• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.30 no.1_2
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• pp.153-160
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• 2018

Purpose : We retrospectively analyzed doses of each radiation therapy technique used in the treatment for left breast cancer patients after partial mastectomy through dose results for normalorgans and tumor volume to use this as a clinical reference for radiation therapy of domestic left breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods : 40 patients who underwent partial mastectomy on left breast cancer were classified in 3 treatment methods. The treatment plan was evaluated by HI(homogeneity index), $D_{95%}$, and CI(conformity index), and the $V_{hot}$ for gross tumor volume and clinical target volume of each treatment method. In Cyberknife treatment, tumor volume was the same as high dose volume in the other techniques, so no consideration was given to clinical target volume. Treatment plan evaluation for normal organs were evaluated by mean dose on ipsilateral lung, heart, left anterior descending artery, opposite breast and lung, and non-target tissue. Result : Treatment with volumetric arc radiotherapy(VMAT) showed $95.84{\pm}0.75%$ of $D_{95%}$ on the clinical target volume, significantly higher than that of 3D-CRT. The $D_{95%}$ value of the total tumor volume was slightly higher than the other treatments. In Cyberknife treatment, the dose to the normal organs was significantly lower than other treatments. Overall, the maximum dose and mean dose to the heart were $26.2{\pm}6.12Gy$ and $1.88{\pm}0.2Gy$ in VMAT treatment and $20.25{\pm}9.35Gy$ and $1.04{\pm}0.19Gy$ in 3D-CRT therapy, respectively. Conclusion : In comparison on 3D-CRT and VMAT, most of the dosimetric parameters for the evaluation of the treatment plan showed similar values, so that there is no significant difference in treatment plan evaluation. It is possible to select the treatment method according to the patient's anatomical structure or possibility of breath control. Cyberknife treatment is very useful treatment for normal organs because of its accurate dose exposure to the tumor volume However, it has restrictions to treat the local area, to have relatively long treatment time and to involve invasive procedure.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.616-624
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• 2020

International trade is one of the primary ways that non-native species spread worldwide. Korea and China are geographically close and have a large mutual trade volume. To investigate the population movement of the invasive whitefly(Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) between the two countries, we compared the biotype distribution, insecticidal response, and the TYLCV(tomato yellow leaf curl virus) viruliferous rate of local populations collected in 2019. Based on the mitochondrial DNA COI sequences of B. tabaci, only the Q biotype was found in all populations in Korea, whereas the B biotype (14.3%) and Q biotype (85.7%) were found in China. In the haplotype composition of the B. tabaci Q biotype, only the Q1 group[Q1H1(79.8%) and Q1H2(20.2%)] was observed in China, but the Q1 group [Q1H1(1.7%) and Q1H2(97.5%)] and the Q2 group(only one individual) were found in Korea. The Korean populations showed high mortality(more than 80%) from 15 commercial insecticides, but the Chinese populations showed significantly low mortality from eight insecticides. No TYLCV infections were observed in the Korean populations while the average TYLCV viruliferous rate was 21.4% in the Chinese populations. Taken together, the results suggest that the population structures of B. tabaci in the two countries are different and may have different immigration histories.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.51-75
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• 2022

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation that is able to alter neuronal activity in particular brain regions. Many studies have researched how tDCS modulates neuronal activity and reorganizes neural networks. However it is difficult to conclude the effect of brain stimulation because the studies are heterogeneous with respect to the stimulation parameter as well as individual difference. It is not fully in agreement with the effects of brain stimulation. In particular few studies have researched the reason of variability of brain stimulation in response to time so far. The study investigated individual variability of brain stimulation based on circadian rhythm and chronotype. Participants were divided into two groups which are morning type and evening type. The experiment was conducted by Zoom meeting which is video meeting programs. Participants were sent experiment tool which are Muse(EEG device), tdcs device, cell phone and cell phone holder after manuals for experimental equipment were explained. Participants were required to make a phone in frount of a camera so that experimenter can monitor online EEG data. Two participants who was difficult to use experimental devices experimented in a laboratory setting where experimenter set up devices. For all participants the accuracy of 98% was achieved by SVM using leave one out cross validation in classification in the the effects of morning stimulation and the evening stimulation. For morning type, the accuracy of 92% and 96% was achieved in classification in the morning stimulation and the evening stimulation. For evening type, it was 94% accuracy in classification for the effect of brain stimulation in the morning and the evening. Feature importance was different both in classification in the morning stimulation and the evening stimulation for morning type and evening type. Results indicated that the effect of brain stimulation can be explained with brain state and trait. Our study results noted that the tDCS protocol for target state is manipulated by individual differences as well as target state.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.506-520
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• 2022

