• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.142-148
• /
• 2015

Due to advancements in technology and manufacturing capability, it is not uncommon that life tests yield no or few failures at low stress levels. In these situations it is difficult to analyse lifetime data and make meaningful inferences about product or system reliability. For some products or systems whose performance characteristics degrade over time, a failure is said to have occurred when a performance characteristic crosses a critical threshold. The measurements of the degradation characteristic contain much useful and credible information about product or system reliability. Degradation measurements of the performance characteristics of an unfailed unit at different times can directly relate reliability measures to physical characteristics. Reliability prediction based on physical performance measures can be an efficient and alternative method to estimate for some highly reliable parts or systems. If the degradation process and the distance between the last measurement and a specified threshold can be established, the remaining useful life is predicted in advance. In turn, this prediction leads to just in time maintenance decision to protect systems. In this paper, we describe techniques for mapping product or system which has degrading performance parameter to the associated classical reliability measures in the performance domain. This paper described a general modeling and analysis procedure for reliability prediction based on one dominant degradation performance characteristic considering pseudo degradation performance life trend model. This pseudo degradation trend model is based on probability modeling of a failure mechanism degradation trend and comparison of a projected distribution to pre-defined critical soft failure point in time or cycle.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.273-281
• /
• 2014

In most current seismic design codes, design earthquake ground motions are defined by a reference spectrum, based on bedrock and site amplification factors that quantify the geotechnical dynamic conditions. Earthquake engineering bedrock is the fundamental geotechnical formation where the seismic waves are attenuated without amplification. To better define bedrock in an earthquake engineering context, shear wave velocity ($V_S$ ) data obtained from in-situ seismic tests were examined for several rock strata in Korea; these data were categorized by borehole drilling investigations. The $V_S$ values for most soft rock data in Korea are > 750 m/s, which is the threshold $V_S$ value for identifying engineering bedrock from a strong motion station. Conversely, VS values are < 750 m/s for 60% of $V_S$ data in weathered rock in Korea. Thus, the soft (or harder) rock strata below the weathered rock layer in Korea can be regarded as earthquake engineering bedrock.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.124-131
• /
• 2011

Because excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages may reduce the quality of nutritional intake, this study examined the consumption patterns of commercial beverages, lifestyle, dietary habits, and perception of sweet taste. Participants were 407 male university students in Kyeooggido, Korea, and information was collected by self-administered questionnaire. Among them, 58 nonsmokers volunteered to participate in the taste test. Participants were divided into three groups according to the frequency of commercial beverage consumptions: 120 rare (< 1 serving/week), 227 moderate (1-3 servings/week) and 133 frequent (> 3 servings/week) consumption groups. More subjects from the rare consumption group chose water, tea, and soy milk, and more from the frequent consumption group chose carbonated soft drinks and coffee (P=0.031) as their favorite drinks. Frequent consumption group consumed fruit juice, coffee, and sports and carbonated soft drinks significantly more often (P=0.002, P=0.000, P=0.000, respectively), but not milk and tea. Frequent consumption group consumed beverages casually without a specific occasion (P=0.000) than rare consumption group. Frequent drinking of commercial beverages was associated with frequent snacking (P=0.002), meal skipping (P=0.006), eating out (P=0.003), eating delivered foods (P=0.000), processed foods (P=0.001), and sweets (P=0.002), and drinking alcoholic beverages (P=0.029). Frequent consumption group tended to have a higher threshold of sweet taste without reaching statistical significance. The results provide information for developing strategies for evidence-based nutrition education program focusing on reducing consumption of unnecessary sugar-sweetened commercial beverages.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
• /
• v.24 no.7A
• /
• pp.987-995
• /
• 1999

The handoff is a distinctive characteristic of the mobile networks. In the CDMA systems, if base stations support multiple Frequency Assignment (FA), they provide both soft handoff and hard handoff. Under the CDMA environments, the soft handoff guarantees the favorable service quality and the continuity of call connection without interruption, and increases the service capacity of the base stations. This paper proposes call connection control schemes with handoff queue for supporting efficient handoff processing. The proposed schemes are divided into two categories: single handoff queue scheme and multiple handoff queue scheme. We analyze the performance of the proposed call connection control schemes using numerical analysis. From the analysis results, we can say that it is more desirable to avoid hard handoff as long as handoff queues are used. When a single handoff queue used, adaptive scheme that properly mixes avoidable and avoidable hard handoff method under the given traffic condition is more desirable. In case that multiple handoff queues are used, the suitable trade-off needs to be developed between handoff blocking probability and hard handoff probability to guarantee a given blocking probability threshold.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.522-530
• /
• 1996

