• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.450-457
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• 2019

Objective : Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is commonly used surgical procedure for cervical degenerative disease. Among the various intervertebral spacers, the use of allografts is increasing due to its advantages such as no harvest site complications and low rate of subsidence. Although subsidence is a rare complication, graft collapse is often observed in the follow-up period. Graft collapse is defined as a significant graft height loss without subsidence, which can lead to clinical deterioration due to foraminal re-stenosis or segmental kyphosis. However, studies about the collapse of allografts are very limited. In this study, we evaluated risk factors associated with graft collapse. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed 33 patients who underwent two level ACDF with anterior plating using allogenous bone graft from January 2013 to June 2017. Various factors related to cervical sagittal alignment were measured preoperatively (PRE), postoperatively (POST), and last follow-up. The collapse was defined as the ratio of decrement from POST disc height to follow-up disc height. We also defined significant collapses as disc heights that were decreased by 30% or more after surgery. The intraoperative distraction was defined as the ratio of increment from PRE disc height to POST disc height. Results : The subsidence rate was 4.5% and graft collapse rate was 28.8%. The pseudarthrosis rate was 16.7% and there was no association between pseudarthrosis and graft collapse. Among the collapse-related risk factors, pre-operative segmental angle (p=0.047) and intra-operative distraction (p=0.003) were significantly related to allograft collapse. The cut-off value of intraoperative distraction ${\geq}37.3%$ was significantly associated with collapse (p=0.009; odds ratio, 4.622; 95% confidence interval, 1.470-14.531). The average time of events were as follows: collapse, $5.8{\pm}5.7months$; subsidence, $0.99{\pm}0.50months$; and instrument failure, $9.13{\pm}0.50months$. Conclusion : We experienced a higher frequency rate of collapse than subsidence in ACDF using an allograft. Of the various preoperative factors, intra-operative distraction was the most predictable factor of the allograft collapse. This was especially true when the intraoperative distraction was more than 37%, in which case the occurrence of graft collapse increased 4.6 times. We also found that instrument failure occurs only after the allograft collapse.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.244-257
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• 2002

A thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer(TLCP) which has flexible butylene/hexylene spacers in the main chain and a triad aromatic ester type mesogenic unit containing a naphthyl group was prepared by solution polycondensation. The in-situ composites based on poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalate) (PEN) and a thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer(TLCP) were prepared and melt spun at different TLCP contents and different draw ratios to produce monofilaments. Blends of the TLCP with PEN were investigated in terms of thermal, mechanical properties and morphology. The TLCP synthesized showed nematic mesophasic behavior and its transition temperature to isotropic melt from mesophase was 249℃. The blends showed well dispersed TLCP phases in the PEN matrix without macroscopic phase separation. Inclusion of TLCP in the blends decreased the cold crystallization temperature of PEN in the blend, therefore, the TLCP acts as a nucleating agent in the blend and showed good interfacial adhesion between the dispersed LCP phases and PEN matrix with domain sizes 40~50 nm in diameter and well developed fibrillation in the monofilaments. The TLCP acted effectively as a reinforcing material in the PEN matrix at the 10wt% level, it led to an increase of initial modulus up to 270% and tensile strength by 235%, while the elongation rate increasing with higher draw ratios.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1142-1150
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• 2023

Objective: To evaluate ^99mtechnetium-three polyethylene glycol spacers-arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (^99mTc-3PRGD₂) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) imaging for diagnosing lymph node metastasis of primary malignant lung neoplasms. Materials and Methods: We prospectively enrolled 26 patients with primary malignant lung tumors who underwent ^99mTc-3PRGD₂ SPECT/CT and ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT imaging. Both imaging methods were analyzed in qualitative (visual dichotomous and 5-point grades for lymph nodes and lung tumors, respectively) and semiquantitative (maximum tissue-to-background radioactive count) manners for the lymph nodes and lung tumors. The performance of the differentiation of lymph nodes with and without metastasis was determined at the per-lymph node station and per-patient levels using histopathological results as the reference standard. Results: Total 42 stations had metastatic lymph nodes and 136 stations had benign lymph nodes. The differences between metastatic and benign lymph nodes in the visual qualitative and semiquantitative analyses of ^99mTc-3PRGD₂ SPECT/CT and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT were statistically significant (all P < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) in the semi-quantitative analysis of ^99mTc-3PRGD₂ SPECT/CT was 0.908 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.851-0.966), and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 0.86 (36/42), 0.88 (120/136), 0.69 (36/52), and 0.95 (120/126), respectively. Among the 26 patients (including two patients each with two lung tumors), 15 had pathologically confirmed lymph node metastasis. The difference between primary lung lesions in patients with and without lymph node metastasis was statistically significant only in the semi-quantitative analysis of ^99mTc-3PRGD₂ SPECT/CT (P = 0.007), with an AUC of 0.807 (95% CI, 0.641-0.974). Conclusion: ^99mTc-3PRGD₂ SPECT/CT imaging may notably perform in the direct diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of primary malignant lung tumors and indirectly predict the presence of lymph node metastasis through uptake in the primary lesions.