Purpose: Physical activity (PA) has a beneficial effect on the prevention of arteriosclerosis in healthy adults. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between PA measured using an accelerometer and arterial stiffness in healthy Korean adults. Methods: This study involved 87 subjects (36.8% women) aged 20-64 years. PA was evaluated using an accelerometer (wGT3X-BT, ActiGraph, Florida, USA) for 7 days. Based on the results of the accelerometer measurement, subjects were classified into active and inactive groups according to the World Health Organization (WHO) PA guidelines. The brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and ankle-brachial index (ABI) to assess arterial stiffness were measured by a non-invasive vascular screening device (VP-1000 Plus, Omron). Results: The average age of the study subjects was 47.7 ± 11.3 years and the WHO PA guideline achievement rate was 29.9%. There was no significant difference in arterial stiffness (baPWV and ABI) between the active and inactive groups. In females, the time spent in light PA were positively correlated with ABI (r = 0.396; p < 0.05) and the number of sedentary bouts over 50 minutes was inversely correlated with ABI (r = -0.402; p < 0.05). However, there was no significant correlation between PA and arterial stiffness in males. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that light PA and sedentary behavior have a positive correlation with arterial stiffness in females.

• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2023

Liposomes as drug delivery system have proved useful carrier for various disease, including cancer. In addition, perfluorocarbon cored microbubbles are utilized in conjunction with high-intensity focused-ultrasound (HIFU) to enable simultaneous diagnosis and treatment. However, microbubbles generally exhibit lower drug loading efficiency, so the need for the development of a novel liposome-based drug delivery material that can efficiently load and deliver drugs to targeted areas via HIFU. This study aims to develop a liposome-based drug delivery material by introducing a substance that can burst liposomes using ultrasound energy and confirm the ability to target tumors using PET imaging. Liposomes (Lipo-DOX, Lipo-DOX-Au, Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD) were synthesized with gold nanoparticles using an avidin-biotin bond, and doxorubicin was mounted inside by pH gradient method. The size distribution was measured by DLS, and encapsulation efficiency of doxorubicin was analyzed by UV-vis spectrometer. The target specificity and cytotoxicity of liposomes were assessed in vitro by glioblastoma U87mg cells to HIFU treatment and analyzed using CCK-8 assay, and fluorescence microscopy at 6-hour intervals for up to 24 hours. For the in vivo study, U87mg model mouse were injected intravenously with 1.48 MBq of ⁶⁴Cu-labeled Lipo-DOX-Au and Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD, and PET images were taken at 0, 2, 4, 8, and 24 hours. As a result, the size of liposomes was 108.3 ± 5.0 nm at Lipo-DOX-Au and 94.1 ± 12.2 nm at Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD, and it was observed that doxorubicin was mounted inside the liposome up to 52%. After 6 hours of HIFU treatment, the viability of U87mg cells treated with Lipo-DOX-Au decreased by around 20% compared to Lipo-DOX, and Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD had a higher uptake rate than Lipo-DOX. In vivo study using PET images, it was confirmed that ⁶⁴Cu-Lipo-DOX-Au-RGD was taken up into the tumor immediately after injection and maintained for up to 4 hours. In this study, drugs released from liposomes-gold nanoparticles via ultrasound and RGD targeting were confirmed by non-invasive imaging. In cell-level experiments, HIFU treatment of gold nanoparticle-coupled liposomes significantly decreased tumor survival, while RGD-liposomes exhibited high tumor targeting and rapid release in vivo imaging. It is expected that the combination of these models with ultrasound is served as an effective drug delivery material with therapeutic outcomes.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.566-574
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• 2022

