• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.175-182
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• 2017

Microcurrent electrical stimulation(MES) has been used to accelerate recovery of atrophied skeletal muscle. However, convincing stimulation parameters for suppressing muscle atrophy due to injured sciatic nerve remains unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the effective intensity of MES on restraining muscle atrophy with rat model underwent sciatic nerve injury(SNI). Twenty-5-week-old Sprague Dawley male rats were equally assigned to five groups : Control group(Control, CON, n = 4), Denervation group(Denervation, D, n = 4), Denervation with MES of $22{\mu}A$ group(Denervation + $22{\mu}A$, D+22, n = 4), Denervation with MES of $100{\mu}A$ group (Denervation + $100{\mu}A$, D+100 n = 4), Denervation with MES of $400{\mu}A$ group(Denervation + $400{\mu}A$, D+400, n = 4). To induce muscle atrophy, all rats in the D, D+22, D+100, and D+400 groups, were subjected to sciatic nerve injury on their right hindlimb and allowed to have 1 week of resting period. Following this period, rats underwent daily MES(60 min/ a day, 5times/1week) for 4 weeks. After that, we investigate morphological changes in muscle volume by using in vivo micro-computed tomography at week 0, 1, 3 and 5. After 5 weeks, the muscle volume had the highest value in D+400 group, and also noticeably increased in D+100 group compared to it in D group. The results of this study imply that MES with current intensities between $100-400{\mu}A$ can suppress muscle atrophy effectively.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.239-248
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• 2016

Background: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the incidence of chronic persistent post-surgical pain (CPPP) and the role of signal transduction genes in patients undergoing staging laparotomy for carcinoma ovary. Methods: The present observational study was undertaken following institutional ethical committee approval and informed consent from all the participants. A total 21 patients of ASA grade I to III with age 20-70 years, scheduled for elective staging laparotomy for carcinoma ovary were included. Patients were excluded if had other causes of pain, cognitive dysfunction or chronic neurological disorders. Statistical analysis of pool data was done using SPSS version-17. For various scales like GPE, PDQ, NPSI, the visual analogue scale (VAS), global perceived effect (GPE), the pain DETECT questionnaire (PDQ), and neuropathic pain symptoms inventory (NPSI), one factor repaeted measure ANOVA applied with simple contrast with baseline as on post-operative day 1 (considered as reference and compared with subsequent time-interval), and the P values were adjusted according to "Bonferroni adjustments". In patients with CPPP, the ${\Delta}ct$ values of mRNA expressions of genes at the end of postoperative day 90 were compared with the baseline control values by one factor repeated ANOVA. P value < 0.005 significant. Results: The present study demonstrates 38.1% (8 out of 21 patients) incidence of CPPP. The functional status and quality of life as were observed to be significantly diminished in all patients with chronic pain. An up-regulation in the mRNA expression of signal transduction and a positive correlation was noted between the mRNA expression of signal transduction genes and VAS score in all patients with CPPP at the end of postoperative day 90. Conclusions: The reported incidence of CPPP in patients with carcinoma ovary was 38.1%. An up-regulation and positive correlation between mRNA expression of signal transduction genes and VAS score depicts its potential role in the pathogenesis of CPPP.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.247-252
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• 2017

Radiologists who experience extravasation of the contrast medium even once suffer mentally during testing due to the fear of its reoccurrence. Establishing a plan for preventing it beforehand is necessary above all because patients experience severe physical and mental pain and become distrusting of medical staff and treatment. Therefore, the present study attempts to prevent extravasation, which is the result of damage from pressure applied to the patient's blood vessels, by lowering PSI, and conducted a comparative analysis of PSI changes during contrast medium injection depending on the diameter of the Y-shape connecting tube which connects the automatic injector and the intravenous injection of the patient. In the case of product A in which the diameter of the Y-shape connecting tube is about 2mm, the average PSI for all ages was 98.5 and standard deviation was 9.72. In the case of product B in which the diameter of the Y-shape connecting tube is about 3mm, the average PSI for all ages was 62.0 and standard deviation was 8.59. Product B with its wider diameter decreased in average pressure by 37.05% when compared to product A, and when product B is used with the p-value at 0.00, pressure decreased even more, achieving statistically significant results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.28-34
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to fabricate a sensor module to detect the resistive leakage current (Igr) in real time that occurs to low voltage electric lines and to verify its reliability. In the case of the developed sensor module, wires are inserted into the zero current transformer (ZCT) and current transformer (CT) in advance and then the branch line is connected to the circuit breaker. The measurement result of the resistance of the distribution panel equipped with the developed sensor module shows that the resistance is $0.151m{\Omega}$ between the R and R phases, $0.169m{\Omega}$ between the S and S phases, and $0.178m{\Omega}$ between the T and T phases, respectively. The insulation resistance measured at AC 500 V and 1,000 V is $0.08m{\Omega}$ between the R, S, T and N phases, respectively. Then, the insulation resistance measured at DC 500 V is $83.3G{\Omega}$ between the R, S, T and G terminal, respectively. In addition, the applied withstanding voltage is AC 220 V/380 V/440 V and it was found that characteristics between all phases are good. This study measured the standby power by installing the developed sensor module at the rear of the MCCB and switching the circuit breaker on sequentially. The standby power is 1.350 W when one circuit breaker is turned on, 1.690 W when 2 circuit breakers are turned on, and 4.371 W when 10 circuit breakers are turned on. This study also verified the reliability of the standby power of the distribution panel equipped with the developed sensor module using the Minitab Program (Minitab PGM). Since the analysis shows the statistical average of 1.34627 in the reliable range of normal distribution, standard deviation of 0.001874, AD of 0.554, and P value of 0.140, it is found that the distribution panel equipped with the developed sensor module has high reliability.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3525-3531
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• 2014

