• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1006-1016
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• 2023

Objective: Computed tomography (CT) is an established method for the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of multiple myeloma. Here, we investigated the potential of photon-counting detector computed tomography (PCD-CT) in terms of image quality, diagnostic confidence, and radiation dose compared with energy-integrating detector CT (EID-CT). Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, patients with known multiple myeloma underwent clinically indicated whole-body PCD-CT. The image quality of PCD-CT was assessed qualitatively by three independent radiologists for overall image quality, edge sharpness, image noise, lesion conspicuity, and diagnostic confidence using a 5-point Likert scale (5 = excellent), and quantitatively for signal homogeneity using the coefficient of variation (CV) of Hounsfield Units (HU) values and modulation transfer function (MTF) via the full width at half maximum (FWHM) in the frequency space. The results were compared with those of the current clinical standard EID-CT protocols as controls. Additionally, the radiation dose (CTDIvol) was determined. Results: We enrolled 35 patients with multiple myeloma (mean age 69.8 ± 9.1 years; 18 [51%] males). Qualitative image analysis revealed superior scores (median [interquartile range]) for PCD-CT regarding overall image quality (4.0 [4.0-5.0] vs. 4.0 [3.0-4.0]), edge sharpness (4.0 [4.0-5.0] vs. 4.0 [3.0-4.0]), image noise (4.0 [4.0-4.0] vs. 3.0 [3.0-4.0]), lesion conspicuity (4.0 [4.0-5.0] vs. 4.0 [3.0-4.0]), and diagnostic confidence (4.0 [4.0-5.0] vs. 4.0 [3.0-4.0]) compared with EID-CT (P ≤ 0.004). In quantitative image analyses, PCD-CT compared with EID-CT revealed a substantially lower FWHM (2.89 vs. 25.68 cy/pixel) and a significantly more homogeneous signal (mean CV ± standard deviation [SD], 0.99 ± 0.65 vs. 1.66 ± 0.5; P < 0.001) at a significantly lower radiation dose (mean CTDIvol ± SD, 3.33 ± 0.82 vs. 7.19 ± 3.57 mGy; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Whole-body PCD-CT provides significantly higher subjective and objective image quality at significantly reduced radiation doses than the current clinical standard EID-CT protocols, along with readily available multi-spectral data, facilitating the potential for further advanced post-processing.

• Journal of Korea Game Society
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.25-41
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• 2009

The objective of this study is to develop an analytic framework to code systematically the gamer's behaviour in MMO(Massively Multi-player Online) gameplay experience, to explore their gameplay as a problem solving procedure empirically. Previous studies about model human processor, content based protocol, and procedure based protocol are reviewed in order to build the outline of the analytic framework related to MMO gameplay. The specific gameplay actions and contents were derived by using concurrent protocol analysis method through the empirical experiment executed in MMORPG gameplay. Consequently, gameplay are divided into six actions : kinematics, perception, function, representation, simulation, and rule (heuristics, following, and transcedence). The analytic framework suitable for MMO gameplay was built. As a result of this study, we found three rule spaces in the problem solving domain of gameplay that are an heuristics, a following of the rule, and a transcendence of the rule. 'Heuristics' denotes the rule action that discovers the rule of game through trial-and-error. 'Following' indicates the rule action that follows the rule of game embedded in game by game designers. 'Transcendence' presents the rule action that transcends that. The new discovered rule spaces where 'Following' and 'Transcendence' actions occur and the gameplay pattern in them is provided with the key basis to determine the level design elements of MMO game, such as terrain feature, monster attribute, item, and skill et cetera. Therefore, this study is concludes with key implications to support game design to improve the quality of MMO game product.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.93-114
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• 2012

Objective : This study aimed to review the performance of traditional herbal prescriptions for treating dementia and present a strategy for research on dementia therapy utilizing herbal medicine. Methods : A definition was made to clarify the technology regarding the development of herbal prescriptions for treating dementia. The queries were compounded based on the initial keywords provided by experts in the field, then applied to the Web of Science database search engines from January 1986 to September 2011 to search related scientific articles. Before performing the analysis, papers were extracted from the initial search reviewed by experts and 80 articles were selected. Then, the selected papers were analyzed in terms of publish year, country, and type of herbal prescriptions. Furthermore, the research performance evaluation for treating dementia by herbal prescriptions was also created in terms of country and organization based on forward citation analysis. In addition to, for the evaluation regarding research quality, we classified and reviewed papers into two types: clinical studies and experimental studies. Results : According to the quantitative information analysis of 80 articles, the number of papers has increased by 21.9% per the yearly mean from 1995, and Japan had the largest portion within this research field. There were 34 kinds of traditional herbal prescriptions, among them Ukgansan had the highest number of studies followed by Jodeungsan, Dangkisoosan and so on. In addition, quality index as calculated by cites per paper is higher than average in Switzerland, Turkey and Japan. In the view of the evaluation on quality there were 12 clinical studies, 8 RCT reported that herbal prescriptions had efficacy at cognition, behavioral & psychological symptoms (BPSD) and activity of daily life (ADL) in various type of dementia. In experimental studies most of the studies were performed using animal models. The studies using Ukgansan were aimed at improving BPSD. The papers studied with Jodeungsan and Dangkisoosan targeted vascular dementia. Conclusions : In this study, research to develop traditional herbal prescriptions for treating dementia has the potential to improve symptoms since herbal medicines work as both multi-function and multi-target in dementia with multiple pathological or neurotoxic pathways. Therefore, the results of the research should be used in order to establish strategies to develop technology for treating dementia with traditional herbal prescriptions in the future.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 2011

