• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.291-298
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• 2021

Purpose: The Pedisole is a newly developed shoe-mounted wearable assessment system for analyzing balance and gait. This study aimed to determine the reliability and validity of the parameters provided by the system for static balance and gait analysis of healthy adults. Methods: This study included 38 healthy adults (22.4±1.9 years) with no history of injury in the lower limbs. All participants were asked to perform balance and gait tasks for undertaking measurements. For analysis of balance, both the smart Pedisole and Pedoscan systems were concurrently used to analyze the path length of the center of pressure (COP) and the weight ratio of the left and right for 10 s. Gait was measured using the smart Pedisole and GaitRite walkway systems simultaneously. The participants walked at a self-selected preferred gait speed. The cadence, stance time, swing time, and step time were used to analyze gait characteristics. Using the paired t-test, the intra-class coefficient correlation (ICC) was calculated for reliability. The Spearman correlation was used to assess the validity of the measurements. In total, data for balance from 36 participants and the gait profiles of 37 participants were evaluated. Results: There were significant differences between the COP path lengths (p<.050) derived from the two systems, and a significant correlation was found for COP path length (r=.382~.523) for static balance. The ICC for COP path length and weight ratio was found to be greater than .687, indicating moderate agreement in balance parameters. The ICC of gait parameters was found to be greater than .697 except for stance time, and there was significant correlation (r=.678~.922) with the GaitRite system. Conclusion: The newly developed smart insole-type Pedisole system and the related application are useful, reliable, and valid tools for balance and gait analysis compared to the gold standard Pedoscan and the GaitRite systems in healthy individuals.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.732-742
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• 1985

Measurements of mean velocity and turbulence characteristics are obtained with a linearized constant temperature hot-wire anemometer in a two-dimensional turbulent jet discharging parallel to a flate. Wall static pressure distribution is also measure. The Reynolds number based on the jet nozzle width (D) is about 42,000 and the step height is 2.5D. The reattachment length is found to be 7.5D by using both wool tuft and oil methods. Upstream of the reattachment point, there exist double coherent structures and mean velocity, Reynolds stresses and triple product profiles are asymmetric about jet center line due to the influence of streamline curvature and recirculating flow region. Near the reattachment point, wall static pressure and turbulence quantities change its shape rapidly because of the large eddies by the solid wall. Especially, turbulence intensity has a maximum value in the reattachment regin, then decreases slowly in the redeveloping wall jet ragion. Downstream of X/D=14, a single large scale eddy structure is formed. Far downstream affer the reattachment(X/D.geq.18) mean velocity profile, the decay of maximum velocity and the variation of jet half width are nearly similar to those of plane wall jet, but the Reynolds stresses are higher than those of the latter.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.163-184
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• 2013

An accurate identification of the aerodynamic characteristics of vehicles and the bridge is the premise for the coupled vibration analysis of a wind-vehicle-bridge system. At present, the interaction of aerodynamic forces between the road vehicles and bridge is ignored in most previous studies. In the present study, an experimental setup was developed to measure the aerodynamic characteristics of vehicles and the bridge for different cases in a wind tunnel considering the aerodynamic interference. The influence of the wind turbulence, the wind speed, the vehicle interference, and the vehicle position on the aerodynamic coefficients of vehicles, and the influence of vehicles on the static coefficients of the bridge were investigated, based on the experimental results. The variations in the aerodynamic characteristics of vehicles and the bridge were studied and the measured results were validated according to the results of surface pressure measurements on the vehicle and the bridge. The measured results were further validated by comparing the measured results with values derived numerically. The measured results showed that the wind turbulence, the vehicle interference, and the vehicle position significantly affected the aerodynamic coefficients of vehicles. However, the influence of the wind speed on the aerodynamic coefficients of the studied vehicle is small. The static coefficients of the bridge were also significantly influenced by the presence of vehicles.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.1015-1039
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• 2014

The widening project on Freeway No.1 in Taiwan has a total length of roughly 14 kilometers, and includes three special bridges, namely a 216 m long-span bridge crossing the original freeway, an F-bent double decked bridge in a co-constructed section, and a steel and prestressed concrete composite bridge. This study employed in-situ monitoring in conjunction with numerical modeling to establish a real-time monitoring system for the three bridges. In order to determine the initial static and dynamic behavior of the real bridges, forced vibration experiments, in-situ static load experiments, and dynamic load experiments were first carried out on the newly-constructed bridges before they went into use. Structural models of the bridges were then established using the finite element method, and in-situ vehicle load weight, arrangement, and speed were taken into consideration when performing comparisons employing data obtained from experimental measurements. The results showed consistency between the analytical simulations and experimental data. After determining a bridge's initial state, the proposed in-situ monitoring system, which is employed in conjunction with the established finite element model, can be utilized to assess the safety of a bridge's members, providing useful reference information to bridge management agencies.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.131-157
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• 2014

