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Abstract Background Despite the well-known health benefits of exercise, women’s participation in exercise is low worldwide. As women are at risk of developing various chronic diseases as they age, suggesting effective exercise methods that can maximize energy consumption is needed to prevent such conditions. Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) can maximize energy consumption. In this crossover, randomized controlled trial, we aimed to compare the EPOC for different exercise modalities including continuous exercise (CE), interval exercise (IE), and accumulated exercise (AE) that spent the homogenized energy expenditure during exercise in healthy women. Methods Forty-four participants (age, 36.09 ± 11.73 years) were recruited and randomly allocated to three groups. The intensity of each modality was set as follows: CE was performed for 30 min at 60% peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak). IE was performed once for 2 min at 80% VO2peak, followed by 3 min at 80% VO2peak, and 1 min at 40% VO2peak, for a total of six times over 26 min. AE was performed for 10 min with a 60% VO2peak and was measured thrice a day. Results During exercise, energy metabolism was higher for IE and CE than that for AE. However, this was reversed for AE during EPOC. Consequently, the greatest energy metabolism was shown for AE during total time (exercise and EPOC). Conclusions By encouraging regular exercises, AE can help maintain and improve body composition by increasing compliance with exercise participation, given its short exercise times, and by efficiently increasing energy consumption through the accumulation of EPOC. Trial registration Clinical number (KCT0007298), 18/05/2022, Institutional Review Board of Konkuk University (7001355-202201-E-160).

The purpose of our study to determine the effects of interval hypoxic training (IHT) and repeated sprint training in hypoxia (RSH) on metabolic and cardiac function during submaximal exercise, aerobic and anaerobic performance, and time trial performance in elite Korean national male mountain bike (MTB) cyclists. The participants included elite Korean national male MTB cyclists (n = 4) preparing for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou 2022. The hypoxic training frequency was 90 min (3 days per week for 4 weeks). Before and after hypoxic training, metabolic and cardiac functions during submaximal exercise, aerobic performance, anaerobic performance and time trial performance were measured. Oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide excretion, and heart rate tended to decrease, and stroke volume, end-diastolic volume and cardiac output tended to increase. In aerobic, anaerobic and time trial performances, the peak torque in aerobic performance significantly increased (p = 0.046). Maximal oxygen uptake and exercise time in aerobic performance, relative peak power, relative mean power, post-exercise blood lactate level, fatigue index in anaerobic performance, and time trial performance showed an improved tendency (all p = 0.068). Our pilot study confirmed that although the sample size was small, IHT and RSH can potentially improve athletic performance in elite Korean national male MTB cyclists.

Humans possess an astonishing ability to understand stories presented in text and to create related images through imagination. This cognitive ability aids in comprehension and enhances overall enjoyment. Consequently, developing automated systems that generate visually faithful images based on textual descriptions is considered a meaningful endeavor. As a result, many artificial intelligence (AI) systems for generating images from text have been developed. In previous research, we presented a study on generating images while maintaining the context of input sentences when multiple sentences are input. In this paper, we propose that when dealing with more structured and numerous sentences, such as those found in novels, essays, or papers, it is essential not only to maintain the consistency of the context but also to address the complex challenge of transitioning between different contexts, which cannot be resolved by merely dividing sentences into paragraphs. We introduce the Structured Context Retention Methods (SCRM) scheme, which reflects the user’s intentions for both context retention and smooth transitions across varying narrative elements. Additionally, through experiments, we demonstrate that the SCRM technique performs well in terms of ROUGE recall, effectively managing a large number of input sentences and context transitions.

Humans possess the remarkable capacity to comprehend narratives presented in text and subsequently conjure associated mental images through their imagination. This cognitive ability enhances their grasp of the content and augments their overall enjoyment. Consequently, the development of an automated system aimed at producing visually faithful images based on textual descriptions, often referred to as the text-to-image task, stands as a profoundly meaningful endeavor. For this reason, a variety of text-to-image generating artificial intelligences (AIs) have been devised until now. Nevertheless, the generative AIs introduced thus far encounter an issue wherein they struggle to uphold the coherence of input sentences, particularly when multiple sentences are provided. Within this paper, we present a remedy to this challenge through the application of prompt editing. Furthermore, our experimental results substantiate that our proposed solution more effectively preserves contextual coherence among the generated images in comparison to other preexisting generative artificial intelligence models. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme improves performance by at least 30 percent in terms of the similarity of the generated image and by 130 percent in terms of $ROUGE_{recall}$ .

