• Title/Summary/Keyword: Simulation results

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Exploring Ways to Improve the Predictability of Flowering Time and Potential Yield of Soybean in the Crop Model Simulation (작물모형의 생물계절 및 잠재수량 예측력 개선 방법 탐색: I. 유전 모수 정보 향상으로 콩의 개화시기 및 잠재수량 예측력 향상이 가능한가?)

  • Chung, Uran;Shin, Pyeong;Seo, Myung-Chul
    • Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.203-214
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    • 2017
  • There are two references of genetic information in Korean soybean cultivar. This study suggested that the new seven genetic information to supplement the uncertainty on prediction of potential yield of two references in soybean, and assessed the availability of two references and seven genetic information for future research. We carried out evaluate the prediction on flowering time and potential yield of the two references of genetic parameters and the new seven genetic parameters (New1~New7); the new seven genetic parameters were calibrated in Jinju, Suwon, Chuncheon during 2003-2006. As a result, in the individual and regional combination genetic parameters, the statistical indicators of the genetic parameters of the each site or the genetic parameters of the participating stations showed improved results, but did not significant. In Daegu, Miryang, and Jeonju, the predictability on flowering time of genetic parameters of New7 was not improved than that of two references. However, the genetic parameters of New7 showed improvement of predictability on potential yield. No predictability on flowering time of genetic parameters of two references as having the coefficient of determination ($R^2$) on flowering time respectively, at 0.00 and 0.01, but the predictability of genetic parameter of New7 was improved as $R^2$ on flowering time of New7 was 0.31 in Miryang. On the other hand, $R^2$ on potential yield of genetic parameters of two references were respectively 0.66 and 0.41, but no predictability on potential yield of genetic parameter of New7 as $R^2$ of New7 showed 0.00 in Jeonju. However, it is expected that the regional combination genetic parameters with the good evaluation can be utilized to predict the flowering timing and potential yields of other regions. Although it is necessary to analyze further whether or not the input data is uncertain.

Post Occupancy Evaluation of the Forest Experience Centers for Children (유아숲체험장의 이용후 평가)

  • Kang, Tae-Sun;Lee, Myung-Woo;Jeong, Moon-Sun
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.45 no.2
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    • pp.109-123
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    • 2017
  • Due to the positive effect of forest space for child development, the creation and operation of forest activity space of various organizations is increasing in quantity; however, the research on practical space design and management program is insufficient. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the space and management programs of the forest experience centers through the post-occupancy evaluation of teachers and preschoolers participating in forest activities. To do this, we analyzed the selected twelve sites through field survey, class observation, and interviews with forest education specialists, and then surveyed 115 forest education experts and childcare teachers for importance, performance, overall satisfaction, and space preference. In addition, we accessed overall satisfaction and space preference of twenty-nine preschoolers through interviews, photo-simulation, and questionnaires. As a result, the importance and performance of management program area was rated higher than the spatial characteristics area. In terms of group comparison, the group with active structured program rated two areas higher than the groups with free play. Preschoolers with structured programs preferred facility space, but preschoolers with free play preferred nature. Two preschooler groups rated forest activity as satisfactory. Based on the analysis results: 1) The composition of the forest activity space should ensure accessibility, safety, diversity of diversity, water space, connect to the forest road, and secure various terrains, trees, and natural materials; 2) The management program should ensure that forest activity programs have the proportional balance of structural programs and free play; also. management programs should plan for sufficient free playtime and a high share of play in the forest; and 3) Ensure the role and expertise of forestry specialists and run a program to increase the autonomy of preschoolers.

Effectiveness Analysis for Traffic and Pedestrian Volumes of Pedestrian Pushbutton Signal (차량 및 보행자 교통량에 따른 보행자 작동신호기의 효과 분석)

