• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.190-197
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• 2011

Currently, the dose distribution calculation used by commercial treatment planning systems (TPSs) for high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy is derived from point and line source approximation method recommended by AAPM Task Group 43 (TG-43). However, the study of Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is required in order to assess the accuracy of dose calculation around three-dimensional Ir-192 source. In this study, geometry factor was calculated using segmented sources integration method by dividing microSelectron HDR Ir-192 source into smaller parts. The Monte Carlo code (MCNPX 2.5.0) was used to calculate the dose rate $\dot{D}(r,\theta)$ at a point ($r,\theta$) away from a HDR Ir-192 source in spherical water phantom with 30 cm diameter. Finally, anisotropy function and radial dose function were calculated from obtained results. The obtained geometry factor was compared with that calculated from line source approximation. Similarly, obtained anisotropy function and radial dose function were compared with those derived from MCPT results by Williamson. The geometry factor calculated from segmented sources integration method and line source approximation was within 0.2% for $r{\geq}0.5$ cm and 1.33% for r=0.1 cm, respectively. The relative-root mean square error (R-RMSE) of anisotropy function obtained by this study and Williamson was 2.33% for r=0.25 cm and within 1% for r>0.5 cm, respectively. The R-RMSE of radial dose function was 0.46% at radial distance from 0.1 to 14.0 cm. The geometry factor acquired from segmented sources integration method and line source approximation was in good agreement for $r{\geq}0.1$ cm. However, application of segmented sources integration method seems to be valid, since this method using three-dimensional Ir-192 source provides more realistic geometry factor. The anisotropy function and radial dose function estimated from MCNPX in this study and MCPT by Williamson are in good agreement within uncertainty of Monte Carlo codes except at radial distance of r=0.25 cm. It is expected that Monte Carlo code used in this study could be applied to other sources utilized for brachytherapy.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.141-154
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• 2004

The solar powered water pump is very ideal equipment because solar power is more intensive when the water is more needed in summer and it is very helpful in the rural area, in which the electrical power is not available. The average so]ar radiation energy is 3.488 kWh/($m^2{\cdot}day$) in Korea. In this study, the automatic control logic and system of the water pump driven by the radiation energy were studied, designed, assembled, tested and analyzed for realizing the solar powered water pump. The experimental system was operated automatically and the cycle was continued. The average quantity of the water pumped per cycle was about 5,320 cc. The cycle time was about 4.9 minutes. The thermal efficiency of the system was about $0.030\%$. The pressure level of the n-pentane vapour in flash tank was 150$\%$450 hPa(gauge) which was set by the computer program for the control of the vapour supply. The pressure in the condenser and air tank during cycles was maintained as about 600 hPa and 1,200 hPa respectively. The water could be pumped by the amount of 128kg/($m^2{\cdot}day$) with the efficiency of $0.1\%$ and the pumping head of 10 m for the average solar energy in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.179-195
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• 2002

The purpose of this research is to provide a proper model by analyzing the sports biomechanical of physical movements on the basis of the two patterns(open-stance and cross-stance) at the ready-to-start pose. The subjects for this study are composed of five male handball players from P university and five female shooting players from S university. Three-way moving actions at start(right, left, and forward) are recorded with two high-speed video cameras and measured with two Force platforms and a EMG system. Three-dimensional action analyzer, GRF system, and Whole body reaction movement system are used to figure out the moving mechanisms at the start pose. The analytic results of the moving mechanism at the start pose were as follows. 1. Through examining the three-way moving actions at start, I have found the cross-stance pose is better for the moving speed of body weight balance than the open-stance one. 175 degree of knee joint angle at "take-off" and 172 degree of hip joint angle were best for the start pose. 2. The Support time and GRF data shows that the quickest center of gravity shift was occurred when cross-stanced male subjects started to move toward his lefthand side. The quickest male's average supporting time of left and right foot is 0.19${\pm}$0.07 sec., 0.26${\pm}$0.06sec. respectively. The supporting time difference between two feet is 0.07sec. 3. Through analyzing GRF of moving actions at start pose, I have concluded that more than 1550N are overloaded on one foot at the open-stance start, and the overloaded force may cause physical injury. However, at the cross-stance pose, The GRF are properly dispersed on both feet, and maximum 1350N are loaded on one foot.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2013

