Current Status and Trend of Internet and E-Commerce Market in Korea

After the remarkable increase of Internet users and broadband Internet subscribers at the end of the 20th century, the size of Korean Internet and e-commerce market steadily increased but the growth rate has been either stagnant or decreased. Trends of Korean Internet and e-commerce market are summarized in this paper the trends on Internet usage are introduced. Trends of online games, blogs and wireless Internet are introduced. The trends of Korean Internet market may have implications for China and Japan.     

The concept of directional binding energy and analysis of the phenomena involving surface and grain boundary: Part I Theory

The concept of directional binding energy (DBE) is proposed to describe the binding energy of the crystal and the ideal direction of the antiaction force against the surface tension, which derives the grain-boundary energy and also energy ratio (γ_gb/γ_s). It may provide a simple and lucid way to analyse the surface energy, grain-boundary energy and energy ratio from the correlative view point. It has been found that the grain-boundary energy can be derived only from the conceptual approach of DBE, irrespective of the dislocation model, which also makes it possible to determine the energy ratio with the misorientation angle. That is, the energy ratio (γ_gb/γ_s) is proportional to the misorientation angle, 2 sin (k′θ/2) where k′ is a constant and θ is the misorientation angle. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Application of Laminated Edible Films to Potato Chip Packaging

The effects of various stearic-palmitic acid blend concentrations in films, storage temperatures and storage times on potato chip quality were evaluated using Response Surface Methodology. Storage temperature and time affected the quality of potato chips. The maximum storage times for acceptable potato chip quality were: 30 to 43 days, 23 to 25 days, and 11 to 12 days for storage temperatures of 15, 25 and 35°C, respectively. Results were independent of stearic-palmitic acid blend concentrations.     

Application of signal processing techniques to the detection of tip vortex cavitation noise in marine propeller

The tip vortex cavitation and its relevant noise has been the subject of extensive researches up to now. In most cases of experimental approaches, the accurate and objective decision of cavitation inception is primary, which is the main topic of this paper. Although the conventional power spectrum is normally adopted as a signal processing tool for the analysis of cavitation noise, a faithful exploration cannot be made especially for the cavitation inception. Alternatively, the periodic occurrence of bursting noise induced from tip vortex cavitation gives a diagnostic proof that the repeating frequency of the bursting contents can be exploited as an indication of the inception. This study, hence, employed the Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) analysis and the Detection of Envelope Modulation On Noise (DEMON) spectrum analysis, both which are appropriate for finding such a repeating frequency. Through the acoustical measurement in a water tunnel, the two signal processing techniques show a satisfactory result in detecting the inception of tip vortex cavitation.     

EXPERIMENTAL ESTIMATION OF A SCALING EXPONENT FOR TIP VORTEX CAVITATION VIA ITS INCEPTION TEST IN FULL- ANDMODEL-SHIP

Tip vortex cavitation noise of marine propeller became primary concerns to reduce hazardous environmental impacts from commercial ship or to keep the underwater surveillance of naval ships. The investigations of the tip vortex and its induced noise are normally conducted through the model test in a water cavitation tunnel. However the Reynolds number of model-test is much smaller than that of the full-scale, which subsequently results in the difference of tip vortex cavitation inception. Hence, the scaling law between model-and full-scales needs to be identified prior to the prediction and assessment of propeller noise in full scale. From previous researches, it is generally known that the incipient caivtation number of tip vortex can be represented as a power of the Reynolds number. However, the power exponent for scaling, which is the main focus of this research, has not been clearly studied yet. This paper deals with the estimation of scaling exponent based on tip vortex cavitation inception test in both full-and model-scale ships. Acoustical measurements as well as several kind of signal processing technique for an inception criterion suggest the scaling exponent as 0.30. The scaling value proposed in this study shows slight difference to the one of most recent research. Besides, extrapolation of model-ship noise measurement using the proposed one predicts the full-scale noise measurement with an acceptable discrepancy.     

Numerical Analysis of Coaxial Double Gate Schottky Barrier Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors

Carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNTFETs) have been studied in recent years as a potential alternative to CMOS devices, because of the capability of ballistic transport. The ambipolar behavior of Schottky barrier CNTFETs limits the performance of these devices. A double gate design is proposed to suppress this behavior. In this structure the first gate located near the source contact controls carrier injection and the second gate located near the drain contact suppresses parasitic carrier injection. To avoid the ambipolar behavior it is necessary that the voltage of the second gate is higher or at least equal to the drain voltage. The behavior of these devices has been studied by solving the coupled Schrödinger-Poisson equation system. We investigated the effect of the second gate voltage on the performance of the device and finally the advantages and disadvantages of these options are discussed.     

A knowledge-based approach to safety evaluation for plant start-up

To improve the safety of plant start-up operation, a safety evaluation system has been developed. As a key component in an operational design support system, the evaluation system examines any potential hazards during start-up operation simulation. The evaluation system is integrated into an operational design methodology which designs operable processes by proposing alternatives, examining process safety and operability, and modifying operating procedures or plant structures. Issues for both methodology and implementation of a G2-based expert system are discussed. Finally, the system is applied to an industrial hydrodesulphurization process.     

Shop-floor scheduling at shipbuilding yards using the multiple intelligent agent system

The intelligent agent system has become a typical approach to research distributed artificial intelligence and distributed problem solving. However, despite its various technical advantages, the distribution and expansion of the intelligent agent system approach has been limited because existing methodologies rely on specialized applications and therefore require intensive investment to develop new systems. In an attempt to conquer these difficulties, a standardized methodology to construct intelligent agent systems is proposed. This approach deviates from current agent system approaches of repeatedly constructing new and customized expert systems. Specifically, it provides an economical method for developing intelligent agent systems by investigating the possibility of standardizing message communication protocols in linguistics speech-act theory and by supplementing traditional algorithmic systems with intelligent segments using, among others, expert system tools. To verify effectiveness, the shop-floor scheduling system of a large-scale shipbuilding yard has been redesigned, developed, and tested using this approach. This shop-floor scheduling system requires the scheduling of when and where to process block construction under various constraints. It is a difficult four-dimensional time and space allocation problem involving traditional NP-complete search spaces. The tested intelligent agent system proposes an innovative method for reducing the search space into three levels: the algorithm level, the agent intelligence level, and the level of cooperation among agents. It also provides methods for solving deadlock occurrence and non-uniformity problems resulting from parallel processing. Test results demonstrate applicability and economy, among other technical advantages.     

A Modification of the Coates Gain Formula for the Analysis of Linear Systems

In this paper, the Coates flow-graph gain formula is modified by the introduction of the loop-set and the two-loop-set, baaed on the concepts of the tree and the two-tree in network topology. The analogy is evident by observing that the two-trees T _ij of a given graph G can be obtained by coalescing vertices i and j of G and thon removing the self-loops. In a similar manner, the two-loop-sets can be obtained from the flow graph by first modifying the graph and then obtaining the loop-sets of tho modified graph. Because of such modification, the derivation of tho gain formula is considerably simplified. Consequently, the evaluation of the terms in the formula becomes easier. Finally, a simple method of determining the number of terms in the formula is derived as a check against possible omission of terms due to carelessness.