The objective of the imaging pipeline is to transform the original scene into a display image that appear similar, Generally, gamma adjustment or histogram-based method is modified to improve the contrast and detail. However, this is insufficient as the intensity and the chromaticity of illumination vary with geometric position. Thus, MSR (Multi-Scale Retinex) has been proposed. the MSR is based on a channel-independent logarithm, and it is dependent on the scale of the Gaussian filter, which varies according to input image. Therefore, after correcting the color, image quality degradations, such as halo, graying-out, and dominated color, may occur. Accordingly, this paper presents a novel color correction method using a modified image formation model in which the image is divided into three components such as global illumination, local illumination, and reflectance. The global illumination is obtained through Gaussian filtering of the original image, and the local illumination is estimated by using JND-based adaptive filter. Thereafter, the reflectance is estimated by dividing the original image by the estimated global and the local illumination to remove the influence of the illumination effects. The output image is obtained based on sRGB color representation. The experiment results show that the proposed method yields better performance of color correction over the conventional methods.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.78-90
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• 1998

An objective of this study was to provide database for the planting disign of buffer green space. Types, planting structure, and effect of vuffer green space were investigated in five housing complexes of newtown of metropolitan area, Korea. Buffer green space in the study sites were constructed as mounding, slope, and plate. The number of species was found 20 tree and sub-tree species(10 evergreen and 20 deciduous species ) and 13 shrub species. These species were planted in one-storyed planting structure and there was no difference with ornamental species in the urban parks. Effect of sound proof by the buffer green space was recognized but sound level in four types among the seven types was observed above standard sound level for housing complex(65dB). Effect of sound proof was especially most effective in the mounding type. It was found that planting density and index of plant crown volume were mot satisfied to the function of buffer green space because of lower density and crown volume than natural vegetation per unit. Based on these results, this study suggested that buffer green space is desirable to be developed in the mounding type over two meters height with multi-layer planting model. In addition, there is needed to consider vegetation structure of natural forest around the developing site.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.55-71
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to propose an evaluation method to assess green environments of streetscapes to improve urban street green spaces in Jeonju City. Through a rapid assessment of urban street green spaces, we suggest an objective basis for expanding street green space as well as for adopting sustainable maintenance and improvement measures. We choose 12 sections of streetscapes (roads and sidewalks) to investigate existing street conditions which have more than four lanes and function as major road axes. Six large roads and six medium roads of Jeonju City center area are investigated as pilot assessment study sites. Site inventory checklists consist of environmental characteristics of streetscape, street tree status, and planting condition evaluation. Environmental characteristics of streetscapes are composed of physical and neighborhood factors. For instance, items for physical factors are types and width of road/sidewalks, paving materials, tree protection materials, and green strip. And surrounding landuse is a neighborhood factor. Assessment items for street tree status are street plant names (tree/shrubs/ground cover), size, and planting intervals. Planting condition evaluation items are tree shape, damage, canopy density, and planting types with existence of adjacent green space. Evaluation results are classified into three levels such as A(maintain or repair), B(greening enhancement), and C(structural improvement). In case of grade A, streetscapes have enough sidewalk width for maintaining green strip and a multi-layered planting(in large road only) with fairly good growing conditions of street trees. For grade B and C, streetscapes have a moderate level of sidewalk width with a single street tree planting. In addition, street tree growing conditions are appeared poor so that green enhancement or maintenance measures are needed. For median, only grade B and C are found as its planting growing foundations are very limited in space. As a result, acquiring enough sidewalk space is essential to enhance ecological quality of urban street green. Especially, it is necessary to have green strip with reasonable widths for plant growing conditions in sidewalks. In addition, we need to consider native species with multi-layer plant compositions while designing street green.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.64 no.4
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• pp.562-574
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• 2021