Purpose: High-energy radiotherapy with 10 MV or higher develops photoneutron through photonuclear reaction. Photoneutron has higher radiation weighting factor than X-ray, thus low dose can greatly affect the human body. An accurate dosimetric calculation and consultation are needed. This study compared and analyzed the dose change of photoneutron in terms of space according to the size of photon beam energy and treatment methods. Materials and Methods: To measure the dose change of photoneutron by the size of photon beam energy, patients with the same therapy area were recruited and conventional plans with 10 MV and 15 MV were each made. To measure the difference between the two treatment methods, 10 MV conventional plan and 10 MV IMRT plan was made. A detector was placed at the point which was 100 cm away from the photon beam isocenter, which was placed in the center of $^3He$ proportional counter, and the photoneutron dose was measured. $^3He$ proportional counter was placed 50 cm longitudinally superior to and inferior to the couch with the central point as the standard to measure the dose change by position changes. A commercial program was used for dose change analysis. Results: The average integral dose by energy size was $220.27{\mu}Sv$ and $526.61{\mu}Sv$ in 10 MV and 15 MV conventional RT, respectively. The average dose increased 2.39 times in 15 MV conventional RT. The average photoneutron integral dose in conventional RT and IMRT with the same energy was $220.27{\mu}Sv$ and $308.27{\mu}Sv$ each; the dose in IMRT increased 1.40 times. The average photoneutron integral dose by measurement location resulted significantly higher in point 2 than 3 in conventional RT, 7.1% higher in 10 MV, and 3.0% higher in 15 MV. Conclusion: When high energy radiotherapy, it should consider energy selection, treatment method and patient position to reduce unnecessary dose by photoneutron. Also, the dose data of photoneutron needs to be systematized to find methods to apply computerization programs. This is considered to decrease secondary cancer probabilities and side effects due to radiation therapy and to minimize unnecessary dose for the patients.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.1082-1090
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• 2009

Peak expiratory flow rate(PEF) is a very important diagnostic parameter obtained from the forced vital capacity(FVC) test. The expiratory flow rate increases during the short initial time period and may cause measurement error in PEF particularly due to non-ideal dynamic characteristic of the transducer. The present study evaluated the initial rise slope($S_r$) on the flow rate signal to compensate the transducer output data. The 26 standard signals recommended by the American Thoracic Society(ATS) were generated and flown through the velocity-type respiratory air flow transducer with simultaneously acquiring the transducer output signal. Most PEF and the corresponding output($N_{PEF}$) were well fitted into a quadratic equation with a high enough correlation coefficient of 0.9997. But only two(ATS#2 and 26) signals resulted significant deviation of $N_{PEF}$ with relative errors>10%. The relationship between the relative error in $N_{PEF}$ and $S_r$ was found to be linear, based on which $N_{PEF}$ data were compensated. As a result, the 99% confidence interval of PEF error was turned out to be approximately 2.5%, which was less than a quarter of the upper limit of 10% recommended by ATS. Therefore, the present compensation technique was proved to be very accurate, complying the international standards of ATS, which would be useful to calibrate respiratory air flow transducers.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.199-208
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• 2016

