• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.154-161
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• 2017

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of diffusion-weighted steady-state free precession (DW-SSFP) in comparison to diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging (DW-EPI) for differentiating the neoplastic and benign osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 40 patients with recent vertebral compression fractures but no history of vertebroplasty, spine operation, or chemotherapy. They had received 3-Tesla (T) spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including both DW-SSFP and DW-EPI sequences. The 40 patients included 20 with neoplastic vertebral fracture and 20 with benign osteoporotic vertebral fracture. In each fracture lesion, we obtained the signal intensity normalized by the signal intensity of normal bone marrow (SI norm) on DW-SSFP and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) on DW-EPI. The correlation between the SI norm and the ADC in each lesion was analyzed using linear regression. The optimal cut-off values for the diagnosis of neoplastic fracture were determined in each sequence using Youden's J statistics and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses. Results: In the neoplastic fracture, the median SI norm on DW-SSFP was higher and the median ADC on DW-EPI was lower than the benign osteoporotic fracture (5.24 vs. 1.30, P = 0.032, and 0.86 vs. 1.48, P = 0.041, respectively). Inverse linear correlations were evident between SI norm and ADC in both neoplastic and benign osteoporotic fractures (r = -0.45 and -0.61, respectively). The optimal cut-off values for diagnosis of neoplastic fracture were SI norm of 3.0 in DW-SSFP with the sensitivity and specificity of 90.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 81.0-99.0) and 95.3% (95% CI: 90.0-100.0), respectively, and ADC of 1.3 in DW-EPI with the sensitivity and specificity of 90.5% (95% CI: 80.0-100.0) and 70.4% (95% CI: 60.0-80.0), respectively. Conclusion: In 3-T MRI, DW-SSFP has comparable sensitivity and specificity to DW-EPI in differentiating the neoplastic vertebral fracture from the benign osteoporotic vertebral fracture.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Health Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.834-849
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• 2017

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the trends of cataract surgery and the recognition of cataract. Methods: ; It enrolled a total of 150 respondents, comprising 72 men and 78 women, who reside in Busan Metropolitan City, Ulsan Metropolitan City and Kyeong-nam Province. By the age groups, they include 44 people in their 20s, 24 in their 30s, 24 in their 40s, 26 in their 50s and 32 aged 60 years or older. In addition, the current study was conducted by dividing the respondents into two groups: people with cataract or not. Moreover, it was also conducted mainly for younger people. Results: 1. As for age of cataract operation, this study say that 1 patient was in their 20s, 3 patients in their 30s, 3 patients in their 40s, 6 patients in their 50s, and 7 patients in their over 60s. 2. In the question about whether they know about cataract, 100 respondents answered 'I know', 50 answered 'I do not know', 67% answered 'I know', 33% answered 'I do not know'. 3. As for pathways to know about cataract, of the total 120 respondents, 49 (41%) were in the media, 20 (17%) were Internet users, 26 (22%) were acquaintances, and 10 (7%) were specialty books, and 15 (13%) were 'others'. 4. As for cataract causes, 20 respondents (13%) answered 'exposure to sunlight', 12 (8%) answered 'electronic devices', 7 answered 'hereditary' 89 (60%) answered, and 22 (14%) answered 'eye disease'. 5. Twenty (13%) answered 'extremely yes', 40 (27%) answered 'yes', and 31 (21%) answered 'normal' when asked whether the use of smartphone was affected by cataracts. 48 (32%) answered 'little', and 11 (7%) answered 'not at all'. Our results showed that many people aged 50 years or older developed cataract and received surgery. It was also shown, however, that people in their 20s to 40s also developed cataract and received surgery. Conclusions: Our eyes are exposed to many places. Many people are unaware of cataracts, despite the fact that cataracts are gradually getting younger, due to the development of electronic devices and the use of electrical appliances. We should have interest in many information and contents about cataracts, knowing the importance to eyes, and gradually reducing the use of many electronic devices in young people.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.977-985
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• 2016

