• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2011

Measurement of magnetic signals generated from electric activity of myocardium provides useful information for the functional diagnosis of heart diseases. Key technical component of the magnetocardiography (MCG) technology is SQUID. To measure MCG signals with high signal-to-noise ratio, sensitive SQUID magnetic field sensors are needed. Present magnetic field sensors based on Nb SQUIDs have field sensitivity good enough to measure most of MCG signals. However, for accurate measurement of fine signal pattern or detection of local atrial fibrillation signals, we may need higher field sensitivity. In addition to field sensitivity, economic aspect of the SQUID system is also important. To simplify the SQUID readout electronics, the output voltage or flux-to-voltage transfer of SQUID should be large enough so that direct measurement of SQUID output can be done using room-temperature preamplifiers. Double relaxation oscillation SQUID (DROS), having about 10 times larger flux-to-voltage transfers than those of DC-SQUIDs, was shown to be a good choice to make the electronics compact. For effective cancellation of external noise inside a thin economic shielded room, first-order axial gradiometer with high balance, simple structure and long-baseline is needed. We developed a technology to make the axial gradiometer compact using direct bonding of superconductive wires between pickup coil and input coil. Conventional insert has mechanical support to hold the gradiometer array, and the dewar neck has equal diameter with the dewar bottom. Boiling of the liquid He can generate mechanical vibrations in the gradiometer array due to mechanical connection structure. Elimination of the mechanical support, and direct mounting of the gradiometer array into the dewar bottom can reduce the dewar neck diameter, resulting in the reduction of liquid He consumption.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.48-52
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• 2015

Objectives: This retrospective cohort study aimed at calculating some parameters of changes in the findings of the subsequent screening mammography (SSM) in female Korean volunteers. Methods: The study included screenees aged 30 to 79 years who underwent SSM voluntarily after testing negative in the baseline screenings performed between January 2007 and December 2011. A change to a positive result was defined as category 4 or 5 by using the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System. The proportion of results that had changed to positive (CP, %) was calculated by dividing the number of cases with results that were positive in the SSM by the total number of study participants. The rate of results that had changed to positive (CR, cases per 100 000 screenee-months) was calculated by dividing the number of cases with results that were positive in the SSM by the total number of months of the follow-up period. Results: The overall CP and CR in all age groups (n=77 908) were 2.26% and 93.94 cases per 100 000 screenee-months, respectively. The median CP interval in the subjects who had positive SSM results was 30 to 36 months, while that in the age group of 30 to 39 years was shorter. Conclusions: Different screening intervals should be considered among women aged between 30 and 59 years. In addition, a strategy for a screening program should be developed for the age group of 30 to 39 years, in particular.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.24-27
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• 2006

A simple HPLC quantification method was developed for genistein, genistin, daidzein, and daidzin in soybeans and soybean products. The procedure used a $4.6{\times}100\;mm$ $Chromolith^{(R)}$ RP-18e column with a mobile phase of 1% HOAc in 20% MeOH to 1% HOAc in 80% MeOH for 10 min. The injection volume was $2\;{\mu}L$ at a flow rate of 2 mL/min. Detection was carried out under UV at 254 nm. Under these conditions, the major isoflavones daidzein, daidzin, genistein, and genistin in soybean and soybean pastes were eluted within 7 min with baseline separation. Optimal extraction of the above four major isoflavones was achieved when 40 g of soybean or soybean paste was refluxed in 100 mL of 95% ethanol for 2 hr. Ten different soybean cultivars and nine commercial soybean pastes were analyzed by this method. The total isoflavone content was highest in the cultivar Somyung ($2,497\;{\mu}g/g$ dry weight). The isoflavone content in soybean pastes varied widely from manufacturer to manufacturer (an almost five-fold difference between the highest and lowest values). Such variations were presumably due to differences in fermentation conditions, type of soybeans used, and levels of such additives as starch and salt.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.521-525
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• 2015

Bacteremia and sepsis are common causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with incorrect or delayed diagnoses being associated with increased mortality. New tests or markers that allow a more rapid and less costly detection of bacteremia and sepsis have been investigated. The aim of this study was to clarify the cutoff value of the neutrophillymphocyte ratio (NLR) according to procalcitonin (PCT) level in the decision-making processes for bacteremia and sepsis. In addition, other white blood cell subgroup parameters, which are assessed in all hospitals, for bacteremia and sepsis were explored. This retrospective study included 1,468 patients with suspected bacteremia and sepsis. Patients were grouped according to the following PCT criteria: levels <0.05 ng/ml (healthy group), 0.05-0.5 ng/ml (local infection group), 0.5-2 ng/ml (systemic infection group), 2-10 ng/ml (sepsis group), and >10 ng/ml (sepsis shock group). One important finding of this study, which will serve as a baseline to measure future progress, is the presence of many gaps in the information on pathogens that constitute a major health risk. In addition, clinical decisions are generally not coordinated, compromising the ability to assess and monitor a situation. This report represents the first study to determine the limits of the use of NLR in the diagnosis of infection or sepsis using a cutoff value of <5 when sufficient exclusion criteria are used.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.501-509
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• 2016

We propose a method to improve the robustness of speaker verification on short test utterances. The accuracy of the state-of-the-art i-vector/probabilistic linear discriminant analysis systems can be degraded when testing utterance durations are short. The proposed method compensates for utterance variations of short test feature vectors using deep neural networks. We design three different types of DNN (Deep Neural Network) structures which are trained with different target output vectors. Each DNN is trained to minimize the discrepancy between the feed-forwarded output of a given short utterance feature and its original long utterance feature. We use short 2-10 s condition of the NIST (National Institute of Standards Technology, U.S.) 2008 SRE (Speaker Recognition Evaluation) corpus to evaluate the method. The experimental results show that the proposed method reduces the minimum detection cost relative to the baseline system.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.362-370
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• 2011

