• Korea Trade Review
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.159-177
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• 2018

The container shipping sector is an important international logistics operation that connects open economies. Freight rates rapidly change as the market fluctuates, and staff related to the shipping market are interested in factors that determine freight rates in the container market. This study uses the Vector Error Correction Model(VECM) to estimate the impact of factors affecting container freight rates. This study uses data published by Clarksons. The analysis results show a 4.2% increase in freight rates when world container traffic increases at 1.0%, a 4.0% decrease in freight rates when volume of container carriers increases by 1.0%, a 0.07% increase in freight rates when bunker price increases by 1.0%, and a 0.04% increase in freight rates accompanying 1.0% increase in libor interests rates. In addition, if the current freight rate is 1.0% higher than the long-term equilibrium rate, the freight rate will be reduced by 3.2% in the subsequent term. In addition, if the current freight rate is 1.0% lower than the long-term equilibrium rate, the freight rate will decrease by 0.12% in the following term. However, the adjusting power in a period of recession is not statistically significant which means that the pressure of freight rate increase in this case is neglectable. This research is expected to contribute to the utilization of scientific methods in forecasting container freight rates.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.86 no.2
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• pp.111-119
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• 2023

Background: The objective of this study was to investigate whether alcohol consumption might affect the quality of life (QOL), depressive mood, and metabolic syndrome in patients with obstructive lung disease (OLD). Methods: Data were obtained from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2014 and 2016. OLD was defined as spirometry of forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity <0.7 in those aged more than 40 years. QOL was evaluated using the European Quality of Life Questionnaire-5D (EQ-5D) index. Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess the severity of depressive mood. Alcohol consumption was based on a history of alcohol ingestion during the previous month. Results: A total of 984 participants with OLD (695 males, 289 females, age 65.8±9.7 years) were enrolled. The EQ-5D index was significantly higher in alcohol drinkers (n=525) than in non-alcohol drinkers (n=459) (0.94±0.11 vs. 0.91±0.13, p=0.002). PHQ9 scores were considerably lower in alcohol drinkers than in non-alcohol drinkers (2.15±3.57 vs. 2.78±4.13, p=0.013). However, multiple logistic regression analysis showed that alcohol consumption was not associated with EQ-5D index or PHQ-9 score. Body mass index ≥25 kg/m², triglyceride ≥150 mg/dL, high-density lipoprotein <40 mg/dL in men and <50 mg/dL in women, and blood pressure ≥130/85 mm Hg were significantly more common in alcohol drinkers than in non-alcohol drinkers (all p<0.05). Conclusion: Alcohol consumption did not change the QOL or depressive mood of OLD patients. However, metabolic syndrome-related factors were more common in alcohol drinkers than in non-alcohol drinkers.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.1C
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• pp.53-62
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• 2008

A constitutive model, which can simulate the effect of principal stress rotation associated with direct simple shear test, is proposed in this study. The model is based on two mobilized planes. The plastic strains occur from the two mobilized planes, and depend on stress state, and they are added. The first plane is a plane of maximum shear stress, which rotates about the horizontal axis, and the second plane is a horizontal plane which is spatially fixed. The second plane is used to consider the effect of principal stress rotation on simple shear tests under different stress states. The soil skeleton behavior observed in drained simple shear tests is captured in the model. This constitutive model is incorporated into the dynamic coupled stress-flow finite difference program FLAC. The model is first calibrated with drained simple shear tests on loose Fraser River sand. The measured shear stress and volume change are partially induced by principal stress rotation and compared with model calculations. The model is verified by comparing predicted and measured settlements due to rigid footing resting on loose sands. Settlements predicted by the proposed model were very similar to measured settlements. Mohr-Coulomb model can not consider the effect of principal stress rotation and its prediction was only 20% of measured settlements.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.5D
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• pp.635-644
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• 2009

Image processing technique in the outdoor environment is very sensitive, and it tends to lose a lot of accuracy when it rapidly changes by outdoor environment. Therefore, in order to calculate accurate traffic information using the traffic monitoring system, we must resolve removing shadow in transition time, Distortion by the vehicle headlights at night, noise of rain, snow, and fog, and occlusion. In the research, we developed a system to calibrate the amount of traffic, speed, and time occupancy by using image processing technique in a variety of outdoor environments change. This system were tested under outdoor environments at the Gonjiam test site, which is managed by Korea Institute of Construction Technology (www.kict.re.kr) for testing performance. We evaluated the performance of traffic information, volume counts, speed, and occupancy time, with 4 lanes (2 lanes are upstream and the rests are downstream) from the 16th to 18th December, 2008. The evaluation method performed as based on the standard data is a radar detection compared to calculated data using image processing technique. The System evaluation results showed that the amount of traffic, speed, and time occupancy in period (day, night, sunrise, sunset) are approximately 92-97% accuracy when these data compared to the standard data.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.4A
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• pp.353-359
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• 2010

