• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.94-101
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• 2020

Background: Several Korean medical doctors have been practicing applied kinesiology (AK), invented in 1964 by Dr. George J Goodheart, USA. Although the efficacy of traditional acupuncture (TA) and pharmacopucture treatment for lumbar conditions/diseases has been examined, the possible benefits of combining TA and AK have not been reported. Therefore, the aim of this study was to report the effects of combining TA and AK treatment for lumbar disorders using the Japanese Orthopedic Association lumbar score (JOALS) assessment. Methods: There were 21 outpatients treated at Samse Korean Traditional Hospital between March 2018 and September 2018, who presented with L4/L5 or L5/S1 root radiculopathy associated with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and lumbar herniation of intervertebral disk (LHID). They were treated 10×(2 sessions per week, for 5 weeks) with TA and AK approaches that included a category block, manipulation or strain/counterstrain treatments. The primary outcome was mainly assessed using the JOALS score which was used before (0 ×), during (5 ×), and after treatment (10 ×). Results: There were 19 patients diagnosed with LSS and 2 were diagnosed with LHID. Using the JOALS assessment, TA and AK combined approaches improved the lumbar conditions of all 21 patients after 5 × treatmentsand continued to improve after 10 × treatments (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Combined TA and AK treatment was effective in treating spinal conditions/diseases. Prospective, relevant, well-controlled protocols for TA and AK therapies for various conditions are needed.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.49-54
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• 2018

Hydraulic reciprocating seal has been widely used to prevent fluid leakage in hydraulic systems. Also, hydraulic reciprocating seal plays a significant role to provide lubricant film at contacting interface to minimize tribological problems due to sliding with counter material. To predict lifetime of hydraulic reciprocating seal, quantitative understanding of wear characteristics with respect to operating conditions such as normal force and sliding speed is needed. In this work, effect of sliding speed on wear of polyurethane (PU) hydraulic reciprocating seal were experimentally investigated using a pin-on-disk tribo-tester. The wear characteristics of PU specimens were quantitatively determined by comparing the confocal microscope data before and after test. It was found that the wear rate of PU specimens decreased from $4.9{\times}10^{-11}mm^3$ to $1.1{\times}10^{-11}mm^3/Nm$ as sliding speed increased from 120 mm/s to 940 mm/s. Also, it was observed that the friction decreased slightly as the sliding speed increased. Improvement of lubrication state with increasing sliding speed was likely to be responsible for this enhanced friction and wear characteristics. This result also suggests that decrease in sliding distance between PU elastomer and counter materials at lower sliding speed is preferred. Furthermore, the quantitative assessment of wear characteristics of PU specimen may be useful in prediction of lifetime of PU hydraulic reciprocating seal if the allowed degree of wear for failure of the seal is provided.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.87-100
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• 1990

For the quantitative evaluation and assessment of radiation exposure from terrestrial component of natural environmental radiation, successive thermoluminescence dosimetry and periodical in-situ gamma ray spectrometry were carried out for a period of 24 months. LiF PTFE dise TLDs and $3&{\phi}{\times}3'$cylindrical NaI(Tl)scintill ation detector in association of portable multichannel analyzer (4096 ch) were used in this study. The doses measured were evaluated and assessed in terms of effective dose equivalent. As a concomitant output, the dose equivalent due to ionizing component of cosmic ray was able to be evaluated. According to the results obtained in terms of variance weighted mean, the annual effective dose equivalents of terrestrial gamma ray and cosmic ray ionizing component in Taejeon area came out to be $564{\pm}4\;{\mu}Sv(64.8{\pm}0.5nSv{\cdot}h^{-1}$ and $300{\pm}2\;{\mu}Sv(34.3{\pm}0.2nSv{\cdot}h^{-1}$, respectively, which are reasonable comparably with that appeared in UNSCEAR Report[28]as per caput annual effective dose equivalent in 'areas of normal background radiation'.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 2003

Purpose: This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between the mandibular asymmetry and the internal derangement of temporomandibular joint. Materials and methods: One hundred and sixty eight patients had been assessed through clinical examinations, panoramic radiographs and magnetic resonance imagings (MRIs), were selected. The samples were classified into three subgroups according to the severity of the mandibular asymmetries in the panoramic radiographs and the status of TMJ discs on the MRI were compared among each groups. Results: In an apparent asymmetry group, there was a significant difference in the number of temporomandibular disk displacement without reduction between the long and short side (66.7%, 18/27 joints on the short side) when the ratio of condylar process and coronoid process was used (p<0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference when the ratio of condyle and ramus was used. Conclusion: The probability of the disc displacement without reduction was higher at the side with relatively shorter condylar process on the panoramic radiograph, and also it might be more effective to use ratio of condylar process and coronoid process in the assessment of mandibular asymmetry. Therefore, a careful assessment on the temporomandibular disorders is necessary to diagnose and establish the treatment plans for the patients with a mandibular asymmetry and the panoramic radiograph can be used effectively on that way.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.148-151
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• 2014

