• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.100-106
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to confirm the exactitude of in vitro nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy(NMRS) and to complement the defect of in vivo NMRS. It has been difficult to understand the metabolism of a cerebellum using in vivo NMRS owing to the generated inhomogeneity of magnetic fields (B0 and B1 field) by the complexity of the cerebellum structure. Thus, this study tried to more exactly analyze the metabolism of a canine cerebellum using the cell extraction and high resolution NMRS. In order to conduct the absolute metabolic quantification in a canine cerebellum, the spectrum of our phantom included in various brain metabolites (i.e., NAA, Cr, Cho, Ins, Lac, GABA, Glu, Gln, Tau and Ala) was obtained. The canine cerebellum tissue was extracted using the methanol-chloroform water extraction (M/C extraction) and one group was filtered and the other group was not under extract processing. Finally, NMRS of a phantom solution and two extract solution (90% D2O) was progressed using a 500MHz (11.4 T) NMR machine. Filtering a solution of the tissue extract increased the signal to noise ratio (SNR). The metabolic concentrations of a canine cerebellum were more close to rat’s metabolic concentration than human’s metabolic concentration. The present study demonstrates the absolute quantification technique in vitro high resolution NMRS with tissue extraction as the method to accurately measure metabolite concentration.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.243-248
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• 2006

Purpose: Liver demonstrates heterogeneous FDG uptake and sometimes it shows abnormally increased uptake even though there is no malignant tissue. However, there was no previous study to correlate these various pattern of hepatic FDG uptake with benign liver disease. Therefore, we evaluated the significance of hepatic FDG uptake associated with various clinical factors including fatty liver, liver function tests and lipid profiles. Materials and Methods: We reviewed a total of 188 patients (male/female: 120/68, mean age: $50{\pm}9$) who underwent PET/CT for screening of malignancy. Patients with DM, impaired glucose tolerance, previous severe hepatic disease or long-term medication history were excluded. The FDG uptake in liver was analyzed semi-quantitatively using ROI on transaxial images (segment 8) and we compared mean standardized uptake value (SUV) between fatty liver and non-fatty liver group. We also evaluated the correlation between hepatic FDG uptake and various clinical factors including serum liver function test (ALT, AST), ${\gamma}-GT$, total cholesterol and triglyceride concentration. The effect of alcoholic history and body mass index on hepatic FDG uptake was analyzed within the fatty liver patients. Results: The hepatic FDG uptake of fatty liver group was significantly higher than that of non-fatty liver group. Serum total cholesterol and triglyceride concentration showed significant correlation with hepatic FDG uptake. However, there was no significant correlation between other factors (ALT, AST, and ${\gamma}-GT$) and FDG uptake. Also there was no difference of mean SUV between normal and abnormal groups on the basis of alcoholic history and body mass Index within fatty liver patients. Fatty liver and high serum triglyceride concentration were the independent factors affecting hepatic FDG uptake according to multivariate analysis. Conclusion: In conclusion, hepatic FDG uptake was strongly correlated with fatty liver and serum triglyceride concentration.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.15-24
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• 2013

