• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8993-9004
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• 2014

Background: The incidence rate and the treatment costs of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are high, especially in Thailand. Previous studies indicated that early detection by a surveillance program could help by down-staging. This study aimed to compare the costs and health outcomes associated with the introduction of a HCC surveillance program with no program and to estimate the budget impact if the HCC surveillance program were implemented. Materials and Methods: A cost utility analysis using a decision tree and Markov models was used to compare costs and outcomes during the lifetime period based on a societal perspective between alternative HCC surveillance strategies with no program. Costs included direct medical, direct non-medical, and indirect costs. Health outcomes were measured as life years (LYs), and quality adjusted life years (QALYs). The results were presented in terms of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) in Thai THB per QALY gained. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were applied to investigate parameter uncertainties. Budget impact analysis (BIA) was performed based on the governmental perspective. Results: Semi-annual ultrasonography (US) and semi-annual ultrasonography plus alpha-fetoprotein (US plus AFP) as the first screening for HCC surveillance would be cost-effective options at the willingness to pay (WTP) threshold of 160,000 THB per QALY gained compared with no surveillance program (ICER=118,796 and ICER=123,451 THB/QALY), respectively. The semi-annual US plus AFP yielded more net monetary benefit, but caused a substantially higher budget (237 to 502 million THB) than semi-annual US (81 to 201 million THB) during the next ten fiscal years. Conclusions: Our results suggested that a semi-annual US program should be used as the first screening for HCC surveillance and included in the benefit package of Thai health insurance schemes for both chronic hepatitis B males and females aged between 40-50 years. In addition, policy makers considered the program could be feasible, but additional evidence is needed to support the whole prevention system before the implementation of a strategic plan.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.509-516
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• 2020

Since the 1960s, many rivers have been polluted and destroyed due to river repair projects for economic development and the covering of small rivers due to urbanization. Many studies have analyzed rivers using measured river topographic factors, but surveying is not easy when the flow rate changes rapidly, such as during a flood. In addition, the previous research has been mainly about the cross section of a river, so information on the longitudinal profile is insufficient. This research used informational entropy theory to obtain an equation that can calculate the average river slope, river slope, and river longitudinal elevation for a river basin in real time. The applicability was analyzed through comparison with measured data of a river's characteristic factors obtained from a river plan. The parameters were calculated using informational entropy theory, nonlinear regression analysis, and actual data. The longitudinal elevation entropy equation for each stream was then calculated, and so was the average river slope. All of the values were over 0.96, so it seems that reliable results can be obtained when calculating river characteristic factors.

• School Mathematics
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.603-617
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• 2013

The major purpose of this article is to examine what kind of gap exists between mathematically gifted students' probability knowledge and the reality actually applying that knowledge and then analyze the cause of the gap. To attain the goal, 23 elementary mathematically gifted students at the highest level from G region were provided with problem situations internalizing a probability and expectation, and the problems are in series in which conditions change one by one. The study task is in a gaming situation where there can be the most reasonable answer mathematically, but the choice may differ by how much they consider a certain condition. To collect data, the students' individual worksheets are collected, and all the class procedures are recorded with a camcorder, and the researcher writes a class observation report. The biggest reason why the students do not make a decision solely based on their own mathematical knowledge is because of 'impracticality', one of the properties of probability, that in reality, all things are not realized according to the mathematical calculation and are impossible to be anticipated and also their own psychological disposition to 'avoid loss' about their entry fee paid. In order to provide desirable probability education, we should not be limited to having learners master probability knowledge included in the textbook by solving the problems based on algorithmic knowledge but provide them with plenty of experience to apply probabilistic inference with which they should make their own choice in diverse situations having context.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.517-524
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• 2014

The ultimate goal of seismic design is to reduce the probable losses or damages occurred during an expected earthquake event. To achieve this goal, this study represents a procedure that can estimate annual loss probability of a structure damaged by strong ground motion. First of all, probabilistic seismic performance assessment should be performed using seismic fragility analyses that are presented by a cumulative distribution function of the probability in each exceedance structural damage state. A seismic hazard curve is then derived from an annual frequency of exccedance per each ground motion intensity. An annual loss probability function is combined with seismic fragility analysis results and seismic hazard curves. In this paper, annual loss probabilities are estimated by the structural fragility curve of steel moment-resisting frames(SMRFs) in San Francisco Bay, USA, and are compared with loss estimation results obtained from the HAZUS methodology. It is investigated from the comparison that seismic losses of the SMRFs calculated from the HAZUS method are conservatively estimated. The procedure presented in this study could be effectively used for future studies related with structural seismic performance assessment and annual loss probability estimation.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.1025-1037
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• 2020

This study attempted to evaluate the spatial characteristics and applicability of the predicted ensemble rainfall data used for heavy rain alarms. Limited area ENsemble prediction System (LENS) has 13 rainfall ensemble members, so it is possible to use a probabilistic method in issuing heavy rain warnings. However, the accessibility of LENS data is very low, so studies on the applicability of rainfall prediction data are insufficient. In this study, the evaluation index was calculated by comparing one point value and the area average value with the observed value according to the heavy rain warning system used for each administrative district. In addition, the accuracy of each ensemble member according to the LENS issuance time was evaluated. LENS showed the uncertainty of over or under prediction by member. Area-based prediction showed higher predictability than point-based prediction. In addition, the LENS data that predicts the upcoming 72-hour rainfall showed good predictive performance for rainfall events that may have an impact on a water disaster. In the future, the predicted rainfall data from LENS are expected to be used as basic data to prepare for floods in administrative districts or watersheds.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.110-118
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• 2007

