• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.383-389
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• 2014

$CO_2$ absorption processes have a good potential for large scale capture of $CO_2$ but a large amount of absorbing solution has to be regenerated, undesirably increasing the consumption of energy such as sensible heat and latent heat of vaporization. In this study, a cooling crystallization process which would separate the $CO_2$-rich potassium bicarbonate crystals from $CO_2$-lean water was developed to reduce the energy penalty. Sterically hindered alkanolamine additives were used to enhance the $CO_2$ removal efficiency and their antisolvent effect on the crystallization was found in a continuous cooling crystallizer. The production yields of crystals were increased in the sequence of 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) < 2-amino-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol (AMPD) < 2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propanediol (AHPD), which are related to the number of hydroxyl groups in the additive molecules. Using $^{13}carbon$ nuclear magnetic resonance, the additives favored the formation of bicarbonate ions by steric hindrance effect and increased the supersaturation of $KHCO_3$. It is shown that the additives increase the mean size of crystals and crystal growth rate by increasing supersaturation. The additives are promising for enhancing the $CO_2$ removal efficiency and reducing the regeneration energy cost of $CO_2$ absorbing solution by promoting $KHCO_3$ crystallization.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.75-81
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• 2017

In this study, we synthesized mesoporous carbon (Carbonized Ni-FDU-15) containing nanoporous structures and magnetic nanoparticles. Carbonized Ni-FDU-15 was synthesized via evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) and direct carbonization by using a triblock copolymer (F127) as a structure-directing agent, a resol precursor as a carbon-pore wall forming material, and nickel (II) nitrate as a metal ion source. The mesoporous carbon has a well-ordered two-dimensional hexagonal structure. Meanwhile, nickel (Ni) metal and nickel oxide (NiO) were produced in the magnetic nanoparticles in the pore wall. The size of the nanoparticles was about 37 nm. The surface area, pore size and pore volume of Carbonized Ni-FDU-15 were $558m^2g^{-1}$, $22.5{\AA}$ and $0.5cm^3g^{-1}$, respectively. Carbonized Ni-FDU-15 was found to move in the direction of magnetic force when magnetic force was externally applied. The magnetic nanoparticle-bearing mesoporous carbons are expected to have high applicability in a wide variety of applications such as adsorption/separation, magnetic storage media, ferrofluid, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and drug targeting, etc.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.540-547
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• 2007

Humic substances(HS) from Han River water was physic-chemically isolated by fractionational methods to investigate the seasonal distribution and to characterize the properties compared with intrinsic humic materials. Various HS samples were analyzed by element, Fourier transform infrared(FT-IR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance$(^1H-NMR)$ and fluorescence analyzers. The portion of HS from Han River water(HRHS) was 47.0% on the average, however it appeared that rainfall event brought about higher fraction of HS in Han River water by the periodic investigation. Aromaticity and humification degree of the HRHS were relatively lower than those of intrinsic humic materials originated from decomposing vegetation. FT-IR, $^1H-NMR$ and fluorescence spectroscopy showed the distinct differences between HRHS and intrinsic humic materials. Commercial humic materials could not represent structural and functional characteristics of local HS. The fluorescence spectroscopy, a relatively simple measurement, was found most useful tool to estimate humification degree for humic materials from particular sources.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.577-583
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• 2017

Objective : Laminoplasty is an effective surgical method for treating cervical degenerative disease. However, postoperative complications such as kyphosis, restriction of neck motion, and instability are often reported. Despite sufficient preoperative lordosis, this procedure often aggravates the lordotic curve of the cervical spine and straightens cervical alignment. Hence, it is important to examine preoperative risk factors associated with postoperative kyphotic alignment changes. Our study aimed to investigate preoperative radiologic parameters associated with kyphotic deformity post laminoplasty. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 49 patients who underwent open door laminoplasty for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) or ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) at Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital between January 2011 and December 2015. Inclusion criteria were as follows : 1) preoperative diagnosis of OPLL or CSM, 2) no previous history of cervical spinal surgery, cervical trauma, tumor, or infection, 3) minimum of one-year follow-up post laminoplasty with proper radiologic examinations performed in outpatient clinics, and 4) cases showing C7 and T1 vertebral body in the preoperative cervical sagittal plane. The radiologic parameters examined included C2-C7 Cobb angles, T1 slope, C2-C7 sagittal vertical axis (SVA), range of motion (ROM) from C2-C7, segmental instability, and T2 signal change observed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Clinical factors examined included preoperative modified Japanese Orthopedic Association scores, disease classification, duration of symptoms, and the range of operation levels. Results : Mean preoperative sagittal alignment was $13.01^{\circ}$ lordotic; $6.94^{\circ}$ lordotic postoperatively. Percentage of postoperative kyphosis was 80%. Patients were subdivided into two groups according to postoperative Cobb angle change; a control group (n=22) and kyphotic group (n=27). The kyphotic group consisted of patients with more than $5^{\circ}$ kyphotic angle change postoperatively. There were no differences in age, sex, C2-C7 Cobb angle, T1 slope, C2-C7 SVA, ROM from C2-C7, segmental instability, or T2 signal change. Multiple regression analysis revealed T1 slope had a strong relationship with postoperative cervical kyphosis. Likewise, correlation analysis revealed there was a statistical significance between T1 slope and postoperative Cobb angle change (p=0.035), and that there was a statistically significant relationship between T1 slope and C2-C7 SVA (p=0.001). Patients with higher preoperative T1 slope demonstrated loss of lordotic curvature postoperatively. Conclusion : Laminoplasty has a high probability of aggravating sagittal balance of the cervical spine. T1 slope is a good predictor of postoperative kyphotic changes of the cervical spine. Similarly, T1 slope is strongly correlated with C2-C7 SVA.