Purpose: With the demand of SPECT/CT increasing, the interest in complex diagnostic information of CT is rising along with the expansion of various studies on potential performance value. But the study on reduction of exposure dose generated by CT is not being conducted enough. Therefore, in this study, the goal is to identify how much dose reduction exists when performing the extremity bone SPECT/CT using the flat-panel CT. Materials and Methods: The extremity bone SPECT/CT was performed with two equipments -BrightView XCT (Philips Healthcare, Cleveland, USA) and Brilliance 16 CT (Philips Healthcare, Cleveland, USA)-to identify the exposed dose and image quality resulted by changing scan parameter (mAs) applying for both equipment respectively. The noise value of image and spatial resolution were measured with AAPM CT phantom. Tube voltage (kVp) was fixed to 120 kVp, tube current (mAs) calculated at different mA (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80) was applied to both equipments respectively. DLP (dose length product) were calculated at the same distance at respective mAs. Also, we acquired images and % contrast with NEMA IEC body phantom to confirm the effect on image. The output of statistics was analyzed by SPSS ver.18. Results: Regarding AAPM phantom, the noise decreased as the tube current (mAs) increased and flat-panel had less noise than Helical CT. This difference increased at lower dose exposure. As to the evaluation of spatial resolution, we can differentiate the space up to 0.75 mm with both equipments. With scan parameter (mA) growing, the value of DLP increased up to 54-216 mGy cm at flat-panel CT and up to 177-709 mGy cm at Helical CT. Regarding NEMA IEC body phantom, same sphere with varied parameter (mA) shows that similar results. Conclusion: There is no significant differences of image quality in both flat-panel and Helical CT when the scan parameter (mA) is changed respectively. Moreover, we can identify the reduction of exposure dose and confirm %contrast analysis value with maintaining image quality. Therefore, at the extremity bone SPECT/CT requiring high spital resolution without the wide ROI, the flat-panel CT is considered to be more useful and it expected to result in the similar image quality with lower exposure dose compared to Helical CT. Additionally, through this study, we expect to help the reduction of the unnecessary exposure dose.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.3 s.104
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• pp.235-241
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• 2003

The effect of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the characteristics of algae-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM) was examined by comparing the biodegradability and DOM fraction distribution of algal DOM before and after UV exposure. Algal DOM from two axenic cultures of Microcystis aeruginosa and Oscillatoria agardhii were irradiated for 24 h at a UV intensity of 42 W/$m^2$. A complete degradation of algal DOM during the UV exposure did not occur, remaining at constant concentrations of dissolved organic carbon(DOC). After UV exposure, however, microbial degradations were reduced by 17% in M. aeruginosa and 53% in O. agardhii, respectively, and decomposition rates also were two times lower in UV exposed algal DOM. In addition, the chemical compositions of algal DOM altered substantially after UV radiation exposure. The proportions of hydrophilic bases (HiB; protein-like DOM) decreased considerably in both algal DOM sources after UV exposure (16.8% and 20.0% of DOM, respectively), whereas those of hydrophilic acids (HiA; carboxylic acids-like DOM) increased as much as the decrease of the HiB fraction. Capillary ion electrophoresis (CE) analysis showed that several carboxylic acids increased significantly after UV exposure, further confirming an increase in HiA fractions. The results of this study clearly indicate that algal DOM can be changed in its chemical composition as well as biodegradability without complete degradation by UV radiation.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.551-560
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• 2013

Environmental factors and epilithic diatom communities in the lower streams near the harbor region of South Korean peninsula were examined during no monsoon period in May 2013. The sampling of water and epilithic diatoms was conducted at both streams, 19 regulated streams (RS) that there are one or several dams constructed in the river system, and 19 un-regulated streams (US) that there are no dams within the river. A cluster analysis based on the number of species and abundance of epilithic diatoms through the stations, divided into three groups such as groups I (mainly US), II (mixed with US and RS) and III (mainly RS), respectively. Group I showed that water quality is good and high diversity of diatom, while Group II and III was water quality is relatively poor, but not differed in biomass of diatom from Group I. In addition, Group II that had high conductivity, nitrogen and phosphorus, was the lowest in diatom diversity among them. Dominant species were Nitzschia palea (17%) and Navicula seminuloides (11%) in Group I, Nitzschia inconspicua (19%) and Navicula perminuta (9%) in Group II, and Nitzschia inconspicua (15%) and Nitzschia palea (14%) in Group III, respectively. These taxa were widely distributed in brackish water, and not closely related with specific water quality, like eutrophic water. However, the groups II and III belonged to RS, had not only little biomass, but bad water quality such as high concentrations of nutrient and chlorophyll-a. Therefore, to determine the effect of dam construction on the lower water ecosystem, the planktonic algae, which can occur algal bloom in the estuary, also was considered to be a parallel investigation.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.325-332
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of several reheating treatments (immersing the package into hot water, heating the soup in the pot and convection ovens after taking out of the opened package. heating the soup package in microwave) on the sensory characteristics of cook-chill and sous-vide spinach soup. Sensory evaluations were made on 5 sensory attributes by a 12-member panel using quantitative descriptive analysis(QDA). The fresh cooked spinach soup had a significantly(p＜0.01) higher score in color than the reheated sous-vide one. The latter, however, had a significantly(p＜0.05) higher score in taste than the former. Overall acceptability of the sous-vide spinach soup was not different from that of fresh cooked one, which supports the potential of the product in foodservice operation for the efficient management of meal plan. Reheating treatments didn't show any differences in taste, flavor, color, texture, appearance and overall acceptability. Therefore, any reheating treatment nay be used for cook-chill and sous-vide spinach soup.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2004

