• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.727-736
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• 2006

Granular activated carbon (GAC) has been identified as a best available technology (BAT) by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for removal disinfection by-product (DBP) precursors, such as dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). Rapid small-scale column test (RSSCT) were used to investigate four types of carbon (F400, Norit1240, Norit40S, and Aquasorb1500) for their affinity to absorb natural organic matter (NOM). DOC, $UV_{254}$, and Total dissolved nitrogen (TON) concentrations were measured in the column effluent to track GAC breakthrough. DOC and $UV_{254}$ breakthrough occurred at around 3500 bed volumes (BVs) of operation for all GACs investigated. The $UV_{254}$ breakthrough curves showed 33% to 48% at 8000 BVs, when the DOC was 48% to 65%. All GACs showed greater removal in DOC than $UV_{254}$. The NORIT1240 GAC was determined to have the highest adsorption capacity for DOC and $UV_{254}$. The removal of nitrate (NOTN) had not broken through over BVs. The initial TON breakthrough curves were started around 50%, when the DOC breakthrough was only 10 % at 500 BVs. The curves were gradually increased after 3500 BVs and approximately 69% through 81% of TON breakthrough occurred at 8000 BVs. All of the GACs were able to remove TON, in the case of this investigation the majority of the TON was present as DON. Because nitrate nitrogen was seldom removed and ammonium nitrogen ($NH_3-N$) was not detected in the effluent from RSSCTs even though raw water. The carbon usage rate of DOC was from 2 to 6 times less than that of TON. The NORIT1240 GAC demonstrated the best performance in terms of DOC removal, while the F400 GAC was best in terms of TON removal. Excitation emission matrix(EEM) analysis was used to show that GAC adsorption successfully removed most of Humic-like DOC and Fulvic-like DOCs. However, soluble microbial product(SMP)-like DOC in the absence of raw water were detected in the NORIT40S and Aquasorb1500 GAC. The authors assumed that this results is due probably to the part of GAC in the RSSCT which was converted into biological activated carbon(BAC). To compare with organics removal by GAC according to preloading, the virgin GACs had readily accessible sites that were adsorbed DOC more rapidly than preloaded GACs, but the TDN removal had not showed differences between those GACs.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.41-49
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• 2023

A convolutional neural network (CNN) is a representative algorithm for implementing artificial neural networks. CNNs have improved on the issues of rapid increase in calculation amount and low object classification rates, which are associated with a conventional multi-layered fully-connected neural network (FNN). However, because of the rapid development of IT devices, the maximum resolution of images captured by current smartphone and tablet cameras has reached 108 million pixels (MP). Specifically, a traditional CNN algorithm requires a significant cost and time to learn and process simple, high-resolution images. Therefore, this study proposes an improved CNN algorithm for implementing an object classification learning model for simple, high-resolution images. The proposed method alters the adjacency matrix value of the pooling layer's max pooling operation for the CNN algorithm to reduce the high-resolution image learning model's creation time. This study implemented a learning model capable of processing 4, 8, and 12 MP high-resolution images for each altered matrix value. The performance evaluation result showed that the creation time of the learning model implemented with the proposed algorithm decreased by 36.26% for 12 MP images. Compared to the conventional model, the proposed learning model's object recognition accuracy and loss rate were less than 1%, which is within the acceptable error range. Practical verification is necessary through future studies by implementing a learning model with more varied image types and a larger amount of image data than those used in this study.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.32-39
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• 2024

The key components of a Phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) are an electrode catalyst, an electrolyte matrix and a gas diffusion layer (GDL). In this study, we introduced a microporous layer on the GDL of PAFC to enhance liquid electrolyte management and overall electrochemical performance of PAFC. MPL is primarily used in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells to serve as an intermediate buffer layer, effectively managing water within the electrode and reducing contact resistance. In this study, electrodes were fabricated using GDLs with and without MPL to examine the influence of MPL on the performance of PAFC. Internal resistance and polarization curves of the unit cell were measured and compared to each other to assess the impact of MPL on PAFC electrode performance. As the results, the application of MPL improved power density from 170.2 to 192.1 mW/cm². MPL effectively managed electrolyte and water within the matrix and electrode, enhancing stability. Furthermore, the application of MPL reduced internal resistance in the electrode, resulting in sustained and stable performance even during long-term operation.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.15-26
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• 2009

