• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.79 no.6
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• pp.348-353
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• 2018

Hepatic pseudolymphoma is a rare benign liver mass that is characterized by proliferation of non-neoplastic lymphocytes extranodally. To the best of our knowledge, only 46 cases have been reported in the English literature. We described the case of a 75-year-old woman with hepatic pseudolymphoma mimicking a hypervascular tumor. After the histological confirmation of the rectal neuroendocrine tumor, CT scan revealed a 1.0 cm-sized, poorly-defined and low-density nodule in the liver. On MRI, the hepatic nodule showed an arterial enhancement and a low-signal intensity on the hepatobiliary phase. On diffusion-weighted imaging, the hepatic nodule showed a high signal intensity on a high b-value. On fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT, it revealed a high standardized uptake value nodule. The US showed the hypoechoic nodule and the US-guided biopsy confirmed the hepatic pseudolymphoma.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.469-483
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• 2021

Background and objective: If the Nelumbo nucifera spreads in a wetland at a high density, it can have considerable positive and negative ecological effects on habitats. For this reason, it is necessary to precisely investigate the impacts of its rapid proliferation. This study was conducted to propose the distribution and management of N. nucifera, which can cause the degradation of wildlife habitats due to the rapid spread of internal and external environmental factors that may affect the Junam wetland ecosystem. Methods: For the investigation and analysis of physical and ecological characteristics, factors of the abiotic environment such as general weather conditions, topography and water depth structure, and soil and water quality analysis, and bioenvironment characteristics such as changes in the N. nucifera community distribution were evaluated. To assess whether the differences in the soil depth and physicochemical characteristics between the N. nucifera community and the aquatic plant community are statistically significant, a One-way ANOVA was executed. Results: N. nucifera was presumably introduced in approximately 2007 and observed at a prevalence of only 0.8% in 2009, but had expanded to 11.1% in 2014. After that, the area was increased to 19.3% in 2015 and 40.0% in 2017, about twice that of the previous survey year. The rapid diffusion of an N. nucifera colony can have adverse effects on wildlife habitats and biodiversity at Junam Wetland. To solve these problems, four management methods can be proposed; water level management, mowing management, installation of posts and removal of lotus roots. Control of the N. nucifera community using these methods was judged to be suitable for cutting and water level management when considering expansion rate, water level variation, and wildlife habitat impacts. Conclusion: As the biotic and abiotic environmental factors are different for each wetland, it is necessary to determine the timing and method of management through a detailed investigation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.488-500
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• 2022

Most fungal infections by opportunistic yeast pathogens such as Candida spp. are the major causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with lowered immune. Previous studies have reported that some strains of Candida secret secondary metabolites play an important role in the decreasing of immunity in the infected patient. In this study, 110 Candida spp. were isolated from different clinical specimens from Baghdad hospitals. Candida isolates were identified by conventional methods, they were processed for Candida speciation on CHROMagar. The results of identification were confirmed by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing. Phylogenetic trees were analyzed with reference strains deposited in GenBank. Antifungal susceptibility testing was evaluated by the disc diffusion method and performed as recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) M44-A document. Candida isolates investigated produce secondary metabolites gliotoxin with HPLC technique and quantification. Out of 110 Candida isolates, C. albicans (66.36%) was the most frequent isolate, followed by the isolates of C. tropicalis (10.9%) and C. glabrata (6.36%) respectively. Concerning the antifungal susceptibility test, Candida isolates showed a high level of susceptibility to Miconazole (70.9%), Itraconazole (68.2%), and Nystatine (64.5%). The ability of obtained isolates of Candida spp. to produce gliotoxin on RPMI medium was investigated, only 28 isolates had the ability to secret this toxin in culture filtrates. The highest concentrations were detected in C. albicans (1.048 ㎍/ml). Gliotoxin productivity of other Candida species was significantly lower. The retention time for gliotoxin was approximately 5.08 min.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.723-732
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• 2022

Cracking ammonia inside solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack is a compact and simple way. To prevent sharp temperature fluctuation and increase cell efficiency, the decomposition reaction should be spread on whole cell area. This leading to a question that, how does anode thickness affect the conversion rate of ammonia and the cell voltage? Since the 0D model of SOFC is useful for system level simulation, how accurate is it to use equilibrium solver for internal ammonia cracking reaction? The 1D model of ammonia fed SOFC was used to simulate the diffusion and reaction of ammonia inside the anode electrode, then the partial pressure of hydrogen and steam at triple phase boundary was used for cell voltage calculation. The result shows that, the ammonia conversion rate increases and reaches saturated value as anode thickness increase, and the saturated thickness is bigger for lower operating temperature. The similar cell voltage between 1D and 0D models can be reached with NH₃ conversion rate above 90%. The 0D model and 1D model of SOFC showed similar conversion rate at temperature over 750℃.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.184-193
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• 2023

