• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.15-22
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• 2011

Purpose: This research investigated falls due to obstacles that occur among elderly people by assessing changes in the values of plantar foot force, peak force, and plantar foot pressure in elderly subjects while they were stepping over obstacles of different heights. Methods: The subjects were 20 elderly people aged 70-80 years; Pressure was measured on flat ground(0 cm), and after installing obstacles of 8 cm and 12 cm using the F-scan system, which is a resistance-type pressure sensor. A one-way analysis of variance was performed to compare pressure on each part of the foot according to various heights after collecting data using the Tekscan program. The least significant difference test was used for the post-hoc analysis, A p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: The force value for the toe area (parts 1, and 2) and contact pressure increased significantly with the 12 cm obstacle (p<0.05). The peak force value and the peak contact pressure for part 1 increased significantly with the 12 cm obstacle (p<0.05). Conclusion: Larger changes appeared in the functions and structure of the foot while subjects walked over obstacles of different heights compared to flatland walking. This result suggests that people have safety strategies to prevent falls, and that there is a need for a more realistic approach through practice to overcome obstacles of various heights to prevent falls.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.870-879
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• 2011

Regulated peak power tracking (RPPT) systems such as the series structure and the series-parallel structures are commonly used in satellite space power systems. However, these structures process the solar array power or the battery power to the load through two cascaded regulators during one orbit cycle, which reduces the energy transfer efficiency. Also the battery charging time is increased due to placement of converter between the battery and the solar array. In this paper a parallel structure has been proposed which can improve the energy transfer efficiency and the battery charging time for satellite space power RPPT systems. An analogue controller is used to control all of the required functions, such as load voltage regulation and solar array stabilization with maximum power point tracking (MPPT). In order to compare the system efficiency and the battery charging efficiency of the proposed structure with those of a series (conventional) structure and a simplified series-parallel structure, simulations are performed and the results are analyzed using a loss analysis model. The proposed structure charges the battery more quickly when compared to the other two structures. Also the efficiency of the proposed structure has been improved under different modes of solar array operation when compared with the other two structures. To verify the system, experiments are carried out under different modes of solar array operation, including PPT charge, battery discharge, and eclipse and trickle charge.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2019

Background: Despite growing concern over occupational exposure to particulate matter (PM) such as grain dust and diesel exhaust, information about the exposure level and health implications among workers in small-scale milling enterprises in developing countries like Nigeria has not been adequately documented. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of exposure to grain dust and diesel exhaust and effect on lung function among grain millers in food markets in Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. Methods: The study adopted descriptive cross-sectional design with a comparative approach. Sixteen grain milling shops each were randomly selected from two major food markets in Ibadan metropolis for indoor $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ monitoring. Seventy-two respondents each were proportionately selected from grain millers and shop owners for forced expiratory volume in one second and peak expiratory flow rate tests. Results: The $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations for both market locations ranged between 1,269.3 and $651.7{\mu}g/m^3$, while $PM_{10}$ concentrations were between 1,048.2 and $818.1{\mu}g/m^3$. The recorded concentrations exceeded the World Health Organization guideline limit of $50{\mu}g/m^3$ and $25{\mu}g/m^3$ for $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$, respectively. As compared with control group (2.1 L), significantly lower forced expiratory volume in one second value (1.61 L) was observed among the exposed group (p < 0.05). Likewise, significantly lower peak expiratory flow rate value (186.7 L/min) was recorded among the exposed group than the control group (269.51 L/min) (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Exposure to grain dust and diesel exhaust accentuated respiratory disorders with declines in lung functions amongst grain millers. Improved milling practices and engaging cleaner milling facilities should be adopted to minimize exposure and related hazards.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.23-31
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• 2021

Purpose : To compare the immediate effects of air stacking maneuver using resuscitator bags and balloons. Methods : Twenty healthy young adults participated in this study. Forced vital capacity (FVC) and peak cough flow (PCF) tests were performed at pre-intervention, and then, the maximum insufflation capacity (MIC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), FEV1/FVC, peak expiratory flow (PEF), and peak cough flow (PCF) were measured using the air stacking maneuver via resuscitator bags and balloons. Interventions were randomly performed, and a 40-min break was provided between interventions. The evaluation process in this study was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2019. To compare the three outcomes measured at pre-and post-interventions, repeated measures analysis of variance was performed. Results : A significant difference was found in the MIC, FEV1, PEF, and PCF after the air stacking maneuver using resuscitator bags and balloons, whereas no significant difference was observed between resuscitator bags and balloons. Conclusion : No significant difference was found in the immediate effect of the air stacking maneuver using resuscitator bags and balloons in this study. Air stacking maneuver using balloons can increase the success rate of the techniques by providing visual feedback on the amount of air insufflation when performed with balloon blowing exercise. Balloons are cheaper and easier to buy compared to manual resuscitator bags; therefore, education on the air stacking maneuver using balloons will have a positive effect on pulmonary rehabilitation.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.39-53
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• 2021

