• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.484-492
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• 2023

Time-to-digital converters (TDCs) based on the tapped delay line (TDL) architecture have been widely used in various applications requiring a precise time measurement. However, the poor uniformity of the propagation delays in the TDL implemented on FPGA leads to bubble error and large nonlinearity of the TDC. The purpose of this study was to develop an advanced TDC architecture capable of minimizing the bubble errors and improving the linearity. To remove the bubble errors, the decimated delay line (DDL) architecture was implemented on the UltraScale + FPGA; meanwhile, to improve the linearity of the TDC, a histogram uniformization (HU) and multi-chain TDL (MCT) methods were developed and implemented on the FPGA. The integral nonlinearities (INLs) and differential nonlinearities (DNLs) of the plain TDCs with the 'HU method' (HU TDC) and with 'both HU and MCT methods' (HU-MCT TDC) were measured and compared to those of the TDC with 'DDL alone' (plain TDC). The linearity of HU-MCT TDC were superior to those of the plain TDC and HU TDC. The experiment results indicated that HU-MCT TDC developed in this study was useful for improving the linearity of the TDC, which allowed for high timing resolution to be achieved.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.63-71
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• 2021

Objective: To identify the CT findings associated with treatment failure after antibiotic therapy for acute appendicitis. Materials and Methods: Altogether, 198 patients who received antibiotic therapy for appendicitis were identified by searching the hospital's surgery database. Selection criteria for antibiotic therapy were uncomplicated appendicitis with an appendiceal diameter equal to or less than 11 mm. The 86 patients included in the study were divided into a treatment success group and a treatment failure group. Treatment failure was defined as a resistance to antibiotic therapy or recurrent appendicitis during a 1-year follow-up period. Two radiologists independently evaluated the following CT findings: appendix-location, involved extent, maximal diameter, thickness, wall enhancement, focal wall defect, periappendiceal fat infiltration, and so on. For the quantitative analysis, two readers independently measured the CT values at the least attenuated wall of the appendix by drawing a round region of interest on the enhanced CT (HU_post) and non-enhanced CT (HU_pre). The degree of appendiceal wall enhancement (HU_sub) was calculated as the subtracted value between HU_post and HU_pre. A logistic regression analysis was used to identify the CT findings associated with treatment failure. Results: Sixty-four of 86 (74.4%) patients were successfully treated with antibiotic therapy, with treatment failure occurring in the remaining 22 (25.5%). The treatment failure group showed a higher frequency of hypoenhancement of the appendiceal wall than the success group (31.8% vs. 7.8%; p = 0.005). Upon quantitative analysis, both HU_post (46.7 ± 21.3 HU vs. 58.9 ± 22.0 HU; p = 0.027) and HU_sub (26.9 ± 17.3 HU vs. 35.4 ± 16.6 HU; p = 0.042) values were significantly lower in the treatment failure group than in the success group. Conclusion: Hypoenhancement of the appendiceal wall was significantly associated with treatment failure after antibiotic therapy for acute appendicitis.

• The Journal of Dong Guk Oriental Medicine
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• v.5
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• pp.209-229
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• 1996

The purpose of this study is to investigate the recognition of "Jung Pung(中風)" mentioned in "Jae-Byoung-Won-Hu-Ron(諸病源候論)" The conclusion would be summerized as follows. 1. "Pung Byoung(風病)" is a symptom that man was damaged by "Pung Chi(風氣)", which is a wide meaning inclusive of cloudiness of conscious, apasia and the limbs disorder of "Jung Pung(中風)", "Bi 痺symptom", "Yeuk Jeil Pung(歷節風)", the skin disease, psychopathy and leprosy. 2. In cause of "Jung Pung(中風)", this book was received the theory of invasion of "Pung Sa (風邪)" from outside claimed in "Nae Kyoung(內經)", "Kum Gaeu Yo Rak(金?要略)", but in a viewpoint of "Hyel Chi(血氣)", "Young Yui(營衛)" and "Bi Yui Heo Sil(脾胃虛實)", especially, insists on the weakness of "Bi Yui(脾胃)" function. 3. In the pathology of "Jung Pung(中風)", there was a recognition that symptoms appear following each "Jang Bu(臟腑)" invaided and changed by a way of "Kyoung Rak Jang Bu(經絡臟腑)", because "Pung Sa(風邪)" invades the space of the skin, disturbs the circulation of "Hyel Chi(血氣)" in a inner and isn't given out in a outer. 4. Thereare, , , , , in the symptoms of "Jung Pung(中風)" and ", , , , , , in the similar symptoms of "Jung Pung(中風)". 5. The principle of treatement is "getting sweating, helping the insufficent energy and diminishing the sufficent energy", but the presciption isn't mentioned and "Do-in Method(導引法)" was recorded after each symptom because of taking a serious view of "Bo-Yang-Sun-Do(補養宣導)" 6. The prognosis of "Jung Pung(中風)"is suggested in a view of pulse diganosis, symptoms and is bad in case of appearance of no sweating, rigidity, vomitting a bubble and apasia.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2021