Air pollution caused by the construction industry in the form of particulate matter (PM) has increased to an alarming level. The effects on the health of construction workers are found to be hazardous despite the current advancement in construction methods and practices. In particular, the efficiency of existing control measures for reducing PM from various construction activities has not been improved to the desired level. This study investigated the factors that influence the efficiency of a sprinkler system-based control measure when water spraying and dust suppressant solutions are used. The real-time PM exposure was measured during hollow-block cutting activity using Alphanese OPC-N3 sensors in dust chamber. The dust suppressant suppresses dust particles by initially forming a solidified film on the particle surface, and the high cohesion of this film enhances the suppression rate by promoting dust particle coagulation. It was observed that when using a dust suppressant, the PM concentration at 100 bar exceeded concentrations at other pressures, resulting in increased efficacy in reducing PM10. Additionally, water spraying at 115 bar was determined to be the optimal control measure for achieving a significant percentage of PM reduction in a shorter period. These findings can be highly beneficial if the water sprinkler system can be modified into a smart mobility-based sprinkler system either ground-based or drone-based at construction sites in improving PM reduction efficiency particularly on high PM emitting activities.

Nitrate-rich beetroot juice (NRBRJ) can potentially enhance exercise performance and improve cardiovascular function, leading to an increased use of NRBRJ over the years. However, the combined effects of NRBRJ supplementation and exercise on cardiovascular function remain unclear. Therefore, this study compared cardiovascular function responses to submaximal exercise with either placebo (PLA) or NRBRJ supplementation in healthy men. Twelve healthy men (aged 25.2 ± 2.3 years) completed the 30-min submaximal cycle ergometer exercise trials corresponding to 70% maximal heart rate (HRmax) with either PLA or NRBRJ supplementation in a random order. The mean exercise load, heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and total peripheral resistance (TPR) were measured during exercise. The brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and flow-mediated dilation (FMD) were measured before and after exercise. NRBRJ supplementation was more effective than PLA in increasing the mean exercise load and decreasing DBP and MAP during submaximal exercise. Furthermore, baPWV decreased in the NRBRJ trial and was considerably lower after exercise in the NRBRJ-supplemented group than in the PLA-supplemented group. FMD significantly increased in the PLA and NRBRJ trials; however, NRBRJ supplementation demonstrated a significantly higher FMD before and after exercise than PLA supplementation. In conclusion, acute NRBRJ supplementation and exercise were more effective than PLA supplementation and exercise in improving aerobic exercise capacity and cardiovascular function in healthy men.

This study aimed to determine the toxicity standard and potential risks and effects of polyamide (PA) exposure on neurotoxicity, stress indicators, and immune responses in juvenile crucian carp Carassius carassius. Numerous microplastics (MPs) exists within aquatic environments, leading to diverse detrimental impacts on aquatic organisms. The C. carassius (mean weight, 23.7 ± 1.6 g; mean length, 13.9 ± 1.4 cm) were exposed to PA concentrations of 0, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 mg/L for 2 weeks. Among the neurotransmitters, the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the liver, gill, and intestine of C. carassius was significantly inhibited by PA exposure. Stress indicators such as cortisol and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in the liver, gill, and intestine of C. carassius were significantly increased, while immune responses to lysozyme and immunoglobulin M (IgM) were significantly decreased. Our study demonstrates the toxic effects of MP exposure on crucian carp's neurotoxicity, stress indicators, and immune responses.

This study developed a radar resource management (RRM) framework for maritime multifunctional radar (MFR) that performs surveillance and tracking of unknown targets. The proposed scheme consists of two stages: target prioritization based on fuzzy logic and a beam scheduling approach that transmits surveillance beam and tracking beams for each target appropriately. The proposed beam scheduling scheme also takes into account the imperfect detection of targets in real situation. A conventional heuristic beam scheduling approach was modified to incorporate binary integration in radar theory into the RRM strategy. The resulting scheme efficiently handles the complicated beam scheduling problem by considering the target priority as well as the imperfect detection of targets of a real maritime MFR. Simulation results based on a realistic maritime environment demonstrated that the proposed scheme not only determines the correct order of transmission beams according to the target priority but also maintains good tracking accuracy for the threatening target.

