• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.299-307
• /
• 2003

There have been many studies on speaker normalization which aims to minimize the effects of speaker's vocal tract length on the recognition performance of the speaker independent speech recognition system. In this paper, we propose a simple vector quantizer based linear warping speaker normalization method based on the observation that the vector quantizer can be successfully used for speaker verification. For this purpose, we firstly generate an optimal codebook which will be used as the basis of the speaker normalization, and then the warping factor of the unknown speaker will be extracted by comparing the feature vectors and the codebook. Finally, the extracted warping factor is used to linearly warp the Mel scale filter bank adopted in the course of MFCC calculation. To test the performance of the proposed method, a series of recognition experiments are conducted on discrete HMM with thirteen mono-syllabic Korean number utterances. The results showed that about 29% of word error rate can be reduced, and that the proposed warping factor extraction method is useful due to its simplicity compared to other line search warping methods.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.267-277
• /
• 2017

Base-isolation is now being adopted as a retrofitting strategy to improve seismic behaviour of reinforced concrete (r.c.) framed structures subjected to far-fault earthquakes. However, the increase in deformability of a base-isolated framed building may lead to amplification in the structural response under the long-duration horizontal pulses of high-magnitude near-fault earthquakes, which can become critical once the strength level of a fire-weakened r.c. superstructure is reduced. The aim of the present work is to investigate the nonlinear seismic response of fire-damaged r.c. framed structures retrofitted by base-isolation. For this purpose, a five-storey r.c. framed building primarily designed (as fixed-base) in compliance with a former Italian seismic code for a medium-risk zone, is to be retrofitted by the insertion of elastomeric bearings to meet the requirements of the current Italian code in a high-risk seismic zone. The nonlinear seismic response of the original (fixed-base) and retrofitted (base-isolated) test structures in a no fire situation are compared with those in the event of fire in the superstructure, where parametric temperature-time curves are defined at the first level, the first two and the upper levels. A lumped plasticity model describes the inelastic behaviour of the fire-damaged r.c. frame members, while a nonlinear force-displacement law is adopted for the elastomeric bearings. The average root-mean-square deviation of the observed spectrum from the target design spectrum together with a suitable intensity measure are chosen to select and scale near- and far-fault earthquakes on the basis of the design hypotheses adopted.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.117-124
• /
• 2016

Intrafractional motion of patients, such as respiratory motion during radiation treatment, is an important issue in image-guided radiotherapy. The accuracy of the radiation treatment decreases as the motion range increases. We developed a control system for a robotic patient immobilization system that enables to reduce the range of tumor motion by compensating the tumor motion. Fusion technology, combining robotics and mechatronics, was developed and applied in this study. First, a small-sized prototype was established for use with an industrial miniature robot. The patient immobilization system consisted of an optical tracking system, a robotic couch, a robot controller, and a control program for managing the system components. A multi speed and position control mechanism with three degrees of freedom was designed. The parameters for operating the control system, such as the coordinate transformation parameters and calibration parameters, were measured and evaluated for a prototype device. After developing the control system using the prototype device, a feasibility test on a full-scale patient immobilization system was performed, using a large industrial robot and couch. The performances of both the prototype device and the realistic device were evaluated using a respiratory motion phantom, for several patterns of respiratory motion. For all patterns of motion, the root mean squared error of the corresponding detected motion trajectories were reduced by more than 40%. The proposed system improves the accuracy of the radiation dose delivered to the target and reduces the unwanted irradiation of normal tissue.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.15-28
• /
• 2017

