• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.225-235
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• 2024

Objective: Hypothyroidism (HT) influences spermatogenesis and is associated with male infertility. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP), a biological product rich in growth factors, promotes tissue repair. In this study, the likely protective effects of PRP on testicular tissue damage in carbimazole (CBZ)-induced HT were evaluated. Methods: Forty male rats were divided into four groups. HT was induced by administering CBZ (1.35 mg/kg orally, for 45 days). Two doses of PRP (40 µL each, locally injected into the testis on days 15 and 30) were also given. After 45 days, blood samples were taken from the heart to measure triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), and testosterone levels, and semen analysis was performed. For stereological assessment, the left testis was removed, fixed, embedded, sectioned, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The right testis was excised to evaluate antioxidant levels. Results: CBZ was demonstrated to induce HT, characterized by significant reductions in T3 and T4. HT was associated with decreased testicular weight, impaired sperm parameters, reduced testosterone concentration, diminished antioxidant activity, reduced volumes of testicular components, and lower total numbers of testicular cells of various types. When HT samples were treated with PRP, improvement was observed for all of these changes. This protective effect could be attributed to the growth factors present in PRP. Conclusion: PRP appears to prevent the structural changes in the testes and the deterioration in sperm quality caused by CBZ-induced HT. This protective effect is likely due to mitigation of oxidative damage and elevation of testosterone levels.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.155-164
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• 2016

Algal blooms not only destroy fish habitats but also diminish biological diversity of ecosystem which results into water quality deterioration of 4 major rivers in South Korea. The relationship between algal bloom and environmental factors had been analyzed through the cross-correlation function between concentration of chlorophyll a and other environmental factors. However, time series of cross-correlations can be affected by the stochastic structure such auto-correlated feature of other controllers. In order to remove external effect in the correlation analysis, the pre-whitening procedure was implemented into the cross correlation analysis. The modeling process is consisted of a series of procedure (e.g., model identification, parameter estimation, and diagnostic checking of selected models). This study provides the exclusive correlation relationship between algae concentration and other environmental factors. The difference between the conventional correlation using raw data and that of pre-whitened series was discussed. The process implemented in this paper is useful not only to identify exclusive environmental variables to model Chl-a concentration but also in further extensive application to configure causality in the environment.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2021

Objectives: This research aimed to identify the level of perception, knowledge, preventive behavior, and factors affecting preventive behavior of patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease against particulate matter. Methods: This research was a descriptive survey research, and the subjects were chronic pulmonary disease patients over the age of 19 and under 80 who visited a university hospital in Daegu City. Data was collected by convenience sampling through structured self-administered questionnaire survey from December 2019 to January 2020, and a total of 212 copies were used for analysis. Results: Out of 212 total subjects, 112 were asthma patients (52.8%) and 100 were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients (47.2%). The average score (out of 10) of perception, knowledge and preventive behavior of patients with asthma for particulate matter was 7.92, 6.99, and 7.10, respectively, while those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease scored 7.72, 6.24, and 6.80, respectively. The knowledge score was significantly higher in patients with asthma than those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (p=0.007). Factors affecting particulate matter preventive behavior were perception score, knowledge score, and age for asthma patients, and perception score for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Conclusions: As a result of the above, the factors relate to the preventive behavior of patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were perception score, knowledge score, and age for asthma, and perception score for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Raising the level of particulate matter preventive behavior can prevent the deterioration of chronic pulmonary diseases caused by particulate matter, so the development of arbitration programs considering the characteristics of the patients according to the disease and continuous and repetitive education are required.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.191-199
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• 2021

In this study, the correlation between the influencing factors on corrosion and Half Cell Potential(HCP) measurement was analyzed considering the three levels of W/C ratio, cover depth, and chloride concentration. The HCP increased with enlarged cover depth, so it was confirmed that the increment of cover depth was effective for control of corrosion. Based on the criteria, the case of 60mm cover depth showed excellent corrosion control with under -200mV, indicating increase of cover depth is an effective method for reducing intrusion of external deterioration factors. When fresh water was injected to the upper part of specimens, very low level of HCP was monitored, but in the case that concentrations of chloride were 3.5% and 7.0%, HCP dropped under -200mV. In addition, the case with high volume of unit binder showed lower HCP measurement like increasing cover depth. Multiple regression analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between the corrosive influence factors and HCP results, showing high coefficient of determination of 0.97. However, there were limitations such as limited number of samples and measuring period. Through the additional corrosion monitoring and chloride content evaluation after dismantling the specimen, more reasonable prediction can be achieved for correlation analysis with relevant data.

• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.1239-1261
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• 2010

The main purposes of the study were to identify factors affecting health-related quality of life of elderly stroke survivors, and to suggest social work interventions for improving their quality of life. The participants were 328 elderly stroke survivors over 55 years old recruited from 18 long-term care hospitals and 13 nursing care facilities in Chung-Nam Province, Korea. The data was collected through a direct survey method from Dec. 16, 2008 to Jan. 17, 2009. Statistical analysis revealed that the overall health-related quality of life among participants was relatively low, especially in the social relationships domain. As a result of hierarchical multiple regression analysis, depression emerged as the most significant predictor of elderly stroke survivors' health-related quality of life, followed by financial burden in future, activities of daily living, acceptance of disability, comorbidity, and major financial supporter(spouse). Health-related quality of life of elderly stroke survivors in long-term care facilities was affected by a variety of variables from disease-related factors to environmental ones. Particularly psychosocial variables were the most powerful factors to predict HRQOL of elderly stroke survivors. Based on the results, social work implications were discussed in the context of developing clinical strategies to alleviate elderly stroke survivors' health-related quality of life in long-term care facilities. Living with chronic illness and disability is a great challenge to the elderly. Most of all long-term residence in care facilities can cause deterioration of quality of life in old age. From now on, studies on health-related quality of life of elderly with chronic illness and disability should be activated in social work field.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.732-738
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• 1991

Corsoy 79 soybeans were ground into 8-(coarse) and 24-mesh (fine) full-fat soy flours. From the particle size analysis, the 8-mesh full-fat soy flours were found to have larger values for geometric mean diameter and geometric standard deviation. However, the distribution moduli of coarse and fine soy flours were similar and indicated soybeans were nearly 'brittle'. Development of hydrolytic and oxidative rancidities of coarsely and finely ground full-fat soy flours were followed from grinding to 24 hrs later. No increases in peroxide value and conjugated dienes in the oil and hexanal content in the headspace of the flour were observed when the moisture was 10.7% or less. At 14.9% moisture and above, lipid oxidation increased with increased moisture content and storage time. Free fatty acid contents increased slightly at all moisture contents. However, hydrolysis did not exceed 0.06% over the moisture range of 4 to 18%, which is of little practical significance. Fine grinding increased oxidative and hydrolytic rancidities, especially at 14.9% moisture and above. these findings indicate that raw soybeans can be ground to full-fat soy flours and stored up to 24 hrs without undergoing significant lipid and flavor deterioration if the moisture content is 11% or less.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.234-245
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• 2003

Most of the concrete bridge structures are exposed to damage due to the excessive traffic loading and the aging of the structure. The damage of concrete causes the further deterioration of the function in the concrete structure due to corrosion of the reinforced bars and decohesion between the concrete and the reinforced bar. The quick rehabilitation of the damaged concrete structures has become of great importance in the concrete structural system in order to avoid the further deterioration of the structures. Recently fiber sheets are used for strengthening the damaged concrete structures due to its many advantages such as its durability, non-corrosive nature, low weight, ease of application, cost saving, control of crack propagation, strength to thickness ratio, high tensile strength, serviceability and aesthetic. However, the lack of analytical procedures for assessing the nominal moment capacity by the fiber sheet reinforcement leads to difficulties in the effective process of decisions of the factors in the strengthening procedure. In this work, flexural strengthening effects by fiber sheets bonded on bottom face of the member are studied for the reinforced concrete T beam. In addition, auxiliary flexural strengthening effects by U-type fiber sheets bonded on bottom and side faces of the member to prevent delamination of the bottom fiber sheet are theoretically investigated. The analytical solutions are compared with experimental results of several references to verify the proposed approach. It is shown that the good agreements between the predicted results and experimental data are obtained.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 2013

