• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.54-61
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• 2012

In this study, the adsorption of $Cu^{2+}$ from aqueous solution by the biochar derived from woody biomass at different pyrolysis temperatures has been investigated. The woody biomass wastes used in this study were branch of willow ($Salix$ $koreensis$ $Andersson$) and bark of chestnut ($Castanea$ $crenata$ $var.$ $dulcis$). Three biochar samples prepared by heating each biomass at temperature of $300^{\circ}C$, $500^{\circ}C$, and $700^{\circ}C$were tested for the adsorption capacity of Cu. Also the physicochemical properties of the developed biochars were studied using different characterization techniques such as FT-IR, SEM, BET surface area, and cation exchange capacity (CEC). The adsorption of Cu could be well described by Langmuir model for both willow and chestnut biochars with $R^2{\geq}0.98$. The maximum adsorption capacities of the biochar produced at $700^{\circ}C$ from the Langmuir equation were found to be 12.5 mg $g^{-1}$ and 16.9 mg $g^{-1}$ for willow and chestnut, respectively. Chestnut biochar was found to interact more effectively with the active sites available for Cu, resulting higher removal of Cu(II) than wiloow biochar. Ion exchange and surface complexation found to be the main mechanisms involved in the adsorption process. This study demonstrated the feasibility of the biochars derived from woody biomass to be as a low-cost potential adsorbent for heavy metals as Cu(II) removal in aquatic system.

• Proceedings of the KOR-KST Conference
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• 1996.02a
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• pp.59-86
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• 1996

Current methods for evaluating unsignalized intersections, and estimating level-of-service (LOS) is determined from efficiency-based criteria such as little or no delay to very long delays. At present, similar procedures to evaluate intersections using safety-based criteria do not exist. The improvement of sight distances at intersections is the most effective way of improving intersection safety. However, a set of procedures is necessary to account for the limitations in current methodology. Such an approach would build upon such methods, but also account for: deficiencies in the current deterministic solution for the determination of intersection sight distances; opportunity for an accident and severity of an accident; and cost-effectiveness of attaining various levels of sight distances. In this research, a model that estimates the degree of safety at two-way stop-controlled intersections is described. Only crossing maneuvers are considered in this study because accidents caused by the crossing maneuvers are the dominate type among intersection accidents. Monte Carlo methods are used to estimate the hazard at an intersection as a function of roadway features and traffic conditions. Driver`s minimum gap acceptance in the crossing vehicles and headway distribution on the major road are used in the crossing vehicles and headway distribution on the major road are used in the model to simulate the real intersectional maneuvers. Other random variables addressed in the model are: traffic speeds; preception-reaction times of both drivers in the crossing vehicles and drivers in oncoming vehicles on the major road; and vehicles on the major roads. The developed model produces the total number of conflicts per year per vehicle and total potential kinetic energy per year per vehicle dissipated during conflicts as measurements of safety at intersections. Based on the results from the developed simulation model, desirable sight distances for various speeds were determined as 350 feet, 450 feet and 550 feet for 40 mph, 50 mph and 60 mph prevailing speed on the major road, respectively. These values are seven to eight percent less than those values recommended by AASHTO. A safety based level-of-service (LOS) is also developed using the results of the simulation model. When the total number of conflicts per vehicle is less than 0.05 at an intersection, the LOS of the intersection is `A' and when the total number of conflicts per vehicle is larger than 0.25 at an intersection, the LOS is `F'. Similarly, when the total hazard per vehicle is less than 350, 000 1b-ft2/sec2, the LOS is `F'. Once evaluation of the current safety at the intersection is complete, a sensitivity analysis can be done by changing one or more input parameters. This will estimate the benefit in terms of time and budget of hazard reduction based upon improving geometric and traffic characteristics at the intersection. This method will also enable traffic engineers in local governments to generate a priority list of intersection improvement projects.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.565-576
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• 2011

Within a basin, there are potentially multiple locations that can be used as a washland, given their relatively small size when compared with other hydraulic facilities such a dam. However, it is unreasonable to install washlands in all these potential locations due to economic and environmental considerations. In this study, a new methodology for determination of installation priority of washlands is presented. How to integrate the decision variables in this decision making problem has been a key issue in previous studies because a washland can provide many benefits such as flood reduction, agricultural benefit and recreational benefit. In particular, a methodology is needed to integrate all decision variables realistically, properly and reasonably, in situations where there is not sufficient data for direct integration of all these decision variables such as construction cost or benefits a washland can provide. This new methodology aims to suggest how to integrate methodologies used in previous studies. The suggested methodology uses four different rankings which are determined based on a flood reduction effect, a relative significance index, an economic analysis, and a space planning suitability index. These rankings are integrated to determine a final installation priority ranking of washlands by a multi-dimensional scaling method. The new methodology has been applied to the Anseong river basin, to show its applicability, and the application result compared with those of previous studies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1621-1621
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• 2001