Construction work sites and the surrounding built environments are notable contributors to atmosphere dust particulate matter (PM) emissions. PM produced in construction processes contain a range of chemically hazardous substances, posing significant health risks (HR) to individuals. As such, the evaluation of occupational HR in construction has become a focal point of interest internationally. Initiated in the early 2000s, there has been a growing demand within the construction research community for the creation of a unified PM database that encapsulates a wide array of construction activities. Previous studies have endeavored to establish a PM database for various construction contexts, yet they have fallen short in thoroughly addressing the diversity of construction materials and the levels of toxic substances (TS) within the PM. This research introduced a comprehensive PM and TS dataset and conducted a case study to measure the HR associated with diverse construction processes. This was accomplished by implementing a semi-automated Building Information Modeling (BIM) version 2020-based plugin, which streamlines the assessment of occupational HR in construction projects. This system provides construction supervisors with a tool to visually assess the HR of daily operations, thereby facilitating the adoption of preemptive measures to protect the health of construction workers.

The construction industry, characterized by its intricate network of stakeholders and diverse workforce, grapples with the challenge of managing information effectively. This study delves into this issue, recognizing the universal importance of safeguarding data, particularly amid rising concerns around unauthorized access and breaches. Aiming to harness the potential of blockchain technology to address these challenges, this study used hypothetical biographical and safety data of construction workers securely stored on a Hyperledger Fabric blockchain. Developed within the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform, this blockchain infrastructure emerged as a robust solution for enhancing data security and privacy. Anchored in the core principles of data security, the model emerges as a potent defender against the vulnerabilities of traditional data management systems. Beyond its immediate implications, this study exemplifies the marriage of blockchain technology and the construction sector, and its potential for reshaping workforce management, especially in high-risk projects and optimizing risk assessment, resource allocation, and safety measures to mitigate work-related injuries. Practical validation through transaction testing using Hyperledger Explorer validates the model’s feasibility and operational effectiveness, thus serving as a blueprint for the industry’s data management. Ultimately, this research not only showcases the promise of blockchain technology in addressing construction data security challenges but also underscores its practical applicability through comprehensive testing, thus heralding a new era of data management that harmonizes security and efficiency for stakeholders’ benefit.

Some aspects of traditional aquaculture have negative impacts on the aquatic environment, leading to pollution and disease outbreaks in farmed organisms. Biofloc technology (BFT) is a closed aquaculture system that utilizes specific microbial communities to remove ammonia emitted from aquaculture organisms or adds carbon to the aquaculture system to improve water quality. BFT has benefits, such as increasing production and improving water quality, and reducing disease spread and pollution, without the need for water exchange. However, there are disadvantages, such as rapid changes in water quality due to accumulation of dissolved nutrients and total suspended soils (TSS) and the requirement for expensive aeration equipment to maintain dissolved oxygen. BFT can be enhanced in value and efficiency by combining it with other aquaculture technologies, such as aquaponics and vertical aquaculture to overcome the disadvantages. The integration of biofloc with technologies from the fourth industrial revolution holds potential for further development, while aquaponics and vertical farming can eliminate geographical limitations and accelerate the urbanization of aquaculture. The integration of aquaponics and vertical aquaculture with BFT has potential for development, accelerating the urbanization of aquaculture and removing geographic limitations.