This study investigates the effects of a carbon fiber layer formed on the surface of an etched aluminum current collector on the electrochemical properties of the activated carbon electrodes for an electric double layer capacitor. A particle size analyzer, field-emission SEM, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm analyzer are employed to analyze the structure of the carbon fiber layer. The electric and electrochemical properties of the activated carbon electrodes using a carbon fiber layer are evaluated using an electrode resistance meter and a charge-discharge tester, respectively. To uniformly coat the surface with carbon fiber, we applied a planetary mill process, adjusted the particle size, and prepared the carbon paste by dispersing in a binder. Subsequently, the carbon paste was coated on the surface of the etched aluminum current collector to form the carbon under layer, after which an activated carbon slurry was coated to form the electrodes. Based on the results, the interface resistance of the EDLC cell made of the current collector with the carbon fiber layer was reduced compared to the cell using the pristine current collector. The interfacial resistance decreased from 0.0143 Ω·cm² to a maximum of 0.0077 Ω·cm². And degradation reactions of the activated carbon electrodes are suppressed in the 3.3 V floating test. We infer that it is because the improved electric network of the carbon fiber layer coated on the current collector surface enhanced the electron collection and interfacial diffusion while protecting the surface of the cathode etched aluminum; thereby suppressing the formation of Al-F compounds.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.89-98
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• 2017

The floor heating method generally uses a wet construction method including the installation of resilient material, lightweight foam concrete, heating piping, and finishing mortar. Such a wet construction method not only delays other internal finishing processes during curing period for two mortar pouring process, but also has a disadvantage that it is difficult to replace the floor heating layer when it deteriorated because it is integrated with the frame. Dry floor heating construction method can be a good alternative in that it can solve these defects. Conversely, when it applied to the wall structure that is vulnerable to the interlayer noise compared with the column-beam structure, the question about the heavy-impact sound(HIS) insulation performance is raised. Therefore, conventional dry floor heating method is hard to apply to the wall structure apartments. Therefore, for the purpose to improve the applicability of dry floor heating method in wall structure apartments, this study investigated the change of floor impact sound, especially HIS insulation performance which is one of the required performance for the floor structure. This study tried to examine whether the change of heavy-impact sound pressure level(SPL) shows a tendency at the significant level according to the shape and mass of the floor structure. Through filed experiments on wall structure apartment, this study confirmed that the form of the raised floor shows better HIS insulation performance than the fully-supported form. In addition, it was also confirmed that the HIS insulation performance increases with the mass on the upper part. Moreover, this study found the fact that a mass of about 30 kg/m² or more should be placed on the upper structure to reduce the heavy-impact SPL according to the bang machine measuring method. Although this study has a limit due to insufficient experiment samples, if the accuracy of this study is increased, it will contribute to the diffusion of dry floor heating by setting the HIS insulation performance target and designing the dry floor heating structure that meets the target.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.285-295
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• 2024

This study investigated the impact of accelerated carbonation on Ordinary Portland Cement(OPC) paste that had undergone steam curing at 500℃·hr. Two carbonation environments were examined: atmospheric carbonation(1atm, 20% CO₂) and pressurized carbonation(5atm, 99% CO₂). Chemical analysis using X-ray diffraction(XRD) and Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR) were conducted, along with physical characterization via scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and compressive strength testing. Results indicated that atmospheric carbonation with 20% CO₂ concentration significantly densified the internal microstructure of the OPC paste, leading to enhanced compressive strength. Conversely, pressurized carbonation at 5atm with 99% CO₂ concentration resulted in rapid densification of the surface structure, which hindered CO₂ diffusion into the sample. This limited the extent of carbonation and prevented the improvement of physical properties.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.4 s.109
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• pp.436-447
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• 2004

Wetland plants have evolved specialized adaptations to survive in the low-oxygen conditions associated with prolonged flooding. The development of internal gas space by means of aerenchyma is crucial for wetland plants to transport $O_2$ from the atmosphere into the roots and rhizome. The formation of tissue with high porosity depends on the species and environmental condition, which can control the depth of root penetration and the duration of root tolerance in the flooded sediments. The oxygen in the internal gas space of plants can be delivered from the atmosphere to the root and rhizome by both passive molecular diffusion and convective throughflow. The release of $O_2$ from the roots supplies oxygen demand for root respiration, microbial respiration, and chemical oxidation processes and stimulates aerobic decomposition of organic matter. Another essential mechanism of wetland plants is downward water movement across the root zone induced by water uptake. Natural and constructed wetlands sediments have low hydraulic conductivity due to the relatively fine particle sizes in the litter layer and, therefore, negligible water movement. Under such condition, the water uptake by wetland plants creates a water potential difference in the rhizosphere which acts as a driving force to draw water and dissolved solutes into the sediments. A large number of anatomical, morphological and physiological studies have been conducted to investigate the specialized adaptations of wetland plants that enable them to tolerate water saturated environment and to support their biochemical activities. Despite this, there is little knowledge regarding how the combined effects of wetland plants influence the biogeochemistry of wetland sediments. A further investigation of how the Presence of plants and their growth cycle affects the biogeochemistry of sediments will be of particular importance to understand the role of wetland in the ecological environment.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.239-244
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• 2011