Objective : This study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of demineralized bone matrix (DBM) gel versus DBM gel with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) used in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). Methods : This study was designed as a prospective, multi-center, double-blind method, randomized study. All randomized subjects underwent TLIF with DBM gel with rhBMP-2 group (40 patients) as an experimental group or DBM gel group (36 patients) as a control group. Post-operative observations were performed at 12, 24, and 48 weeks. The spinal fusion rate on computed tomography scans and X-rays films, Visual analog scale pain scores, Oswestry disability index and SF-36 quality of life (QOL) scores were used for the efficacy evaluation. The incidence rate of adverse device effects (ADEs) and serious adverse device effects (SADEs) were used for safety evaluation. Results : The spinal fusion rate at 12 weeks for the DBM gel with rhBMP-2 group was higher with 73.68% compared to 58.82% for the DBM gel group. The 24 and 48 weeks were 72.22% and 82.86% for the DBM gel with rhBMP-2 group and 78.79% and 78.13%, respectively, for the DBM gel group. However, there were no significant differences between two groups in the spinal fusion rate at 12, 24, and 48 weeks post-treatment (p=0.1817, p=0.5272, p=0.6247). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the incidence rate of ADEs (p=0.3836). For ADEs in the experimental group, 'Pyrexia' (5.00%) was the most common ADE, followed by 'Hypesthesia', 'Paresthesia', 'Transient peripheral paralysis', 'Spondylitis' and 'Insomnia' (2.50%, respectively). ADEs reported in control group included 'Pyrexia', 'Chest discomfort', 'Pain', 'Osteoarthritis', 'Nephropathy toxic', 'Neurogenic bladder', 'Liver function analyses' and 'Urticaria' (2.86%, respectively). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the incidence rate of SADEs (p=0.6594). For SADE in the experimental group, ''Pyrexia' and 'Spondylitis' were 2.50%. SADE reported in the control group included 'Chest discomfort', 'Osteoarthritis' and 'Neurogenic bladder'. All SADEs described above were resolved after medical treatment. Conclusion : This study demonstrated that the spinal fusion rates of DBM gel group and DBM gel with rhBMP-2 group were not significantly different. But, this study provides knowledge regarding the earlier postoperative effect of rhBMP-2 containing DBM gel and also supports the idea that the longer term follow-up results are essential to confirm the safety and effectiveness.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.4 no.2 s.12
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• pp.89-97
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• 2004

The objective of this study is the development of a scheme and discrete optimum design algorithm, which is based on the genetic algorithm. The algorithm can perform both scheme and size optimum designs of plane trusses. The developed Scheme genetic algorithm was implemented in a computer program. For the optimum design, the objective function is the weight of structures and the constraints are limits on loads and serviceability. The basic search method for the optimum design is the genetic algorithm. The algorithm is known to be very efficient for the discrete optimization. However, its application to the complicated structures has been limited because of the extreme time need for a number of structural analyses. This study solves the problem by introducing the size & scheme genetic algorithm operators into the genetic algorithm. The genetic process virtually takes no time. However, the evolutionary process requires a tremendous amount of time for a number of structural analyses. Therefore, the application of the genetic algorithm to the complicated structures is extremely difficult, if not impossible. The scheme genetic algorithm operators was introduced to overcome the problem and to complement the evolutionary process. It is very efficient in the approximate analyses and scheme and size optimization of plane trusses structures and considerably reduces structural analysis time. Scheme and size discrete optimum combined into the genetic algorithm is what makes the practical discrete optimum design of plane fusses structures possible. The efficiency and validity of the developed discrete optimum design algorithm was verified by applying the algorithm to various optimum design examples: plane pratt, howe and warren truss.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.241-252
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• 2017

This study aims to evaluate applicability of both online and offline parameter calibration techniques on rainfall-runoff modeling using a conceptual lumped hydrologic model. To achieve the goal, the storage function model was selected and then two different automatic calibration techniques: SCE-UA (offline method) and particle filter (online method) were applied to calibrate the optimal parameter sets for 9 rainfall events in the Cheoncheon catchment, upper area of the Yongdam multi-purpose dam. In order to assess reproducibility of hydrographs from the parameter sets of both techniques, the observed discharge of each event was divided into low flow (below average flow) and high flow (over average flow). The results show that the particle filter method, updating the parameters in real-time, provides more stable reproducibility than the SCE-UA method regardless of low and high flow. The optimal parameters estimated by SCE-UA are very sensitive to the selected objective functions used in this study: RMSE and HMLE. In particular, the parameter sets from RMSE and HMLE demonstrate superior goodness-of-fit values for high flow and low flow periods, respectively.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.334-342
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• 2016

Conventional eco-design has been implemented based only on the environmental aspects of a product. Key components of a product identified from the analysis of the environmental aspects have been the target for improvement in the conventional eco-design. The use of eco-design index (EDI) considering both the environmental and economic aspects, and utility value (UV) of a product can be envisaged as an alternative way of implementing and assessing the eco-design. The objective of this study was to propose the logic of the EDI and apply it to the components for performing printing function of the multi-function printer. The EDI was formulated by quantifying the UV, life cycle environmental impact (LCE) and life cycle cost (LCC) of the components of a product, here components of the printer. Of the eight components investigated, roller was identified as the best performing consumable in both the environmental and economic aspects. However, its UV was the lowest among the eight. The EDI of the roller was mere $4^{th}$ in ranking out of the eight. Transfer belt ranked $8^{th}$ and $5^{th}$ in the environmental and economic aspects, respectively, while $2^{nd}$ in the utility value with its EDI ranked $3^{rd}$. This indicates that not only the environmental aspects but also economic and utility value aspects should be considered when identifying the key components for improvement in the eco-design.