• Title/Summary/Keyword: Distribution of Management

Search Result 8,205, Processing Time 0.05 seconds

Effects of firm strategies on customer acquisition of Software as a Service (SaaS) providers: A mediating and moderating role of SaaS technology maturity (SaaS 기업의 차별화 및 가격전략이 고객획득성과에 미치는 영향: SaaS 기술성숙도 수준의 매개효과 및 조절효과를 중심으로)

  • Chae, SeongWook;Park, Sungbum
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.20 no.3
    • /
    • pp.151-171
    • /
    • 2014
  • Firms today have sought management effectiveness and efficiency utilizing information technologies (IT). Numerous firms are outsourcing specific information systems functions to cope with their short of information resources or IT experts, or to reduce their capital cost. Recently, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) as a new type of information system has become one of the powerful outsourcing alternatives. SaaS is software deployed as a hosted and accessed over the internet. It is regarded as the idea of on-demand, pay-per-use, and utility computing and is now being applied to support the core competencies of clients in areas ranging from the individual productivity area to the vertical industry and e-commerce area. In this study, therefore, we seek to quantify the value that SaaS has on business performance by examining the relationships among firm strategies, SaaS technology maturity, and business performance of SaaS providers. We begin by drawing from prior literature on SaaS, technology maturity and firm strategy. SaaS technology maturity is classified into three different phases such as application service providing (ASP), Web-native application, and Web-service application. Firm strategies are manipulated by the low-cost strategy and differentiation strategy. Finally, we considered customer acquisition as a business performance. In this sense, specific objectives of this study are as follows. First, we examine the relationships between customer acquisition performance and both low-cost strategy and differentiation strategy of SaaS providers. Secondly, we investigate the mediating and moderating effects of SaaS technology maturity on those relationships. For this purpose, study collects data from the SaaS providers, and their line of applications registered in the database in CNK (Commerce net Korea) in Korea using a questionnaire method by the professional research institution. The unit of analysis in this study is the SBUs (strategic business unit) in the software provider. A total of 199 SBUs is used for analyzing and testing our hypotheses. With regards to the measurement of firm strategy, we take three measurement items for differentiation strategy such as the application uniqueness (referring an application aims to differentiate within just one or a small number of target industry), supply channel diversification (regarding whether SaaS vendor had diversified supply chain) as well as the number of specialized expertise and take two items for low cost strategy like subscription fee and initial set-up fee. We employ a hierarchical regression analysis technique for testing moderation effects of SaaS technology maturity and follow the Baron and Kenny's procedure for determining if firm strategies affect customer acquisition through technology maturity. Empirical results revealed that, firstly, when differentiation strategy is applied to attain business performance like customer acquisition, the effects of the strategy is moderated by the technology maturity level of SaaS providers. In other words, securing higher level of SaaS technology maturity is essential for higher business performance. For instance, given that firms implement application uniqueness or a distribution channel diversification as a differentiation strategy, they can acquire more customers when their level of SaaS technology maturity is higher rather than lower. Secondly, results indicate that pursuing differentiation strategy or low cost strategy effectively works for SaaS providers' obtaining customer, which means that continuously differentiating their service from others or making their service fee (subscription fee or initial set-up fee) lower are helpful for their business success in terms of acquiring their customers. Lastly, results show that the level of SaaS technology maturity mediates the relationships between low cost strategy and customer acquisition. That is, based on our research design, customers usually perceive the real value of the low subscription fee or initial set-up fee only through the SaaS service provide by vender and, in turn, this will affect their decision making whether subscribe or not.

Facters Affecting Recurrence after Video-assisted Thoracic Surgery for the Treatment of Spontaneous Pneumothotax (자연기흉에 대한 비디오흉강경수술후 재발에 영향을 미치는 요인들)

  • 이송암;김광택;이일현;백만종;최영호;이인성;김형묵;김학제
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
    • /
    • v.32 no.5
    • /
    • pp.448-455
    • /
    • 1999
  • Background: Recent developments in techniques of video-assisted thoracic surgery(VATS) and endoscopic equipment has expanded the application of video-assisted surgical procedures in the field of thoracic surgery. Especially, it will probably become the treatment of choice of spontaneous pneumothorax(SP). There is, however, a high recurrence rate, high cost, and paucity of long-term results. We report the results of postoperative follow-up and analyze perioperative parameters affected to recurrence, retrospectively. Material and Method: From march 1992 to march 1997, 276 patients with spontaneous pneumothorax underwent 292 VATS procedures. Conversion to open thoracotomy was necessitated in eight patients, and this patients excluded from the study. Result: The sex distribution was 249 males and 31 females. The mean age was 28.1 12.2 years(range, 15 to 69 years). Primary SP was 237cases(83.5%) and secondary SP was 47cases(16.5%). The major underlying lung diseases associated with secondary SP were tuberculosis 27cases(57.4%) and emphysema 8cases (38.3%). Operative indications included Ipsilateral recurrence 123(43.9%), persistent air-leak 53(18.9%), x-ray visible bleb 40(14.3%), tension 30(10.7%), contralateral recurrence 21(7.5%), uncomplicated first episode 8(2.9%), bilateral 3(1.1%), complicated episode 2(0.7%). Blebs were visualized in 247cases(87%) and 244cases(85.9%) performed stapled blebectomy. Early postoperative complications occurred in 33 cases(11.6%): 16 prolonged air-leak more than 5 days(four of them were required a second operation and found missed blebs); 5 bleeding; 5 empyema; 2 atelectasis; 1 wound infection. No deaths occured. The mean operative time was 52.8 23.1 minutes(range, 20 to 165 minutes). The mean d ration of chest tube drainage was 5.0 4.5 days(range, 2 to 37 days). The mean duration ofhospital stay was 8.2 5.5 days (range, 3 to 43days). At a mean follow-up 22.3 18.4 months(range, 1 to 65 months), 12 patients(4.2%) were lost to follow-up. There were 24 recurrences and seven patients underwent second operation and 6 patients(85.7%) were found the missed blebs. 12 perioperative parameters(age, sex, site, underlying disease, extent of collapse, operative indication, size of bleb, number of bleb, location of bleb, bleb management, pleural procedure, prolonged postoperative air-leak) were analyzed statistically to identify significant predictors of recurrence. The significant predictors of recurrence was the underlying disease[17.0%(8/47): 6.8%(16/237), p=0.038], prolonged postoperative air-leakage[37.5%(6/16): 6.7%(18/268), p=0.001], and pleural procedure [11.4%(19/167): 4.3%(5/117), p=0.034]. Blebectomy has less recurrence rate then non-blebectomy [8.2%(20/244) : 10.0%(4/40), p>0. 5]. However, this difference was not statistically significant(p=0.758). Conclusion: We conclude that it is important that we shoud careful finding of bleb during VATS due to reducing of recurrnece, and cases of no bleb identified and secondary spontaneous pneumothorax were indicated of pleurodectomy. VATS is a valid alternative to open procedure for the treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax with less pain, shorter hospital stay, more rapid return to work, high patient acceptance, less scar and exellent cosmetics. But, there is high recurrence rate and high cost, and than it is necessary to evaluate of long-term results for recurrence and to observate carefully during VATS.

