• Title/Summary/Keyword: response assessments

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Dynamic and static structural displacement measurement using backscattering DC coupled radar

  • Guan, Shanyue;Rice, Jennifer A.;Li, Changzhi;Li, Yiran;Wang, Guochao
    • Smart Structures and Systems
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    • v.16 no.3
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    • pp.521-535
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    • 2015
  • Vibration-based monitoring is one approach used to perform structural condition assessment. By measuring structural response, such as displacement, dynamic characteristics of a structure may be estimated. Often, the primary dynamic responses in civil structures are below 5 Hz, making accurate low frequency measurement critical for successful dynamic characterization. In addition, static deflection measurements are useful for structural capacity and load rating assessments. This paper presents a DC coupled continuous wave radar to accurately detect both dynamic and static displacement. This low-cost radar sensor provides displacement measurements within a compact, wireless unit appropriate for a range of structural monitoring applications. The hardware components and operating mechanism of the radar are introduced and a series of laboratory experiments are presented to assess the performance characteristics of the radar. The laboratory and field experiments investigate the effect of factors such as target distance, motion amplitude, and motion frequency on the radar's measurement accuracy. The results demonstrate that the radar is capable of both static and dynamic displacement measurements with sub-millimeter accuracy, making it a promising technology for structural health monitoring.

The Treatment Effect of Neurofeedback Training on Executive Function in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (뉴로피드백 훈련이 Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 아동의 실행기능에 미치는 영향)

  • Yun, Seok Min;Kwack, Young Sook
    • Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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    • v.26 no.1
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    • pp.45-51
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    • 2015
  • Objectives : Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been shown to display more inhibitory deficits and executive function deficits. This study investigated the treatment effects of neurofeedback (NF) training on executive function by comparing the results of neuropsychological tests of the trained children at pre- and post-training. Methods : Fifteen children with ADHD, aged 6 to 14 years, participated in the study. The NF treatment consisted of slow cortical potential (SCP) training and these sessions took place once a week. The ADHD children performed 20 sessions of NF training within 6 months. Pre-training and post-training assessments encompassed Continuous Performance Test (CPT), Stroop Test, Children's Color Trails Test I&II (CCTT) and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Results : Patients receiving NF training showed significant improvement in visual commission error and standard deviation of auditory response time on CPT ; and total errors on WCST. But there was no significant improvement in the Stroop test and CCTT. Conclusion : SCP training using NF improves the self-regulatory capacities and impulsivity in ADHD patient, especially impulsivity in visual stimulation tasks. This study showed evidence of clinical efficacy of NF on executive function in ADHD.

Beating phenomena in spacecraft sine testing and an attempt to include the sine sweep rate effect in the test-prediction

  • Nali, Pietro;Bettacchioli, Alain
    • Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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    • v.3 no.2
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    • pp.197-209
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    • 2016
  • The Spacecraft (S/C) numerical sine test-predictions are usually performed through Finite Element Method (FEM) Frequency Response Analysis (FRA), that is the hypothesis of steady-state responses to harmonic excitation to the S/C base is made. In the test practice, the responses are transient and may be significantly different from those predicted through FRA. One of the most significant causes of discrepancy between prediction and test consists in the beating phenomena. After a brief overview of the topic, the typical causes of beating are described in the first part of the paper. Subsequently, focus is made on the sine sweep rate effect, which often leads to have beatings after the resonance of weakly damped modes. In this work, the approach illustrated in the literature for calculating the sine sweep rate effect in the case of Single-Degree-Of-Freedom (SDOF) oscillators is extended to Multi-Degrees-Of-Freedom (MDOF) systems, with the aim of increasing the accuracy of the numerical sine test-predictions. Assumptions and limitations of the proposed methodology are detailed along the paper. Several assessments with test results are discussed and commented.

Approximate evaluations and simplified analyses of shear- mode piezoelectric modal effective electromechanical coupling

  • Benjeddou, Ayech
    • Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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    • v.2 no.3
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    • pp.275-302
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    • 2015
  • Theoretical and numerical assessments of approximate evaluations and simplified analyses of piezoelectric structures transverse shear modal effective electromechanical coupling coefficient (EMCC) are presented. Therefore, the latter is first introduced theoretically and its approximate evaluations are reviewed; then, three-dimensional (3D) and simplified two-dimensional (2D) plane-strain (PStrain) and plane-stress (PStress) piezoelectric constitutive behaviors of electroded shear piezoceramic patches are derived and corresponding expected short-circuit (SC) and open-circuit (OC) frequencies and resulting EMCC are discussed; next, using a piezoceramic shear sandwich beam cantilever typical benchmark, a 3D finite element (FE) assessment of different evaluation techniques of the shear modal effective EMCC is conducted, including the equipotential (EP) constraints effect; finally, 2D PStrain and PStress FE modal analyses under SC and OC electric conditions, are conducted and corresponding results (SC/OC frequencies and resulting effective EMCC) are compared to 3D ones. It is found that: (i) physical EP constraints reduce drastically the shear modal effective EMCC; (ii) PStress and PStrain results depend strongly on the filling foam stiffness, rendering inadequate the use of popular equivalent single layer models for the transverse shear-mode sandwich configuration; (iii) in contrary to results of piezoelectric shunted damping and energy harvesting popular single-degree-of-freedom-based models, transverse shear modal effective EMCC values are very small in particular for the first mode which is the common target of these applications.

