• Journal of Audiology & Otology
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.29-34
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• 2020

Background and Objectives: Bilateral microphones with contralateral routing of signal (BiCROS) hearing aid is an option for hearing rehabilitation in individuals with asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss (ASNHL). The clinical factors influencing the trial and purchase of BiCROS were investigated. Subjects and Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 78 patients with ASNHL who were recommended to use BiCROS and analyzed the demographic and audiological factors influencing the trial and purchase of BiCROS. Results: Among the 78 patients, 52 (66.7%) availed of the free BiCROS trial and 21 (26.9%) purchased BiCROS. The mean pure tone audiometry (PTA) air conduction (AC) threshold of the better- and worse-hearing ears were 44.2±12.8 dB and 90.7±22.5 dB HL, respectively. The decision for trial or purchase of BiCROS was not influenced by age, sex, duration of hearing loss of the worse-hearing ear, or PTA AC threshold or speech discrimination score of both ears. The first and third quartiles of the PTA AC thresholds for the better-hearing ear of BiCROS buyers were 38.75 dB and 53.75 dB HL, respectively. The counterpart values for the worse-hearing ear were 72.50 dB and 118.75 dB HL, respectively. Conclusions: The clinical factors analyzed in this study were found to be irrelevant to the trial and purchase of BiCROS in patients with ASNHL. Nevertheless, the distribution range of the auditory thresholds of the subjects using BiCROS can be a useful basis for the counseling of patients with ASNHL and selection of candidates for BiCROS use.

• Animal Bioscience
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• 제36권6호
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• pp.980-989
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• 2023

Objective: Iris pattern recognition system is well developed and practiced in human, however, there is a scarcity of information on application of iris recognition system in animals at the field conditions where the major challenge is to capture a high-quality iris image from a constantly moving non-cooperative animal even when restrained properly. The aim of the study was to validate and identify Black Bengal goat biometrically to improve animal management in its traceability system. Methods: Forty-nine healthy, disease free, 3 months±6 days old female Black Bengal goats were randomly selected at the farmer's field. Eye images were captured from the left eye of an individual goat at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of age using a specialized camera made for human iris scanning. iGoat software was used for matching the same individual goats at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of ages. Resnet152V2 deep learning algorithm was further applied on same image sets to predict matching percentages using only captured eye images without extracting their iris features. Results: The matching threshold computed within and between goats was 55%. The accuracies of template matching of goats at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of ages were recorded as 81.63%, 90.24%, 44.44%, and 16.66%, respectively. As the accuracies of matching the goats at 9 and 12 months of ages were low and below the minimum threshold matching percentage, this process of iris pattern matching was not acceptable. The validation accuracies of resnet152V2 deep learning model were found 82.49%, 92.68%, 77.17%, and 87.76% for identification of goat at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of ages, respectively after training the model. Conclusion: This study strongly supported that deep learning method using eye images could be used as a signature for biometric identification of an individual goat.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.435-441
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• 2021

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of the ventricular volume percentage quantified using three-dimensional (3D) brain computed tomography (CT) data for interpreting serial changes in hydrocephalus. Materials and Methods: Intracranial and ventricular volumes were quantified using the semiautomatic 3D threshold-based segmentation approach for 113 brain CT examinations (age at brain CT examination ≤ 18 years) in 38 patients with hydrocephalus. Changes in ventricular volume percentage were calculated using 75 serial brain CT pairs (time interval 173.6 ± 234.9 days) and compared with the conventional assessment of changes in hydrocephalus (increased, unchanged, or decreased). A cut-off value for the diagnosis of no change in hydrocephalus was calculated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The reproducibility of the volumetric measurements was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient on a subset of 20 brain CT examinations. Results: Mean intracranial volume, ventricular volume, and ventricular volume percentage were 1284.6 ± 297.1 cm³, 249.0 ± 150.8 cm³, and 19.9 ± 12.8%, respectively. The volumetric measurements were highly reproducible (intraclass correlation coefficient = 1.0). Serial changes (0.8 ± 0.6%) in ventricular volume percentage in the unchanged group (n = 28) were significantly smaller than those in the increased and decreased groups (6.8 ± 4.3% and 5.6 ± 4.2%, respectively; p = 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively; n = 11 and n = 36, respectively). The ventricular volume percentage was an excellent parameter for evaluating the degree of hydrocephalus (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.975; 95% confidence interval, 0.948-1.000; p < 0.001). With a cut-off value of 2.4%, the diagnosis of unchanged hydrocephalus could be made with 83.0% sensitivity and 100.0% specificity. Conclusion: The ventricular volume percentage quantified using 3D brain CT data is useful for interpreting serial changes in hydrocephalus.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• 제20권6호
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• pp.976-984
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• 2019

