• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.286-293
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• 2009

The implantable middle ear hearing devices(IMEHDs) have been developed to overcome the conventional hearing aid's problem(ringing effect caused by the acoustic feedback, cosmetic problem, etc.). In the IMEHDs, the vibrating transducer is a key component because its vibration enables to hear for hearing impaired people. The vibrating transducer is implanted on ossicular chain by surgical operation. The coupling status between implanted transducer and ossicular chain has an effect on delivering vibrating force from transducer to stapes. Noninvasive method is required to investigate the output characteristics of IMEHDs after implementation. Recently, emitted sound pressure measuring method of tympanic membrane is proposed to investigate the output characteristics of IMEHDs. However, the relationship between displacement of stapes and sound pressure by tympanic membrane was not cleared. In this paper, displacement of stapes and sound pressure by tympanic membrane were measured using the differential floating mass transducer(DFMT) that implanted on the ossicular chain of the human temporal bone and physical ear model. Through the experiments results, the relationship between displacement of stapes and sound pressure by tympanic membrane was investigated.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.433-441
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• 2017

The 3D printing selective laser sintering (SLS) and stereo lithography apparatus (SLA) method used for bone model production has good precision and resolution, but the printers are expensive and need professional knowledge for operation. The program that converts computed tomography digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) file into STL (stereolithography) file is also expensive so requesting 3D printing companies takes a lot of time and cost, which is why they are not generally utilized in surgery. To produce bone models of fractured patients, the use of 3D imaging conversion program and 3D printing system should be convenient, and the cost of device and operation should be low. Besides, they should be able to produce big size bone models for application to surgery. Therefore, by using an fused deposition modeling (FDM) method 3D printer that uses thermoplastic materials such as DICOM Viewer OsiriX and plastic wires, this study developed 3D printing system for Fracture surgery Patients customized bone model production for many clinics to use for surgery of fracture patients by universalizing with no limit in printing sizes and low maintenance and production cost. It is expected to be widely applied to the overall areas of orthopedics' education, research and clinic. It is also expected to be conveniently used in not only university hospitals but also regular general hospitals.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.316-325
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• 2003

In this paper, the effect of Ganopoly(extracts of Ganoderma lucidum) and Ganopoly/C+(70% Ganopoly + 30% chitosan) on cisplastin-induced nephrotoxicity was investigated in Sprague-Dawley rats. A single dose of cisplastin(5 ㎎/㎏) kg) was administered intraperitoneally after pretreatment of saline, Ganopoly and Ganopoly/C+ for 7 days. The nephrotoxicity and renal function were manifestated by the changes of body weight, blood pressure, biochemical changes and solute in urine and plasma. After the treatment of CDDP(cis-dichlorodiamineplatinum), a significant elevation of kidney weight, serum urea, cretinine, urine volume for 24 hours, urine magnesium, and a severe or significant decrease in body weight, blood pressure, creatinine clearance, urine osmolarity, serum albumin, etc. The nephrotoxicity was further confirmed by a significant decrease in glutathione S-transferase(GSH) in urine and kidney homogenate, GSH, glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px) and catalase in kidney tissue. And also the lipid peroxidation was significantly increased in kidney homogenate. These signs of nephrotoxicity was ameliorated by the pretreatment and consecutive administration of Ganopoly and Ganopoly/C+ for 14 days after the Lp. injection of CDDP on 7th day after pretreatment of Ganopoly and Ganopoly/C+. The amelioration of nephrotoxicity was evidenced by significant reduction in serum urea and creatinine concentration, and improvement of other index of renal function. And The activity of antioxidant enzymes were partially recovered in kidney tissue of rats treated by CDDP and the administration of Ganopoly and Ganopoly/C+. These results indicate the cispastin induced nephrotoxicity is due to an impairment of tubular reabsorption systems enhanced by necrosis of proximal tubule, and the Ganopoly and Ganopoly/C+ has a partial protective effect on nephrotoxicity induced by CDDP. The polysacchride of Ganoderma lucidum may improve the therapeutic index of nephrotoxicity induced by CDDP. However, it is needed to elucidate the mechanism for confirming the therapeutic effect.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.363-367
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• 2013