In this study, we evaluated diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) to investigate whether the DWI parameters can predict characteristic parameters on pathologic specimens of tumor or not. CFPAC-1 was injected subcutaneously on the back flank of athymic nude mice (n=13) then two tumors were initiated on each mouse (2${\times}$13=26 tumors). The mice were sacrificed to make specimen immediately after initial MR imaging then were compared with the MR image. A dedicated high-field (7T) small-animal MR scanner was used for image acquisitions. A T1 and T2 weighted axial image using RARE technique was acquired to measure the T2 values and tumor size. DWI MR was performed for calculating ADC values. To evaluate tumor cellularity and determine the levels of MVD, tumor cells were excised and processed for H-E staining and immunostaining using CD31. T2 values and ADC values were computed and analyzed for each half of the tumors and compared to the correlated specimens slide. Median ADC within each half of mass was compared to the cellularity and MVD in the correlated area of pathologic slide. The mean of ADC value is $0.7327{\times}10^{-3}$ $mm^2/s$ and standard deviation is $0.1075{\times}10^{-3}$ $mm^2/s$. There is a linear relationship between ADC value and tumor necrosis (R2=0.697, p< 0.001). DW image parameters including the ADC values can be utilized as surrogate markers to assess intratumoral neoangiogenesis and change of the internal structure of tumor cells.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.35-55
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• 2013

Information technology is a critical resource necessary for any company hoping to support and realize its strategic goals, which contribute to growth promotion and sustainable development. The selection of information technology and its strategic use are imperative for the enhanced performance of every aspect of company management, leading a wide range of companies to have invested continuously in information technology. Despite researchers, managers, and policy makers' keen interest in how information technology contributes to organizational performance, there is uncertainty and debate about the result of information technology investment. In other words, researchers and managers cannot easily identify the independent factors that can impact the investment performance of information technology. This is mainly owing to the fact that many factors, ranging from the internal components of a company, strategies, and external customers, are interconnected with the investment performance of information technology. Using an agent-based simulation technique, this research extracts factors expected to affect investment performance on information technology, simplifies the analyses of their relationship with economic modeling, and examines the performance dependent on changes in the factors. In terms of economic modeling, I expand the model that highlights the way in which product quality moderates the relationship between information technology investments and economic performance (Thatcher and Pingry, 2004) by considering the cost of information technology investment and the demand creation resulting from product quality enhancement. For quality enhancement and its consequences for demand creation, I apply the concept of information quality and decision-maker quality (Raghunathan, 1999). This concept implies that the investment on information technology improves the quality of information, which, in turn, improves decision quality and performance, thus enhancing the level of product or service quality. Additionally, I consider the effect of word of mouth among consumers, which creates new demand for a product or service through the information diffusion effect. This demand creation is analyzed with an agent-based simulation model that is widely used for network analyses. Results show that the investment on information technology enhances the quality of a company's product or service, which indirectly affects the economic performance of that company, particularly with regard to factors such as consumer surplus, company profit, and company productivity. Specifically, when a company makes its initial investment in information technology, the resultant increase in the quality of a company's product or service immediately has a positive effect on consumer surplus, but the investment cost has a negative effect on company productivity and profit. As time goes by, the enhancement of the quality of that company's product or service creates new consumer demand through the information diffusion effect. Finally, the new demand positively affects the company's profit and productivity. In terms of the investment strategy for information technology, this study's results also reveal that the selection of information technology needs to be based on analysis of service and the network effect of customers, and demonstrate that information technology implementation should fit into the company's business strategy. Specifically, if a company seeks the short-term enhancement of company performance, it needs to have a one-shot strategy (making a large investment at one time). On the other hand, if a company seeks a long-term sustainable profit structure, it needs to have a split strategy (making several small investments at different times). The findings from this study make several contributions to the literature. In terms of methodology, the study integrates both economic modeling and simulation technique in order to overcome the limitations of each methodology. It also indicates the mediating effect of product quality on the relationship between information technology and the performance of a company. Finally, it analyzes the effect of information technology investment strategies and information diffusion among consumers on the investment performance of information technology.