Objective: To establish diagnostic criteria for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in children by using parameters obtained through noninvasive cardiac computed tomography (CCT). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively measured parameters from CCT images of children from a single institution in a multiple stepwise process. A total of 208 children with mean age of 10.5 years (range: 4 days-18.9 years) were assessed. The variables were classified into three groups: the great arteries; the ventricular walls; and the bilateral ventricular cavities. The relationship between the parameters obtained from the CCT images and mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) was tested and adjusted by the children's body size. Reference curves for the pulmonary trunk diameter (PTD) and ratio of diameter of pulmonary trunk to ascending aorta (rPTAo) of children with CCT images of normal hearts, adjusted for height, were plotted. Threshold lines were established on the reference curves. Results: PTD and rPTAo on the CCT images were significantly positively correlated with mPAP (r > 0.85, p < 0.01). Height was the body size parameter most correlated with PTD (r = 0.91, p < 0.01) and rPTAo (r = -0.69, p < 0.01). On the basis of the threshold lines on the reference curves, PTD and rPTAo both showed 88.9% sensitivity for PAH diagnosis, with negative predictive values of 93.3% and 92.9%, respectively. Conclusion: PTD and rPTAo measured from CCT images were significantly correlated with mPAP in children. Reference curves and the formula of PTD and rPTAo adjusted for height could be practical for diagnosing PAH in children.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 한국응용약물학회 1995년도 제3회 추계심포지움
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• pp.137-146
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• 1995

In this study, it was tested whether lead intoxication could change thiamine content and the thiamine related biochemical factor such as activity of transketolase in the brain, and whether the changes of the myelin composition :s well as the seizure threshold induced by lead intoxication in rats be related to these changes of thiamine status and thiamine related biochemical factors. In addition, it was also tested whether administration of excessive thiamine can reverse the toxic manifestation of lead in lead intoxicated animals. Five groups of Wistar rats were prepared: 1)Control group, 2)lead treated group, 3)thiamine treated group, 4)lead plus thiamine treated group and 5)thiamine deficiency group. Each group of animals was divided into three subgroups based on ages: 3, 7 and 10 weeks of age subgroups. Lead concentration, thiamine content, the activity of transketolase and myelin composition in brain areas and threshold of electric shock seizure were tested in each group. Lead concentrations in all brain regions of lead treated group were higher than those of control group, and those of lead plus thiamine treated group were significantly lower than those of lead treated group. Thiamine contents in the brain regions of lead treated group were significantly lower than those of control group, and those of lead plus thiamine treated group were recovered back to those of control group. Activities of transketolase of lead treated group were significantly lower than those of control group, while those of lead plus thiamine treated group were recovered back to those of control group. The cases of which was observed with the concomitant changes of thiamine content and transketolase activity in myelin content or constituent of all the brain regions tested were total amount of myelin protein in the cerebellum of 3 week old rats, and phospholipid in the cerebellum of 3 week old rats and the telencephalon of 16 week old rats. Thresholds of the electroshock seizure of lead-treated group and thiamine-deficient group in 3, 7 week old rats were significantly lower than those of control group, while those of the lead plus thiamine-treated group were similar to those of control group. Changes of the electroshock seizure threshold induced by lead intoxication were observed in 3 week and 7 week old animals with the concomitant decrement of thiamine content in all the brain regions tested. These observations were reversed by the supplementation with thiamine to those animals. However, the changes of seizure threshold induced by lead intoxication corelated with the changes of thiamine contents as well as. transketolase due to lead intoxication. The changes of myelin phospholipid as one of myelin composition and those of myelin Protein content only in the cerebellum of 3 week old rats correlated with the changes of the seizure threshold as well as thiamine content due to lead intoxication. The results from the present study may indicate that neurotoxicity of lead in rats may be mediated at least in part through the changes of thiamine status. Such changes of thiamine status may induce the changes of myelin composition such as myelin phospholipid and those of myelin protein content especially in the cerebellum of 3 week old rats which may eventually affect the threshold of seizure.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제29권3호
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• pp.539-553
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• 1996

