• Applied Microscopy
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.100-104
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• 2016

Electron microscopy is currently the only available technique with a spatial resolution sufficient to identify fine neuronal processes and synaptic structures in densely packed neuropil. For large-scale volume reconstruction of neuronal connectivity, serial block-face scanning electron microscopy allows us to acquire thousands of serial images in an automated fashion and reconstruct neural circuits faster by reducing the alignment task. Here we introduce the whole reconstruction procedure of synaptic network in the rat hippocampal CA1 area and discuss technical issues to be resolved for improving image quality and segmentation. Compared to the serial section transmission electron microscopy, serial block-face scanning electron microscopy produced much reliable three-dimensional data sets and accelerated reconstruction by reducing the need of alignment and distortion adjustment. This approach will generate invaluable information on organizational features of our connectomes as well as diverse neurological disorders caused by synaptic impairments.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.78-85
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• 2015

In Thailand, the electricity consumption is very high with the intention of reduce high temperature in the building. Since 2000, a lot of people paying attention to Green-Building concept. A similar concept is natural building, which is usually on a smaller scale and tends to focus on the use of natural materials that are available locally. Therefore, the Earth-Block (EAB) product is appropriated approach to reduce energy consumption in the buildings. The EAB is produced with environmentally friendly process, which does not release harmful pollution and effective cost. The main significant character is durable materials for building construction. This study aims to develop the new thermal insulation by using soil-cement with vetiver grass fibre. Additionally, it describes the innovative systems used in production of EAB materials by mixing the soil-cement with vetiver grass fibre. This paper reveals lowest costs, space configurations changing and greater design flexibility for constructing the building.

• Journal of the Chungcheong Mathematical Society
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.137-149
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• 2018

In this paper, under the assumption of the symmetry point spread function, antireflective boundary conditions(AR-BCs) are considered in connection with the fast truncated Lagrange(FTL) method. The FTL method is proposed as an image restoration method for large-scale ill-conditioned BTTB(block Toeplitz with Toeplitz block) and BTHHTB(block Toeplitz-plus-Hankel matrix with Toeplitz-plus-Hankel blocks) linear systems([13, 17]). The implementation and efficiency of the FTL method in the AR-BCs are further illustrated. Especially, by employing the AR-BCs, both the continuity of the image and the continuity of its normal derivative are preserved at the boundary. A reconstructed image with less artifacts at the boundary is obtained as a result.

• Journal of KIBIM
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.32-40
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• 2022

The block-unit housing renewal project was presented as an alternative method to overcome the side effects of large-scale renewal projects while improving poor residential conditions. However, projects implementation is prolonged and even the pace of projects, which was considered an various incentives, is being delayed for the most part. In this study, delay factors are drawn by eight; conflict among association members, contract delay of joint implementation, participation paucity of constructor, inadequate project guidelines, alteration of project plan, lack of renewal project professionals, stricter loan restriction of HUG, lack of capacity of project operator. We categorized those eight factors to three aspects such as implementation, participants and proposition and suggested improvement alternatives according to three aspects.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.87-97
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• 2008

This research focused on development and application feasibility for the coalesced continuous block system in river bank protection. Most of block systems in river bank are pre cast type and have some difficulties against high velocity flood condition or high pressure load, however, the continuous block system can be applied to flood damage recover as well as environmental vegetation block system in river bank. For the application review and analysis of hydraulic condition for this block system, hydraulic physical modeling was carried out. The physical model was built as a scale of 1:50 by Froude similitude measuring the water levels and the water velocities for vegetation application or not. In consequence, the water velocities were observed to decrease meanly 10.1%, and the water depths were to increase meanly 17.8% in case of the of design flood, $Q=200m^3/sec$. To verify the hydraulic physical modeling, the numerical modeling should be conducted for a close examination of vegetation application by one or two dimensional numerical analysis as a next study.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.6A
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• pp.379-387
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• 2012

This study investigates free vibration characteristics of new energy harvesting multi-layer block structures with different geometrical shapes using solid and shell finite elements and evaluate their piezoelectric effect on experiments. The two and three-dimensional finite element (FE) delamination models for block structures described in this paper is attractive not only because it shows excellent accuracy in analysis but also it shows the entire vibration mode shape. The FE model using ABAQUS is used for studying free vibrations of multi-layer block structures for various tip mass and PZT. In particular, new results reported in this paper are focused on the significant effects of the global and local vibration modes for various parameters, such as size of block shape, existence of tip mass and hole, and location of tip mass and PZT. In addition, we evaluate the power generation capacity of developed energy block structures through a laboratory-scale experiment.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2014

