• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• 제13권5호
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• pp.2299-2318
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• 2019

Location-aware networks are of great importance for both civil lives and military applications. Methods based on line-of-sight (LOS) measurements suffer sever performance loss in harsh environments such as indoor scenarios, where sensors can receive both LOS and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) measurements. In this paper, we propose a data association (DA) process based on the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm, which enables us to exploit multipath components (MPCs). By setting the mapping relationship between the measurements and scatters as a latent variable, coefficients of the Gaussian mixture model are estimated. Moreover, considering the misalignment of sensor position, we propose a space-alternating generalized expectation maximization (SAGE)-based algorithms to jointly update the target localization and sensor position information. A two dimensional (2-D) circularly symmetric Gaussian distribution is employed to approximate the probability density function of the sensor's position uncertainty via the minimization of the Kullback-Leibler divergence (KLD), which enables us to calculate the expectation step with low computational complexity. Moreover, a distributed implementation is derived based on the average consensus method to improve the scalability of the proposed algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed centralized and distributed algorithms can perform close to the Monte Carlo-based method with much lower communication overhead and computational complexity.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제68권5호
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• pp.527-536
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• 2018

The free vibration frequency responses of the graded flat and curved (cylindrical, spherical, hyperbolic and elliptical) panel structures investigated in this research considering the rectangular and tilted planforms under unlike temperature loading. For the numerical implementation purpose, a micromechanical model is prepared with the help of Voigt's methodology via the power-law type of material model. Additionally, to incur the exact material strength, the temperature-dependent properties of each constituent of the graded structure included due to unlike thermal environment. The deformation kinematics of the rectangular/tilted graded shallow curved panel structural is modeled via higher-order type of polynomial functions. The final form of the eigenvalue equation of the heated structure obtained via Hamilton's principle and simultaneously solved numerically using finite element steps. To show the solution accuracy, a series of comparison the results are compared with the published data. Some new results are exemplified to exhibit the significance of power-law index, shallowness ratio, aspect ratio and thickness ratio on the combined thermal eigen characteristics of the regular and tilted graded panel structure.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제32권8_spc호
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• pp.1233-1243
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• 2019

Asia hosts more than half of the world's 1 billion goats and is also where domestication of wild goats began. Goats, including dairy goats, are adapted to a wide variety of harsh environments and thus play key roles as providers of nutrition, food security and socio-economic status to their human owners in many low-income Asian countries. In many countries in Southeast and East Asia, medium and large scale commercial dairy goat farming can be profitable enterprises because of the high price of goat milk, and good demand due to its health and medicinal properties. In some Asian countries, dairy goats play important roles in non-commercial activities, including use as educational animals in elementary schools in Japan and show animals in Indonesia. Dairy goat farmers in Asia are faced with numerous challenges, such as a shortage of high producing animals adapted to the local environment, lack of quality feeds during a prolonged dry season, many diseases and difficulty getting their product to market, however, the increasing demand for goat milk in the newly developed and developed economies in Asia provides an optimistic future for dairy goat production in this region.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권7호
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• pp.1749-1757
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• 2019

Predicting lower flammability limits (LFL) of hydrogen has become an ever-important task for safety of nuclear industry. While numerous experimental studies have been conducted, LFL results applicable for the harsh environment are still lack of information. Our aim is to develop a calculated non-adiabatic flame temperature (CNAFT) model to better predict LFL of hydrogen mixtures in nuclear power plant. The developed model is unique for incorporating radiative heat loss during flame propagation using the CNAFT coefficient derived through previous studies of flame propagation. Our new model is more consistent with the experimental results for various mixtures compared to the previous model, which relied on calculated adiabatic flame temperature (CAFT) to predict the LFL without any consideration of heat loss. Limitation of the previous model could be explained clearly based on the CNAFT coefficient magnitude. The prediction accuracy for hydrogen mixtures at elevated initial temperatures and high helium content was improved substantially. The model reliability was confirmed for $H_2-air$ mixtures up to $300^{\circ}C$ and $H_2-air-He$ mixtures up to 50 vol % helium concentration. Therefore, the CNAFT model developed based on radiation heat loss is expected as the practical method for predicting LFL in hydrogen risk analysis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제30권12호
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• pp.1870-1875
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• 2020

Probiotics are often infused into functional foods or encapsulated in a supplement form to maintain a healthy balance between the gut microbiota and their host. Because there are milk-based functional foods such as yogurt and cheese on the market, it has been suggested that milk-based probiotics could be incorporated into skim milk proteins in a liquid capsule. Skim milk is mainly composed of casein and whey protein, which create a strong natural barrier and can be used to encapsulate probiotics. In this study, we compared the encapsulated probiotics prepared with milk-based concentrated cell mixtures using commercial probiotics. Probiotic capsules were emulsified with skim milk proteins using vegetable oil to form a double coating layer. The product was heat-stable when tested using a rheometer. The survival rate of the milk-based probiotic cells in the lower gastric environment with bile was significantly higher than commercial probiotics. Thus, milk-encapsulated probiotics exhibited greater efficacy in the host than other types of probiotics, suggesting that the former could be more viable with a longer shelf life under harsh conditions than other form of probiotics. Our findings suggested that, compared with other types of probiotics, milk-based probiotics may be a better choice for producers and consumers.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권7호
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• pp.635-646
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• 2021

