• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.323-331
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• 2014

Purpose : To assess the usefulness of rectal filling using ultrasonographic gel in patients with lower rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: Twenty five patients with lower rectal cancer were enrolled. High resolution pelvic MR was performed twice before and after gel filling. Independently and retrospectively, two radiologists reviewed each set of MR images using five-grade scales for sphincter involvement, CRM (circumferential resection margin) involvement and depiction of the tumor. Same two radiologists retrospectively performed consensus review of each set of MR images for tumor distance from the anal verge and T&N staging. Results: Tumor depiction scores from MR with gel filling were significantly higher than those of MR without distention (p<0.001). Compared to MR without distension, MR with gel filling had no significant differences in prediction of CRM or sphincter involvement (p>0.05). Distance from the anal verge was significantly different between MR with gel filling and rigid endoscopy ($6.8{\pm}1.6cm$ vs. $5.8{\pm}1.6cm$, p=0.001). There were no significant differences between pathological staging and MR staging with or without gel filling. Conclusion: MR with gel filling improved tumor depiction. And also MR with gel filling revealed same ability for the predictions of CRM or sphincter invasion in patients with lower rectal cancer, comparing with MR without gel filling.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.35-45
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• 2018

Image data collected by an airborne hyperspectral camera system have a great usability in coastal line mapping, detection of facilities composed of specific materials, detailed land use analysis, change monitoring and so forh in a complex coastal area because the system provides almost complete spectral and spatial information for each image pixel of tens to hundreds of spectral bands. A few approaches after classifying by a few approaches based on SAM(Spectral Angle Mapper) supervised classification were applied for extracting optimal land cover information from hyperspectral images acquired by CASI-1500 airborne hyperspectral camera on the object of a coastal area which includes both land and sea water areas. We applied three different approaches, that is to say firstly the classification approach of combined land and sea areas, secondly the reclassification approach after decompostion of land and sea areas from classification result of combined land and sea areas, and thirdly the land area-only classification approach using atmospheric correction images and compared classification results and accuracies. Land cover classification was conducted respectively by selecting not only four band images with the same wavelength range as IKONOS, QuickBird, KOMPSAT and GeoEye satelllite images but also eight band images with the same wavelength range as WorldView-2 from 48 band hyperspectral images and then compared with the classification result conducted with all of 48 band images. As a result, the reclassification approach after decompostion of land and sea areas from classification result of combined land and sea areas is more effective than classification approach of combined land and sea areas. It is showed the bigger the number of bands, the higher accuracy and reliability in the reclassification approach referred above. The results of higher spectral resolution showed asphalt or concrete roads was able to be classified more accurately.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.259-265
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• 1998

Purpose: We studied early rest/24 hour delay T1-201 perfusion SPECT for prediction of wall motion improvement after reperfusion in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Materials and Methods: Among 17 patients (male/female= 11/6, age: $59{\pm}13$) with acute myocardial infarction, 15 patients were treated with percutaneous transcoronary angioplasty (direct:2, delay: 11) and intravenous urokinase (2). Spontaneous resolution occurred in infarct-related arteries of 2 patients. We confirmed TIMI 3 flow of infarct-related artery after reperfusion in all patients with coronary angiography. We performed rest T1-201 perfusion SPECT less then 6 hours after reperfusion and delay T1-201 perfusion SPECT next day. T1-201 uptake was visually graded as 4 point score from normal (0) to severe defect (3). Rest T1-201 uptake ${\le}2$ or combination of rest T1-201 uptake ${\le}2$ or late reversibility were considered to be viable. Myocardial wall motion was graded as 5 point score from normal (1) to dyskinesia (5). Myocardial wall motion was considered to be improved when a segment showed an improvement ${\ge} 1$ grade in follow up echo compared with the baseline values. Results: Among 98 segments with wall motion abnormality, the severity of myocardial wall motion decrease was as follow: mild hypokinesia: 18/98 (18%), severe hypokinesia: 28/98 (29%), akinesia: 51/98 (52%), dyskinesia: 1/98 (1%). The wall motion improved in 85%. Redistribution (13%), and reverse redistribution (4%) were observed in 24 hour delay SPECT. Positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of combination of late reversibility and rest T1-201 uptake were 99%, and 54%. PPV and NPV of rest T1-201 uptake were 100% and 52% respectively. Predictive values of combination of rest T1-201 uptake and late reversibility were not significantly different compared with predictive values of rest T1-201 uptake only. Conclusion: We conclude that early T1-201 perfusion SPECT predict myocardial wall motion improvement with excellent positive but relatively low negative predictive values in patients with acute myocardial infarction after reperfusion.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.10-16
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• 2011