The quality of sugarcane grown on the NE Australian tropical coast ($16^{\circ}$15'- $18^{\circ}$15' S Lat.) has declined markedly in the past seven years. This has been linked to dilution of mill-supply cane with increasing levels of non mature-stalk material consisting of leaves and sucker culms. The prime research objective was to examine the transition from the pre-harvest, in-field crop to harvested material sent for processing, in terms of quality and crop fraction proportions. A secondary objective was to quantify the effects of preharvest-season crop habit and culm condition on crop quality. Ten quadrat samples from each of 54 random crop sites (17 in 1999 and 37 in 2000), covering a wide range of variables (cultivar, crop class, and edaphic, topographic, climatic, and temporal factors) were collected immediately before harvest. Samples were partitioned into four fractions:- sound and unsound mature stalks (culms), sucker culms, and extraneous matter (leaves). Material harvested from each site was sampled and partitioned into four fractions:- sound and unsound billets (culm pieces), culm-spindle pieces, and leaf. In 2000, before harvest, 14 additional sites were sampled monthly, on three occasions, from March - June. Erect and non-erect culms were divided into sound and unsound classes. All samples were disintegrated and presented to a remote reflectance module of a scanning spectrophotometer using the BSES large cassette module. Near infra-red spectroscopic (NIS) analyses were developed for the rapid determination of quality components (Brix, commercial cane sugar (CCS), fibre, moisture, and polariscope reading). Calibrations for three material groups (culm (n = 639), non-culm (n = 496), and combined) were developed for all components using the 1999 data set. Two sub-sets (n = 178, and 190) of about 10% of the preharvest-season and harvest populations scanned in 2000 also were subjected to full routine laboratory analyses. The 1999 combined calibrations were excellent, but the culm calibrations produced consistently lower standard errors. Non-culm calibrations were marginally better than the combined for only CCS and pol. reading. Analysis of the 2000 culm data with calibrations using all 1999 and 2000 culm data resulted in better predictions relative to the 1999 culm calibrations. This also was true for the combined calibrations. Assessment of quality components in pre- and post-harvest sugarcane using NIS calibrations was more cost effective than using routine laboratory techniques. Outcomes from this NIS-facilitated research will have important economic consequences for the Australian sugarcane industry. Potential CCS present in mature culms is being discounted by dilution with leaves and sucker culms, threatening farm viability. The results question the efficacy of current harvesting technology. The CCS of harvested cane is improved only marginally over that of the in-field crop. Current harvesting technology requires either supplementary, innovative pre-mill processing or a design revolution to improve mill-supply cane quality, and therefore whole of industry economics. NIS-facilitated analyses, before the harvest season, highlighted the benefits of growing erect, sound crops. Loss of CCS then, can be minimized only by a combination of crop improvement and agronomic solutions, applied as part of sound on-farm management.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1620-1620
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• 2001

Forages, both grazed and conserved, provide the basis of ruminant production systems throughout the world. More than 90 per cent of the feed energy consumed by herbivorous animals world - wide were provided by forages. With such world - wide dependence on forages, the economic and nutritional necessity of been able to characterize them in a meaningful way is vital. The characterization of forages for productive animals is becoming important for several reasons. Relative to conventional laboratory procedures, Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) offers advantages of simplicity, speed, reduced chemical waste, and more cost-effective prediction of product functionality. NIR spectroscopy represents a radical departure from conventional analytical methods, in that entire sample of forage is characterized in terms of its absorption properties in the near infrared region, rather than separate subsamples being treated with various chemicals to isolate specific components. This forces the analyst to abandon his/her traditional narrow focus on the sample (one analyte at a time) and to take a broader view of the relationship between components within the sample and between the sample and the population from which it comes. forage is usually analysed by NIRS in dry and ground presentation. Initial success of NIRS analysis of coarse forages suggest a need to better understand the potential for analysis of minimally processed samples. Preparation costs and possible compositional alterations could be reduced by samples presented to the instrument in undried and unground conditions. NIRS has gained widespread acceptance for the analysis of forage quality constituents on dry material, however little attention has been given to the use of NIRS for chemical determinations on undried and unground forages. Relatively few works reported the use of NIRS to determine quality parameters on undried materials, most of them on both grass and corn silage. Only two works have been found on the determination of quality parameters on fresh forages. The objectives of this paper were (1) to evaluate the use of NIRS for determination of nitrogen and moisture on undried and unground forage samples and (2) to explore two mathematical treatments and two NIR regions to predict chemical parameters on fresh forage. Four hundred forage samples (n: 400) were analysed in a NIRS 6500 instrument (NIR Systems, PA, USA) in reflectance mode. Two mathematical treatments were applied: 1,4,4,1 and 2,5,5,2. Predictive equations were developed using modified partial least squares (MPLS) with internal cross - validation. Coefficient of determination in calibration (${R^2}_{CAL}$) and standard error in cross-validation (SECV) for moisture were 0.92 (12.4) and 0.92 (12.4) for 1,4,4,1 and 2,5,5,2 respectively, on g $kg^{-1}$ dry weight. For crude protein NIRS calibration statistics yield a (${R^2}_{CAL}$) and (SECV) of 0.85 (19.8) and 0.85 (19.6) for 1,4,4,1 and 2,5,5,2 respectively, on a dry weight. It was concluded that NIRS is a suitable method to predict moisture and nitrogen on fresh forage without samples preparation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1062-1062
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• 2001

