• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.29-43
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• 1992

A case-control study was conducted to investigate the association between the risk of cancer and selenium concentration in blood and toenails. Seventy three patients and two hundreds eighty three controls were, selected at the Yeungnam University Hospital between May and September in 1991. The selected cases were patients who had been hospitalized for stomach or colon cancer at the Depertment of General Surgery. The controls were people who visited to check physical examination at the Automated Mediscreening Center. The selenium concentration in whole blood and toenails were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometer equipped with graphite furnace atomizer. The following information was ascertained for all cancer patients and controls : sex, age, body mass index, blood pressure, total serum cholesterol, and history of smoking and drinking. The mean selenium concentration in blood and toenail for all cancer patients were $143.6{\pm}10.8{\mu}g/l$ and $1.04{\pm}0.62{\mu}g/g$ and for the controls, $167.0{\pm}14.5{\mu}g/l$ and $1.15{\pm}0.55{\mu}g/g$, respectively. The difference in blood and toenail selenium concentrations of the two cancer sites was not statistically significant. Metastasis did not influence the concentration of selenium in blood and toenails. In the multiple logistic regression analysis, the blood selenium concentration($_aOR$: 0.888, 95% CI : 0.860-0.918), age, BMI and total serum cholesterol were significant variables for risk of cancer, but the selelenium concentration in toenail was not shown to be a significant variable in this regression analysis. The coefficient for blood selenium concentration adjusted for age, sex, diastolic blood pressure, total serum cholesterol, body mass index and smoking was -0.1184(p<0.01). These findings suggest that low selenium concentration is associated with gastrointestinal cancers. Further epidemiologic studies including important variables such as other antioxidant micronutrients will be necessary.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.163-167
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• 2002

Purpose: Interleukin 1$\beta$ (IL-1$\beta$) polymorphisms are associated with hypochlorhydria, atrophic gastritis, and increased risk of gastric cancer in Caucasians. We tried to determine whether the IL-1.. and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 RN) genetic polymorphisms contribute to the development of gastric cancer and the specific type of gastritis in Korean. Materials and Methods: The study population was comprised of 128 gastric cancer patients with histologically proven carcinoma and 63 normal healthy individuals. Sixty-eight carcinomas were of intestinal-type and sixty tumors were of diffuse-type. No patient had a familial gastric cancer history. The 511 bp and 31 bp polymorphisms in the IL-1.. were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The polymorphism of the IL-1 RN was analyzed with variable number tandem repeat after PCR. Results: The genotype of 511C/-31T of IL-1$\beta$ and allele 1 of IL-1 RN was dominant in the present subjects. The allelic frequencies of the C allele IL-1$\beta$, which is a high risk genotype for gastric cancer, were 0.551 and 0.429 in gastric cancer and normal controls, respectively. Statistically, significant difference in allelic frequencies of three polymorphic sites between gastric cancer patients and normal controls, and between intestinal-type and diffuse-type was not observed. Conclusions: These results suggest that the polymorphisms of IL-1$\beta$ and IL-1 RN may not contribute to the development of Korean gastric caner and that other endogenous or exogenous factors will be important for gastric carcinogenesis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1403-1407
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• 2015

Background: New tumour biomarkers are being intensely investigated for malignant mesothelioma (MM). Fibulin-3 is produced in MM but its role remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of measuring serum fibulin-3 in the diagnosis and prognosis of MM. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was performed on 43 patients and 40 healthy controls who were admitted to our hospital between January 2012 and January 2014. Data from MM patients, including demographic and clinical features, routine laboratory data, levels of serum fibulin-3, and treatment outcomes were defined as potential prognostic factors. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for fibulin-3 was used to detect the cut-off value with highest sensitivity and specificity. Univariate survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method in patients with MM. Afterwards, the possible factors identified with univariate analyses were entered into the cox regression analysis. Results: Our results revealed that patients with MM had significantly higher serum levels of fibulin-3 than controls. The results showed that the best cut-off point was 36.6 ng/ml with an AUC (area under the curve)=0.976, sensitivity=93.0% and specificity=90.0. In our study, the initial significant poor prognostic factors were advanced stage, high white blood cell count, high platelet count, high C-reactive protein (p<0.05 for each variable). Later, according to multivariate analysis the results showed only advanced stage as significant parameter (p=0.040). Conclusions: We determined that real use for serum fibulin-3 was not for prognosis but for diagnosis in MM. Also advanced stage was associated with poor MM prognosis.