  • Cho, Han-Seon;Park, Ji-Hyung;Noh, Jung-Hyun
    • International Journal of Highway Engineering
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    • v.9 no.4
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    • pp.33-43
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    • 2007
  • Because usually signal controllers on the crosswalks of mid-block provide pedestrian signals every cycle based on the fixed signal plan, pedestrian signals are provided even when there is no pedestrian demand. Consequently, signal is operated inefficiently and this may cause drivels to experience useless delay or violate the signal. Even though recently pushbuttons have been installed to improve the efficiency of pedestrian signal control in the crosswalks of mid-block and the pedestrian safety. they are not spread out national-wide in Korea because of the cost of the pushbutton equipments and the lack of an acknowledgement of the efficiency of the pushbutton. In this study, the effectiveness of the pushbutton on saving the vehicle delay was verified through before and after study in 4 study sites using a traffic micro-simulation model, VISSIM. To evaluate the viability of the pushbutton, a benefit/cost analysis was also performed for 4 study sites. It was found that B/C ratio of all of 4 study sites was greater than 1. The sensitivity analysis for the traffic volume and pedestrian volume were performed to identify the impact of the both volume on the operation of pushbutton. And, a benefit/cost analysis was performed for all scenarios. It was found that when the pedestrian volume is greater than 90ped/h, the pedestrian signal was operated same as the fixed signal plan. That is, there is no benefit of pushbutton at all once the pedestrian volume is greater than 90ped/h. When the pedestrian volume is equal to or less than 90ped/h and the traffic volume is greater than 2,500veh/h, B/C ratio is greater than 1. Also it was found that as traffic volume increases and pedestrian volume decreases, the benefit increases. In this study, the criteria for installation of pushbutton on the crosswalks of mid-block are developed through the sensitivity analysis and benefit/cost analysis. The results of this study may be used as a criteria for expansion of pushbutton system.

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The Role of Air-Vacuum Cushion Device in Patients with Rectal Cancer in Radiation Therapy (직장암 환자에서 방사선치료시 Air-vacuum Cushion의 유용성)

  • Kim Ki-Hwan;Cho Moon-June;Kang No-Hyun;Kim Dong-Wuk;Kim Jun-Sang;Jang Ji-Young;Kim Jae-Sung
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.287-292
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    • 2001
  • Prupose : We analyzed setup errors induced by using air-vacuum cushion as immobilization device in patients with rectal cancer. Materials and methods : We had treated the twenty patients with rectal cancer by 6 MV, 10 MV X-ray from Aug. 1998 to Aug. 1999 at Chungnam National University Hospital. All patients were treated at prone position. They were separated to two groups, control group, 10 patients using styrofoam, and test group, 10 patients using styrofoam and air-vacuum cushion. We measured errors of posterior field for x, y axis and lateral field for z, y axis with simulation film and EPID image using a matching technique. Results : In control group, the mean displacement values of pelvic bone landmark for x axis and y axis were 0.02 mm. 0.78 mm, respectively and the standard deviations of systematic error were 2.13 mm, 2.40 mm, respectively and the standard deviation of random error were 1.46 mm. 1.51 mm, respectively. In test group, the mean displacement values of x axis and y axis were -0.33 mm. 0.81 mm, respectively and the standard deviations of systematic error were 1.71 mm, 3.08 mm, respectively and the standard deviations of random errors were 1.40 mm. 1.88 mm, respectively. The mean displacement values of z axis and y axis were 2.98 mm. 0.74 mm, respectively and the standard deviations of systematic error were 4.75 mm, 2.65 mm, respectively and standard deviations of random error were 2.69 mm. 1.86 mm, respectively. The statistical difference of field size by using air vacuum cushion between two groups in posterior direction and lateral direction was not shown. Conclusion : We think that use of air-vacuum cushion may not be an advantage for improving setup accuracy in rectal cancer patients.

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A Study of a Non-commercial 3D Planning System, Plunc for Clinical Applicability (비 상업용 3차원 치료계획시스템인 Plunc의 임상적용 가능성에 대한 연구)