  • PDF

Relation between Health Status and Intake of Soy Isoflavone among Adult Women in Seoul (서울 거주 성인 여성의 대두 이소플라본 섭취와 건강과의 관련성)

  • Lee, Min-June;Sohn, Chun-Young;Park, Ok-Jin
    • Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
    • /
    • v.20 no.2
    • /
    • pp.218-230
    • /
    • 2010
  • This study was conducted to survey isoflavone intake among adult women in menopause with diseases such as metabolic syndrome and osteoporosis and to analyze the relationship between each of these chronic diseases followed by isoflavone intake and the related health risk index. The average age of the subjects was 49.97 years old, while that of the pre-menopausal subjects was 45.14 years, and the post-menopausal subjects was 55.99 years. The average body mass index (BMI), waist-hip circumference, body fat percentage, blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipid content of the post-menopausal subjects were higher in significant difference than those of the pre-menopausal subjects. The bone density of the hip and spine in post-menopausal subjects was lower in significant difference than that of the pre-menopausal subjects. After menopause, the subjects had a lower ratio of individuals at risk of anemia when compared with the subjects before menopause, but had higher health risk ratio related to each type of chronic disease, including obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol and osteoporosis than the subjects before menopause. The intake frequency of each soybean food was similar among subjects before/after menopause. The most common soybean based foods consumed by the subjects were soybean, soybean curd and soybean paste. The average daily intake level of isoflavone among subjects before menopause was 25.48 mg, while that of subjects after menopause was 32.25 mg. Evaluation of the distribution of the isoflavone level revealed that the pre-menopausal subjects consumed 3.29~78.36 mg and the post-menopausal subjects consumed 3.18~116.59 mg. The intake level by each individual varied greatly. The pre-menopausal subjects had a low BMI index and systolic blood pressure as much as their isoflavone intake level was high. Additionally, the post-menopausal subjects had a low menarche age and high menopause age when their isoflavone intake level was high, the BMI index and waist-hip circumference ratio was highest among individuals with lowest isoflavone intake level. This study showed that there was a possible relationship between soybean isoflavone intake and health problems such as obesity, high cholesterol, and osteoporosis in women after menopause with diseases such as metabolic syndrome and osteoporosis, even if this relationship was not great.

Study of nosocomial rotavirus infection in neonates admitted to a postpartum-care center (서울시내 1개 산후 조리원에서 시행한 로타바이러스 선별검사에 대한 분석)

  • Park, Ji Young;Kim, Dong Hwan;Bae, Seung Young;Choi, Chang Hee;Cho, Eun Young;Choi, Jeong Hoon;Kim, Sun Mi
    • Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
    • /
    • v.14 no.2
    • /
    • pp.145-154
    • /
    • 2007
  • Purpose : Rotavirus is one of the most important etiologic agents of nosocomial infections among the neonates. This study was designed to investigate nosocomial rotavirus infection in neonates who were admitted to a postpartum-care center after birth. Methods : From March 2005 to September 2006, 957 healthy neonates were examined for rotavirus antigen in stool by immunochromatographic method and 216 neonates were rotavirus antigen positive within 24 hours after admitted to a postpartum-care center. We reviewed the nursing charts retrospectively such as characteristics, monthly distribution, birth hospitals, delivery methods, feeding types and clinical manifestations. Results : Among 957 neonates, 216 neonates (22.6%) were rotavirus antigen positive and there were no differences in sex, birth weight, gestational age. Monthly positive rate of rotavirus antigen showed diversity from 10% to 36%. According to birth hospitals, positive rate showed diversity from 3.5% to 53.6%. Out of 957 neonates, 655 cases (68.4%) were born of vaginal delivery and mean hospitalized duration was 2.4 days, 302 cases (31.6%) were born of cesarean section and mean hospitalized duration was 5.7 days. 17.6% of vaginal delivery and 33.4% of cesarean section were rotavirus antigen positive. The positive rate was higher in neonates by cesarean section than vaginal delivery (P<0.001). According to feeding types, positive rate of rotavirus antigen was lower in breast-fed group than formula-fed group (P<0.001). Proportion of symptomatic case among rotavirus antigen positive was 34.7%. Most common clinical manifestation was diarrhea (61.3%), following poor feeding (45.3%), fever (40.0%), vomiting (25.3%), delayed weight gain (12.0%), and decreased urine amount (5.3%). Conclusion : Some neonates were already infected before admission to a postpartum-care center. Without meticulous management, nosocomial rotavirus infection would transmit rapidly in a postpartum-care center spreading to the community. Recommendation of breast-feeding, routine rotavirus screeing test with or without symptom, and isolation of all rotavirus antigen positive neonates in a postpartum-care center seem to be necessary. Also attentive hygiene education and further investigations of rotavirus infection in a postpartum-care center would be needed.

  • PDF

Clinical Indices Predicting Resorption of Pleural Effusion in Tuberculous Pleurisy (결핵성 늑막염에서 삼출액의 흡수에 영향을 미치는 임상적 지표)

  • Lee, Joe-Ho;Chung, Hee-Soon;Lee, Jeong-Sang;Cho, Sang-Rok;Yoon, Hae-Kyung;Song, Chee-Sung
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
    • /
    • v.42 no.5
    • /
    • pp.660-668
    • /
    • 1995
  • Background: It is said that tuberculous pleuritis responds well to anti-tuberculous drug in general, so no further aggressive therapeutic management is unnecesarry except in case of diagnostic thoracentesis. But in clinical practice, we often see some patients who need later decortication due to dyspnea caused by pleural loculation or thickening despite several months of anti-tuberculous drug therapy. Therefore, we want to know the clinical difference between a group who received decortication due to complication of tuberculous pleuritis despite of anti-tuberculous drug and a group who improved after 9 months of anti-tuberculous drug only. Methods: We reviewed 20 tuberculous pleuritis patients(group 1) who underwent decortication due to dyspnea caused by pleural loculation or severe pleural thickening despite of anti-tuberculous drug therapy for 9 or more months, and 20 other tuberculous pleuritis patients(group 2) who improved by anti-tuberculous drug only and had similar degrees of initial pleural effusion and similar age, sex distribution. Then we compared between the two groups the duration of symptoms before anti-tuberculous drug treatment and pleural fluid biochemistry like glucose, LDH, protein and pleural fluid cell count and WBC differential count, and we also wanted to know whether there was any difference in preoperative PFT value and postoperative PFT value in the patients who underwent decortication, and obtained following results. Results: 1) Group 1 patients had lower glucose level{$63.3{\pm}30.8$(mg/dl)} than that of the group 2{$98.5{\pm}34.2$(mg/dl), p<0.05}, and higher LDH level{$776.3{\pm}266.0$(IU/L)} than the group 2 patients{$376.3{\pm}123.1$(IU/L), p<0.05}, and also longer duration of symptom before treatment{$2.0{\pm}1.7$(month)} than the group 2{$1.1{\pm}1.2$(month), p<0.05}, respectively. 2) In group 1, FVC changed from preoperative $2.55{\pm}0.80$(L) to postoperative $2.99{\pm}0.78$(L)(p<0.05), and FEV1 changed from preoperative $2.19{\pm}0.70$(L/sec) to postoperative $2.50{\pm}0.69$(L/sec)(p<0.05). 3) There was no difference in pleural fluid protein level($5.05{\pm}1.01$(gm/dL) and $5.15{\pm}0.77$(gm/dl), p>0.05) and WBC differential count between group 1 and group 2. Conclusion: It is probable that in tuberculous pleuritis there is a risk of complication in the case of showing relatively low pleural fluid glucose or high LDH level, or in the case of having long duraton of symptom before treatment. We thought prospective study should be performed to confirm this.

