• Title/Summary/Keyword: Contrast ratio

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The Comparison between Single Shot Turbo Spin Echo and B-FFE (Balanced Turbo Field-echo) in the Differentiation of Focal Liver Lesions (국소 간병변 감별에서 단발고속스핀에코 기법과 균형항정상 태세차를 이용한 고속영역 기법간의 비교)

  • Kim, Young-Chul;Kim, Myeong-Jin;Cha, Seung-Whan;Chung, Yong-Eun;Han, Kwang-Hyup;Choi, Jin-Sub
    • Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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    • v.11 no.1
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    • pp.39-48
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    • 2007
  • Purpose : To determine the diagnostic accuracy of four different sequences : moderately T2 weighted, two heavily T2-weighted single shot turbo spin-echo sequence and breath-hold axial-2D balanced turbo field-echo sequence(bFFE) for characterization of focal lesions. Materials and Methods : During the 3-month period between June and August 2005, seventy-six patients were proved to have ninety-three focal hepatic lesions on MR imaging. The patients consisted of 49 men and 27 women (age range, 15-75 years; mean age, 56.23 years). All MR images were acquired on a 1.5-T MR using the following sequences: 1. A breath-hold axial T2-weighted single shot turbo spin-echo sequence, 2. a breath-hold axial-2D balanced turbo field-echo sequence. Two radiologists performed quantitative analysis. Another radiologist measured the lesion-to-liver contrast-to-noise ratio at the region-of-interest in the four sequences. Results : There was no significant difference in inter-observer variability between the four sequences. The accuracy for both cyst and malignancy of moderate T2 weighted MRI (echo time: 80 msec) was also highest. There was significant difference for lesion characterization between moderate T2 weighted MRI and balanced steady state procession (p-value: 0.004) in the second reader. For longer echo time, the CNR of cystic lesions were markedly increased in comparison to lesions of other component. Conclusion : The accuracy and inter-observer variability of single shot turbo spin echo T2 weighted sequence was higher than bFFE. Although there was no statically significant difference, moderate T2 weighted MRI (echo time: 80 msec) was more accurate than heavily T2 weighted sequence (echo time: 300 msec). If the results for lesion characterization is equivocal in TE 80, the addition of heavily T2 weighted MRI (echo time: 180 msec) can be helpful.

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Ferucarbotran-Enhanced Hepatic MRI at 3T Unit: Quantitative and Qualitative Comparison of Fast Breath-hold Imaging Sequences (간의 3T 자기공명영상에서 초상자성산화철 조영증강 급속호흡정지영상기법들간의 양적 및 질적 비교평가)

  • Cho, Kyung-Eun;Yu, Jeong-Sik;Chung, Jae-Joon;Kim, Joo-Hee;Kim, Ki-Whang
    • Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.31-40
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    • 2010
  • Purpose : To compare the relative values of various fast breath-hold imaging sequences for superparamagnetic iron-oxide (SPIO)-enhanced hepatic MRI for the assessment of solid focal lesions with a 3T MRI unit. Materials and Methods : 102 consecutive patients with one or more solid malignant hepatic lesions were evaluated by spoiled gradient echo (GRE) sequences with three different echo times (2.4 msec [GRE_2.4], 5.8 msec [GRE_5.8], and 10 msec [GRE_10]) for $T2^*$-weighted imaging in addition to T2-weighted turbo spin echo (TSE) sequence following intravenous SPIO injection. Image qualities of the hepatic contour, vascular landmarks and artifacts were rated by two independent readers using a four-point scale. For quantitative analysis, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was measured in 170 solid focal lesions larger than 1 cm (107 hepatocellular carcinomas, nine cholangiocarcinomas and 54 metastases). Results : GRE_5.8 showed the highest mean points for hepatic contour, vascular anatomy and imaging artifact presence among all of the subjected sequences (p<0.001) and was comparable (p=0.414) with GRE_10 with regard to lesion conspicuity. The mean CNRs were significantly higher (p<0.001) in the following order: GRE_10 ($24.4{\pm}14.5$), GRE_5.8 ($14.8{\pm}9.4$), TSE ($9.7{\pm}6.3$), and GRE_2.4 ($7.9{\pm}6.4$). The mean CNRs of CCCs and metastases were higher than those of HCCs for all imaging sequences (p<0.05). Conclusion : Regarding overall performances, GRE using a moderate echo time of 5.8 msec can provide the most reliable data among the various fast breath-hold SPIO-enhanced hepatic MRI sequences at 3T unit despite the lower CNR of GRE_5.8 compared to that of GRE_10.