Special track systems used to divert a train to other directions or other tracks are generally called 'railway turnout'. A traditional turnout system consists of steel rails, switches, crossings, steel plates, fasteners, screw spikes, timber bearers, ballast and formation. The wheel rail contact over the crossing transfer zone has a dip-like shape and can often cause detrimental impact loads on the railway track and its components. The large impact also emits disturbing noises (either impact or ground-borne noise) to railway neighbors. In a brown-field railway track where an existing aged infrastructure requires renewal or maintenance, some physical constraints and construction complexities may dominate the choice of track forms or certain components. With the difficulty to seek for high-quality timbers with dimensional stability, a methodology to replace aged timber bearers in harsh dynamic environments is to adopt an alternative material that could mimic responses and characteristics of timber in both static and dynamic loading conditions. A critical review has suggested an application of an alternative material called fibre-reinforced foamed urethane (FFU). The full-scale capacity design makes use of its comparable engineering characteristics to timber, high-impact attenuation, high damping property, and a longer service life. A field trial to investigate in-situ behaviours of a turnout grillage system using an alternative material, 'fibre-reinforced foamed urethane (FFU)' bearers, has been carried out at a complex turnout junction under heavy mixed traffics at Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia. The turnout junction was renewed using the FFU bearers altogether with new special track components. Influences of the FFU bearers on track geometry (recorded by track inspection vehicle 'AK Car'), track settlement (based on survey data), track dynamics, and acoustic characteristics have been measured. Operational train pass-by measurements have been analysed to evaluate the effectiveness of the replacement methodology. Comparative studies show that the use of FFU bearers generates higher rail and sleeper accelerations but the damping capacity of the FFU help suppress vibration transferring onto other track components. The survey data analysis suggests a small vertical settlement and negligible lateral movement of the turnout system. The static and dynamic behaviours of FFU bearers appear to equate that of natural timber but its service life is superior.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.63-73
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• 2020

Purpose: To investigate breathing-related changes in the balance ability of healthy adults. Methods: The participants were 36 healthy adults in their 20s and 30s. All participants were trained in three breathing (neutral, thoracic, and abdominal) methods one week before measurements. We used AccuSway to measure each participant's balance ability, using each breathing technique, in two postures (bipedal and unipedal). Results: During the bipedal balance task, abdominal breathing produced significant increases in path length and sway velocity. Abdominal breathing resulted in significant changes in sample entropy at the anteroposterior location compared with neutral breathing (p<.05). In the normalized anteroposterior location, there were significant changes in backward movement during thoracic and abdominal breathing compared with those during neutral breathing (p<.05). During the unipedal balance task, path length and sway velocity increased significantly during voluntary breathing compared with those during neutral breathing (p<.05). There was a significant change in backward movement when abdominal breathing-compared with neutral breathing-was used in the normalized anteroposterior location (p<.05). In the normalized left-right location, there was a significant shift to the right during thoracic breathing compared with that during neutral breathing (p<.05). Conclusion: Compared with neutral breathing, altered voluntary breathing patterns affect balance in healthy adults. Our results indicated that that static balance was more affected by abdominal breathing than by neutral breathing. Future studies should examine variables such as the breathing volume, rhythm, and method.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.441-446
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• 2005

This paper presents the changes of acoustic scattering pattern from a single cylinder and two identical cylinders in both theoretical calculations and experimental measurements. Bi-static scattering pattern by single cylinder and two parallel cylinders (length 2m, radius 30mm) was measured in $5m\times5m\times5m$ water tank using high frequency projector (120 kHz) and hydrophone. The results show similar agreement between experiment and theory. In case of single cylinder scattering. omni-directional pattern was observed in backward but there are fluctuations or target strength in forward. Interference between each cylinder's scattering fields produce fluctuations of target strength in all directions of two cylinders.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.242-247
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• 2013

In order to prepare for weakening of the productivity of agriculture due to serious climate change, the researches on promoting the growth of plant are required. Although the method of using magnetic field for improving the growth of plant was introduced, the effective method of imposing the field on the plant have yet to be studied thoroughly in the literatures. In this paper, we investigated the effects of static magnetic field on the growth and the early seed germination of radish sprouts according to the strength, direction of excitation and the expose time of the magnetic field, and present the effective method of imposing magnetic fields. From the measurements, it was found that the radish sprouts exposed in the field shows a rapid germination of about 3~4 days than those which had no field, and in order to the effective growth, the strength of the magnetic field should be properly selected, and the excitation direction of magnetic field has little effect on the radish sprouts growth.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.991-997
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• 2014

This study investigated the swirling flow fields of a gun-type gas burner (GTGB) without a combustion chamber under cold flow conditions. Three velocity components and the static pressure were measured with a straight-type five-hole pressure probe (GHPP) using a non-nulling calibration method and compared with the results of an X-type hot-wire probe (X-probe) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The GHPP measured the velocity and static pressure for the swirling flow of the central region of the GTGB better than the X-probe but produced slightly worse results than the CFD.

• Composites Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.80-85
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• 2022

This work presents an experiment study to evaluate the nanoparticle adhesion and surface hydrophobicity characteristics of Teflon-polyurethane top coat depending on the number of multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) coatings, which is a carbon-based hydrophobic particle. In order to measure the adhesion between the nanoparticles and the top coat, adhesion pull-off test was performed with different MWCNT oxidation times. Static contact angle and roughness measurements were carried out to characterize the surface hydrophobic behavior. Through the roughness evaluation, it was confirmed that the carbon nanotubes were wetted in the Teflon-polyurethane top coat, and the degree carbon nanotube wetting was confirmed through a USB-microscope. As a result, it was found that the larger the degree of wetting, the better the adhesion. From the experimental results, as the hydrophobicity of Teflon-polyurethane increased, the adhesive propertydecreased with the number of coatings. It was possible to improve the adhesive force and determine the number of coatings of carbon nanotubes with optimized hydrophobicity.