  • PDF

The Role of Intraluminal Brachytherapy in Management of Esophageal Cancer (식도암 치료에 있어 관내근접치료의 역할)

  • Lee Chang Geol;Suh Chang Ok;Kim Gwi Eon;Chu Sung Sil;Chung Eun Ji;Kim Woo Cheol
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
    • /
    • v.13 no.4
    • /
    • pp.331-338
    • /
    • 1995
  • Purpose : To evaluate our clinical experience with the combination of teletherapy and intraluminal brachytherapy in patients with unresectable or inoperable esophageal cancers. Materials and Methods : From Nov 1989 to Mar 1993, twenty patients with esophageal cancer were treated with radical radiotherapy and intraluminal brachytherapy at Yonsei Cancer Center. All patients had squamous histolgy and stage distribution was as follows: stage II, 4($20{\%}$)patients; III, 15 ($75{\%}$)patients; IV, 1($5{\%}$)patients. A dose of S-12Gy/1-3weeks with intraluminal brachytherapy (3-5Gy/fraction) to 5mm from the outside of the esophageal tube using high dose rate Iridium-192 remotely afterloading brachytherapy machine was given 2 weeks after a total dose of 59-64Gy with external radiotherapy. Induction chemotherapy using cisplatin and 5-FU was performed in 13 patients with median 3 cycles(1-6 cycles), Response rate, local control rate, survival and complications were analysed retrospectively. Results : Two-year overall survival rate and median survival were $15.8{\%}$ and 13.5 months. Response rates were as follows complete remission(CR) 5($25{\%}$): partial remission a(PRa) 7($35{\%}$): partial remission b(PRb) 7($35{\%}$), no response(NR) 1($5{\%}$). Patterns of failure were as follows; local failure 13($65{\%}$), local and distant failure 3($15{\%}$), distant failure 0($0{\%}$). Ultimate local control rate was $20{\%}$. Treatment related complications included esophageal ulcer in two patients and esophageal stricture in one. Conclusion : Though poor local conrol rate, median survival was improved as compared with previous results of radiation therapy alone(8months) and chemoradiation combined treatment(11 months) in Yonsei Cancer Center High-dose-rate intraluminal brachytherapy following external irradiation is an effective treatment modality with acceptable toxicity in esophageal cancer.

  • PDF

Breeding and Development of the Tscherskia triton in Jeju Island (제주도 서식 비단털쥐(Tscherskia triton)의 번식과 발달)

  • Park, Jun-Ho;Oh, Hong-Shik
    • Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
    • /
    • v.31 no.2
    • /
    • pp.152-165
    • /
    • 2017
  • The greater long-tail hamster, Tscherskia triton, is widely distributed in Northern China, Korea and adjacent areas of Russia. Except for its distribution, biological characteristics related to life history, behavior, and ecological influences for this species are rarely studied in Korea. This study was conducted to obtain biological information on breeding, growth and development that are basic to species-specific studies. The study adopted laboratory management of a breeding programme for T. triton collected in Jeju Island from March, 2015 to December, 2016. According to the study results, the conception rate was 31.67% and the mice in the large cages had a higher rate of conception than those in the small cages (56.7 vs. 6.7%). The gestation period was $22{\pm}1.6days$ (ranges from 21 to27 days), and litter size ranged from 2 to 7, with a mean of $4.26{\pm}1.37$ in the species. The minimum age for weaning was between $19.2{\pm}1.4days$ (range of 18-21 days). There were no significant differences by sex between mean body weight and external body measurements at birth. However, a significant sexual difference was found from the period of weaning (21 days old) in head and body length, as well as tail length (HBL-weaning, $106.50{\pm}6.02$ vs. $113.34{\pm}4.72mm$, p<0.05; HBL-4 months, $163.93{\pm}5.42$ vs. $182.83{\pm}4.32mm$, p<0.05; TL-4 months, $107.23{\pm}3.25$ vs. $93.95{\pm}2.15mm$, p<0.05). Gompertz and Logistic growth curves were fitted to data for body weight and lengths of head and body, tail, ear, and hind foot. In two types of growth curves, males exhibited greater asymptotic values ($164.840{\pm}7.453$ vs. $182.830{\pm}4.319mm$, p<0.0001; $163.936{\pm}5.415$ vs. $182.840{\pm}4.333mm$, p<0.0001), faster maximum growth rates ($1.351{\pm}0.065$ vs. $1.435{\pm}0.085$, p<0.05; $2.870{\pm}0.253$ vs. $3.211{\pm}0.635$, p<0.05), and a later age of maximum growth than females in head and body length ($5.121{\pm}0.318$ vs. $5.520{\pm}0.333$, p<0.05; $6.884{\pm}0.336$ vs. $7.503{\pm}0.453$, p<0.05). However, females exhibited greater asymptotic values ($105.695{\pm}5.938$ vs. $94.150{\pm}2.507mm$, p<0.001; $111.609{\pm}14.881$ vs. $93.960{\pm}2.150mm$, p<0.05) and longer length of inflection ($60.306{\pm}1.992$ vs. $67.859{\pm}1.330mm$, p<0.0001; $55.714{\pm}7.458$ vs. $46.975{\pm}1.074mm$, p<0.05) than males in tail length. These growth rate constants, viz. the morphological characters and weights of the males and females, were similar to each other in two types of growth curves. These results will be used as necessary data to study species specificity of T. triton with biological foundations.