Purpose: The partial volume effect occurs because of limit of the spatial resolution. It makes partial loss of intensity and causes SUV to be lower than it should actually be. So the purpose of this study is to calculate recovery coefficient for correcting PVE from phantom study and to compare before and after SUV correction applying to PET/CT examination. Materials and Methods: The flangeless Esser PET phantom consisting of four hot cylinders was used for this study. All of the hot cylinders were filled with FDG solution of 20.72 MBq per 1000 ml, and the phantom background was filled with FDG solution of different concentrations (33.30, 22.20, 16.65 MBq per 6440 ml) to yield H/B ratios of around 4:1, 6:1 and 8:1. Using the Biograph Truepoint 40(SIEMENS, Germany), we applied recovery coefficient method to 30 patients who were diagnosed with lung cancer after PET/CT exam. And then we analyzed and compared SUV before and after correcting partial volume effect. Results: The smaller the diameter of hot cylinder becomes, the more recovery coefficient decreased. When we applied recovery coefficient to clinical patients and compared SUV before and after correcting PVE, before the correction all lesions gave an average max SUV of 7.83. And after the correction, the average max SUV increases to 10.31. The differences in the max SUV between before and after correction were analyzed by paired t test. As a result, there were statistically significant differences (t=7.21, p=0.000). Conclusion: The SUV for quantification should be measured precisely to give consistent information of tumor uptake. But PVE is one of factors that causes SUV to be lower and to be underestimated. We can correct this PVE and calculate corrected SUV using the recovery coefficient from phantom study. And if we apply this correction method to clinical patients, we can finally assess and provide quantitative analysis more accurately.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 2014

Purpose: After I-131 therapy, SPECT/CT is useful in identifying location of thyroid remnants and metastasis of thyroid cancers. An excessive uptake of thyroid leads to a ringing artifact in the SPECT images. The aim of this study is to investigate and suggest a proper post filters to remove ringing artifact and produce better image quality. Materials and Methods: A low-cost, customized thyroid-mimicking phantom, consisting of an acrylic bottle and a hollow sphere was used for SPECT/CT Discovery (GE Healthcare, USA). It was filled with I-131 solution. The ratio of hollow sphere to background were varied as 50:1, 200:1, 1000:1 and 4000:1. Acquired images were reconstructed by OSEM (2 iterations, 10 subsets) with and without Evolution (resolution recovery correction, GE). Three different post-filters were applied; Butterworth (cut off: 0.38 to 0.58 with intervals of 0.05), Hanning (cut off: 0.8 to 1 with intervals of 0.05) and Gaussian (FWHM: 3 to 5 with intervals of 0.5) filters. Contrast, background variability, air area variability, and full width half maximum (FWHM) were compared. Results: Higher contrasts were obtained from the SPECT images with Evolution than without Evolution. In the case of images without Evolution, image distortion such as star artifact was generated. For all sphere-to-background ratio, the Butterworth filter showed better constrasts and FWHMs than other two filters, but the ringing artifact was still generated in all studies except 50:1 and it was decreased as cutoff value was increased. The ringing artifact didn't appear with Hanning and Gaussian filters at all studies, however constrats and FWHMs with Gaussian was worse than Hanning filter. For the images having ringing artifacts, the background variability and air area variability were increased. Conclusion: In this study, we suggested that it is desirable to use Hanning filter when the ringing artifact is generated and to use Butterworth filter when ringing artifact is not generated in I-131 SPECT.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.487-495
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• 2017

