• Title/Summary/Keyword: brain structure

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Total Intracranial Volume Measurement for Children by Using an Automatized Program (자동화 프로그램을 이용한 아동의 전체두개강내용적 평가)

  • Lee, Jeonghwan;Kim, Ji-Eun;Im, Sungjin;Ju, Gawon;Kim, Siekyeong;Son, Jung-Woo;Shin, Chul-Jin;Lee, Sang-Ick;Ghim, Hei-Rhee
    • Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.81-86
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    • 2014
  • Objectives Total intracranial volume (TIV) is a major nuisance of neuroimaging research for interindividual differences of brain structure and function. Authors intended to prove the reliability of the atlas scaling factor (ASF) method for TIV estimation in FreeSurfer by comparing it with the results of manual tracing as reference method. Methods The TIVs of 26 normal children and 26 children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were obtained by using FreeSurfer reconstruction and manual tracing with T1-weighted images. Manual tracing performed in every 10th slice of MRI dataset from midline of sagittal plane by one researcher who was blinded from clinical data. Another reseacher performed manual tracing independently for randomly selected 20 dataset to verify interrater reliability. Results The interrater reliability was excellent (intraclass coefficient = 0.91, p < 7.1e-07). There were no significant differences of age and gender distribution between normal and ADHD groups. No significant differences were found between TIVs from ASF method and manual tracing. Strong correlation between TIVs from 2 different methods were shown (r = 0.90, p < 2.2e-16). Conclusions The ASF method for TIV estimation by using FreeSurfer showed good agreement with the reference method. We can use the TIV from ASF method for correction in analysis of structural and functional neuroimaging studies with not only elderly subjects but also children, even with ADHD.

A Study on the Risk of Lightning in Special Structures and its Verification Method (특수 구조물의 낙뢰 위험도와 검증 방안에 관한 연구)

  • Yoo, Jeong Hyun;Kim, Hei Sik
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.19 no.6
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    • pp.664-668
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    • 2018
  • Free-standing structures that are especially high are more likely to receive brain attacks caused by lightning. Since special structures are generally part of national industrial structures, lightning strikes mostly cause socio-economic damage. Lightning protection facilities are installed to prevent such lightning damage, but in 2015, support cables on West Sea bridges were hit by lightning, causing a lot of economic damage. Accordingly, the design of a lightning protection system shall establish protective measures after analyzing the risk of debris falling onto the structure. In this thesis, lightning strikes are analyzed directly in relation to the modeling system that operates the actual information collection system for lightning strikes, depending on the location of the tall, free-standing structures, and practical lightning hazard information is provided by a meteorological station. In addition, we propose monitoring and applying a probability correction rate to the calculation of the lightning risk based on the number of lightning strikes directly reaching the ground in order to obtain an effective lightning risk assessment.

Significance of Cerebral Venography in Surgery of Petroclival Meningiomas (추체사대 수막종의 수술과 관련하여 뇌 정맥조영상의 의미)

  • Hwang, Sung-Kyun;Gwak, Ho-Shin;Paek, Sun Ha;Oh, Chang-Wan;Lee, Sang Hyung;Kim, Dong Gyu;Kim, Hyun Jib;Jung, Hee-Won
    • Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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    • v.30 no.10
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    • pp.1200-1209
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    • 2001
  • Objective : A thorough understanding of the related venous structure is mandatory for successful removal of the petroclival meningiomas. This study was planned to investigate the guideline for safe ligation and incision of transverse or sigmoid sinuses and the importance of drainage pattern of vein of $Labb{\acute{e}}$ in surgical removal of petroclival meningiomas. Patients and Methods : The authors reviewed the venogram of the consecutive 37 cases of petroclival meningiomas and retrospectively analyzed their surgical findings. The drainage pattern of confluence of Herophili was classified as Type A(confluent & equal on both sides), Type B(confluent & non-dominant on tumor side), Type C(confluent & dominant on tumor side) and Type D(unilateral drainage only) as these findings gave the information on safe ligation and resection of the sinus. Usefulness of intraoperative test clamping of sinus for safe ligation was also reviewed. The vein of $Labb{\acute{e}}$ was analyzed with respect to its draining point and its collaterals to other superficial veins. Results : Contraindications of the sinus ligation and resection according to the drainage pattern at the confluence of Herophili were Type C(n=10, 27%)and Type D(n=4, 11%). Patients with Type A(n=12, 32%)and Type B(n=11, 30%) were tolerable to sinus ligation ipsilateral to tumor, if the test clamping proved to be safe. Identification of no brain swelling, after intraoperative test clamping of the sinus for more than 30 minutes performed in 7 out of 11 cases, was a reliable indicator of safe sinus ligation. The drainage pattern of the vein of $Labb{\acute{e}}$, especially low-lying type, could predict the possibility of postoperative hemorrhage and infarction. Its drainage into tentorium or superior petrosal sinus, however, made the transtentorial approach impossible, leading to restricted operative field. Conclusion : For a successful removal of the petroclival meningiomas preoperative venogram should be examined carefully. The extent of exposure in a planned approach can be estimated by analyzing the variation of sinuses and the drainage pattern of vein of $Labb{\acute{e}}$.

