• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.24-33
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• 2013

To enhance the speech perception of hearing aid users in noisy environment, most hearing aid devices adopt various beamforming algorithms such as the first-order differential microphone (DM1) and the two-stage directional microphone (DM2) algorithms that maintain sounds from the direction of the interlocutor and reduce the ambient sounds from the other directions. However, these conventional algorithms represent poor directionality ability in low frequency area. Therefore, to enhance the speech perception of hearing aid uses in low frequency range, our group had suggested a fractional delay subtraction and integration (FDSI) algorithm and estimated its theoretical performance using computer simulation in previous article. In this study, we performed a KEMAR test in non-reverberant room that compares the performance of DM1, DM2, broadband beamforming (BBF), and proposed FDSI algorithms using several objective indices such as a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement, a segmental SNR (seg-SNR) improvement, a perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ), and an Itakura-Saito measure (IS). Experimental results showed that the performance of the FDSI algorithm was -3.26-7.16 dB in SNR improvement, -1.94-5.41 dB in segSNR improvement, 1.49-2.79 in PESQ, and 0.79-3.59 in IS, which demonstrated that the FDSI algorithm showed the highest improvement of SNR and segSNR, and the lowest IS. We believe that the proposed FDSI algorithm has a potential as a beamformer for digital hearing aid devices.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.139-146
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• 2014

Recently, in field of bridge construction, modular technology has been studied to reduce construction period, traffic impact and environmental impact. This study is a part of research related to the modular bridges. The aim of the study is to analyze the structural behavior and evaluate a serviceability for transverse connection of modular slab bridge. A total of four specimens were fabricated. including a control beam for finding the maximum load by static test. And one control beam and two segmental beams were fabricated for cyclic loading test. As the test result, the beams that were introduced 100% of the design prestressing force showed a smaller maximum deflection, residual deflection and crack width than the control beam. The beam for serviceability evaluation was satisfied with structural serviceability limits of the deflection and crack.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.237-244
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• 2001

Back pain has plagued humans for many thousands of years. The treatment of back pain is divided into operative treatment and conservative treatment. It is reported that cure rate of conservative treatment is 80~90 percent. Generally, the treatment of oriental medicine is mostly conservative treatment. But, surgery should not be used as a last resort in treatment; it is just one of many treatment options for various spinal conditions. In some instance, it can be to preferred choice; in other situations, alternative therapies may be superior. Selections of the operation in HIVD 1. Acute disc herniations with a protracted significant component af back pain. 2. Chronic disc degeneration with significant back pain and degeneration limited to one or two disc levels. 3. Sugical instability created during decompression. 4. The presence of neural arch defects coincident with disc disease. 5. Symptamatic and radiographically demonstrable segmental instability. Selections of the operation in stenosis 1. If it does not slowly progress in physical therapy and other nonoperative measures, many of these patients may ultimately need surgical decompression. 2. Absolute stenosis in an impression of CT, MRI.(under 10mm) 3. In patients with established symptoms of .neurogenic claudication. 4. In patients with bad influence of neurogenic derangement.(strength, sensory) Selections of the operation in spondylolisthesis 1. Persistence or recurrence of major symptoms for at least one year despite activity modification and physical therapy. 2. Tight hamstrings, persistently abnormal gait, or postural deformities unrelieved by physical therapy. 3. Sciatic scoliosis. 4. Progressive neurologic deficit. 5. Progressive slipping beyond 25 or 50 percent, even when asymptomatic. 6. A high slip angle (40 to 50 degrees) in a growing child, since it is likely to be associated with further progression and deformity. 7. Psychologic problems attributed to shortness of trunk, abnormal gait, and postural deformities characteristic of more severe slips.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.112-118
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• 1997

Multicentric chondrosarcoma other than the mesenchymal subtype is rare separate entity. We experienced a case with nonmonomelic synchronous multicentric chondrosarcoma without any preexisting lesions of Oilier's disease or Maffucci's syndrome. To our knowledge, there was no report of synchronous nonmonomelic multicentric chondrosarcoma. A thirty-three year old man had right distal thigh pain of one and half year. Bone scan showed hot lesions on medial condyle of right femur and shaft of left femur. Plain X-ray showed osteolytic lesion on right femur and slight cortical thickening and calcific lesion was observed on left femoral shaft. Curettage and bone cement filling was done on both lesions. The pathology reports were grade I chondrosarcoma on both side of femur. At one month from operation, pathologic fracture of left femur occurred on bone cement-host bone junction. Conservative treatment and radiotherapy of 60Gy was done. At 8 months from operation, nonunion was evident. Segmental resection of left femur with contralateral fibula graft and second look operation on right condyle lesion were done. At 6 months from revision, fracture occurred at host-graft bone junction. We removed previous hardware and applied long DCP and massive autogenous bone graft. Afterwards, the patient looks good and union was progressing. But at 4 years from last operation, hypertrophic nonunion occurred. Another revision was done with condylar plate and bone graft and now he is well without any sign of local recurrence or metastasis.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2010

In this study, a procedure of performance-based design for the seismic retrofit of reinforced concrete columns strengthened by steel jackets has been presented. In order to predict the target displacement of retrofitted columns, a nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete columns retrofitted with steel jackets has been developed based on a segmental model with the fiber cross-sectional approach. The seismic displacement level of retrofitted columns is estimated both by the direct displacement-based design method and by the displacement coefficient method. In examples of seismic retrofitted columns, the current seismic retrofit procedure gives good results in improvements of displacement levels and displacement ductilities of retrofitted columns.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.272-277
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• 2014

