• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.415-423
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• 2022

Economic evaluations in the healthcare are used to assess economic efficiency of pharmaceuticals and medical interventions such as diagnoses and medical procedures. This study introduces the main concepts of economic evaluation across its key steps: planning, outcome and cost calculation, modeling, cost-effectiveness results, uncertainty analysis, and decision-making. When planning an economic evaluation, we determine the study population, intervention, comparators, perspectives, time horizon, discount rates, and type of economic evaluation. In healthcare economic evaluations, outcomes include changes in mortality, the survival rate, life years, and quality-adjusted life years, while costs include medical, non-medical, and productivity costs. Model-based economic evaluations, including decision tree and Markov models, are mainly used to calculate the total costs and total effects. In cost-effectiveness or costutility analyses, cost-effectiveness is evaluated using the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, which is the additional cost per one additional unit of effectiveness gained by an intervention compared with a comparator. All outcomes have uncertainties owing to limited evidence, diverse methodologies, and unexplained variation. Thus, researchers should review these uncertainties and confirm their robustness. We hope to contribute to the establishment and dissemination of economic evaluation methodologies that reflect Korean clinical and research environment and ultimately improve the rationality of healthcare policies.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1825-1834
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• 2022

Performing high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (HF-CFD) to predict the flow and heat transfer state of the coolant in the reactor core is expensive, especially in scenarios that require extensive parameter search, such as uncertainty analysis and design optimization. This work investigated the performance of utilizing a multi-fidelity reduced-order model (MF-ROM) in PWR rod bundles simulation. Firstly, basis vectors and basis vector coefficients of high-fidelity and low-fidelity CFD results are extracted separately by the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) approach. Secondly, a surrogate model is trained to map the relationship between the extracted coefficients from different fidelity results. In the prediction stage, the coefficients of the low-fidelity data under the new operating conditions are extracted by using the obtained POD basis vectors. Then, the trained surrogate model uses the low-fidelity coefficients to regress the high-fidelity coefficients. The predicted high-fidelity data is reconstructed from the product of extracted basis vectors and the regression coefficients. The effectiveness of the MF-ROM is evaluated on a flow and heat transfer problem in PWR fuel rod bundles. Two data-driven algorithms, the Kriging and artificial neural network (ANN), are trained as surrogate models for the MF-ROM to reconstruct the complex flow and heat transfer field downstream of the mixing vanes. The results show good agreements between the data reconstructed with the trained MF-ROM and the high-fidelity CFD simulation result, while the former only requires to taken the computational burden of low-fidelity simulation. The results also show that the performance of the ANN model is slightly better than the Kriging model when using a high number of POD basis vectors for regression. Moreover, the result presented in this paper demonstrates the suitability of the proposed MF-ROM for high-fidelity fixed value initialization to accelerate complex simulation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.17-33
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• 2023

Disasters in coastal regions are a constant source of damage due to their uncertainty and complexity, leading to the proposal of green infrastructure as a nature-based solution that incorporates the concept of resilience to address the limitations of traditional grey infrastructure. This study analyzed trends in research related to coastal disasters and green infrastructure by conducting a co-occurrence keyword analysis of 2,183 articles collected from the Web of Science (WoS). The analysis resulted in the classification of the literature into four clusters. Cluster 1 is related to coastal disasters and tsunamis, as well as predictive simulation techniques, and includes keywords such as surge, wave, tide, and modeling. Cluster 2 focuses on the social system damage caused by coastal disasters and theoretical concepts, with keywords such as population, community, and green infrastructure elements like habitat, wetland, salt marsh, coral reef, and mangrove. Cluster 3 deals with coastal disaster-related sea level rise and international issues, and includes keywords such as sea level rise (or change), floodplain, and DEM. Finally, cluster 4 covers coastal erosion and vulnerability, and GIS, with the theme of 'coastal vulnerability and spatial technique'. Keywords related to green infrastructure in cluster 2 have been continuously appearing since 2016, but their focus has been on the function and effect of each element. Based on this analysis, implications for planning and management processes using green infrastructure in response to coastal disasters have been derived. This study can serve as a valuable resource for future research and policy in responding to and managing various disasters in coastal regions.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.595-611
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to improve the daily prediction results of PM2.5 from the air quality diagnosis and evaluation system operated by the Busan Institute of Health and Environment in real time. The air quality diagnosis and evaluation system is based on the photochemical numerical model, CMAQ (Community multiscale air quality modeling system), and includes a 3-day forecast at the end of the model's calculation. The photochemical numerical model basically has limitations because of the uncertainty of input data and simplification of physical and chemical processes. To overcome these limitations, this study applied DNN (Deep Neural Network), a deep learning technique, to the results of the numerical model. As a result of applying DNN, the r of the model was significantly improved. The r value for GFS (Global forecast system) and UM (Unified model) increased from 0.77 to 0.87 and 0.70 to 0.83, respectively. The RMSE (Root mean square error), which indicates the model's error rate, was also significantly improved (GFS: 5.01 to 6.52 ug/m³ , UM: 5.76 to 7.44 ug/m³ ). The prediction results for each concentration grade performed in the field also improved significantly (GFS: 74.4 to 80.1%, UM: 70.0 to 77.9%). In particular, it was confirmed that the improvement effect at the high concentration grade was excellent.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.503-515
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• 2022

