• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.243-251
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• 2002

Synthetic zinc wave employs Pulsed plane wave as transmit beam with linear time delay curve. The received echoes in different transmit directions at different transmit times are superposed at imaging Points with Proper time delay compensation using synthetic focusing scheme. This scheme. which uses full aperture in transmit, obtains a high SNR image, and also features high lateral resolution by using two way dynamic focusing at all imaging depths. In this Paper, we consider the Problems in realization of synthetic zinc wave. Also. we have applied the scheme to obtain phantom and in-vivo images using a linear array of 5 MHz. In phantom test. experimental images show high resolution over a more extended imaging depth than conventional fixed Point transmit and receive dynamic focusing schemes In-vivo images show that the resolution could not overcome conventional focusing systems because of motion blurring and(or) aberration of tissue. but the frame rate tan be increased by a factor of more than 5 compared to conventional focusing schemes. with competitive resolution at all imaging depths .

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.11
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• pp.489-492
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• 1997

The general pattern of adaptation in the appendicular skeleton with aging is that the subperiosteal apposition of bone occur along with endosteal absorption. This remodeling of diaphysis to a cylinder of larger diameter is hypothesized to serve a mechanical compensatory unction by increasing the moment of inertia as the cortex thins with aging. These findings is only true of the diaphysis of long bone. Measuring the area and inertia at each section of femur, the age-related change of proximal emur and diaphysis is observed. After screening by physical and radiological examination, 200 normal Korean adults divided 5 groups in both male and female based on age. Twenty persons were in each group. One femur in each person was analyzed using CT images. femur scanned with 60 to 80 slices and this images were digitized. Then 2-D images were reconstructed into 3-D images. Using the nonlinear method, normalization and interpolation technique, 7 locations of interest (trochanteric area: 1, 2 subtrochanteric area: 3, 4, isthmic area: 5, 6, 7) were determined. On the each cross section at each location, the area (total, cortical and medullary) and 5 inertia of moment were measured. The results were analyzed statistically. With aging, significant area change occurred mainly in diaphysis and female. In trochanteric area, no significant change was noted. With aging, total and medullary area were increased, but cortical area was not changed. In diaphysis, lateral bendingresistanceincreasedsignificantly. No inertia change was noted in trochanteric area. Anteroposterior bending resistance was constant with aging. In more than age 60, total area and medullary area were larger than that of others. Lateral bending resistance was higher especially in diaphysis. In diaphysis, with aging, the decreased properties is compensated with the increased lateral bending resistance by geometric remodeling. In trochanteric area, no compensation occur. With aging, especially in more than age 60, the higher rate of trochanteric fracture is expected.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.275-280
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• 2003

The method of simultaneous data acquisition of arteries and veins(SAAV) was suggested to obtain MR angiography of arteries and veins at 0.3T low filed MRI system (Magfinder, AlLab. Korea). Two separated artery- and vein-images were put together using AVCM(Artery-Vein Color Mapping) algorithm and presented in the same image. In this study, artery- and vein-separated angiograms of volunteer's neck were obtained. Two dimensioal blood-enhanced images wre sequentially obtained using SAAV pulse sequence based on time-of-flight(TOF) method with flow compensation. Imaging parameters were TR/TE=70/12msec. FOV=230mm, slice thickness = 3mm, flip angle=90$^{\circ}$, matrix size=256${\times}$256${\times}$64mm. TSat TH/SPA=15/20mm, Ts_v=10msec and Ts_a=40ms. 3D MRA images were reconstructed using the maximum intensity projection(MIP) and the artery-vein color mapping(AVCM) algorithm. This study showed good possibility of clinical applications of MRA in 0.3T which provides valuable diagnostic information of clinical vascular diseases.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.282-290
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• 2006

We have developed a multi band digital hearing aid algorithm emphasizing feedback cancellation and a hardware module to evaluate the performance of our algorithm. The hearing aids should be able to compensate for individual hearing loss characteristics of hearing impaired person. Thus hearing aids need the function of multi-bands amplification and the capabilities of feedback cancellation that can remove howling caused by acoustic feedback. In this paper, we proposed a digital hearing aid algorithm which has multi-bands compensation using modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) and can efficiently remove acoustic feedbacks. Moreover, we have developed digital hearing aid hardware module, which can evaluate hearing aid algorithms in real time operation. The developed algorithm and hardware module were verified through computer simulation and clinical tests. Through operational experiments, good performances in real time operation environment and an efficient howling cancellation were also observed. The developed hardware module can operate in stable condition and it is expected to become a good hardware platform for developing hearing aid algorithms.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.353-363
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• 2020