Objective: To investigate the association of FSH receptor (FSHR) polymorphism at position 680 with outcomes of controlled ovarian hyper-stimulation for IVF-ET in Korean women. Design: Genetic polymorphism analysis. Materials and Methods: The FSHR polymorphism was analyzed by PCR-RFLP in 172 ovulatory women below the age of 40 year. Patients with polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, or previous history of ovarian surgery were excluded. Results: Genotype distribution was 41.9% for the Asn/Asn, 47.7% for the Asn/Ser, and 10.5% for the Ser/Ser FSHR genotype group. There was no difference in age of subjects and infertility diagnosis between genotype groups. When the patients were grouped according to their FSHR genotype, the basal levels of FSH (day 3) were significantly different among the three groups ($6.0{\pm}0.3\;IU/L$ (mean $\pm$ SEM), $5.8{\pm}0.3\;IU/L$, and $8.6{\pm}1.2\;IU/L$ for the Asn/Asn, Asn/Ser, and Ser/Ser groups, respectively, p=0.002). The Ser/Ser group showed a higher total doses of gonadotropins required to achieve ovulation induction, and a lower serum estradiol levels at the time of hCG administration compared with other two groups, but the differences were of no statistical significance. The numbers of oocytes retrieved were significantly different among the three groups ($8.6{\pm}0.8$, $9.9{\pm}0.6$, and $6.3{\pm}0.9$, for the Asn/Asn, Asn/Ser, and Ser/Ser groups, respectively, p=0.049). Clinical pregnancy rates were 42.4%, 25.9%, and 29.4% for the Asn/Asn, Asn/Ser, and Ser/Ser groups, respectively. Conclusion: Homozygous Ser/Ser genotype of FSHR polymorphism at position 680 was associated with decreased ovarian response to gonadotropin stimulation for IVF-ET.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.637-652
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• 2015

In the present work, a number of three-dimensional (3D) parametric numerical analyses have been carried out to study the influence of tunnelling on the behaviour of adjacent piles considering the transverse distance of the pile tip from the tunnel. Single piles and $5{\times}5$ piles inside a group with a spacing of 2.5d were considered, where d is the pile diameter. In the numerical modelling, several key issues, such as the tunnelling-induced pile settlements, the interface shear stresses, the relative shear displacements, the axial pile forces, the apparent factors of safety and zone of influence have been rigorously analysed. It has been found that when the piles are inside the influence zone, the pile head settlements are increased up to about 111% compared to those computed from the Greenfield condition. Larger pile settlements and smaller axial pile forces are induced on the piles inside the pile groups than those computed from the single piles since the piles responded as a block with the surrounding ground. Also tensile pile forces are induced associated with the upward resisting skin friction at the upper part of pile and the downward acting skin friction at the lower part of pile. On the contrary, when the piles were outside the influence zone, tunnelling-induced compressive pile forces developed. Based on computed load and displacement relation of the pile, the apparent factor of safety of the piles was reduced up to about 45%. Therefore the serviceability of the piles may be substantially reduced. The pile behaviour, when considering the single piles and the pile groups with regards to the influence zone, has been analysed by considering the key features in great details.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.347-365
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• 2020