Objectives: Infererior alveolar nerve (IAN) damage may be one of the distressing complications occurring during implant placement. Because of nature of closed injury, a large proportion is approached non-invasively. The purpose of this study was to analyze the outcomes of conservative management of the injured nerve during dental implant procedure. Materials and Methods: Sixty-four patients of implant related IAN injury, who were managed by medication or observation from January 1997 to March 2007 at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Seoul National University Dental Hospital, were retrospectively investigated. The objective tests and subjective evaluations were performed to evaluate the degree of damage and duration of sensory disturbance recovery. Tests were performed on the day of the first visit and every two months afterward. Patient's initial symptoms, proximity of the implant to the IAN, time interval between implant surgery and the first visit to our clinic, and treatment after implant surgery were analyzed to determine whether these factors affected the final outcomes. Results: Among the 64 patients, 23 had a chief complaint of sensory disturbance and others with dysesthesia. The mean time until first visit to our hospital after the injury was 10.9 months.One year after nerve injury, the sensation was improved in 9 patients, whereas not improved in 38 patients, even 4 patients experienced deterioration. Better prognosis was observed in the group of patients with early visits and with implants placed or managed not too close to the IAN. Conclusion: Nearly 70% of patients with IAN injury during implant placement showed no improvement in sensation or dysesthesia with the conservative management. Earlier decision for active treatment needs to be considered because of possibility of deterioration of symptoms and unsatisfactory recovery.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.39-53
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• 2013

Although the efficient formation of urban space structure is a key factor in energy saving and environmentally-friendly aspect, the maintenance of the center and sub-center of the city that are key factors has been becoming increasingly difficult due to the variability and complexity of urban activities. In the case of Busan, amid the expansion of urban scale due to rapid economic development and overpopulation, systematic approaches to professional diagnosis and maintenance have been significantly insufficient - other than the city basic plan which has been conducted at an interval of 20 years. For the effective management of urban central area, systematic monitoring of the CBD through demand forecast and blight forecast at a city level must first be implemented. In order to fulfill this goal, this study is to figure out the current state of the CBD through the diagnosis on blight of the urban central area in the viewpoint of rehabilitation of the CBD and to propose the measures for practical utilization of the information about space for the further management of the central area of the city. For analysis, the study looks into the present state in terms of physical index, economic index, and social index. And then as a micro-approach by utilizing economic index, the study has thoroughly examined the economic blight of the Seomyun urban central area of Busan. The outcome of the analysis shows that in terms of population distribution and land utilization the area is in the stage of inefficient dispersion after having gone through the stage of suburbanization. It is expected that this study, as the material that proves the necessity of enhancing the function of the CBD, can propose the direction for the management of the urban center of Busan through blight prediction and management of the urban center and can provide the basic data for the long-term urban development that aims at the efficient strengthening of functions of the CBD.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.487-495
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• 2017

The thermal characteristics of the electrodeless lamp are one of the main factors that determine the design and performance of the lamp. The coupler changes the impedance characteristic by heat and its use temperature is usually within about $150^{\circ}C$. In this study, we observed the phenomenon when the coupler was exposed at a temperature of $150^{\circ}C$ or higher, which has not been discussed so far. Two types of coupler A and coupler B with different spacing between the inner tube and the coupler were analyzed for electrical, thermal and optical properties and deterioration characteristics with different heat and heat shielding conditions. First, the impedance of the system is obtained and used as a criterion for analyzing the electrical characteristics through it. The diameters of the two types of couplers are 1 mm, and the experimental result shows that the coupler diameter is 1 mm, which can cancel out the loss of the magnetic field strength. Therefore, based on these results, when the coupler is exposed to high temperature of about $200^{\circ}C$, the efficient design method corresponding thereto is proposed.