• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.307-312
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• 2009

The fabrication of PHBV nanofibers containing various plant polyphenols by electrospinning has been examined. It has been found that the average diameters of fibers increased by the adding of polyphenols. The resulting fibers exhibited a uniform diameter ranging from 340 to 450 nm. As the concentration of polyphenols increased, the diameter of fibers increased due to the hydrogen bonding interaction between the ester groups of PHBV and hydroxyl groups of polyphenols. The interaction between PHBV and polyphenols, which forms a complex together in solution, was verifed by UV measurement. ATR-FTIR analysis confirmed the existence of the hydrogen bonding interaction. The semicrystalline structure of the PHBV nanofiber was observed from XRD pattern. The crystallinity of PHBV nanofibers was increased by the adding of polyphenols. PHBV nanofibers containing polyphenols showed superior antimicrobial activities.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.3-12
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• 2018

Hospice is the wholistic caring service for terminally ill patient and his family so that he can live in dignity and maintain the quality of life until he passes away peacefully. The purpose of this study is to compare the development of hospice movement in UK, USA, Japan and Korea, to analyze space configuration characteristics of facilities built between 1980-2009 through case study. The result is as follows. First, The modern hospice started in England and it has spread around the world rapidly. In Korea, hospice service was introduced even prior to US and Japan and developed in spite of poor medical environment. The application of health insurance subsidies were late compared to other countries, but the hospice and palliative care system was quickly set on the basis of precedent cases. Second, the number of hospital beds per facility is decreasing, and it has been divided into smaller clusters for the residential atmosphere. The controversy between private rooms and multi-patient room is still ongoing, and increasing facilities without in-patient service. Rather than establishing uniform and absolute regulations, it is necessary to design a flexible space which can cope with various situations such as patients' needs, service changes, and manpower status. Third, the spaces for family members and friends to stay in both private rooms and communal spaces are increasing. Forth, Facilities for patients with different needs, such as children and adolescents and AIDS patients, have been developed in UK and USA. Further research on of patients' diverse needs and customized environmental support is necessary.

• Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
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• v.67
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• pp.244-254
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• 2018

Surface modified poly ${\text\tiny{L}}$-lactic acid (PLLA) samples with hydroxyapatite (HA), heparin and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) mediated by polydopamine (pDA) coating (PLLA/pDA/HA/Hep/BMP-2) were prepared, and their effects on the enhancements of bone formation and osseointegration were evaluated in vitro and in vivo as compared to PLLA, PLLA/pDA/HA, and PLLA/pDA/Hep/BMP-2. The changes in surface chemical compositions, morphologies and wettabilities were observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and water contact angle measurements. Pre-coating of HA particles with pDA provided uniform and homogeneous anchoring of particles to PLLA surface. In addition, the strong ionic interaction between heparin and pDA led PLLA surface readily heparinized for loading of BMP-2. In vitro experiments revealed that the levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, calcium deposition, and osteocalcin (OCN) gene expression were higher in MG-63 human osteosarcoma cell lines grown on PLLA/pDA/HA/Hep/BMP-2 than on control PLLA, PLLA/pDA/HA, and PLLA/pDA/Hep/BMP-2. In vivo studies using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) also showed that PLLA/pDA/HA/Hep/BMP-2 screw exhibited greatest value of bone volume (BV) and bone volume/tissue volume (BV/TV) among samples. Histological evaluations with H&E and Von Kossa staining demonstrated that a combination of HA and BMP-2 contributed to the strong osseointegration.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.94-99
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• 2021

