• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.735-741
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• 2021

Objective: To evaluate circularity as a quantitative shape factor of small renal tumor on computed tomography (CT) in differentiating fat-poor angiomyolipoma (AML) from renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Materials and Methods: In 257 consecutive patients, 257 pathologically confirmed renal tumors (either AML or RCC less than 4 cm), which did not include visible fat on unenhanced CT, were retrospectively evaluated. A radiologist drew the tumor margin to measure the perimeter and area in all the contrast-enhanced axial CT images. In each image, a quantitative shape factor, circularity, was calculated using the following equation: 4 x π x (area ÷ perimeter²). The median circularity (circularity index) was adopted as a representative value in each tumor. The circularity index was compared between fat-poor AML and RCC, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed. Univariable and multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the independent predictor of fat-poor AML. Results: Of the 257 tumors, 26 were AMLs and 231 were RCCs (184 clear cell RCCs, 25 papillary RCCs, and 22 chromophobe RCCs). The mean circularity index of AML was significantly lower than that of RCC (0.86 ± 0.04 vs. 0.93 ± 0.02, p < 0.001). The mean circularity index was not different between the subtypes of RCCs (0.93 ± 0.02, 0.92 ± 0.02, and 0.92 ± 0.02 for clear cell, papillary, and chromophobe RCCs, respectively, p = 0.210). The area under the ROC curve of circularity index was 0.924 for differentiating fat-poor AML from RCC. The sensitivity and specificity were 88.5% and 90.9%, respectively (cut-off, 0.90). Lower circularity index (≤ 0.9) was an independent predictor (odds ratio, 41.0; p < 0.001) for predicting fat-poor AML on multivariable logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: Circularity is a useful quantitative shape factor of small renal tumor for differentiating fat-poor AML from RCC.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 2009

This paper presents the optimal shape of microelectrode that generates dielectrophoretic(DEP) force to separate particles in homogeneous medium. The principle of the particles sorting is based on the use of the relative strengths of negative DEP (nDEP) and drag forces, as in a general DEP-activated cell sorter (DACS). To numerically calculate the DEP force and drag force, the simulation is implemented in MATLAB 7.0. The properties of particles, which are used in simulation, are similarly selected as those of cells to apply cell separation. The most optimized shape of electrode is selected by numerical simulation according to a variety of electrode shape such as rectangle, trapezoidal, and right-triangle. Through, in addition, parameter study, we found that applied frequency is more significant factor on the separation than various parameters, such as applied voltage and permittivity of medium, that decide on the strength of DEP force.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.32 no.3B
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• pp.153-160
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• 2007

Placing antennas of low power base stations below surrounding buildings, as in urban microcells, makes propagation characteristics strongly dependent on the building environment. As a result, propagation in these urban microcells is non-isotropic, so that the assumption of circular cells used in planning of conventional cellular sys toms is no longer valid. Assuming circular cells leads to a more conservative system design, implying more base stations. This work investigates the effect of cell shape, due to non-isotropic propagation, on the out-of-cell interference and Erlang capacity of CDMA system. Propagation is described by measurement derived models for low antennas in a rectangular urban street grid. The analysis is done for soft handoff protocols.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.182-186
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• 2004

The effect of braid construction parameters on yarn cross-sectional shape is presented in this paper. The location of the yam within the braid unit cell is quantified by a compaction factor. A range of braided fabrics were produced and optically measured for actual yarn cross-sectional shape. A comparison of the theoretical and experimental values shows good correlation. Design curves can be produced with the developed model to allow selection of appropriate braid process parameter to create yarns with desired cross-sectional geometries.

• Proceeding of EDISON Challenge
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• 2016.03a
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• pp.228-233
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• 2016

Auxetic material is a material which has negative Poisson's ratio(NPR). Auxetic material shows some distinctive property like high energy absorbing property and high shear modulus. Among these, synclastic curvature is very interesting characteristic. When synclastic-curvature-material bends, it changes its shape like dome, contrary to non-auxetic material which changes its shape like saddle(anticlastic). This distinctive property could make it easy to manufacture curved structure like nose cone or wing panel in aerospace engineering. In this study, we studied a quantitative analysis about synclastic curvature of re-entrant panel with finite element model. We suggested a concept 'Degree of Synclasticity(DOS)', which means a ratio of curvature of load-direction and load-orthogonal direction. We studied the variation of DOS with two factor, unit cell inner angle(${\theta}$) and load position angle(${\phi}$). DOS decreases as ${\theta}$ increases because the unit cell goes out of auxetic-shape. As ${\phi}$ varies, DOS changes in a large range. So proper optimization of ${\phi}$ would be needed for application.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2000