Objectives: Occupational diseases that occur due to or aggravated by work have commonly been recognized in the manufacturing industry, but there are now more incidences happening in the service industry due to changes in the industrial structure. Health workers are exposed to direct factors and various other causes of occupational disease at work, such as physical, chemical, biological, and psyco-social factors. This study aims to identify work-related diseases affecting health workers that are recognized as occupational diseases. Methods: The research is based on the data of workers whose diseases were accepted as work-related by the Industrial Accidents Compensation Insurance, and filed by the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency. Amongst the approved claims during 2011 to 2015, we focused on healthcare workers and health-related workers of the Korean Standard Classification of Occupations. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results: The number of health workers(HWs) with approved work-related disease was 1,707 over 5 years. The number of healthcare workers(HCWs) excluding caregivers was 370 (21.7%) and of health-related workers (HRWs) it was 736 (43.1%). Out of HWs who were approved for their illnesses, females were 80% of HCWs and 88% of HRWs. The most common occupational disease in HWs was musculoskeletal diseases, while that of nurses was infectious disease. Conclusions: HWs are exposed to various risks from their profession and are affected by occupational diseases. It is necessary to focus on this issue and provide preventive measures.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.361-368
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to develop a hand rehabilitation training system for hemiplegic patients. We also tried to find out five hand postures (WF: Wrist Flexion, WE: Wrist Extension, BG: Ball Grip, HG: Hook Grip, RE: Rest) in real-time using multi-channel EMG-based deep learning. We performed a pre-processing method that converts to Spider Chart image data for the classification of hand movement from five test subjects (total 1,500 data sets) using Convolution Neural Networks (CNN) deep learning with an 8-channel armband. As a result of this study, the recognition accuracy was 92% for WF, 94% for WE, 76% for BG, 82% for HG, and 88% for RE. Also, ten physical therapists participated for the usability evaluation. The questionnaire consisted of 7 items of acceptance, interest, and satisfaction, and the mean and standard deviation were calculated by dividing each into a 5-point scale. As a result, high scores were obtained in immersion and interest in game (4.6±0.43), convenience of the device (4.9±0.30), and satisfaction after treatment (4.1±0.48). On the other hand, Conformity of intention for treatment (3.90±0.49) was relatively low. This is thought to be because the game play may be difficult depending on the degree of spasticity of the hemiplegic patient, and compensation may occur in patient with weakened target muscles. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a rehabilitation program suitable for the degree of disability of the patient.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.128-136
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• 1998

Most of total nitrogen in the surface soil exists in organic forms, of which amino acid-N is the major fraction. By-product fertilizers provide soil with humic substances, and humic acid is an essential component of humus. Amino acids(AAs) are easily converted to inorganic-N forms and thus play an important role in N fertility. This experiment was conducted to investigate the contents and distributions of AAs in humic acids which were extracted from the commercial by-product fertilizers of different composting materials. Total contents of AAs in humic acids ranged from 1.2 to 5.6%, of which neutral AAs were the highest with ranges of 0.8~4.5%. AAs contents in fertilizers composted from the plant residues such as leaf litter, sawdust and bark were in an order of neutral>acidic>basic AAs. In contrast, those from animal wastes, such as poultry and pig manures, were in an order of neutral>basic>acidic AAs. Distributions of total, acidic and neutral AAs were in the respective order of leaf litter>sawdust>pig manure>poultry manure>peat, bark>sawdust>leaf litter>peat and leaf litter>sawdust>bark>peat. Distributions of the basic AAs were in the reversed order of the acidic AAs. In bark fertilizer with increasing compost maturity, contents of the acidic AAs were increased in compensation for the decreases in those of neutral and basic AAs. Results demonstrated that distributions of amino acids in humic acid of by-product fertilizers were different from composting raw materials and degrees of humification.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.125-132
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• 2015

As for noise and vibration occurring due to construction near fish farms, engineering and the technical opinions of experts in different areas were excluded in calculating any damage. The victims tend to present only biological consulting-based opinions while construction companies tend to present information on general construction noise and vibration as they have little biological knowledge on fish. So, the National Environmental Dispute Medication Commission presented specific damage standard in 2009 through studies on standard in calculating compensation and damage assessment of farm-raised fish that were affected by noise and vibration. Currently, 140 dB re $1{\mu}Pa$ is accepted as damage standard of underwater noise in the country. This standard is the RMS value of continuous sounds for more than a second, not the impulsive sounds. To look up the data on existing studies, fish showed different reactions to underwater sounds according to the different kinds of fish such as ostariophysan or non-ostariophysan, and pinnipeds or non-pinnipeds. So, this study will present damage standards for impulsive sounds in consideration of the differences in the characteristics of the impulsive and continuous sounds.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.66-74
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• 1996