• Laboraroty Animal Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.248-256
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• 2018

O-2-$^{18}F$-fluoroethyl-l-tyrosine ($[^{18}F]FET$) has been widely used for glioblastomas (GBM) in clinical practice, although evaluation of its applicability in non-clinical research is still lacking. The objective of this study was to examine the value of $[^{18}F]FET$ for treatment evaluation and prognosis prediction of anti-angiogenic drug in an orthotopic mouse model of GBM. Human U87MG cells were implanted into nude mice and then bevacizumab, a representative anti-angiogenic drug, was administered. We monitored the effect of anti-angiogenic agents using multiple imaging modalities, including bioluminescence imaging (BLI), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT). Among these imaging methods analyzed, only $[^{18}F]FET$ uptake showed a statistically significant decrease in the treatment group compared to the control group (P=0.02 and P=0.03 at 5 and 20 mg/kg, respectively). This indicates that $[^{18}F]FET$ PET is a sensitive method to monitor the response of GBM bearing mice to anti-angiogenic drug. Moreover, $[^{18}F]FET$ uptake was confirmed to be a significant parameter for predicting the prognosis of anti-angiogenic drug (P=0.041 and P=0.007, on Days 7 and 12, respectively, on Pearson's correlation; P=0.048 and P=0.030, on Days 7 and 12, respectively, on Cox regression analysis). However, results of BLI or MRI were not significantly associated with survival time. In conclusion, this study suggests that $[^{18}F]FET$ PET imaging is a pertinent imaging modality for sensitive monitoring and accurate prediction of treatment response to anti-angiogenic agents in an orthotopic model of GBM.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.113-122
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• 2018

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics of children diagnosed as cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS) in Korea. Methods: Diagnosis was made based on clinical features and confirmed by a mutation in the cold-induced autoinflammatory syndrome 1 (CIAS1) gene. Especially, osteocartilaginous overgrowth in the patella or distal femur was so characteristic that its presence warranted a diagnosis of chronic infantile neurologic cutaneous and articular/NOMID. Results: We observed the clinical features of 9 Korean CAPS patients. All the patients suffered from an urticarial rash with recurrent fever. Among the 9 patients, 6 presented with rash and 4 with fever on the 1st or 2nd days of birth. Eight patients showed myalgia, and 7 patients showed arthralgia in the joints, and 6 patients showed radiologic findings of arthropathy including cupping of the metaphysis, excessive growth of the epiphysis, osteopenia or overgrowth of the cartilage. Four patients showed brain atrophy, enlarged ventricles or leptomeningeal enhancement on magnetic resonance imaging. Intellectual disability was observed in 1 patient. Five patients had eye involvement as conjunctivitis, uveitis, chorioretinitis, avascular area or papillary edema, and 3 patients showed progressive hearing loss. All 9 patients showed increased C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). Conclusions: All the patients carried a mutation on exon 3 of the CIAS1 gene. After the anakinra (interleukin-1 receptor antagonist) therapy, the fever and rash immediately disappeared, and CRP and ESR were improved.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.476-486
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• 2019

