parameter, was different by up to 563.64 times among shock wave generators at their minimum output settings and by up to 74.62 times at their maximum settings. In the same product model, the EFD was shown to vary depending on shock wave transmitters by up to 81.82 times at its minimum output setting and by up to 46.15 times at its maximum setting. The lowest EFD 0.013 mJ/mm² at the maximum output settings was much lower (2.1 %) than the maximum value 0.62 mJ/mm² at the minimum settings. The Large acoustic output differences (tens to hundreds of times)from the therapeutic devices approved for the same clinical indications imply that their therapeutic efficacy & safety may not be assured. The findings suggest the regulatory authority to revise her guideline to give clearer criteria for clinical approval and equality in performance, and recommend the authority to initiate a post-approval surveillance as well as a test in conformance between the data in technical documents and the real acoustic outputs clinically used.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.239-246
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• 2022

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and a probiotic mixture on egg production and quality, blood parameters, and stress levels (corticosterone) in Hy-Line parent stock during summer in Korea. A total of 105 Hy-Line parent stock aged 24 weeks were randomly divided into three groups, each containing thirty-five birds: control, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and probiotics (1 × 10⁸/g Bacillus licheniformis, 1 × 10⁷/g Lactobacillus plantarum, and 1 × 10⁷/g Corynebacterium butyricum). The hens were fed a diet containing 50 ppm GABA or 0.1% probiotics for 6 weeks. Compared with the control group, the hen-day egg production, egg mass, and feed conversion ratio over the total period were significantly higher in the probiotic group (P<0.05). In contrast no significant differences were detected among groups with respect to egg weight, albumen height, Haugh units, yolk color, shell thickness or shell strength. Similarly, no significant difference were observed among groups with regards to biochemical profile (total cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, total protein, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, albumin, and inorganic phosphorus). However, compared with the control group, we did detect significant reductions in corticosterone levels in the GABA and probiotics groups (P<0.05). On the basis of our findings in this study, it would appear that dietary GABA and probiotics can alleviate heat stress in Hy-Line parent stock, with probiotics in particular being found to promote significant improvements in the hen-day egg production, egg mass, and feed conversion of laying hens during the summer season in Korea.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권3호
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• pp.842-848
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• 2022

Parametric studies of heat transfer and fluid flow are very important research of interest because the design and operation of fluid flow and heat transfer systems are guided by these parametric studies. The safety of the system operation and system optimization can be determined by decreasing or increasing particular fluid flow and heat transfer parameter while keeping other parameters constant. The parameters that can be varied in order to determine safe and optimized system include system pressure, mass flow rate, heat flux and coolant inlet temperature among other parameters. The fluid flow and heat transfer systems can also be enhanced by the presence of or without the presence of particular effects including gravity effect among others. The advanced Generation IV reactors to be deployed for large electricity production, have proven to be more thermally efficient (approximately 45% thermal efficiency) than the current light water reactors with a thermal efficiency of approximately 33 ℃. SCWR is one of the Generation IV reactors intended for electricity generation. High Performance Light Water Reactor (HPLWR) is a SCWR type which is under consideration in this study. One-eighth of a proposed fuel assembly design for HPLWR consisting of 7 fuel/rod bundles with 9 coolant sub-channels was the geometry considered in this study to examine the effects of system pressure and mass flow rate on wall and fluid temperatures. Gravity effect on wall and fluid temperatures were also examined on this one-eighth fuel assembly geometry. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code, STAR-CCM+, was used to obtain the results of the numerical simulations. Based on the parametric analysis carried out, sub-channel 4 performed better in terms of heat transfer because temperatures predicted in sub-channel 9 (corner subchannel) were higher than the ones obtained in sub-channel 4 (central sub-channel). The influence of system mass flow rate, pressure and gravity seem similar in both sub-channels 4 and 9 with temperature distributions higher in sub-channel 9 than in sub-channel 4. In most of the cases considered, temperature distributions (for both fluid and wall) obtained at 25 MPa are higher than those obtained at 23 MPa, temperature distributions obtained at 601.2 kg/h are higher than those obtained at 561.2 kg/h, and temperature distributions obtained without gravity effect are higher than those obtained with gravity effect. The results show that effects of system pressure, mass flowrate and gravity on fluid flow and heat transfer are significant and therefore parametric studies need to be performed to determine safe and optimum operating conditions of fluid flow and heat transfer systems.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• 제64권3호
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• pp.9-24
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• 2022