Objectives: This paper is intended to illustrate and to discuss the organization and functioning of community resident groups (CRGs) in a community-based participatory health promotion program for healthy aging. Methods: CRGs were convened in 12 government-subsidized apartment communities for low-income seniors in Pennsylvania, U.S.A., to promote healthy aging. Researchers facilitated CRG meetings following a 6-step process of community empowerment and utilizing a social ecological model for assessment and planning. Almost 200 project-related documents were qualitatively analyzed using matrix analysis principles such as cross-classification of multiple dimensions to identify patterns in the data and matrix building for displaying such patterns. Results: CRGs were venues at which apartment building residents could interact, discuss health priorities, and become change agents in their building. CRG members' community health priorities were about their daily living, including building conditions, poor access to fresh food, and unhealthy resident relations. Specific patterns arose in analysis indicating that leadership withing the CRGs, consistency of meetings and participants' attendance, and ability to link health concerns to daily experience impacted the CRGs' capability to identify and accomplish their goals. Conclusion: Community health issues and solutions to those issues identified by CRGs were unique to community contexts and interests. Consistent participation by community members, a consistent pattern of group activities such as monthly meetings, and having established leadership to manage CRG activities were prominent characteristics of community group functioning.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.378-391
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• 2010

In this paper, it is tested that an individual is able to be identified with finger face images and the results are presented. Special operators, FFG(Facet Function Gradient) masks by which the gradient of a facet function fit on a gray levels of image patches can be computed are used and a new procedure named F-algorithm is introduced to match the finger face images. The finger face image is divided into the equal subregions and each subregions are divided into equal patches with this algorithm. The FFG masks are used for convolution operation over each patch to produce scalar values. These values from a feature matrix, and the identity of fingers is determined by a norm of the elements of the feature matrices. The distribution of the norms shows conspicuous differences between the pairs of hand images of the same persons and the pairs of the different persons. This is a result to prove the ability of discrimination with the finger face image. An identification rate of 95.0% is obtained as a result of the test in which 500 hand images taken from 100 persons are processed through F-algorithm. It is affirmed that the finger face reveals to be such a good biometrics as other hand parts owing to the ability of discrimination and the identification rate.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.287-294
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• 2005

In this paper, an optical true time-delay (TTD) for two-dimensional (2-D) phased array antennas (PAAs), composed of a multi-wavelength optical source and a fiber optic delay line matrix consisting of $2\times2$ optical switches with optical fiber connected between cross ports, has been proposed. A 2-bit $\times4-bit$ optical TTD for 10-GHz 2-D PAAs has been implemented by cascading a wavelength dependent TTD (WD-TTD) and a wavelength independent TTD (WI-TTD). The unit time delay for WD-TTD and WI-TTD have been chosen as ${\Delta}T=12ps$ and $\Delta\tau=6ps$, respectively. Time delay have been measured at all radiation angles. The maximum delay error for WD-TTD was measured to be 3 ps due to jitter incurred from gain switching. For the case of WI-TTD, error was within ${\pm}\;1\;ps$. The proposed optical TTD for a 2-D PAA has the following advantages: 1) higher gain compared to one-dimensional linear PAAs, 2) stabilization of optical power and wavelength by using a multi-wavelength optical source, and 3) fast beam scan and simple operation due to electronic control of the $2\times2$ optical switches matrix on a column-by-column basis.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartA
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• v.18A no.2
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• pp.39-44
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• 2011

This paper proposes the new high-performance circuit architecture of the transform and quantization for unified video CODEC. The proposed architecture can be applied to all kinds of transforms and quantizations for the video compression standards such as JPEG, MPEG-1/2/4, H.264 and VC-1. We defined the permutation matrices to reorder the transform matrix of the $8{\times}8$ DCT and partitioned the reordered $8{\times}8$ transform matrix into four $4{\times}4$ sub-matrices. The $8{\times}8$ DCT is performed by repeating the $4{\times}4$ DCT's based on the reordered and partitioned transform matrices. Since our circuit accepts the transform coefficients from the users, it can be extended very easily to cover any kind of DCT-based transforms for future standards. The multipliers in the DCT circuit are shared by the quantization circuit in order to minimize the circuit size. The quantization circuit is merged into the DCT circuit without any significant increase of circuit resources and processing time. We described the proposed DCT and quantization circuit at RTL, and verified its operation on FPGA board.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.105-121
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• 2011