Objectives: Non-vascularized iliac crest bone graft (NVIBG) is a known treatment option in mandibular reconstruction following jaw resection, but no documented review of patients treated with NVIBG exists for northern Nigeria. The experience and technique from a Nigerian tertiary hospital may serve as baseline data for comparison and improvement of practice for other institutions. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of medical records and patient case files from January 2012 to December 2013 was undertaken. All case files and other medical records of patients who had reconstruction with NVIBG for benign or malignant lesions with immediate or delayed reconstruction were selected for review. Results: Twenty patients had mandibular reconstruction with NVIBG during the study period. Two patients were excluded because of incomplete medical records. Eighteen patients' (male=14, female=4) records were reviewed. Their ages ranged from 13 to 62 years (mean $26.0{\pm}10.6years$). Indications for NVIBG included jaw tumors (n=16; 88.3%), jaw cyst (n=1; 5.6%) and gunshot injury (n=1; 5.6%). Jaw tumors seen were ameloblastoma (n=15; 83.3%) and osteosarcoma (n=1; 5.6%). Treatments done were mandibular resection with condylar resection (n=7; 38.9%), mandibular segmental resection (n=10; 55.6%) and subtotal mandibulectomy (n=1; 5.6%). Patients' postoperative reviews and radiographs revealed good facial profile and continued bone stability up to 1 year following NVIBG. Conclusion: NVIBGs provide an acceptable alternative to vascularized bone grafts, genetically engineered bone, and distraction osteogenesis for mandibular reconstruction in resource-limited centers.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.75-81
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• 2014

Background: The fibular free flap has been used as the standard methods of segmental mandibular reconstruction. The objective of mandibular reconstruction not only includes restored continuity of the mandible but also the recovery of optimal function. This paper emphasizes the advantage of the fibular free flap reconstruction over that of locking mandibular reconstruction plate fixation. Methods: The hospital charts of all patients (n=20) who had a mandibular reconstruction between 1994 and 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Eight patients had plateonly fixation of the mandible, and the remaining 12 had vascularized fibular free flap reconstruction. Complications and outcomes were reviewed and compared between the 2 groups via statistical analysis. Results: Overall complication rates were significantly lower in the fibular flap group (8.3%) than in the plate fixation group (87.5%; p =0.001). Most (7/8) patients in the plate fixation group had experienced plate-related late complications, including plate fracture or exposure. In the fibular flap group, no complications were observed, except for a single case of donor-site wound dehiscence (1/12). Conclusion: The fibular free flap provides a more stable support and additional soft tissue support for the plate, thereby minimizing the risk of plate-related complications. Fibular free flap is the most reliable option for mandibular reconstruction, and we believe that the flap should be performed primarily whenever possible.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.7-21
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• 1999

This paper proposes an improved training procedure in speech recognition based on the continuous density of the Hidden Markov Model (CDHMM). Of the three parameters (initial state distribution probability, state transition probability, output probability density function (p.d.f.) of state) governing the CDHMM model, we focus on the third parameter and propose an efficient algorithm that determines the p.d.f. of each state. It is known that the resulting CDHMM model converges to a local maximum point of parameter estimation via the iterative Expectation Maximization procedure. Specifically, we propose two independent algorithms that can be embedded in the segmental K -means training procedure by replacing relevant key steps; the adaptation of the number of mixture Gaussian p.d.f. and the initialization using the CDHMM parameters previously estimated. The proposed adaptation algorithm searches for the optimal number of mixture Gaussian humps to ensure that the p.d.f. is consistently re-estimated, enabling the model to converge toward the global maximum point. By applying an appropriate threshold value, which measures the amount of collective changes of weighted variances, the optimized number of mixture Gaussian branch is determined. The initialization algorithm essentially exploits the CDHMM parameters previously estimated and uses them as the basis for the current initial segmentation subroutine. It captures the trend of previous training history whereas the uniform segmentation decimates it. The recognition performance of the proposed adaptation procedures along with the suggested initialization is verified to be always better than that of existing training procedure using fixed number of mixture Gaussian p.d.f.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.394-399
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• 1999

We report a case of congenital and familial antithrombin III deficiency developing massive pulmonary thromboembolism. A 44-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of sudden chest pain and severe dyspnea. Five years ago, he was operated due to a mesenteric vein thrombosis of unknown cause. On admission, radioisotopic venogram showed deep vein thrombosis and lung scintigram showed multiple segmental perfusion defects. His plasma antithrombin III level was 10.5 mg/dL which was less than 50% of normal and those of a son and two daughters were also decreased. After treatment with tissue plasminogen activator, heparin and coumadin, his symptom and lung scintigram were significantly improved. As far as we reviewed, there were very rare reports with congenital antithrombin III deficiency presenting as pulmonary thromboembolism in Korea.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.549-556
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• 1999

Benign pulmonary tumors are rare entities, and among them bronchial lipomas are the most uncommon. Up to date, about 80 cases have been reported in the English literature. But, the bronchial lipoma with extrabronchial growth causing middle lobe syndrome and pneumonia is extremely rare. Bronchial lipomas, mainly arising from normal fatty tissue of the proximal portion of the lobar or segmental bronchi, are histologically benign. But if diagnosis and treatments are delayed, they can produce extensive pulmonary parenchymal damage and irreversible brochiectasis distally. So whenever possible, the treatment of choice is resection by means of bronchoscopy via early diagnosis. But if endoscopic removal is not possible because the distal end of the tumor could not be visualized by fiberoptic bronchoscopy or if the nature of the tumor is unclear, surgery is necessary, with lobectomy or pneumonectomy being required in most cases due to the extensively damaged pulmonary parenchyma. We present a case of bronchial lipoma with extrabronchial growth, with a review of the literature and report of an unusual case.