The adsorptive removal properties of synthetic A4 zeolite were investigated against a total of 16 offensive odors consisting of reduced sulfur compounds (RSCs), nitrogenous compounds (NCs), volatile fatty acids (VFAs), and phenols/indoles (PnI). Removal of these odors was measured using a laboratory-scale impinger-based adsorption setup containing 25 g of the zeolite bed (flow rate of $100mL\;min^{-1}$). The high est and lowest breakthrough (%) values were shown for PnIs and RSCs, respectively, and the maximum and minimum adsorption capacity (${\mu}g\;g^{-1}$) of the zeolite was observed for the RSCs (range of 0.77-3.4) and PnIs (0.06-0.104), respectively. As a result of sorptive removal by zeolite, a reduction in odor strength, measured as odor intensity (OI), was recorded from the minimum of approximately 0.7 OI units (indole [from 2.4 to 1.6]), skatole [2.2 to 1.4], and p-cresol [5.1 to 4.4]) to the maximum of approximately 4 OI units (methanethiol [11.4 to 7.5], n-valeric acid [10.4 to 6.5], i-butyric acid [7.9 to 4.4], and propionic acid [7.2 to 3.7]). Likewise, when removal was examined in terms of odor activity value (OAV), the extent of reduction was significant (i.e., 1000-fold) in the increasing order of amy acetate, i-butyric acid, phenol, propionic acid, and ammonia.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.81-89
• /
• 2017

Purpose - Universities are fostering the development of closer relationships with students due to the increase in competition among universities. Universities are placing greater emphasis on relationship quality as a source of competitive advantage. Thus relationship marketing has become an important strategic theme in higher education. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of faculty trustworthiness on relationship building process in the context of relationship marketing. For this study, faculty trustworthiness is divided into competence, benevolence, and integrity. And relationship development variables are composed of satisfaction, commitment, positive WOM, and negative WOM. Research design, data, and methodology - To empirically evaluate the proposed research model, this study was carried out using the survey with undergraduate students who were taking business courses. The 270 questionnaires were asked, and a total of 245 respondents provided complete and usable data. The sample consisted of 143 males(58.4%) and 102 females(41.6%). The variables of proposed model were measured on a 5-point Likert scale. The structural equation modeling analysis was used for the hypothesis test. Results - The overall fit of the model was acceptable(χ²=579.7(df=264, P=0.00), GFI=0.935, NFI=0.949, CFI=0.956, RMR=0.040). The results supported 6 hypotheses except for

and

. First, competence and benevolence were positively related to satisfaction, while integrity was not significant. A key result of the analysis was that benevolence has the strongest effect on satisfaction. Second, satisfaction had a positive impact on commitment and positive WOM but didn't significantly affect negative WOM. Third, commitment significantly enhanced positive WOM and reduced negative WOM. Conclusions - This study emphasizes the role of faculty trustworthiness based on a long-term relationship. And the findings suggest that the dimensions of faculty trustworthiness have differing effects on satisfaction. In particular, benevolence is found to be the most important factor. This study provides university managers with the following managerial implications. In order to increase the satisfaction of the students, university managers should focus on the faculty's competence and benevolence. Also, it is important that university managers take a relationship approach to maximize WOM effect.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.11 no.6
• /
• pp.213-217
• /
• 2012

The amount of spent fuel from nuclear power plants has been increasing. An effective management plan of the spent fuel becomes a critical issue, because the storage capacity of each plant will reach its storage limit in a few years. The volume of high toxic spent fuel can be reduced through a fuel processing. Advanced Fuel Cycle (AFC) system is considered to be one of the options to reduce the toxicity and volume of the spent fuel. It is necessary to set up a test facility to demonstrate the feasibility of the process at the engineering scale. The objective of the work is a development of the safety evaluation technology for the AFC system. The evaluation technology of the AFC structural integrity and processes were surveyed and reviewed. Key evaluation parameters for the main processes such as electrolytic reduction, electrorefining, and electrowinning were obtained. The survey results may be used for the establishment of the AFC regulatory licensing procedure. The establishment of the licensing criteria minimizes the trials and errors of the AFC facility design. Issues taken from the survey on the regulatory procedure and design safety features for the AFC facility provide a chance to resolve potential issues in advance.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.49-58
• /
• 2003

The linear motor has not only no backlash and less friction, resulting in very high accuracy, but also mechanical simplicity, higher reliability, and longer lifetime. In this study, a large-capacity hybrid mass damper using linear motor principle has been developed to suppress vibration of large structures. It is designated linear motor damper in this paper. The LMD has been designed to be able to move the auxiliary damper mass of 155kg up to $\pm$250mm stroke. A series of performance tests for LMD control system with $H_{winfty}$ robust controller have been carried out on the full-scale steel frame structure. Through the performance tests, it is confirmed that vibration response levels are reduced down 10dB for the first and second modes of the test structure.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.330-343
• /
• 2016

