• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.294-300
• /
• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate if short-term serum thyroglobulin (Tg) elevation after radioiodine administration can predict successful radioiodine remnant ablation (RRA) and whether comparable RRA effectiveness is exhibited between a group administered with recombinant human thyrotropin (rhTSH) and a group experiencing thyroid hormone withdrawal (THW), in preparation for RRA. Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed on 39 patients in the rhTSH group and 46 patients in the THW group. They were treated for differentiated thyroid carcinoma by total or near total thyroidectomy, and referred for RRA between 2003 and 2006 (the rhTSH group) and between January and June of 2006 (the THW group). They were assessed for serum Tg levels just before I-131 administration (TgD0), reassessed 9 days later (TgD9), and again 6-12 months later. Results: RRA was successful in 64 (37 from the THW group and 27 from the rhTSH group) of the total 85 patients. The success rates of RRA had no statistically significant differences between the two groups. In both groups, TgD9/TgD0 values were significantly higher in the RRA success group (the rhTSH group; P = 0.03, the THW group; P = 0.04). By combining cutoff values of TgD0 and TgD9/TgD0, the successful RRA value was determined to be 96.7% (29/30) with TgD0$\leq$5.28 ng/mL and TgD9/TgD0>4.37 in both groups (the rhTSH group; 100% (16/16), the THW group; 92.9% (13/14)). Using logistic multivariate analysis, only TgD0 was independently associated with successful RRA. Conclusion: We may predict successful ablation by evaluating short-term serum Tg elevation after I-131 administration for RRA, in both rhTSH and THW patients.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.136-142
• /
• 2009

Bone density in the recipient implant site seems to be an important factor for long term success of endosseous implants. Preoperative evaluation of bone density is very helpful to assist the clinician with the treatment planning of implant therapy. Accurate information on bone density will help the surgeon identify suitable implant sites, thereby improving the success rate of the procedure. Purpose; The aim of this study was to evaluate a correlation between bone density measured preoperatively with computerized tomography and histologically measured bone density by bone biopsy. Patients and methods; Twenty seven patients were selected. All the patients were in good health, with no systemic disorder and additional bone graft. Preoperatively the patients underwent CT scanning to evaluate Houmsfield Unit(HU). Each patients wore a surgical template for implant placement. During surgery 2mm in diameter and 6mm in length specimens were taken. Histomorphometric analysis was performed using digitalized image analysis software Axiovision 4.3. Also, the Resonance frequency analysis(RFA) and insertion torque values were recorded. Results; The highest histomorphometric values was found in the posterior mandible $32.3{\pm}3.8$, followed by $29.9{\pm}2.6$ for the posterior maxilla, $29.4{\pm}2.6$ for the anterior maxilla, $28.6{\pm}2.3$ for the anterior mandible(p=0.214). The hounsfield unit was $989.2{\pm}258.1$ in the posterior mandible, $845.0{\pm}241.5$ in the anterior maxilla, $744.5{\pm}92.6$ in the anterior mandible, $697.3{\pm}136.9$ in the posterior maxilla(p=0.045). This results may suggest that there are strong correlation between the histomorphometric values and hounsfield unit(r=0.760, p<0.05). The RF measurements were $81.9{\pm}2.4$ ISQ in the posterior mandible, $79.0{\pm}1.4$ ISQ in the anterior mandible, $78.3{\pm}4.6$ ISQ in the posterior maxilla, $76.5{\pm}5.0$ ISQ in the anterior maxilla(p=0.048). The insertion torque values was $43.2{\pm}4.2\;Ncm$ in the posterior mandible, $42.0{\pm}0.0\;Ncm$ in the anterior mandible, $41.3{\pm}4.1\;Ncm$ in the posterior maxilla, $40.8{\pm}3.8\;Ncm$ in the anterior maxilla(p=0.612). This results may suggest that there are statistical significance between the hounsfield unit and the insertion torque values(r=0.494, p<0.05), the histomorphometric values and the insertion torque values(r=0.689, p<0.05). But there was no correlation between histomorphometric values and ISQ. There was no statistical significance in age and gender effect on parameters. Conclusions; There was significant correlations between bone density and implant stability parameters. The bone density measurements using preoperative CT may help clinicians to predict primary stability before implant insertion, which is associated with implant survival rates.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
• /
• v.53 no.6
• /
• pp.513-521
• /
• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness and complications of an ultrasound-guided axillary brachial plexus block performed by orthopedic surgeons. Materials and Methods: From March to May 2017, an ultrasound-guided axillary brachial plexus block was performed on a total of 103 cases of surgery. A VF13-5 transducer from Siemens Acuson X300 was used. The surgical site was included in the range of the anatomic sensory distribution of the blocked nerve, except for the case where an operation time of more than 2 hours was expected due to multiple injuries and the operation of the upper arm. The procedure was performed by 2 orthopedic surgeons in the same method using 50 ml of solution (20 ml of lidocaine HCl in 2%, 20 ml of ropivacaine in 0.75%, 10 ml of normal saline in 0.9%). The success rate of anesthesia induction during surgery, anesthetic induction time, anatomical range of operation, duration of postoperative analgesia and complications were investigated. Results: The results from the 2 practices were similar. The anesthesia was successful in 100 out of 103 patients (97.1%). In these patients, the average needling time was 5.5 minutes (2.5-13.2 minutes), the average induction time to complete anesthesia was 18.4 minutes (5-40 minutes), and the average duration of postoperative analgesia was 402.8 minutes (141-540 minutes). The post-anesthesia immediate complications were dizziness in 1 case, nausea and vomiting in 4 cases, and peri-oral numbness in 2 cases, but surgery was performed without problems. All these 7 cases with complications recovered on the same day. A total of 3 cases failed with anesthesia, and they were treated by an injection with local anesthesia in the operation room in 2 cases and switched to general anesthesia in 1 case. Conclusion: An ultrasound-guided axillary brachial plexus block, which was performed by orthopedic surgeons allows anesthesia in a brief period and the high success rates of anesthesia for certain surgeries of the elbow and surgeries on forearm, wrist and hand. Therefore, it can reduce the waiting time to the operating room. This technique is a relatively safe procedure and dose selective anesthesia is possible.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.322-327
• /
• 2019