The objectives of this research are to establish and confirm the human resources competency components for listed companies in the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The sample group used in this research includes the company president, business owner, managing director, assistant managing director, general manager or human resources manager of 140 listed companies. The research instrument is a scale-estimated questionnaire. The obtained data were subjected to principal component analysis and were analyzed for the rotation of the perpendicular component using the Varimax method. Results were generated through the analysis of eight components, consisting of decision-making, creativity, strategic thinking, relationship and communication, teamwork, adaptability, self-management, and motivation. The research results demonstrate important components in human resource performance that are critical to the successful development of organizations. Organizations can apply these components to the development of human resource competencies in accordance with the operations that need to be adjusted to suit the changes that occur. These rapidly-changing conditions are important factors that can be studied and developed into variables and components that affect human resource performance in the future. As a result, organizations need to adjust to be well prepared to face problems and challenges in the harsh competitive environment in the future.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• 제38권4호
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• pp.410-416
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• 2022

Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire-blight disease in apple and pear trees, was first isolated in South Korea in 2015. Although numerous studies, including omics analyses, have been conducted on other strains of E. amylovora, studies on South Korean isolates remain limited. In this study, we conducted a comparative proteomic analysis of the strain TS3128, cultured in three media representing different growth conditions. Proteins related to virulence, type III secretion system, and amylovoran production, were more abundant under minimal conditions than in rich conditions. Additionally, various proteins associated with energy production, carbohydrate metabolism, cell wall/membrane/envelope biogenesis, and ion uptake were identified under minimal conditions. The strain TS3128 expresses these proteins to survive in harsh environments. These findings contribute to understanding the cellular mechanisms driving its adaptations to different environmental conditions and provide proteome profiles as reference for future studies on the virulence and adaptation mechanisms of South Korean strains.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.282-289
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• 2022

Aluminum 1000 series alloy, a pure aluminum with excellent workability and weldability, is mainly used in the ship field. Aluminum alloy can combine with oxygen in the atmosphere and form a natural oxide film with high corrosion resistance. However, its corrosion resistance and durability are decreased when it is exposed to a harsh environment for a long period of time. For solving this problem, a porous oxide film can be formed on the surface using an anodizing treatment method, a typical surface technique among various methods. In this study, aluminum 1050 alloy was anodized for 2 minutes, 6 minutes, and 10 minutes. The structure and shape of the oxide film were then analyzed to determine the corrosion resistance according to the thickness of the oxide film that changed depending on working condition using 15 wt% NaCl. After it was immersed in NaCl solution for 1, 5, and 10 days, corrosion damage was observed. Results confirmed that the thickness of the oxide film increased as the anodization time became longer. The depth of surface damage due to corrosion became deeper when the film was immersed in the 15 wt% NaCl solution for a longer period of time.

• 한국항해항만학회지
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• 제46권5호
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• pp.400-408
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• 2022

Maritime transportation is one of the most complicated and hazardous business fileds. Maritime accidents still occur despite several precautions since maritime is exposed to natural factors more than any other industries. In this harsh environment as a part of their job, marine pilots often embark/disembark to/ from vessels and confront life-endangering personal accidents. In the maritime field, several risk assessments are applied. However, all of them could not evaluate occupational accident risk for maritime pilot specifically. This paper performs specific risk analysis using the bow-tie method based on past accident records. This paper aims to qualify root causes and quantify root causes by importance level according to occurrence probability. As a result of analysis, occupational accident occurrence probability is found to be 14%, indicating that accident occurrence rate is significantly high. Hence, the probability of root causes triggering accidents and accident occurrence probability can be ascertained so that preventive measurements can be implemented. Besides theoretical achievement, this paper provides safety awareness to marine pilots, Marine Pilot Organizations, and ship crew who play a key role during marine pilots' transfer.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.111-120
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• 2022

To solve the corrosion problem of industrial equipment and other constructions containing metals, corrosion protection can be performed by using coating which provides a barrier between the metal and its environment. Coatings play a significant role in protecting irons and steels in harsh marine and acid environments. This study was conducted to identify an anti-corrosive epoxy coating for carbon steel composite with 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 wt% concentrations of nanoparticles of SiO₂ using the dip-coating method. The electrochemical behavior was analyzed with open circuit potential (OCP) technics and polarization curves (Tafle) in 3.5 wt% NaCl and 5 vol% H₂SO₄ media. The structure, composition, and morphology were characterized using different analytical techniques such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared spectrum (FT-IR), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Results revealed that epoxynano SiO₂ coating demonstrated a lower corrosion rate of 2.51 × 10^-4 mm/year and the efficiency of corrosion protection was as high as 99.77%. The electrochemical measurement showed that the nano-SiO₂ / epoxy coating enhanced the anti-corrosive performance in both NaCl and H₂SO₄ media.