The concept of “precision agriculture” or “site-specific farming” is usually confined to the fields of soil science, crop science and agronomy. However, because plants grow in soil, animals eat plants, and humans eat animal products, it could be argued (perhaps with some poetic licence) that the fields of feed quality, animal nutrition and animal production should also be considered in this context. NIR spectroscopy has proved over the last 20 years that it can provide a firm foundation for quality measurement across all of these fields, and with the continuing developments in instrumentation, computer capacity and software, is now a major cog in the wheel of precision agriculture. There have been a few giant leaps and a lot of small steps in the impact of NIR on the animal world. These have not been confined to the amazing advances in hardware and software, although would not have occurred without them. Rapid testing of forages, grains and mixed feeds by NIR for nutritional value to livestock is now commonplace in commercial laboratories world-wide. This would never have been possible without the pioneering work done by the USDA NIR Forage Research Network in the 1980's, following the landmark paper of Norris et al. in 1976. The advent of calibration transfer between instruments, algorithms which utilize huge databases for calibration and prediction, and the ability to directly scan whole grains and fresh forages can also be considered as major steps, if not leaps. More adventurous NIR applications have emerged in animal nutrition, with emphasis on estimating the functional properties of feeds, such as in vivo digestibility, voluntary intake, protein degradability and in vitro assays to simulate starch digestion. The potential to monitor the diets of grazing animals by using faecal NIR spectra is also now being realized. NIR measurements on animal carcasses and even live animals have also been attempted, with varying degrees of success, The use of discriminant analysis in these fields is proving a useful tool. The latest giant leap is likely to be the advent of relatively low-cost, portable and ultra-fast diode array NIR instruments, which can be used “on-site” and also be fitted to forage or grain harvesters. The fodder and livestock industries are no longer satisfied with what we once thought was revolutionary: a 2-3 day laboratory turnaround for fred quality testing. This means that the instrument needs to be taken to the samples rather than vice versa. Considerable research is underway in this area, but the challenge of calibration transfer and maintenance of instrument networks of this type remains. The animal world is currently facing its biggest challenges ever; animal welfare, alleged effects of animal products on human health, environmental and economic issues are difficult enough, but the current calamities of BSE and foot and mouth disease are “the last straw” NIR will not of course solve all these problems, but is already proving useful in some of these areas and will continue to do so.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1523-1523
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• 2001

The wine industry requires practical methods for objectively measuring the composition of both red wine grapes on the vine to determine optimal harvest time; and of freshly harvested grapes for efficient allocation to vinery process streams for particular red wine products, and to determine payment of contract grapegrowers. To be practical for industry application these methods must be rapid, inexpensive and accurate. In most cases this restricts the analyses available to measurement of TSS (total soluble solids, predominantly sugars) by refractometry and pH by electropotentiometry. These two parameters, however, do not provide a comprehensive compositional characterization for the purpose of winemaking. The concentration of anthocyanin pigment in red wine grapes is an accepted indicator of potential wine quality and price. However, routine analysis for total anthocyanins is not considered as a practical option by the wider wine industry because of the high cost and slow turnaround time of this multi-step wet chemical laboratory analysis. Recent work by this ${group}^{l,2}$ has established the capability of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to provide rapid, accurate and simultaneous measurement of total anthocyanins, TSS and pH in red wine grapes. The analyses may be carried out equally well using either research grade scanning spectrometers or much simpler reduced spectral range portable diode-array based instrumentation. We have recently expanded on this work by collecting thousands of red wine grape samples in Australia. The sample set spans two vintages (1999 and 2000), five distinct geographical winegrowing regions and three main red wine grape varieties used in Australia (Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot). Homogenized grape samples were scanned in diffuse reflectance mode on a FOSE NIR Systems6500 spectrometer and subject to laboratory analysis by the traditional methods for total anthocyanins, TSS and pH. We report here an analysis of the correlations between the NIR spectra and the laboratory data using standard chemometric algorithms within The Unscrambler software package. In particular, various subsets of the total data set are considered in turn to elucidate the effects of vintage, geographical area and grape variety on the measurement of grape composition by NIR spectroscopy. The relative ability of discrete calibrations to predict within and across these differences is considered. The results are then used to propose an optimal calibration strategy for red wine grape analysis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1217-1226
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• 2011