$^{99}mTc-MAG_3$ Renal scan is a method that acquires dynamic renal scan image by using $^{99}mTc-MAG_3$ and dynamically visualizes process of radioactive agent being absorbed to kidney and excreted continuously. Once the test starts, ratio in both kidneys in 1~2.5 minutes was measured to obtain split renal function and split renal function can be expressed in ratio based on overall renal function. This study is based on compares split renal function obtained from data acquired from posterior detector, which is a conventional renal function test method, with split renal function acquired from the geometric mean of values obtained from anterior and posterior detectors, and studies utility of attenuation compensation depending on difference in geometric mean kidney depth. From July, 2015 to February 2016, 33 patients who undertook $^{99}mTc-MAG_3$ Renal scan(13 male, 20 female, average age of 44.66 with range of 5~70, average height of 160.40cm, average weight of 55.40kg) were selected as subjects. Depth of kidney was shown to be 65.82 mm at average for left and 71.62 mm at average for right. In supine position, 30 out of 33 patients showed higher ratio of deep-situated kidney and lower ratio of shallow-situated kidney. Such result is deemed to be due to correction by attenuation between deep-situated kidney and detector and in case where there is difference between the depth of both kidneys such as, lesions in or around kidney, spine malformation, and ectopic kidney, ratio of deep-situated kidney must be compensated for more accurate calculation of split renal function, when compared to the conventional test method (posterior detector counting).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.104-113
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• 2012

This study aimed to find out the improvement plan through analyzing the perception of the expert group engaged in landscape architectural construction and to focus on analyzing the expert groups' experience on Landscape Construction Defects (LCD), defect liability, warranty period, and implementation of the defect liability. The results are as follows: 1. Regarding the experience on the LCD, landscape construction contractors were an awareness of the LCD issue at a serious level, while public-sector clients recognize moderately the LCD issue; and on the first priority in defect implementation, landscape construction contractors considered repair cost while public-sector clients value the identifying causes of defects. 2. In disagreement on the defect liability, landscape construction contractors attributed it to client's lack of responsibility for maintenance while public-sector clients ascribed it to the absence of dealing a criteria with LCD, and regarding the appropriate defect implementation, public-sector clients preferred the following objective by dealing the criteria with LCD while landscape construction contractors advocates by sharing the responsibilities for dealing with LCD based on the identified causes of construction defects. 3. Regarding the warranty period, the public-sector clients considered the 2-year warranty period as appropriate while landscape construction contractors considered it comparatively long, and concerning the commencement of defect warranty period, the public-sector clients viewed it as it should commence to cover the overall completion of the construction while landscape construction contractors perceived it to start on the completion of each work. 4. As for the improvement of the defect implementation system, public-sector clients considered it necessary to establish the objective dealing the criteria with LCD while landscape construction contractors viewed the legislation of maintenance duty. Also, with regard to the important value in establishing and dealing the criteria with LCD, public-sector clients pointed out the objective of the criteria for determining the defects per work type while landscape construction contractors suggested client (user)'s maintenance duty. Because of research, because the system in dealing with LCD is an absence of LCD management agency and dealing the criteria with LCD, it is needed to establish an LCD management agency and make the system in dealing with LCD.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.25-34
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• 2001

Background : Inhaled glucocorticoids are the medical treatment of choice in asthma patients. Fluticasone propionate is one of the most effective inhaled corticosteroids and has been reported to have minimal effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis at the recommended dose. However, reports of long-term trials characterizing their systemic safety with chronic use are rare. This study was designed to evaluate the long-term safety of inhaled fluticasone propionate to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Method : This study was conducted on 21 patients to evaluate the adrenal response to rapid ACTH stimulation test after 6 months of treatment with fluticasone propionate from $200\;{\mu}g$ to $750\;{\mu}g$ daily. The serum cortisol levels was measured to assess its effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis just prior to the injection, at 30 minutes and 60 minutes after an intramuscular injection of synthetic ACTH. Result : The mean dose of inhaled fluticasone propionate was $355\;{\mu}g$ per day(SD=$174\;{\mu}g$, range=$200\;{\mu}g$ to $750\;{\mu}g$). The mean serum cortisol levels of the patients was $11.0\;{\mu}g/d{\ell}$(SD=$6.4\;{\mu}g/d{\ell}$) prior to the injection, $20.0\;{\mu}g/d{\ell}$ (SD=$7.7\;{\mu}g/d{\ell}$) after 30 minutes, and $23.0\;{\mu}g/d{\ell}$(SD=$6.3\;{\mu}g/d{\ell}$) after 60 minutes. Sixteen patients of the 21 patients had a normal response(> $18\;{\mu}g/d{\ell}$), and 5 out of the 21 patients had serum cortisol levels below the normal range after the rapid ACTH stimulation test. Conclusion: Adrenal suppression occurred in 5 out of 21 patients with 6 months treatment with inhaled fluticasone propionate.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.100-107
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• 2002

