• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.487-498
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• 2010

Purpose : To investigate the immediate effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation(TENS) on the spasticity and the balance in the stroke patients. Methods : 26 subjects with spasticity over lower limbs were allocated randomly into two groups : (1) TENS group, (2) placebo-TENS group. TENS was applied on the both gastrocnemius for 60 minutes(100 Hz, 0.25 ms, 2 times sensory threshold). The modified Ashworth Scale(MAS) and Manual Muscle Tester were used to assess the spasticity of the ankle plantar flexors. Static balance under three conditions was measured by force-plate; in (1) the condition of standing with eyes opened, (2) with eyes closed and (3) the condition of standing on unstable surface with eyes opened. Results : When compared with the pre and post TENS application, TENS showed significant reduction of ankle spasticity in MAS and MMT measurement. Also, Application of high-frequency TENS improved the balance under three conditions. Conclusion : A single session of TENS to stroke patients could reduce spasticity and improve the balance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 2012

Purpose : This study was somatosensory less in patients with idiopathic scoliosis somatosensory input to the lumbar stabilization exercises carried out to determine the most effective treatment method to be stable and unstable in terms of supporting the lumbar stabilization exercises the patient's torso length and postural sway by comparing the distance from a standing position and looked for differences in effect on the balance. Methods : The subjects of the study were 18 patients who showed the symptom of scoliosis. The study classified the patients into two experimental groups, one using an unstable surface and one a fixed surface, and the patients were required to do a lumbar stabilization exercise a total of 12 times for 60 minutes per session, three times a week for four weeks. The study carried out a paired comparison t-test so as to compare differences between measurement values in each experimental group before and after the exercise. Results : Superior iliac spine on the left, there was a significant reduction in the group doing the lumbar stabilization exercise on an unstable surface (p<0.05). Regarding change in sway distance to the left and right directions in the group doing the lumbar stabilization exercise on the unstable surface, there was a significant decrease in both the condition of closed eyes or open eyes (p<0.05). As for change in sway distance in forward-and-backward direction, there was a significant reduction in the condition of either closed eyes or open eyes (p<0.05). Conclusion : The lumbar stabilization exercise on an unstable surface improved the trunk posture of patients with scoliosis symmetrically, and the static balance ability in a standing posture was discovered to be improved. In the future, the lumbar stabilization exercise on an unstable surface may be used as a posture correction and balance increase exercise for patients with scoliosis.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.543-551
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• 2011

Steam generator tubes for nuclear power plants contain the local shape transitions on their inner or outer surface such as dent, bulge, over-expansion, eccentricity, deflection, and so on by the application of physical force during the tube manufacturing and steam generator assembling and by the sludge (that is, corrosion products) produced during the plant operation. The structural integrity of tubes will be degraded by generating the corrosive crack at that location. The profilometry using the traditional bobbin probes which are currently applied for measuring the profile change of tubes gives us basic information such as axial locations and average magnitudes of deformations. However, the three-dimensional quantitative evaluation on circumferential locations, distributional angle, and size of deformations will have to be conducted to understand the effects of residual stresses increased by local deformations on corrosive cracking of tubes. Steam generator tubes of Korean standard nuclear power plants expanded within their tube-sheets by the explosive expansion method and suffered from corrosive cracks in the early stage of power operation. Thus, local deformations of steam generator tubes at the top of tube-sheet were measured with an advanced rotating probe and a laser profiling system for the two cases where the tubes expanded by the explosive expansion method and hydraulic expansion. Also, the trends of eccentricity, deflection, and over-expansion of tubes were evaluated. The advanced eddy current profilometry was confirmed to provide accurate information of local deformations compared with laser profilometry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.544-545
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• 2013

