• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.58 no.12
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• pp.484-490
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• 2015

Purpose: To determine the efficacy and safety of oral propranolol as a first-line treatment for superficially located infantile hemangioma (IH) and propose an assessment tool to measure treatment response. Methods: Patients with superficial IH under 1 year of age were prospectively recruited between May 2012 and December 2013 at the Department of Pediatrics of Chungbuk National University Hospital. Propranolol was administered to 12 infants (median age, 3.8 months) while monitoring cardiovascular and adverse metabolic effects. If a patient showed no adverse events, the dosage was gradually increased up to 3 mg/kg/day and maintained for 1 year. We used our own scoring system to assess treatment response using parameters like change in color, and longest diameter, and thickness of the IH. Results: Eleven out of 12 patients completed the protocol with consistent improvement of hemangiomas during therapy. Patients on propranolol showed a more than 50% involution in the first 3 months, with additional steady involution until 1 year. Patients with the highest scores at 1 month maintained their score and showed better responses until treatment termination. The patient with the lowest score at 1 month did not show any further regression and stopped propranolol treatment 4 months after initiation. In two children with recurrences after successful therapeutic regression, propranolol was effective after being reintroduced. Propranolol treatment was not interrupted in any patient due to adverse events. Conclusion: Oral propranolol at 3 mg/kg/day showed a consistent, rapid, and therapeutic effect on superficial IHs without significant adverse events.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.27-35
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• 2018

The objective of this study is to demonstrate the suitability of electromagnetic waves for evaluating necking defects in bored piles using electromagnetic waves. Experiments are conducted with small-scaled defective model pile with diameter of 150 mm and length of 270 mm. Two necking defects are generated at the upper and lower positions on two different sides of the model pile, respectively. The other two necking defects are generated at the upper and lower positions on the same side of the model pile. Electrical wires are installed alongside the stainless steel wire of a steel cage to configure a two-conductor transmission line. A time-domain reflectometer is used to generate and defect electromagnetic waves. The experimental results show that electromagnetic waves are reflected at the necking defects and the end of the model pile. In addition, calculated defect locations are almost the same as actual defect locations. This study demonstrates that electromagnetic waves can be effective tool for evaluating necking defects in bored piles.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.383-387
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• 2015

This study investigated the size specific dose estimates of difference localizer on pediatric CT image. Seventy one cases of pediatric abdomen-pelvic CT (M:F=36:35) were included in this study. Anterior-posterior and lateral diameters were measured in axial CT images. Conversion factors from American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) report 204 were obtained for effective diameter to determine size specific dose estimate (SSDE) from the CT dose index volume (CTDIvol) recorded from the dose reports. For the localizer of mid-slice SSDE was 107.63% higher than CTDIvol and that of xiphoid-process slices SSDE was higher than 92.91%. The maximum error of iliac crest slices, xiphoid process slices and femur head slices between mid-slices were 7.48%, 17.81% and 14.04%. In conclusion, despite the SSDE of difference localizer has large number of errors, SSDE should be regarded as the primary evaluation tool of the patient radiation in pediatric CT for evaluation.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.556-563
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• 2015

Chinese cabbage is one of the most important vegetables in Korea and a target crop for market stabilization as well. Remote sensing has long been used as a tool to extract plant growth, cultivated area and yield information for many crops, but little research has been conducted on Chinese cabbage. This study refers to the derivation of simple Chinese cabbage growth prediction equation by using RapidEye derived vegetation index. Daesan-myeon area in Gochang-gun, Jeollabuk-do, Korea is one of main producing district of Chinese cabbage. RapidEye multi-spectral imagery was taken on the Daesan-myeon five times from early September to late October during the Chinese cabbage growing season. Meanwhile, field reflectance spectra and five plant growth parameters, including plant height (P.H.), plant diameter (P.D.), leaf height (L.H.), leaf length (L.L.) and leaf number (L.N.), were measured for about 20 plants (ten plants per plot) for each ground survey. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for each of the 20 plants was measured using an active plant growth sensor (Crop $Circle^{TM}$) at the same time. The results of correlation analysis between the vegetation indices and Chinese cabbage growth data showed that NDVI was the most suited for monitoring the L.H. (r=0.958~0.978), L.L. (r=0.950~0.971), P.H. (r=0.887~0.982), P.D. (r=0.855~0.932) and L.N. (r=0.718~0.968). Retrieval equations were developed for estimating Chinese cabbage growth parameters using NDVI. These results obtained using the NDVI is effective provided a basis for establishing retrieval algorithm for the biophysical properties of Chinese cabbage. These results will also be useful in determining the RapidEye multi-spectral imagery necessary to estimate parameters of Chinese cabbage.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.720-737
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• 2022

