• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2010

Objective : Disc herniations at the L1-L2 and L2-L3 levels are different from those at lower levels of the lumbar spine with regard to clinical characteristics and surgical outcome. Spinal canals are narrower than those of lower levels, which may compromise multiple spinal nerve roots or conus medullaris. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical features and surgical outcomes of upper lumbar disc herniations. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the clinical features of 41 patients who had undergone surgery for single disc herniations at the L1-L2 and L2-3 levels from 1998 to 2007. The affected levels were L1-L2 in 14 patients and L2-L3 in 27 patients. Presenting symptoms and signs, patient characteristics, radiologic findings, operative methods, and surgical outcomes were investigated. Results : The mean age of patients with upper lumbar disc was 55.5 years (ranged 31 to 78). The mean follow-up period was 16.6 months. Most patients complained of back and buttock pain (38 patients, 92%), and radiating pain in areas such as the anterior or anterolateral aspect of the thigh (32 patients, 78%). Weakness of lower extremities was observed in 16 patients (39%) and sensory disturbance was presented in 19 patients (46%). Only 6 patients (14%) had undergone previous lumbar disc surgery. Discectomy was performed using three methods : unilateral laminectomy in 27 cases, bilateral laminectomy in 3 cases, and the transdural approach in 11 cases, which were performed through total laminectomy in 10 cases and unilateral laminectomy in 1 case. With regard to surgical outcomes, preoperative symptoms improved significantly in 33 patients (80.5%), partially in 7 patients (17%), and were aggravated in 1 patient (2.5%). Conclusion : Clinical features of disc herniations at the L1-L2 and L2-L3 levels were variable, and localized sensory change or pain was rarely demonstrated. In most cases, the discectomy was performed successfully by conventional posterior laminectomy. On the other hand, in large central broad based disc herniation, when the neural elements are severely compromised, the posterior transdural approach could be an alternative.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.18 no.3 s.118
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• pp.323-333
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• 2007

In this paper, a new MDAS-DR antenna structure designed to efficiently shape a flat-topped radiation pattern is proposed. The antenna structure is composed of a stacked micro-strip patch exciter and a multi-layered disk array structure(MDAS) surrounded by a dielectric ring. The MDAS, which was supplied by a stacked microstrip patch exciter with radiating power, can form a flat-topped radiation pattern in a far field by a mutual interaction with the surrounding dielectric ring. Therefore, the design parameters of the dielectric ring and the MDAS structure are important design parameters for shaping a flat-topped radiation pattern. The proposed antenna used twelve multi-layered disk array elements and a Teflon material with a dielectric constant of 2.05. An antenna operated at 10 GHz$(9.6\sim10.4\;GHz)$ was designed in order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed antenna structure. The commercial simulator of CST Microwave $Studio^{TM}$, which was adapted to a 3-D antenna structure analysis, was used for the simulation. The antenna breadboard was also fabricated and its electrical performance was measured in an anechoic antenna chamber. The measured results of the antenna breadboard with a flat-topped radiation pattern were found to be in good agreement with the simulated one. The MDAS-DR antenna gain measured at 10 GHz was 11.18 dBi, and the MDAS-DR antenna was capable of shaping a good flat-topped radiation pattern with a beam-width of about $40^{\circ}$, at least within a fractional bandwidth of 8.0 %.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.678-685
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• 2013

In this paper, we propose a design of dual-band patch antennas for Global Positioning System(GPS) applications, and the designed antenna is used as an individual element of GPS arrays. A low distortion and a high isolation of the array are achieved by adjusting rotating angles of each array element. The antenna consists of two radiating patches that operate in the GPS $L_1$ and $L_2$ bands, and the two ports feeding network with a hybrid chip coupler is adopted to achieve a broad circular polarization(CP) bandwidth. The rotating angles of each antenna element are varied with four directions(${\phi}=0^{\circ}$, ${\phi}=90^{\circ}$, ${\phi}=180^{\circ}$, ${\phi}=270^{\circ}$) in order to minimize the pattern distortion and maximize the isolation among array elements. The measurement shows bore-sight gains of 0.3 dBic($L_1$) and -1.0 dBic($L_2$) for the center element. Bore-sight gains of 1.6 dBic($L_1$) and 1.0 dBic($L_2$) are observed for the edge element. This results demonstrate that the proposed antenna is suitable for GPS array applications.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2023

As the latest weapon systems and electronic equipments are increasingly demanding stealth technology to improve the survivability of allies, it is necessary to implement low-observability technology that reduces the radar cross section(RCS). In order to implement this stealth technology, a method for low RCS characteristics by applying a shape design or a electromagnetic wave absorber is widely used. However, active phased array antennas have structural limitations in shape design, also when a absorber is applied to it, the performance of the antenna is degraded. Therefore, in this paper, in order to realize the low RCS characteristics of the active phased array antenna operating in the X-band, individual radiating elements suitable for applying the radio wave absorber were selected, and a 13x13 array antenna was designed and manufactured. Next, by comparing the measured results of the relative RCS and electrical performance for the manufactured antenna according to the presence and type of the absorber, it is shown that the electrical performance is maintained at an equal or higher level while obtaining the low RCS characteristics. Thereby the method proposed in this paper for implementing the low RCS characteristics was validated. Finally, it was confirmed that when the wave absorber is applied to the array antenna, the limitation of its performance deterioration can be overcome.