• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.8
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• pp.613-618
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• 2012

We report on electrical and mechanical properties of silicon nitride ($SiN_x$) films deposited by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method at $200^{\circ}C$ from $SiH_4$ highly diluted in $N_2$. The films were also prepared from $SiH_4$ diluted in He for comparison. The $N_2$ dilution was also effective in improving adhesion of the $SiN_x$ films, fascilitating construction of thin film transistors (TFTs). Metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) and Metal-insulator-Metal (MIM) structures were used for capacitance-voltage (C-V) and current-voltage (I-V) measurements, respectively. The resistivity and breakdown field strength of the $SiN_x$ films from $N_2$-diluted $SiH_4$ were estimated to be $1{\times}10^{13}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, 7.4 MV/cm, respectively. The MIS device showed a hysteresis window and a flat band voltage shift of 3 V and 0.5 V, respectively. The TFTs fabricated by using these films showed a field-effect mobility of $0.16cm^2/Vs$, a threshold voltage of 3 V, a subthreshold slope of 1.2 V/dec, and an on/off ratio of > $10^6$.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.54-64
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• 2022

Purpose: This in vitro study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different debridement techniques and conditioning procedures on root surface morphology and blood clot stabilization. Methods: Two debridement techniques (curette [CU] vs. high-speed ultrasound [US]) and 2 conditioning procedures (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid [EDTA] and phosphoric acid [PA]) were used for the study. Seven experimental groups were tested on root surfaces: 1) no treatment (C); 2) CU; 3) US; 4) CU+EDTA; 5) US+EDTA; 6) CU+PA; and 7) US+PA. Three specimens per group were observed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for surface characterization. Additional root slices received a blood drop, and clot formation was graded according to the blood element adhesion index by a single operator. Data were statistically analyzed, using a threshold of P<0.05 for statistical significance. Results: The C group displayed the most irregular surface among the tested groups with the complete absence of blood traces. The highest frequency of blood component adhesion was shown in the CU+EDTA group (P<0.05), while no differences were detected between the CU, US+EDTA, and CU+PA groups (P<0.05), which performed better than the US and US+PA groups (P<0.05). Conclusions: In this SEM analysis, EDTA and conventional manual scaling were the most efficient procedures for enhancing smear layer removal, collagen fiber exposure, and clot stabilization on the root surface. This technique is imperative in periodontal healing and regenerative procedures.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.383-390
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• 2022

Background: The treatment of trigeminal neuralgia remains a challenging issue. Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) provide optimized therapy for chronic pain. This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms underlying the attenuation of trigeminal neuralgia by SHED. Methods: Trigeminal neuralgia was induced by chronic constriction injury of the infraorbital nerve. The mechanical threshold was assessed after model establishment and local SHED transplantation. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) morphology and Caspase12 expression in trigeminal ganglion (TG) was evaluated as well. BiP expression was observed in PC12 cells induced by tunicamycin. Results: The local transplantation of SHED could relieve trigeminal neuralgia in rats. Further, transmission electron microscopy revealed swelling of the ER in rats with trigeminal neuralgia. Moreover, SHED inhibited the tunicamycin-induced up-regulated expression of BiP mRNA and protein in vitro. Additionally, SHED decreased the up-regulated expression of Caspase12 mRNA and protein in the TG of rats caused by trigeminal neuralgia after chronic constriction injury of the infraorbital nerve mode. Conclusions: This findings demonstrated that SHED could alleviate pain by relieving ER stress which provide potential basic evidence for clinical pain treatment.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.391-402
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• 2022