Finding alternative feeds, such as sesame hulls and Prosopis juliflora species can attenuate difficulties of feed shortage and reduce the cost of animal feed in arid and semi-arid countries. Thirty-two Black male kids with similar initial weights (BW = $16.7{\pm}0.80\;kg$) and $120{\pm}5\;d$ of age, were used to evaluate the effect of replacing barley grains and soybean meal with Prosopis juliflora pods (PJP) and sesame hulls (SH) on growth performance, digestibility and carcass and meat characteristics. Kids were equally divided into four dietary treatment groups for an 84-d fattening period. Treatment diets had similar crude protein (CP) and metabolizable energy (ME). The treatment groups were: (T1) no PJP nor SH, (T2) 10% PJP and 20% SH, (T3) 15% PJP and 15% SH, and (T4) 20% PJP and 10% SH. A tendency was detected (p<0.08) for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intakes that were greater for T2 than T3 and T4 while T1 was not different from all other treatment groups. Ether extract (EE) intake was the greatest (p<0.05) for T2 and the lowest for T1. Acid detergent fiber (ADF) intake was greater (p<0.05) for T2 than T1 while T3 and T4 were intermediate. Final live weight, average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were comparable among different treatment groups. Digestibility of DM, OM, CP, NDF and ADF were similar among all treatment groups, however, EE digestibility was the lowest (p<0.05) for T1 when compared to other treatments. In addition, nitrogen intake, nitrogen in urine and retained and retention percentages were similar among all treatment groups. However, N loss in feces was higher (p<0.05) for T2 than T3 and T4 while T1 was intermediate. No differences were observed among treatment groups with respect to fasting live weight, hot and cold carcass weights, dressing-out percentages, mesenteric fat, visceral organs, carcass cuts percentages and carcass linear dimensions. No differences were also observed for dissected loin, leg, rack and shoulder tissues except in the total bone % for loin cuts and in the meat to bone ratio for rack cuts. T3 has the greatest total bone % and the lowest meat to bone ratio when compared to all other treatment groups. No differences were observed between treatment groups in all quality characteristics of the longissimus muscle. The present study demonstrates the potential of using PJP and SH for growing kids without adverse effects on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute Of Construction Engineering and Management
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• autumn
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• pp.73-81
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• 2003

The construction industry has been experiencing a major challenge in its work force, 'the shortage of skilled craft workers.' This problem has been caused by several factors such as the poor image of the construction industry, lack of training and education, unclear career path, declining wages, and changing work force demographics. A 'step-change' approach called the 'Two-Tier Work Force Strategy' has been proposed by the Center for Construction Industry Studies (CCIS) to deal with the work force related issues in a radical way. It is composed of two separate strategies, Tier I and II. The Tier I strategy uses less skilled and task trained craft workers, and has a larger administrative site management team than the Tier II strategy. The Tier II strategy utilizes fewer, better-educated, and higher skilled workers who perform some lower-management functions in addition to craft functions. They are paid more, but produce more through higher skills, stay on the job longer through multi-skilling, and deliver improved project performance in safety, quality, schedule, and cost The Two-Tier Work Force Strategy has the potential to resolve the current work force problems and foster a better work force environment in the future.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartA
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• v.12A no.1 s.91
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• pp.53-58
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• 2005

The use of computers for control and monitoring of industrial process has expanded greatly in recent years. The computer used in such applications is shared between a certain number of time-critical control and monitor function and non time-critical batch processing job stream. Embedded systems encompass a variety of hardware and software components which perform specific function in host computer. Many embedded system must respond to external events under certain timing constraints. Failure to respond to certain events on time may either seriously degrade system performance or even result in a catastrophe. In the design of real-time embedded system, decisions made at the architectural design phase greatly affect the final implementation and performance of the system. Flexibility indicates how well a particular system architecture can tolerate with respect to satisfying real-time requirements. The degree of flexibility of real-time system architecture indicates the capability of the system to tolerate perturbations in timing related specifications. Given degree of flexibility, one may compare and rank different implementations. A system with a higher degree of flexibility is more desirable. Flexibility is also an important factor in the trade-off studies between cost and performance. In this paper, it is identified the need for flexibility function and shows that the existing real-time analysis result can be effective. This paper motivated the need for a flexibility for the efficient analysis of potential design candidates in the architectural design exploration or real time embedded system.