This study investigated the acute effects of natural antioxidants, derived from yeast fermentation containing glutathione and dietary vitamin C supplementation, on metabolic function, skeletal muscle oxygenation, cardiac function, and antioxidant function during submaximal exercise in middle-aged triathlon athletes. Twelve participants (aged 49.42 ± 5.9 years) completed 90 min submaximal cycling trials corresponding to 70% maximal oxygen uptake with either vitamin C and glutathione (VitC+Glu), vitamin C (VitC), glutathione (Glu) supplementation, or placebo. Metabolic function (minute ventilation, oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide output [VCO2], respiratory exchange ratio [RER], oxygen pulse [O2pulse], carbohydrate oxidation, fat oxidation, and energy expenditure), skeletal muscle oxygenation (oxidized hemoglobin and myoglobin in skeletal muscle tissue, total hemoglobin and myoglobin in skeletal muscle tissue [tHb]), cardiac function (heart rate [HR], stroke volume [SV], cardiac output, end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, and ejection fraction), and antioxidant function parameters (blood lactate, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidases, glutathione [GSH], diacron reactive oxygen metabolite [dROM], and biological antioxidant potential [BAP]) were measured during submaximal exercise and recovery. VCO2, RER, HR, blood lactate after exercise, and dROM were significantly lower, and O2pulse, tHb, and BAP were significantly higher for VitC+Glu than for the other trials (p < 0.05). In conclusion, combined vitamin C and glutathione supplementation was more effective in improving metabolic function, skeletal oxygenation, cardiac function, and antioxidant function during prolonged submaximal exercise in middle-aged triathletes.

Background: This study investigated the effects of 12-week resistance training on body composition, blood pressure, blood lipid levels, muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), isokinetic muscle function, and hemorheological properties in middle-aged obese women. Methods: Twenty-eight obese women with a mean age of 50.79 ± 5.80 years were randomly assigned to the control (CON, n = 13) or experimental (EXP, n = 15) group. The EXP group underwent a resistance training program composed of warm-up, main resistance exercise (deadlift, barbell squat, seated leg extension, and lying leg curl, bench press, preacher bench biceps curl, barbell rowing, and dumbbell shoulder press), and cool-down. The resistance exercise consisted of three sets of 8–10 repetitions (reps) performed with 70–80% of 1-rep maximum, and reps and sets were increased every 3 weeks. The training frequency was 80 min, 3 days per week for 12 weeks. The CON group maintained their daily lifestyle without training. All participants underwent measurements of body composition (weight, body mass index, lean body mass, fat mass, and % body fat), blood pressure (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and pulse pressure), blood lipid levels (triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol), CSA of the muscles (quadriceps, hamstring, and total thigh muscle), isokinetic muscle function (peak torque [PT], relative PT, mean power, and total work [TW]), and hemorheological properties (erythrocyte deformability and aggregation) before and after 12 weeks of training. Results: The EXP group showed a significant improved muscle function, including PT (p < 0.001), relative PT (p < 0.001) in extension 60°/s, TW (p < 0.001) in extension 180°/s, and TW (p = 0.018) in flexion 180°/s. Regarding hemorheological properties, the EXP group showed significant improvement in erythrocyte aggregation (p < 0.001) and deformability (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The present study verified that our resistance training program resulted in greater muscle function, decreased fat mass, and improved hemorheological properties. Clinical Trial Registration: This study was registered with cris.nih.go.kr (No. KCT0007412).

The accumulation of ammonia, a consequence of intensive aquaculture activity, can damage cultured animals. We analyzed the survival rates, growth, antioxidant responses, and immune responses of abalones, Haliotis discus hannai (mean shell length 70.2 ± 4.9 mm; mean body weight 36.9 ± 3.6 g), biweekly for four weeks, to determine the accumulated concentrations of ammonia (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.6 mg/L). In our biweekly measurements, a survival rate of ≥ 95% was observed for all concentrations of ammonia. The specific growth rate (SGR) decreased at ≥ 0.8 mg/L (p < 0.05), but the daily increment in shell length (DISL) showed no significant change (p < 0.05). Regarding antioxidant responses, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity of the hepatopancreas was increased at ammonia concentrations over 0.8 and 0.2 mg/L (p < 0.05) at two and four weeks, respectively, and the SOD activity of the gills increased at concentrations over 0.4 and 1.6 mg/L (p < 0.05) at four weeks. The catalase (CAT) activity of the hepatopancreas and gills increased at ammonia concentrations > 0.8 mg/L (p < 0.05). Phenoloxidase (PO) activity increased at ammonia concentrations over 0.8 mg/L (p < 0.05), and Lysozyme (LZM) increased at concentrations over 0.8 and 0.4 mg/L (p < 0.05). Overall, our findings indicated that ammonia concentrations over 0.8 mg/L in seawater might damage the SGR, antioxidant responses, and immune responses in H. discus hannai. Our findings suggest the necessity of improvement or reinstallation for abalone aquaculture systems and can be used to assess the toxic effects of ammonia on H. hannai.