In order to resolve traffic problems in urban areas and to increase the area of green spaces, tunnels in downtown areas are being increased. Additionally, the application of large port smoke extraction ventilation systems is increasing as a countermeasure to smoke extraction ventilation for tunnels with high potential for traffic congestion. It is known that the smoke extraction performance of the large port smoke extraction system is influenced not only by the amount of the extraction flow rate, but also by various factors such as the shape of the extraction port (damper) and the extraction air velocity through a damper. Therefore, in this study, the design standards and installation status of each country were investigated. When the extraction air flow rate was the same, the smoke extraction performance according to the size of the damper was numerically simulated in terms of smoke propagation distance, compared and evaluated, and the following results were obtained. As the cross-sectional area of the smoke damper increases, the extraction flow rate is concentrated in the damper close to the extraction fan, and the smoke extraction rate of the damper in downstream decreases, thereby increasing the smoke propagation distance on the downstream side. In order to prevent such a phenomenon, it is necessary to reduce the cross-sectional area of the smoke damper and increase the velocity of passing air through the damper so that the pressure loss passing through the damper increases, thereby reducing the non-uniformity of smoke extraction flow rate in the extraction section. In this analysis, it was found that when the interval distance of the extraction damper was 50 m, the air velocity passing through damper was 4.4 m/s or more, and when the interval distance of the extraction dampers was 100 m, the air velocity passing through damper was greater than 4.84 m/s, it was found to be advantageous to ensure smoke extraction performance.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4421-4426
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• 2013

Objective: The present study employed 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR) to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line A549 to investigate the effects on proliferation and expression of the TFPI-2 gene. Methods: Proliferation was assessed by MTT assay after A549 cells were treated with 0, 1, 5, 10 ${\mu}mol/L$ 5-Aza-CdR, a specific demethylating agent, for 24, 48 and 72h. At the last time point cells were also analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM) to identify any change in their cell cycle profiles. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSPCR), real time polymerase chain reaction(real-time PCR) and western blotting were carried out to determine TFPI-2 gene methylation status, mRNA expression and protein expression. Results: MTT assay showed that the growth of A549 cells which were treated with 5-Aza-CdR was significantly suppressed as compared with the control group (0 ${\mu}mol/L$ 5-Aza-CdR). After treatment with 0, 1, 5, 10 ${\mu}mol/L$ 5-Aza-CdR for 72h, FCM showed their proportion in G0/G1 was $69.7{\pm}0.99%$, $76.1{\pm}0.83%$, $83.8{\pm}0.35%$, $95.5{\pm}0.55%$ respectively (P<0.05), and the proportion in S was $29.8{\pm}0.43%$, $23.7{\pm}0.96%$, $15.7{\pm}0.75%$, $1.73{\pm}0.45%$, respectively (P<0.05), suggesting 5-Aza-CdR treatment induced G0/G1 phase arrest. MSPCR showed that hypermethylation in the promoter region of TFPI-2 gene was detected in control group (0 ${\mu}mol/L$ 5-Aza-CdR), and demethylation appeared after treatment with 1, 5, 10 ${\mu}mol/L$ 5-Aza-CdR for 72h. Real-time PCR showed that the expression levels of TFPI-2 gene mRNA were $1{\pm}0$, $1.49{\pm}0.14$, $1.86{\pm}0.09$ and $5.80{\pm}0.15$ (P<0.05) respectively. Western blotting analysis showed the relative expression levels of TFPI-2 protein were $0.12{\pm}0.01$, $0.23{\pm}0.02$, $0.31{\pm}0.02$, $0.62{\pm}0.03$ (P<0.05). TFPI-2 protein expression in A549 cells was gradually increased significantly with increase in the 5-Aza-CdR concentration. Conclusions: TFPI-2 gene promoter methylation results in the loss of TFPI-2 mRNA and protein expression in the non-small cell lung cancer cell line A549, and 5-Aza-CdR treatment could induce the demethylation of TFPI-2 gene promoter and restore TFPI-2 gene expression. These findings provide theoretic evidence for clinical treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer with the demethylation agent 5-Aza-CdR. TFPI-2 may be one molecular marker for effective treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer with 5-Aza-CdR.