The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in birds has epidemiological significance because birds are indeed considered as a good indicator of environmental contamination by T. gondii oocysts. In this study, the prevalence of T. gondii in 313 house sparrows in Lanzhou, northwestern China was assayed by the modified agglutination test (MAT). Antibodies to T. gondii were positive in 39 (12.46%) of 313 samples (MAT titer ${\geq}$ 1:5). Tissues of heart, brain, and lung from the 39 seropositive house sparrows were tested for T. gondii DNA, 11 of which were found to be positive for the T. gondii B1 gene by PCR amplification. These positive DNA samples were typed at 9 genetic markers, including 8 nuclear loci, i.e., SAG1, 5'- and 3'-SAG2, alternative SAG2, SAG3, GRA6, L358, PK1, c22-8 and an apicoplast locus Apico. Of them, 4 isolates were genotyped with complete data for all loci, and 2 genotypes (Type II variants; ToxoDB #3 and a new genotype) were identified. These results showed that there is a potential risk for human infection with T. gondii in this region. To our knowledge, this is the first report of T. gondii seroprevalence in house sparrows in China.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2017

Purpose: The objective of this study was to compare the clinical characteristics of influenza A and B infections and analyze the effect of oseltamivir in hospitalized children. Methods: We investigated children under the age of 15, who were diagnosed with influenza A/H1N1, A/H3N2, or B from January to April 2014. The subjects were admitted to the Changwon Fatima Hospital and diagnosed using a rapid antigen test from nasopharyngeal swabs. The medical records of the patients were retrospectively reviewed. Results: A total of 302 pediatric patients with influenza were enrolled. Influenza B infection was the most common type (n=187, 61.9%), followed by A/H3N2 (n=100, 33.1%) and A/H1N1 (n=15, 5.0%). Compared to patients diagnosed with influenza A, patients diagnosed with influenza B were older (P=0.005), and the duration of fever was significantly longer (P=0.001). A total of 161 patients (53.3%) had been vaccinated against influenza during the season, before admission. Among the patients infected with A/H3N2 and B, the duration of fever was shorter in oseltamivir recipients compared to oseltamivir non-recipients (P=0.026 and P=0.004, respectively). Conclusions: There were significant differences between influenza A and B groups in terms of age, demographics, and clinical course. Although the effectiveness of oseltamivir on influenza differs according to the type of influenza, our data provides evidence that oseltamivir is beneficial for both A and B infections.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate CTDI (computed tomography dose index at center) for various phantom shapes, sizes, and compositions by using GATE (geant4 application for tomographic emission) simulations. GATE simulations were performed for various phantom shapes (cylinder, elliptical, and hexagonal prism PMMA phantoms) and phantom compositions (water, PMMA, polyethylene, polyoxymethylene) with various diameters (1-50 cm) at various kVp and mAs levels. The $CTDI_{100center}$ values of cylinder, elliptical, and hexagonal prism phantom at 120 kVp, 200 mAs resulted in 11.1, 13.4, and 12.2 mGy, respectively. The volume is the same, but $CTDI_{100center}$ values are different depending on the type of phantom. The water, PMMA, and polyoxymethylene phantom $CTDI_{100center}$ values were relatively low as the material density increased. However, in the case of Polyethylene, the $CTDI_{100center}$ value was higher than that of PMMA at diameters exceeding 15 cm ($CTDI_{100center}$ : 35.0 mGy). And a diameter greater than 30 cm ($CTDI_{100center}$ : 17.7 mGy) showed more $CTDI_{100center}$ than Water. We have used limited phantoms to evaluate CT doses. In this study, $CTDI_{100center}$ values were estimated and simulated by GATE simulation according to the material and shape of the phantom. CT dosimetry can be estimated more accurately by using various materials and phantom shapes close to human body.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.549-555
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• 2016

This study was an evaluation of the significance of each parameter through aimed at pregnant women subjected to screening test(integrated test) in predicting risk of Down syndrome. We retrospectively analysed the correlation of risk of Down's syndrome with Nuchal Translucency(NT) images measured by ultrasound, Pregnancy Associated Plasma Protein A(PAPP-A), alpha-fetoprotein(AFP), unconjugated estriol(uE3), human chorionic gonadotrophin(hCG) and Inhibin A by maternal serum. As a result, a significant correlation with NT, uE3, hCG, Inhibin A is revealed with Down's syndrome risk(P<.001). In ROC analysis, AUC of Inhibin A is analysed as the biggest predictor of Down's syndrome(0.859). And the criterion for cut-off was inhibin A 1.4 MoM(sensitivity 81.8%, specificity 75.9%). In conclusion, Inhibin A was the most useful in parameters to predict Down's syndrome in the integrated test. If we make up for the weakness based on the cut-off value of parameters they will be able to be used as an independent indicator in the risk of Down's syndrome screening.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1004-1009
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• 2013