As an aircraft faces a hostile environment during the flight, ice can easily form on the surface, especially on a radome, which is a dielectric housing that protects the radar system. Communication disruption and change in aerodynamic shape features are common problems that ice accumulation causes, which are responsible for significant performance degradation. Even though several de-icing methods have shown exceptional heating performance, obtaining radio-frequency (RF) transparency still remains challenging. Therefore, a new de-icing strategy is necessary to effectively remove ice without affecting the communication system. In this study, we fabricated a highly RF transparent electrothermal film based on carbon nanotube (CNT) by a simple spin-coating method and found that the decreased sheet resistance of the film associated with an increase in CNT content resulted in deterioration of RF transmission despite improved heating performance. In particular, the CNT film with optimized characteristics was prepared, which exhibited both high RF transmittance (>80% in the given frequency range) and good heating performance (160 °C at 80 V). Effective de-icing capability was also demonstrated, which confirmed that CNT-based electrothermal films have great promise for practical application to radomes with improved operational efficiency and less weight burden for the aircraft.

In this paper, we propose a robust detection method to determine the presence of individuals in an indoor environment by exploiting an impulse-radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) radar. Detection of the presence of individuals in an indoor environment using IR-UWB is not a trivial problem because real indoor environments provide heavy clutter components and spurious ones due to multipath effects. The study mainly discusses two difficulties involved in detecting an individual in an indoor environment, namely, how to reduce the clutter in an indoor environment and how to detect a very low radar cross section (RCS) target, i.e., an individual lying down. To reduce clutter components in indoor environments, we investigated several clutter reduction techniques in terms of detecting a standing individual and an individual lying down. However, even after clutter reduction, detection of an individual lying down continues to pose a challenge. Thus, we devised a novel two-stage detection scheme that first involves detection in the range domain, and then in the frequency domain, thereby resulting in good detection performance in terms of a high detection rate and a low false alarm rate. The proposed method was demonstrated by experiments in indoor environments, and the results indicate that its performance is robust in various scenarios.

The application of biofloc to fish species has several advantages, including the enhancement of production by increasing growth performance and survival rate and the improvement of fish aquaculture physiological activity. There has been a recent increase in biofloc addition to fish culture, and this review examines changes this causes to the survival and growth rate of fish and its economic feasibility. Physiological activity and disease resistance of biofloc-fed fish is being extensively studied. The hematological parameters and antioxidant and immune responses of fish fed biofloc were reviewed in this study, as well as their disease resistance by testing them for major specific diseases. Standards for effectively applying biofloc to fish aquaculture are also suggested.

Seniors who live alone at home are at risk of falling and injuring themselves and, thus, may need a mobile robot that monitors and recognizes their poses automatically. Even though deep learning methods are actively evolving in this area, they have limitations in estimating poses that are absent or rare in training datasets. For a lightweight approach, an off-the-shelf 2D pose estimation method, a more sophisticated humanoid model, and a fast optimization method are combined to estimate joint angles for 3D pose estimation. As a novel idea, the depth ambiguity problem of 3D pose estimation is solved by adding a loss function deviation of the center of mass from the center of the supporting feet and penalty functions concerning appropriate joint angle rotation range. To verify the proposed pose estimation method, six daily poses were estimated with a mean joint coordinate difference of 0.097 m and an average angle difference per joint of 10.017 degrees. In addition, to confirm practicality, videos of exercise activities and a scene of a person falling were filmed, and the joint angle trajectories were produced as the 3D estimation results. The optimized execution time per frame was measured at 0.033 s on a single-board computer (SBC) without GPU, showing the feasibility of the proposed method as a real-time system.

