This study proposes the use of a cobalt-based Prussian blue analogue (Co-PBA; potassium cobalt hexacyanoferrate), as an adsorbent for the cost-effective recovery of aqueous ammonium ions. The characterization of Co-PBA involved various techniques, including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis, and zeta potential. The prepared Co-PBA reached an adsorption equilibrium for ammonium ions within approximately 480 min, which involved both surface adsorption and subsequent diffusion into the interior. The isotherm experiment revealed a maximum adsorption capacity of 37.29 mg/g, with the Langmuir model indicating a predominance of chemical monolayer adsorption. Furthermore, the material consistently demonstrated adsorption efficiency across a range of pH conditions. Notably, adsorption was observed even when competing cations were present. Co-PBA emerges as a readily synthesized adsorbent, underscoring its efficacy in ammonium removal and selectivity toward ammonium.

In this study, we analyzed how the revenue water ratio(RWR) is affected by changes in conditions of the water supply area, such as the ratio of aging pipes, maintenance conditions, and revenue water. As a result of analyzing the impact of pipe aging and maintenance conditions on the RWR, it was confirmed that the RWR could be decreased if the pipe replacement project to improve the aging pipe ratio was not carried out and proper maintenance costs were not secured. It was also confirmed that an increase in the revenue water could be operated to facilitate the achievement of the project’s target RWR. In contrast, a decrease in the revenue water due to a population reduction could affect the failure of the target RWR. In addition to analyzing the causes of variation in the RWR, the calculation of estimated project costs was considered by using leakage reduction instead of RWR from recent RWR improvement project cost data. From this analysis, it was reviewed whether the project costs planned to achieve the target RWR of the RWR improvement project in A city were appropriate. In conclusion, the RWR could be affected by variations in the ratio of aging pipes, maintenance conditions, and revenue water, and it was reasonable to consider not only the construction input but also the input related to RWR improvement, such as leakage reduction, when calculating the project cost.

In this study, the quality of sow pork was compared with commercial pork to evaluate sow pork as raw meat material for processing. Texture, cooking loss, color, pH, water, lipid, fatty acid, volatile profiles, and sensory characteristics of 3 parts (tenderloin, loin, hind leg) of sow and commercial pork were analyzed. In texture analysis, sow pork had significantly higher shear force compared to commercial pork (tenderloin: sow 143.19 N, commercial 107.79 N; loin: sow 173.62 N, commercial 120.65 N; hind leg: sow 211.76 N, commercial 112.80 N) (p<0.05). There were significant differences in cooking loss, color, and pH, but they differed by part. A total of 49 volatile compounds were identified, and there were significant differences in 22 volatile compounds. In the case of hexanal (one of the warmed-over flavors), which was detected on the largest scale, the relative concentration was significantly higher in the tenderloin of commercial pork (p<0.05). On the other hand, no differences were reported by sensory analysis for hardness, off-flavor, juiciness, oiliness, appearance, taste, and acceptability between cooked sow and commercial pork. This study provides a database on the quality of sow pork by parts, which is considerable to develop proceed meat products using sow meat.

This study analyzes the seismic response of traffic light poles, considering soil-foundation effects through nonlinear static and time history analyses. Two poles are investigated, uni-directional and bi-directional, each with 9 m mast arms. Finite element models incorporate the poles, soil, and concrete foundations for analysis. Results show that the initial stiffness of the traffic light poles decreases by approximately 38% due to soil effects, and the drift ratio at which their nonlinear behavior occurs is 77% of scenarios without considering soil effects. The maximum acceleration response increases by about 82% for uni-directional poles and 73% for bi-directional poles, while displacement response increases by approximately 10% for uni-directional and 16% for bi-directional poles when considering soil-foundation effects. Additionally, increasing ground motion intensity reduces soil restraints, making significant rotational displacement the dominant response mechanism over flexural displacement for the traffic light poles. These findings underscore the importance of considering soil-foundation interactions in analyzing the seismic behavior of traffic light poles and provide valuable insights to enhance their seismic resilience and safety.

There are still debated about surveillance interval, duration, diagnostic modality and treatment for intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the pancreas. In recent guidelines, ‘high risk stigmata (HRS)’ and ‘worrisome feature (WF)’ are defined as predictive factors for malignancy in IPMN. IPMNs with HRS and main duct- IPMN are more likely to accompany malignancies, thus require surgery. However, in the case of only WF, since the risk of malignancy is different for each factor, the management decision can be variable according to the number of overlapping WFs. In addition, for segmental main pancreatic duct dilatation without enhancing mural nodules, careful surveillance might be considered rather than immediate surgery. In IPMN patients with elderly or severe comorbidities, treatment strategy should be determined based on surgical and malignant risk assessment. To date, the natural course of IPMN patients with HRS and WF is not well understood, thus further studies with a large number of patients are needed.