For deciding the owner's budget of the building construction in the predesign stage, the probabilistic methodologies for estimating the cost are often studied, however these parameter-based conceptual estimating methodology has limitation of applying it to the practical business because it hardly can link the design decision-making and the cost estimating and control. Besides if the result of detail estimating after detail design is over the budget, locally and arbitrarily control the level of interior design and fix the design. This research proposed the prototype-based cost estimating model for building interior construction which leads to estimate the interior cost easily linking with design decision-making and supports to evaluate the design alternatives in the schematic design and the design development stage for office buildings. The model divides the building on the design process by Element Breakdown Structure and presents the design alternative by selecting the elements of each room from the database accumulated the historical office buildings' prototypes and estimates the cost. The 2 case studies presented to validate the effectiveness of as the linking tool integrating the design and construction data and applicability to the practical design on the presented prototype-based model.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.107-120
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• 2003

Over the decades, a lot of studies have dealt with the traffic characteristics and phenomena at a merging area. However, relatively few analytical techniques have been developed to evaluate the traffic flow at the area and, especially, the ramp merging capacity has rarely been. This study focused on the merging behaviors that were characterized by the relationship between the shoulder lane flow and the on-ramp flow, and modeled these behaviors to determine ramp merge capacity by using gap acceptance theory. In the process of building the model, both an ideal mergence and a forced mergence were considered when ramp-merging vehicles entered the gap provided by the flow of the shoulder lane. In addition, the model for the critical gap was proposed because the critical gap was the most influential factor to determine merging capacity in the developed models. The developed models showed that the merging capacity value was on the increase as the critical gap decreased and the shoulder lane volume increased. This study has a meaning of modeling the merging behaviors including the forced merging type to determine ramp merging capacity more precisely. The findings of this study would help analyze traffic phenomena and understand traffic behaviors at a merging area, and might be applicable to decide the primary parameters of on-ramp control by considering the effects of ramp merging flow.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.724-731
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• 2016

As the structural damage caused by earthquakes has been gradually increasing, estimating the seismic fragility of structures has become essential for earthquake preparation. Seismic fragility curves are widely used as a probabilistic indicator of structural safety against earthquakes, and many researchers have made efforts to develop them in a more accurate and effective manner. However, most of the previous research studies used simplified 2D analytical models when deriving fragility curves, mainly to reduce the numerical simulation time; however, in many cases 2D models are inadequate to accurately evaluate the seismic behavior of a structure and its seismic vulnerability. Thus, this study provides a way to derive more accurate, but still effective, seismic fragility curves by using 3D analytical models. In this method, the reliability analysis software, FERUM, is integrated with the structural analysis software, ZEUS-NL, enabling the automatic exchange of data between these two software packages, and the first order reliability method (FORM), which is not a sampling-based method, is utilized to calculate the structural failure probabilities. These tools make it possible to conduct structural reliability analyses effectively even with 3D models. By using the proposed method, this study conducted a seismic vulnerability assessment of RC frame structures with their 3D analytical models.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.747-754
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• 2021

Purpose: Seismic safety evaluation of a curved bridge must be performed since the curved bridges exhibit the complex behavior rather than the straight bridges, due to geometrical characteristics. In order to conduct the probabilistic seismic assessment of the curved bridge, Seismic fragility evaluation was performed using the uncertainty of the steel material properties of a curved bridge girde, in this study. Method: The finite element (FE) model using ABAQUS platform of the curved bridge girder was constructed, and the statistical parameters of steel materials presented in previous studies were used. 100 steel material models were sampled using the Latin Hypercube Sampling method. As an input ground motion in this study, seismic fragility evaluation was performed by the normalized scale of the Gyeongju earthquake to 0.2g, 0.5g, 0.8g, 1.2g, and 1.5g. Result: As a result of the seismic fragility evaluation of the curved girder, it was found that there was no failure up to 0.03g corresponding to the limit state of allowable stress design, but the failure was started from 0.11g associated with using limit state design. Conclusion: In this study, seismic fragility evaluation was performed considering steel materials uncertainties. Further it must be considered the seismic fragility of the curved bridge using both the uncertainties of input motions and material properties.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2534-2546
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• 2021

Nuclear emergency preparedness and response is an essential part to ensure the safety of nuclear power plant (NPP). Key support technologies of nuclear emergency decision-making usually consist of accident diagnosis, source term estimation, accident consequence assessment, and protective action recommendation. Source term estimation is almost the most difficult part among them. For example, bad communication, incomplete information, as well as complicated accident scenario make it hard to determine the reactor status and estimate the source term timely in the Fukushima accident. Subsequently, it leads to the hard decision on how to take appropriate emergency response actions. Hence, this paper aims to develop a method for rapid source term estimation to support nuclear emergency decision making in pressurized water reactor NPP. The method aims to make our knowledge on NPP provide better support nuclear emergency. Firstly, this paper studies how to build a Bayesian network model for the NPP based on professional knowledge and engineering knowledge. This paper presents a method transforming the PRA model (event trees and fault trees) into a corresponding Bayesian network model. To solve the problem that some physical phenomena which are modeled as pivotal events in level 2 PRA, cannot find sensors associated directly with their occurrence, a weighted assignment approach based on expert assessment is proposed in this paper. Secondly, the monitoring data of NPP are provided to the Bayesian network model, the real-time status of pivotal events and initiating events can be determined based on the junction tree algorithm. Thirdly, since PRA knowledge can link the accident sequences to the possible release categories, the proposed method is capable to find the most likely release category for the candidate accidents scenarios, namely the source term. The probabilities of possible accident sequences and the source term are calculated. Finally, the prototype software is checked against several sets of accident scenario data which are generated by the simulator of AP1000-NPP, including large loss of coolant accident, loss of main feedwater, main steam line break, and steam generator tube rupture. The results show that the proposed method for rapid source term estimation under nuclear emergency decision making is promising.