The captive breeding program of the Reeve's turtle (Mauremys reevesii), which is designated as an endangered category II species by the Korean Ministry of Environment, has developed, but the reproductive physiology of the species is still not fully understood. In this study, we investigated seasonal changes in the sex steroid levels, the number and size of follicles and eggs and male-female interactive behaviors of hibernated and non-hibernated turtles between November 2014 and October 2015. Plasma estradiol level in females increased from July and peaked in the period from August to October. Plasma testosterone level in males peaked between August and September and was the lowest in March, although there were some variations depending on the patterns of hibernation. Hibernated females had fully developed eggs between early May and middle July and laid eggs between early June and late July, but non-hibernated females had eggs between early April and early June and also between middle August and late November, and laid eggs in early June, mid-October, and early February. These results suggest that hibernation could be essential for normal follicular and egg developments. Male-female interactive behaviors including courtship intensified from late August and peaked in October and November. Our findings suggest that mating period of this species is directly related to increased steroid hormone levels, but follicular and egg developments in females are not. Our results could be very useful to the successful operation of captive rearing programs of the endangered Reeve' sturtles.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.36-45
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• 2017

Abstract It is necessary to verify the properties of an inertial measurement unit in the flight environment before applying to military applications. In this paper, we presented a new approach to verify an inertial measurement unit(IMU) in regard to the performance and the robustness in flight environments for the high-dynamics vehicle systems. We proposed two methods for verification of an IMU. We confirmed normal operation of an IMU and properties in flight environment by using direct comparison method. And we proposed real time multi-navigation system to complement the first method. The proposed method made it possible to compare navigation result at the same time. Therefore, it is easy to analyze the performance of an inertial navigation system and robustness during the vehicle flight. To verify the proposed method, we carried out a flight test as well as an experimental test of flight vibration on the ground. As a result of the experiment, we confirmed flight environment properties of an IMU. Therefore, we shows that the proposed method can serve the reliability improvement of IMU.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.90-97
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• 2016

Background: We have previously found that intra-peritoneal lidocaine instillation before pneumoperitoneum attenuates pneumoperitoneum-induced hypertension. Whether this procedure alters patient's hemodynamic status during operation should be determined for clinical application. This study elucidated the possible mechanism of the attenuation of the pneumoperitoneum-induced hypertension by intra-peritoneal lidocaine before pneumoperitoneum. Methods: Thirty-four patients underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) were randomly allocated into two groups. After induction of general anesthesia, 200 mL of 0.2% lidocaine (lidocaine group, n=17), or normal saline (control group, n=17) were sub-diaphragmatically instilled 10 minutes before pneumoperitoneum. The changes in systolic blood pressure, heart rate, central venous pressure, stroke volume, cardiac output, and systemic vascular resistance were compared between the groups. The number of analgesics used during post-operative 24 h was compared. Results: Systolic blood pressure was elevated during pneumoperitoneum in both groups (p<0.01), but the degree of elevation was significantly reduced in the lidocaine group than in the control (p<0.01). However, stroke volume and cardiac output were decreased and systemic vascular resistance was increased after induction of pneumoperitoneum (p<0.05) without statistical difference between two groups. The number of analgesics used was significantly reduced in the lidocaine group (p<0.01). Conclusion: These data suggest that intra-peritoneal lidocaine before pneumoperitoneum does not alter patient's hemodynamics, and attenuation of pneumoperitoneum-induced hypertension may be the consequence of reduced intra-abdominal pain rather than the decrease of cardiac output during pneumoperitoneum. Therefore, intra-peritoneal lidocaine instillation before pneumoperitoneum is a useful method to manage an intraoperative pneumoperitoneum-induced hypertension and to control postoperative pain without severe detrimental hemodynamic effects.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.290-296
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• 2018

In this study, the cold test and the numerical analysis were carried out according to the shape parameters of the test model in order to confirm the operation range of high altitude environment simulation test facility for the supersonic vehicle. The blockage ratio, angle and length ratio were considered as the design parameters. The blockage rate is expected to be limited in the region of more than 40% due to the normal shock and expansion fan. It was confirmed that the angle of model should be selected at the size of 45 degrees or less due to the influence of the strong shock wave. There was no difference in performance between the lengths of 8 times the model diameter. Finally, we obtained the performance database according to the shape parameters of the conical test model and confirmed the operable range of the semi-freejet type high altitude environment simulation test facility.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.43 no.12
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• pp.1054-1061
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• 2015