Investigation of Correlations of Double Inversion Recovery and MR Spectroscopy on Breast MR Imaging (유방 자기공명영상에의 이중반전회복기법과 자기공명분광영상법의 상관관계 연구)

  • Ryu, Jung Kyu;Rhee, Sun Jung;Jahng, Geon-Ho
    • Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.34-42
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    • 2014
  • Purpose : To evaluate the correlation of lesion-to-normal ratio (LNR) of signal intensity from double inversion recovery MR imaging and total choline-containing compound (tCho) resonance from single voxel MR spectroscopy in breast cancers. Materials and Methods: Between August 2008 and December 2009, 28 patients who were diagnosed as breast cancer and had undergone both double inversion recovery (DIR) MR imaging and MR spectroscopy (MRS) were included in this study. The signal intensities of the lesion (L) and ipsilateral normal breast tissue (N) were measured in region of interest of each breast cancer in DIR and contrast enhance MR image (CE-T1WI) to calculate the LNR value for each technique. MRS was performed using single-voxel MR spectroscopy. The height, width and area of tCho resonance were compared with each LNR of DIR and CE-T1WI. We used Pearson's correlation coefficient(r) for correlation analysis and the significance level was p=0.05. Results: There was no statistically significant correlation between LNR of CE-T1WI and height (r=-0.322, p=0.094), width (r=-0.233, p=0.232) and area (r=-0.309, p=0.109) of MRS tCho. There was no statistically significant correlation between LNR of DIR and height (r=0.067, p=0.735), width (r=-0.287, p=0.139) and area (r=0.012, p=0.953) of MRS tCho, either. The Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.186 between LNRs of CET1WI and DIR (p=0.344). Conclusion: There was no statistically significant correlation between LNR of DIR and relative amount of tCho resonance of MRS.

Effects of small dam in a stream on benthic macro-invertebrate community (계류의 소형보가 저서성 대형무척추동물의 군집 특성에 미치는 영향)

  • Park, Hyekyung;Lee, Seong Jae;Cheong, SooA;Jeong, Hyeong Rae;Kim, Jae Geun
    • Journal of Wetlands Research
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    • v.19 no.2
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    • pp.252-258
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    • 2017
  • To determine the effects of small dam on benthic macro-invertebrate community, benthic macro-invertebrates were surveyed with both quantitative and qualitative collecting methods from 4 sites at a terraced interval (3.02 small dams per 100 m) and from 5 sites at a non-terraced interval (0.96 small dams per 100 m) in upper reach of Dorim stream, Seoul. The average water flow rate was higher at the non-terraced interval (0.149 m/s) than at the terraced interval (0.043 m/s). Diptera, which prefer slow water flow or lentic habitats, appeared more abundantly in the terraced interval (78.3%) than in the non-terraced interval (32.0%)(p<.05). Ephemeroptera, which prefer fast water flow or lotic habitats, appeared more abundantly in the non-terraced interval (14.1%) than in the terraced interval (4.5%)(p=.203). There was a difference in species distribution of Trichoptera in terraced and non-terraced intervals depending on preferred environment. In the terraced interval, the occupancy ratio of gathering-collector was 1.8 times higher than in the non-terraced interval (p<.05). In contrast, filtering-collector appeared to be about 4.4 times higher rate in the terraced interval (p=.124). The evenness indexes (J′) were found to be 0.41 and 0.77, respectively in terraced area and non-terraced intervals. KSI, evaluating biological water quality, showed an average of 4.0 and 2.4 respectively in terraced and non-terraced intervals. EPT/C index, indicating the balance of the community, showed an average of 0.1 and 0.7 respectively in terraced and non-terraced intervals. It suggests that we should make small dams in order to maintain biodiversity of benthic macro-invertebrates.