The seismic responses of traffic light poles are investigated using a finite element analysis. Among the traffic light poles, single- and bi-directional traffic light poles are considered since such poles are frequently installed on vehicle roads. For a more detailed investigation, three different lengths of the mast arm are considered for each directional pole. For a time-history analysis, six actual and two artificial earthquakes are considered and applied to each direction of the poles (x and y) to investigate which direction input provides more significant responses due to the unsymmetrical structural shape. Herein, the x and y directions are respectively parallel and perpendicular based on the single mast pole case. From the analysis results, the average maximum displacement response is developed with the x-direction input case for both types of light poles. Also, the bi-directional traffic light poles show a 13% larger response than the single-directional traffic light poles. Even though the y-direction input case produces a smaller response, the response difference between the single- and bi-directional light poles considerably increases by about 60%. The average maximum acceleration responses are almost similar for both types of light poles.

The water consumption data of individual consumers must be analyzed and forecast to establish an effective water demand management plan. A k-mean cluster model that can monitor water use characteristics based on hourly water consumption data measured using automated meter reading devices and demographic factors is developed in this study. In addition, the quantification model that can estimate the daily water consumption is developed. K-mean cluster analysis based on the four clusters shows that the average silhouette coefficient is 0.63, also the silhouette coefficients of each cluster exceed 0.60, thereby verifying the high reliability of the cluster analysis. Furthermore, the clusters are clearly classified based on water usage and water usage patterns. The correlation coefficients of four quantification models for estimating water consumption exceed 0.74, confirming that the models can accurately simulate the investigated demographic data. The statistical significance of the models is considered reasonable, hence, they are applicable to the actual field. Because the use of automated smart water meters has become increasingly popular in recent year, water consumption has been metered remotely in many areas. The proposed methodology and the results obtained in this study are expected to facilitate improvements in the usability of smart water meters in the future.

In severe acute pancreatitis, accompanied by local complications such as acute peripancreatic fluid collection, pancreatic pseudocyst, acute necrotic collection and walled-off necrosis, the mortality rate is as high as 12-25%. In many cases, interventional procedure or surgical treatment are required at an appropriate time. Conservative treatment is considered for acute peripancreatic fluid collection. Endoscopic drainage could be considered preferentially for the treatment of pancreatic pseudocysts with clinical symptoms or complications. In the case of necrotizing pancreatitis, conservative treatment is preferred, but therapeutic intervention should be considered if infectious pancreatic necrosis with clinical deterioration is suspected. For therapeutic intervention, it is recommended to proceed with a step-up approach in which drainage is first performed and, if necessary, necrosectomy is performed. The optimal timing of intervention is considered 4 weeks after the onset of pancreatitis when necrosis become walled-off, but early drainage within 4 weeks can be considered depending on the patient's condition. This guideline provides an overview of current treatment strategies for local complications of acute pancreatitis.

The water supply facilities of Korea have achieved a rapid growth, along with the other social infrastructures consisting a city, due to the phenomenon of urbanization according to economic development. Meanwhile, the level of water supply service demanded by consumer is also steadily getting higher in keeping with economic growth. However, as an adverse effect of rapid growth, the quantity of aged water supply pipes are increasing rapidly, Bursts caused by pipe aging brought about an enormous economic loss of about 6,161 billion won as of 2019. These problems are not only worsening water supply management, also increasing the regional gap in water supply services. The purpose of this study is to classify hazard evaluation indicators and to rank the water distribution network hazard by cluster using the TOPSIS method. In conclusion, in this study, the entropy-based multi-criteria decision-making methods was applied to rank the hazard management of the water distribution network, and the hazard management ranking for each cluster according to the water supply conditions of the county-level municipalities was determined according to the evaluation indicators of water outage, water leakage, and pipe aging. As such, the hazard ranking method proposed in this study can consider various factors that can impede the tap water supply service in the water distribution network from a macroscopic point of view, and it can be reflected in evaluating the degree of hazard management of the water distribution network from a preventive point of view. Also, it can be utilized in the implementation of the maintenance plan and water distribution network management project considering the equity of water supply service and the stability of service supply.

(PIM-1)과 ellagic acid로 만든 랜덤형 공중합체가 간단한 방법으로 합성되었으며, 이산화탄소 분리막에 대한 적용 가능성에 대해서 연구하였다. 이 공중합체의 경우 PIM (polymers with intrinsic microporosity) 고분자의 미세 기공 구조에 기 인한 높은 기체 투과도와 평면 구조와 친수성을 갖는 ellagic acid에 기인한 높은 이산화탄소에 대한 선택성에 의해 우수한 이 산화탄소 기체 분리 성능을 나타내었다. 즉, 이산화탄소에 대한 투과도 4516 Barrer와 CO2/N2 (> 23~26) 및 CO2/CH4 (> 18~19)의 높은 선택성으로 두 쌍의 가스 혼합물에 대해 Robeson 상한(2008)을 초과한 결과를 나타내었다. 이와 같이 PIM-1 에 평면구조를 갖는 ellagic acid을 혼입하면 PIM-1의 꼬인 구조를 방해하여 기체 투과성을 향상 시킬 뿐만 아니라 공중합체 의 강성과 극성이 증가하여 N2 및 CH4에 대한 CO2의 선택성을 증가시키는 결과를 확인하였다.