Heavy metals are one of the dangerous pollutants that threaten urban biodiversity due to their accumulation over a long period without being decomposed in vivo. Accordingly, there is a need for biological monitoring to compare accumulation concentrations in living organisms according to the degree of heavy metal exposure to evaluate heavy metal contamination in the air in urban areas. This study aims to examine the possibility of using nesting materials as heavy metal monitoring samples and determine the effects of heavy metals on Paridae. We installed 54 artificial nest boxes in the research areas that included campus green spaces (14), urban forests (11), and urban parks (29) on a university campus in Cheonan City, Chungcheongnam Province. The birds' use rate of artificial nest boxes was 11/14 (78.57%) in campus green spaces, 8/11 (72.72%) in urban forests, and 6/29 (20.68%) in urban parks. Moss materials were collected from collected nests, and the heavy metal accumulation characteristics of each type of urban green space and the effects of heavy metals on the success of fledging of Paridae were compared through heavy metal analysis. The analysis showed that the average concentrations of zinc and lead were 228.08±209.62 ㎍/dry g and 17.67 ± 6.72 ㎍/dry g, respectively. There was no significant difference in zinc concentration for each type of urban green space (Kruskal-Wallis test, p-value=0.28), but lead concentration showed a significant difference (Kruskal-Wallis test, p<0.05^*). Of the 21 Paridae, nests analyzed for heavy metals, fledging of birds was observed in 11 nests (52.38%). Fledging of birds observed in each urban green space type was 7 campus green spaces (77.78%), 6 in urban forests (85.71%), and 1 in urban park (20%), mainly in urban forests and green spaces on campus. Heavy metal concentrations were compared to check the effect of heavy metal accumulation on the successful fledging of Paridae, but there was no statistically significant difference (Zn: W=44, p-value=0.74, Pb: t=0.64676, df =7.2422, p-value=0.54). This study is a basic study using the nesting materials of Paridae as heavy metal monitoring samples, and it is determined that it can be used as basic data for non-invasive biological monitoring.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.233-246
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• 2023

In terms of understanding the water cycle and efficient water resource management, the importance of soil moisture has been highlighted. However, in Korea, the lack of qualified in-situ soil moisture data results in very limited utility. Even if satellite-based data are applied, the absence of ground reference data makes objective evaluation and correction difficult. The cosmic-ray neutron probe (CRNP) can play a key role in producing data for satellite data calibration. The installation of CRNP is non-invasive, minimizing damage to the soil and vegetation environment, and has the advantage of having a spatial representative for the intermediate scale. These characteristics are advantageous to establish an observation network in Korea which has lots of mountainous areas with dense vegetation. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of the CRNP soil moisture observatory in Korea as part of the establishment of a Korean cOsmic-ray Soil Moisture Observing System (KOSMOS). The CRNP observation station was installed with the Gunup-ri observation station, considering the ease of securing power and installation sites and the efficient use of other hydro-meteorological factors. In order to evaluate the CRNP soil moisture data, 12 additional in-situ soil moisture sensors were installed, and spatial representativeness was evaluated through a temporal stability analysis. The neutrons generated by CRNP were found to be about 1,087 counts per hour on average, which was lower than that of the Solmacheon observation station, indicating that the Hongcheon observation station has a more humid environment. Soil moisture was estimated through neutron correction and early-stage calibration of the observed neutron data. The CRNP soil moisture data showed a high correlation with r=0.82 and high accuracy with root mean square error=0.02 m³/m³ in validation with in-situ data, even in a short calibration period. It is expected that higher quality soil moisture data production with greater accuracy will be possible after recalibration with the accumulation of annual data reflecting seasonal patterns. These results, together with previous studies that verified the excellence of CRNP soil moisture data, suggest that high-quality soil moisture data can be produced when constructing KOSMOS.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.82 no.3
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• pp.654-669
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• 2021

Purpose To evaluate the accuracy of MRI in predicting the pathological complete response (pCR) and the residual tumor size of breast cancer after neoadjucant chemotherapy (NAC), and to determine the factors affecting the accuarcy. Materials and Methods Eighty-eight breast cancer patients who underwent surgery after NAC at our center between 2010 and 2017 were included in this study. pCR was defined as the absence of invasive cancer on pathological evaluation. The maximum diameter of the residual tumor on post-NAC MRI was compared with the tumor size of the surgical specimen measured pathologically. Statistical analysis was performed to elucidate the factors affecting pCR and the residual tumor size-discrepancy between the MRI and the pathological measurements. Results The pCR rate was 10%. The diagnostic accuracy of MRI and the area under the curve for predicting pCR were 90.91% and 0.8017, respectively. The residual tumor sizes obtained using MRI and pathological measurements showed a strong correlation (r = 0.9, p < 0.001), especially in patients with a single mass lesion (p = 0.047). The size discrepancy between MRI and the pathological measurements was significantly greater in patients with the luminal type (p = 0.023) and multifocal tumors/non-mass enhancement on pre-NAC MRI (p = 0.047). Conclusion MRI is an accurate tool for evaluating pCR and residual tumor size in breast cancer patients who receive NAC. Tumor subtype and initial MRI features affect the accuracy of MRI.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2024

