• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.382-393
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• 2023

Cell clusters are a histological hallmark feature of intervertebral disc degeneration. Clusters arise from cell proliferation, are associated with replicative senescence, and remain metabolically, but their precise role in various stages of disc degeneration remain obscure. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate small, medium, and large size cell-clusters. For this purpose, human disc samples were collected from 55 subjects, aged 37-72 years, 21 patients had disc herniation, 10 had degenerated non-herniated discs, and 9 had degenerative scoliosis with spinal curvature <45°. 15 non-degenerated control discs were from cadavers. Clusters and matrix changes were investigated with histology, immunohistochemistry, and Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Data obtained were analyzed with spearman rank correlation and ANOVA. Results revealed, small and medium-sized clusters were positive for cell proliferation markers Ki-67 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in control and slightly degenerated human discs, while large cell clusters were typically more abundant in severely degenerated and herniated discs. Large clusters associated with matrix fissures, proteoglycan loss, matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1), and Caspase-3. Spatial association findings were reconfirmed with SDS-PAGE that showed presence to these target markers based on its molecular weight. Controls, slightly degenerated discs showed smaller clusters, less proteoglycan loss, MMP-1, and Caspase-3. In conclusion, cell clusters in the early stages of degeneration could be indicative of repair, however sustained loading increases large cell clusters especially around microscopic fissures that accelerates inflammatory catabolism and alters cellular metabolism, thus attempted repair process initiated by cell clusters fails and is aborted at least in part via apoptosis.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1185-1198
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• 2020

This study aimed to suggest a framework for biotope classification and evaluation based on habitat values to rationally establish management areas of national parks. The factors and indicators related to the biotope classification and evaluation were established based on integration from those of previous studies. The decision tree evaluation process was applied to the classification and evaluation of the biotope type level. The evaluation of the biotope group level was carried out to determine the weight and the AUEM (Adding Up Estimation Matrix) was applied for the final grades. As a result, the biotope type of Seolaksan National Park was classified into 43 types and Odaesan National Park was classified into 41 types. Bukhansan National Park, which is located in a metropolitan city, was classified into 49 types. In terms of biotope evaluation, grade III had a ratio of 50.6%, the highest in Seolaksan national park. The ratios of grade I and grade II, which have great ecological-value, were respectively 12.0% and 36.5%. Grade II was 48.2%, the highest ratio in Odaesan National Park. The ratios of grades I and II were 10.8% and 37.9%, respectively. Grade III was 54.8%, the highest ratio in Bukhansan national park, and the ratios of grade I and grade II, which have great ecological-value were, respectively, 11.4% and 25.7%. The biotope values of major national parks were evaluated according to the type focusing on the actual vegetation. This framework can be considered for application to the spatial management of other types of protected areas.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.31 no.3A
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• pp.249-253
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• 2006

We propose a new beamforming algorithm, which is based on simplex downhill optimization method in the presence of pilot channels in cdma2000 reverse-link, for the rake structure antenna array in DS/CDMA communication system. Our approach uses the desired signal(pilot) covariance matrix and the interference covariance matrix. The beamforming weights are made according to maximum SINR criteria using simplex downhill optimization procedure. Our proposed scheme provides lower computational load, better convergence speed, better performance than existingadaptive beamforming algorithm. The simplex downhill method is well suited to finding the optimal or sub-optimal weight vector, since they require only the value of the deterministic function to be optimized. The rake beamformer performances are also evaluated under several set of practical parameter values with regard to spatial channel model. We also compare the performance between conventional rake receiver and the proposed one under same receiving power.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.275-291
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• 2023

This paper has focused on presenting vibration analysis of trapezoidal sandwich plates with 3D-graphene foam reinforced polymer matrix composites (GrF-PMC) core and FG wavy CNT-reinforced face sheets. The porous graphene foam possessing 3D scaffold structures has been introduced into polymers for enhancing the overall stiffness of the composite structure. Also, 3D graphene foams can distribute uniformly or non-uniformly in the plate thickness direction. The effective Young's modulus, mass density and Poisson's ratio are predicted by the rule of mixture. In this study, the classical theory concerning the mechanical efficiency of a matrix embedding finite length fibers has been modified by introducing the tube-to-tube random contact, which explicitly accounts for the progressive reduction of the tubes' effective aspect ratio as the filler content increases. The First-order shear deformation theory of plate is utilized to establish governing partial differential equations and boundary conditions for trapezoidal plate. The governing equations together with related boundary conditions are discretized using a mapping-generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method in spatial domain. Then natural frequencies of the trapezoidal sandwich plates are obtained using GDQ method. Validity of the current study is evaluated by comparing its numerical results with those available in the literature. It is explicated that 3D-GrF skeleton type and weight fraction, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) waviness and CNT aspect ratio can significantly affect the vibrational behavior of the sandwich structure. The plate's normalized natural frequency decreased and the straight carbon nanotube (w=0) reached the highest frequency by increasing the values of the waviness index (w).