This paper presents results of an experimental investigation of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a flexibly mounted and rigid cylinder with two-degrees-of-freedom with respect to varying ratio of in-line natural frequency to cross-flow natural frequency, $f^*$, at a fixed low mass ratio. Combined in-line and cross-flow motion was observed in a sub-critical Reynolds number range. Three-dimensional displacement meter and tension meter were used to measure dynamic responses of the model. To validate the results and the experiment system, x and y response amplitudes and ratio of oscillation frequency to cross-flow natural frequency were compared with other experimental results. It has been found that the higher harmonics, such as third and more vibration components, can occur on a certain part of steel catenary riser under a condition of dual resonance mode. In the present work, however, due to the limitation of a size of circulating water channel, the whole test of a whole configuration of the riser at an adequate scale for VIV phenomenon was not able to be conducted. Instead, we have modeled a rigid cylinder and assumed that the cylinder is a part of steel catenary riser where the higher harmonic motions could occur. Through the experiment, we have found that even though the cylinder was assumed to be rigid, the occurrence of the higher harmonic motions was observed in a small reduced velocity ($V_r$) range, where the influence of the in-line response is relatively large. The transition of the vortex shedding mode from one to another was examined by using time history of x and y directional displacement over all experimental cases. We also observed the influence of in-line restoring force power spectral density with $f^*$.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.2126-2134
• /
• 2020

Background: Therapeutic climbing training, which originated in Germany, is a wall-hanging rock climbing-based therapy to increase the body's coordination through movement of the upper and lower limbs against gravity. However, there are no studies examining the effectiveness of therapeutic climbing training to treat balance and gait ability in patients with chronic stroke. Objectives: To investigate therapeutic climbing training program on balance and gait in patients with chronic stroke. Design: Pretest-posttest control group design. Methods: Fourteen patients with chronic hemiplegic stroke participated. Participants were randomized into the therapeutic climbing training group (TCTG, n=7) and the standard rehabilitation program group (SRPG, n=7) group. All subjects participated in the same standard rehabilitation program consisting of 60 minutes 5 times a week for 6 weeks. TCTG participated additionally in the therapeutic climbing program consisting of 30 minutes sessions 3 times a week for the same 6 weeks. Berg balance scale (BBS), Gaitview Measure, Timed up and go test (TUG) were measured. Results: In the TCTG, revealed a statistical difference in BBS between the groups; in the difference of plantar pressure ratio in the static standing position revealed a statistical difference between the groups after training; the balance ability in the one-leg standing tests increased significantly; the time in TUG decreased significantly after training in both groups; The changes in the difference of dynamic plantar pressure ratio were reduced significantly in the TCTG. Conclusion: Therapeutic climbing training contribute to improve balance and walking function in patients with chronic stroke.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2016

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy of pregabalin for patients with primary burning mouth syndrome (BMS) who are unresponsive to topical clonazepam therapy. Methods: By searching the clinical electronic records from the Department of Oral Medicine, Pusan National University Dental Hospital from 2012 to 2014, a retrospective analysis was performed on patients with primary BMS who were treated with topical clonazepam therapy during this period. Of the patients who were unresponsive to this therapy, 19 patients who were subsequently treated with pregabalin were included in the study. A pain assessment was performed using the 11-point numerical rating scale at first visit, following topical clonazepam therapy, and again after pregabalin therapy. The treatment outcomes were statistically analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results: Following additional pregabalin administration, the mean pain score was slightly reduced. A total of 7 patients reported a marked response (>50% pain reduction), and 3 patients reported a slight reduction in pain. Pain reduction following pregabalin therapy was statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusions: Pregabalin has a slight therapeutic effect on patients with primary BMS. Therefore, we recommend pregabalin as an alternative drug for BMS patients who are unresponsive to topical clonazepam therapy.