Purpose : The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the treatment results of 30 patients with pineal region tumors who were underwent radiation therapy under the diagnosis by either CT or MRI. There was no histological verification. We analyzed the prognostic factors that have a significant effect on the overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) rates. Materials and Methods : A total 30 patients with pineal region tumors were treated between March 1983 and August 1995. After a trial radiation therapy of $20\~30\;Gy/2\~3$ weeks, the patients were evaluated for their clinical response and radiological response by either CT or MRI and the final treatment direction was then decided. According to their response to the trial radiation therapy and the involved site, radiation treatment was given in various fields i.e., local, ventricle, whole brain and craniospinal field. The radiation dose ranged from 40.8 to 59.4 Gy (Median 50.4 Gy). The median follow up was 36.5 months $(4\~172\;months)$. Results : An improvement or stability in the clinical symptoms was observed in 28 patients $(93.3\%)$ after the trial RT. Nineteen patients $(63.3\%)$ showed a partial or complete response by CT or MRI. The two-year and five-year survival rates of the patients were $66.7\%$ and $55.1\%$, respectively. No significant difference in the survival rates according to the degree of the radiological response was abserved after the trial RT. The results of univariate analysis showed that age, the primary site, the performance status $(KPS\geq70)$, the degree of response after completing RT and the RT field were significant prognostic factors affecting the survival and disease free survival rates (p<0.05). Conclusion : The clinical and histological characteristics of pineal region tumors are quite complex and diverse. Therefore, it is difficult to predict the histological diagnosis and the possibility of radiocurability only with the initial response to RT. We think that the development of less invasive histological diagnostic techniques and tailored treatment to the histological type of each tumor are needed.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.9-14
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• 2003

Sleep stages have been useful indicator to check a person's comfortableness in a sleep, But the traditional method of scoring sleep stages with polysomnography based on the integrated analysis of the electroencephalogram(EEG), electrooculogram(EOG), electrocardiogram(ECG), and electromyogram(EMG) is too restrictive to take a comfortable sleep for the participants, While the sympathetic nervous system is predominant during a wakefulness, the parasympathetic nervous system is more active during a sleep, Cardiovascular function is controlled by this autonomic nervous system, So, we have interpreted the heart rate variability(HRV) among sleep stages to find a simple method of classifying sleep stages, Six healthy male college students participated, and 12 night sleeps were recorded in this research, Sleep stages based on the "Standard scoring system for sleep stage" were automatically classified with polysomnograph by measuring EEG, EOG, ECG, and EMG(chin and leg) for the six participants during sleeping, To extract only the ECG signals from the polysomnograph and to interpret the HRV, a Sleep Data Acquisition/Analysis System was devised in this research, The power spectrum of HRV was divided into three ranges; low frequency(LF), medium frequency(MF), and high frequency(HF), It showed that, the LF/HF ratio of the Stage W(Wakefulness) was 325% higher than that of the Stage 2(p＜.05), 628% higher than that of the Stage 3(p＜.001), and 800% higher than that of the Stage 4(p＜.001), Moreover, this ratio of the Stage 4 was 427% lower than that of the Stage REM (rapid eye movement) (p＜.05) and 418% lower than that of the Stage l(p＜.05), respectively, It was observed that the LF/HF ratio decreased monotonously as the sleep stage changes from the Stage W, Stage REM, Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, to Stage 4, While the difference of the MF/(LF+HF) ratio among sleep Stages was not significant, it was higher in the Stage REM and Stage 3 than that of in the other sleep stages in view of descriptive statistic analysis for the sample group.