Atopic dermatitis (AD), a chronic inflammatory skin disease, is characterized by itchy and age-dependent lesions. Previous studies have shown that pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) significantly improved chronic ulcers and ununited fractures, providing an evidence for the application of PEMF in resolving inflammation caused by AD. This study investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of PEMF on DNCB-induced AD in animal models. Five male hairless mice (6 weeks old) per group were assigned to a normal group, a sham group, and two PEMF groups (15Hz, 75Hz). Mice were treated with 2,4-Dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) to induce uniform AD among all groups excluding a normal group. To examine the inflammatory progress and the improvement of AD after the PEMF stimulation, images are taken with various cameras for non-invasive evaluation and the results are expressed using principal component analysis (PCA) for visualization. The results of this study demonstrated that PEMF effectively improved skin lesions without the use of drugs.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.161-168
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• 2009

The carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) is an early structural marker of the atherosclerotic process and is the only non-invasive test that is currently recommended by the American Heart Association for evaluation of the risk. However, use of this parameter has a limitation because it assumes uniform thickness throughout the blood vessel, whereas atherosclerosis is a focal phenomenon that is confined to intima. In fact, plaque can be found along the atherosclerotic blood vessels even though its value is unknown. The aim of this study is to analyze the carotid plaque and IMT in the stroke patients. We investigated the patients with ischemic stroke, who were admitted to the department of neurology at the Stroke Special Hospital from January to March 2008. After the carotid IMT and plaque were assessed by B-mode ultrasonography, IMT and carotid plaque to risk variables (age, sex) were analyzed. The distribution of CCA IMT was significantly different in terms of age (p = 0.004). Likewise, the distribution of carotid plaque was also significantly different in terms of age (p = 0.006). Carotid plaque was 69 and 92% in normal and abnormal CCA IMTs respectively. The results showed that the CCA IMT was closely associated with carotid plaque.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2006

The PET scanner can detect the photon pair arriving from the source in phantom. The number of light photons released by the crystal(scintillator-BGO or LSO). In recent scintillation crystals in block structures were incorporated into full ring systems, and their resulted marked improvement in spatial resolution and increase in a sensitivity to annihilations. The uniformity of the crystal sensitivity is very important to makes correct information of abnormal states in organs. These factors influenced by the dection efficiency of the scintillators. We have study about the uniformity of crystals to the annihilation, And study about the standard deviation to average counts. The relative standard deviation in central detector groups more uniformed than circumferenced detector groups. It is caused detected quanta of gamma ray by the geometrical factors of PET detector. PET cameras are available with different geometric arrangement and several parallel rings oriented in the axial direction. The center groups from 7th to 40th groups are comparatively uniform and sensitive. But at the circumferenced detectors decreased the sensitivity and uniformity.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.41-55
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• 1980