  • Cho, Byung-Chul;Oh, Do-Hoon;Bae, Hoon-Sik
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.71-79
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    • 1998
  • Purpose : The objective of this study is to introduce our installation of a non-commercial 3D Planning system, Plunc and confirm it's clinical applicability in various treatment situations. Materials and Methods : We obtained source codes of Plunc, offered by University of North Carolina and installed them on a Pentium Pro 200MHz (128MB RAM, Millenium VGA) with Linux operating system. To examine accuracy of dose distributions calculated by Plunc, we input beam data of 6MV Photon of our linear accelerator(Siemens MXE 6740) including tissue-maximum ratio, scatter-maximum ratio, attenuation coefficients and shapes of wedge filters. After then, we compared values of dose distributions(Percent depth dose; PDD, dose profiles with and without wedge filters, oblique incident beam, and dose distributions under air-gap) calculated by Plunc with measured values. Results : Plunc operated in almost real time except spending about 10 seconds in full volume dose distribution and dose-volume histogram(DVH) on the PC described above. As compared with measurements for irradiations of 90-cm 550 and 10-cm depth isocenter, the PDD curves calculated by Plunc did not exceed $1\%$ of inaccuracies except buildup region. For dose profiles with and without wedge filter, the calculated ones are accurate within $2\%$ except low-dose region outside irradiations where Plunc showed $5\%$ of dose reduction. For the oblique incident beam, it showed a good agreement except low dose region below $30\%$ of isocenter dose. In the case of dose distribution under air-gap, there was $5\%$ errors of the central-axis dose. Conclusion : By comparing photon dose calculations using the Plunc with measurements, we confirmed that Plunc showed acceptable accuracies about $2-5\%$ in typical treatment situations which was comparable to commercial planning systems using correction-based a1gorithms. Plunc does not have a function for electron beam planning up to the present. However, it is possible to implement electron dose calculation modules or more accurate photon dose calculation into the Plunc system. Plunc is shown to be useful to clear many limitations of 2D planning systems in clinics where a commercial 3D planning system is not available.

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Development of Dose Planning System for Brachytherapy with High Dose Rate Using Ir-192 Source (고선량률 강내조사선원을 이용한 근접조사선량계획전산화 개발)

  • Choi Tae Jin;Yei Ji Won;Kim Jin Hee;Kim OK;Lee Ho Joon;Han Hyun Soo
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.283-293
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    • 2002
  • Purpose : A PC based brachytherapy planning system was developed to display dose distributions on simulation images by 2D isodose curve including the dose profiles, dose-volume histogram and 30 dose distributions. Materials and Methods : Brachytherapy dose planning software was developed especially for the Ir-192 source, which had been developed by KAERI as a substitute for the Co-60 source. The dose computation was achieved by searching for a pre-computed dose matrix which was tabulated as a function of radial and axial distance from a source. In the computation process, the effects of the tissue scattering correction factor and anisotropic dose distributions were included. The computed dose distributions were displayed in 2D film image including the profile dose, 3D isodose curves with wire frame forms and dosevolume histogram. Results : The brachytherapy dose plan was initiated by obtaining source positions on the principal plane of the source axis. The dose distributions in tissue were computed on a $200\times200\;(mm^2)$ plane on which the source axis was located at the center of the plane. The point doses along the longitudinal axis of the source were $4.5\~9.0\%$ smaller than those on the radial axis of the plane, due to the anisotropy created by the cylindrical shape of the source. When compared to manual calculation, the point doses showed $1\~5\%$ discrepancies from the benchmarking plan. The 2D dose distributions of different planes were matched to the same administered isodose level in order to analyze the shape of the optimized dose level. The accumulated dose-volume histogram, displayed as a function of the percentage volume of administered minimum dose level, was used to guide the volume analysis. Conclusion : This study evaluated the developed computerized dose planning system of brachytherapy. The dose distribution was displayed on the coronal, sagittal and axial planes with the dose histogram. The accumulated DVH and 3D dose distributions provided by the developed system may be useful tools for dose analysis in comparison with orthogonal dose planning.

A Stochastic Study for the Emergency Treatment of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Korea (일산화탄소중독(一酸化炭素中毒)의 진료대책(診療對策) 수립(樹立)을 위한 추계학적(推計學的) 연구(硏究))