Development of earthquake instrumentation for shutdown and restart criteria of the nuclear power plant using multivariable decision-making process

  • Hasan, Md M.;Mayaka, Joyce K.;Jung, Jae C.
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.50 no.6
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    • pp.860-868
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    • 2018
  • This article presents a new design of earthquake instrumentation that is suitable for quick decision-making after the seismic event at the nuclear power plant (NPP). The main objective of this work is to ensure more availability of the NPP by expediting walk-down period when the seismic wave is incident. In general, the decision-making to restart the NPP after the seismic event requires more than 1 month if an earthquake exceeds operating basis earthquake level. It affects to the plant availability significantly. Unnecessary shutdown can be skipped through quick assessments of operating basis earthquake, safe shutdown earthquake events, and damage status to structure, system, and components. Multidecision parameters such as cumulative absolute velocity, peak ground acceleration, Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, floor response spectrum, and cumulative fatigue are discussed. The implementation scope on the field-programmable gate array platform of this work is limited to cumulative absolute velocity, peak ground acceleration, and Modified Mercalli Intensity. It can ensure better availability of the plant through integrated decision-making process by automatic assessment of NPP structure, system, and components.

Challenges and Strategies in Medical Education in the COVID-19 Pandemic (COVID-19 팬데믹에서 나타난 의학교육의 과제와 전략)

  • Im, Sunju
    • Korean Medical Education Review
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    • v.23 no.3
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    • pp.154-159
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    • 2021
  • The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has profoundly impacted all aspects of undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing medical education. Only the focus of medical education-care for patients and communities-has remained an integral part of all of the above sectors. Several challenges have been experienced by learners and educators as the education and training of future doctors has continued in the midst of this crisis, including the cancellation of face-to-face classes and training, reduced patient encounter opportunities, fairness issues in online assessments, disruption of patient interview-based exams, reflections on the role of doctors in society, and mental health-related problems linked to isolation and concerns about infection. In response to these disruptions, educators and institutions have rapidly deployed educational innovations. Schools have adopted educational strategies to overcome these challenges by implementing novel education delivery methods in an online format, providing clinical experiences through simulation or telehealth methods, introducing online assessment tools with formative purposes, encouraging learners' involvement in nonclinical activities such as community service, and making available resources and programs to sustain learners' mental health and wellness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, educators and institutions have faced drastic changes in medical education worldwide. At the same time, the quantitative expansion of online education has caused other problems, such as the lack of human collaboration. The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical education need to be studied further.

Seismic fragility assessments of fill slopes in South Korea using finite element simulations

  • Dung T.P. Tran;Youngkyu Cho;Hwanwoo Seo;Byungmin Kim
    • Geomechanics and Engineering
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.341-380
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    • 2023
  • This study evaluates the seismic fragilities in fill slopes in South Korea through parametric finite element analyses that have been barely investigated thus far. We consider three slope geometries for a slope of height 10 m and three slope angles, and two soil types, namely frictional and frictionless, associated with two soil states, loose and dense for frictional soils and soft and stiff for frictionless soils. The input ground motions accounting for four site conditions in South Korea are obtained from one-dimensional site response analyses. By comparing the numerical modeling of slopes using PLAXIS2D against the previous studies, we compiled suites of the maximum permanent slope displacement (Dmax) against two ground motion parameters, namely, peak ground acceleration (PGA) and Arias Intensity (IA). A probabilistic seismic demand model is adopted to compute the probabilities of exceeding three limit states (minor, moderate, and extensive). We propose multiple seismic fragility curves as functions of a single ground motion parameter and numerous seismic fragility surfaces as functions of two ground motion parameters. The results show that soil type, slope angle, and input ground motion influence these probabilities, and are expected to help regional authorities and engineers assess the seismic fragility of fill slopes in the road systems in South Korea.

Effects of Dietary Zinc on Performance and Immune Response of Growing Pigs Inoculated with Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae

  • Roberts, E.S.;Heugten, E. van;Spears, J.W.;Routh, P.A.;Lloyd, K.L.;Almond, G.W.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.17 no.10
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    • pp.1438-1445
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    • 2004
  • The objective of this study was to determine the effects of dietary Zn level on performance, serum Zn concentrations, alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP), and immune response of pigs inoculated with Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus (PRRSv) and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. A $2{\times}4$ factorial arrangement of treatments was used in a randomized design. Factors included; 1) PRRSv and M. hyopneumoniae inoculation (n=36 pigs) or sham inoculation (n=36 pigs) with media when pigs entered the grower facility (d 0) at 9 weeks of age and 2) 10, 50, 150 ppm supplemental Zn sulfate (${ZnSO}_4$) from weaning until the completion of the study, or 2,000 ppm supplemental ${ZnSO}_4$for two weeks in the nursery and then supplementation with 150 ppm ${ZnSO}_4$for the remainder of the trial. The basal diet contained 34 ppm Zn. Pigs were weighed on d 0, 10, 17, 24 and 31 and blood samples were collected on d 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28. Pigs inoculated with PRRSv were serologically positive at d 28 and control pigs remained negative to PRRSv. In contrast, the M hyopneumoniae inoculation was inconsistent with 33.3% and 52.8% of pigs serologically positive at d 28 in the control and infected groups, respectively. A febrile response was observed for approximately one week after inoculation with PRRSv. Feed intake (p<0.01) and gain (p<0.1) were less in PRRSv infected pigs than control pigs for the 31 d study. However, performance did not differ among pigs in the four levels of ${ZnSO}_4$. Assessments of immune responses failed to provide unequivocal influence of either PRRSv inoculation or ${ZnSO}_4$level. These data suggest that PRRSv and M. hyopneumoniae act to produce some performance deficits and the influence of Zn supplementation of nursery age pigs does not have clear effect in grower pigs affected with disease.

Comparison of Accommodative Function of Young Adults in their Twenties Wearing Monovision, Modified Monovision and Multifocal Soft Contact Lenses (모노비전, 변형된 모노비전, 멀티포컬 콘택트렌즈로 교정 시 20대 성인의 조절기능 비교)

  • Lee, A-Young;Kim, Jeong-Mee;Lee, Koon-Ja
    • Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.117-124
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    • 2015
  • Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the accommodative function of young adult in their 20s wearing monovision, modified monovision, and aspheric multifocal contact lenses at near task. Methods: Thirty young adults ($23.53{\pm}2.37years$) were fitted with monovision, modified monovision (the application of single vision contact lenses and center-near low addition aspheric multifocal contact lenses), and aspheric center-near multifocal contact lenses. After wearing these modalities during a week for adaption, and after watching visual display at computer for inducing accommodative pressure for 1 hour. The following assessments of accommodative function were made: contrast visual acuity (VA) at distance and near; accommodative response; near accommodative facility; and negative relative accommodation (NRA)/positive relative accommodation (PRA). All measurements were carried out binocularly. Results: In binocular distance VA with contrast of 10%, monovision was the worst among the four modalities (p=0.005). In accommodative response at 1 m (1.00 D), monovision was the lowest (p<0.05) and accommodative response at 40 cm (2.50 D) with monovision was lower than that of modified monovision and multifocal contact lens (p<0.05). We also found that there were no significant differences in accommodative facility and NRA/PRA among the four modalities. Conclusions: In young adult (20s), monovision with low add reduced the accommodative response at near task, however, modified monovision and multifocal lens with center-near type did not affect accommodative relaxation.

Safety and Effectiveness of Long Acting Injectable Antipsychotic Paliperidone Palmitate Treatment in Schizophrenics : A 24-Week Open-Label Study (조현병 환자에서 장기지속형 항정신병 주사제 팔리페리돈 팔미테이트의 효능과 안전 : 24주 개방형 연구)

  • Kang, Hyun-Ku;Hahm, Woong;Shon, In-Ki;Paik, In-Ho
    • Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.111-117
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    • 2013
  • Objectives We investigated the effectiveness and safety when treated in schizophrenics with paliperidone palmitate, a long acting injectable antipsychotic. Methods This was a 24-week open-label study, performed at one center in Korea. The eligible patients with schizophrenia diagnosed by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) criteria were enrolled. Patients received long-acting paliperidone palmitate injection (234 mg, baseline; 156 mg, week 1 ; then once 4 weeks flexible dosing). Effectiveness assessments were measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), The Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale (CGI-S), The Personal and Social Performance (PSP) at baseline, week 1, every 4 weeks untill 24 weeks or endpoint. Safety assessments were measured by The Extrapyramidal Symptom Rating Scale (ESRS), body weight (BW) and incidence of adverse events. Oral antipsychotics were stopped or tapered off within next 14 days. Results Of 20 patients recruited, 9 patients (45%) completed the study. Paliperidone palmitate produced a significant improvement in PANSS total score from baseline to endpoint. The response rate was 75% [mean change (${\pm}SD$) $-25.9{\pm}14.4$, all p < 0.001]. The CGI-S and PSP total scores significantly improved during 24 weeks (All p < 0.001). Eighty percent of patients reported adverse events and most common adverse events (${\geq}10%$) in paliperidone palmitate were anticholinergic adverse event, extrapyramidal symptoms, weight gain, akathisia, insomnia, headache, agitation, anxiety and GI trouble. ESRS score is not statistically significant, but tends to get better at the end of the study when compared to baseline. Conclusions Our study results demonstrated maintained effectiveness and safety of paliperidone palmitate treatment in schizophrenics. And provides both clinicians and patients with a new choice of treatment that can improve the outcome of long term therapy. Their potential effectiveness and safety should be better addressed by future randomized-controlled trials.