Bone marrow culture systems are widely used to differentiate osteoclast-like cells in vitro using several osteotropic hormones. In this study, we isolated and cultured the mouse bone marrow cells with or without some osteotropic hormones such as parathyroid hormone(PTH), prostaglandin $E_2(PGE_2)$ and $l,25(OH)_2-vitamin$ $D_3$(Vit. $D_3$). We confirmed the formation of osteoclast-like cells morphologically and functionally by the expression of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase(TRAP) and by their capability to resorb dentin slices. We also studied the effects of transforming growth $factor-{\beta}(TGF-{\beta})$ and epidermal growth factor(EGF) on the Vit. $D_3-induced$ osteoclast-like cell formation. In control, a few multinucleated cells were formed whereas PTH and $PGE_2$ increased the number of multinucleated cells. PTH, $PGE_2$ and Vit. $D_3$ induced the formation of TRAP-positive multinucleated cells. After culture of mouse bone marrow cells on the dentin slices with or without osteotropic hormones, giant cells with diverse morphology were found on the dentin slices under the scanning electronmicroscopy. After removing the attached cells, resorption pits were identified on the dentin slices, and the shape of resorption pits was variable. EGF increased the osteoclast-like cell formation induced by Vit. $D_3$, however, $TGF-{\beta}$ showed biphasic effect, which at low concentration, increased and at high concentration, decreased the osteoclast-like cell formation induced by Vit. $D_3$.

• Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.180-186
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• 2012

In this paper, a method of edge detection from low contrast and noisy images which contain hexagonal shape is proposed. This method is based on the combination of laplacian gaussian filter and an idea of filters which are dependent on the shape. First, an algorithm which has six masks as its extractors to detect the hexagonal edges especially in the comers is used. Here, two tricom filters are used to detect the tricom joints of hexagons and other four masks are used to enhance the line segments of hexagonal edges. As a natural image, a corneal endothelial cell image which usually has a regular hexagonal shape is selected. The edge detection of hexagonal shapes in this corneal endothelial cell is important for clinical diagnosis. Next, The proposal algorithm and other conventional methods are applied to noisy hexagonal images to evaluate each efficiency. As a result, this proposal algorithm shows a robustness against noises and better detection ability in the aspects of the signal to noise ratio, the edge coineidence ratio and the detection accuracy factor as compared with other conventional methods.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.24-36
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• 2017

The stability of peptide-MHC complex (pMHC) is an important factor to shape the fate of peptide-specific T cell immune response, but how it influences on T cell activation process is poorly understood. To better understand that, we investigated various T cell activation events driven by $L^d$ MHCI loaded with graded concentrations of P2Ca and QL9 peptides, respectively, with 2C TCR Tg T cells; the binding strength of P2Ca for $L^d$ is measurably weaker than that of QL9, but either peptides in the context of $L^d$ interact with 2C TCR with a similar strength. When their concentrations required for early T cell activation events, which occur within several minutes to an hour, were concerned, $EC_{50}s$ of QL9 were about 100 folds lower than those of P2Ca, which was expected from their association constants for $L^d$. When $EC_{50}s$ for late activation events, which takes over several hours to occur, were concerned, the differences grew even larger (> 300 folds), suggesting that, due to weak binding, $L^d/P2Ca$ dissociate from each other more easily to lose its antigenicity in a short time. Accordingly, fixation of $L^d/P2Ca$ with paraformaldehyde resulted in a significant improvement in its immunogenicity. These results imply that binding strength of a peptide for a MHC is a critical factor to determine the duration of pMHC-mediated T cell activation and thus the attainment of productive T cell activation. It is also suggested that paraformaldehyde fixation should be an effective tool to ameliorate the immunogenicity of pMHC with a poor stability.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.405-410
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• 1996

Previous studies have shown that transforming growth factor beta ($TGF-{\beta}$) is a potent regulator of cell growth and differentiation. To study the effects of $TGF-{\beta}$ on cell morphology and cytoskeleton reorganization, we conducted a survey using Mv1Lu mink lung epithelial cells with antibodies to cytoskeletal proteins and an extracellular matrix protein. While the untreated cells showed a cuboidal shape of typical epithelia, the Mv1Lu cells displayed a drastic shape change in the presence of $TGF-{\beta}$. This alteration was most prominent when near-confluent cells were treated with $TGF-{\beta}$. Since the morphology alteration is known to be accompanied by the reorganization of cytoskeletal proteins in other cell types, we investigated the intracellular distribution of the three major cytoskeletal structures: microfilaments, microtubules, and intermediate filaments. In the microfilament system, $TGF-{\beta}$ induced new stress fiber formation, which was caused primarily by the polymerization of cytoplasmic G-actin. However, $TGF-{\beta}$ appeared not to induce any significant changes in microtubular structures and vimentin filaments as determined by indirect fluorescence microscopy. Finally we confirmed the rapid accumulation of fibronectin by immunoblot analysis and chased the protein locations by immunofluorescence microscopy.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.47-53
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• 2011

Firstly, FEM model for the body frame of a fuel cell vehicle was built up and design optimization results based on different schemes were exhibited. One scheme was to minimize weight while maintaining the normal mode frequencies and the other was to increase the frequencies without weight change. Next, for a rear frame model, shape parameter study on collapse characteristics such as peak resistance load and absorbed energy was carried out. Also, the stiffness of frame mounting brackets was predicted using inertance calculation and the durability of those mounting brackets for vehicle system loads was evaluated. Finally, for a representative mounting model, the influence on durability due to thickness change was analyzed.