• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.11
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• pp.318-327
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• 2017

Background: A typical sewage treatment plant is designed for organic and nutrient removal from municipal sewage water and not targeted to eliminate micropollutants such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and nano-sized metals which become a big concern for sustainable human and ecological system and are mainly discharged from sewage treatment plant. Therefore, despite contaminant removal by wastewater treatment processes, there are still remaining environmental risks by untreated pollutants in STP (sewage treatment plant) effluents. This study performed aquatic toxicity tests of raw wastewater and treated effluents in two sewage treatment plants to evaluate toxicity reduction by wastewater treatment process and analyze concentration of contaminants to reveal potential toxic factors in STP effluents. Methods: Water samples were collected from each treatment steps of two STPs, and acute and chronic toxicity tests were conducted following USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) and OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) guidelines. Endpoints were immobility for mortality and reproduction effect for estrogenicity. Results: Acute $EC_{50}s$ (median effective concentration) of influents for Seungki (SK) and Jungnang (JN) STPs are $54.13{\pm}32.64%$ and $30.38{\pm}24.96%$, respectively, and reduced to $96.49{\pm}7.84%$ and 100%. Acute toxicity reduction was clearly correlated with SS (suspended solids) concentration because of filter feeding characteristics of test organisms. Chronic toxicity tests revealed that lethal effect was reduced and low concentration of influents showed higher number of neonates. However, toxicity reduction was not related to nutrient removal. Fecundity effect positively increased in treated wastewater compared to that in raw wastewater, and no significant differences were observed compared to the control group in JN final effluent implying potential effects of estrogenic compounds in the STP effluents. Conclusions: Conventional wastewater treatment process reduced some organics and nutritional compounds from wastewater, and it results in toxicity reduction in lethal effect and positive reproductive effect but not showing correlation. Unknown estrogenic compounds could be a reason causing the increase of brood size. This study suggests that pharmaceutical residues and nanoparticles in STP effluents are one of the major micropollutants and underline as one of estrogenic effect factors.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.139-144
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• 2010

Objective : We report our surgical experience in the treatment of 16 consecutive patients with benign craniovertebral junction (CVJ) tumor, observed from 2003 to 2008 at our department. Methods : We had treated 6 foramen magnum meningiomas, 6 cervicomedullary hemangioblastomas, 1 accessory nerve schwannoma, 1 hypoglossal nerve schwannoma, 1 C2 root schwannoma, and 1 cavernous hemangioma. Clinical results were evaluated by Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) and all patients underwent preoperative neuroradiological evaluation with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance image (MRI). Angiography was performed in 15 patients and preoperative embolization was done in 2 patients. Results : Five far-lateral, 1 supracondylar and 10 midline suboccipital approaches were performed. Gross total removal was achieved in 15 cases (94%) and subtotal removal in 1 patient (6%). None of the patients required occipitocervical fusion. Radiological follow-up showed no recurrence in cases totally removed. Postoperative decrease of KPS scores was recorded in only 1 patient. The treatment of cervicomedullary solid hemangioblastoma presented particular issues : by preoperative embolization, we removed tumor totally without an excessive bleeding or brainstem injury. In one of foramen magnum meningioma, we carried out subtotal removal due to hard tumor consistency and encasement of neurovascular structures. Conclusion : The choice of surgical approaches and the extent of bone resection should be defined according to the location and size of individual tumors. Moreover, we emphasize that preoperative neuroradiological evaluations on presumptive tumor type could be helpful to the surgeon in tailoring the technique and providing the required exposure for different lesions, without unnecessary surgical steps.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2009.04a
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• pp.283-286
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• 2009

척추경 나사못을 이용한 요추 유합술은 가장 보편적으로 사용되어지는 수술적 치료 방법이다. 과거 여러 연구들에서 이러한 척추 유합술의 임상적 우수성은 이미 입증 되었으며, 척추경 나사못은 시술 부위의 운동을 완전히 제한함으로써 높은 유합율을 얻을 수 있으나, 상대적으로 인접 분절의 조기 퇴행성 변화의 요인 중 하나로 보고되고 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 유한요소해석 방법을 이용하여 척추경 나사못 시술에 따른 척추체의 운동범위 및 인접 분절 추간판의 스트레스 증가량을 계산하였고, 척추경 나사못 모델과 유합 후 나사못 제거에 따른 모델 또 시술하기 전 정상모델과 비교하여 생체 역학적 측면에서 분석하여 척추경 나사못을 이용한 요추 유합술 후, 척추경 나사못의 제거의 임상적 효과와 그 이론적 근거를 제시하고자 한다.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.187-191
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• 2011

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were successfully enriched using sludge contaminated with Cr(VI) and their characteristics were investigated. After enrichment, the charge of the final 10 peaks was 0.51 C ${\pm}$ 1.16%, and the anodic electrode was found to be covered with a biofilm. The enriched MFCs removed 93% of 5 mg/l Cr(VI) and 61% of 25 mg/l Cr(VI). 16S rDNA DGGE profiles from the anodic electrode indicated that ${\beta}$-Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Acinetobacter sp. dominated. This study is the first to report that electrochemically active and Cr(VI)-reducing bacteria could be enriched in the anode compartment of MFCs using Cr(VI)-containing sludge and demonstrates the Cr(VI) removal capability of such MFCs.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.448-450
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• 2009

