• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.224-230
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• 2021

Background Little is known about the sensate recovery of skin grafts over free non-neurotized muscle flaps. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of free gracilis muscle flaps and meshed skin grafts without nerve coaptation. Methods Thirteen consecutive patients with a median age of 55 years (range, 21-70 years) who underwent lower extremity reconstruction between September 2014 and October 2016 were included. Complications, flap contour, skin perception, and sensate recovery were assessed. Results All flaps survived completely. In one patient, wound dehiscence and infection occurred 1 month after surgery. After a median follow-up of 14 months (range, 10-51 months), a satisfactory contour and skin perception were achieved. The Semmes-Weinstein (SW) monofilament test (154.8±22 g) and static two-point discrimination (2-PD) (12.6±0.7 mm) showed intermediate recovery compared to the surrounding site (41% and 76%, respectively). There was an intermediate correlation between flap size and sensate recovery (2-PD: r=0.27, P=0.36; SW test: r=0.45, P=0.12). Vibration sensation recovered to 60%, whereas thermal sensation remained poor (19% at 5℃ and 25% at 25℃). Conclusions Finer sensation could be partially restored. However, thermal sensation remained poor.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.106-111
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• 2022

Background: The use of telemedicine for postoperative visits is increasing, especially in rural areas. Few studies have investigated its use for arthroscopic shoulder patients. This study aims to evaluate patient satisfaction with telemedicine for postoperative clinic visits following arthroscopic shoulder procedures in a rural setting. Methods: Patients were prospectively enrolled using the following exclusion criteria: <18 years, open procedures, and non-compliance follow-up at 6 weeks postoperatively. All patients completed a 13-question satisfaction survey, while telemedicine patients completed an additional, separate seven-question survey. Patients who switched groups completed a four-question prompt to determine the reasons for switching. Differences between groups were evaluated by either Student t-test or Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: The study enrolled 32 patients, with five patients following up by telemedicine and 27 in person. Age and distance from clinic were similar between patients who were assigned to the telemedicine group, completed the telemedicine visit, and opted for in-person visits (all p>0.05). Patient satisfaction did not vary significantly based on care by the surgeon, concerns being addressed, thoroughness of visit, overall clinical assessment at a prior visit, and improvements in pain and physical function (all p>0.05). Among patients who opted out of telemedicine visits, the most common reason was a preference to meet in-person but these patients agreed that telemedicine visits are a good idea. Conclusions: Regardless of type of follow-up, individuals reported similar levels of satisfaction with treatment during the visit and improvements in pain and physical function.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.267-274
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• 2022

This paper is a result of research conducted on the 800,000 m³/d capacity of A Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and 400,000 m³/d capacity of B WTP plant in operation in the Nakdong River region. We evaluated the effect of algae broom on the WTP operation based on the running data of both WTP and the data on the pre-oxidation process field test for algae control using sodium permanganate (SPM) at the B WTP. The study results showed that during the algal bloom period, the coagulant dose increased by 102% in A WTP and 58% in B WTP, respectively, and the chlorine dose also increased by 38% and 29%, respectively, which may affect Total trihalomethane (THM) production. Data such as algal populations and Chl-a, residual chlorine and THM, algal populations, and ozone dose appeared also highly correlated, confirming that algal broom affects WTP operations, including water quality and chemical dosage. As a result of the field test of B WTP, THMs appeared lower than that of the control, suggesting the possibility of the SPM pre-oxidation process as an alternative to algae-related water quality management. Furthermore, in terms of GHG emissions due to energy consumption, it was observed that the pre-oxidation process using SPM was approximately 10.8%, which is a very low ratio compared to the pre-ozonation process. Therefore, these results suggest that the SPM pre-oxidation process can be recommended as an alternative to low-carbon water purification technology.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.423-433
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• 2023

