• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.135-143
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• 2015

Electrocardiogram measures the electric impulses generated by the heart during its cycle. Recently genome-wide association studies on electrocardiogram traits revealed many relevant genetic loci. Therefore, these findings need to be validated and investigated to determine the underlying mechanisms using mouse models. Invasive radiotelemetry has been widely used to record the electrocardiogram in mice because it has several advantages over non-invasive measurements. However, radiotelemetry is expensive and requires complicated surgery. On the other hand, a non-invasive method using 3 electrodes (one for earth) for lead II is easy to establish and allows for rapid measurement. In this study, eleven mice were measured with this non-invasive method and no statistical difference among them was found in any ECG measurements. In addition, repeat measurement in the same mouse was performed in 9 sets of experiment and the results indicated that non-invasive method was reliable for reproducibility. Further it was shown that measurements for 1, 5, 10, and 15 minutes were not different so that a short recording such as 5 minutes was enough to estimate the ECG values including heart rate. Further this method was validated by measuring the ECG of Balb/c and FVB that were previously shown to differ in ECG values by radiotelemetry. Significant differences were found in heart rate, PR interval and corrected QT interval between these mouse strains. This study partially proved that non-invasive method also could provide the accuracy and reproducibility. Based on these results, the non-invasive ECG recordings of lead II is recommended as a useful method for quick test in mouse model.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.352-363
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• 2019

Background: Invasive plant species are considered a major threat to biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and human wellbeing worldwide. Climatically suitable ranges for invasive plant species are expected to expand due to future climate change. The identification of current invasions and potential range expansion of invasive plant species is required to plan for the management of these species. Here, we predicted climatically suitable habitats for 11 invasive plant species and calculated the potential species richness and their range expansions in different provinces of the Republic of Korea (ROK) under current and future climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling approach. Results: Based on the model predictions, areas of climatically suitable habitats for 90.9% of the invasive plant species are expected to retain current ecological niches and expand to include additional climatically suitable areas under future climate change scenarios. Species richness is predicted to be relatively high in the provinces of the western and southern regions (e.g., Jeollanam, Jeollabuk, and Chungcheongnam) under current climatic conditions. However, under future climates, richness in the provinces of the northern, eastern, and southeastern regions (e.g., Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi, Gyeongsangnam, Degue, Busan, and Ulsan) is estimated to increase up to 292%, 390.75%, and 468.06% by 2030, 2050, and 2080, respectively, compared with the current richness. Conclusions: Our study revealed that the rates of introduction and dispersion of invasive plant species from the western and southern coasts are relatively high and are expanding across the ROK through different modes of dispersion. The negative impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem dynamics, and economy caused by invasive plant species will be high if preventive and eradication measures are not employed immediately. Thus, this study will be helpful to policymakers for the management of invasive plant species and the conservation of biodiversity.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.357-379
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• 2011

The problem of invasive species has been recently emerged as one of complicated issues due to increasing globalisation and its consequence of species immigrations. Since in most cases of invasive species it is less likely to fully eradicate them through human efforts, it is often interested in reducing the possibility of ecological disaster caused by the invasive species. This paper provides an optimal control model to minimize such possibility while allowing the stochastic nature of biological growth of the invasive species. Conditions under which the partial eradication effort is optimal are derived. Simple numerical illustration is provided using H1N1 data which is categorized as an invasive disease in microorganism level.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.93-102
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• 2016

An invasive disturbance species has caused harm to biodiversity and ecosystem. To address the issue, identifying the characteristics of a habitat for invasive disturbance species is considered for forest management. This study analyzed a status of plant species by field survey based on belt transect method in the capital areas and established a predictive model for invasive disturbance species by logistic regression. As results of the study, the number of herb, vine, and invasive disturbance species and a canopy cover of tree would decrease from the forest edge to core areas (p<0.001). The predictive model was derived with variables of altitude, Topographic Wetness Index, distance to forest edge, and canopy cover of tree. It can be useful in estimating the presence or absence of species and predicting its spatial distribution. Further studies are needed to identify the pathway of introduction, spread, and possibility of germination for understanding the status of invasive disturbance species in more depth.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.488-496
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• 2018

This study examined the Gangwon Province's current implementation of its elimination of invasive plants and explored a plan to effectively manage invasive plants. The percentage of the distribution of the plants was 39.6% for riverside areas, 23.3% for roadside areas, 12.4% for roadside & riverside areas, and 4.6% for areas around farm land and river banks. To ensure the systematic management of invasive plants, the current study suggests a) developing an invasive plants monitoring and management system; b) reinvigorating the participation of residents, private organizations, and military posts; c) planting of native replacement plants and the conversion of the locations as attractions, and d) nurturing the project for using invasive plants. For policy directions to be pursued based on the results of the study, the following are suggested: a) improving laws and systems regarding invasive plants, b) developing a cooperative system for managing invasive plants, c) implementing the training of civilian professionals, d) implementing the elimination of invasive plants, e) developing replacement plants for cities and counties, f) fostering industries that tap into invasive plants, and g) using the Han River Water System Management Fund for funding and greater efficiency.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1925-1928
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• 2015