Currently, a vast amount of hydrologic data is accumulated in real-time through automatic water level measuring instruments in agricultural reservoirs. At the same time, false and missing data points are also increasing. The applicability and reliability of quality control of hydrological data must be secured for efficient agricultural water management through calculation of water supply and disaster management. Considering the characteristics of irregularities in hydrological data caused by irrigation water usage and rainfall pattern, the Korea Rural Community Corporation is currently applying the Hampel filter as a water level data quality management method. This method uses window size as a key parameter, and if window size is large, distortion of data may occur and if window size is small, many outliers are not removed which reduces the reliability of the corrected data. Thus, selection of the optimal window size for individual reservoir is required. To ensure reliability, we compared and analyzed the RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) and NSE (Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient) of the corrected data and the daily water level of the RIMS (Rural Infrastructure Management System) data, and the automatic outlier detection standards used by the Ministry of Environment. To select the optimal window size, we used the classification performance evaluation index of the error matrix and the rainfall data of the irrigation period, showing the optimal values at 3 h. The efficient reservoir automatic calibration technique can reduce manpower and time required for manual calibration, and is expected to improve the reliability of water level data and the value of water resources.

• CELLMED
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• 제11권4호
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• pp.21.1-21.9
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• 2021

Background: Unani System of Medicine (USM) has its origin to Greece. To ensure and develop the quality, authenticity of Unani drugs, standardization on modern analytical parameter is essential requirement for drugs. Objectives: The aimed of the present study was to develop a standard profile of "Qurṣ-e-Mafasil" by systematic study through authenticated ingredients, pharmacognostic identification followed by physicochemical, TLC, HPTLC fingerprinting analysis as per standard protocol. Material and Methods: In this study three batches of "Qurṣ-e-Mafasil" QM were prepared by standard method as per UPI had been followed by organoleptic properties of formulation such as appearance, color, odor, taste. Powder Microscopy and physicochemical studies were carried out such as Uniformity of weight, Friability, Disintegration time, hardness, LOD, ash vales and extractive values in like aqueous, alcohol & hexane. Further qualitative tests such as Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC), and High-Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) studies were also carried out to develop fingerprint pattern of the alcoholic solvent extract of QM. Phytochemical screening was carried out in different solvent extracts such as alcoholic, aqueous and chloroform extracts to detect the presence phytoconstituents in the formulation QM. Heavy metals, Microbial Load Contamination and pesticidal residues were also determined. Results: Qurṣ-e-Mafasil showed tablet-like appearance, light brown colour, mild pungent odour and acrid taste. Uniformity of weight (mg), friability (rpm), and hardness (kg/cm) and disintegration time was ranged between (500 to 503), (0.0340 to 0.038), (8.40 to 8.67) and (4-5 minutes) respectively for the three batches. Loss in weight on drying at 105℃ was ranged between (8.3425 to 8.7346). Extracted values were calculated in distilled water ranged between (30.9091 to 31.4358), hexane (1.1419 to 1.4281), and alcohol (3.3352 to 3.3962). The ash values recorded were ranged between (3.7336 to 3.8378), and acid insoluble ash (0.5859 to 0.6112).