There has been an increase in head trauma due to rapid industralization and improvement in transportation. This poses difficulties in differentiating between neuropsychiatric disabilities resulting from real organic changes and those arising from compensation issues. It is the purpose of this study to seek out the differences between normal and abnormal finding group in the structural brain imaging studies via the results of the functional brain imaging studies and psychological tests. Out of 132 subjects, 62 comprised normal and 70 the abnormal finding group. EEG and SPECT were chosen for inspection of functional brain imaging. MMPI and K-WAIS were chosen for psychological test. The subjects were further divided into right hemispheric damage, left hemispheric damage, both hemispheric damage, diffuse damage group and negative group in order to find out whether any differences in the psychological lest results could be localized. The results are as follows : 1) The abnormal finding group, the EEG and SPECT were proven to be a good predictor of brain lesion. This implies that even in the functional brain studies, abnormalities are more easily detected if there are visible brain lesions. 2) The FSIQ of the abnormal finding group is lower than that of normal finding group. this difference is mainly due to low V1Q. The left hemispheric damage group lend to shaw low V1Q. This lowered in was the difference between left hemispheric damage group and negative group. Furthermore, there were no group differences in the PIQ. It is concluded that K-WAIS is effective as evaluator of VIQ mainly of those patients with left hemispheric damage and it is ineffective as a evaluator of PIQ. 3) In the MMPI profile, the both groups displayed high neurotic profiles. There was no difference in the psychotic profiles. The scores of the Depression and Hystery were high in abnormal finding group. This can be seen as one of the lypical findings of chronic head trauma patients. 4) The abnormal finding group tend to be diagnosed as organic mental disorder in the psychological tests more frequently.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.27 no.4 s.48
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• pp.711-734
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• 1994

Among chemical agents in herbicides, dioxin (2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachloro dibenzo-$\rho$-dioxin : TCDD), a chemical contaminant in herbicides sprayed during the Vietnam War has been known to be the major agent causing toxic effects. Approximately 320,000 korean soldiers participated the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1974. Although the potential hazards of the herbicides among Korean veterans exposed were implicated, the problem had not been a public issue until 1991 when Korean veterans were informed U.S. companies, the herbicides manufacturer payed fund, from which a trust fund for New Zealand and Australian Class members were established in 1985. After a series of appeals and demonstration by the Korean Veterans demanding medical care and compensation for their serious health damages, a bill of medical care and compensation for herbicides victims was promulgated in March 1993 and become effective from May 1993, This study was carried out with two major objectives : the first to understand the health problems caused from the herbicides by reviewing literatures published, and the second to examine the nature and extent of health impacts among Korean veterans exposed and to develop valid study methods for the major study by interviewing and reviewing records on a part of veterans (638 persons) registered and completed medical examination in Seoul Veterans Administration Hospital from June to October 1993. The results obtained are as followings: 1. The literature review of 107 papers revealed that 1) Dioxin is teratogenic, carcinogenic and affects almost all organs including nervous, endocrine, and reproductive systems in animal experiments. 2) The diseases showing evidence of causal association were Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's disease, lung cancer, lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma, chloroacne and polyneuropathy when judged on the basis of consistency in study results and biological plausibility. 2. Interview and medical record review study on 638 veterans, though limited validity owing to lack of control group, crude estimates of dioxin exposure levels (no biomarkers measurable), and uncertainty of diagnosis, showed that: 1) Most of the study subject's were in their 40's of age and had been dispatched to Vietnam during the period from $1965{\sim}1970$ around one year. 2) Most frequently complained symptoms in medical examination were motor weakness (32%), sensory abnormalities in extremities (23%), skin diseases (22%), and pain in extremities (20%) whereas in Interview they were more frequent in order of skin problem (44%), motor weakness (38%), sensory abnormalities and pain in extremities(17% and 19% each). Kappa indices on the same category of complaints between two sources of information were variable and relatively low. 3) On medical examination, only a part of the 638 subjects had initial impression (442 pts) and final diagnosis (218 pts) suggesting decision making on diagnosis appeared to be difficult even with all available modern medical technologies: in initial impression disorders from peripheral and central neuropathy were predominant whereas in final diagnosis various types of skin disorder were most frequent 4) When dose-response relationship between several conditions (from questionnaire) and arbitrary exposure scores were examined by CMH linear trend test, spontaneous abortion, sexual problems and health problem of offsprings showed statistically significant linear trends. However, pregnancy, accident and suicidal attempts did not show any relationship in this study capacity. 5) Among complaints, psychosis and neurosis (anxiety, phobia) in interview study, and memory disorder and psychosis in medical record study revealed linear trend. 6) Skin disorder was the only condition showing linear trend in initial impression and none in final diagnosis on medical examination. Even though objective to select out dioxin-related disease or group of diseases from this study was not achieved the research experiences provided firm basis for developing various methodological approaches. 3. From this preliminary study we concluded that a larger scale major epidemiologic study on health impacts of herbicides among Korean veterans exposed is not only Indispensible but also well designed study with more valid exposure information and diagnosis may be able to establish causal relationship between certain groups of diseases and exposure to the herbicides among Korean veterans.