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Molecular Cloning and mRNA Expression of the Porcine Insulin-responsive Glucose Transporter (GLUT4)

  • Zuo, Jianjun;Dai, Fawen;Feng, Dingyuan;Cao, Qingyun;Ye, Hui;Dong, Zemin;Xia, Weiguang
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.23 no.5
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    • pp.640-648
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    • 2010
  • Insulin-responsive glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) is a member of the glucose transporter family and mainly presents in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. To clarify the molecular structure of porcine GLUT4, RACE was used to clone its cDNA. Several cDNA clones corresponding to different regions of GLUT4 were obtained by amplifying reverse-transcriptase products of total RNA extracted from Landrace porcine skeletal muscles. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the cDNA clones revealed that porcine GLUT4 cDNA was composed of 2,491 base pairs with a coding region of 509 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence was over 90% identical to human, rabbit and cattle GLUT4. The tissue distribution of GLUT4 was also examined by Real-time RT-PCR. The mRNA expression abundance of GLUT4 was heart>liver, skeletal muscle and brain>lung, kidney and intestine. The developmental expression of GLUT4 and insulin receptor (IR) was also examined by Real-time RT-PCR using total RNA extracted from longissimus dorsi (LM), semimembranosus (SM), and semitendinosus (SD) muscle of Landrace at the age of 1, 7, 30, 60 and 90 d. It was shown that there was significant difference in the mRNA expression level of GLUT4 in skeletal muscles of Landrace at different ages (p<0.05). The mRNA expression level of IR also showed significant difference at different ages (p<0.05). The developmental change in the mRNA expression abundance of GLUT4 was similar to that in IR, and both showed a higher level at birth and 30 d than at other ages. However, there was no significant tissue difference in the mRNA expression of GLUT4 or IR (p>0.05). These results showed that the nucleotide sequence of the cDNA clones was highly identical with human, rabbit and cattle GLUT4 and the developmental change of GLUT4 mRNA in skeletal muscles was similar to that of IR, suggesting that porcine GLUT4 might be an insulin-responsive glucose transporter. Moreover, the tissue distribution of GLUT4 mRNA showed that GLUT4 might be an important nutritional transporter in porcine skeletal muscles.

Functional MRI Study on Perceiving Orthographic Structure and Simplified Semantic Pictures (의미론적인 단순화된 그림 및 표의문자를 인지하는 과정에 대한 fMRI 연구)

  • Kim Kyung Hwan;Lee Sung Ki;Song Myung Sung;Kwon Min Jung;Chung Jun Young;Park Hyun Wook;Yoon Hyo Woon
    • Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.93-99
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    • 2003
  • The different perceiving patterns of each picture, alphabetic words and Chinese characters, were widely investigated psychophysically. The more precise localisation can be done in terms of brain activity us-ing functional image technique such as PET and fMRI recently, Until now, there was no fMRI study to make direct comparison between perception of single Chinese character and simplified pictures (pictograph). We have made direct comparison of these two components using modern magnetic resonance techniques. We cannot confirm the right hemispheric dominance for perception of single Chinese character and pictographs. These two kinds of perceiving pattern can be underlying different mechanism.