The medical care insurance system, being put into practice nearly for three years, seem to have brought about some considerable problems as serious for the government as to consider a revision of that system. As one of the most serious problems of present system, the treatment cost of insurance patients is so remarkably low in comparison with than of non-insurance cases that normal operation of hospitals is threatened and care services of low quality are induced. The researcher carried out this survey to analyze and bring to light several aspects of treatment cost of non-insurance patients as a material for a re-assessment of the cost of insurance cases which shows a a considerable difference in amount at the standpoint of hospitals with than of non-insurance cases and further, hoping the significant blind spot of present insurance system(that is, the absence of regulations' for cost assessment by patterns or types of health care treatment) will be mended in near future. The survey was carried out with the treatment invoice sheets of total 902 in-hospital Patients of a general hospital in Seoul during the period of the 2 nd quarter of the year(1979). Among total 902 patients, 694 cases were used for analysis, because those disease or syndromes shared by less than 10% of the patients were put aside before procession. The data were analyzed by kinds or types of diseases, demographic characteristics of patients, hospitalization patterns, types of nursing treatment, etc. The result of analysis was as follows 1. Among all the non-insurance cases, those who received one or more kinds of nursing treatment mounted up to 96. 7 ％. The invoice issue frequency per person was 7.2 times, while that frequency per day for a person was 0.8, : the treatment cosr per person was ￦22,650 while its daily average was ￦2,430, due to the average 9.3 in-hospital days per person. 2. As to the nursing treatment types by the demographic characteristics of patients and hospitalization patterns. a. The unit cost female patients was generally more expensive them that of males, and independent nursing service was more given than other types of treatment. As to age, higher age groups received independent nursing service most, while the youngest group received instrumental and integrated nursing services. b. As to room grade, the unit cost of I.C.U. cases was the highest : and the cast of private room patients was higher than that of public room patients. By in-hospital days, the curve of function showed L. type : that is, the longer stay, the lower function. 3. State of treatment types by kinds of disease were ; a. Dependent nursing service showed comparatively high availability in surgical and neurologic disease and independent nursing service was most received by medical, obstetrical and urological patients, while instrumental and integrated services were most available for respiratory disease and obstetrical and neurologic diseases next. b. The invoice issue frequency per day for a patient was highest in obstetrical disease 3.8 times, and the unit cost(per one invoice sheet) was also highest in obstertrical disease(￦10,880) and next in neurologic cases(￦ 4,690 ). 4. As to the pertained departments. a. Cost amount per person was highest in department of Psychiatries daily cost was highest in obstetrical cases : while the invoice issue frequency was highest in obstetrics and next in pediatrics. b. In departments in need of surgical operation, dependent nursing care was highly availabl : while in internal medicine and obstetrics, independent service was higher. Psychiatrics showed the highest the of integrate nursing while pediatrics and obstetrics higher of instrumental services. The variation co-efficien of treatment cost came out to be relatively in high in special surgery, opthalmology and internal medicine. 5. State of treatment cost by types of nursing behavior was. a. The average frequency of invoice issue was 3.5 (times). Among the type four types of treatment, instrumetal service (4.3) and independent nursing behavior(3.9) showed higher frequency than average respectively. But as to unit cost (per invoice). dependent (￦5,200) and integrated (￦5,340) nursing care services were higher than average and considerably higher than the other two types. b. In repect patient distribution. independent nursing behavior(80.3% ) was the highest and depend ent nursing (31.7% ) the lowest. The variation co-efficient of treatment cost appeared highest in dependent nursing be havior as a whole, and among that, doctor's diagnosis showed the highest coefficient value (100.7). In conclusion, the variaty of treatment cost(treatment itself ) by various characteristics and treatment types pro- that treatment various sort of patients and treatment cost of various types of nursing behavior cannot be uniform. Therefore, to attain the equalization of health care service and its cost both for insurant and non-insurant patients, a more specific provision for assessment of cost should be added to the present medical care insurance system and, in addition, the cost of nursing treatment is desired to be inserted into the treatment invoice.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2013

Purpose: In this study, we evaluated the accuracy of CT-based attenuation correction (AC) under the conventional CT protocol (140 kVp, on average 50-60 keV) by comparing the SPECT image qualities of different energy of radioisotopes, $^{201}Tl,\;^{99m}Tc$ and $^{131}I$. Materials and Methods: Using a cylindrical phantom, three different SPECT scans of $^{201}Tl$ (70 keV, 55.5 MBq), $^{99m}Tc$ (140 keV, 281.2 MBq) and $^{131}I$ (364 keV, 96.2 MBq) were performed. The CT image was obtained with 140 kVp and 2.5 mA in GE Hawkeye 4. The OSEM reconstruction algorithm was performed with 2 iterations and 10 subsets. The experiments were performed in the 4 different conditions; non-AC and non-scatter correction (SC), only AC, only SC, AC and SC in terms of uniformity and center to peripheral ratio (CPR). Results: The uniformity was calculated from the uniform whole region in the reconstructed images. For $^{201}Tl$ and $^{99m}Tc$, the uniformities were improved by about 10-20% AC was applied, but these were decreased by about 2% as SC was applied. The uniformity of $^{131}I$ was slightly increased as both AC and SC were applied. The CPR of the reconstructed image was close to one, when AC was applied for $^{201}Tl$ and $^{99m}Tc$ scans and $^{131}I$ was distant from 1 and that is only AC. Conclusion: The image uniformity improved by AC on low energy likely to $^{201}Tl$ and $^{99m}Tc$. However, image uniformity of high energy such as $^{131}I$ was improved, when both AC and SC was applied.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.119-120
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• 2002