High Resolution HC$_3$N Observations toward the Central Region of Sagittarius B2

  • H.S-Ching;Oh, M.ishi;M.Morimoto
    • Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
    • /
    • 1993.10a
    • /
    • pp.17-17
    • /
    • 1993
  • The wall shear stress in the vicinity of end-to end anastomoses under steady flow conditions was measured using a flush-mounted hot-film anemometer(FMHFA) probe. The experimental measurements were in good agreement with numerical results except in flow with low Reynolds numbers. The wall shear stress increased proximal to the anastomosis in flow from the Penrose tubing (simulating an artery) to the PTFE: graft. In flow from the PTFE graft to the Penrose tubing, low wall shear stress was observed distal to the anastomosis. Abnormal distributions of wall shear stress in the vicinity of the anastomosis, resulting from the compliance mismatch between the graft and the host artery, might be an important factor of ANFH formation and the graft failure. The present study suggests a correlation between regions of the low wall shear stress and the development of anastomotic neointimal fibrous hyperplasia(ANPH) in end-to-end anastomoses. 30523 T00401030523 ^x Air pressure decay(APD) rate and ultrafiltration rate(UFR) tests were performed on new and saline rinsed dialyzers as well as those roused in patients several times. C-DAK 4000 (Cordis Dow) and CF IS-11 (Baxter Travenol) reused dialyzers obtained from the dialysis clinic were used in the present study. The new dialyzers exhibited a relatively flat APD, whereas saline rinsed and reused dialyzers showed considerable amount of decay. C-DAH dialyzers had a larger APD(11.70${\pm}$1.32mmHg/min)compared to CF dialyzers(4.32${\pm}$0.55mmHg/min)(p<0.05). However, there was no observable difference in the UFR between the two dialyzers. Neither APD nor UFR showed any significant increase with an increasing number of reuses for up to more than 20reuses. A substantial number of failures observed in APD(larger than 20mmHe/min)on the reused dialyzers(2 out of 40 CP and S out 26 C-DAK) were attributed to the Possible damage on the fibers. The CF 15-11 HFDs which failed APD test did not show changes in the UFR compared to normal dialyzers indicating that APD is a more sensitive test than UFR test to evaluate the integrity of the fibers. 30527 T00401030527 ^x For quantitative measurement of reflected light from a clinical diagnostic strip, a prototype old reflectance photometer was designed. The strip loader and cassette were made to obtain more accurate reflectance parameters. The strip was illuminated at 45˚c through optical fiber and the intensity of reflected light was determined at rectanguLat angle using a photodiode. The kubelka-munk coefficient and reflection optical density were determined ar four different wavelengths(500,550,570 and 610nm) for blood glucose strip. For higher concentration than 300mg/41 about glucose, a saturation state of abforbance was observed at 500,550 and 570nm. The correlation between glucose concentration and parameters was the best at 610nm. 30535 T00401030535 ^x Radiation-induced fibrosarcoma tumors were grown on the flanks of C3H mice. The mice were divided into two groups. One group was injected with Photofrin II, intravenously (2.5mg/kg body weight). The other group received no Photofrin II. Mice from both groups were irradialed for approximately 15 minutes at 100,300, or 500 mW/cm2 with the argon (488nm/514.5 nm), dye(628nm) and gold vapor (pulsed 628 nm) laser light. A photosensitizer behaved as an added absorber. Under our experimental conditions, the presence of Photolfrin II increased surface temperature by at least 40% and the temperature rise due to 300 mW/cm2 irradiation exceeded values for hyperthermia. Light and temperature distributions with depth were estimated by a computer model. The model demonstrated the influence of wavelength on the thermal process and proved to be a valuable tool to investigate internal temperature rise. 30536 T00401030536 ^x We investigated the structural geometry of thirty-eight Korean femurs. The purpose of this study is to identify major geometrical differences between Korean femurs 3nd others that we believe belong to Caucasians so that we would be able to get insights into the femoral component design that fits Asians including Koreans. We utilized computerized tomography (CT) images of femurs extracted from cadavers. The CT images were transformed into bitmap data by using a film scanner, and then analyzed by using a commercially available software called Image v.1.0 and a Macintosh IIci computer.The resulting data were compared with already published data. The major results show that the geometry of the Korean femurs is significantly different from that of Caucasians: (1) the anteversion angle and the canal flare index are greater by the amount of approximately 8˚ and 0.5, respectively, (2) the shape of the isthmus cross section is more round, and (3) the distance between the teaser trochanter and the proximal border of the isthmus is shelter by about 15 mm. The results suggested that the femoral component suitable for Asians should be different from the currently-used components designed and manufactured mostly by European or American companies. 30537 T00401030537 ^x It is well known that nonlinear propagation characteristics of the wave in the tissue may give very useful information for the medical diagnoisis. In this paper, a new method to detect nonlinear propagation characteristics of the internal vibration in the tissue for the low frequency mechanical vibration by using bispectral analysis is proposed. In the method, low frequency vibration of f0( = 100Hz) is applied on the surface of the object, and the waveform of the internal vibration x (t) is measured from Doppler frequency modulation of silmultaneously transmitted probing ultrasonic waves. Then, the bispectra of the signal x (t) at the frequencies (f0, f0) and (f0, 2f0) are calculated to estimate the nonlinear propagation characteristics as their magnitude ratio, w here since bispectrum is free from the gaussian additive noise we can get the value with high S/N. Basic experimental system is constructed by using 3.0 MHz probing ultrasonic waves and the several experiments are carried out for some phantoms. Results show the superiority of the proposed method to the conventional method using power spectrum and also its usefulness for the tissue characterization. 30541 T00401030541 ^x This paper describes the implementation of a computerized radial pulse diagnosis by aids of a clinical expert. On this base, we composed of the radial pulse diagnosis system in korean traditional medicine. The system composed of a radial pulse wave detection system and a radial pulse diagnosis system. With a detection system, we detected Inyoung and Cheongu radial pulse wave and processed it. Then, we have got the characteristic parameters of radial pulse wave and also quantified that according to the method of Inyoung-Cheongu Comparison Radial Pulse Diagnosis. We defined the jugement standard of radial pulse diagnosis system and then we confirmed the possibility for realization of automatic radial pulse diagnosis in korean traditional medicine. 30545 T00401030545 ^x Microspheres are expected to be applied to biomedical areas such as solid-phase immunoassays, drug delivery systems, immunomagnetic cell separation. To synthesize microspheres for biomedical application, "two stage shot growth method" was developed. The uniformity ratio of synthesized microspheres was always smaller than 1.05. And the surface charge density (or the number of ionizable functional groups) of the microspheres synthesized by "two stage shot growth method" was 6~13 times higher than that of the microspheres synthesized by conventional seeded batch copolymerization. As a previous step for biomedical application, adsorption experiments of bovine albumin on microspheres were carried out under various conditions. The maximum adsorbed amount was obtained in the neighborhood of pH 4.5. Isoelectric point of bovine albumin is pH 5.0, so experimental result shows that it shifted to acid area. The adsorption isotherm was obtained, the plateau region was always reached at 2.Og/L (bulk concentration of bovine albumin).The effect of the kind and the amount of surface functional group was also examined. 30575 T00401030575 ^x A medical image workstation was developed using multimedia technique. The system based on PC-486DX was designed to acquire medical images produced by medical imaging instruments and related audio information, that is, doctors' reporting results. Input information was processed and analyzed, then the results were presented in the form of graph and animation. All the informations of the system were hierarchically related with the image as the apex. Processing and analysis algorithms were implemented so that the diagnostic accuracy could be improved. The diagnosed information can be transferred for patient diagnosis through LAN(local area network). 30592 T00401030592 ^x In the conventional infrared imaging system, complex infrared lens systems are usually used for directing collimated narrow infrared beams into the high speed 2-dimensional optic scanner. In this paper, a simple reflective infrared optic system with a 2-dimensional optic scanner is proposed for the realization of medical infrared thermography system. It has been experimentally proven that the intfrared thermography system composed of the proposed optic system has the temperature resolution of 0.1˚c under the spatial resolution of lmrad, the image matrix size of 256 X 240, and tile imaging time of 4 seconds. 30593 T00401030593 ^x In this paper, MIIS (Medical Image Information System) has been designed and implemented using INGRES RDBMS, which is based on a client/server architecture. The implemented system allows users to register and retrieve patient information, medical images and diagnostic reports. It also provides the function to display these information on workstation windows simultaneously by using the designed menu-driven graphic user interface. The medical image compression/decompression techniques are implemented and integrated into the medical image database system for the efficient data storage and the fast access through the network. 30594 T00401030594 ^x In this paper, computerized BEAM was implemented for the space domain analysis of EEG. Trans-formation from temporal summation to two-dimensional mappings is formed by 4 nearest point inter-polaton method. Methods of representation of BEAM are two. One is dot density method which classify brain electrical potential 9 levels by dot density of gray levels and the other is colour method which classify brain electrical 12 levels by red-green colours. In this BEAM, instantaneous change and average energy distribution over any arbitrary time interval of brain electrical activity could be observed and analyzed easily. In the frequency domain, the distribution of energy spectrum of a special band can easily be distinguished normality and abnormality. 30608 T00401030608 ^x Laboratory information system (LIS) is a key tool to manage laboratory data in clinical pathology. Our department has developed an information system for routine hematology using down-sized computer system. We have used an IBM 486 compatible PC with 16MB main memory, 210 MB hard disk drive, 9 RS-232C port and 24 pin dot printer. The operating system and database management system were SCO UNIX and SCO foxbase, respectively. For program development, we used Xbase language provided by SCO foxbase. The C language was used for interface purpose. To make the system use friendly, pull-down menu was used. The system connected to our hospital information system via application program interface (API), so the information related to patient and request details is automatically transmitted to our computer. Our system interfaced with fwd complete blood count analyzers(Sysmex NE-8000 and Coulter STKS) for unidirectional data tansmission from analyzer to computer. The authors suggests that this system based on down-sized computer could provide a progressive approach to total LIS based on local area network, and the implemented system could serve as a model for other hospital's LIS for routine hematology. 