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Angiogenic Effect of Cardiac Ankyrin Repeat Protein Overexpression in Vascular Endo-thelial Cell (Cardiac Ankyrin Repeat Protein의 과량발현이 혈관내피세포에서 갖는 혈관신생 촉진 효과)

  • Kong, Hoon-Young;Byun, Jong-Hoe
    • Korean Journal of Microbiology
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    • v.44 no.4
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    • pp.282-288
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    • 2008
  • Tissue ischemia resulting from the constriction or obstruction of blood vessels leads to an illness that may affect many organs including the heart, brain, and legs. In recent years, considerable progress has been made in the field of therapeutic angiogenesis and the new approaches are expected to cure those "no-option patients" who are unsuited to conventional therapies. Although single angiogenic growth factor may be successful in inducing angiogenesis, combination of multiple growth factors is increasingly sought these days to augment the therapeutic responses. This trend is proper in light of the fact that blood vessel formation is a complex and multi-step process that requires the actions of many different factors. To meet the growing need for functionally significant blood flow recovery in the ischemic tissues, a novel strategy that can provide concerted actions of multiple factors is required. One way to achieve such a goal is to use a transcription factor that can orchestrate the expression of multiple target genes in the ischemic region and thus induce significant level of angiogenesis. Here, a putative transcription factor, cardiac ankyrin repeat protein (CARP), was evaluated in adenoviral vector context for angiogenic activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. The results indicated significant increase in proliferation, capillary-like structure formation, and induction of vascular endothelial growth factor, a typical angiogenic gene. Taken together, these results suggest that CARP represents itself as a novel target for therapeutic angiogenesis and warrants further investigation.

The Effects of a Life-Respect Education Program on Middle School Students' Values on Life-Respect (생명존중교육프로그램이 중학생의 생명존중의식과 생명존중태도에 미치는 영향)

  • Song, Mi-Kyeong;Kim, Kyung-Ran;Park, Chun-Man
    • The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.105-119
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    • 2014
  • Objectives: This study investigates the factors influencing values on life-respect among middle school students. Methods: The participants in this study were 126 students from S middle school and Y middle school, both located in Gyeongnam province. The experimental group consisted of 40 students from S middle school, Control group-Iconsisted of 39 students from S middle school, and Control group-II consisted of 47 students from Y middle school. The experimental group was provided with 12 incidences of the life-respect education program from April 1st to June 29th. One period took 45 minutes and proceeded according to a structure of introduction, development, and consolidation. The experimental group received a life-respect education program, Control group-I received health teaching, but Control group-II didn't receive any special education except what was regularly part of their curriculum. The content of the life-respect education program included the following topics: value of life-respect, respect for human life and ethics, life-respect campaign, having a healthy mind, suicide prevention, dealing with crisis, prevention of school violence, abortion and life-respect, social weak minority consideration, death, brain death, euthanasia, life cycle and task, and forest activities. Questionnaires were administered as pre and post-tests which consisted of questions regarding death anxiety, suicide risk, and values on life-respect. The pre and post-tests were analyzed with t-tests, paired t-tests, ANOVAs, and factor analyses using SPSS 18.0. Results: 1. There was a statistically significant increase in the experimental group(p<.0001) and control group-I(p<0.05) in value and attitude about life-respect. On the other hand, it was shown that there was no difference between pre and post-test in control group-II. 2. The result of examining the differences between pre and post-tests after education on values and attitudes toward life-respect using ANCOVA showed, there was a statistically significant difference (p<0.001) among the three groups. Conclusion: the life-respect education program which was conducted over 12 meeting with middle school students had an positive effect, which can be used as basic data for fostering values on life-respect. These findings indicate that the life-respect education program this study used is effective for fostering value of life-respect and decreasing suicide risk.

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Micro-Spot Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Production for the Biomedical Applications