• Membrane Journal
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.253-263
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• 2022

This study suggests a guideline for designing unit process of wastewater reuse in terms of a maintenance of the process based on critical parameters to draw a high quality performance of RO unit. Defining the parameters was done by applying membrane integrity test (MIT) in pretreatment process utilizing lab-scale MF. SDI is utilized for judging whether permeate is suitable to RO unit. However, result said TOC concentration matching with particle count analysis is better for judging the permeate condition. When membrane test pressure (P_test) was measured to derive log removal value in PDT, virgin state of membrane fiber was used to measure dynamic contact angle utilizing surface tension of the membrane fiber. Actually, foulant affects to the state of membrane surface, and it decreases the P_test value along with time elapsed. Consequently, LRV_DIT is also affected by P_test value. Thus, sensitivity of direct integrity test descends with result of P_test value change, so P_test value should be considered not the virgin state of the membrane but its current state. Overall, this study focuses on defining design parameters suitable to MF pretreatment for RO process in wastewater reuse by assessing its impact. Therefore, utilities can acknowledge that the membrane surface condition must be considered when users conduct the direct integrity test so that P_test and other relative parameter used to calculate LRV_DIT are adequately measured.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.126-137
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• 2023

In this study, a recurrent neural network (RNN) was employed as a methodological approach to classify dolphin click signals derived from ocean monitoring data. To improve the accuracy of click signal classification, the single time series data were transformed into fractional domains using fractional Fourier transform to expand its features. Transformed data were used as input for three RNN models: long short-term memory (LSTM), gated recurrent unit (GRU), and bidirectional LSTM (BiLSTM), which were compared to determine the optimal network for the classification of signals. Because the fractional Fourier transform displayed different characteristics depending on the chosen angle parameter, the optimal angle range for each RNN was first determined. To evaluate network performance, metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score were employed. Numerical experiments demonstrated that all three networks performed well, however, the BiLSTM network outperformed LSTM and GRU in terms of learning results. Furthermore, the BiLSTM network provided lower misclassification than the other networks and was deemed the most practically appliable to field data.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.45-56
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• 2022

This paper proposes an optimal methodology for automatically diagnosing and predicting the severity of the chronic kidney disease (CKD) using patients' utterances. In patients with CKD, the voice changes due to the weakening of respiratory and laryngeal muscles and vocal fold edema. Previous studies have phonetically analyzed the voices of patients with CKD, but no studies have been conducted to classify the voices of patients. In this paper, the utterances of patients with CKD were classified using the variety of utterance types (sustained vowel, sentence, general sentence), the feature sets [handcrafted features, extended Geneva Minimalistic Acoustic Parameter Set (eGeMAPS), CNN extracted features], and the classifiers (SVM, XGBoost). Total of 1,523 utterances which are 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 25 seconds long, are used. F1-score of 0.93 for automatically diagnosing a disease, 0.89 for a 3-classes problem, and 0.84 for a 5-classes problem were achieved. The highest performance was obtained when the combination of general sentence utterances, handcrafted feature set, and XGBoost was used. The result suggests that a general sentence utterance that can reflect all speakers' speech characteristics and an appropriate feature set extracted from there are adequate for the automatic classification of CKD patients' utterances.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• 제12권3호
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• pp.26-44
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• 2022

Job stress experienced during work has a positive effect on the organization, such as performance improvement, but if not properly managed, it can cause physical diseases such as digestive diseases and mental diseases such as depression and neurological diseases. If job stress persists for a long time, it causes emotional exhaustion and depression, which has a significant adverse effect on individuals and organizations, so proper management is essential. Therefore, in this study, a descriptive survey study was conducted using a self-report questionnaire method to find out the relationship between job stress, emotional exhaustion and depression of medical institution workers. As a result of the analysis, it was found that job stress of medical institution workers had a significant (+) effect on emotional exhaustion and depression, and emotional exhaustion of medical institution workers had a significant (+) effect on depression. Through this study, it was found that there was a significant relationship between job stress, emotional exhaustion, and depression of hospital employees, and that emotional exhaustion acts as a parameter in the relationship between job stress and depression. Considering that job stress of hospital employees causes adverse organizational effects, such as threatening workers' mental and physical health and causing deterioration in the quality of medical services, organizational efforts will be needed to relieve and properly manage job stress of hospital employees.