30609 T00401030609 ^x To develop an artificial bone substitute that is gradually degraded and replaced by the regenerated natural bone, the authors designed a composite that is consisted of calcium phosphate and collagen. To use as the structural matrix of the composite, collagen was purified from human umbilical cord. The obtained collagen was treated by pepsin to remove telopeptides, and finally, the immune-free atelocollagen was produced: The cross linked atelocollagen was highly resistant to the collagenase induced collagenolysis. The cross linked collagen demonstrated an improved tensile strength. 30618 T00401030618 ^x This paper is a study on the design of adptive filter for QRS complex detection. We propose a simple adaptive algorithm to increase capability of noise cancelation in QRS complex detection with two stage adaptive filter. At the first stage, background noise is removed and at the next stage, only spectrum of QRS complex components is passed. Two adaptive filters can afford to keep track of the changes of both noise and QRS complex. Each adaptive filter consists of prediction error filter and FIR filter The impulse response of FIR filter uses coefficients of prediction error filter. The detection rates for 105 and 108 of MIT/BIH data base were 99.3% and 97.4% respectively. 30619 T00401030619 ^x To develop an artificial bone substitute that is gradually degraded and replaced by the regenerated natural bone, the authors designed and produced a composite that is consisted of calcium phosphate and collagen. Human umbilical cord origin pepsin treated type I atelocollagen was used as the structural matrix, by which sintered or non-sintered carbonate apatite was encapsulated to form an inorganic-organic composite. With cross linking atelocollagen by UV ray irradiation, the resistance to both compressive and tensile strength was increased. Collagen degradation by the collagenase induced collagenolysis was also decreased. 30620 T00401030620 ^x We have developed a monoleaflet polymer valve as an inexpensive and viable alternative, especially for short-term use in the ventricular assist device or total artificial heart. The frame and leaflet of the polymer valve were made from polyurethane, To evaluate the hemodynamic performance of the polymer valve a comparative study of flow dynamics past a polymer valve and a St. Jude Medical prosthetic valve under physiological pulsatile flow conditions in vitro was made. Comparisons between the valves were made on the transvalvular pressure drop, regurgitation volume and maximum valve opening area. The polymer valve showed smaller regurgitation volume and transvalvular pressure drop compared to the mechanical valve at higher heart rate. The results showed that the functional characteristics of the polymer valve compared favorably with those of the mechanical valve at higher heart rate. 30621 T00401030621 ^x Explosive evaporative removal process of biological tissue by absorption of a CW laser has been simulated by using gelatin and a multimode Nd:YAG laser. Because the point of maximun temperature of laser-irradiated gelatin exists below the surface due to surface cooling, evaporation at the boiling temperature is made explosively from below the surface. The important parameters of this process are the conduction loss to laser power absorption (defined as the conduction-to-laser power parameter, Nk), the convection heat transfer at the surface to conduction loss (defined as Bi), dimensionless extinction coefficient (defined as Br.), and dimensionless irradiation time (defined as Fo). Dependence of Fo on Nk and Bi has been observed by experiment, and the results have been compared with the numerical results obtained by solving a 2-dimensional conduction equation. Fo and explosion depth (from the surface to the point of maximun temperature) are increased when Nk and Bi are increased.To find out the minimum laser power for explosive evaporative removal process, steady state analysis has been also made. The limit of Nk to induce evaporative removal, which is proportional to the inverse of the laser power, has been obtained. 30622 T00401030622 ^x N1 and N2 gross neural action potentials were measured from the round window of the guinea pig cochlea at the onset of the acoustic stimuli. N1-N2 audiograms were made by means of regulating stimulant intensities in order to produce constant N1-N2 potentials as criteria for different input tone pip frequencies. The lowest threshold was measured with an input tone pip I5 dB SPL in intensity and 12 KHz in frequency when the animal was in normal physiological condition. The procedure of experimental measurements is explained in detail. This experimental approach is very useful for the investigation of the Cochlear function. Both noN1inear and active functions of the Cochlea can be monitored by N1-N2 audiograms. 30623 T00401030623 ^x In electrical impedance tomography(EIT), we use boundary current and voltage measurements toprovide the information about the cross-sectional distribution of electrical impedance or resistivity. One of the major problems in EIT has been the inaccessibility of internal voltage or current data in finding the internal impedance values. We propose a new image reconstruction method using internal current density data measured by NMR. We obtained a two-dimensional current density distribution within a phantom by processing the real and imaginary MR images from a 4.77 NMR machine. We implemented a resistivity mage reconstruction algorithm using the finite element method and sensitivity matrix. We presented computer simulation results of the mage reconstruction algorithm and furture direction of the research. 30624 T00401030624 ^x A new method of digital image analysis technique for discrimination of cancer cell was presented in this paper. The object image was the Thyroid eland cells image that was diagnosed as normal and abnormal (two types of abnormal: follicular neoplastic cell, and papillary neoplastic cell), respectively. By using the proposed region segmentation algorithm, the cells were segmented into nucleus. The 16 feature parameters were used to calculate the features of each nucleus. A9 a consequence of using dominant feature parameters method proposed in this paper, discrimination rate of 91.11% was obtained for Thyroid Gland cells. 30625 T00401030625 ^x An electrical stimulator was designed to induce locomotion for paraplegic patients caused by central nervous system injury. Optimal stimulus parameters, which can minimize muscle fatigue and can achieve effective muscle contraction were determined in slow and fast muscles in Sprague-Dawley rats. Stimulus patterns of our stimulator were designed to simulate electromyographic activity monitored during locomotion of normal subjects. Muscle types of the lower extremity were classified according to their mechanical property of contraction, which are slow muscle (msoleus m.) and fast muscle (medial gastrocneminus m., rectus femoris m., vastus lateralis m.). Optimal parameters of electrical stimulation for slow muscles were 20 Hz, 0.2 ms square pulse. For fast muscle, 40 Hz, 0.3 ms square pulse was optimal to produce repeated contraction. Higher stimulus intensity was required when synergistic muscles were stimulated simultaneously than when they were stimulated individually. Electrical stimulation for each muscle was designed to generate bipedal locomotion, so that individual muscles alternate contraction and relaxation to simulate stance and swing phases. Portable electrical stimulator with 16 channels built in microprocessor was constructed and applied to paraplegic patients due to lumbar cord injury. The electrical stimulator restored partially gait function in paraplegic patients. 30626 T00401030626 ^x Two-Dimensional modelling of the Cochlear biomechanics is presented in this paper. The Laplace partial differential equation which represents the fluid mechanics of the Cochlea has been transformed into two-dimensional electrical transmission line. The procedure of this transformation is explained in detail. The comparison between one and two dimensional models is also presented. This electrical modelling of the basilar membrane (BM) is clearly useful for the next approach to the further. Development of active elements which are essential in the producing of the sharp tuning of the BM. This paper shows that two-dimension model is qualitatively better than one-dimensional model both in amplitude and phase responses of the BM displacement. The present model is only for frequency response. However because the model is electrical, the two-dimensional transmission line model can be extended to time response without any difficult. 30627 T00401030627 ^x A method has been proposed for the fully automatic detection of left ventricular endocardial boundary in 2D short axis echocardiogram using geometric model. The procedure has the following three distinct stages. First, the initial center is estimated by the initial center estimation algorithm which is applied to decimated image. Second, the center estimation algorithm is applied to original image and then best-fit elliptic model estimation is processed. Third, best-fit boundary is detected by the cost function which is based on the best-fit elliptic model. The proposed method shows effective result without manual intervention by a human operator. 30628 T00401030628 ^x The intelligent trajectory control method that controls moving direction and average velocity for a prosthetic arm is proposed by pattern recognition and force estimations using EMG signals. Also, we propose the real time trajectory planning method which generates continuous accelleration paths using 3 stage linear filters to minimize the impact to human body induced by arm motions and to reduce the muscle fatigue. We use combination of MLP and fuzzy filter for pattern recognition to estimate the direction of a muscle and Hogan's method for the force estimation. EMG signals are acquired by using a amputation simulator and 2 dimensional joystick motion. The simulation results of proposed prosthetic arm control system using the EMf signals show that the arm is effectively followed the desired trajectory depended on estimated force and direction of muscle movements. 30638 T00401030638 ^x A new neural network architecture for the recognition of patterns from images is proposed, which is partially based on the results of physiological studies. The proposed network is composed of multi-layers and the nerve cells in each layer are connected by spatial filters which approximate receptive fields in optic nerve fields. In the proposed method, patterns recognition for complicated images is carried out using global features as well as local features such as lines and end-points. A new generating method of matched filers representing global features is proposed in this network. 30659 T00401030659 ^x An implementation scheme of the magnetic nerve stimulator using a switching mode power supply is proposed. By using a switching mode power supply rather than a conventional linear power supply for charging high voltage capacitors, the weight and size of the magnetic nerve stimulator can be considerably reduced. Maximum output voltage of the developed magnetic nerve stimulator using the switching mode power supply is 3,000 volts and switching time is about 100 msec. Experimental results or human nerve stimulations using the developed stimulator are presented. 30768 T00401030768 ^x In this paper, we describe the design methodology and specifications of the developed module-based bedside monitors for patient monitoring. The bedside monitor consists of a main unit and module cases with various parameter modules. The main unit includes a 12.1" TFT color LCD, a main CPU board, and peripherals such as a module controller, Ethernet LAN card, video card, rotate/push button controller, etc. The main unit can connect at maximum three module cases each of which can accommodate up to 7 parameter modules. They include the modules for electrocardiograph, respiration, invasive blood pressure, noninvasive blood pressure, temperature, and SpO2 with Plethysmograph.