The study was conducted from May to September in 1994 to investigate applicability of the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly-Screening version(HHIE-S) in parallel with the pure-tone audiometer to the initial screening test of noise-induced hearing loss(NIHL) in some noise-exposed workers. Subjects were selected by systemic sampling that took every 10th person from 6, 700 workers taking the annual occupational health examination by the department of Health Maintenance of Dongsan Hospital Keimyung University in Taegu. The authors administered the pure-tone audiometric test and self-reported questionnaire of HHIE-S including items of sociodemographic and job-related variables concurrently. The final subjects analysed were 1,019(488 males and 531 females) excluding fourteen persons who had many missing values in their questionnaires. The reliability coefficients of HHIE-S scale by Cronbach's alpha were 0.84. In the univariate analysis of hearing handicap measured by the HHIE-S, work duration, military service and the hearing threshold loss at 1KHz and 4KHz by the initial audiometer were significant in males while age, work duration and hearing threshold loss at 1KHz and 4KHz were significant in females. In the stepwise linear regression analysis, hearing threshold loss at 1KHz and 4KHz, was the only selected variable explaining the hearing handicap in males and hearing threshold loss at 1KHz and 4KHz, age, and work duration were selected in females. In ROC curves for HHIE-S scores against NIHL as gold standard which was defined by the follow-up audiogram as more than 30dB of the average of 0.5/1/2KHz and 50dB at 4KHz, the optimal cutoff for the parallel HHIE-S appeared to be 8. The results suggest that HHIE-S appeared to have some reliability and validity in this data and might be used in screening NIHL in parallel with pure-tone audiometer in noise-exposed workers.

• Health Policy and Management
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.56-70
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• 2014

Background: Korea shows rapid population aging and increase in healthcare service use and expenditure. Also, this would be accelerated because of the baby boomers who will be 65 years old and more in 2020. Chronic disease is another reason that increases the use of healthcare service and expenditure of the middle- and old-aged households. Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) is the index which can indicate the households' burden of health spending. Despite the importance, there are few studies on CHE of middle- and old-aged households and especially no panel study yet. This is the reason that this study is carried out. Methods: This study used 3-year data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study conducted from 2009 to 2011. We defined CHE if a household's health expenditure is equal or greater than the threshold value if income remaining after subsistence needs has been met. We used 4 different threshold values which are 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%. In order to look at the households which experienced CHE, we conducted panel logit analysis after correspondence analysis and conditional transition probability analysis. Results: This study showed three notable results. First, there has been a difference among age groups, which implies that the older people are, the more easily they can experience CHE. Second, the households with no private insurance are shown to have a higher CHE occurrence rate. Lastly, there has been a significant difference among the kinds of chronic diseases. The households which have cancer, cerebrovascular disease, and heart disease have a higher CHE occurrence rate. However, the households with diabetes have no significant effects to CHE occurrence. Also, hypertension has a negative effect to the occurrence. Conclusion: With the results, it can be implied that elderly people with chronic disease are more needed in medical coverage and healthcare. Also, private insurance can play its role in protecting households from CHE. Therefore, it needs to conduct studies on CHE especially about different age groups, private insurance, and chronic disease.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• 제61권4호
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• pp.577-590
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• 2022