Navigation accuracy, integrity, and safety of commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is becoming crucial as utilization of UAV in commercial applications is expected to increase. Recently, the concept of Local-Area Differential GNSS (LADGNSS) which can provide navigation accuracy and integrity of UAV was proposed. LADGNSS can provide differential corrections and separation distances for precise and safe operation of the UAV. In order to derive separation distances between UAVs, modeling of Flight Technical Error (FTE) is required. In most cases, FTE for civil aircraft has been assumed to be zero-mean normal distribution. However, this assumption can cause overconservatism especially for UAV, because UAV may use control and navigation equipments in wider performance range and follow more diverse path than standard airway for civil aircraft. In this research, flight experiments were carried out to understand the characteristics of FTE distribution. Also, this paper proposes to use Johnson distribution which can better describe heavy-tailed and skewed FTE data. Futhermore, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Anderson-Darling tests were conducted to evaluate the goodness of fit of Johnson model.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.172-175
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• 2001

Nanophase catalyst layer for direct methanol fuel cell has been fabricated by magnetron sputtering method. Catalyst metal targets and carbon were sputtered simultaneously on the Nafion membrane surface at abnormally higher gas (Ar/He mixture) pressure than that of normal thin film processing. They could be coated as a novel structure of catalyst layer containing porous PtRu or Pt and carbon particles both in nanometer range. Membrane electrode assembly made with this layer led to a reduction of the catalyst loading. At the catalyst loading of 1.5mg $PtRu/cm^2$ for anode and 1mg $Pt/cm^2$ for cathode, it could provide $45 mW/cm^2$ in the operation at 2 M methanol, 1 Bar Air at 80"C. It is more than $30\%$ increase of the power density performance at the same level of catalyst loading by conventional method. This was realized due to the ultra fine particle sizes and a large fraction of the atoms lie on the grain boundaries of nanophase catalyst layer and they played an important role of fast catalyst reaction kinetics and more efficient fuel path. Commercialization of direct methanol fuel cell for portable electronic devices is anticipated by the further development of such design.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.11-22
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• 1998

The present educational and social circumstances require the improvement of science education and the promotion of scientific technology simultaneously Under this situation, it is necessary to develop the performance assessment evaluating the ability of scientific inquiry. The purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable instrument of the performance assessment that is can evaluate the scientific inquiring ability. The characteristics of the instrument developed through this study, are as follows, 1. The performance assessment can be impartially achieved for all the elements of scientific inquiry, which are required in the units of elementary science from 3rd to 6th grade of elementary school. 2. To maintain the objectivity of performance assessment, the detailed standpoints and standards are established. 3. The instruments are devised to evaluate the thinking skills with the experimental reports of student, the operation skills by the check list of evaluation that the teacher's observation for the student are recorded. 4. Considering the level of elementary school student, the items required the complex thinking and the investigative skills are exclude as much as possible. 5. The items are arranged according to the learning steps of elementary school, so that the evaluation may be achieved in parallel with the process of the real teaching -learning in class. 6. According to circumstances, make use of these materials for the evaluation as the practical teaching-learning materials instead of the normal teaching-learning materials The first field trial with the instrument was carried out, using a sample of 20 students from the 3rd to 6th at K and Y elementary school located in Kwangju city. The results of mean achievement quotient for each grade are as follows, the first term of 3rd grade (experiment and exercise skills ; 85%, inquiry thinking skills ; 74%), the second term of 3rd grade (experiment and exercise skills : 81%, inquiry thinking skills ; 76%), the first term of 4th grade (experiment and exercise skills ; 70%, inquiry thinking skills ; 59%), the second term of 4th grade (experiment and exercise skills ; 61%, inquiry thinking skills ; 71%), the first term of 5th grade (experiment and exercise skills ; 84%, inquiry thinking skills ; 67%), the second term of 5th grade (experiment and exercise skills; 73%, inquiry thinking skills ; 70%), the first term of 6th grade (experiment and exercise skills : 83%, inquiry thinking skills ; 84%), the second term of 6th grade (experiment and exercise skills ; 87%, inquiry thinking skills ; 81%).

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.219-227
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to investigate water purification properties of porous concrete by using effective microorganisms through the long-term continuous flow test. To solve the problems such as desorption of conventional microorganisms, in this study, tertiary treatment of the effective microorganisms identified by 16S rDNA sequence analysis was adopted per each step in the manufacturing process of porous concrete. And concentration for optimum continuous flow test and operation conditions through basic experiments according to retention time were investigated. Based on the experimental results, the porous concrete applying effective microorganisms showed no toxicity on the biological water quality and exhibited excellent removal efficiency than normal porous concrete. Therefore, contaminated water quality would be improved by treatment performance investigation of contaminants through long-term continuous flow test. If problems are complemented during the experiment process, it is expected to be able to reduce the non-point pollution sources flowing into river.