The aim is to urge the need of elaborate commissioning of 3D RTP system from the firsthand experience. A 3D RTP system requires so much data such as beam data and patient data. Most data of radiation beam are directly transferred from a 3D dose scanning system, and some other data are input by editing. In the process inputting parameters and/or data, no error should occur. For RTP system using algorithm-bas ed-on beam-modeling, careless beam-data processing could also cause the treatment error. Beam data of 3 different qualities of photon from two linear accelerators, patient data and calculated results were commissioned. For PDD, the doses by Clarkson, convolution, superposition and fast superposition methods at 10 cm for 10${\times}$10 cm field, 100 cm SSD were compared with the measured. An error in the SCD for one quality was input by the service engineer. Whole SCD defined by a physicist is SAD plus d$\sub$max/, the value was just SAD. That resulted in increase of MU by 100${\times}$((1_d$\sub$max//SAD)$^2$-1)%. For 10${\times}$10 cm open field, 1 m SSD and at 10 cm depth in uniform medium of relative electron density (RED) 1, PDDs for 4 algorithms of dose calculation, Clarkson, convolution, superposition and fast-superposition, were compared with the measured. The calculated PDD were similar to the measured. For 10${\times}$10 cm open field, 1 m SSD and at 10 cm depth with 5 cm thick inhomogeneity of RED 0.2 under 2 cm thick RED 1 medium, PDDs for 4 algorithms were compared. PDDs ranged from 72.2% to 77.0% for 4 MV X-ray and from 90.9% to 95.6% for 6 MV X-ray. PDDs were of maximum for convolution and of minimum for superposition. For 15${\times}$15 cm symmetric wedged field, wedge factor was not constant for calculation mode, even though same geometry. The reason is that their wedge factor is considering beam hardness and ray path. Their definition requires their users to change the concept of wedge factor. RTP user should elaborately review beam data and calculation algorithm in commissioning.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 1985

A decade ago a survey on the population-base incidence rate of anthracite coal gas (mainly carbon monoxide) poisonig in Seoul area was investigated, resulting in the incidence rate of 306/10,000 risk population and 1 death/10,000. Another survey on the carbon monoxide poisoning was investigated during 1 year period from Apr. 1983 to Mar. 1984. Total subjects of risk population were 67,740 households covering 353,287 persons. The major findings of this survey are as follows: 1. Household-base incidence rate was 8.4% spell-base 10.4%. 2. The incidence rate was the highest in houses having each of slate roof, cement wall, vinyl floor of bedroom and direct 'ondol' heating system. 3. Average 2.1 person was attacked from one incidence of the poisoning; severity-wise person-base incidence rates per 10,000 were 352 in mild poisoning, 54 in severe poisoning and 1.4 in death-overall incidence rate 407. Several facts were identified which supported that this figure was moderately underestimated. As the incidence of the poisoning is affected by socioeconomic and environmental factors, it is natural that one expects the incidence will decrease in proportion to genernal improvement of the above factors. Thus the results of these two surveys seemed preposterous. But further study suggested that the incidence rate (306/10,000) decade before had been significantly underestimated and corrected-rate should have been 478/10,000 level. 4. Age and sex distribution by the degree of the poisoning was uniform with little statistical difference; overall incidence rates by sex were 339/10,000 in male and 475/10,000 in female with significant statistical difference(p<.01). 5. 5.3% of the patients were treated at hospital or local clinic; 3.0% of the patients were hospitalized. Admission rate in comatose patient(severe poisoning) was 14.2%. In conclusion, carbon monoxide poisoning remains a major health problem by now.