Background: The mechanism of peripheral axon transport in neuropathic pain is still unclear. Chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13) and its receptor (C-X-C chemokine receptor type 5, CXCR5) as well as GABA transporter 1 (GAT-1) play an important role in the development of pain. The aim of this study was to explore the axonal transport of CXCL13/CXCR5 and GAT-1 with the aid of the analgesic effect of botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) in rats. Methods: Chronic constriction injury (CCI) rat models were established. BTX-A was administered to rats through subcutaneous injection in the hind paw. The pain behaviors in CCI rats were measured by paw withdrawal threshold and paw withdrawal latencies. The levels of CXCL13/CXCR5 and GAT-1 were measured by western blots. Results: The subcutaneous injection of BTX-A relieved the mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia induced by CCI surgery and reversed the overexpression of CXCL13/CXCR5 and GAT-1 in the spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia (DRG), sciatic nerve, and plantar skin in CCI rats. After 10 mmol/L colchicine blocked the axon transport of sciatic nerve, the inhibitory effect of BTX-A disappeared, and the levels of CXCL13/CXCR5 and GAT-1 in the spinal cord and DRG were reduced in CCI rats. Conclusions: BTX-A regulated the levels of CXCL13/CXCR5 and GAT-1 in the spine and DRG through axonal transport. Chemokines (such as CXCL13) may be transported from the injury site to the spine or DRG through axonal transport. Axon molecular transport may be a target to enhance pain management in neuropathic pain.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1853-1858
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• 2021

O-rings fill the gaps between mechanical parts. Until now, the sorting of defective products has been performed visually and manually, so classification errors often occur. Therefore, a camera-based defect classification system without human intervention is required. However, a binarization process is required to separate the required region from the background in the camera input image. In this paper, an adaptive binarization technique that considers the surrounding pixel values is applied to solve the problem that single-threshold binarization is difficult to apply due to factors such as changes in ambient lighting or reflections. In addition, the convex hull technique is also applied to compensate for the missing pixel part. And the learning model to be applied to the separated region applies the residual error-based deep learning neural network model, which is advantageous when the defective characteristic is non-linear. It is suggested that the proposed system through experiments can be applied to the automation of O-ring defect detection.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.271-279
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• 2022

Background: Inflammation is known to underlie the pathogenesis in neuropathic pain. This study investigated the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective mechanisms involved in antinociceptive effects of co-administration of acetaminophen and L-carnosine in chronic constriction injury (CCI)-induced peripheral neuropathy in male Wistar rats. Methods: Fifty-six male Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven experimental groups (n = 8) treated with normal saline/acetaminophen/acetaminophen + L-carnosine. CCI was used to induce neuropathic pain in rats. Hyperalgesia and allodynia were assessed using hotplate and von Frey tests, respectively. Investigation of spinal proinflammatory cytokines and antioxidant system were carried out after twenty-one days of treatment. Results: The results showed that the co-administration of acetaminophen and L-carnosine significantly (P < 0.001) increased the paw withdrawal threshold to thermal and mechanical stimuli in ligated rats compared to the ligated naïve group. There was a significant (P < 0.001) decrease in the levels of nuclear factor kappa light chain enhancer B cell inhibitor, calcium ion, interleukin-1-beta, and tumour necrotic factor-alpha in the spinal cord of the group coadministered with acetaminophen and L-carnosine compared to the ligated control group. Co-administration with acetaminophen and L-carnosine increased the antioxidant enzymatic activities and reduced the lipid peroxidation in the spinal cord. Conclusions: Co-administration of acetaminophen and L-carnosine has anti-inflammatory effects as a mechanism that mediate its antinociceptive effects in CCI-induced peripheral neuropathy in Wistar rat.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.18-27
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• 2023

In this paper, the structural-thermal-optical performance analysis of the mirror was performed by setting the laser heat source as the boundary condition of the thermal analysis. For the laser heat source model, the Beer-Lambert model considering semi-transparent optical material based on Gaussian beam was selected as the boundary condition, and the mechanical part was not considered, to analyze the performance of only the mirror. As a result of the thermal analysis, thermal stress and thermal deformation data due to temperature change on the surface of the mirror were obtained. The displacement data of the surface due to thermal deformation was fitted to a Zernike polynomial to calculate the optical performance, through which the performance of the mirror when a high-energy laser was incident on the mirror could be predicted.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.359-365
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• 2007

