• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.416-423
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• 2009

Statement of problem: The degree of light attenuation at the time of cementation of the PLV restoration depends on characteristics such as thickness, opacity and shade of the restorations, which interfere with light transmittance and, as a result, may decrease the total energy reaching the luting cement. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the degree of conversion of light-cured resin cements measuring by FT-IR in regard to different thickness, light devices and curing time. Material and methods: In the control group, a clear slide glass (1.0 mm) was positioned between the light cured resin cement and light source. The specimens of ceramics were made with IPS Empress Esthetic. The ceramics were fabricated with varying thicknesses-0.5, 1.0, 1.5 mm with shade ETC1. Rely $X^{TM}$ Veneer with shade A3, light-cured resin cement, was used. Light-activation was conducted through the ceramic using a quartz tungsten halogen curing unit, a light emitting diode curing unit and a plasma arc curing unit. The degree of conversion of the light-cured resin cement was evaluated using FT-IR and OMNIC. One-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD test were used for statistical analysis ($\alpha$< .05). Results: The degree of conversion (DC) of photopolymerization using QTH and LED was higher than results of using PAC in the control group. After polymerization using QTH and LED, the DC results from the different ceramic thickness- 0.5 mm, 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm- did not show a significant difference when compared with those of control group. However, the DC for polymerization using PAC in the 1.5mm ceramic group showed significantly lower DC than those of the control group and 0.5 mm ceramic group (P<.05). At 80s and 160s, the DC of light-cured resin cement beneath 1.0 mm ceramic using LED was significantly higher than at 20s (P<.05). Conclusion: Within the limitation of this study, when adhering PLV to porcelain with a thickness between 0.5-1.5 mm, the use of PAC curing units were not considered however, light cured resin cements were effective when cured for over 40 seconds with QTH or LED curing units. Also, when curing the light cured resin cements with LED, the degree of polymerization was not proportional with the curing time. Curing exceeding a certain curing time, did not significantly affect the degree of polymerization.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.233-241
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• 2016

Experiments were carried out to quantify the topographic effects on attenuation of sunshine in complex terrain and the results are expected to help convert the coarse resolution sunshine duration information provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) into a detailed map reflecting the terrain characteristics of mountainous watershed. Hourly shaded relief images for one year, each pixel consisting of 0 to 255 brightness value, were constructed by applying techniques of shadow modeling and skyline analysis to the 3m resolution digital elevation model for an experimental watershed on the southern slope of Mt. Jiri in Korea. By using a bimetal sunshine recorder, sunshine duration was measured at three points with different terrain conditions in the watershed from May 15, 2015 to May 14, 2016. The brightness values of the 3 corresponding pixel points on the shaded relief map were extracted and regressed to the measured sunshine duration, resulting in a brightness-sunshine duration response curve for a clear day. We devised a method to calibrate this curve equation according to sky condition categorized by cloud amount and used it to derive an empirical model for estimating sunshine duration over a complex terrain. When the performance of this model was compared with a conventional scheme for estimating sunshine duration over a horizontal plane, the estimation bias was improved remarkably and the root mean square error for daily sunshine hour was 1.7hr, which is a reduction by 37% from the conventional method. In order to apply this model to a given area, the clear-sky sunshine duration of each pixel should be produced on hourly intervals first, by driving the curve equation with the hourly shaded relief image of the area. Next, the cloud effect is corrected by 3-hourly 'sky condition' of the KMA digital forecast products. Finally, daily sunshine hour can be obtained by accumulating the hourly sunshine duration. A detailed sunshine duration distribution of 3m horizontal resolution was obtained by applying this procedure to the experimental watershed.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.318-324
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• 2004