Cementitious matrix based composites are vulnerable to the drying shrinkage crack during the curing process. In this study, the drying shrinkage induced fracture behavior of the fiber reinforced concrete is simulated and the effects of the fiber reinforcement conditions on the fracture characteristics are analysed. The numerical model is composed of conduit elements and rigid-body-spring elements on the identical irregular lattice topology, where the drying shrinkage is presented by the coupling of nonmechanical-mechanical behaviors handled by those respective element types. Semi-discrete fiber elements are applied within the rigid-body-spring network to model the fiber reinforcement. The shrinkage parameters are calibrated through the KS F 2424 free drying shrinkage test simulation and comparison of the time-shrinkage strain curves. Next, the KS F 2595 restrained drying shrinkage test is simulated for various fiber volume fractions and the numerical model is verified by comparison of the crack initiating time with the previous experimental results. In addition, the drying shrinkage cracking phenomenon is analysed with change in the length and the surface shape of the fibers, the measurement of the maximum crack width in the numerical experiment indicates the judgement of the crack controlling effect.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.473-487
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• 2023

Korea's multi-purpose dams, which were constructed in the 1970s and 1980s, have a single outlet located near the bottom for hydropower generation. Problems such as freezing damage to crops due to cold water discharge and an increase the foggy days have been raised downstream of some dams. In this study, we analyzed the effect of water intake depth on the reservoir's water temperature stratification structure and outflow temperature targeting Hapcheon Reservoir, where hypolimnetic withdrawal is drawn via a fixed depth outlet. Using AEM3D, a three-dimensional hydrodynamic water quality model, the vertical water temperature distribution of Hapcheon Reservoir was reproduced and the seasonal water temperature stratification structure was analyzed. Simulation periods were wet and dry year to compare and analyze changes in water temperature stratification according to hydrological conditions. In addition, by applying the intake depth change scenario, the effect of water intake depth on the thermal structure was analyzed. As a result of the simulation, it was analyzed that if the hypolimnetic withdrawal is changed to epilimnetic withdrawal, the formation location of the thermocline will decrease by 6.5 m in the wet year and 6.8 m in the dry year, resulting in a shallower water depth. Additionally, the water stability indices, Schmidt Stability Index (SSI) and Buoyancy frequency (N²), were found to increase, resulting in an increase in thermal stratification strength. Changing higher withdrawal elevations, the annual average discharge water temperature increases by 3.5℃ in the wet year and by 5.0℃ in the dry year, which reduces the influence of the downstream river. However, the volume of the low-water temperature layer and the strength of the water temperature stratification within the lake increase, so the water intake depth is a major factor in dam operation for future water quality management.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.5_2
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• pp.755-770
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• 2023

Due to recent severe climate change, abnormal weather phenomena, and other factors, the frequency and magnitude of natural disasters are increasing. The need for disaster management using artificial satellites is growing, especially during large-scale disasters due to time and economic constraints. In this study, we have summarized the current status of next-generation medium-sized satellites and microsatellites in operation and under development, as well as trends in satellite imagery analysis techniques using a large volume of satellite imagery driven by the advancement of the space industry. Furthermore, by utilizing satellite imagery, particularly focusing on recent major disasters such as floods, landslides, droughts, and wildfires, we have confirmed how satellite imagery can be employed for damage analysis, thereby establishing its potential for disaster management. Through this study, we have presented satellite development and operational statuses, recent trends in satellite imagery analysis technology, and proposed disaster response strategies that utilize various types of satellite imagery. It was observed that during the stages of disaster progression, the utilization of satellite imagery is more prominent in the response and recovery stages than in the prevention and preparedness stages. In the future, with the availability of diverse imagery, we plan to research the fusion of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and deep learning, and their applicability for effective disaster management.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.279-285
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• 2023