Human Sapovirus (HuSaV) is one of the major causes of acute gastroenteritis in humans, and it is used as a molecular diagnostic technique based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from humans, food, shellfish, and aquatic environments. In this study, the HuSaV diagnosis technique was used in an aquatic environment where a number of PCR inhibitors are included and pathogens, such as viruses, are estimated to exist at low concentration levels. HuSaV-specific primers are improved to detect 38 strains registered in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The established optimal condition and the composition, including the RT-nested PCR primers and SL® Non-specific reaction inhibitor, were found to have 100 times higher sensitivity based on HuSaV plasmid than the previously reported methods (100 ag based on HuSaV plasmid 1 ng/μL). Through an artificial infection test, the developed method was able to detect at least 1 fg/μL of HuSaV plasmid contaminated with total nucleic acid extracted from groundwater. In addition, RT-nested PCR primer sets for HuSaV detection can react, and a positive control is developed to verify false positives. This study is expected to be used as a HuSaV monitoring method in the future and applied to the safety response to HuSaV from water environments.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.255-263
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• 2021

Human Astrovirus (HuAstV) is an important gastrointestinal pathogen that is frequently reported worldwide. Monitoring of contaminated groundwater has been suggested since HuAstV is transmitted through the fecal-oral route. This study developed a test method based on conventional reverse transcription (RT)-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that involves SL^® non-specific reaction inhibitor for unknown non-specific amplification taking place in the groundwater environment. An optimal method for detecting HuAstV in groundwater sample through analysis and comparison against conventionally reported method was also suggested. The developed method enabled the production of nested PCR amplicon of 630 nt, which is a sufficient length for similarity analysis based on sequencing and genotyping. Amplicons suspected to be HuAstV were amplified in two out of the twenty groundwater samples collected in Korea, presenting 99.77% and 99.73% similarity against HuAstV 1 strain lhar/2011/kor (JN887820.1) in sequencing, respectively. These amplicons were identified as HuAstV 1.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.227-233
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of X-ray photon energy, tissue density, and the kernel essential for image reconstruction on the image quality by measuring HU and noise. Images were obtained by scanning the RMI density phantom within the CT device, and HU and noise were measured as follows: images were obtained by varying the tube voltages, the tube currents and eight different kernels. The greater the voltage-dependent change in the HU value but the noise was decreased. At all densities, changes in the tube current did not exert any significant influence on the HU value, whereas the noise value gradually decreased as the tube current increased. At all densities, changes in the kernel did not exert any significant influence on the HU value. The noise value gradually increased in the lower kernel range, but rapidly increased in the higher kernel range. HU is influenced by voltage and density, and noise is influenced by voltage, current, kernel, and density. This affects contrast resolution and spatial resolution.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.44-52
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• 2023

Objective : This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of transverse process (TP) hook system at the upper instrumented vertebra (UIV) for preventing screw pullout in adult spinal deformity surgery using the pedicle Hounsfield unit (HU) stratification based on K-means clustering. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed 74 patients who underwent deformity correction surgery between 2011 and 2020 and were followed up for >12 months. Pre- and post-operative data were used to determine the incidence of screw pullout, UIV TP hook implementation, vertebral body HU, pedicle HU, and patient outcomes. Data was then statistically analyzed for assessment of efficacy and risk prediction using stratified HU at UIV level alongside the effect of the TP hook system. Results : The screw pullout rate was 36.4% (27/74). Perioperative radiographic parameters were not significantly different between the pullout and non-pullout groups. The vertebral body HU and pedicle HU were significantly lower in the pullout group. K-means clustering stratified the vertebral body HU ≥205.3, <137.2, and pedicle HU ≥243.43, <156.03. The pullout rate significantly decreases in patients receiving the hook system when the pedicle HU was from ≥156.03 to < 243.43 (p<0.05), but the difference was not statistically significant in the vertebra HU stratified groups and when pedicle HU was ≥243.43 or <156.03. The postoperative clinical outcomes improved significantly with the implementation of the hook system. Conclusion : The UIV hook provides better clinical outcomes and can be considered a preventative strategy for screw-pullout in the certain pedicle HU range.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.166-172
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• 2000