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.7-11
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• 1999

Fully sealed field emission display in size of 4.5 inch has been fabricated using single-wall carbon nanotubes-organic vehicle com-posite. The fabricated display were fully scalable at low temperature below 415$^{\circ}C$ and CNTs were vertically aligned using paste squeeze and surface rubbing techniques. The turn-on fields of 1V/${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and field emis-sion current of 1.5mA at 3V/${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ (J=90${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$/$\textrm{cm}^2$)were observed. Brightness of 1800cd/$m^2$ at 3.7V/${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ was observed on the entire area of 4.5-inch panel from the green phosphor-ITO glass. The fluctuation of the current was found to be about 7% over a 4.5-inch cath-ode area. This reliable result enables us to produce large area full-color flat panel dis-play in the near future. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted much attention because of their unique elec-trical properties and their potential applica-tions [1, 2]. Large aspect ratio of CNTs together with high chemical stability. ther-mal conductivity, and high mechanical strength are advantageous for applications to the field emitter [3]. Several results have been reported on the field emissions from multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs) and single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) grown from arc discharge [4, 5]. De Heer et al. have reported the field emission from nan-otubes aligned by the suspension-filtering method. This approach is too difficult to be fully adopted in integration process. Recently, there have been efforts to make applications to field emission devices using nanotubes. Saito et al. demonstrated a car-bon nanotube-based lamp, which was oper-ated at high voltage (10KV) [8]. Aproto-type diode structure was tested by the size of 100mm $\times$ 10mm in vacuum chamber [9]. the difficulties arise from the arrangement of vertically aligned nanotubes after the growth. Recently vertically aligned carbon nanotubes have been synthesized using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition(CVD) [6, 7]. Yet, control of a large area synthesis is still not easily accessible with such approaches. Here we report integra-tion processes of fully sealed 4.5-inch CNT-field emission displays (FEDs). Low turn-on voltage with high brightness, and stabili-ty clearly demonstrate the potential applica-bility of carbon nanotubes to full color dis-plays in near future. For flat panel display in a large area, car-bon nanotubes-based field emitters were fabricated by using nanotubes-organic vehi-cles. The purified SWNTs, which were syn-thesized by dc arc discharge, were dispersed in iso propyl alcohol, and then mixed with on organic binder. The paste of well-dis-persed carbon nanotubes was squeezed onto the metal-patterned sodalime glass throuhg the metal mesh of 20${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in size and subse-quently heat-treated in order to remove the organic binder. The insulating spacers in thickness of 200${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ are inserted between the lower and upper glasses. The Y\ulcornerO\ulcornerS:Eu, ZnS:Cu, Al, and ZnS:Ag, Cl, phosphors are electrically deposited on the upper glass for red, green, and blue colors, respectively. The typical sizes of each phosphor are 2~3 micron. The assembled structure was sealed in an atmosphere of highly purified Ar gas by means of a glass frit. The display plate was evacuated down to the pressure level of 1$\times$10\ulcorner Torr. Three non-evaporable getters of Ti-Zr-V-Fe were activated during the final heat-exhausting procedure. Finally, the active area of 4.5-inch panel with fully sealed carbon nanotubes was pro-duced. Emission currents were character-ized by the DC-mode and pulse-modulating mode at the voltage up to 800 volts. The brightness of field emission was measured by the Luminance calorimeter (BM-7, Topcon).