Geochemical and Nd-Sr Isotope Studies for Foliated Granitoids and Mylonitized Gneisses from the Myeongho Area in Northeast Yecheon Shear Zone (예천전단대 북동부 명호지역 엽리상 화강암류와 압쇄 편마암류에 대한 지구화학 및 Nd-Sr 동위원소 연구)

  • Kim, Sung-Won;Lee, Chang-Yun;Ryu, In-Chang
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.41 no.3
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    • pp.299-314
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    • 2008
  • The NE-trending Honam shear zone is a broad, dextral strike-slip fault zone between the southern margin of the Okcheon Belt and the Precambrian Yeongnam Massif in South Korea and is parallel to the trend of Sinian deformation that is conspicuous in Far East Asia. In this paper, we report geochemical and isotopic(Sr and Nd) data of mylonitic quartz-muscovite Precambrian gneisses and surrounding foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids near the Myeongho area in the Yecheon Shear Zone, a representative segment of the Honam Shear Zone. Foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids commonly plot in the granodiorite field($SiO_2=61.9-67.1\;wt%$ and $Na_2O+K_2O=5.21-6.99\;wt%$) on $SiO_2$ vs. $Na_2O+K_2O$ discrimination diagram, whereas quartz-muscovite Precambrian orthogneisses plot in the granite field. The foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids are mostly calcic and calc-alkalic and are dominantly magnesian in a modified alkali-lime index(MALI) and Fe# [$=FeO_{total}(FeO_{total}+MgO)$] versus $SiO_2$ diagrams, which correspond with geochemical characteristics of Cordilleran Mesozoic batholiths. The foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids have molar ratios of $Al_2O_3/(CaO+Na_2O+K_2O)$ ranging from 0.89 to 1.10 and are metaluminous to weakly peraluminous, indicating I type. In contrast, Paleoproterozoic orthogneisses have peraluminous compositions, with molar ratios of $Al_2O_3/(CaO+Na_2O+K_2O)$ ranging from 1.11 to 1.22. On trace element spider diagrams normalized to the primitive mantle, the large ion lithophile element(LILE) enrichments(Rb, Ba, Th and U) and negative Ta-Nb-P-Ti anomalies of foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids and mylonitized quartz-muscovite gneisses in the Yecheon Shear Zone are features common to subduction-related granitoids and are also found in granitoids from a crustal source derived from the arc crust of active continental margin. ${\varepsilon}_{Nd}(T)$ and initial Sr-ratio ratios of foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids with suggest the involvement of upper crust-derived melts in granitoid petrogenesis. Foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids in the study area, together with the Yeongju Batholith, show not changing contents of specific elements(Ti, P, Zr, V and Y) from shear zone to the area near the shear zone. These results suggest that no volume changes and geochemical alterations in fluid-rich foliated hornblende-biotite granitoids may occur during deformation, which mass transfer by fluid flow into the shear zone is equal to the mass transfer out of the shear zone.

Postoperative External Beam Radiotherapy for Medulloblastoma (수아세포종의 수술 후 외부 방사선치료)

  • Chun, Ha-Chung;Lee, Myung-Za
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.101-106
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    • 2000
  • Purpose : This study was peformed to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerance of craniospinal irradiation for patients with modulloblastoma and to define the optimal radiotherapeutic regimen. Materials and Methods : We retrospectively analyzed the records of 43 patients with modulloblastoma who were treated with external beam craniospinal radiotherapy at our institution between May, 1984 and April, 1998. Median follow up period was 47 months with range of 18 to U months. Twenty seven patients were male and sixteen patients were female, a male to female ratio of 1.7:1. Surgery consisted of biopsy alone in 5 patients, subtotal excision in 24 patients, and gross total excision in 14 patients. All of the patients were treated with craniospinal irradiation. All of the patients except four received at least 5,000 cGy to the posterior fossa and forty patients received more than 3,000 cGy to the spinal cord. Results : The overall survival rates at 5 and 7 years for entire group of patients were 57$\%$ and 56$\%$, respectively. Corresponding disease free survival rates were 60$\%$ and 51$\%$, respectively, The rates of disease control in the posterior fossa were 77$\%$ and 67$\%$ at 5 and 7 years. Gross total excision and subtotal excision resulted in 5 year overall survival rates of 76$\%$ and 66$\%$, respectively, In contrast, those patients who had biopsy alone had a 5 year survival rate of only 40$\%$. Posterior fossa was a component of failure in 11 of the 18 recurrences. Seven recurrences were isolated to the posterior fossa. Four patients had neuraxis recurrences, three had distant metastasis alone and four had multiple sites of failure, all involving the primary site. Conclusion : Craniospinal irradiation for patients with moduiloblastoma is an effective adjuvant treatment without significant treatment related toxicitles. There is room for Improvement in terms of posterior fossa control, especially in biopsy alone patients. The advances in radiotherapy including hypefractionation, stereotactic radiosurgery and 3D conformal radiotherapy would be evolved to improve the tumor control rate at primary site.

