• Human Ecology Research
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.87-101
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to identify the current status of the working poor and the factors that are influential to the working poor among echo boomers. This study is a secondary analysis using the data from the 7th analysis of the 2012 Korea Welfare Panel Survey, conducted by Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. This analysis considered Korean echo boomers born between 1979 and 1985. In our final analysis, we used 1,226 echo boomers who had the ability to work. For the analysis, the SAS/PC statistical program ver. 9.3 was utilized. The research findings are as follows; Firstly, of the working poor among the echo boomers, only 22% were in the state of poverty. Secondly, more echo boomers living in a metropolitan city, city, gun/urban-rural area and district than those in the Seoul were categorized as among the working poor; the same was true for those who lived in a free house than in a leased room or a room that was rented by the month. Thirdly, more echo boomers whose education level was high school graduate or less rather than college graduate or less or university graduate or more were categorized as among the working poor; this was also true for echo boomers whose employment type was temporary employment, self-employment, or unemployment rather than a full-time job.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2007

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

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.126-133
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• 2019

Objective: To compare the lumbar vertebral bone marrow fat-signal fractions obtained from six-echo modified Dixon sequence (6-echo m-Dixon) with those from single-voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in patients with low back pain. Materials and Methods: Vertebral bone marrow fat-signal fractions were quantified by 6-echo m-Dixon (repetition time [TR] = 7.2 ms, echo time (TE) = 1.21 ms, echo spacing = 1.1 ms, total imaging time = 50 seconds) and single-voxel MRS measurements in 25 targets (23 normal bone marrows, two focal lesions) from 24 patients. The point-resolved spectroscopy sequence was used for localized single-voxel MRS (TR = 3000 ms, TE = 35 ms, total scan time = 1 minute 42 seconds). A 2 × 2 × 1.5 cm³ voxel was placed within the normal L2 or L3 vertebral body, or other lesions including a compression fracture or metastasis. The bone marrow fat spectrum was characterized on the basis of the magnitude of measurable fat peaks and a priori knowledge of the chemical structure of triglycerides. The imaging-based fat-signal fraction results were then compared to the MRS-based results. Results: There was a strong correlation between m-Dixon and MRS-based fat-signal fractions (slope = 0.86, R² = 0.88, p < 0.001). In Bland-Altman analysis, 92.0% (23/25) of the data points were within the limits of agreement. Bland-Altman plots revealed a slight but systematic error in the m-Dixon based fat-signal fraction, which showed a prevailing overestimation of small fat-signal fractions (< 20%) and underestimation of high fat-signal fractions (> 20%). Conclusion: Given its excellent agreement with single-voxel-MRS, 6-echo m-Dixon can be used for visual and quantitative evaluation of vertebral bone marrow fat in daily practice.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.128-136
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• 2002

In this paper, we developed an acoustic echo canceller in real-time using TeakLite DSP Core, which will be placed in the vocoder chip of a mobile handset. Considering the limited computational capacity given to the acoustic echo canceller in a vocoder chip, we employed a FIR-type adaptive filter using a conventional NLMS algorithm. To begin with, we designed and implemented an acoustic echo canceller with floating-point format C-source code, and then converted it into fixed-point format through integer simulation. Then we programmed and optimized it in the assembler level to make it run ill real-time. After optimization procedure, the implemented echo canceller has approximately 624 words of program memory and 811 words of data memory. With 8 KHz sampling rate and 256 filter taps in the echo canceller that corresponds to 32 msec of echo delay, it requires 14.12 MIPS of computational capacity. For coverage of 16 msec echo delay, i.e., 128 filter taps, 9 MIPS is requited.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.42-51
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• 2000

Purpose: Projection-type Fast Spin Echo (PFSE) imaging is robust to patient motion or flow related artifact compared to conventional Fast Spin Echo (FSE) imaging, however, it has difficulty in controlling $T_2$ contrast. In this paper, Tz contrast in the PFSE method is analyzed and compared with those of the FSE method with various effective echo times by computer simulation. The contrasts in the FSE and PFSE methods are also compared by experiments with volunteers. From the analysis and simulation, it is shown that ${T_2}-weighted$ images can well be obtained by the PFSE method proposed. Materials and methods: Pulse sequence for the PFSE method is implemented at a 1.0 Tesla whole body MRI system and $T_2$ contrasts in the PFSE and FSE methods are analyzed by computer simulation and experiment with volunteers. For the simulation, a mathematical phantom composed of various $T_2$ values is devised and $T_2$ contrast in the reconstructed image by the PFSE is compared to those by the FSE method with various effective echo times. Multi-slice ${T_2}-weighted$ head images of the volunteers obtained by the PFSE method are also shown in comparison with those by the FSE method at a 1.0 Tesla whole body MRI system. Results: From the analysis, $T_2$ contrast by the PFSE method appears similar to those by the FSE method with the effective echo time in a range of SO-lOOms. Using a mathematical phantom, contrast in the PFSE image appears close to that by the FSE method with the effective echo time of 96ms. From experiment with volunteers, multi-slice $T_2-weighted$ images are obtained by the PFSE method having contrast similar to that of the FSE method with the effective echo time of 96ms. Reconstructed images by the PFSE method show less motion related artifact compared to those by the FSE method. Conclusion: The projection-type FSE imaging acquires multiple radial lines with different angles in polar coordinate in k space using multiple spin echoes. The PFSE method is robust to patient motion or flow, however, it has difficulty in controlling $T_2$ contrast compared to the FSE method. In this paper, it is shown that the PFSE method provides good $T_2$ contrast (${T_2}-weighted$ images) similar to the FSE method by both computer simulation and experiments with volunteers.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2021