Objective: Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET) is a new technique for identifying different malignant tumors using different uptake values between tumor cells and normal tissues. Here we assessed the diagnostic accuracy of 18F-FDG-PET in patients with testicular cancer by pooling data of existing trials in a meta-analysis. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Central Trials databases were searched and studies published in English relating to the diagnostic value of FDG-PET for testicular cancer were collected. The summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was used to examine the FDG-PET accuracy. Results: A total of 16 studies which included 957 examinations in 807 patients (median age, 31.1 years) were analyzed. A meta-analysis was performed to combine the sensitivity and specificity and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs), from diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), positive likelihood ratios (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR). SROC were derived to demonstrate the diagnostic accuracy of FDG-PET for testicular cancer. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.75 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.70-0.80) and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.84-0.89), respectively. The pooled DOR was 35.6 (95% CI, 12.9-98.3). The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.88. The pooled PLR and pooled NLR were 7.80 (95% CI, 3.73-16.3) and 0.31 (95% CI, 0.23-0.43), respectively. Conclusion: In patients with testicular cancer, 18F-FDG-PET demonstrated a high SROC area, and could be a potentially useful tool if combined with other imaging methods such as MRI and CT. Nevertheless, the literature focusing on the use of 18F-FDG-PET in this setting still remains limited.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.4215-4218
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• 2015

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world. It is the first cause of cancer deaths in both sexes In Iranian population. Circulating insulin-like growth factor-one (IGF-1) levels have been associated for gastric cancer. IGF-1 protein has central roles involved in the regulation of epithelial cell growth, proliferation, transformation, apoptosis and metastasis. Single nucleotide polymorphism in IGF-1 regulatory elements may lead to alter in IGF-1expression level and GC susceptibility. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of IGF-1 gene polymorphism (rs5742612) on risk of GC and clinicopathological features for the first time in Iranian population. In total, 241 subjects including 100 patients with GC and 141 healthy controls were recruited in our study. Genotypes were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay with DNA from peripheral blood. The polymorphism was statistically analyzed to investigate the relationship with the risk of GC and clinicopathological properties. Logistic regression analysis revealed that there was no significant association between rs5742612 and the risk of GC. In addition, no significant association between genotypes and clinicopathological features was observed (p value>0.05). The frequencies of the CC, CT, and TT genotypes were 97%, 3%, and 0%, respectively, among the cases, and 97.9%, 2.1%, and 0%, respectively, among the controls. CC genotype was more frequent in cases and controls. The frequencies of C and T alleles were 98.9% and 1.1% in controls and 98.5% and 1.5% in patient respectively. Our results provide the first evidence that this variant is rare in Iranian population and it may not be a powerful genetic predisposing biomarker for prediction GC clinicopathological features in an Iranian population.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.355-365
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• 2004