This paper presents the development of seismic fragility curves for a precast reinforced concrete bridge instrumented with a structural health monitoring (SHM) system. The bridge is located near an active seismic fault in the Dominican Republic (DR) and provides the only access to several local communities in the aftermath of a potential damaging earthquake; moreover, the sample bridge was designed with outdated building codes and uses structural detailing not adequate for structures in seismic regions. The bridge was instrumented with an SHM system to extract information about its state of structural integrity and estimate its seismic performance. The data obtained from the SHM system is integrated with structural models to develop a set of fragility curves to be used as a quantitative measure of the expected damage; the fragility curves provide an estimate of the probability that the structure will exceed different damage limit states as a function of an earthquake intensity measure. To obtain the fragility curves a digital twin of the bridge is developed combining a computational finite element model and the information extracted from the SHM system. The digital twin is used as a response prediction tool that minimizes modeling uncertainty, significantly improving the predicting capability of the model and the accuracy of the fragility curves. The digital twin was used to perform a nonlinear incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) with selected ground motions that are consistent with the seismic fault and site characteristics. The fragility curves show that for the maximum expected acceleration (with a 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years) the structure has a 62% probability of undergoing extensive damage. This is the first study presenting fragility curves for civil infrastructure in the DR and the proposed methodology can be extended to other structures to support disaster mitigation and post-disaster decision-making strategies.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2021.06a
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• pp.275-275
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• 2021

A fixed Z-R relationship approach, such as the Marshall-Palmer relationship, for an entire year and for different seasons can be problematic in cases where the relationship varies spatially and temporally throughout a region. From this perspective, this study explores the use of long-term radar reflectivity for South Korea to obtain a nationwide calibrated Z-R relationship and the associated uncertainties within a Bayesian regression framework. This study also investigates seasonal differences in the Z-R relationship and their roles in reducing systematic error. Distinct differences in the Z-R parameters in space are identified, and more importantly, an inverse relationship between the parameters is clearly identified with distinct regimes based on the seasons. A spatially structured pattern in the parameters exists, particularly parameter α for the wet season and parameter β for the dry season. A pronounced region of high values during the wet and dry seasons may be partially associated with storm movements in that season. Finally, the radar rainfall estimates through the calibrated Z-R relationship are compared with the existing Z-R relationships for estimating stratiform rainfall and convective rainfall. Overall, the radar rainfall fields based on the proposed modeling procedure are similar to the observed rainfall fields, whereas the radar rainfall fields obtained from the existing Marshall-Palmer Z-R relationship show a systematic underestimation. The obtained Z-R relationships are validated by testing the predictions on unseen radar-gauge pairs in the year 2018, in the context of cross-validation. The cross-validation results are largely similar to those in the calibration process, suggesting that the derived Z-R relationships fit the radar-gauge pairs reasonably well.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.13-38
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• 2024