  • PDF

Sensory Information Processing

  • Yoshimoto, Chiyoshi
    • Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
    • /
    • v.6 no.2
    • /
    • pp.1-8
    • /
    • 1985
  • The wall shear stress in the vicinity of end-to end anastomoses under steady flow conditions was measured using a flush-mounted hot-film anemometer(FMHFA) probe. The experimental measurements were in good agreement with numerical results except in flow with low Reynolds numbers. The wall shear stress increased proximal to the anastomosis in flow from the Penrose tubing (simulating an artery) to the PTFE: graft. In flow from the PTFE graft to the Penrose tubing, low wall shear stress was observed distal to the anastomosis. Abnormal distributions of wall shear stress in the vicinity of the anastomosis, resulting from the compliance mismatch between the graft and the host artery, might be an important factor of ANFH formation and the graft failure. The present study suggests a correlation between regions of the low wall shear stress and the development of anastomotic neointimal fibrous hyperplasia(ANPH) in end-to-end anastomoses. 30523 T00401030523 ^x Air pressure decay(APD) rate and ultrafiltration rate(UFR) tests were performed on new and saline rinsed dialyzers as well as those roused in patients several times. C-DAK 4000 (Cordis Dow) and CF IS-11 (Baxter Travenol) reused dialyzers obtained from the dialysis clinic were used in the present study. The new dialyzers exhibited a relatively flat APD, whereas saline rinsed and reused dialyzers showed considerable amount of decay. C-DAH dialyzers had a larger APD(11.70$\pm$1.32mmHg/min)compared to CF dialyzers(4.32$\pm$0.55mmHg/min)(p<0.05). However, there was no observable difference in the UFR between the two dialyzers. Neither APD nor UFR showed any significant increase with an increasing number of reuses for up to more than 20reuses. A substantial number of failures observed in APD(larger than 20mmHe/min)on the reused dialyzers(2 out of 40 CP and S out 26 C-DAK) were attributed to the Possible damage on the fibers. The CF 15-11 HFDs which failed APD test did not show changes in the UFR compared to normal dialyzers indicating that APD is a more sensitive test than UFR test to evaluate the integrity of the fibers. 30527 T00401030527 ^x For quantitative measurement of reflected light from a clinical diagnostic strip, a prototype old reflectance photometer was designed. The strip loader and cassette were made to obtain more accurate reflectance parameters. The strip was illuminated at 45˚c through optical fiber and the intensity of reflected light was determined at rectanguLat angle using a photodiode. The kubelka-munk coefficient and reflection optical density were determined ar four different wavelengths(500, 550, 570 and 610nm) for blood glucose strip. For higher concentration than 300mg/41 about glucose, a saturation state of abforbance was observed at 500, 550 and 570nm. The correlation between glucose concentration and parameters was the best at 610nm. 30535 T00401030535 ^x Radiation-induced fibrosarcoma tumors were grown on the flanks of C3H mice. The mice were divided into two groups. One group was injected with Photofrin II, intravenously (2.5mg/kg body weight). The other group received no Photofrin II. Mice from both groups were irradialed for approximately 15 minutes at 100, 300, or 500 mW/cm2 with the argon (488nm/514.5 nm), dye(628nm) and gold vapor (pulsed 628 nm) laser light. A photosensitizer behaved as an added absorber. Under our experimental conditions, the presence of Photolfrin II increased surface temperature by at least 40% and the temperature rise due to 300 mW/cm2 irradiation exceeded values for hyperthermia. Light and temperature distributions with depth were estimated by a computer model. The model demonstrated the influence of wavelength on the thermal process and proved to be a valuable tool to investigate internal temperature rise. 30536 T00401030536 ^x We investigated the structural geometry of thirty-eight Korean femurs. The purpose of this study is to identify major geometrical differences between Korean femurs 3nd others that we believe belong to Caucasians so that we would be able to get insights into the femoral component design that fits Asians including Koreans. We utilized computerized tomography (CT) images of femurs extracted from cadavers. The CT images were transformed into bitmap data by using a film scanner, and then analyzed by using a commercially available software called Image v.1.0 and a Macintosh IIci computer.The resulting data were compared with already published data. The major results show that the geometry of the Korean femurs is significantly different from that of Caucasians: (1) the anteversion angle and the canal flare index are greater by the amount of approximately 8˚ and 0.5, respectively, (2) the shape of the isthmus cross section is more round, and (3) the distance between the teaser trochanter and the proximal border of the isthmus is shelter by about 15 mm. The results suggested that the femoral component suitable for Asians should be different from the currently-used components designed and manufactured mostly by European or American companies. 30537 T00401030537 ^x It is well known that nonlinear propagation characteristics of the wave in the tissue may give very useful information for the medical diagnoisis. In this paper, a new method to detect nonlinear propagation characteristics of the internal vibration in the tissue for the low frequency mechanical vibration by using bispectral analysis is proposed. In the method, low frequency vibration of f0( = 100Hz) is applied on the surface of the object, and the waveform of the internal vibration x (t) is measured from Doppler frequency modulation of silmultaneously transmitted probing ultrasonic waves. Then, the bispectra of the signal x (t) at the frequencies (f0, f0) and (f0, 2f0) are calculated to estimate the nonlinear propagation characteristics as their magnitude ratio, w here since bispectrum is free from the gaussian additive noise we can get the value with high S/N. Basic experimental system is constructed by using 3.0 MHz probing ultrasonic waves and the several experiments are carried out for some phantoms. Results show the superiority of the proposed method to the conventional method using power spectrum and also its usefulness for the tissue characterization. 30541 T00401030541 ^x This paper describes the implementation of a computerized radial pulse diagnosis by aids of a clinical expert. On this base, we composed of the radial pulse diagnosis system in korean traditional medicine. The system composed of a radial pulse wave detection system and a radial pulse diagnosis system. With a detection system, we detected Inyoung and Cheongu radial pulse wave and processed it. Then, we have got the characteristic parameters of radial pulse wave and also quantified that according to the method of Inyoung-Cheongu Comparison Radial Pulse Diagnosis. We defined the jugement standard of radial pulse diagnosis system and then we confirmed the possibility for realization of automatic radial pulse diagnosis in korean traditional medicine. 30545 T00401030545 ^x Microspheres are expected to be applied to biomedical areas such as solid-phase immunoassays, drug delivery systems, immunomagnetic cell separation. To synthesize microspheres for biomedical application, "two stage shot growth method" was developed. The uniformity ratio of synthesized microspheres was always smaller than 1.05. And the surface charge density (or the number of ionizable functional groups) of the microspheres synthesized by "two stage shot growth method" was 6~13 times higher than that of the microspheres synthesized by conventional seeded batch copolymerization. As a previous step for biomedical application, adsorption experiments of bovine albumin on microspheres were carried out under various conditions. The maximum adsorbed amount was obtained in the neighborhood of pH 4.5. Isoelectric point of bovine albumin is pH 5.0, so experimental result shows that it shifted to acid area. The adsorption isotherm was obtained, the plateau region was always reached at 2.Og/L (bulk concentration of bovine albumin).The effect of the kind and the amount of surface functional group was also examined. 30575 T00401030575 ^x A medical image workstation was developed using multimedia technique. The system based on PC-486DX was designed to acquire medical images produced by medical imaging instruments and related audio information, that is, doctors' reporting results. Input information was processed and analyzed, then the results were presented in the form of graph and animation. All the informations of the system were hierarchically related with the image as the apex. Processing and analysis algorithms were implemented so that the diagnostic accuracy could be improved. The diagnosed information can be transferred for patient diagnosis through LAN(local area network). 30592 T00401030592 ^x In the conventional infrared imaging system, complex infrared lens systems are usually used for directing collimated narrow infrared beams into the high speed 2-dimensional optic scanner. In this paper, a simple reflective infrared optic system with a 2-dimensional optic scanner is proposed for the realization of medical infrared thermography system. It has been experimentally proven that the intfrared thermography system composed of the proposed optic system has the temperature resolution of 0.1˚c under the spatial resolution of lmrad, the image matrix size of 256 X 240, and tile imaging time of 4 seconds. 30593 T00401030593 ^x In this paper, MIIS (Medical Image Information System) has been designed and implemented using INGRES RDBMS, which is based on a client/server architecture. The implemented system allows users to register and retrieve patient information, medical images and diagnostic reports. It also provides the function to display these information on workstation windows simultaneously by using the designed menu-driven graphic user interface. The medical image compression/decompression techniques are implemented and integrated into the medical image database system for the efficient data storage and the fast access through the network. 30594 T00401030594 ^x In this paper, computerized BEAM was implemented for the space domain analysis of EEG. Trans-formation from temporal summation to two-dimensional mappings is formed by 4 nearest point inter-polaton method. Methods of representation of BEAM are two. One is dot density method which classify brain electrical potential 9 levels by dot density of gray levels and the other is colour method which classify brain electrical 12 levels by red-green colours. In this BEAM, instantaneous change and average energy distribution over any arbitrary time interval of brain electrical activity could be observed and analyzed easily. In the frequency domain, the distribution of energy spectrum of a special band can easily be distinguished normality and abnormality. 30608 T00401030608 ^x Laboratory information system (LIS) is a key tool to manage laboratory data in clinical pathology. Our department has developed an information system for routine hematology using down-sized computer system. We have used an IBM 486 compatible PC with 16MB main memory, 210 MB hard disk drive, 9 RS-232C port and 24 pin dot printer. The operating system and database management system were SCO UNIX and SCO foxbase, respectively. For program development, we used Xbase language provided by SCO foxbase. The C language was used for interface purpose. To make the system use friendly, pull-down menu was used. The system connected to our hospital information system via application program interface (API), so the information related to patient and request details is automatically transmitted to our computer. Our system interfaced with fwd complete blood count analyzers(Sysmex NE-8000 and Coulter STKS) for unidirectional data tansmission from analyzer to computer. The authors suggests that this system based on down-sized computer could provide a progressive approach to total LIS based on local area network, and the implemented system could serve as a model for other hospital's LIS for routine hematology. 