As aerial application increasing, with social concerning in pesticide drift rises, so this study attempts to establish a test bench that can repeatedly and continuously evaluate this. To this end, this study first analyze ISO 22866 and ASABE S561.1 among the international standard test methods related to pesticide fugitive evaluation. A test bench was established at the Naju practice field of Chonnam National University in accordance with international standards, and field tests were carried out (ISO 22866, ASABE S561.1) to verify effectiveness. A test bench that established in this study and a pesticide drift recovery protocol by aerial application can improve the experimental environment where field experiments were complex and it was difficult to achieve the same conditions. In addition, it will be possible to construct a database of pesticide drift that takes into account various factors that affect pesticide drift substances, which is expected to improve the reliability of the data, as well as quantitative evaluation of pesticide drift in the air.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.126-137
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• 2016

Purpose: The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the vegetation fraction of soybeans, grown under different cropping conditions using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a red, green, and blue (RGB) camera. Methods: Test plots were prepared based on different cropping treatments, i.e., soybean single-cropping, with and without herbicide application and soybean and barley-cover cropping, with and without herbicide application. The UAV flights were manually controlled using a remote flight controller on the ground, with 2.4 GHz radio frequency communication. For image pre-processing, the acquired images were pre-treated and georeferenced using a fisheye distortion removal function, and ground control points were collected using Google Maps. Tarpaulin panels of different colors were used to calibrate the multi-temporal images by converting the RGB digital number values into the RGB reflectance spectrum, utilizing a linear regression method. Excess Green (ExG) vegetation indices for each of the test plots were compared with the M-statistic method in order to quantitatively evaluate the greenness of soybean fields under different cropping systems. Results: The reflectance calibration methods used in the study showed high coefficients of determination, ranging from 0.8 to 0.9, indicating the feasibility of a linear regression fitting method for monitoring multi-temporal RGB images of soybean fields. As expected, the ExG vegetation indices changed according to different soybean growth stages, showing clear differences among the test plots with different cropping treatments in the early season of < 60 days after sowing (DAS). With the M-statistic method, the test plots under different treatments could be discriminated in the early seasons of <41 DAS, showing a value of M > 1. Conclusion: Therefore, multi-temporal images obtained with an UAV and a RGB camera could be applied for quantifying overall vegetation fractions and crop growth status, and this information could contribute to determine proper treatments for the vegetation fraction.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.437-442
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• 2015

Studies to estimate seed longevity and dormancy of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) were conducted from 2000 to 2005 at Corvallis and Hermiston, Oregon. Seeds from three transgenic glyphosate resistant creeping bentgrass lines, 48-10, 48-13, and ASR368, and one non-transgenic glyphosate susceptible line, SR1020, were used. Creeping bentgrass seeds were buried at 3, 18 and 31 cm in 2000 and removed 6, 12, 18, 24, and 51 months later. Soil type and climatic conditions were different at the two locations. At Corvallis, the soil was a Malabon silty clay loam, and the winters wet and mild. The soil at Hermiston was an Adkins fine sandy loam, and winters drier and colder. Seeds of all creeping bentgrass lines deteriorated faster at Corvallis than at Hermiston. The estimated half-lives of creeping bentgrass lines buried at Corvallis were 8.4 to 20.2 months, while those buried at Hermiston were 8.4 to 37.7 months. At both sites, seeds of the glyphosate resistant lines, 48-10 and 48-13, deteriorated faster than the susceptible line, SR1020. However, seed deterioration in the resistant line, ASR368, was slower than all other creeping bentgrass lines. Based on the germination test, exhumed intact seeds at Corvallis were more dormant than those at Hermiston. If buried, it could be expected that viable creeping bentgrass seeds will persist more than 4 years after the seeds are introduced to a site, but environmental conditions can influence both seed longevity and dormancy.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.241-254
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• 2017

