• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.469-476
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• 1998

In the case of acquisition and displaying medical Images such as ultrasonography and endoscopy on VGA monitor of PC system, image degradation of tear-drop appears through scan conversion. In this study, we compare several methods which can solve this degradation and implement the hardware system that resolves this problem in real-time with PC. It is possible to represent high quality image display and real-time processing and acquisition with specific de-interlacing device and PCI bridge on our hardware system. Image quality is improved remarkably on our hardware system. It is implemented as PC-based system, so acquiring, saving images and describing text comment on those images and PACS networking can be easily implemented.metabolism. All images were spatially normalized to MNI standard PET template and smoothed with 16mm FWHM Gaussian kernel using SPM96. Mean count in cerebral region was normalized. The VOls for 34 cerebral regions were previously defined on the standard template and 17 different counts of mirrored regions to hemispheric midline were extracted from spatially normalized images. A three-layer feed-forward error back-propagation neural network classifier with 7 input nodes and 3 output nodes was used. The network was trained to interpret metabolic patterns and produce identical diagnoses with those of expert viewers. The performance of the neural network was optimized by testing with 5~40 nodes in hidden layer. Randomly selected 40 images from each group were used to train the network and the remainders were used to test the learned network. The optimized neural network gave a maximum agreement rate of 80.3% with expert viewers. It used 20 hidden nodes and was trained for 1508 epochs. Also, neural network gave agreement rates of 75~80% with 10 or 30 nodes in hidden layer. We conclude that artificial neural network performed as well as human experts and could be potentially useful as clinical decision support tool for the localization of epileptogenic zones.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.149-156
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• 2018

Objective: Broilers show clear preference towards red color light (RL). However setting of an optimum light intensity is difficult since dim intensities that favor growth reduce welfare. This experiment was conducted to test the most effective RL intensity regimen (Dim [5 lux; DI] vs high [320 lux; HI]) in combination applied at different growth stages that favors for both performance and welfare. Methods: Complete randomize design was adopted with 6 replicates. Treatments were; T1 = early DI (8-21 d)+latter HI (22-35 d); T2 = early DI (8-28 d)+latter HI (29-35 d), T3 = early HI (8-21 d)+latter DI (22-35 d), T4 = early HI (8-28 d)+latter DI (29-35 d) and T5 = control (white light; WT) (8-35 d) at medium intensity (20 lux). Body weight (BW), weight gain (WG), water/feed intake and ratio, feed conversion ratios (FCR) were assessed. Common behaviours (15) were recorded by scan sampling method. Lameness, foot pad dermatitis, breast blisters, hock burning damage were assessed as welfare parameters. Fear reactions were tested using Tonic Immobility Test. Ocular and carcass evaluations were done. Meat and tibiae were analyzed for fat and bone ash respectively. Results: On 35 d, the highest BW ($2,155.72{\pm}176g$), WG ($1,967.78{\pm}174g$) were recorded by T2 compared to WT ($BW_{WT}=1,878.22{\pm}155$, $WG_{WT}=1,691.83{\pm}160$). But, application of RL, either DI, or HI during early/latter stage had no significant effect on FCR. Under HI, birds showed much higher active behaviours. DI encourages eating. Though LI changed from DI to HI, same trend could be seen even under HI. The highest leg strength ($218.5{\pm}120s$) was recorded by T2. The lowest leg strength ($64.58{\pm}33s$) and the highest ocular weight ($2.48{\pm}1g$) were recorded by T1. Significantly (p<0.05) the highest skin weight ($162.17{\pm}6g$) but the lowest fat% in meat ($13.03%{\pm}5%$) was recorded by T2. Conclusion: Early exposure to DI-RL up to 28 days followed by exposure to HI-RL is the most favorable lighting regimen for optimizing production, better welfare of broilers and improving health benefits of meat.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.375-375
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• 2010