Objective : Posture-induced radial neuropathy, known as Saturday night palsy, occurs because of compression of the radial nerve. The clinical symptoms of radial neuropathy are similar to stroke or a herniated cervical disk, which makes it difficult to diagnose and sometimes leads to inappropriate evaluations. The purpose of our study was to establish the clinical characteristics and diagnostic assessment of compressive radial neuropathy. Methods : Retrospectively, we reviewed neurophysiologic studies on 25 patients diagnosed with radial nerve palsy, who experienced wrist drop after maintaining a certain posture for an extended period. The neurologic presentations, clinical prognosis, and electrophysiology of the patients were obtained from medical records. Results : Subjects were 19 males and 6 females. The median age at diagnosis was 46 years. The right arm was affected in 13 patients and the left arm in 12 patients. The condition was induced by sleeping with the arms hanging over the armrest of a chair because of drunkenness, sleeping while bending the arm under the pillow, during drinking, and unknown. The most common clinical presentation was a wrist drop and paresthesia on the dorsum of the 1st to 3rd fingers. Improvement began after a mean of 2.4 weeks. Electrophysiologic evaluation was performed after 2 weeks that revealed delayed nerve conduction velocity in all patients. Conclusion : Wrist drop is an entrapment syndrome that has a good prognosis within several weeks. Awareness of its clinical characteristics and diagnostic assessment methods may help clinicians make diagnosis of radial neuropathy and exclude irrelevant evaluations.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_2
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• pp.1229-1234
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• 2021

GOCI-II, which succeeded the mission of GOCI, was successfully launched in February 2020 and is in operation. GOCI-II is expected to be highly useful in a wide range of fields, including detailed changes in the coastal seawater environment using improved spatial and spectral resolution, increased number of observation and full disk observation mode. This special issue introduces the assessment of the current GOCI-II data quality and the studies on the accuracy improvement and applications at this time of one year after launch and data disclosure. We expect that this issue can be an opportunity for GOCI-II data to be actively utilized not only in the ocean but also in various fields of land and atmosphere.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.56-65
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• 1996

The result of wear test for ceramic materials was assessed by Scf parameter to verify the usefulness of the proposed Scf parameter. Friction and wear tests were carried out with ball on disk type. The materials used in this study were HIPed Alumina $(Al_2O_3)$, Silicon carbide (sic), Silicon nitride $(Si_3N_4)$ and Zirconia $(ZrO_2)$. The tests were carried out at room temperature with self mated couples of ceramic materials under lubricated condition. Turbine oil was used as a lubricant. In this test, increasing the load, specific wear rates and wear coefficients of four kinds of ceramic materials had a tendency to increase. The wear coefficients of ceramic materials were in order of $Al_2O_3, SiC, Si_3N_4, ZrO_2$. Worn surfaces investigated by SEM had residual surface cracks and wear particles caused by brittle fracture. As the fracture toughness of ceramic materials was higher, wear resistance more increased. The roughness of worn surface had correlation with wear rate. The wear rate(W$_{s}$) and Scf parameter showed linear relationship in log-log coordinates and the wear equation was given as $W_s = 5.52 $\times$ Scf^{5.01}$.

• KSTLE International Journal
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.60-65
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• 2003

Tribological properties of novolac resin composites containing particulate barite (BaSO$_4$) or potassium titanate (K$_2$Oㆍ6(TiO$_2$))whiskers (two typical space fillers for commercial automotive brake linings) were investigated. The emphasis of the current investigation was given to the effect of the two fillers on the propensity of the stick-slip phenomena and formation of stable rubbing surface. A block-on-disk type tribometer was used for friction assessment. Results showed that the BaSO$_4$-filled composite produced large friction force oscillations at slow sliding speeds and created severe damage on the gray iron counter surface. On the other hand, the composite with $K_2$Oㆍ6(TiO$_2$) whiskers formed a stable rubbing surface and showed smooth sliding behavior without large friction force fluctuation. The microscopic observation of the rubbing surface revealed that the $K_2$Oㆍ6(TiO$_2$)whiskers played a key role in the formation of stable rubbing surface and smooth sliding behavior by effectively reinforcing the resin.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.835-841
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• 1997

Microscopic examination of the morphology of wear debris is an accepted method for machine condition and fault diagnosis. However wear particle analysis has not been widely accepted in industry because it is dependent on expert interpretation of particle morphology and subjective assessment criteria. This paper was undertaken to analyze the morphology of wear debris for machine condition diagnosis of the lubricated moving surfaces by image processing and analysis. The lubricating wear test was performed under different sliding conditions using a wear test device made in our laboratory and wear testing specimen of the pin-on-disk-type was rubbed in paraffine series base oil. In order to describe characteristics of debris of various shape and size, four shape parameters (50% volumetric diameter, aspect, roundness and reflectivity) have been developed and outlined in the paper. A system using such techniques promises to obviate the need for subjective, human interpretation of particle morphology in machine condition monitoring, thus to overcome many of the difficulties in current methods and to facilitate wider use of wear particle analysis in machine condition monitoring.

• Journal of Computing Science and Engineering
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2014

The appearance of retinal blood vessels is an important diagnostic indicator of serious disease, such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Automatic segmentation of the retinal vasculature is a primary step towards automatic assessment of the retinal blood vessel features. This paper presents an automated method for the enhancement and segmentation of blood vessels in fundus images. To decrease the influence of the optic disk, and emphasize the vessels for each retinal image, a multidirectional morphological top-hat transform with rotating structuring elements is first applied to the background homogenized retinal image. Then, an improved multiscale line detector is presented to produce a vessel response image, and yield the retinal blood vessel tree for each retinal image. Since different line detectors at varying scales have different line responses in the multiscale detector, the line detectors with longer length produce more vessel responses than the ones with shorter length; the improved multiscale detector combines all the responses at different scales by setting different weights for each scale. The methodology is evaluated on two publicly available databases, DRIVE and STARE. Experimental results demonstrate an excellent performance that approximates the average accuracy of a human observer. Moreover, the method is simple, fast, and robust to noise, so it is suitable for being integrated into a computer-assisted diagnostic system for ophthalmic disorders.