Recently, low-temperature atmospheric-pressure plasmas have been investigated [1,2] for biomedical applications and surface treatments. Experiments for improving hydrophilicity of stainless steel (SUS 304) plate with atmospheric microwave argon and H2O2 mixture plasma jet [3] were carried out and experimental measurements and plasma simulations were conducted for investigating the characteristics of plasma for the process. After 30 s of low power (under 10 W) and low temperature (under $50^{\circ}C$) plasma treatment, the water contact angle decreased rapidly to around $10^{\circ}$ from $75^{\circ}$ and was maintained under $30^{\circ}$ for a day (24 hours). The surface free energy, calculated from the contact angles, increased. The chemical properties of the surface were examined by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and the surface morphology and roughness were examined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) respectively. The characteristics of plasma sources with several frequencies were investigated by Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) measurement and one-dimensional Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulation and zero-dimensional global simulation [4]. The relation between plasma components and the efficacy of the surface modification were discussed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1221-1228
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• 2005

Carbon electrode was applied to a wastewater treatment system as biofilm media. The spatial distribution of heterotrophic bacteria in aerobic wastewater biofilm grown on carbon electrode was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and biomass measurement. Five volts of electric oxidation and reduction potential were charged to the carbon anode and cathode of the bioelectrochemical system, respectively, but were not charged to electrodes of a conventional system. To correlate the biofilm architecture of bacterial populations with their activity, the bacterial treatment efficiency of organic carbons was measured in the bioelectrochemical system and compared with that in the conventional system. In the SEM image, the biofilm on the anodic medium of the bioelectrochemical system looked intact and active; however, that on the carbon medium of the conventional system appeared to be shrinking or damaging. In the AFM image, the thickness of biofilm formed on the carbon medium was about two times of those on the anodic medium. The bacterial treatment efficiency of organic carbons in the bioelectrochemical system was about 1.5 times higher than that in the conventional system. Some denitrifying bacteria can metabolically oxidize $H_{2}$, coupled to reduction of $NO_{3}^{-}\;to\;N_{2}$. $H_{2}$ was produced from the cathode in the bioelectrochemical system by electrolysis of water but was not so in the conventional system. The denitrification efficiency was less than $22\%$ in the conventional system and more than $77\%$ in the bioelectrochemical system. From these results, we found that the electrochemical coupling reactions between aerobic and anaerobic reactors may be a useful tool for improvement of wastewater treatment and denitrification efficiency, without special manipulations such as bacterial growth condition control, C/N ratio (the ratio of carbon to nitrogen) control, MLSS returning, or biofilm refreshing.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.69-76
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• 1998

Cis-diamminedichloroplatinum II (cisplatin), an effective antitumor agent, induces acute renal failure by unknown mechanisms. To investigate direct toxic effects of cisplatin in the renal proximal tubular transport system, OK cell line was selected as a cell model and $Na^+/H^+$ antiport activity was evaluated during a course of cisplatin treatment. The cells grown to confluence were treated with cisplatin for 1 hour, washed, and incubated for up to 48 hours. At appropriate intervals, cells were examined for $Na^+/H^+$ antiport activity by measuring the recovery of intracellular pH (pHi) after acid loading. Cisplatin of less than 50 ${\mu}M$ induced no significant changes in cell viability in 24 hours, but it decreased the viability markedly after 48 hours. In cells exposed to 50 ${\mu}M$ cisplatin for 24 hours, the $Na^+-dependent$ pHi recovery (i.e., $Na^+/H^+$ antiport) was drastically inhibited with no changes in the $Na^+-independent$ recovery. Kinetic analysis of the $Na^+-dependent$ pHi recovery indicated that the Vmax was reduced, but the apparent Km was not altered. The cellular $Na^+$ and $K^+$ contents determined immediately before the transport measurement appeared to be similar in the control and cisplatin group, thus, the driving force for $Na^+-coupled$ transport was not different. These results indicate that cisplatin exposure impairs the $Na^+/H^+$ antiport capacity in OK cells. It is, therefore, possible that in patients treated with a high dose of cisplatin, proximal tubular mechanism for proton secretion (hence $HCO_3^-$ reabsorption) could be attenuated, leading to a metabolic acidosis (proximal renal tubular acidosis).