A granite rock body, called 'Bukbawi', located on a mountaineering trail at Mt. Palgong Provincial Park is popular among the public because it resembles a percussion instrument. If someone hits the specific surface area of this rock body, people can hear drum-like sound. Such phenomenon may be geologically associated with exfoliation process of the granite body or miarolitic cavity developed after gasses escaped during formation of granite. To understand better the inner structure causing drum-like sound, we carried out a non-destructive ground-penetrating radar survey. In this study, as our primary target is very close to the surface, we utilized 1 GHz antennas to produce high-resolution near-surface images. In order to construct 3-D internal images, the measurements were conducted along a pre-defined grid. The processed radargrams revealed that the locations associated with 'drum' sound coincide with strong reflections. In addition, both reflection patterns of fracture and cavity were observed. To further quantify the observed reflections, we simulated GPR scans from a synthetic fracture in a granite body, filled with different materials. The simulated results suggest that both exfoliation process and miarolitic cavity may have contributed to the 'drum' phenomena. Furthermore, the radargrams showed a well-developed cavity signature where two major reflection planes were crossed. Thus, our study is an example of non-destructive geophysical studies that can promote Earth Science in the broader community by examining geological structures attracting the public.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.403-414
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• 2004

In the accompanying paper, we proposed a real. time volumetric imaging method using a cross array based on receive dynamic focusing and synthetic aperture focusing along lateral and elevational directions, respetively. But synthetic aperture methods using spherical waves are subject to beam spreading with increasing depth due to the wave diffraction phenomenon. Moreover, since the proposed method uses only one element for each transmission, it has a limited transmit power. To overcome these limitations, we propose a new real. time volumetric imaging method using cross arrays based on synthetic aperture technique with linear wave fronts. In the proposed method, linear wave fronts having different angles on the horizontal plane is transmitted successively from all transmit array elements. On receive, by employing the conventional dynamic focusing and synthetic aperture methods along lateral and elevational directions, respectively, ultrasound waves can be focused effectively at all imaging points. Mathematical analysis and computer simulation results show that the proposed method can provide uniform elevational resolution over a large depth of field. Especially, since the new method can construct a volume image with a limited number of transmit receive events using a full transmit aperture, it is suitable for real-time 3D imaging with high transmit power and volume rate.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.228-235
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• 2004

The development and proliferation of the mandibular condyle can be altered by changes in the biomechanical environment of the temporomandibular joint. The biomechanical loads were varied by feeding diets of different consistencies. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether changes of masticatory forces by feeding a soft diet can alter the trabecular bone morphology of the growing mouse mandibular condyle, by means of micro-computed tomography. Thirty-six female, 21 days old, C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into two groups. Mice in the hard-diet control group were fed standard hard rodent pellets for 8 weeks. The soft-diet group mice were given soft ground diets for 8 weeks and their lower incisors were shortened by cutting with a wire cutter twice a week to reduce incision. After 8 weeks all animals were killed after they were weighed. Following sacrifice, the right mandibular condyle was removed. High spatial resolution tomography was done with a Skyscan Micro-CT 1072. Cross-sections were scanned and three-dimensional images were reconstructed from 2D sections. Morphometric and nonmetric parameters such as bone volume(BV), bone surface(BS), total volume(TV), bone volume fraction(BV/TV), surface to volume ratio(BS/BV), trabecular thickness(Tb. Th.), structure model index(SMI) and degree of anisotropy(DA) were directly determined by means of the software package at the micro-CT system. From directly determined indices the trabecular number(Tb. N.) and trabecular separation(Tb. Sp.) were calculated according to parallel plate model of Parfitt et al.. After micro-tomographic imaging, the samples were decalcified, dehydrated, embedded and sectioned for histological observation. The results were as follow: 1. The bone volume fraction, trabecular thickness(Tb. Th.) and trabecular number(Tb. N.) were significantly decreased in the soft-diet group compared with that of the control group (p<0.05). 2. The trabecular separation(Tb. Sp.) was significantly increased in the soft-diet group(p<0.05). 3. There was no significant differences in the surface to volume ratio(BS/BV), structure model index(SMI) and degree of anisotropy(DA) between the soft-diet group and hard-diet control group (p>0.05). 4. Histological sections showed that the thickness of the proliferative layer and total cartilage thickness were significantly reduced in the soft-diet group.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.42-54
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• 2016