In order to predict the mechanical properties of ductile cast iron heat treated in an intercritical temperature range, samples machined from cast iron with a tensile strength of 450 MPa were heat-treated at various intercritical temperatures and air-cooled, after which a microstructural analysis and Brinell hardness test were conducted. As the heat treatment temperature was increased in the intercritical temperature range, the ferrite fraction in the ductile cast iron decreased and the pearlite fraction increased, whereas the nodularity and nodule count did not change considerably from the corresponding values in the as-cast condition. The Brinell hardness values of the heat-treated ductile cast iron increased gradually as the heat treatment temperature was increased. Based on the measured alloy composition, the fraction of each stable phase and the hardness model from the literature, the hardness of the ductile cast iron heat treated in the intercritical temperature range was calculated, showing values very similar to the measured hardness data. In order to check whether it is possible to predict the hardness of heat-treated ductile cast iron by using the phase fraction obtained from thermodynamic calculations, the volumes of graphite, ferrite, and austenite in the alloy were calculated for each temperature condition. Those volume fractions were then converted into areas of each phase for hardness prediction of the heat-treated ductile cast iron. The hardness values of the cast iron samples based on thermodynamic calculations and on the hardness prediction model were similar within an error range up to 27 compared to the measured hardness data.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.374-383
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• 2024

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance and image quality of 1.5-mm slice thickness MRI with deep learningbased image reconstruction (1.5-mm MRI + DLR) compared to routine 3-mm slice thickness MRI (routine MRI) and 1.5-mm slice thickness MRI without DLR (1.5-mm MRI without DLR) for evaluating temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 117 MR image sets comprising 1.5-mm MRI + DLR, 1.5-mm MRI without DLR, and routine MRI from 117 consecutive patients (mean age, 41 years; 61 female; 34 patients with TLE and 83 without TLE). Two neuroradiologists evaluated the presence of hippocampal or temporal lobe lesions, volume loss, signal abnormalities, loss of internal structure of the hippocampus, and lesion conspicuity in the temporal lobe. Reference standards for TLE were independently constructed by neurologists using clinical and radiological findings. Subjective image quality, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were analyzed. Performance in diagnosing TLE, lesion findings, and image quality were compared among the three protocols. Results: The pooled sensitivity of 1.5-mm MRI + DLR (91.2%) for diagnosing TLE was higher than that of routine MRI (72.1%, P < 0.001). In the subgroup analysis, 1.5-mm MRI + DLR showed higher sensitivity for hippocampal lesions than routine MRI (92.7% vs. 75.0%, P = 0.001), with improved depiction of hippocampal T2 high signal intensity change (P = 0.016) and loss of internal structure (P < 0.001). However, the pooled specificity of 1.5-mm MRI + DLR (76.5%) was lower than that of routine MRI (89.2%, P = 0.004). Compared with 1.5-mm MRI without DLR, 1.5-mm MRI + DLR resulted in significantly improved pooled accuracy (91.2% vs. 73.1%, P = 0.010), image quality, SNR, and CNR (all, P < 0.001). Conclusion: The use of 1.5-mm MRI + DLR enhanced the performance of MRI in diagnosing TLE, particularly in hippocampal evaluation, because of improved depiction of hippocampal abnormalities and enhanced image quality.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.446-454
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• 2022

Objective: To evaluate whether hyperoxia-induced ΔR₁ (hyperO₂ΔR₁) can accurately identify histological infarction in an acute cerebral stroke model. Materials and Methods: In 18 rats, MRI parameters, including hyperO₂ΔR₁, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), cerebral blood flow and volume, and ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake on PET were measured 2.5, 4.5, and 6.5 hours after a 60-minutes occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery. Histological examination of the brain was performed immediately following the imaging studies. MRI and PET images were co-registered with digitized histological images. The ipsilateral hemisphere was divided into histological infarct (histological cell death), non-infarct ischemic (no cell death but ADC decrease), and nonischemic (no cell death or ADC decrease) areas for comparisons of imaging parameters. The levels of hyperO₂ΔR₁ and ADC were measured voxel-wise from the infarct core to the non-ischemic region. The correlation between areas of hyperO₂ΔR₁-derived infarction and histological cell death was evaluated. Results: HyperO₂ΔR₁ increased only in the infarct area (p ≤ 0.046) compared to the other areas. ADC decreased stepwise from non-ischemic to infarct areas (p = 0.002 at all time points). The other parameters did not show consistent differences among the three areas across the three time points. HyperO₂ΔR₁ sharply declined from the core to the border of the infarct areas, whereas there was no change within the non-infarct areas. A hyperO₂ΔR₁ value of 0.04 s^-1 was considered the criterion to identify histological infarction. ADC increased gradually from the infarct core to the periphery, without a pronounced difference at the border between the infarct and non-infarct areas. Areas of hyperO₂ΔR₁ higher than 0.04 s^-1 on MRI were strongly positively correlated with histological cell death (r = 0.862; p < 0.001). Conclusion: HyperO₂ΔR₁ may be used as an accurate and early (2.5 hours after onset) indicator of histological infarction in acute stroke.