  • Kim, Yong-Ik;Yun, Dork-Ro;Shin, Young-Soo
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.135-152
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    • 1983
  • Emergency medical service is an important part of the health care delivery system, and the optimal allocation of resources and their efficient utilization are essentially demanded. Since these conditions are the prerequisite to prompt treatment which, in turn, will be crucial for life saving and in reducing the undesirable sequelae of the event. This study, taking the hyperbaric chamber for carbon monoxide poisoning as an example, is to develop a stochastic approach for solving the problems of optimal allocation of such emergency medical facility in Korea. The hyperbaric chamber, in Korea, is used almost exclusively for the treatment of acute carbon monoxide poisoning, most of which occur at home, since the coal briquette is used as domestic fuel by 69.6 per cent of the Korean population. The annual incidence rate of the comatous and fatal carbon monoxide poisoning is estimated at 45.5 per 10,000 of coal briquette-using population. It offers a serious public health problem and occupies a large portion of the emergency outpatients, especially in the winter season. The requirement of hyperbaric chambers can be calculated by setting the level of the annual queueing rate, which is here defined as the proportion of the annual number of the queued patients among the annual number of the total patients. The rate is determined by the size of the coal briquette-using population which generate a certain number of carbon monoxide poisoning patients in terms of the annual incidence rate, and the number of hyperbaric chambers per hospital to which the patients are sent, assuming that there is no referral of the patients among hospitals. The queueing occurs due to the conflicting events of the 'arrival' of the patients and the 'service' of the hyperbaric chambers. Here, we can assume that the length of the service time of hyperbaric chambers is fixed at sixty minutes, and the service discipline is based on 'first come, first served'. The arrival pattern of the carbon monoxide poisoning is relatively unique, because it usually occurs while the people are in bed. Diurnal variation of the carbon monoxide poisoning can hardly be formulated mathematically, so empirical cumulative distribution of the probability of the hourly arrival of the patients was used for Monte Carlo simulation to calculate the probability of queueing by the number of the patients per day, for the cases of one, two or three hyperbaric chambers assumed to be available per hospital. Incidence of the carbon monoxide poisoning also has strong seasonal variation, because of the four distinctive seasons in Korea. So the number of the patients per day could not be assumed to be distributed according to the Poisson distribution. Testing the fitness of various distributions of rare event, it turned out to be that the daily distribution of the carbon monoxide poisoning fits well to the Polya-Eggenberger distribution. With this model, we could forecast the number of the poisonings per day by the size of the coal-briquette using population. By combining the probability of queueing by the number of patients per day, and the probability of the number of patients per day in a year, we can estimate the number of the queued patients and the number of the patients in a year by the number of hyperbaric chamber per hospital and by the size of coal briquette-using population. Setting 5 per cent as the annual queueing rate, the required number of hyperbaric chambers was calculated for each province and for the whole country, in the cases of 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent of the treatment rate which stand for the rate of the patients treated by hyperbaric chamber among the patients who are to be treated. Findings of the study were as follows. 1. Probability of the number of patients per day follows Polya-Eggenberger distribution. $$P(X=\gamma)=\frac{\Pi\limits_{k=1}^\gamma[m+(K-1)\times10.86]}{\gamma!}\times11.86^{-{(\frac{m}{10.86}+\gamma)}}$$ when$${\gamma}=1,2,...,n$$$$P(X=0)=11.86^{-(m/10.86)}$$ when $${\gamma}=0$$ Hourly arrival pattern of the patients turned out to be bimodal, the large peak was observed in $7 : 00{\sim}8 : 00$ a.m., and the small peak in $11 : 00{\sim}12 : 00$ p.m. 2. In the cases of only one or two hyperbaric chambers installed per hospital, the annual queueing rate will be at the level of more than 5 per cent. Only in case of three chambers, however, the rate will reach 5 per cent when the average number of the patients per day is 0.481. 3. According to the results above, a hospital equipped with three hyperbaric chambers will be able to serve 166,485, 83,242, 55,495 and 41,620 of population, when the treatmet rate are 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent. 4. The required number of hyperbaric chambers are estimated at 483, 963, 1,441 and 1,923 when the treatment rate are taken as 25, 50, 75 and 100 per cent. Therefore, the shortage are respectively turned out to be 312, 791. 1,270 and 1,752. The author believes that the methodology developed in this study will also be applicable to the problems of resource allocation for the other kinds of the emergency medical facilities.

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The Effects of Virtual Reality Advertisement on Consumer's Intention to Purchase: Focused on Rational and Emotional Responses (가상현실(Virtual Reality) 광고가 소비자 구매의도에 미치는 영향: 이성적인 반응과 감성적인 반응의 통합)