Most dentists are very interested in laser therapy on the intraoral soft tissue lesions because they want to accomplish the analgesic and aseptic surgery with little or no bleeding. In order to determine the difference of pain threshold according to different gingival tissues with or without inflammation, 25 patients with inflammatory periodontal disease and 10 volunteers with good general and oral health were selected as the inflamed group and the normal group, respectively. Interdental papilla, marginal gingiva, attached gingiva, and alveolar mucosa were irradiated by the contact delivery($300{\mu]m$ fiber optic, for 5 seconds) of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser(EN.EL.EN06O, Italy). And the laser power was gradually increased from 0.5W by the increment of 0.1W. The highest laser power was recorded as the first painful power when the painful gesture was recognized at first. The difference of the first painful power of laser according to different gingival tissues with or without inflammation was statistically analyzed by paired t-test in MICROSTAT program. Following results were obtained: 1. In the comparison related with the inflammation, the first painful power was significantly lower in the inflamed group than in the normal group, regardless of interdental papilla and marginal gingiva(p<0.05). 2. In the comparison related with the tissue structure, the first painful. power was significantly lower in alveolar mucosa than in attached gingiva(p<0.05). The results suggest that, for the painless therapy by a pulsed-Nd:YAG laser irradiation, the laser surgery over 2.0W of power should be necessarily accomplished under the local anethesia, and the local anesthesia should be considered according to the degree of inflammation, the tissue structure, and the purpose of laser therapy.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.69-77
• /
• 2007

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of the imaging reformation of cone beam computed tomography for the assessment of bone defect healing in rat model. Materials and Methods: Sprague-Dawley strain rats weighing about 350 gms were selected. Then critical size bone defects were done at parietal bone with implantation of collagen sponge. The rats were divided into seven groups of 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, and 8 weeks. The healing of surgical defect was assessed by multi planar reconstruction (MPR) images and three-dimensional (3-D) images of cone beam computed tomography, compared with soft X-ray radiograph and histopathologic examination. Results: MPR images and 3-D images showed similar reformation of the healing amount at 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, and 8 weeks, however, lower reformation at 3 weeks, 4 weeks, and 6 weeks. According to imaging-based methodologies, MPR image revealed similar reformation of the healing amount than 3-D images compare with soft X-ray image. Among the four threshold values for 3-D images, 400-500 HU revealed similar reformation of the healing amount. Histopathologic examination confirmed the newly formed trabeculation correspond with imaging-based methologies. Conclusion: MPR images revealed higher accuracy of the imaging reformation of cone beam computed tomography and cone beam computed tomography is a clinically useful diagnostic tool for the assessment of bone defect healing.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.189-195
• /
• 2007

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of shoes with curved out-sole on the pressure, reaction force(sum of pressure) on foot and relations between the rolling speeds and pronation of foot. The foot pressure, reaction force and pressure center on the foot surface of shoe were measured with NOVEL padar system, and 3 type shoes were used to compare the position and speed of pressure center and the foot reaction force, which were s(target) shoe with soft cushions in middle part of out-sole and curved out-sole, m shoes with two type- soft, hard, hardness out-sole and curved out-sole and n shoes with flat out-sole. The subjects were 13 female university students, had weared the 3 type shoes for 6 weeks on two-weeks shifts for adaptation before experiment and put on 3-type shoes repeatedly and randomly and walked on treadmill with 3.5km/h and 80 steps/min. The data were captured with 30Hz and readjusted with 5kgf threshold reaction force. The results can be summarized as follow. 1. There were no difference in maximum reaction force on initial contact period and total foot impact, but statistical difference in maximum reaction force on takeoff period : s, m, n in ascending order. 2. There were some difference in rolling speeds for support periods. At initial contact, the rolling speed of s shoes was fastest but at periods between first and second maximum reaction force, that of m shoes fastest. 3. There was a negative relation between rolling speeds and the length of lever arm on initial reaction force related to pronation. It seems shoes with various curved shapes and hardness could make effects on the rolling features and the rolling speed also have some relationships with walking efficiency, absortion of impact and pronation.