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.69-84
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• 1998

In digital broadcasting, services such as digital satellite TV, cable TV and digital terrestrial TV, several video programs are compressed by MPEG-2, and then simultaneously transmitted over a conventional CBR (Constant Bit Rate) broadcasting channel. In this paper, we propose a joint quality control scheme to be able to accurately control the relative picture quality among the video programs, which is achieved by simdt;,nL'Ously controlling the video encoders to generate the VBR (Variable Bit Rate) compressed video streams. Our quality control scheme can prevent the video buffer overflow and underflow by total target bit allocation process, and also exactly control the relative picture quality in terms of PSNR (Peak Signal to Noise Ratio) between some programs requiring higher picture quality and others by rate-distortion modification. Furthermore we present a rate-distortion estimation method for MPEG-2 video, which is base of our joint quality control, and verify its performance by experiments. The most attractive features of this estimation method are as follows: 1) computational complexity is low because main operation for the estimation is to calculate the histogram of OCT coefficients into quantizer; 2) estimation results are very accurate enough to be applied to the practical MPEG-2 video coding applications. Simulation results show that the proposed joint quality control scheme accurately controls the relative picture quality among the video progran1s transmitted over a single channel as well as provides more consistent and higher picture quality than independent coding scheme that encodes each program independently.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.236-242
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• 2015

We present two data-driven modeling methods, partial least square (PLS) and artificial neural network (ANN), to predict the major operating and performance variables of a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack. PLS and ANN models were constructed using the experimental data obtained from the testing of a 30 kW-class PEM fuel cell stack, and then were compared with each other in terms of their prediction and computational performances. To reduce the complexity of the models, we combined a variables importance on PLS projection (VIP) as a variable selection method into the modeling procedure in which the predictor variables are selected from a set of input operation variables. The modeling results showed that the ANN models outperformed the PLS models in predicting the average cell voltage and cathode outlet temperature of the fuel cell stack. However, the PLS models also offered satisfactory prediction performances although they can only capture linear correlations between the predictor and output variables. Depending on the degree of modeling accuracy and speed, both ANN and PLS models can be employed for performance predictions, offline and online optimizations, controls, and fault diagnoses in the field of PEM fuel cell designs and operations.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.48 no.12
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• pp.91-96
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• 2011

In this paper, a low-power direct-conversion transmitter based on current-mode operation, which satisfies the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, is proposed and implemented in a $0.13{\mu}m$ CMOS technology. The proposed transmitter consists of DACs, LPFs, variable gain I/Q up-conversion mixer, a divide-by-two circuit with LO buffer, and a drive amplifier. By combining DAC, LPF, and variable gain I/Q up-conversion mixer with a simple current mirror configuration, the transmitter's power consumption is reduced and its linearity is improved. The drive amplifier is a cascode amplifier with gain controls and the 2.4GHz I/Q differential LO signals are generated by a divide-by-two current-mode-logic (CML) circuit with an external 4.8GHz input signal. The implemented transmitter has 30dB of gain control range, 0dBm of maximum transmit output power, 33dBc of local oscillator leakage, and 40dBc of the transmit third harmonic component. The transmitter dissipates 10.2mW from a 1.2V supply and the die area of the transmitter is $1.76mm{\times}1.26mm$.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.123-128
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• 2006