30609 T00401030609 ^x To develop an artificial bone substitute that is gradually degraded and replaced by the regenerated natural bone, the authors designed a composite that is consisted of calcium phosphate and collagen. To use as the structural matrix of the composite, collagen was purified from human umbilical cord. The obtained collagen was treated by pepsin to remove telopeptides, and finally, the immune-free atelocollagen was produced: The cross linked atelocollagen was highly resistant to the collagenase induced collagenolysis. The cross linked collagen demonstrated an improved tensile strength. 30618 T00401030618 ^x This paper is a study on the design of adptive filter for QRS complex detection. We propose a simple adaptive algorithm to increase capability of noise cancelation in QRS complex detection with two stage adaptive filter. At the first stage, background noise is removed and at the next stage, only spectrum of QRS complex components is passed. Two adaptive filters can afford to keep track of the changes of both noise and QRS complex. Each adaptive filter consists of prediction error filter and FIR filter The impulse response of FIR filter uses coefficients of prediction error filter. The detection rates for 105 and 108 of MIT/BIH data base were 99.3% and 97.4% respectively. 30619 T00401030619 ^x To develop an artificial bone substitute that is gradually degraded and replaced by the regenerated natural bone, the authors designed and produced a composite that is consisted of calcium phosphate and collagen. Human umbilical cord origin pepsin treated type I atelocollagen was used as the structural matrix, by which sintered or non-sintered carbonate apatite was encapsulated to form an inorganic-organic composite. With cross linking atelocollagen by UV ray irradiation, the resistance to both compressive and tensile strength was increased. Collagen degradation by the collagenase induced collagenolysis was also decreased. 30620 T00401030620 ^x We have developed a monoleaflet polymer valve as an inexpensive and viable alternative, especially for short-term use in the ventricular assist device or total artificial heart. The frame and leaflet of the polymer valve were made from polyurethane, To evaluate the hemodynamic performance of the polymer valve a comparative study of flow dynamics past a polymer valve and a St. Jude Medical prosthetic valve under physiological pulsatile flow conditions in vitro was made. Comparisons between the valves were made on the transvalvular pressure drop, regurgitation volume and maximum valve opening area. The polymer valve showed smaller regurgitation volume and transvalvular pressure drop compared to the mechanical valve at higher heart rate. The results showed that the functional characteristics of the polymer valve compared favorably with those of the mechanical valve at higher heart rate. 30621 T00401030621 ^x Explosive evaporative removal process of biological tissue by absorption of a CW laser has been simulated by using gelatin and a multimode Nd:YAG laser. Because the point of maximun temperature of laser-irradiated gelatin exists below the surface due to surface cooling, evaporation at the boiling temperature is made explosively from below the surface. The important parameters of this process are the conduction loss to laser power absorption (defined as the conduction-to-laser power parameter, Nk), the convection heat transfer at the surface to conduction loss (defined as Bi), dimensionless extinction coefficient (defined as Br.), and dimensionless irradiation time (defined as Fo). Dependence of Fo on Nk and Bi has been observed by experiment, and the results have been compared with the numerical results obtained by solving a 2-dimensional conduction equation. Fo and explosion depth (from the surface to the point of maximun temperature) are increased when Nk and Bi are increased.To find out the minimum laser power for explosive evaporative removal process, steady state analysis has been also made. The limit of Nk to induce evaporative removal, which is proportional to the inverse of the laser power, has been obtained. 30622 T00401030622 ^x N1 and N2 gross neural action potentials were measured from the round window of the guinea pig cochlea at the onset of the acoustic stimuli. N1-N2 audiograms were made by means of regulating stimulant intensities in order to produce constant N1-N2 potentials as criteria for different input tone pip frequencies. The lowest threshold was measured with an input tone pip I5 dB SPL in intensity and 12 KHz in frequency when the animal was in normal physiological condition. The procedure of experimental measurements is explained in detail. This experimental approach is very useful for the investigation of the Cochlear function. Both noN1inear and active functions of the Cochlea can be monitored by N1-N2 audiograms. 30623 T00401030623 ^x In electrical impedance tomography(EIT), we use boundary current and voltage measurements toprovide the information about the cross-sectional distribution of electrical impedance or resistivity. One of the major problems in EIT has been the inaccessibility of internal voltage or current data in finding the internal impedance values. We propose a new image reconstruction method using internal current density data measured by NMR. We obtained a two-dimensional current density distribution within a phantom by processing the real and imaginary MR images from a 4.77 NMR machine. We implemented a resistivity mage reconstruction algorithm using the finite element method and sensitivity matrix. We presented computer simulation results of the mage reconstruction algorithm and furture direction of the research. 30624 T00401030624 ^x A new method of digital image analysis technique for discrimination of cancer cell was presented in this paper. The object image was the Thyroid eland cells image that was diagnosed as normal and abnormal (two types of abnormal: follicular neoplastic cell, and papillary neoplastic cell), respectively. By using the proposed region segmentation algorithm, the cells were segmented into nucleus. The 16 feature parameters were used to calculate the features of each nucleus. A9 a consequence of using dominant feature parameters method proposed in this paper, discrimination rate of 91.11% was obtained for Thyroid Gland cells. 30625 T00401030625 ^x An electrical stimulator was designed to induce locomotion for paraplegic patients caused by central nervous system injury. Optimal stimulus parameters, which can minimize muscle fatigue and can achieve effective muscle contraction were determined in slow and fast muscles in Sprague-Dawley rats. Stimulus patterns of our stimulator were designed to simulate electromyographic activity monitored during locomotion of normal subjects. Muscle types of the lower extremity were classified according to their mechanical property of contraction, which are slow muscle (msoleus m.) and fast muscle (medial gastrocneminus m., rectus femoris m., vastus lateralis m.). Optimal parameters of electrical stimulation for slow muscles were 20 Hz, 0.2 ms square pulse. For fast muscle, 40 Hz, 0.3 ms square pulse was optimal to produce repeated contraction. Higher stimulus intensity was required when synergistic muscles were stimulated simultaneously than when they were stimulated individually. Electrical stimulation for each muscle was designed to generate bipedal locomotion, so that individual muscles alternate contraction and relaxation to simulate stance and swing phases. Portable electrical stimulator with 16 channels built in microprocessor was constructed and applied to paraplegic patients due to lumbar cord injury. The electrical stimulator restored partially gait function in paraplegic patients. 30626 T00401030626 ^x Two-Dimensional modelling of the Cochlear biomechanics is presented in this paper. The Laplace partial differential equation which represents the fluid mechanics of the Cochlea has been transformed into two-dimensional electrical transmission line. The procedure of this transformation is explained in detail. The comparison between one and two dimensional models is also presented. This electrical modelling of the basilar membrane (BM) is clearly useful for the next approach to the further. Development of active elements which are essential in the producing of the sharp tuning of the BM. This paper shows that two-dimension model is qualitatively better than one-dimensional model both in amplitude and phase responses of the BM displacement. The present model is only for frequency response. However because the model is electrical, the two-dimensional transmission line model can be extended to time response without any difficult. 30627 T00401030627 ^x A method has been proposed for the fully automatic detection of left ventricular endocardial boundary in 2D short axis echocardiogram using geometric model. The procedure has the following three distinct stages. First, the initial center is estimated by the initial center estimation algorithm which is applied to decimated image. Second, the center estimation algorithm is applied to original image and then best-fit elliptic model estimation is processed. Third, best-fit boundary is detected by the cost function which is based on the best-fit elliptic model. The proposed method shows effective result without manual intervention by a human operator. 30628 T00401030628 ^x The intelligent trajectory control method that controls moving direction and average velocity for a prosthetic arm is proposed by pattern recognition and force estimations using EMG signals. Also, we propose the real time trajectory planning method which generates continuous accelleration paths using 3 stage linear filters to minimize the impact to human body induced by arm motions and to reduce the muscle fatigue. We use combination of MLP and fuzzy filter for pattern recognition to estimate the direction of a muscle and Hogan's method for the force estimation. EMG signals are acquired by using a amputation simulator and 2 dimensional joystick motion. The simulation results of proposed prosthetic arm control system using the EMf signals show that the arm is effectively followed the desired trajectory depended on estimated force and direction of muscle movements. 30638 T00401030638 ^x A new neural network architecture for the recognition of patterns from images is proposed, which is partially based on the results of physiological studies. The proposed network is composed of multi-layers and the nerve cells in each layer are connected by spatial filters which approximate receptive fields in optic nerve fields. In the proposed method, patterns recognition for complicated images is carried out using global features as well as local features such as lines and end-points. A new generating method of matched filers representing global features is proposed in this network. 30659 T00401030659 ^x An implementation scheme of the magnetic nerve stimulator using a switching mode power supply is proposed. By using a switching mode power supply rather than a conventional linear power supply for charging high voltage capacitors, the weight and size of the magnetic nerve stimulator can be considerably reduced. Maximum output voltage of the developed magnetic nerve stimulator using the switching mode power supply is 3, 000 volts and switching time is about 100 msec. Experimental results or human nerve stimulations using the developed stimulator are presented. 30768 T00401030768 ^x In this paper, we describe the design methodology and specifications of the developed module-based bedside monitors for patient monitoring. The bedside monitor consists of a main unit and module cases with various parameter modules. The main unit includes a 12.1" TFT color LCD, a main CPU board, and peripherals such as a module controller, Ethernet LAN card, video card, rotate/push button controller, etc. The main unit can connect at maximum three module cases each of which can accommodate up to 7 parameter modules. They include the modules for electrocardiograph, respiration, invasive blood pressure, noninvasive blood pressure, temperature, and SpO2 with Plethysmograph.SpO2 with Plethysmograph.