Purpose: ¹⁸F-FET, a radiopharmaceutical based on a Tyrosine amino acid derivative using the Sodium-Potassium Pump-independent Transporter (System L) for non-invasive evaluation of primary, recurrent, and metastatic brain tumors, exhibits distinct characteristics. Unlike the widely absorbed ¹⁸F-FDG in both tumor and normal brain tissues, ¹⁸F-FET demonstrates specific uptake only in tumor tissue while almost negligible uptake in normal brain tissue. This study aims to compare and evaluate the usefulness of ¹⁸F-FDG and ¹⁸F-FET Brain PET/CT quantitative analysis in brain tumor diagnosis. Materials and Methods: In 46 patients diagnosed with brain gliomas (High Grade: 34, Low Grade: 12), Brain PET/CT scans were performed at 40 minutes after ¹⁸F-FDG injection and at 20 minutes (early) and 80 minutes (delay) after ¹⁸F-FET injection. SUV_max and SUV_peak of tumor areas corresponding to MRI images were measured in each scan, and the SUV_max-to-SUV_peak ratio, an indicator of tumor prognosis, was calculated. Differences in SUV_max, SUV_peak, and SUV_max-to-SUV_peak ratio between ¹⁸F-FDG and ¹⁸F-FET early/delay scans were statistically verified using SPSS (ver.28) package program. Results: SUV_max values were 3.72±1.36 for ¹⁸F-FDG, 4.59±1.55 for ¹⁸F-FET early, and 4.12±1.36 for ¹⁸F-FET delay scans. The highest SUV_max was observed in ¹⁸F-FET early scans, particularly in HG tumors (4.85±1.44), showing a slightly more significant difference (P<0.0001). SUV_peak values were 3.33±1.13 for ¹⁸F-FDG, 3.04±1.11 for ¹⁸F-FET early, and 2.80±0.96 for ¹⁸F-FET delay scans. The highest SUV_peak was in ¹⁸F-FDG scans, while the lowest was in ¹⁸F-FET delay scans, with a more significant difference in HG tumors (P<0.001). SUV_max-to-SUV_peak ratio values were 1.11±0.09 for ¹⁸F-FDG, 1.54±0.22 for ¹⁸F-FET early, and 1.48±0.17 for ¹⁸F-FET delay scans. This ratio was higher in ¹⁸F-FET scans for both HG and LG tumors (P<0.0001), but there was no statistically significant difference between ¹⁸F-FET early and delay scans. Conclusion: This study confirms the usefulness of early and delay scans in ¹⁸F-FET Brain PET/CT examinations, particularly demonstrating the changes in objective quantitative metrics such as SUV_max, SUV_peak, and introducing the SUV_max-to-SUV_peak ratio as a new evaluation metric based on the degree of tumor malignancy. This is expected to further contributions to the quantitative analysis of Brain PET/CT images.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.97-106
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• 2024

This study utilized the non-invasive MyotonPRO^® device to analyze the stiffness in breast muscles of commercial broilers (Ross 308 and Arbor Acres) and compared these findings with data reported for Ross 708, where Woody Breast (WB) symptoms had been previously documented. The research revealed that Ross 308 and Arbor Acres displayed relatively lower stiffness values compared to Ross 708, suggesting a lack of WB expression. These results indicate differentiation in breast muscle traits across strains and underscore the necessity for further research into factors influencing WB manifestation. The study also measured additional muscle tone characteristics such as Frequency, Decrement, Relaxation, and Creep across various growth stages (2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks), finding significant variations with pronounced severity at weeks 2 and 8. An increase in stiffness was observed as the broilers aged, pointing to potential growth-related or stress-induced changes affecting WB severity. A strong positive correlation was established between increased breast meat weight and WB severity, highlighting that heavier breast meat could exacerbate the condition. This correlation is vital for the poultry industry, suggesting that weight management could help mitigate WB effects. Moreover, the potential for genetic selection and breeding strategies to reduce WB occurrence was emphasized, which could aid in enhancing management practices in commercial poultry production. Collectively, these insights contribute to a deeper understanding of WB in broilers and propose avenues for future research and practical strategies to minimize its impact.