This paper presents a K-band radar system installed on the ground moving vehicle to detect and track a high-speed target. The presented radar is separated into three search regions to satisfy a wide area detection and a limitation of the installing space of the radar, and each region performs detecting the target independently and tracking the detected target automatically. The presented radar radiating K-band FMCW waveform acquires range and velocity information of the target at the every dwell and receiving antenna of the radar is applied the multiple baseline interferometer to extract the precise angle information of the target. 3-dimensional tracking accuracy of the radar is 0.25 m RMSE measured actually through a fire experiment of an imitation target.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.287-303
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• 2018

Applications of energy harvesting from mechanical vibrations is becoming popular but the full potential of such applications is yet to be explored. This paper addresses this issue by considering an application of energy harvesting for the dual objective of serving as an indicator of structural health monitoring (SHM) and extent of control. Variation of harvested energy from an undamaged baseline is employed for this purpose and the concept is illustrated by implementing it for active vibrations of a pipe structure. Theoretical and experimental analyses are carried out to determine the energy harvesting potential from undamaged and damaged conditions. The use of energy harvesting as indicator for control is subsequently investigated, considering the effect of the introduction of a tuned mass damper (TMD). It is found that energy harvesting can be used for the detection and monitoring of the location and magnitude of damage occurring within a pipe structure. Additionally, the harvested energy acts as an indicator of the extent of reduction of vibration of pipes when a TMD is attached. This paper extends the range of applications of energy harvesting devices for the monitoring of built infrastructure and illustrates the vast potential of energy harvesters as smart sensors.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.269-275
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• 2022

Blood type in dogs is based on the antigen present on the red blood cell surface. Dog erythrocyte antigen 1 is a crucial red blood cell antigen in dogs, whereas the dog erythrocyte antigen 7 has been studied in limited dog breeds worldwide. To assess the prevalence of dog erythrocyte antigens 1 and 7 in 11 breeds in the Republic of Korea, 624 dog blood samples were examined for antigen detection. Overall, 520 dogs (83.3%) showed dog erythrocyte antigen 1 expression. The distribution varied from 50.0~100.0% according to the breed. Dog erythrocyte antigen 1-positive blood type was the highest in Chihuahua (100%), followed by Jindo dog (98.5%), and Sapsaree (95.3%). Dog erythrocyte antigen 7 was positive in 125 dogs (20.0%), and the positivity varied from 5.0~42.9% according to the breed. Dog erythrocyte antigen 7-positive blood type was the highest in Beagle (42.9%), followed by Chihuahua (37.5%), and Jindo dog (27.8%). The high prevalence of dog erythrocyte antigen 1 is because of the high proportion of Jindo dog and Sapsaree breeds that were mostly positive for the antigen. The high abundance of these breeds could be due to inbreeding and local breeding in the Republic of Korea. To our best knowledge, this study is the first to report on the prevalence of dog erythrocyte antigens 1 and 7 among various canine breeds in the Republic of Korea. The prevalence data obtained from this study may contribute to baseline information on veterinary transfusion medicine in small animal practice.

• Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2022

Background: This study was conducted to analyze the time for re-detection of bacteria after surface disinfection using wet wipes, isopropyl alcohol, and benzalkonium chloride antibacterial tissue and provide standards for re-execution of surface disinfection with wet and antibacterial tissues. Methods: Seven laptops were wiped with wet tissue and isopropyl alcohol and benzalkonium chloride antibacterial tissues. Test areas were rubbed with a sterile cotton swab at baseline and after 30, 60, and 120 min. After plating on a tryptic soy agar medium, the number of colonies was counted by culturing at 36.5℃ for 24 h. Results: The average number of bacterial colonies was 5.85 ± 4.33 before isopropyl alcohol wiping and nil after wiping. The average number of bacterial colonies was 12.28 ± 14.67 benzalkonium chloride wiping and nil after wiping. Before wiping with wet wipes, the average number of bacterial colonies on laptop surfaces was 3.42 ± 5.22. Bacteria decreased after wiping with wet wipes but increased again over time. Conclusions: Wet wipes can temporarily reduce bacteria but are unsuitable for removing bacteria.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.73-85
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• 2023

Purpose: This study focused on identifying the interaction effects of genetic and lifestyle-environmental factors on the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Methods: Study subjects were selected from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES) from 2001 to 2014. Data on genetic variations, anthropometric measurements, biochemical data, and seven lifestyle factors (diet, physical activity, alcohol drinking, smoking, sleep, depression, and stress) were obtained from 4,836 Koreans aged between 40 and 59 years, including those with T2D at baseline (n = 1,209), newly developed T2D (n= 1,298) and verified controls (n = 3,538). The genetic risk score (GRS) was calculated by using 11 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to T2D development and the second quartile was used as the reference category. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to evaluate the associations of GRS and lifestyle factors with T2D risk, controlling for covariates. Results: Multivariate regression analysis revealed that GRS was the strongest risk factor for T2D, and body mass index (BMI), smoking, drinking, and spicy food preference also increased the risk. Lifestyle/environmental factors that showed significant interactions with GRS were BMI, current smoking, current drinking, fatty food preference, and spicy food preference. Conclusions: Interactions between genetic factors and lifestyle/environmental factors were associated with an increased risk of T2D. The results will be useful to provide a new perspective on genetic profiling for the earlier detection of T2D risk and clues for personalized interventions, which might be more effective prevention strategies or therapies in individuals with a genetic predisposition to T2D.