  • Hirata, T.;Tsutsui, C.;Yokoi, Y.;Sakatani, Y.;Mori, A.;Horii, A.;Yamamoto, T.;Taguchi, A.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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    • 2010.02a
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    • pp.44-45
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    • 2010
  • We are currently conducting studies on culturing and biocompatibility assessment of various cells such as neural stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells(IPS cells) on carbon nanotube (CNT), on nerve regeneration electrodes, and on silicon wafers with a focus on developing nerve integrated CNT based bio devices for interfacing with living organisms, in order to develop brain-machine interfaces (BMI). In addition, we are carried out the chemical modification of carbon nanotube (mainly SWCNTs)-based bio-nanosensors by the plasma ion irradiation (plasma activation) method, and provide a characteristic evaluation of a bio-nanosensor using bovine serum albumin (BSA)/anti-BSA binding and oligonucleotide hybridization. On the other hand, the researches in the case of "novel plasma" have been widely conducted in the fields of chemistry, solid physics, and nanomaterial science. From the above-mentioned background, we are conducting basic experiments on direct irradiation of body tissues and cells using a micro-spot atmospheric pressure plasma source. The device is a coaxial structure having a tungsten wire installed inside a glass capillary, and a grounded ring electrode wrapped on the outside. The conditions of plasma generation are as follows: applied voltage: 5-9 kV, frequency: 1-3 kHz, helium (He) gas flow: 1-1.5 L/min, and plasma irradiation time: 1-300 sec. The experiment was conducted by preparing a culture medium containing mouse fibroblasts (NIH3T3) on a culture dish. A culture dish irradiated with plasma was introduced into a $CO_2$-incubator. The small animals used in the experiment involving plasma irradiation into living tissue were rat, rabbit, and pick and are deeply anesthetized with the gas anesthesia. According to the dependency of cell numbers against the plasma irradiation time, when only He gas was flowed, the growth of cells was inhibited as the floatation of cells caused by gas agitation inside the culture was promoted. On the other hand, there was no floatation of cells and healthy growth was observed when plasma was irradiated. Furthermore, in an experiment testing the effects of plasma irradiation on rats that were artificially given burn wounds, no evidence of electric shock injuries was found in the irradiated areas. In fact, the observed evidence of healing and improvements of the burn wounds suggested the presence of healing effects due to the growth factors in the tissues. Therefore, it appears that the interaction due to ion/radicalcollisions causes a substantial effect on the proliferation of growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), nerve growth factor (NGF), and transforming growth factor (TGF) that are present in the cells.

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A Network Analysis of Ballistic Helmet Technology Keyword (방탄헬멧 기술분야 키워드에 대한 네트워크 분석)

  • Kang, Jinwoo;Park, Jaewoo;Kim, Jihoon
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.311-316
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    • 2017
  • The network analysis method has emerged as a new methodology for various disciplines, due to its ability to provide a representative knowledge network of references, co-authors and keywords. Bulletproof technology is an interdisciplinary field involving various disciplines, such as material mechanics, structural mechanics, and ballistics, so it is essential to keep up with the recent trends in technological research. In this research, the recent R&D trends in the field of bulletproof materials were analyzed using keyword based network analysis. From the results, the core keywords were identified as 'Composite', 'Model' and 'Head' using the scholar search engine, google scholar. The centrality analysis for the core keywords showed that bulletproof technology has developed in 3 different areas, viz. material, structure and effects. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of (network analysis?) to bulletproof technology. Moreover, we are also convinced that the results of this study will be useful for defense technology planning and determining the direction of R&D in the field of bulletproof technology.

Survival of Mothers with Disabled Children in Social Welfare Institutions : Growing from Passive Actors to Active Actors (뇌병변 장애자녀 어머니들의 사회복지제도 속에서 생존하기 : 수동적 행위자에서 능동적 행위자로 거듭나기)

  • Cho, Yu-Jin;Kim, Suyoung
    • Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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    • v.47 no.1
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    • pp.93-121
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    • 2016
  • The aim of this study is to reveal development processes of mothers with disabled children as active human agents utilizing social welfare institutions. Many social welfare studies have generally described welfare service users as passive subjects alienated from welfare information and subordinate to dominant welfare system. However, this investigation indicates that they do not merely remain as passive policy targets. They also perform as active actors who seek for useful information, strategically acquire profits in the given system despite institutional constraints, and create new welfare institutions. Through in-depth interviews with 11 mothers of disabled children with brain lesions, this study has derived a grounded theory on the mothers' maturation processes in interaction with social welfare institutions, which consist 6 stages(entering, awakening, exploring, struggling, resigning and utilizing period). This substantive analysis on the survival processes of mothers with disabled children in the social welfare system provides empirical knowledge and evidence about relationship between the structure and agents. It also suggests a practical policy proposal for disabled people and their families based on these stages.