The biochemical compositions and nutritive values of six species of seaweeds were analyzed to determine their applicability in functional foods or ingredients. The biochemical compositions (moisture, ash, protein, lipid, and dietary fiber) and fatty acid contents were determined for the following seaweed extracts: Phaeophyceae (Laminaria japonica, Hizikia fusiformis, and Undaria pinnatifida), Rhodophyceae (Porphyra tenera and Gracilaria verrucosa), and Chlorophyceae (Ulva lactuca). The moisture content (% dry weight) ranged from 11.47% to 13.94%, ash from 19.15% to 26.50%, protein from 5.08% to 15.44%, lipid from 2.75% to 4.43%, and dietary fiber from 36.84% to 52.98%. C14:0, C16:0, C18:0, C16:1, C18: 1n-3, C18:2n-6, C18:3n-6, C20:4n-6, and C20:5n-3 represented the predominant proportions of fatty acids. Interestingly, docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3, DHA) was either not found or only detected in trace amounts in the analyzed seaweeds. The levels of n-3 fatty acid were higher than other polyunsaturated fatty acids, and the n-6/n-3 ratio was very low. These results indicate that seaweed inhabiting Korean coastal areas will be beneficial to human health.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.51-56
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• 2015

In Korea, measures to maintain sustainable fire safety performance for apartment buildings are insufficient in terms of fire-fighting products, skilled personnel, and maintenance status. Also, because of the particular features of a fire compartment, it has structural problems that are very likely to cause damage to human life when a fire occurs. Currently, problems with the fire supervisory system installed in an apartment building cannot be checked in real time, so it is difficult to identify the location of a fire accurately. Protected areas are also not assigned to each household, and residents cannot be clearly informed of the occurrence of a fire. As a consequence, safety evacuation cannot be secured. In addition, it is impossible to test the operation performance for water detectors in sprinkler fire extinguishing systems outside of the household. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of a remote fire supervisory system. The results show that the system satisfies all performance requirements. Also, an household alarm system was installed in each household to alert of any occurrence of a fire accurately, and the performance of the alarm system was improved to ensure that residents were quickly evacuated.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2000

It is important to identify modifiable risk factors for breast cancer, because the breast cancer is one of the major causs of mortality among women. Some reported that obesity is a risk factor for breast cancer, but the results are not constant. Many risk factors are related to the duration of estrogenic stimulation of the breast. In general, early menarche and late menopause are positive risk factors. Human breast cancer has different characteristics according to the status of menopause(premenopause and postmenopause). In premenopausal women, about 60% of circulating estrogen is from the ovaries in the form of estradiol, and the remaining 40% is estrogen formed primarily in the adipose(fat) tissue via aromatization of androstenedion from the adrenal glands. After menopause this adipose cell production of estrone is the main source of estrogens and the level of estrone is maintained approximately at premenopausal levels. This study was undertaken to determine the role of body size and body mass index by status of menopause in development of breast cancer using retrospective case/control study. From March 1991 to February 1997 at the Wonkwang University Hospital, the breast cancer cases(n=72) and controls(n=86) were selected. By statistical analysis method, regression analysis, paired T-test and multiple logistic regression were done to estimate the influenced factors same as height, weight, BMI, age at menarche and age at menopause. The following results were obtained : 1. In premenopausal women, age at menarche was showed comparatively high correlation coefficients and BMI was described prominently highly in postmenopause. 2. At the results of multiple regression analysis, age at monarch, BMI and weight were showed as significant variables. In this method, critical factor ($R^2$) was 0.054. 3. Paired samples T-test was undertaken to test mean difference between two groups of cases and controls. The result of test performance showed a significant difference. 4. In comparison with women whose weight less than 50 kg, the ORs for the upper 5th group was 1.82(95% confidence interval). The heaviest women had a higher risk(OR=1.14, 95% confidence interval $1.12{\sim}1.31$, p=0.005). Higher body mass index was significantly associated with increased risk of premenopausal breast cancer (OR=1.01, 95% confidence interval $1.08{\sim}l.18$, p=0.05).