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The Evaluation of Usefulness of Wide Beam Reconstruction Method on Segmental Perfusion and Regional Wall Motion in Myocardial Perfusion SPECT (심근관류 SPECT의 분절별 관류 및 국소벽 운동에서 Wide Beam Reconstruction기법의 유용성 평가)

  • Seong, Yong-Joon;Kim, Tae-Yeob;Moon, Il-Sang;Cho, Seong-Wook;Woo, Jae-Ryong
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.51-57
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    • 2011
  • Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify clinical usefulness of Wide Beam Reconstruction (WBR) which is called Xpress.cardiac$^{TM}$ to confirm the agreement between segmental perfusion and regional wall motion in myocardium compared to conventional OSEM method. Materials and Methods: Subjects were separated two groups. First group was composed of 20 normal control group. Second group was composed of 10 patients (abnormal group) who had coronary artery disease. Subjects underwent myocardial perfusion SPECT ($^{201}Tl$ rest and $^{99m}Tc$-MIBI stress). Image acquisition and reconstruction were that rest stage was each step per 30, 15 seconds and stress stage was each step per 25, 13 seconds, OSEM and WBR methods were applied. Segmental perfusion and regional wall motion were applied 20-segment model of QPS, QGS algorithm in AutoQuant. Status of perfusion was composed of 5 point scoring system (0=normal, 1=mild, 2=moderate, 3=severe hypokinesia, 4=dyskinesia). Status of regional wall motion was also composed of 5 point scoring (0=normal, 1=mild, 2=moderate, 3=severe hypokinesia, 4=dyskinesia). We evaluated the agreement between conventional OSEM and WBR through automatic quantification value. Results: The agreement of rest segmental perfusion between conventional OSEM and WBR in normal patients was 99% (396/400, k=0.662, p<0.0001) and one of rest regional wall motion was 83.8% (335/400, k=0.283), the agreement of stress segmental perfusion was 95.8%(383/400, k=0.656), one of stress regional wall motion was 87.3% (349/400, k=0.390). The match rate of rest segmental perfusion in abnormal patients was 83% (166/200, k=0.605, p<0.0001) and one of rest regional wall motion was 55.5% (111/200, k=0.385), the agreement of stress segmental perfusion was 79.5% (159/200, k=0.682), one of stress regional wall motion was 63.5% (127/200, k=0.486). Conclusion: Compared to conventional OSEM, WBR method had a good agreement of segmental perfusion in myocardium in normal and abnormal groups. However regional wall motion showed meaningful low agreement. Although WBR offers high resolution and contrast ratio, it is not useful method for gated myocardial perfusion SPECT.

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Phytoplankton and Bacterioplankton in the Intertidal and Subtidal Waters in the Vicinity of Kunsan (군산부근 조간대 및 조하대역에서의 식물플랑크톤과 Bacterioplankton)

  • Lee, Won Ho;Lee, Gean Hyoung;Choi, Moon Sul;Lee, Da Mi
    • 한국해양학회지
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    • v.24 no.3
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    • pp.157-164
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    • 1989
  • Quantitative species distribution and primary productivity of phytoplankton were studied monthly from August, 1987 to July, 1988 along with the quantitative distribution of total heterotrophic bacterioplankton and three groups of physiologically chracteristic bacterioplankton in the intertidal and subtidal waters off Kum River Estuary, Yellow Sea. A total of 121 phytoplankton taxa including 102 diatoms occurred, and cell concentration ranged from 15 to 5451 (cells/ml). The great spatio-temporal variations of the number of phytoplankton species and cell concentration well reflected the environmental differences between the intertidal and subtidal waters. Primary productivity (in Piopt, mgC/$m^3$/hr) ranged from 0.6 to 27.3. Just after the phytoplankton bloom (March) Piopt was very low in April at station 1, where amylolytic bacterioplankton also showed quite low population density. The peaks of primary productivity were not always coincided with those of phytoplankton standing crop. The ratio of Piopt's between samples well indicated the environmental differences between the intertidal and subtidal waters. Little characteristic trend was found in the scatter diagrams of phytoplankton standing crop along the population densities of total heterotrophic bacterioplankton and the three groups of physiologically characteristic bacterioplankton. In summer the phytoplankton standing crop was minimum in contrast with the high population density of bacterioplankton, which implies the influx of much allochthonous orgainc matter from Kum River. The scatter diagrams of Piopt along bacterioplankton population density revealed some phenomena there. Piopt had highly positive correlation with the population density of amylolytie bacterioplankton($R^2$=0.84) and that of lipolytic bacterioplankton($R^2$=0.70) while total heterotrophic bacterioplankton and proteolytic bacterioplankton had lesser correlations with Piopt. From the regression lines the increase of unit Piopt (mgC/$m^3$/hr) in the study area was calculated to mean the increase of $9.0{\times}10$ cells/ml and $8.0{\times}10$ cells/ml of amylolytic bacterioplankton and lipolytic bacterioplankton, respectively.