This study was conducted to improve the performance of automatic grafting robot using image recognition technique. The stem diameters of tomatoes and cucumber at the time of grafting were $2.5{\pm}0.3mm$ and $2.2{\pm}0.2mm$ for scions and $3.1{\pm}0.7mm$ and $3.6{\pm}0.3mm$ for rootstocks, respectively. The grafting failure was occurred when the different height between scions and rootstocks were over 4 mm and below 2 mm due to the small contact area of both cutting surface. Therefore, it was found that the height difference at the cutting surface of 3 mm is appropriate. This study also found that grafting failure was occurred when the stem diameters of both scions and rootstocks were thin. Therefore, it was suggested to use at least one stem with thicker than the average stem diameter. Field survey on the cutting angle of stems by hand were ranged from 13 to 55 degree for scions and 15 to 67 degree for rootstocks, respectively, which indicates that this could cause the grafting failure problem. However, the automatic grafting robot developed in this study rotates the seedlings 90 degree and then the stems are cut using a cutting blade. The control part of robot use all images taken from grafting process to determine the distance between a center of both ends of stem and a gripper center and then control the rotation angle of a gripper. Overall, this study found that The performance of automatic grafting robot using image recognition technique was superior with the grafting success rates of cucumber and tomato as $96{\pm}3.2%$ and $95{\pm}4%$, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.85 no.3
• /
• pp.618-630
• /
• 2024

Purpose To compare the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and ethanol ablation (EA) followed by RFA in treating mixed cystic and solid thyroid nodules. Materials and Methods We included 243 nodules from 243 patients who underwent RFA for mixed cystic and solid benign nodules. The nodules were divided into two groups (RFA alone and EA + RFA). We evaluated volume reduction rate (VRR), therapeutic success rate, improvement in symptomatic and cosmetic issues, complications, and adverse effects. Results The RFA group included 204 patients, and the EA + RFA group included 39 patients. The long-term success rates in the RFA only and EA + RFA groups were 90.2% and 97.4%, respectively. The mean VRR at the last follow-up in the RFA and EA + RFA groups were 81.6% and 87.2%, respectively. Therapeutic results were similar in both groups at the last followup. Cosmetic and symptomatic problems markedly improved in both groups. No major complications were observed. Conclusion Both RFA alone and EA + RA are safe and effective methods for treating mixed cystic and solid thyroid nodules, although EA + RFA is slightly more effective.

• Information Systems Review
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.77-95
• /
• 2014

From the success of TDX and CDMA to today's social media boom, Korea's ICT has achieved an amazing growth for the last couple of decades. However, in spite of ICT's role as an engine of growth in Korea, there have been concerns that ICT growth would negatively affect national employment due to the labor substitution effect. While some scholars insist that ICT would positively affect employment because it will enlarge the size of industry itself, many people blame ICT as a main culprit of rising unemployment rates. In this study, we try to empirically find the true effect of ICT growth on employment in Korea. We use the data of ICT productions, ICT investments, and various industries employments from 1995 to 2011. The methodologies we adopted for this study is Granger causality tests and impulse response functions based on vector autoregression (VAR) model. We find that ICT has negative impact on service industries, while it has positive impact on manufacturing industries. Meanwhile, ICT has no statistically significant impact on ICT industry itself. Since the impacts of ICT on employment are mixed, we can argue that ICT should not be blamed for the main cause of low employment. We suggest a direction of future policies to utilize ICT for vitalizing employments in Korea.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.237-242
• /
• 2009