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.207-212
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• 2010

Purpose: Rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses, based on fluorosilicone acrylate, were treated with plasma in air. Methods: The chemical compositions were analyzed by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the surface morphology and roughness of RGP contact lenses were observed by using atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the wettability changes were estimated by wetting angle measurement. Results: As the contact lenses were treated by the plasma, the F contents decreased significantly, and the O and Si contents increased on the surface. The number of oxygen-containing hydrophilic radicals (C-O and Si-O) increased greatly, the hydrophobic surface decreased, and the wetting angle increased. But the C-O bonds created with exchange of the fluorine did not increase a wettability. The surface compositions were not remarkably changed for the 6 months after plasma treatment, but the wetting angle increased again. Conclusions: It was considered that the improved wettability of the RGP contact lenses of high fluorine content after plasma treatment was affected by the activation of surface, the increase of Si-O, and the decrease of hydrophobic surface.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.397-413
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• 2018

Excitation mechanism of interference effect between two tall buildings is investigated with wind tunnel experiments. Synchronized building surface pressure and flow field measurements by particle image velocimetry (PIV) are conducted to explore the relationship between the disturbed wind flow field and the consequent wind load modification for twin buildings in tandem. This reveals evident excitation mechanisms for the fluctuating across-wind loads on the buildings. For small distance (X/D < 3) between two buildings, the disturbed flow pattern of impaired vortex shedding is observed and the fluctuating across-wind load on the downstream building decreases. For larger distance ($X/D{\geq}3$), strong correlation between the across-wind load of the downstream building and the oscillation of the wake of the upstream building is found. By further analysis with conditional sampling and phase-averaged techniques, the coherent flow structures in the building gap are clearly observed and the wake oscillation of the upstream building is confirmed to be the reason of the magnified across-wind force on the downstream building. For efficient PIV measurement, the experiments use a square-section high-rise building model with geometry scale smaller than the usual value. Interference factors for all three components of wind loads on the building models being surrounded by another identical building with various configurations are measured and compared with those from previous studies made at large geometry scale. The results support that for interference effect between buildings with sharp corners, the length scale effect plays a minor role provided that the minimum Reynolds number requirement is met.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.83-101
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• 2005

This paper summarizes the application of a rational methodology for the structural assessment of older reinforced concrete Tunisian bridges. This methodology is based on ambient vibration measurement of the bridge, identification of the structure's modal signature and finite element model updating. The selected case study is the Boujnah bridge of the Tunis-Msaken Highway. This bridge is made of a continuous four-span simply supported reinforced concrete slab without girders resting on elastomeric bearings at each support. Ambient vibration tests were conducted on the bridge using a data acquisition system with nine force-balance accelerometers placed at selected locations of the bridge. The Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition technique was applied to extract the dynamic characteristics of the bridge. The finite element model was updated in order to obtain a reasonable correlation between experimental and numerical modal properties. For the model updating part of the study, the parameters selected for the updating process include the concrete modulus of elasticity, the elastic bearing stiffness and the foundation spring stiffnesses. The primary objective of the paper is to demonstrate the use of the Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition technique combined with model updating to provide data that could be used to assess the structural condition of the selected bridge. The application of the proposed methodology led to a relatively faithful linear elastic model of the bridge in its present condition.

• Journal of Satellite, Information and Communications
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.89-93
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• 2015

Ion-beam irradiation(IB) on $HfO_2$ surface induced high-performance liquidcrystal(LC) driving at a 1-V threshold with vertical alignment of liquid crystals(LC). The high-k materials Atomic layer deposition was used to obtain LC orientation on ultrathin and high-quality films of $HfO_2$ layers. To analyze surface morphological transition of $HfO_2$ which can act as physical alignment effect of LC, atomic force microscopy images are employed with various IB intensities. The contact angle was measured to elucidate the mechanism of vertical alignment of LC on $HfO_2$ with IB irradiation. Contact angle measurement show the surface energy changes via IB intensity increasing.