Behcet's disease (BD) is a systemic vasculitis characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcers, and ocular inflammation, and which may involve the joints, skin, central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. Although the exact pathogenesis for BD is not completely understood, it has been suggested that the disease is triggered in genetically susceptible individuals by environmental factors, such as microbial agents. It is noted that multiple genes, including MHC (major histocompatibility complex) and non-MHC genes, are implicated in the pathogenesis of BD. This study tries to determine whether IL-6 gene polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to Behcet's disease in Koreans. Gene polymorphisms were typed by VNTR (variable number of tandem repeat), RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism), DHPLC (denaturing high performance liquid chromatography).There were no evidences for genetic association conferred by the IL-6prom polymorphism. However, significant differences in the IL-6vntr genotype and allele frequencies were found between patients with BD and controls. The IL-6vntr*C allele appeared to be an additional susceptibility gene to Korean BD. Further studies in other populations and gene are required to confirm these results.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.75-89
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• 2019

In the case of SMEs, entrepreneurship that organizes only core functions with the minimum number of people is increasing, and a responsibility management system focusing on core functions is emphasized, so that the interest in innovation behavior and survival strategy of enterprises is getting bigger. However, in the case of SMEs, it is not easy to pursue continuous innovation due to lack of capital and lack of professional manpower. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of SME on innovation behavior by selecting exploratory study and literature study for SMEs. The data for this study were 545 out of the total 600 copies distributed to employees in SMEs. The data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0 and amos18.0. First, product diversification, strategy formulation, and R & D have a significant effect on innovation behavior, and market diversification has no effect on innovation behavior. Second, working variables such as product diversification, market diversification, strategy formulation, and R & D do not control the influence of innovative behavior on innovation behavior. Third, the rank variable, which is the controlling variable, controls the magnitude of the effect of product diversification, market diversification, strategy formulation, and R & D on innovation behavior. As a result, corporate managers should lead the organization in order to promote product diversification, market diversification strategy, R & D and innovation activities. After discussing the conclusions and implications of this study, this study presented the direction of the research for the follow-up study.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.570-577
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• 2014

This paper describes the design of a force applying system for a smart phone curved glass molding system and its characteristic test. The force applying system is composed of a motor and gear, a rectilinear movement structure, a force sensor, an LVDT (Linear Variable Differential Transformer) sensor, an up and down moving block, and so on. The system precisely controls the applying force and time to the plane glass because the glass can be easily destroyed under applied force, and can be bent imperfectly. As a result of the characteristic test, the curved glass can be manufactured using this system, and the holding time under 0N force, the applying force to the plane glass, the time for applying from 0N to maximum force, and the holding time under maximum force at the manufacture feasible temperature $620^{\circ}C$ were found.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.572-579
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• 2019

Background Even with satisfactory anastomosis technique and adequate experience of the surgeon, flap loss due to thrombosis can still occur due to the patient's underlying condition. Patients with hypercoagulability due to etiologies such as malignancy, hereditary conditions, and acquired thrombophilia are among those who could benefit from free flap procedures. This review aimed to evaluate the risk of free flap thrombosis in patients with hypercoagulability and to identify the most effective thromboprophylaxis regimen. Methods This review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline. The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were explored. Types of free flaps, types of hypercoagulable states, thrombosis prevention protocols, thrombosis complication rates, and flap vitality outcomes were reviewed. Samples from the included studies were pooled to calculate the relative risk of free flap thrombosis complications in patients with hypercoagulability compared to those without hypercoagulability. Results In total, 885 articles underwent title, abstract, and full-text screening. Six articles met the inclusion criteria. The etiologies of hypercoagulability varied. The overall incidence of thrombosis and flap loss in hypercoagulable patients was 13% and 10.3%, respectively. The thrombosis risk was two times higher in hypercoagulable patients (P=0.074) than in controls. Thromboprophylaxis regimens were variable. Heparin was the most commonly used regimen. Conclusions Hypercoagulability did not significantly increase the risk of free flap thrombosis. The most effective thromboprophylaxis regimen could not be determined due to variation in the regimens. Further well-designed studies should be conducted to confirm this finding.