The present study compared the postoperative analgesic effects of ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block with infiltration of local anesthetics (bupivacaine) into the wound in children after inguinal hernia repair. Ninety children below 7 years old who were scheduled elective inguinal hernia repair were randomly allocated into one of three groups. The patients in nerve block (NB) group, ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block was done with 0.5 mL/kg of 0.25% bupivacaine. The patients in infiltration of local anesthetics (LI) group, 0.5 mL/kg of 0.25% bupivacaine was infiltrated into the wound after surgery. The patients in control group were allocated as a Control group. Postoperative pain was assessed at 1, 3, 5, and 24 hours after operation with FLACC scale and additional analgesic consumption were counted. The three groups were not significantly different in age, sex, body weight, and duration of operation. Pain scores at 1 hour and 3 hours after operation were significantly higher in Control group than in NB group and LI group (p<0.01), whereas there were no difference between NB group and LI group. The rescue analgesics administration was significantly higher in Control group (n=11) than in NB group (n=6) and LI group (n=7) (p<0.05). There were 2 cases of transient femoral nerve palsy in NB group. Both of ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block and infiltration of local anesthetics into the wound provided effective postoperative analgesia in early postoperative period following inguinal hernia repair in children. But no difference between the two methods. Technically, infiltration of local anesthetics into the wound was easier and safer than ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.140-151
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• 2020

It is important to identify the location of ship hull blocks with exact block identification number when scheduling the shipbuilding process. The wrong information on the location and identification number of some hull block can cause low productivity by spending time to find where the exact hull block is. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to equip the system to track the location of the blocks and to identify the identification numbers of the blocks automatically. There were a lot of researches of location tracking system for the hull blocks on the stockyard. However there has been no research to identify the hull blocks on the stockyard. This study compares the performance of 5 Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models with multi-view image set on the classification of the hull blocks to identify the blocks on the stockyard. The CNN models are open algorithms of ImageNet Large-Scale Visual Recognition Competition (ILSVRC). Four scaled hull block models are used to acquire the images of ship hull blocks. Learning and transfer learning of the CNN models with original training data and augmented data of the original training data were done. 20 tests and predictions in consideration of five CNN models and four cases of training conditions are performed. In order to compare the classification performance of the CNN models, accuracy and average F1-Score from confusion matrix are adopted as the performance measures. As a result of the comparison, Resnet-152v2 model shows the highest accuracy and average F1-Score with full block prediction image set and with cropped block prediction image set.

• Hip & pelvis
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.63-72
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• 2023

The aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for comparison of the effectiveness of pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block with that of other analgesic techniques for reduction of postoperative pain and consumption of opioids after total hip arthroplasty (THA). A search of records in the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases was conducted in order to identify studies comparing the effect of the PENG block with that of other analgesics on reduction of postoperative pain and consumption of opioids after THA. Determination of eligibility was based on the PICOS (participants, intervention, comparator, outcomes, and study design) criteria as follows: (1) Participants: patients who underwent THA. (2) Intervention: patients who received a PENG block for management of postoperative pain. (3) Comparator: patients who received other analgesics. (4) Outcomes: numerical rating scale (NRS) score and opioid consumption during different periods. (5) Study design: clinical RCTs. Five RCTs were finally included in the current meta-analysis. Significantly lower postoperative opioid consumption at 24 hours after THA was observed in the group of patients who received the PENG block compared with the control group (standard mean difference=-0.36, 95% confidence interval -0.64 to -0.08). However, no significant reduction in NRS score at 12, 24, and 48 hours after surgery and opioid consumption at 48 hours after THA was observed. The PENG block showed better results for opioid consumption at 24 hours after THA compared with other analgesics.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.59-72
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• 2024

Background: This study assessed the postoperative analgesic efficacy and safety of the quadratus lumborum block (QLB) in pediatric patients. Methods: Electronic databases were searched for studies comparing the QLB to conventional analgesic techniques in pediatric patients. The primary outcome was the need for rescue analgesia 12 and 24 hours after surgery. Secondary outcomes covered the Face-Legs-Activity-Cry-Consolability Scale (FLACC) scores at various time points; parental satisfaction; time to the first rescue analgesia; hospitalization time; block execution time; block failure rates, and adverse events. Results: Sixteen randomized controlled trials were analyzed involving 1,061 patients. The QLB significantly reduced the need for rescue analgesia both at 12 and 24 hours after surgery (12 hours, relative risk [RR]: 0.45; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.01, 0.88; 24 hours, RR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.31, 0.70). In case of 24 hours after surgery, type 1 QLB significantly reduced the need for rescue analgesia (RR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.36, 0.76). The QLB also exhibited lower FLACC scores at 1 hour (standardized mean difference [SMD]: -0.87; 95% CI: -1.56, -0.18) and 6 hours (SMD: -1.27; 95% CI: -2.33, -0.21) following surgery when compared to non-QLB. Among QLBs, type 2 QLB significantly extended the time until the first rescue analgesia (SMD: 1.25; 95% CI: 0.84, 1.67). No significant differences were observed in terms of parental satisfaction, hospitalization time, block execution time, block failure, or adverse events between QLB and non-QLB groups. Conclusions: The QLB provides non-inferior analgesic efficacy and safety to conventional methods in pediatric patients.