  • Cha, Jae-Yol;Im, Kun-Shin
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.101-124
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    • 2009
  • According to Wikipedia, virtual reality (VR) is defined as a technology that allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment. Due to a rapid growth in information technology (IT), the cost of virtual reality has been decreasing while the utility of virtual reality advertisements has dramatically increased. Nevertheless, only a few studies have investigated the effects of virtual reality advertisement on consumer behaviors. Therefore, the objective of this study is to empirically examine the effects of virtual reality advertisement. Compared to traditional online advertisements, virtual reality advertisement enables consumers to experience products realistically over the Internet by providing high media richness, interactivity, and telepresence (Suh and Lee, 2005). Advertisements with high media richness facilitate consumers' understanding of advertised products by providing them with a large amount and a high variety of information on the products. Interactivity also provides consumers with a high level of control over the computer-simulated environment in terms of their abilities to adjust the information according to their individual interests and concerns and to be active rather than passive in their engagement with the information (Pimentel and Teixera, 1994). Through high media richness and interactivity, virtual reality advertisements can generate compelling feelings of "telepresence" (Suh and Lee, 2005). Telepresence is a sense of being there in an environment by means of a communication medium (Steuer, 1992). Virtual reality advertisements enable consumers to create a perceptual illusion of being present and highly engaged in a simulated environment, while they are in reality physically present in another place (Biocca, 1997). Based on the characteristics of virtual reality advertisements, a research model has been proposed to explain consumer responses to the virtual reality advertisements. The proposed model includes two dimensions of consumer responses. One dimension is consumers' rational response, which is based on the Information Processing Theory. Based on the Information Processing Theory, product knowledge and perceived risk are selected as antecedents of intention to purchase. The other dimension is emotional response of consumers, which is based on the Attitude-Structure Theory. Based on the Attitude-Structure Theory, arousal, flow, and positive affect are selected as antecedents of intention to purchase. Because it has been criticized to have investigated only one of the two dimensions of consumer response in prior studies, our research model has been built so as to incorporate both dimensions. Based on the Attitude-Structure Theory, we hypothesized the path of consumers' emotional responses to a virtual reality advertisement: (H1) Arousal by the virtual reality advertisement increases flow; (H2) Flow increases positive affect; and (H3) Positive affect increases intension to purchase. In addition, we hypothesized the path of consumers' rational responses to the virtual reality advertisement based on the Information Processing Theory: (H4) Increased product knowledge through the virtual reality advertisement decreases perceived risk; and (H5) Perceived risk decreases intension to purchase. Based on literature of flow, we additionally hypothesized the relationship between flow and product knowledge: (H6) Flow increases product knowledge. To test the hypotheses, we conducted a free simulation experiment [Fromkin and Streufert, 1976] with 300 people. Subjects were asked to use the virtual reality advertisement of a cellular phone on the Internet and then answer questions about the variables. To check whether subjects fully experienced the virtual reality advertisement, they were asked to answer a quiz about the virtual reality advertisement itself. Responses of 26 subjects were dropped because of their incomplete answers. Responses of 274 subjects were used to test the hypotheses. It was found that all of six hypotheses are accepted. In addition, we found that consumers' emotional response has stronger impact on their intention to purchase than their rational response does. This study sheds much light into practical implications for both IS researchers and managers. First of all, while most of previous research has analyzed only one of the customers' rational and emotional responses, we theoretically incorporated and empirically examined both of the two sides. Second, we empirically showed that mediators such as arousal, flow, positive affect, product knowledge, and perceived risk play an important role between virtual reality advertisement and customer's intention to purchase. In addition, the findings of this study can provide a basis of practical strategies for managers. It was found that consumers' emotional response is stronger than their rational response. This result indicates that advertisements using virtual reality should focus on the emotional side, and that virtual reality can be served as an appropriate advertisement tool for fancy products that require their online advertisements to give an impetus to customers' emotion. Finally, even if this study examined the effects of virtual reality advertisement of cellular phone, its findings could be applied to other products that are suited for virtual experience. However, this research has some limitations. We were unable to control different kinds of consumers and different attributes of products on consumers' intention to purchase. It is, therefore, deemed important for future research to control the consumer and product types for more reliable results. In addition to the consumer and product attributes, other variables could affect consumers' intention to purchase. Thus, the future research needs to find ways t control other variables.