As economic uncertainties have increased recently due to COVID-19, there is a growing need to quickly grasp private consumption trends that directly reflect the economic situation of private economic entities. This study proposes a method of estimating private consumption in real-time by comprehensively utilizing big data as well as existing macroeconomic indicators. In particular, it is intended to improve the accuracy of private consumption estimation by comparing and analyzing various machine learning methods that are capable of fitting ultra-high-dimensional big data. As a result of the empirical analysis, it has been demonstrated that when the number of covariates including big data is large, variables can be selected in advance and used for model fit to improve private consumption prediction performance. In addition, as the inclusion of big data greatly improves the predictive performance of private consumption after COVID-19, the benefit of big data that reflects new information in a timely manner has been shown to increase when economic uncertainty is high.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.601-618
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• 2024

The joint probability distribution of uncertain geomechanical parameters of geotechnical strata is a crucial aspect in constructing the reliability functional function for roof structures. However, due to the limited number of on-site exploration and test data samples, it is challenging to conduct a scientifically reliable analysis of roof geotechnical strata. This study proposes a Copula method based on small sample exploration and test data to construct the intensity characteristics of roof geotechnical strata. Firstly, the theory of multidimensional copula is systematically introduced, especially the construction of four-dimensional Gaussian copula. Secondly, data from measurements of 176 groups of geomechanical parameters of roof geotechnical strata in 31 coal mines in China are collected. The goodness of fit and simulation error of the four-dimensional Gaussian Copula constructed using the Pearson method, Kendall method, and Spearman methods are analyzed. Finally, the fitting effects of positive and negative correlation coefficients under different copula functions are discussed respectively. The results demonstrate that the established multidimensional Gaussian Copula joint distribution model can scientifically represent the uncertainty of geomechanical parameters in roof geotechnical strata. It provides an important theoretical basis for the study of reliability functional functions for roof structures. Different construction methods for multidimensional Gaussian Copula yield varying simulation effects. The Kendall method exhibits the best fit in constructing correlations of geotechnical parameters. For the bivariate Copula fitting ability of uncertain parameters in roof geotechnical strata, when the correlation is strong, Gaussian Copula demonstrates the best fit, and other Copula functions also show remarkable fitting ability in the region of fixed correlation parameters. The research results can offer valuable reference for the stability analysis of roof geotechnical engineering.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.129-139
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• 2008

Due to uncertainty of numerous variables in durability model, a probalistic approach is increasing. Monte Carlo simulation (Level III method) is an easily accessible method, but requires a lot of repeated operations. This paper evaluated the effectiveness of First Order Second Moment method (Level II method), which is more convenient and time saving method than MCS, to predict the corrosion initiation in harbor concrete structure. Mean Value First Order Second Moment method (MV FOSM) and Advanced First Order Second Moment method (AFOSM) are applied to the error function solution of Fick's second law modeling chloride diffusion. Reliability index and failure probability based on MV FOSM and AFOSM are compared with the results by MCS. The comparison showed that AFOSM and MCS predict the similar reliability index and MV FOSM underestimates the probability of corrosion initiation by chloride attack. Also, the sensitivity of variables in durability model to corrosion initiation probability was evaluated on the basis of AFOSM. The results showed that AFOSM is a simple and efficient method to estimate the probability of corrosion initiation in harbor structures.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.478-489
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• 2020

This study presents an analysis of infrasonic signals from two accidental explosions in Gwangyang city, Jeonnam Province, Korea, on December 24, 2019, recorded at 12 infrasound stations located 151-435 km away. Infrasound propagation refracted at an altitude of ~40 km owing to higher stratospheric wind in the NNW direction, resulting in favorable detection at stations in that direction. However, tropospheric phases were observed at stations located in the NE and E directions from the explosion site because of the strong west wind jet formed at ~10 km. The transmission losses on the propagation path were calculated using the effective sound velocity structure and parabolic equation modeling. Based on the losses, the observed signal amplitudes were corrected, and overpressures were estimated at the reference distance. From the overpressures, the source energy was evaluated through the overpressure-explosive charge relationship. The two explosions were found to have energies equivalent to 14 and 65 kg TNT, respectively. At the first explosion, a flying fragment forced by an explosive shock wave was observed in the air. The energy causing the flying fragment was estimated to be equivalent to 49 kg or less of TNT, obtained from the relationship between the fragment motion and overpressure. Our infrasound propagation modeling is available to constrain the source energy for remote explosions. To enhance the confidence in energy estimations, further studies are required to reflect the uncertainty of the atmospheric structure models on the estimations and to verify the relationships by various ground truth explosions.