Prior to a clinical trial, the in vitro and in vivo antitumor effects of a new recombinant human interferon ${\alpha}-2a$ (rHu/IFN ${\alpha}-2a$) with/without hydroxyurea (HU) were investigated using chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML)-derived cell lines (K562 and KU812F) and BALB/c nude. mice transplanted with KU812F cells. The rHu/IFN ${\alpha}-2a$ ($10^4-10^6IU/ml$) strongly inhibited proliferation of both cell lines and the combined treatments with HU ($10{\mu}g/ml$) were more effective. In nude mice transplanted with KU812F cells. rHu/IFN ${\alpha}-2a(1{\times}10^6IU$) inhibited tumor growth by 42-65% at 15-21 days post-transplantation (DPT). The combined treatment of rHu/IFN ${\alpha}-2a (5{\times}10^5IU$) with HU (0.25mg/g b.w.) inhibited the tumor growth by 48-67% at 12-21 DPT. In addition, the treatment of rHu/IFN ${\alpha}-2a$ ($5{\times}10^6IU\;or\;1{\times}10^7IU$) rejected tumor transplantation by 40%. These results suggest that the new rHU/IFN ${\alpha}-2a$ alone or with HU is effective on CML cell lines.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.103-111
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• 2020

Liver cancer is the most fatal cancer that occurs worldwide. In order to diagnose liver cancer, the patient's physical condition was checked by using a CT technique using radiation. Segmentation was needed to diagnose the liver on the patient's abdominal CT scan, which the radiologists had to do manually, which caused tremendous time and human mistakes. In order to automate, researchers attempted segmentation using image segmentation algorithms in computer vision field, but it was still time-consuming because of the interactive based and the setting value. To reduce time and to get more accurate segmentation, researchers have begun to attempt to segment the liver in CT images using CNNs, which show significant performance in various computer vision fields. The pixel value, or numerical value, of the CT image is called the Hounsfield Unit (HU) value, which is a relative representation of the transmittance of radiation, and usually ranges from about -2000 to 2000. In general, deep learning researchers reduce or limit this range and use it for training to remove noise and focus on the target organ. Here, we observed that the range of HU values was limited in many studies but different in various liver segmentation studies, and assumed that performance could vary depending on the HU range. In this paper, we propose the possibility of considering HU value range as a hyper parameter. U-Net and ResUNet were used to compare and experiment with different HU range limit preprocessing of CHAOS dataset under limited conditions. As a result, it was confirmed that the results are different depending on the HU range. This proves that the range limiting the HU value itself can be a hyper parameter, which means that there are HU ranges that can provide optimal performance for various models.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.669-676
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes in the values of Hounsfield Unit (HU) according to the changes in monoenergy (keV) and dilution ratio of the contrast agent, using the spectral CT. Spectral CT was used as the testing device, while 20 cc syringe phantom was used to set a total of six dilution ratios of the contrast agent: 8:2, 7:3, 6:4, 5:5, 4:6, and 3:7. Here, the non-ionic iodine solution (350 mg/ml) was used as a contrast agent. The syringe axial image was reconstructed by adjusting the obtained data on nine MonoE levels; 40 keV, 45 keV, 50 keV, 55 keV, 60 keV, 65 keV, 70 keV, 75 keV, and 80 keV. The HU values were measured at the three points of the reconstructed syringe axial image. The measurements were taken 1,620 times in total. In the analysis of the HU values according to the changes in keV and dilution ratio of the contrast agent, the highest and lowest HU values were obtained from dilution ratio 8:2 and dilution ratio 3:7, respectively, across every MonoE in the comparison of HU according to dilution ratio per MonoE (p<0.05), while the highest and lowest HU values were obtained from 40 keV and 80 keV, respectively, across all dilution ratios in the comparison of HU according to MonoE per dilution ratio (p<0.05). For the correlation per each parameter, a negative correlation of -15.014 ± 0.298 was found for HU per keV (R²=0.519) and a negative correlation of -61.372 ± 3.608 was found for HU per dilution ratio (R²=0.152) (p<0.05). To conclude, an increase in keV or dilution ratio of the contrast agent was shown to decrease the HU, and the findings in this study are anticipated to serve as the basic data in the research of HU-related parameters in Spectral CT.