The operation of tidal power facility may induce severe changes of water quality in Shihwa Lake. Current water quality data are quite important to water quality management policy of Shihwa Lake. Thus, the water quality data of Shihwa Lake and its adjacent sea in 2010 were presented to characterize the temporal and spatial changes of water parameters such as pH, SS, DO, COD, dissolved nutrients, chlorophyll-a, TN and TP. Highest levels of water quality parameters were observed near the Shihwa and Banweol industrial complexes and the levels of water quality parameters were on a decreasing trend to those near the water gate. It suggests that the horizontal distributions of water quality levels are mainly controlled by the supply of fresh water from streams and the inflow of outer seawater by operation of water gate. Although the higher concentrations of TN and TP were observed in the location being affected by Sorae port, the levels of water quality parameters in outer sea of Shihwa Lake were lower than those in Lake. In summer season, hypoxic condition was well developed in bottom water by strong stratification and active decomposition of organic matter. Thus, the vertical distributions of dissolved nutrient, TN and TP concentrations showed the concentrations to be higher in bottom seawater than those in surface seawater whereas the vertical distributions of chlorophyll-a, COD and POC concentrations showed the concentrations to be higher in surface seawater than those in bottom water. Results of Pearson's correlation matrix for surface seawater demonstrated that salinity showed negatively good correlation with not only dissolved nutrients except for ammonium but chlorophyll-a, COD and POC This result indicates that the supply of dissolved nutrients through several streams might significantly affect phytoplankton bloom and increase of COD concentration in surface seawater.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.346-355
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• 2020

Purpose: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) has a key role in hepatic fibrogenesis by virtue of its effect on the hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Although many studies have shown that PPAR-γ agonists inhibit liver fibrosis, the mechanism remains largely unclear, especially regarding the cross-talk between PPAR-γ and other potent fibrogenic factors. Methods: This experimental study involved 25 male Wistar rats. Twenty rats were subjected to bile duct ligation (BDL) to induce liver fibrosis, further divided into an untreated group (BDL; n=10) and a group treated with the PPAR-γ agonist thiazolidinedione (TZD), at 14 days post-operation (BDL+TZD; n=10). The remaining 5 rats had a sham operation (sham; n=5). The effect of PPAR-γ agonist on liver fibrosis was evaluated by histopathology, protein immunohistochemistry, and mRNA expression quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: Histology and immunostaining showed markedly reduced collagen deposition, bile duct proliferation, and HSCs in the BDL+TZD group compared to those in the BDL group (p<0.001). Similarly, significantly lower mRNA expression of collagen α-1(I), matrix metalloproteinase-2, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-B chain, and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) were evident in the BDL+TZD group compared to those in the BDL group (p=0.0002, p<0.035, p<0.0001, and p=0.0123 respectively). Moreover, expression of the transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-β1) was also downregulated in the BDL+TZD group (p=0.0087). Conclusion: The PPAR-γ agonist inhibits HSC activation in vivo and attenuates liver fibrosis through several fibrogenic pathways. Potent fibrogenic factors such as PDGF, CTGF, and TGF-β1 were downregulated by the PPAR-γ agonist. Targeting PPAR-γ activity may be a potential strategy to control liver fibrosis.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.116-120
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• 2011

Purpose: Scalp avulsion is a life-threatening injury that may cause trauma to the forehead, eyebrows, and periauricular tissue. It is difficult to treat scalp avulsion as it may lead to severe bleeding. Therefore, emergency scalp replantation surgery is necessary, and we must consider the function, aesthetics, and psychology of the patients. A case of scalp avulsion leading to massive bleeding was encountered by these authors, which led to a failure to achieve the proper operation conditions in an adequate time period. Methods: A 49-year-old female was hospitalized due to having had her head caught in a rotatory machine, causing complete scalp avulsion which included the dorsum of the nose, both eyebrows, and ears. Emergent microsurgical replantation was performed, where a superficial temporal artery and a vein were anastomosed, but the patient's vital signs were too unstable for further operation due to excessive blood loss. Three days after the microanastomosis, venous congestion developed at the replanted scalp, and a medicinal leech was used. Leech therapy resolved the venous congestion. A demarcation then developed between the vitalized scalp tissue and the necrotized area. Debridement was performed 2 times on the necrotized scalp area. Finally, split-thickness skin graft with a dermal acellular matrix ($Matriderm^{(R)}$) was performed on the defective areas, which included the left temporal area, the occipital area, and both eyebrows. Results: The forehead, vertex, right temporal area, and half of the occipital area were successfully replanted, and the hair at the replanted scalp was preserved. As stated above, two-thirds of the scalp survived; the patient could cover the skin graft area with her hair, and could wear a wig. Conclusion: Complete scalp avulsion needs emergent replantation with microsurgical revascularization, but it often leads to serious vital conditions. We report a case with acceptable results, although the microanastomosed vessel was minimal due to the patient's unstable vital signs.