Background: To investigate whether CT findings can predict the invasiveness of persistent cancerous pure ground glass opacity (pGGO) by correlating the CT imaging features of persistent pGGO with pathological changes. Materials and Methods: Ninety five patients with persistent pGGOs were included. Three radiologists evaluated the morphologic features of these pGGOs at high resolution CT (HRCT). Binary logistic regression was used to assess the association between CT findings and histopathological classification (pre-invasive and invasive groups). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of diameters. Results: A total of 105 pGGOs were identified. Between pre-invasive (atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, AAH, and adenocarcinoma in situ, AIS) and invasive group (minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, MIA and invasive lung adenocarcinomas, ILA), there were significant differences in diameter, spiculation and vessel dilatation (p<0.05). No difference was found in air-bronchogram, bubble-lucency, lobulated-margin, pleural indentation or vascular convergence (p>0.05). The optimal threshold value of the diameters to predict the invasiveness of pGGO was 12.50mm. Conclusions: HRCT features can predict the invasiveness of persistent pGGO. The pGGO with a diameter more than 12.50mm, presences of spiculation and vessel dilatation are important factors to differentiate invasive adenocarcinoma from pre-invasive cancerous lesions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2008

The problems caused by new biological organisms in Ogasawara Island of Japan include : (1) loss of native species' habitats and extinction of native species due to the multiplication of invasive species; (2) reduction of native species and confusion in the food chain in result of invasive species' predation; (3) confusion in genes due to hybridization of new and native plants; and (4) destruction of ecosystem and erosion of earth due to rapid increase of invasive species. The natural ecosystem of preserved areas in Korea is constantly confused and destroyed by new animals and plants, but Korea does not has any solutions because new animals and plants rarely affect human lives. Invasive species are manually introduced by humans and are considered disasters caused by humans. Korea is in desperate need of campaigns as the general public does not understand the seriousness of the destruction and confusion of natural ecosystem caused by new biological organisms and their indirect/direct influences on humans. It is necessary to evaluate the biological characteristics, ecological influence, and harms of invasive species in preserved areas to establish a system to manage invasive species and plan the priority removal of species that are highly harmful and locally distributed. Manual removal and suppression of new biological organisms that cause problems is effective, but it takes cost, effort, and time. Therefore, we would need to research and develop the most efficient and effective techniques and measures to manage invasive species in our ecosystem.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.676-683
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• 2007

A non-invasive respiratory gated radiotherapy system like those based on external anatomic motion gives better comfortableness to patients than invasive system on treatment. However, higher correlation between the external and internal anatomic motion is required to increase the effectiveness of non-invasive respiratory gated radiotherapy. Both of invasive and non-invasive methods need to track the internal anatomy with the higher precision and rapid response. Especially, the non-invasive method has more difficulty to track the target position successively because of using only image processing. So we developed the system to track the motion for a non-invasive respiratory gated system to accurately find the dynamic position of internal structures such as the diaphragm and tumor. The respiratory organ motion tracking apparatus consists of an image capture board, a fluoroscopy system and a processing computer. After the image board grabs the motion of internal anatomy through the fluoroscopy system, the computer acquires the organ motion tracking data by image processing without any additional physical markers. The patients breathe freely without any forced breath control and coaching, when this experiment was performed. The developed pattern-recognition software could extract the target motion signal in real-time from the acquired fluoroscopic images. The range of mean deviations between the real and acquired target positions was measured for some sample structures in an anatomical model phantom. The mean and max deviation between the real and acquired positions were less than 1mm and 2mm respectively with the standardized movement using a moving stage and an anatomical model phantom. Under the real human body, the mean and maximum distance of the peak to trough was measured 23.5mm and 55.1mm respectively for 13 patients' diaphragm motion. The acquired respiration profile showed that human expiration period was longer than the inspiration period. The above results could be applied to respiratory-gated radiotherapy.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.823-828
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• 2004

Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) is surgery of the chest, abdomen, spine and pelvis, done with the aid of a viewing scope, and specially designed instruments. Benefits of minimally invasive surgery are less pain, less need for post-surgical pain medication, less scarring and less likelihood for incisional complications. Since the late 1980's, minimally invasive surgery has gained widespread acceptance because of the such advantages. However there are significant disadvantages which have, to date, limited the applications for these promising techniques. The reasons are limited degree-of-freedom, reduced dexterity and the lack of tactile feeling. To overcome such disadvantages many researchers have endeavored to develop robotic systems. Even though some robot aided systems achieved success and commercialized, there still remain many thing to be improved. In this paper, the robotic system which can mimic whole motions of a human arm by adding additional DOF is presented. The suggested design is expected to provide surgeons with improved dexterity during minimally invasive surgery.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7491-7496
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• 2015

Background: Biomarkers in breast neoplasms provide invaluable information regarding prognosis and help determining the optimal treatment. We investigated the possible correlation between cancer stem cell (CSC) markers (CD133, and ALDH1) in invasive ductal breast carcinomas with some clinicopathological parameters. Aim: To assess the correlation between expression of cancer stem cell (CSC) markers (CD133, and ALDH1) and clinicopathological parameters of invasive ductal breast carcinomas. Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemical analysis of CD133 and ALDH1 was performed on a series of 120 modified radical mastectomy (MRM) specimens diagnosed as invasive ductal breast carcinoma. Results: Expression of both CD133 and ALDH1 was significantly changed and related to tumor size, tumor stage (TNM), and lymph node metastasis. A negative correlation between CD133 and ALDH1 was found. Conclusions: Detecting the expression of CD133 and ALDH1 in invasive ductal breast carcinomas may be of help in more accurately predicting the aggressive properties and determining the optimal treatment.