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.275-280
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• 2015

In this paper, we studied for modified MUSIC algorithm of direction of arrival (DOA)estimation. Modified MUSIC algorithm search optimal covariance matrix using singular value decomposition and Bayes method, and desired signals are estimated by updating weight. In order to estimation of desired signals, we used sub spatial method of MUSIC algorithm. General MUSIC algorithm can estimate a desired signal in case of non-correlation signal. But, general MUSIC algorithm in case of correlation signal can not estimate a desired signals and resolution is decreased. Though simulation in case of correlation signal, we analyze to compare proposed MUSIC algorithm with general MUSIC algorithm.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.161-172
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• 2018

This paper proposed the robot vision control method to track a moving rigid body target using the vision system model that can actively control camera parameters even if the relative position between the camera and the robot and the focal length and posture of the camera change. The proposed robotic vision control scheme uses a batch method that uses all the vision data acquired from each moving point of the robot. To process all acquired data, this robot vision control scheme is divided into two cases. One is to give an equal weight for all acquired data, the other is to give weighting for the recent data acquired near the target. Finally, using the two proposed robot vision control schemes, experiments were performed to estimate the positions of a moving rigid body target whose spatial positions are unknown but only the vision data values are known. The efficiency of each control scheme is evaluated by comparing the accuracy through the experimental results of each control scheme.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.39-53
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• 2014

The Korean population is aging rapidly and a disproportionate share of older people(aged 65 and older) lives in rural areas. The rural population is aging more rapidly than the population in urban area. However, the majority of studies on aging population focuses on an urban area rather than a rural area. Rural areas have been alienated from the priority of the national policy. For these reasons, this study is to show the level of population aging and to analyze the spatial spillover patterns of aging population in rural areas for the establishment of localized policy on population aging. The main findings of this study can be summarized as follows. First, the level of population aging varies in different localities such as socio-economic and locational characteristics. Secondly, there are distinct differences between hot spot region(clustering of high aging index) and cold spot region(clustering of low aging index) in spatio-temporal spillover patterns. This study intends to suggest an useful information to establish the area-specific policy on aging population through the results of analysis.

• Journal of Cadastre & Land InformatiX
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.37-51
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• 2017

Despite the improvement in accuracy of heavy rain forecasting, socioeconomic costs due to heavy rain hazards continue to increase. This is due to a lack of understanding of the effects of weather. In this study, the risk of heavy rain hazard was analyzed using the concepts of hazard, vulnerability, and exposure, which are key concepts of impact forecast presented by WMO. The potential impacts were constructed by the exposure and vulnerability variables, and the hazard index was calculated by selecting three variables according to the criteria of heavy rain warning. Weights of the potential impact index were calculated by using PCA and hazard index was calculated by applying the same weight. Correlation analysis between the potential impact index and damages showed a high correlation and it was confirmed that the potential impact index appropriately reflects the actual damage pattern. The heavy rain hazard risk was estimated by using the risk matrix consisting of the heavy rain potential impact index and the hazard index. This study provides a basis for the impacts analysis study for weather warning with spatial/temporal variation and it can be used as a useful data to establish the local heavy rain hazard prevention measures.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.41-48
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• 2014

Experimental study of sedimentation and self-weight consolidation has been primary research area in dredged soil. However, good quality of the dredged soil and minimum water pollution caused by the pumping of reclaimed soil require intensive study of the flow characteristics of dredged material due to dumping. In this study, continuity and the equilibrium equations for mass flow assuming single phase was derived to simulate mass flow in dredged containment area. To optimize computation and modeling time for three dimensional geometry and boundary conditions, depth integration is applied to governing equations to consider three dimensional topography of the site. Petrov-Galerkin formulation is applied in spatial discretization of governing equations. Generalized trapezoidal rule is used for time integration, and Newton iteration process approximated the solution. DG and CDG technique were used for weighting matrix in discontinuous test function in dredged flow analysis, and numerical stability was evaluated by performed a square slump simulation. A comparative analysis for numerical methods showed that DG method applied to SU / PG formulation gives minimal pseudo oscillation and reliable numerical results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.73-91
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• 2024

This paper has focused on presenting vibration analysis of trapezoidal sandwich plates with a damaged core and FG wavy CNT-reinforced face sheets. A damage model is introduced to provide an analytical description of an irreversible rheological process that causes the decay of the mechanical properties, in terms of engineering constants. An isotropic damage is considered for the core of the sandwich structure. The classical theory concerning the mechanical efficiency of a matrix embedding finite length fibers has been modified by introducing the tube-to-tube random contact, which explicitly accounts for the progressive reduction of the tubes' effective aspect ratio as the filler content increases. The First-order shear deformation theory of plate is utilized to establish governing partial differential equations and boundary conditions for the trapezoidal plate. The governing equations together with related boundary conditions are discretized using a mapping-generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method in spatial domain. Then natural frequencies of the trapezoidal sandwich plates are obtained using GDQ method. Validity of the current study is evaluated by comparing its numerical results with those available in the literature. After demonstrating the convergence and accuracy of the method, different parametric studies for laminated trapezoidal structure including carbon nanotubes waviness (0≤w≤1), CNT aspect ratio (0≤AR≤4000), face sheet to core thickness ratio (0.1 ≤ ${\frac{h_f}{h_c}}$ ≤ 0.5), trapezoidal side angles (30° ≤ α, β ≤ 90°) and damaged parameter (0 ≤ D < 1) are carried out. It is explicated that the damaged core and weight fraction, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) waviness and CNT aspect ratio can significantly affect the vibrational behavior of the sandwich structure. Results show that by increasing the values of waviness index (w), normalized natural frequency of the structure decreases, and the straight CNT (w=0) gives the highest frequency. For an overall comprehension on vibration of laminated trapezoidal plates, some selected vibration mode shapes were graphically represented in this study.