CdTe as an absorber material is widely used in thin film solar cells with the heterostructure due to its almost ideal band gap energy of 1.45 eV, high photovoltaic conversion efficiency, low cost and stable performance. The deposition methods and preparation conditions for the fabrication of CdTe are very important for the achievement of high solar cell conversion efficiency. There are some rearranged reports about the deposition methods available for the preparation of CdTe thin films such as close spaced sublimation (CSS), physical vapor deposition (PVD), vacuum evaporation, vapor transport deposition (VTD), closed space vapor transport, electrodeposition, screen printing, spray pyrolysis, metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and RF sputtering. The RF sputtering method for the preparation of CdTe thin films has important advantages in that the thin films can be prepared at low growth temperatures with large-area deposition suitable for mass-production. The authors reported that the optical and electrical properties of CdTe thin film were closely connected by the thickness-uniformity of the film in the previous study [1], which means that the better optical absorbance and the higher carrier concentration could be obtained in the better condition of thickness-uniformity for CdTe thin film. The thickness-uniformity could be controlled and improved by the some process parameters such as vacuum level and RF power in the sputtering process of CdTe thin films. However, there is a limitation to improve the thickness-uniformity only in the preparation process [1]. So it is necessary to introduce the external or additional method for improving the thickness-uniformity of CdTe thin film because the cell size of thin film solar cell will be enlarged. Therefore, the authors firstly applied the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process to improving the thickness-uniformity of CdTe thin films with a G&P POLI-450 CMP polisher [2]. CMP process is the most important process in semiconductor manufacturing processes in order to planarize the surface of the wafer even over 300 mm and to form the copper interconnects with damascene process. Some important CMP characteristics for CdTe were obtained including removal rate (RR), WIWNU%, RMS roughness, and peak-to-valley roughness [2]. With these important results, the CMP process for CdTe thin films was performed to improve the thickness-uniformity of the sputtering-deposited CdTe thin film which had the worst two thickness-uniformities of them. Some optical properties including optical transmittance and absorbance of the CdTe thin films were measured by using a UV-Visible spectrophotometer (Varian Techtron, Cary500scan) in the range of 400 - 800 nm. After CMP process, the thickness-uniformities became better than that of the best condition in the previous sputtering process of CdTe thin films. Consequently, the optical properties were directly affected by the thickness-uniformity of CdTe thin film. The absorbance of CdTe thin films was improved although the thickness of CdTe thin film was not changed.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.404-410
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• 2003

Different treatment options are available according to the stage and duration of the empyema. Stage I empyema (exudate stage) is treated concurrently by the administration of appropriate antibiotics and chest tube drainage. Stage III empyema (organized stage) is considered for decortication through an open thoracotomy. However, the treatment of fibrinopurulent, stage II empyema remains controversial. Recently, debridement with the use of Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) has been proposed for the treatment of stage II empyema. We analyzed and report our initial experience of 5 cases of stage II empyema, treated with the use of VATS. Material and Method: Between June 2001 and February 2002, 5 patients with fibrinopurulent empyema that did not respond to antibiotics, chest tube drainage or Percutaneous Catheter drainage (PCD), and instillation of fibrinolytic agent were treated by debridement and irrigation with the use of VATS. A CT scan was performed in all patients before the operation to confirm the diagnosis of loculated empyema and to detect additional lung parenchymal diseases. Result: All 5 patients underwent successful debridement and irrigation with the use of VATS and the chest tube was inserted properly. And no patients needed conversion to open thoracotomy. The ratio of sex was 4 : 1 (male : female), the mean age was 53 years old (range, 26~73 years), the mean operative time was 73.4 minutes (range, 52~95 minutes), the mean duration of postoperative chest tube placement was 12.4 days (range, 6~19 days), and the mean duration of postoperative hospital stay was 20.8 days (range, 10~36 days). In all patients, clinical symptoms such as pain and fever subsided and simple chest PA view revealed satisfactory lung expansion. No major postoperative complication was observed during the hospital course and no patient suffered from the recurrence of empyema in the follow-up period. Conclusion: We think that early operation with the use of VATS is safe and efficient for stage II empyema which did not respond to medical treatment(antibiotics and chest tube drainage), therefore, it can prevent stage II empyema from advancing to stage III, organized empyema.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.615-623
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• 2009

Background: We evaluated the feasibility and the efficacy of Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) lobectomy for treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and we compared the outcomes of VATS lobectomy with those of open lobectomy. Material and Method: From 2003 to March 2008, 133 NSCLC patients underwent VATS lobectomy. The patients were selected on the basis of having clinical stage I disease on the chest CT and PET scan. The outcomes of 202 patients who underwent open lobectomy (OL group) for clinical stage I NSCLC were evaluated to compare their results with those of the patients who underwent VATS lobectomy (the VL group). Result: The number of females and the number of patients with adenocarcinoma and stage IA disease were greater in VL group (p<0.05). There was no operative mortality or major complications in the VL group. Conversion to thoracotomy was needed in 8 cases (6%), which was mostly due to bleeding. The chest tube indwelling time and the length of the postoperative hospital stay were significantly shorter in the VL group (p<0.001). The number of dissected lymph nodes and the size of tumor were significantly smaller in the VL group (p<0.001). For the pathologic stage I patients, there was no significant difference in the three-year survival rates between the two groups (p=0.15). Conclusion: VATS lobectomy is a safe procedure with low operative mortality and morbidity. VATS lobectomy is feasible for early stage NSCLC and it provides outcomes that are comparable to those for open lobectomy. Further long-term data are needed.