Adaptive Lock Escalation in Database Management Systems (데이타베이스 관리 시스템에서의 적응형 로크 상승)

  • Chang, Ji-Woong;Lee, Young-Koo;Whang, Kyu-Young;Yang, Jae-Heon
    • Journal of KIISE:Databases
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    • v.28 no.4
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    • pp.742-757
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    • 2001
  • Since database management systems(DBMSS) have limited lock resources, transactions requesting locks beyond the limit mutt be aborted. In the worst carte, if such transactions are aborted repeatedly, the DBMS can become paralyzed, i.e., transaction execute but cannot commit. Lock escalation is considered a solution to this problem. However, existing lock escalation methods do not provide a complete solution. In this paper, we prognose a new lock escalation method, adaptive lock escalation, that selves most of the problems. First, we propose a general model for lock escalation and present the concept of the unescalatable look, which is the major cause making the transactions to abort. Second, we propose the notions of semi lock escalation, lock blocking, and selective relief as the mechanisms to control the number of unescalatable locks. We then propose the adaptive lock escalation method using these notions. Adaptive lock escalation reduces needless aborts and guarantees that the DBMS is not paralyzed under excessive lock requests. It also allows graceful degradation of performance under those circumstances. Third, through extensive simulation, we show that adaptive lock escalation outperforms existing lock escalation methods. The results show that, compared to the existing methods, adaptive lock escalation reduces the number of aborts and the average response time, and increases the throughput to a great extent. Especially, it is shown that the number of concurrent transactions can be increased more than 16 ~256 fold. The contribution of this paper is significant in that it has formally analysed the role of lock escalation in lock resource management and identified the detailed underlying mechanisms. Existing lock escalation methods rely on users or system administrator to handle the problems of excessive lock requests. In contrast, adaptive lock escalation releases the users of this responsibility by providing graceful degradation and preventing system paralysis through automatic control of unescalatable locks Thus adaptive lock escalation can contribute to developing self-tuning: DBMSS that draw a lot of attention these days.

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Recent Progress in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Research: A Review of Papers Published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering in 2006 (공기조화, 냉동 분야의 최근 연구 동향: 2006년 학회지 논문에 대한 종합적 고찰)

  • Han, Hwa-Taik;Shin, Dong-Sin;Choi, Chang-Ho;Lee, Dae-Young;Kim, Seo-Young;Kwon, Yong-Il
    • Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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    • v.20 no.6
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    • pp.427-446
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    • 2008
  • A review on the papers published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering in 2006 has been accomplished. Focus has been put on current status of research in the aspect of heating, cooling, ventilation, sanitation and building environments. The conclusions are as follows. (1) The research trends of fluid engineering have been surveyed as groups of general fluid flow, fluid machinery and piping, etc. New research topics include micro heat exchanger and siphon cooling device using nano-fluid. Traditional CFD and flow visualization methods were still popular and widely used in research and development. Studies about diffusers and compressors were performed in fluid machinery. Characteristics of flow and heat transfer and piping optimization were studied in piping systems. (2) The papers on heat transfer have been categorized into heat transfer characteristics, heat exchangers, heat pipes, and two-phase heat transfer. The topics on heat transfer characteristics in general include thermal transport in a cryo-chamber, a LCD panel, a dryer, and heat generating electronics. Heat exchangers investigated include pin-tube type, plate type, ventilation air-to-air type, and heat transfer enhancing tubes. The research on a reversible loop heat pipe, the influence of NCG charging mass on heat transport capacity, and the chilling start-up characteristics in a heat pipe were reported. In two-phase heat transfer area, the studies on frost growth, ice slurry formation and liquid spray cooling were presented. The studies on the boiling of R-290 and the application of carbon nanotubes to enhance boiling were noticeable in this research area. (3) Many studies on refrigeration and air conditioning systems were presented on the practical issues of the performance and reliability enhancement. The air conditioning system with multi indoor units caught attention in several research works. The issues on the refrigerant charge and the control algorithm were treated. The systems with alternative refrigerants were also studied. Carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons and their mixtures were considered and the heat transfer correlations were proposed. (4) Due to high oil prices, energy consumption have been attentioned in mechanical building systems. Research works have been reviewed in this field by grouping into the research on heat and cold sources, air conditioning and cleaning research, ventilation and fire research including tunnel ventilation, and piping system research. The papers involve the promotion of efficient or effective use of energy, which helps to save energy and results in reduced environmental pollution and operating cost. (5) Studies on indoor air quality took a great portion in the field of building environments. Various other subjects such as indoor thermal comfort were also investigated through computer simulation, case study, and field experiment. Studies on energy include not only optimization study and economic analysis of building equipments but also usability of renewable energy in geothermal and solar systems.