It is highly anticipated that warming temperature resulting from global climate change will affect the phenological pattern of kiwifruit, which has been commercially grown in Korea since the early 1980s. Here, we present the potential impacts of climate change on the variations of flowering day of a gold kiwifruit cultivar, Haegeum, in the Jeonnam Province, Korea. By running six global climate models (GCM), the results from this study emphasize the uncertainty in climate change scenarios. To predict the flowering day of kiwifruit, we obtained three parameters of the 'Chill-day' model for the simulation of Haegeum: $6.3^{\circ}C$ for the base temperature (Tb), 102.5 for chill requirement (Rc), and 575 for heat requirement (Rh). Two separate validations of the resulting 'Chill-day' model were conducted. First, direct comparisons were made between the observed flowering days collected from 25 kiwifruit orchards for two years (2014-15) and the simulated flowering days from the 'Chill-day' model using weather data from four weather stations near the 25 orchards. The estimation error between the observed and simulated flowering days was 5.2 days. Second, the model was simulated using temperature data extracted, for the 25 orchards, from a high-resolution digital temperature map, resulting in the error of 3.4 days. Using the RCP 4.5 and 8.5 climate change scenarios from six GCMs for the period of 2021-40, the future flowering days were simulated with the 'Chill-day' model. The predicted flowering days of Haegeum in Jeonnam were advanced more than 10 days compared to the present ones from multi-model ensemble, while some individual models resulted in quite different magnitudes of impacts, indicating the multi-model ensemble accounts for uncertainty better than individual climate models. In addition, the current flowering period of Haegeum in Jeonnam Province was predicted to expand northward, reaching over Jeonbuk and Chungnam Provinces. This preliminary result will provide a basis for the local impact assessment of climate change as more phenology models are developed for other fruit trees.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.701-710
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• 2004

Uncertainty was quantified to evaluate calcium determination result in infant formula with AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrometry) and ICP-AES (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry). Uncertainty sources in measurand, such as sample weight, final volume of sample, sample dilution and the instrumental result were identified and used as parameters for combined standard uncertainty based on the GUM (Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement) and Draft EURACHEM/CITAC Guide. Uncertainty components of each sources in measurand were identified as resolution, reproducibility and stability of chemical balance, standard material purity, standard material molecular weight, standard solution concentration, standard solution dilution factor, sample dilution factor, calibration curve, recovery, instrumental precision, reproducibility, and stability, Each uncertainty components were evaluated by uncertainty types and included to calculate combined uncertainty. The kinds of uncertainty sources and components in the analytical method by AAS and ICP-AES were same except sample dilution factor for AAS. The analytical results and combined standard uncertainties of calcium content were estimated within the certification range $(367{\pm}20\;mg/100g)$ of CRM (Certified Reference Material) and were not significantly different between method by AAS followed by ashing and method by ICP-AES followed by acid digestion as $359.52{\pm}23.61\;mg/100g\;and\;354.75{\pm}16.16\;mg/100g$, respectively. Identifying uncertainty sources related with precision, repeatability, stability, and maintaining proper instrumental conditions as well as personal proficiency was needed to reduce analytical error.