In this paper we present a bottom-gate type of zinc oxide (ZnO) and Gallium (Ga) doped zinc oxide (GZO) based thin film transistors (TFTs) through applying a radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method at room temperature. The gate leakage current can be reduced up to several ph by applying $SiO_2$ thermally grown instead of using new gate oxide materials. The root mean square (RMS) values of the ZnO and GZO film surface were measured as 1.07 nm and 1.65 nm, respectively. Also, the transmittances of the ZnO and GZO film were more than 80% and 75%, respectively, and they were changed as their film thickness. The ZnO and GZO film had a wurtzite structure that was arranged well as a (002) orientation. The ZnO TFT had a threshold voltage of 2.5 V, a field effect mobility of $0.027\;cm^2/(V{\cdot}s)$, a on/off ratio of $10^4$, a gate voltage swing of 17 V/decade and it operated in a enhancement mode. In case of the GZO TFT, it operated in a depletion mode with a threshold voltage of -3.4 V, a field effect mobility of $0.023\;cm^2/(V{\cdot}s)$, a on/off ratio of $2{\times}10^4$ and a gate voltage swing of 3.3 V/decade. We successfully demonstrated that the TFTs with the enhancement and depletion mode type can be fabricated by using pure ZnO and 1wt% Ga-doped ZnO.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.33-44
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• 2006

Background: Peripheral nerve injury leads to neuropathic pain, including mechanical hyperalgesia (MH). Nerve discharges produced by an injury to the primary afferents cause the release of glutamate from both central and peripheral terminals. While the role of centrally released glutamate in MH has been well studied, relatively little is known about its peripheral role. This study was carried out to determine if the peripherally conducting nerve impulses and peripheral glutamate receptors contribute to the generation of neuropathic pain. Methods: Rats that had previously received a left L5 dorsal rhizotomy were subjected to a spinal nerve lesion (SNL) or brief electrical stimulation (ES, 4 Hz pulses for 5 min) of the left L5 spinal nerve. The paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) to von Frey filaments was measured. The effects of an intraplantar (i.pl.) injection of a glutamate receptor (GluR) antagonist or agonist on the changes in the SNL- or ES-produced PWT was investigated. Results: SNL produced MH, as evidenced by decrease in the PWT, which lasted for more than 42 days. ES also produced MH lasting for 7 days. MK-801 (NMDAR antagonist), DL-AP3 (group-I mGluR antagonist), and APDC (group-II mGluR agonist) delayed the onset of MH when an i.pl. injection was given before SNL. The same application blocked the onset of ES-induced MH. NBQX (AMPA receptor antagonist) had no effect on either the SNL- or ES-induced onset of MH. When drugs were given after SNL or ES, MK-801 reversed the MH, whereas NBQX, DL-AP3, and APDC had no effect. Conclusions: Peripherally conducting impulses play an important role in the generation of neuropathic pain, which is mediated by the peripheral glutamate receptors.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.6-15
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• 2011

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical aspects of peri-implant bone upon root contact of orthodontic microimplant. Methods: Axisymmetric finite element modeling scheme was used to analyze the compressive strength of the orthodontic microimplant (Absoanchor SH1312-7, Dentos Inc., Daegu, Korea) placed into inter-radicular bone covered by 1 mm thick cortical bone, with its apical tip contacting adjacent root surface. A stepwise analysis technique was adopted to simulate the response of peri-implant bone. Areas of the bone that were subject to higher stresses than the maximum compressive strength (in case of cancellous bone) or threshold stress of 54.8MPa, which was assumed to impair the physiological remodeling of cortical bone, were removed from the FE mesh in a stepwise manner. For comparison, a control model was analyzed which simulated normal orthodontic force of 5 N at the head of the microimplant. Results: Stresses in cancellous bone were high enough to cause mechanical failure across its entire thickness. Stresses in cortical bone were more likely to cause resorptive bone remodeling than mechanical failure. The overloaded zone, initially located at the lower part of cortical plate, proliferated upward in a positive feedback mode, unaffected by stress redistribution, until the whole thickness was engaged. Conclusions: Stresses induced around a microimplant by root contact may lead to a irreversible loss of microimplant stability.