Purpose: Philips GEMINI is a newly introduced whole-body GSO PET/CT scanner. In this study, performance of the scanner including spatial resolution, sensitivity, scatter fraction, noise equivalent count ratio (NECR) was measured utilizing NEMA NU2-2001 standard protocol and compared with performance of LSO, BGO crystal scanner. Methods: GEMINI is composed of the Philips ALLEGRO PET and MX8000 D multi-slice CT scanners. The PET scanner has 28 detector segments which have an array of 29 by 22 GSO crystals ($4{\times}6{\times}20$ mm), covering axial FOV of 18 cm. PET data to measure spatial resolution, sensitivity, scatter fraction, and NECR were acquired in 3D mode according to the NEMA NU2 protocols (coincidence window: 8 ns, energy window: $409[\sim}664$ keV). For the measurement of spatial resolution, images were reconstructed with FBP using ramp filter and an iterative reconstruction algorithm, 3D RAMLA. Data for sensitivity measurement were acquired using NEMA sensitivity phantom filled with F-18 solution and surrounded by $1{\sim}5$ aluminum sleeves after we confirmed that dead time loss did not exceed 1%. To measure NECR and scatter fraction, 1110 MBq of F-18 solution was injected into a NEMA scatter phantom with a length of 70 cm and dynamic scan with 20-min frame duration was acquired for 7 half-lives. Oblique sinograms were collapsed into transaxial slices using single slice rebinning method, and true to background (scatter+random) ratio for each slice and frame was estimated. Scatter fraction was determined by averaging the true to background ratio of last 3 frames in which the dead time loss was below 1%. Results: Transverse and axial resolutions at 1cm radius were (1) 5.3 and 6.5 mm (FBP), (2) 5.1 and 5.9 mm (3D RAMLA). Transverse radial, transverse tangential, and axial resolution at 10 cm were (1) 5.7, 5.7, and 7.0 mm (FBP), (2) 5.4, 5.4, and 6.4 mm (3D RAMLA). Attenuation free values of sensitivity were 3,620 counts/sec/MBq at the center of transaxial FOV and 4,324 counts/sec/MBq at 10 cm offset from the center. Scatter fraction was 40.6%, and peak true count rate and NECR were 88.9 kcps @ 12.9 kBq/mL and 34.3 kcps @ 8.84 kBq/mL. These characteristics are better than that of ECAT EXACT PET scanner with BGO crystal. Conclusion: The results of this field test demonstrate high resolution, sensitivity and count rate performance of the 3D PET/CT scanner with GSO crystal. The data provided here will be useful for the comparative study with other 3D PET/CT scanners using BGO or LSO crystals.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.500-518
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• 1996

Background : The solitary pulmonary nodule(SPN) presents a diagnostic dilemma to the physician and the patient. Many clinical characteristics(i.e. age, smoking history, prior history of malignancy) and radiological characteristics( i.e. size, calcification, growth rate, several findings of computed tomography) have been proposed to help to determine whether the SPN was benign or malignant. However, most of these diagnostic guidelines are based on the data collected before computed tomography(CT) has been introduced and lung cancer was not as common as these days. Moreover, it is not well established whether these guidelines from western populations could be applicable to Korean patients. Methods : We had a retrospective analysis of the case records and radiographic findings in 114 patients presenting with SPN from Jan. 1994 to Feb. 1995 in Seoul National University Hospital, a tertiary referral hospital. Results : We observed the following results ; (1) Out of 113 SPNs, the etiology was documented in 94 SP IS. There were 34 benign SP s and 60 malignant SPNs. Among which, 49 SPNs were primary lung cancers and the most common hi stologic type was adenocarcinoma. (2) The average age of patients with benign and malignant SPNs was $49.7{\pm}12.0$ and $58.1{\pm}10.0$ years, respectively( p=0.0004), and the malignant SPNs had a striking linear propensity to increase with age. (3) No significant difference in the hi story of smoking was noted between the patients with benign SPNs($13.0{\pm}17.6$ pack- year) and those with malignant SPNs($18.6{\pm}25.1$ pack-year) (p=0.2108). (4) 9 out of 10 patients with prior history of malignancy had malignant SPNs. 5 were new primary lung cancers with no relation to prior malignancy. (5) The average size of benign SPNs($3.01{\pm}1.20cm$) and malignant SPNs($2.98{\pm}0.97cm$) was not significantly different(p=0.8937). (6) The volume doubling time could be calculated in 22 SPNs. 9 SPNs had the volume doubling time longer than 400 days. Out of these, 6 were malignant SPNs. (7) The CT findings suggesting malignancy included the lobulated or spiculated border, air- bronchogram, pleural tail, and lymphadenopathy. In contrast, calcification, central low attenuation, cavity with even thickness, well-marginated border, and peri nodular micronodules were more suggestive for benign nodule. (8) The diagnostic yield of percutaneous needle aspiration and biopsy was 57.6%(19/33) of benign SPNs and 81.0%(47/58) of malignant SPNs. The diagnostic value of sputum analysis and bronchoscopic evaluations were relatively very low. (9) 42.3%(11/26) of SPNs of undetermined etiology preoperatively turned out to be malignant after surgical resection. Overall, 75.4%(46/61) of surgically resected SPNs were malignant. Conclusions : We conclude that the likelihood of malignant SPN correlates the age of patient, prior history of malignancy, some CT findings including lobulated or spiculated border, air-bronchogram, pleural tail and lymphadenopathy. However, the history of smoking, the size of the nodule, and the volume doubling time are not helpful to determent whether the SPN is benign or malignant, which have been regarded as valuable clinical parameters previously. We suggest that aggressive diagnostic approach including surgical resection is necessary in patient with SPNs.