In multiview imaging systems, color correction is adopted to eliminate color inconsistency between views. However, the influence of highlights on color correction has not been considered before. In this letter, a new color correction method based on highlight detection is proposed. The method is designed to treat highlight and highlight-removal regions independently when calculating correction parameters. Finial correction is implemented with a fusion mechanism. Experimental results show that the proposed method can improve objective and subjective correction performance, while achieving better coding performance than other correction methods.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.193-195
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• 2006

Acute paraplegia attributable to disc herniation is known to occur most frequently at the thoracic level. A 50-year-old male presented with progressive limb weakness and hypoactive deep tendon reflexes. On the basis of clinical features and neurological findings, the diagnosis of Guillain-Barre syndrome was suspected. Spinal MRI showed cervical disc herniation. He underwent emergency surgery consisting of removal of herniated disc and anterior fusion. We emphasize that there is a possibility of acute progression of paralysis secondary to nontraumatic enlargement of cervical disc herniation.

• Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.231-234
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• 2013

This paper introduces a mixture of background subtraction technique and K-Means clustering algorithm for removing shadows from video sequences. Lighting conditions cause an issue with segmentation. The proposed method can successfully eradicate artifacts associated with lighting changes such as highlight and reflection, and cast shadows of moving object from segmentation. In this paper, K-Means clustering algorithm is applied to the foreground, which is initially fragmented by background subtraction technique. The estimated shadow region is then superimposed on the background to eliminate the effects that cause redundancy in object detection. Simulation results depict that the proposed approach is capable of removing shadows and reflections from moving objects with an accuracy of more than 95% in every cases considered.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.75-81
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• 1995

To evaluate the diagnostic value of pulmonary perfusion scan, we obtained 99mTc MAA per-fusion lung scan from 25 cases of airway foreign bodies. The results were as follows. 1) Significant changes in blood gases were not observed after the establishment of regional hypoperfusion caused by airway foreign body. 2) Near total or total defect was noted on perfusion scan from most of the airway foreign body. 3) There was correspondance of findings of perfusion lung scan and duration of airway foreign body. 4) After the removal of airway foreign bodies, perfusion scan abnormalities were reversed in parallel with the recovery of pulmonary blood flow. We concluded that pulmonary perfusion scan may be valuable for detection of foreign body and reversible hypoperfusion.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.33-38
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• 2023

Spray cooling is a method of cooling high-temperature heating elements by spraying droplets. Recently, spray cooling has been proposed for use in next-generation nuclear reactors. When droplets are sprayed onto the outer wall of a heat exchanger tube, a film boiling occurs on the outer wall. Over time, the outer wall temperature decreases, and a liquid film forms on the outer wall, and the heat exchanger outer wall is subsequently cooled by the liquid film. In this case, the liquid film thickness has a great influence on the heat removal performance. In this study, an experimental study was conducted to measure the liquid film thickness distribution in a droplet spray environment. For this purpose, a method using the electrical conductivity of the liquid was adopted.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.370-376
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• 2010

Objective : Although unilateral transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) is widely used because of its benefits, it does have some technical limitations. Removal of disk material and endplate cartilage is difficult, but essential, for proper fusion in unilateral surgery, leading to debate regarding the surgery's limitations in removing the disk material on the contralateral side. Therefore, authors have conducted a randomized, comparative cadaver study in order to evaluate the efficiency of the surgery when using conventional instruments in the preparation of the disk space and when using the recently developed high-pressure water jet system, SpineJet$^{TM}$ XL. Methods : Two spine surgeons performed diskectomies and disk preparations for TLIF in 20 lumbar disks. All cadaver/surgeon/level allocations for preparation using the SpineJet$^{TM}$ XL (HydroCision Inc., Boston, MA, USA) or conventional tools were randomized. All assessments were performed by an independent spine surgeon who was unaware of the randomizations. The authors measured the areas (cm2) and calculated the proportion (%) of the disk surfaces. The duration of the disk preparation and number of instrument insertions and withdrawals required to complete the disk preparation were recorded for all procedures. Results : The proportion of the area of removed disk tissue versus that of potentially removable disk tissue, the proportion of the area of removed endplate cartilage, and the area of removed disk tissue in the contralateral posterior portion showed 74.5 ${\pm}$ 17.2%, 18.5 ${\pm}$ 12.03%, and 67.55 ${\pm}$ 16.10%, respectively, when the SpineJet$^{TM}$ XL was used, and 52.6 ${\pm}$ 16.9%, 22.8 ${\pm}$ 17.84%, and 51.64 ${\pm}$ 19.63%, respectively, when conventional instrumentations were used. The results also showed that when the SpineJet$^{TM}$ XL was used, the proportion of the area of removed disk tissue versus that of potentially removable disk tissue and the area of removed disk tissue in the contralateral posterior portion were statistically significantly high (p < 0.001, p < 0.05, respectively). Also, compared to conventional instrumentations, the duration required to complete disk space preparation was shorter, and the frequency of instrument use and the numbers of insertions/withdrawals were lower when the SpineJet$^{TM}$ XL was used. Conclusion : The present study demonstrates that hydrosurgery using the SpineJet$^{TM}$ XL unit allows for the preparation of a greater portion of disk space and that it is less traumatic and allows for more precise endplate preparation without damage to the bony endplate. Furthermore, the SpineJet$^{TM}$ XL appears to provide tangible benefits in terms of disk space preparation for graft placement, particularly when using the unilateral TLIF approach.