Occupational health and safety hazards associated with confined places are mainly caused by exposure to toxic gases and oxygen deficiency. Lack of awareness, inappropriate monitoring, and improper evacuation methods can lead to worker fatalities. Although previous studies have attempted to develop systems to solve this issue, limited research is available on their application in confined places. In this study, a real-time helmet-mounted system was developed to monitor major toxic gases (methane (CH4), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), and carbon monoxide (CO)), oxygen, temperature, and humidity. Workers outside and inside confined spaces receive alerts every second to immediately initiate the rescue operation in the event of a hazard. The test results of a confined environment (wastewater treatment unit) highlighted that concentrations of CH4 and H2S were predominant (13 ppm). Compared to normal atmosphere, CH4 concentration was 122- and 130-fold higher in the landfill and digestion tanks, respectively, while H2S was 36- and 19-fold higher in the primary and secondary clarifiers, respectively. The oxygen content (18.2%) and humidity (33%) were below the minimum required limits. This study will benefit future research to target appropriate toxic gas monitoring and alert workers by studying the existing issues and associated factors in confined places.

Severe shoreline erosions are commonly observed due to the side effects of breakwaters constructed to protect the habitat. These breakwaters can cause wave energy differences behind the structure due to diffraction, inducing longshore sediment transport and resulting in shoreline changes. Therefore, it is essential to correctly simulate the effect of wave transformation in the lee side of structures, but such studies reporting performance of models in the field have been relatively rare. In this study, two wave models of the TELEMAC system were used to investigate the accuracy of modeling the wave transformation effect in a lee area of a breakwater built to secure the harbor’s tranquility, near Jukbyeon Port in Korea, through comparisons with field observations. Two cases of wave conditions with different wave heights and directions were tested. In both cases, the TEL EMAC–ARTEMIS model had lower errors than TELEMAC–TOMAWAC at the onshore wave location, confirming that the phase-resolving ARTEMIS showed better performance in simulating the wave transformation than the phase-averaged TOMAWAC, as expected. However, ARTEMIS had slightly higher errors than TOMAWAC at the offshore location, probably due to the interference by reflected waves from the complex coastlines formed by the different coastal structures. The results also provide various implications learned from the numerical experiments, which can be usefully applied to engineering aspects, such as for the estimation of harbor tranquility.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of acute moderate hypoxia (HYP), compared with those of normoxia (NORM), during endurance exercise with the same HR level on metabolic function, skeletal muscle oxygenation, and cardiac function. Twelve healthy men (aged 25.1 ± 2.3 years) completed 30 min of endurance exercise using a cycle ergometer with the same HR level (136.5 ± 1.5 bpm) corresponding to 70% maximal heart rate (HRmax) under NORM (760 mmHg) and HYP (526 mmHg, simulated 3000 m altitude) after a 30 min exposure in the respective environments on different days, in random order. Exercise load, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), metabolic function (saturation of percutaneous oxygen; SpO2, minute ventilation; oxygen uptake; VO2, carbon dioxide excretion; respiratory exchange ratio; RER, and oxygen pulse), skeletal muscle oxygen profiles (oxyhemoglobin, oxhb, deoxyhemoglobin, dxhb, total hemoglobin, and tissue oxygenation index; StO2), and cardiac function (heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, and ejection fraction) were measured during endurance exercise. HYP showed a lower exercise load with the same RPE during exercise than did NORM. In addition, HYP showed a lower SpO2, VO2, oxygen pulse, oxhb, and StO2, and a higher RER and dxhb during exercise than NORM. We found that HYP showed lower exercise load and VO2 at the same RPE than NORM and also confirmed a higher anaerobic metabolism and oxygen inflow into skeletal muscle tissue due to the limitation of oxygen delivery capacity.

Feature-based target detection in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is required for monitoring situations where it is difficult to obtain a large amount of data, such as in tactical regions. Although many features have been studied for target detection in SAR images, their performance depends on the characteristics of the images, and both efficiency and performance deteriorate when the features are used indiscriminately. In this study, we propose a two-stage detection framework to ensure efficient and superior detection performance in TSX images, using previously studied features. The proposed method consists of two stages. The first stage uses simple features to eliminate misdetections. Next, the discrimination performance for the target and clutter of each feature is evaluated and those features suitable for the image are selected. In addition, the Karhunen–Loève (KL) transform reduces the redundancy of the selected features and maximizes discrimination performance. By applying the proposed method to actual TerraSAR-X (TSX) images, the majority of the identified clusters of false detections were excluded, and the target of interest could be distinguished.