  • PDF

Role, Change, Job Satisfaction and Obstacles in Carrying out the Role of Public Health Nurses in Health Center (보건소 보건간호사의 역할변화, 역할수행의 장애요인과 만족도)

  • Ahn, Kyeong-Sook;Jung, Moon-Sook
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
    • /
    • v.20 no.1
    • /
    • pp.1-13
    • /
    • 1995
  • Based on the questionnaires sent to 270 nurses of public health centers in kyungnam during the period of March 19 to April 11 in 1992, this study was written for the of finding out the grade of satisfaction, obstacles in carrying out duties concerned with nursing services and the change of nurses role needed according to the change of the local public health administration. The first-ranking tasks carried by nurses of public health center are believed to have been family planning activities before the 1970's, nursing services during the 1970's, mother-child health activities during the 1980's, and nursing services during the period of 1990 to 1992. As far as the priority order of all the family planning activities is concerned, the counseling of the insertion of intrauterine contraceptive device, the use of oral pill or the distribution of condom was placed emphasis on before 1970, and publicity activities of family planning after that time. The first priority order of mother-child health activities has been put on the registration of pregnant women since 1970, with prenatal examination and vaccination ranking next to it. The priority order for activities against tuberculosis was laid on finding out and registration of new T.B. patients every year, with patients' control, and medication or injection ranking next to it. As for the priority order of nursing services, traveling medical examination and treatment ranked the first-stressed activity before 1970, with medication and injection ranking next to it. The first priority order management activity of communicable diseases was put on vaccination before 1970, with medication and injection. ranking next. And consultation and education ranked second to it during 1990 to 1992. As for the health services of the aged, traveling examination and treatment ranked the order, with the assistance of medical examination ranking next to it. As far as troubles and obstacles shown in case of family planning, the rate of residents' lack understanding was 28.8%, that of lacking budget 13.6%, and the imperfection of public health administration system 11.9%. In the case of tuberculosis control, residents' lacking understanding was 32.5%, the deficiency of public health administration system 18.2%, over-duty(shortage of hands) 15.6%, and the insufficiency skill and know-how 13.0%. In the case of nursing services, the deficiency of public health administration system was 18.2%, each over-duty(the shortage of hands) and the shortage of facilities and equipment 15.6% respective, and residents' lacking understanding 13.0%. The rate of dissatisfaction with the chance or possibility of promotion for his or her career or capability was shown to be 49.2%, and 65.9% of the health nurses expressed their complaints of the deficiency of the chance of the promotion to a professional or expert. when the public health nurses were asked in the questionably whether they were satisfied or not with current state of equipment and facilities needed for public health service, 49.6% of them answered in the negative. The grade of the satisfaction with the current individual position was shown to be low as much as the status of his or her position was now. 37.6% of those asked in the research answered to have the readiness to switch jobs for the reasons of dissatisfaction and so on with lacking promotion chance as well as bad working condition. Significant correlation between the grade of job satisfaction and the current status of the po as found to be in this research, which showed that the lower the status of position was, the lower the grade of job satisfaction was. But little correlation between the grade of job satisfaction and his or her schooling and career was found. In order to carry out primary health care successfully, it can be said that more education and publicity activities to make public health nurses and residents see it in a new light are requested. In addition to it, it is suggested that the improvement of promotion system for public health nurses and the enlargement of job province should also be taken in consideration of the high dissatisfaction with and complaints of the chance of promotion and the system of position. In order words, it is important that considerations for system improvement enough to make nursing services pleasant and satisfactory should be taken into.

  • PDF