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness and safety of East Asian traditional medicine treatments (EATMT) versus conventional management in patients following heart valve replacement surgery. Methods: We searched several databases, including the Korean Studies Information Service System, PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Citation Information by NII. The search range included randomized controlled trials from each first issue until June 27, 2021. Two review authors independently extracted the data. We assessed the risk of systematic errors by evaluating risk domains using the "Risk of bias" tool. Results: We included 5 trials in the review. In the EATMT, the investigators reported significant improvements in reshaping of the heart structure: left ventricular end diastolic diameter (MD -4.43, 95% CI -6.06 to -2.79; 130 participants; 2 studies; high evidence). Comparisons with usual care revealed a significant decrease in gastrointestinal complications rate (OR 0.30, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.47; 503 participants; 2 studies; high evidence). We assessed 4 studies as having a low risk of bias and 1 study as having a high risk of bias. Conclusion: This systematic review suggests that East Asian traditional medicine interventions may be effective in preventing and alleviating complications, but we found evidence of important trade-offs between known benefits and known adverse effects in cardiac dysfunction and inflammation following heart valve replacement. Consequently, additional high-quality studies should be conducted.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.150.1-150.1
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• 2014

Showerhead is used as a main part in the semiconductor equipment. The face plate flatness should remain constant and the cleaning performance must be gained to keep the uniformity level of etching or deposition in chemical vapor deposition process. High operating temperature or long period of thermal loading could lead the showerhead to be deformed thermally. In some case, the thermal deformation appears very sensitive to showerhead performance. This paper describes the methods for robust design using computational fluid dynamics. To reveal the influence of the post distribution on flow pattern in the showerhead cavity, numerical simulation was performed for several post distributions. The flow structure appears similar to an impinging flow near a centered baffle in showerhead cavity. We took the structure as an index to estimate diffusion path. A robust design to reduce the thermal deformation of showerhead can be achieved using post number increase without ill effect on flow. To prevent the showerhead deformation by heat loading, its face plate thickness was determined additionally using numerical simulation. The face plate has thousands of impinging holes. The design key is to keep pressure drop distribution on the showerhead face plate with the holes. This study reads the methodology to apply to a showerhead hole design. A Hagen-Poiseuille equation gives the pressure drop in a fluid flowing through such hole. The assumptions of the equation are the fluid is viscous-incompressible and the flow is laminar fully developed in a through hole. An equation can be expressed with radius R and length L related to the volume flow rate Q from the Hagen-Poiseuille equation, $Q={\pi}R4{\Delta}p/8{\mu}L$, where ${\mu}$ is the viscosity and ${\Delta}p$ is the pressure drop. In present case, each hole has steps at both the inlet and the outlet, and the fluid appears compressible. So we simplify the equation as $Q=C(R,L){\Delta}p$. A series of performance curves for a through hole with geometric parameters were obtained using two-dimensional numerical simulation. We obtained a relation between the hole diameter and hole length from the test cases to determine hole diameter at fixed hole length. A numerical simulation has been performed as a tool for enhancing showerhead robust design from flow structure. Geometric parameters for the design were post distribution and face plate thickness. The reinforced showerhead has been installed and its effective deposition profile is being shown in factory.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.360-366
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• 2011

The Elasto-magnetic sensor is applied to detect the local cross-sectional loss of steel cables in this study while it was originally developed for measuring the tensile force in the previous works. To verify the feasibility of the proposed damage detection technique, steel bars which have 4-different diameters were fabricated and the output voltage value was measured at each diameter by the E/M sensor. Optimal input voltage and working point are chosen so that the linearity and resolution of results can ensure through repeated experiments, and then the E/M sensor was measured the output voltage values at the damage points of steel bar specimen that was applied the 4 types of damage condition based on the selected optimal experimental condition. This proposed approach can be an effective tool for steel cable health monitoring.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2015