Drawing a sample can be costly or time consuming in some studies. However, it may be possible to rank the sampling units according to some baseline auxiliary covariates, which are easily obtainable, and/or cost efficient. Ranked set sampling (RSS) is a method to achieve this goal. In this paper, we propose a modified approach of the RSS method to allocate units into an experimental study that compares L groups. Computer simulation estimates the empirical nominal values and the empirical power values for the test procedure of comparing L different groups using modified RSS based on the regression approach in analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models. A comparison to simple random sampling (SRS) is made to demonstrate efficiency. The results indicate that the required sample sizes for a given precision are smaller under RSS than under SRS. The modified RSS protocol was applied to an experimental study. The experimental study was designed to obtain a better understanding of the pathways by which positive experiences (i.e., goal completion) contribute to higher levels of happiness, well-being, and life satisfaction. The use of the RSS method resulted in a cost reduction associated with smaller sample size without losing the precision of the analysis.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.91.1-91.1
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• 2014

IGRINS (the Immersion GRating INfrared Spectrometer) is a high resolution wide-band infrared spectrograph developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) and the University of Texas at Austin (UT). This spectrograph has H-band and K-band science cameras, both of which use Teledyne's $2.5{\mu}m$ cutoff $2k{\times}2k$ HgCdTe HAWAII-2RG CMOS science grade detectors. Teledyne's cryogenic SIDECAR ASIC boards and JADE2 USB interface cards were installed to control these detectors. We performed lab experiments and test observations to optimize and evaluate the detector systems of science cameras. In this presentation, we describe a process to optimize bias voltages and way to reduce pattern noise with reference pixel subtraction schemes. We also present measurements of the following properties under optimized settings of bias voltages at cryogenic temperature (70K): read noise, Fowler noise, dark current, and reference-level stability, full well depth, linearity and conversion gain.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.92.1-92.1
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• 2014

In astronomical spectroscopy, stable auto-guiding and accurate target centering capabilities are critical to increase the achievement of high observation efficiency and sensitivity. We developed an instrument control software for the Immersion GRating INfrared Spectrograph (IGRINS), a high spectral resolution near-infrared slit spectrograph with (R=40,000). IGRINS is currently installed on the McDonald 2.7 m telescope in Texas, USA. We had successful commissioning observations in March, May, and July of 2014. The role of the IGRINS slit-viewing camera (SVC) is to move the target onto the slit, and to provide feedback about the tracking offsets for the auto-guiding. For a point source, we guide the telescope with the target on the slit. While for an extended source, we use another a guide star in the field offset from the slit. Since the slit blocks the center of the point spread function, it is challenging to fit the Gaussian function to guide and center the target on slit. We developed several center finding algorithms, e.g., 2D-Gaussian Fitting, 1D-Gaussian Fitting, and Center Balancing methods. In this presentation, we show the results of auto-guiding performances with these algorithms.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.205-211
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• 2016

Leaf chlorophyll content provides valuable information about physiological status of plants. However, fewer studies have investigated the difference in chlorophyll concentration in leaves of tropical afforestation tree species. Therefore, this study examines the difference in foliar chlorophyll contents of six tropical afforestation tree species namely: Tectona grandis, Pentaclethra macrophylla, Piptademiastrum africanum, Azadirachta indica, Brachystegia eurycoma and Gmelina arborea found in the relict forest in Umudike, South east, Nigeria. A single factor experiment in a completely randomised design in three replicates was employed to analyse the rate of leaf chlorophyll contents. Fisher's least significant different was used to test for significance in mean difference in foliar chlorophyll contents between tree species at 95% confidence interval using analysis of variance. The results of this study showed a significant difference in foliar chlorophyll concentration between the tree species with Tectona grandis having a higher chlorophyll concentration than other trees this could be as a result of its higher vegetative activity which increases its primary productivity followed by Pentaclethra macrophylla while Azadirachta indica having least the chlorophyll concentration. The study further revealed that other indigenous tree species like Piptademiastrum africanum and Brachystegia eurycoma have higher chlorophyll concentration. Further studies should be carry out to examine factors that have contributed informed the differences in the chlorophyll concentration of these trees species, thus this would broaden the understanding of their physiological status and equally encourage there conservation.