The aim of this study was to provide a new assessment of rotator cuff muscle activity. Eight male subjects (24.7 ± 3.2 years old,171.2 ± 9.8 cm tall, and weighing 63.8 ± 11.9 kg) performed the study exercises. The subjects performed 10 sets of the exercise while fixing the elbow at 90 degrees flexure and lying supine on a bed. One exercise set consisted of the subject performing external shoulder rotation 50 times using training equipment. Two imaging protocols were employed: (a) true fast imaging with steady precession (TrueFISP) at an acquisition time of 12 seconds and (b) multi-shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging (MSSE-EPI) at an acquisition time of 30 seconds for one echo. The main method of assessing rotator cuff muscle activity was functional T2 mapping using ultrafast imaging (fast-acquired muscle functional MRI [fast-mfMRI]). Fast-mfMRI enabled real-time imaging for the identification and evaluation of the degree of muscle activity induced by the exercise. Regions of interest were set at several places in the musculus subscapularis (sub), musculus supraspinatus (sup), musculus teres minor (ter), and deltoid muscle (del). We used the MR signal of the images and transverse relaxation time (T2) for comparison. Most of the TrueFISP signal was not changed by exercise and there was no significant difference from the resting values. Only the T2 in the musculus teres minor was increased after one set and the change were seen on the T2 images. Additionally, except for those after one and two sets, the changes in T2 were significant compared to those at rest (P < 0.01). We also demonstrated identify and visualize the extent to which muscles involved in muscle activity by exercise. In addition, we showed that muscle activity in a region such as a shoulder, which is susceptible to B0 inhomogeneity, could be easily detected using this technique.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.9 no.12
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• pp.1337-1344
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• 2014

The objective of an echo canceller connected to any end of a communication line such as digital subscriber line (DSL) is to compensate the outgoing transmit signal in the receiving path that the hybrid circuit leaks. The echo canceller working in a full duplex environment is an adaptive system driven by the local signal. Conventional echo canceller that implement the least mean square (LMS) algorithm provides a low computational burden but poor convergence properties. The length of the echo canceller will directly affect both the degree of performance and the convergence speed of the adaptation process. To cancel long time-varying echoes, the number of tap coefficients of a conventional echo canceller must be large, which decreases the convergence speed of the adaptive filter. This paper proposes an alternative technique for the echo cancellation in a telecommunication channel. The new technique employs the bi-directional least mean square (LMS) algorithm for adaptively computing the optimal set of the coefficients of the echo canceller, which is composed of weighted combination of both feedforward and feedback algorithms. Finally, Simulation results as well as mathematical analysis demonstrates that the proposed echo canceller has faster convergence speed than the conventional LMS echo canceller with nearly equivalent complexity of computation.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.44-51
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• 2001

This Paper the practical echo signal synthesis model to predict the target strength and signal shape of a submarine for a valuable tool to active sonar engineer. It is based on UTAHID (Underwater TArget by Highlight Distribution) model which is relocated highlight points along to external hull for aspect angle, and synthesized echo signal by modified grouping highlights to internal scatter cloud. Proposed model is analyzed target strength characteristics on various incident pulse length, and synthesis signal signature, target time spreading loss, echo elongation effect and so on. Thus it can be efficiently used in various real systems related to underwater target echo signal synthesis, that is, active sonar, acoustic countermeasure and surveillance system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1567-1572
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• 2004

Although accurate measurement of velocity profiles, multiple velocity vectors, and shear stress in arteries is important, there is still no easy method to obtain such information in vivo. This study shows the utility of combining ultrasound contrast imaging with particle image velocimetry (PIV) for non-invasive measurement of velocity vectors. The steady flow analytical solution and optical PIV measurements (for pulsatile flow) were used for comparison. When compared to the analytical solution, both echo PIV and optical PIV resolved the steady velocity profile well. Error in shear rate as measured by echo PIV (8%) was comparable to the error of optical PIV (6.5%). In pulsatile flow, echo PIV velocity profiles agreed well with optical PIV profiles. Echo PIV followed the general profile of pulsatile shear stress across the artery but underestimated wall shear at certain time points. These studies indicate that echo PIV is a promising technique for the non-invasive measurement of velocity profiles and shear stress.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.1-11
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• 2000

This paper proposes the practical echo-signal synthesis models - UTAHID (Underwater TArget by Highlight Distribution) & M-UTAHID(Modified UTAHID) - of underwater target for active sonar engineering At high frequencies all the echo components that are the specular reflected waves and various elastic scattering wave scan be regarded the summation of individual echo from some equivalent scattering centers, so the underwater target is characterized by highlights distributed in spatial target structure. Proposed models are compared with characteristics of random distributed model & equivalent interval highlight model, and analyzed target strength, echo-elongation effect, target time spread loss and so on. Thus these can be efficiently used in various real systems related to underwater target echo-signal synthesis on active sonar and acoustic countermeasure.