The concept design of a riser for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion in 10 MW is proposed and its dynamic behaviour characteristics is analyzed with numerical method. A riser pipe with a hollow along its thickness in the cross-section to increase the effective modulus of its cross-section is designed considering the manufacture. The riser pipe without hollows along its thickness needs a lumped weight at the bottom end of a riser in order to keep its vertical hanging configuration from large buoyancy and the strong current. The riser is designed to control its density by inserting materials in high or low density into a hollow. The dynamic behaviour characteristics of the two designed risers is evaluated with the developed numerical analysis tool. The combined stress of the riser with a lumped weight is showed to be dominated by weight of a lumped mass. The riser with no hollow shows large combined stress near sea surface by strong current. Local structural analysis for the cross-section of a hollow riser is needed in detail.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.62-78
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• 2023

Objectives : This study aims to assess the impact of acupotomy on migraine through an examination of clinical studies conducted since 2015. Methods : We conducted a comprehensive search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized controlled trials (nRCTs) related to acupotomy treatment for migraine, utilizing five Korean online databases (OASIS, Science ON, DBPIA, KISS, RISS), as well as four foreign online databases (CNKI, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library). We identified a total of 10 relevant studies for analysis. Participants characteristics, treatment points, combination treatments, treatment cycles or frequencies, evaluation indices, efficacy, and adverse events were analyzed. The risk of bias in the 10 RCTs was assessed using the Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2.0). Results : A total of 931 participants were included in 10 studies. In the intervention group, the average duration of migraine morbidity ranged from 15.5±4.5 months to 15.9±4.2 years. Six studies based their diagnoses on the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD), while five studies relied on Chinese diagnostic criteria. All studies specified the treatment area as the region exhibiting tenderness or induration on the head and neck. Treatment cycles ranged from a minimum of 2 days to a maximum of 1 week, with the number of days per treatment course varied from 5 days to 4 weeks. The diameter of acupuncture needles used varied between 0.3 mm and 1 mm. Of the eight studies specifying needle length, the shortest was 20 mm, and the longest was 40 mm. A total of eight evaluation indices were employed, with total efficacy rate (TER) and visual analogue scale (VAS) being the most frequently used. Statistically, all intervention groups showed more significant results compared to the control groups. Adverse events were reported in only two studies within the intervention group. Overall, the risk of bias assessment for the selected RCTs ranged from 'some concerns' to 'high risk of bias.' Conclusions : This study showed that acupotomy treatments for migraine were effective.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.2 s.82
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• pp.198-203
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• 2007

DNA transfection is a powerful tool for studying gene functions. The $Ca^{2+}$-phosphate precipitation remains one of the most popular and cost-effective transfection techniques. Mature neurons are more resistant to transfection than young ones and most other cell types, and easy to die if microenvironment changes. Here, we report a transfection protocol for mature neurons. The critical modifications are inclusion of glial cells in culture and careful control of $Ca^{2+}$-phosphate precipitation under microscope. Cerebral glial cells were grown until ${\sim}70-80%$ confluence in DMEM/10% horse serum, which was thereafter replaced with serum-free Neurobasal/Ara-C, and 319 hippocampal neurons were plated onto the glial layer Formation of fine $DNA/Ca^{2+}$-phosphate precipitates was induced using Clontech $CalPhos^{TM}$ Mammalian Transfection Kit, and the size ($0.5-1\;{\mu}m$ in diameter) and density(about 10 particles/$100\;{\mu}m^2$) were carefully controlled by the time of incubation in the medium. This modified protocol can be reliably applied for transfection of mature neurons that are maintained longer than two weeks in vitro, resulting in 10-15 healthy transfected neurons per a well of 24-well plates. The efficacy of the protocol was verified by punctate expression of $pEGFP-CaMKII{\alpha}$, a synaptic protein, and diffuse expression of pDsRed2. Our protocol provides a reliable method for transfection of mature neurons in vitro.