This paper provides simulated datasets for different versions of small-scale physical sinkhole models that are essential to understand the sinkhole formation rate. These physical models were used in experiments to monitor ground settlement or collapse due to leakage from an underground pipeline. The factors under consideration were the subsurface soil profile, pattern of water flow, and leakage position in the pipeline. The experimental results and statistical analysis showed that the subsurface soil strata conditions dominated the sinkhole occurrence mechanism, although other factors also contributed to the settlement. The results also showed that the subsurface soil comprising strata sandy clay, limestone, and bedrock (SC-LS-BR) dominates the sinkhole mechanism. The data are organized and formated in a useful structure. Specifically, the dataset is presented in terms of tables to illustrate the settlements in different soil profiles under various conditions. This analysis was then used to predict the sinkhole risk level under different conditions. The formulated dataset and the results can be considered in developing a sinkhole risk index (SRI) and identifying sinkhole risk areas.

Particulate matter (PM) exposure is produced during most of the construction activities. The dataset was acquired from an experimental investigation by monitoring PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 concentration produced while building a solid concrete block wall. Alphasense OPC-N2 sensors and Sharp GP2Y1010 sensors were collocated in each of the monitoring stations (MS) to measure the PM concentration. The data was collected at 2 s time interval during the entire 40 min of the activity. The data can be utilized for study PM produced and propagated from construction. Furthermore, the dataset can be used to improve the awareness of the construction professionals about the PM production and exposure during the construction works and refine the current construction practices.

Shrimp is one of the most valuable aquaculture species globally, and the most internationally traded seafood product. Consequently, shrimp aquaculture practices have received increasing attention due to their high value and levels of demand, and this has contributed to economic growth in many developing countries. The global production of shrimp reached approximately 6.5 million t in 2019 and the shrimp aquaculture industry has consequently become a large-scale operation. However, the expansion of shrimp aquaculture has also been accompanied by various disease outbreaks, leading to large losses in shrimp production. Among the diseases, there are various viral diseases which can cause serious damage when compared to bacterial and fungi-based illness. In addition, new viral diseases occur rapidly, and existing diseases can evolve into new types. To address this, the review presented here will provide information on the DNA and RNA of shrimp viral diseases that have been designated by the World Organization for Animal Health and identify the latest shrimp disease trends.

The aquifer storage and water quality enhancement (ASWQE) method is a potential alternative to overcome the limitations of water resource policies that focus on surface water and act as an effective measure against water shortage caused by climate change. According to the physical/technical characteristics and operational complexity of the ASQWE, there are various legal/institutional issues to be considered at every stage in the development and implementation of the project. However, in Korea, there is no legislation or legal basis directly related to the ASWQE projects, resulting in large gaps between the initiatives of ASWQE and the relevant laws and statutes. In this respect, this study, to introduce approaches for the establishment of a legal system in line with the requirements of ASWQE projects, mainly analyzes the gaps between the abovementioned principal legal/institutional issues/subjects and the indispensable elements at each phase of the project’s process in the existing Korean legal system concerning the ASWQE, particularly based on the issue tree approach. Through this comprehensive, systematic, and comparative case study, large gaps have been definitely identified between the initiatives surrounding ASWQE projects and the existing Korean legal system, and to conclude, legally multilateral approaches to fill and make up for the gaps have been presented. It is expected that the Korean government will continue to pursue the establishment of a comprehensive and integrated legal system in line with the requirements of ASWQE projects based on this research’s findings. When these attempts succeed, the expected legal achievement for the development and implementation of ASWQE projects could serve as an exemplary legal case for the entire world.

This paper introduces an automated tool, the stochastic quality-cost optimization (SQCO) system, that hybridizes multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD). The system identifies the optimal trade-off between a construction owner’s satisfaction and a contractor’s satisfaction. It is important to reconcile the project participants’ conflicting interests because the construction owner aims to maximize the quality of construction while the contractor aims to minimize the cost of construction. MOGA is used to optimize resource allocation when owner satisfaction and contractor satisfaction are pursued at the same time under a limited budget. Multi-objective optimization is integrated with simulation to effectively deal with the uncertainties of the QFD input and the variability of the QFD output. This study is of value to practitioners because SQCO allows for the establishment of a quality plan that satisfies all of the multi project participants. The study is also of relevance to researchers in that it allows researchers to expeditiously identify an optimal design alternative of construction methods and operations. A test case implemented with a curtain-wall unit verifies the usability and validity of the system in practice.