• Geosciences Journal
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.871-880
• /
• 2018

During and shortly after the 2017 Pohang Earthquake ($M_w$ 5.4), sand blows were observed around the epicenter for the first time since the beginning of instrumental seismic recording in South Korea. We carried out field surveys plus satellite and drone imagery analyses, resulting in observation of approximately 600 sand blows on Quaternary sediment cover in this area. Most were observed within 3 km of the epicenter, with the farthest being 15 km away. In order to investigate the ground's susceptibility to liquefaction, we conducted a trench study of a 30 m-long sand blow in a rice field 1 km from the earthquake epicenter. The physical characteristics of the liquified sediments (grain size, impermeable barriers, saturation, and low overburden pressure) closely matched the optimum ground conditions for liquefaction. Additionally, we found a series of soft sediment deformation structures (SSDSs) within the trench walls, such as load structures and water-escaped structures. The latter were vertically connected to sand blows on the surface, reflecting seismogenic liquefaction involving subsurface deformation during sand blow formation. This genetic linkage suggests that SSDS research would be useful for identifying prehistoric damage-inducing earthquakes ($M_w$ > 5.0) in South Korea because SSDSs have a lower formation threshold and higher preservational potential than geomorphic markers formed by surface ruptures. Thus, future combined studies of Quaternary surface faults and SSDSs are required to provide reliable paleoseismological information in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Physical Society
• /
• v.80
• /
• pp.247-256
• /
• 2022

Our objective was to investigate radiomics signatures and prediction models defined by four segmentation methods in using 2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET) imaging of lung metastases of soft-tissue sarcomas (STSs). For this purpose, three fixed threshold methods using the standardized uptake value (SUV) and gradient-based edge detection (ED) were used for tumor delineation on the PET images of STSs. The Dice coefficients (DCs) of the segmentation methods were compared. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression and Spearman's rank, and Friedman's ANOVA test were used for selection and validation of radiomics features. The developed radiomics models were assessed using ROC (receiver operating characteristics) curve and confusion matrices. According to the results, the DC values showed the biggest difference between SUV40% and other segmentation methods (DC: 0.55 and 0.59). Grey-level run-length matrix_run-length nonuniformity (GLRLM_RLNU) was a common radiomics signature extracted by all segmentation methods. The multivariable logistic regression of ED showed the highest area under the ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy (AUC: 0.88, sensitivity: 0.85, specificity: 0.74, accuracy: 0.81). In our research, the ED method was able to derive a significant model of radiomics. GLRLM_RLNU which was selected from all segmented methods as a meaningful feature was considered the obvious radiomics feature associated with the heterogeneity and the aggressiveness. Our results have apparently showed that radiomics signatures have the potential to uncover tumor characteristics.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
• /
• v.41 no.7
• /
• pp.97-103
• /
• 2004

In this paper, we propose a high speed block turbo code decoding algorithm and an efficient hardware architecture. The multimedia wireless data communication systems need channel codes which have the high-performance error correcting capabilities. Block turbo codes support variable code rates and packet sizes, and show a high performance due to a soft decision iteration decoding of turbo codes. However, block turbo codes have a long decoding time because of the iteration decoding and a complicated extrinsic information operation. The proposed algorithm using the threshold that represents a channel information reduces the long decoding time. After the threshold is decided by a simulation result, the proposed algorithm eliminates the calculation for the bits which have a good channel information and assigns a high reliability value to the bits. The threshold is decided by the absolute mean and the standard deviation of a LLR(Log Likelihood Ratio) in consideration that the LLR distribution is a gaussian one. Also, the proposed algorithm assigns '1', the highest reliable value, to those bits. The hardware design result using verilog HDL reduces a decoding time about 30% in comparison with conventional algorithm, and includes about 20K logic gate and 32Kbit memory sizes.