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) treatment (1% NaOH+1.5% $H_2O_2$; 1 AHPMS, 2% NaOH+1.5% $H_2O_2$; 2AHPMS) on rate and extent of degradation of mustard straw (MS) in sacco in sheep, and its in vivo digestion and ruminal fermentation characteristics when fed to sheep with concentrate (200 g per sheep daily). The treatment of straw with 1 and 2% AHP increased its sodium content by 148 and 296% to that of untreated straw (UMS). There was significant decrease in NDF and hemicellulose contents of AHP treated straw and increase in cellulose and lignin contents. Phenolic acids like ferrulic, $\rho$-coumaric and o-coumaric significantly (p<0.001) reduced by AHP treatment of mustard straw. In first experiment the in sacco degradation of DM, OM and NDF was significantly (p<0.01) greater for 2 AHPMS than for UMS at all incubation periods. The disappearance of nutrient from 1 AHPMS and 2 AHPMS treated straws continue to increase up to 96 h whereas in UMS the peak disappearance was found at 48 h. By using the equation {(y=a+b) ($1-e^{-ct}$)} the degradation rates (c) for DM, OM, and NDF were significantly higher for UMS than AHP treated straws. Level of alkali (1 and 2%) had significant effect on degradation characteristics (a, b, c and $P_{0.05}$) of DM and NDF fraction of MS. However, the effect was not pronounced on OM fraction of MS. In feeding experiment, the intake of nutrients for DM, OM, cell wall constituents and energy was higher on 2 AHPMS, whereas no effect on the digestibility of these nutrients was observed. The apparent nitrogen retention was higher (p<0.05) both in 1 and 2 AHPMS groups. Water intake by animals was significantly increased due to AHP treated mustard straw feeding. Rumen liquor pH was higher in 2 AHPMS fed animals. The $NH_3-N$ of rumen liquor was not affected by feeding of AHP treated MS based diets. Total VFA concentration was significantly (p<0.01) higher in UMS fed group. The fractional out flow rate of DM was higher (p<0.05) in animals fed on 2 AHPMS diets compared to UMS and lAHPMS fed groups. The population of large holotrichs was higher (p<0.05) on AHP treated MS fed diets compared to UMS. The study indicated that treatment of mustard straw with AHP changed its chemical composition towards a better feed. The nutritive value of 2% AHP treated mustard straw was better in terms of dry matter intake and apparent nitrogen retention. The higher in sacco DM, OM and NDF disappearance however, was not confirmed by in vivo data in this study.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.341-349
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• 2014

Field emergence of Azuki bean is poor due to hard seed coat as compared to other legumes. In this study, an attempt was made to develop prediction method with regression analysis based on various seed vigor tests in laboratory for field emergence of azuki bean. Azuki bean seeds artificially aged to provide various levels of seed quality were evaluated by the standard germination test (SGT), cold germination test (CT), cool germination test (CGT), complex stressing vigor test (CSVT), tetrazolium(TZ) vigor test and electroconductivity test. The SGT was suitable for predicting the field emergence in the unaged high vigor seeds. The abnormal seedling percentage and shoot length in the CGT were highly correlated with field emergence of moderate vigor seeds artificially aged for 2 days. Electroconductivity, seed viability in the CSVT, and vigor and predicted germinability in the tetrazolium vigor test were also useful for predicting field emergence. Percent of ungerminated seed in the CSVT was correlated with field emergence in the low vigor seeds artificially aged for 4 days. In a stepwise multiple regression analysis, seed viability in the SGT, normal seedling percentage and dry matter weight in the CGT accounted for 86.9% of the predicted value of field emergence in azuki bean.

• Atmosphere
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.113-121
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• 2018

In order to monitor greenhouse gases including $CO_2$, various types of surface-, aircraft-, and satellite-based measurement projects have been conducted. These data help understand the variations of greenhouse gases and are used in atmospheric inverse modeling systems to simulate surface fluxes for greenhouse gases. CarbonTracker is a system for estimating surface $CO_2$ flux, using an atmospheric inverse modeling method, based on only surface observation data. Because of the insufficient surface observation data available for accurate estimation of the surface $CO_2$ flux, additional observations would be required. In this study, a system that assimilates aircraft $CO_2$ measurement data in CarbonTracker (CT2013B) is developed, and the estimated results from this data assimilation system are evaluated. The aircraft $CO_2$ measurement data used are obtained from the Comprehensive Observation Network for Trace gases by the Airliner (CONTRAIL) project. The developed system includes the preprocessor of the raw observation data, the observation operator, and the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) data assimilation process. After preprocessing the raw data, the modeled value corresponding spatially and temporally to each observation is calculated using the observation operator. These modeled values and observations are then averaged in space and time, and used in the EnKF data assimilation process. The modeled values are much closer to the observations and show smaller biases and root-mean-square errors, after the assimilation of the aircraft $CO_2$ measurement data. This system could also be used to assimilate other aircraft $CO_2$ measurement data in CarbonTracker.

• KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2012

Honeycombs are dense structures that small cysts, which generally have about 2~10 mm in diameter, are surrounded by the wall of fibrosis. When honeycomb is found in the patients, the incidence of acute exacerbation is generally very high. Thus, the observation and quantitative measurement of honeycomb are considered as a significant marker for clinical diagnosis. In this point of view, we propose an automatic segmentation method using morphological image processing and assessment of the degree of clustering techniques. Firstly, image noises were removed by the Gaussian filtering and then a morphological dilation method was applied to segment lung regions. Secondly, honeycomb cyst candidates were detected through the 8-neighborhood pixel exploration, and then non-cyst regions were removed using the region growing method and wall pattern testing. Lastly, final honeycomb regions were segmented through the extraction of dense regions which are consisted of two or more cysts using cluster analysis. The proposed method applied to 80 High resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images and achieved a sensitivity of 89.4% and PPV (Positive Predictive Value) of 72.2%.