Implant-supported fixed and removable prostheses provide a proper treatment modality with reliable success. The SS $II^{(R)}$ Implants is a one-stage nonsubmerged threaded titanium implants with Resorbable Blasting Media (RBM) surface developed by Osstem company (Busan, Korea) in October of 2002. This study is to evaluate the survival rate of the SS $II^{(R)}$ Implants for 4 years using radiographic parameters and to review the retrieved implants by the cytotoxicity tests. Since September 2003, 439 SS $II^{(R)}$ implants had been used for 173 patients at Ewha Womans University Medical Center in Korea. Patients consisted of 91 females (52.6 %) and 82 males (47.4 %). The patients' mean age was $42\;{\pm}16$ years, ranging from 21 to 83 years. The follow-up period ranged from 9 to 46 months (mean F/U $24.2\;{\pm}\;10.2$ months). The results are as follows; 1. Of 439 implants, 17 implants were removed and 4-year cumulative survival rate was 96.1%. 2. 82.3% of 17 failed implants were founded during healing phase, and 94.1% of failed fixtures were removed within 5 months after implantation. 3. Crestal bone around the implants was resorbed to 1 mm in 89.0%, to 1 - 2 mm loss of the marginal bone in 8.3%, and the bone loss over 2 mm was occurred in 2.7%. 4. Microscopic examination of the retrieved implants disclosed Grade 0 cytotoxicity in 4 and Grade 1 cytotoxicity in 2 of 6 groups divided according to LOT numbers. Inhibition rate with optical density was acceptable as low as ISO standard.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.117-121
• /
• 2016

Although piglets have been delivered by embryo transfer (ET) with in vitro produced (IVP) embryos and blastocysts, a success rate has still remained lower level. Unlike mouse, human, and bovine, it is difficult to a production of piglets by in vitro fertilization (IVF) because of an inappropriate in vitro culture (IVC) system in pig. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate whether minimized exposure time in IVC can improve the pregnancy and delivery rates of piglets. Immediately after IVM, the oocytes were denuded and co-incubated with freshly ejaculated boar semen for 3.5 to 4 hours at $38.5^{\circ}C$ under 5% $CO_2$ in air. To avoid long-term exposure to in vitro state, we emitted IVC step after IVF. After that the presumptive zygotes were transferred into both oviducts of the surrogate on the same day or 1 day after the onset of estrus. Pregnancy was diagnosed on day 28 after ET and then was checked regularly every month by ultrasound examination. The 3 out of 4 surrogates were determined as pregnant (75%) and a total of 5 piglets (2 females and 3 males) were delivered at $118.3{\pm}2.5$ days of pregnancy period. In conclusion, a short-term exposure time may be an important factor in the production of IVP-derived piglets. It can be apply to the in vitro production system of transgenic pig by IVF, cloning, and pronuclear microinjection methods.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.995-1005
• /
• 2000

This study was performed to identify the physiological and psychological variables related to successful weaning from a mechanical ventilator. The subjects of this study were 22 patients who received mechanical ventilation therapy for more than 3 days in intensive care units. Before the weaning trial, baseline data for following physiologic variables were obtained: spontaneous respiration rate, blood pressure, pulse rate, PaO2, PaCO2, PEEP, static compliance, minute ventilation, tidal volume, rapid shallow breathing index(f/VT), SaO2, PaO2/FiO2 and mean arterial pressure. During spontaneous breathing, physiologic and psychologic variables such as vital signs, ABG, perspiration, chest retraction, paradoxical respiration, dyspnea, anxiety, confidence and efficacy were measured. Successful weaning was defined as sustaining spontaneous respiration over 24 hours after extubation. Weaning failure was defined as the development of more than one of following signs: (1) hypoxemia, (2) CO2 retention or (3) perspiration, tachypnea, chest retraction, tachycardia, arrhythmia, hypotension or hypertension. Subjects (N=18) who successfully weaned from mechanical ventilator were compared with subjects (N=4) who failed. The results are as follows; Eighteen percents of the subjects failed during the weaning trial. Most subjects in the failed group were mechanically ventilated for long-time. This result shows that the success of weaning is more difficult in long-term ventilation patients. In the baseline data that was measured before weaning trial, the mean score of PaO2 in the successfully weaned group was 121mmHg. This is significantly higher than the mean score of PaO2 in the failed group(95mmHg). However, the scores of pH, tidal volume, f/VT, pulse rates, blood pressure, mean airway pressure, SaO2, and PaCO2 were similar between the two groups. Specially the scores of f/VT index as a predominant predictor for successful weaning were not significant (f/VT=44.4) and (f/VT=47). During spontaneous breathing, the scores of dyspnea and anxiety level in the successfully weaned group were less than those of the failed group. On the contrary, the scores of confidence and efficacy in the successful group were greater than those of the failed group. In conclusion, the baseline data that were measured before weaning trial were similar between the both groups, therefore future studies are needed to focus on searching other variables besides physiological parameters related to weaning outcome.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.3-11
• /
• 2015

Apartment developers consider the initial sales rate as an important indicator for their success of apartment development projects. They tried to achieve a secure level of initial sales rate. In spite of its importance, there is little research on the initial sales rate because of the difficulties in gathering proper data for analysis. This study, however, collects the data in initial sales rates in Su-won from various sources such as construction companies, marketing companies, sales companies and so on. By using this rare data, this study analyses the initial contract rate of apartment and estimates the initial contract rate by sales price. The result of this study shows that important of land area ratio, brand, and distance to park. It is expected that the proposed model will be used for apartment developers in sales planning phase.