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Isotopic Determination of Food Sources of Benthic Invertebrates in Two Different Macroalgal Habitats in the Korean Coasts (동위원소 분석에 의한 동해와 남해 연안의 상이한 해조류 군락에 서식하는 저서무척추동물 먹이원 평가)

  • Kang, Chang-Keun;Choy, Eun-Jung;Song, Haeng-Seop;Park, Hyun-Je;Soe, In-Soo;Jo, Q-Tae;Lee, Kun-Seop
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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    • v.12 no.4
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    • pp.380-389
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    • 2007
  • Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were analyzed in suspended particulate organic matter, macroalgae and macrobenthic invertebrates in order to determine the importance of primary organic matter sources in supporting food webs of rocky subtidal and intertidal macroalgal beds in the Korean coasts. Investigations were conducted at the inter tidal sites within Gwangyang bay, a semi-enclosed and eutrophicated bay, and the subtidal sites of the east coast, a relatively oligotrophic and open environment, in May and June 2005. Water-column suspension feeders showed more negative $\delta^{13}C$ values than those of the other feeding guilds, indicating trophic linkage with phytoplankton and thereby association with pelagic food chains. In contrast, animals of the other feeding guilds, including interface suspension feeders, herbivores, deposit feeders, omnivores and predators, displayed relatively less negative $\delta^{13}C$ values than those of the water-column suspension feeders and similar with that of macroalgae, indicating exclusive use of macroalgae-derived organic matter and association with benthic food chains. Most the macrobenthic species were considered to form strong trophic links with benthic food chains. In addition, the distribution of higher $\delta^{15}N$ values in macrobenthic consumers and macroalgae at the intertidal sites of Gwangyang Bay than those at the subtidal sites of the east coast suggests that anthropogenic nutrients may enhance the macroalgal production at the intertidal sites and in turn be incorporated into the particular littoral food web in Gwangyag Bay. These results confirm the dominant role of macroalgae in supporting rocky subtidal and intertidal food webs in the Korean coasts.

Analysis on Social Area of Taegu (대구시의 사회지역분석)

  • Choi, Seok-Joo
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.3 no.2
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    • pp.209-225
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    • 1997
  • Today, rapid progress of urbanization is discovered commonly in many countries, especially in developing countries, which has led to spatial order and development process of city. Historically, Taegu was a walled city and formed mono-nucleus which was restricted by the castle. As the city grew gradually, the castle was removed as a result of diversification in traffic network, change of socio-economic environment, formation of industrial base and functional distribution. According to reconstruction maps of residential patterns, there was distinctive residential segregation among ethnic groups. Koreans in Taegu in 1939, aggregated densely in the southern and western parts of the city. The Japanese were concentrated densely in the northern and eastern parts of Taegu. And the street pattern within residential areas of the Korean people was shaped like a maze type in contrast with Japanese residential areas, which showed grid pattern of streets. This is another general pattern of almost all colonial cities, especially in Asia. Through this process, today it appears that, out of overall residential areas which occupy the highest ratio in urban land use, those for eminent people influence the functional development of urban spatial structure very heavily as a key point in urban residetial structure. Truly, residential segregation can be seen as the spatial manifestation of uneven distribution of such important scarce resources as housing and residential environment. In this study, the characteristics of locational distribution of the eminent people show their socially and economically stabilized standing in Taegu, taking the aforesaid situation as a background of the study. And the process of this study is as follows ; to examine the forming process of residential areas in the city as a theoretical supporting, to put in order on classical interpretation to formation of residential areas, and general type modern residential areas formation, and economic decision factor of land use. Therefore, this study aims to examine growth and development of eminent persons' residential areas and, at the same time, extract locational characteristics through the pattern of eminent persons' location and predict changes in the future.

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