By means of installing sloped rolling-type seismic isolators (SRI), the horizontal acceleration transmitted to the to-be-protected object above can be effectively and significantly reduced under external disturbance. To prevent the maximum horizontal displacement response of SRI from reaching a threshold, designing large and conservative damping force for SRI might be required, which will also enlarge the transmitted acceleration response. In a word, when adopting seismic isolation, minimizing acceleration or displacement responses is always a trade-off. Therefore, this paper proposes that by exploiting the possible information provided by an earthquake early warning system, the damping force applied to SRI which can better control both acceleration and displacement responses might be determined in advance and accordingly adjusted in a semi-active control manner. By using a large number of ground motion records with peak ground acceleration not less than 80 gal, the numerical results present that the maximum horizontal displacement response of SRI is highly correlated with and proportional to some important parameters of input excitations, the velocity pulse energy rate and peak velocity in particular. A control law employing the basic form of hyperbolic tangent function and two objective functions are considered in this study for conceptually developing suitable control algorithms. Compared with the numerical results of simply designing a constant, large damping factor to prevent SRI from pounding, adopting the recommended control algorithms can have more than 60% reduction of acceleration responses in average under the excitations. More importantly, it is effective in reducing acceleration responses under approximately 98% of the excitations.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.3 s.49
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• pp.101-111
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• 2006

This paper proposes a method for modeling new fault ground motion due to moderate size earthquakes in Stable Continental Regions (SCRs) for the first time. The near fault ground motion is characterized by a single long period velocity pulse of large amplitude. In order to model the velocity pulse, its period and peak amplitude need be determined in terms of earthquake magnitude and distance from the causative fault. Because there have been observed very few new fault ground motions, it is difficult to derive the model directly from the recorded data in SCRs. Instead an indirect approach is adopted in this work. The two parameters, the period and peak amplitude of the velocity pulse, are known to be functions of the rise time and the slip velocity. For Western United States (WUS) that belongs active tectonic regions, there art empirical formulas for these functions. The relations of rise time and slip velocity on the magnitude in SCRs are derived by comparing related data between Western United States and Central-Eastern United States that belongs to SCRs. From these relations, the functions of these pulse parameters for NFGM in SCRs can be expressed in terms of earthquake magnitude and distance. A time history of near fault ground motion of moderate magnitude earthquake in stable continental regions is synthesized by superposing the velocity pulse on the for field ground motion that is generated by stochastic method. As an demonstrative application, the response of a single degree of freedom elasto-plastic system is studied.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.563-568
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• 2007

This paper presents a methodology for predicting nonlinear time series based on the neural network with weighted fuzzy membership functions (NEWFM). The degree of classification intensity is obtained by bounded sum of weighted fuzzy membership functions extracted by NEWFM, then weighted average defuzzification is used for predicting nonlinear time series. The experimental results demonstrate that NEWFM has the classification capability of 92.22% against the target class of GDP. The time series created by NEWFM model has a relatively close approximation to the GDP which is a typical business cycle indicator, and has been proved to be a useful indicator which has the turning point forecasting capability of average 12 months in the peak point and average 6 months in the trough point during 5th to 8th cyclical period. In addition, NEWFM measures the efficiency of the economic indexes by the feature selection and enables the users to forecast with reduced numbers of 7 among 10 leading indexes while improving the classification rate from 90% to 92.22%.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.351-361
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• 2014

The discrete torque generation mechanism and inherently nonlinear magnetic characterization of switched reluctance motors lead to unacceptable torque ripples and limit the application of these motors. In this study, a phase current profiling technique and torque sharing function are proposed in consideration of magnetic saturation effects and by minimizing power loss in the commutation area between the adjacent phases. Constant torque trajectories are considered in incoming and outgoing phase current planes based on nonlinear T-i-theta curves obtained from experimental measurements. Optimum points on constant torque trajectories are selected by improving drive efficiency and minimizing copper loss in each rotor position. A novel analytic invertible function is introduced to express phase torque based on rotor position and its corresponding phase current. The optimization problem is solved by the proposed torque function, and optimum torque sharing functions are derived. A modification method is also introduced to enhance the torque ripple-free region based on simple logic rules. Compared with conventional torque sharing functions, the resultant reference current from the proposed method has less peak and effective values and exhibits lower copper loss. Experimental and simulation results from a four-phase 4 KW 8/6 SRM validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.39C no.7
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• pp.559-565
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• 2014

In this paper, we propose an unambiguous correlation function for time-multiplexed binary offset carrier (TMBOC) signal tracking. Specifically, considering that the TMBOC modulation transmits two kinds of sine-phased BOC signals in time domain alternatively, we generate sub-correlation functions for each of the BOC signals by using split sine-phased BOC signals, and then, obtain a correlation function with no side-peak by recombining the sub-correlation functions. From numerical results, we confirm that the proposed correlation function offers an improved tracking error standard deviation performance than the TMBOC autocorrelation function.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.214-222
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a walking-support program on the pulmonary ventilatory functions of elderly people who had undergone upper-abdominal surgery. Method: The study was a quasi-experimental research design. There were 26 partcipants who were admitted for upper-abdominal surgery to P University Hospital in B city. Walking exercise education was provided individually to the experimental group the day before their operation and 20 minutes a day for five days after the surgery using the 'Walking Exercise Guide Document'. Pulmonary ventilatory function was with FVC (Forced Vital Capacity), PEF (Peak Expiratory Flow), FEVI (Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second), FER (Forced Expiratory Ratio), Oxygen Saturation, and VAS (Visual Analog Scale). Results: The objective indexes of pulmonary ventilatory function were not significantly different between the two groups, but the subjective index was significantly different. Conclusion: With the above results, the walking support program could be an effective nursing intervention for improving pulmonary ventilatory function of surgical patients.