Objective : The functional information of $^{11}C$-methionine positron emission tomography (MET-PET) images can be applied for Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKR) and its image quality may affect defining the tumor. This study conducted the phantom-based evaluation for geometric accuracy and functional characteristic of diagnostic MET-PET image co-registered with stereotactic image in Leksell $GammaPlan^{(R)}$ (LGP) and also investigated clinical application of these images in metastatic brain tumors. Methods : Two types of cylindrical acrylic phantoms fabricated in-house were used for this study : the phantom with an array-shaped axial rod insert and the phantom with different sized tube indicators. The phantoms were mounted on the stereotactic frame and scanned using computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and PET system. Three-dimensional coordinate values on co-registered MET-PET images were compared with those on stereotactic CT image in LGP. MET uptake values of different sized indicators inside phantom were evaluated. We also evaluated the CT and MRI co-registered stereotactic MET-PET images with MR-enhancing volume and PET-metabolic tumor volume (MTV) in 14 metastatic brain tumors. Results : Imaging distortion of MET-PET was maintained stable at less than approximately 3% on mean value. There was no statistical difference in the geometric accuracy according to co-registered reference stereotactic images. In functional characteristic study for MET-PET image, the indicator on the lateral side of the phantom exhibited higher uptake than that on the medial side. This effect decreased as the size of the object increased. In 14 metastatic tumors, the median matching percentage between MR-enhancing volume and PET-MTV was 36.8% on PET/MR fusion images and 39.9% on PET/CT fusion images. Conclusion : The geometric accuracy of the diagnostic MET-PET co-registered with stereotactic MR in LGP is acceptable on phantom-based study. However, the MET-PET images could the limitations in providing exact stereotactic information in clinical study.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.437-444
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• 2021

The aim of this study was to compare the cardiac CT and cardiac MRI in calculating and correcting the left ventricle ejection fraction by analyzing the physical and temporal resolution for reducing the misdiagnosis rate. One hundred thirty-eight patients with aortic value regurgitation who underwent both cardiac CT and cardiac MRI were analyzed. Left ventricle ejection fractions calculated from each exam were corrected based on the physical and temporal resolution differences and the reliability test evaluated whether the misdiagnosis rate of cardiac CT was improved after the correction. As a result of the study, the misdiagnosis rate of cardiac CT ejection fraction before correcting the difference in physical and temporal resolution was 38.4%(53 persons). In addition, it can be seen that the corrected cardiac CT ejection fraction confirmed in the Bland-Altman plot was highly consistent with the ejection fraction of cardiac MRI. In conclusion, as the cardiac CT is less well suited for measuring ejection fraction, physical characteristics and the time resolution correction using cardiac MRI is needed and the misdiagnosis rate after correction decreased to 14.5%(20 persons). Therefore, this study appears more appropriate for better prediction of ejection fraction and clinical utility.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.79 no.6
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• pp.340-347
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• 2018

Purpose: To evaluate value of image subtraction for identifying hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) capsule on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR images. Materials and Methods: This study involved 108 patients at risk of HCC preoperatively examined using gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI with hepatic resection between May 2015 and February 2017. We evaluated qualities of subtraction images and presence of capsular appearance on portal venous or transitional phases conventional and subtraction images. We assessed effect of capsular appearance on subtraction images on HCC. Results: After excluding 1 patient who had treated by transarterial chemoembolization prior to surgery and 33 patients with unsatisfactory subtraction image qualities, 82 focal hepatic lesions (73 HCC, 5 non-HCC malignancies, and 4 benign) from 74 patients were analyzed. Regarding detection of capsules, sensitivity, accuracy, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) on subtraction images were significantly higher than those on conventional images (95.4%, 89.0%, and 0.80, respectively; p < 0.001), though specificities were same (64.7%). For diagnosis of HCC, sensitivity, accuracy, and AUC on subtraction images were significantly higher than on conventional images (82.2%, 79.3%, and 0.69, respectively; p = 0.011), though specificities were identical (55.6%). Conclusion: Portal venous or transitional phase gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI subtraction images could improve detection of HCC capsule.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2023

Recent studies have actively investigated ways to improve the economic feasibility and efficiency of the Fischer-Tropsch process by increasing the yields of the monocyclic aromatic compounds (BTEX). In this study, ethylene was selected as a model of F-T-derived hydrocarbons, and the ethylene-to-aromatics (ETA) reaction was investigated according to changes in acid characteristics, mesopores, and crystallinity of HZSM-5 (HZ5). Fluorinated HZ5 was prepared by calcination followed by impregnation of an aqueous NH₄F solution having different molar concentrations in HZ5, and the structural and chemical properties of F/HZ5 were investigated through Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), NH₃-temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), and pyridine-IR spectroscopy. The ETA reactions were performed at 673 K under 0.1 MPa, and fluorinating HZ5 by an aqueous NH₄F solution of 0.17 M improved ethylene conversion, BTEX selectivity, and catalytic stability due to acidity, mesopore fraction, and crystallinity.