Ostrinia scapulalis is one of important pests in leguminous crops, especially red bean. In order to understand the biological characteristics of the insect, we investigated the effects of temperature on development of each life stage, adult longevity and fecundity of O. scapulalis at eleven constant temperatures of 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, and 36℃. Eggs and larvae successfully developed next life stage at most temperature subjected except 7, 10 and 13℃. The developmental period of egg, larva and pupa decreased as temperature increased. Lower and higher threshold temperature (TL and TH) were calculated by the Lobry-Rosso-Flandrois (LRF) and Sharpe-Schoolfield-Ikemoto (SSI) models. The lower developmental threshold (LDT) and thermal constant (K) from egg hatching to adult emergence of O. scapulalis were estimated by linear regression as 13.5℃ and 384.5DD, respectively. TL and TH from egg hatching to adult emergence using SSI model were 19.4℃ and 39.8℃. Thermal windows, i.e., the range in temperature between the minimum and maximum rate of development, of O. scapulalis was 20.4℃. Adults produced viable eggs at the temperature range between 16℃ and 34℃, and showed a maximum number, ca. 416 offsprings, at 25℃. Adult models including aging rate, age-specific survival rate, age-specific cumulative oviposition, and temperature-dependent fecundity were constructed, using the temperature-dependent adult traits. Temperature-dependent development models and adult oviposition models will be useful components to understand the population dynamics of O. scapulalis and will be expected using a basic data for establishing the strategy of integrated pest management in leguminous crops.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• 제25권5호
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• pp.323-328
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• 2004

The development of group-specific tissue probability maps (TPM) provides a priori knowledge for better result of cerebral tissue classification with regard to the inter-ethnic differences of inter-subject variability. We present sequential procedures of group-specific TPM and evaluate the age effects in the structural differences of TPM. We investigated 100 healthy volunteers with high resolution MRI scalming. The subjects were classified into young (60, 25.92+4.58) and old groups (40, 58.83${\pm}$8.10) according to the age. To avoid any bias from random selected single subject and improve registration robustness, average atlas as target for TPM was constructed from skull-stripped whole data using linear and nonlinear registration of AIR. Each subject was segmented into binary images of gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid using fuzzy clustering and normalized into the space of average atlas. The probability images were the means of these binary images, and contained values in the range of zero to one. A TPM of a given tissue is a spatial probability distribution representing a certain subject population. In the spatial distribution of tissue probability according to the threshold of probability, the old group exhibited enlarged ventricles and overall GM atrophy as age-specific changes, compared to the young group. Our results are generally consistent with the few published studies on age differences in the brain morphology. The more similar the morphology of the subject is to the average of the population represented by the TPM, the better the entire classification procedure should work. Therefore, we suggest that group-specific TPM should be used as a priori information for the cerebral tissue classification.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.272-280
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• 2013

Objectives : The aim of this study was to observe effects of manual acupuncture(MA), electro-acupuncture(EA) and moxibustion (MO) on the rat with loperamide-induced constipation. Methods : This study measured small intestinal motility and number of fecal pellets in rats with loperamide induced constipation. MA and EA(intensity, 5 times muscle twitch threshold) was applied for 30 minutes and MO was treated on 5 times moxa cautery to the groups divided with age and sex. Results : The small intestinal motility was decreased by ST36 EA and ST37 EA in 5 weeks male group and ST37 EA in 7 weeks male and female groups, and ST36 MO in 7 weeks female group, but it was increased by ST39 EA in 7 weeks male group and ST37 MO and ST39 MO in 7 weeks male group. The number of fecal pellets was decreased by MA, EA, MO of ST36 in all group except 5, 7 weeks male groups only, and MA, EA of ST37 in 5, 7 weeks male group and ST37 MO in 7 weeks female group, and ST39 EA in 5 weeks male group and 7 weeks female group and ST39 MO in 7 weeks female group, but increased by ST37 EA in 5 weeks female group and ST39 EA in 7 weeks male group. Conclusions : Although these differences do not have a established tendency, it suggests that acupuncture and moxibustion are experimentally dependent upon the sex and age on intestinal motility in rats.