• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.159-165
• /
• 2019

Background: Dental procedures commonly involve the injection of local anesthetic agents, which causes apprehension in patients. The objective of dental practice is to provide painless treatment to the patient. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) in reducing the pain due to local anesthetic injection. Materials and Methods: A prospective, split-mouth study was conducted on 25 patients. In Condition A, LLLT was administered followed by the administration of a standard local anesthetic agent. Patients' perception of pain with use of LLLT was assessed based on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). In Condition B, LLLT was directed to the mucosa but not activated, followed by the administration of local anesthesia. VAS was used to assess the pain level without the use of LLLT. Results: Comparison between Condition A and Condition B was done. A P value < 0.001 was considered significant, indicating a definite statistical difference between the two conditions. Conclusion: In our study, we observed that LLLT reduced pain during injection of local anesthesia. Further multi-centric studies with a larger sample size and various modifications in the study design are required.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.360-373
• /
• 2004

The purpose of this study is establishing how to build the area of local agents and regional offices in the oil company using GIS technique by reviewing on the spatial distribution pattern and characteristics of the sales area of oil products. Location-allocation and spatial interaction model are cooperated in order to establish sales area of petroleum products distribution system. Location-allocation model is used in the capital region where local agents are concentrated on like Kyoung-gi local agent. Spatial interaction model is used in the rest of the area in Korea to analyze the sales range of the regional offices in oil company. Each office made a big difference in registered cars and population because of the level of petroleum consumption in each sales area.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.209-215
• /
• 2019

Background: Pain is an unpleasant sensation ranging from mild localized discomfort to agony and is one of the most commonly experienced symptoms in oral surgery. Usually, local anesthetic agents and analgesics are used for pain control in oral surgical procedures. Local anesthetic agents including lignocaine and bupivacaine are routinely used in varying concentrations. The present study was designed to evaluate and compare the efficacy of 0.25% and 0.5% bupivacaine for postoperative analgesia in infraorbital nerve block. Methods: Forty-one patients undergoing bilateral maxillary orthodontic extraction received 0.5% bupivacaine (n = 41) on one side and 0.25% bupivacaine (n = 41) on the other side at an interval of 7 d. The parameters evaluated for both the bupivacaine concentrations were onset of action, pain during procedure (visual analog scale score [VAS]), and duration of action. The results were noted, tabulated, and analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results: The onset of action of 0.5% bupivacaine was quicker than that of 0.25% bupivacaine, but the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.306). No significant difference was found between the solutions for VAS scores (P = 0.221) scores and duration of action (P = 0.662). Conclusion: There was no significant difference between 0.25% bupivacaine and 0.5% bupivacaine in terms of onset of action, pain during procedure, and duration of action. The use of 0.25% bupivacaine is recommended.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.123-144
• /
• 2014

Wireless sensor networks are generally deployed for specific applications to accomplish certain objectives over a period of time. To fulfill these objectives, it is crucial that the sensor network continues to function for a long time, even if some of its nodes become faulty. Energy efficiency and fault tolerance are undoubtedly the most crucial requirements for the design of an information extraction protocol for any sensor network application. However, most existing software agent based information extraction protocols are incapable of satisfying these requirements because of static agent itineraries and large agent sizes. This paper proposes an Information Extraction protocol based on Multiple software Agents with Dynamic Itineraries (IEMADI), where multiple software agents are dispatched in parallel to perform tasks based on the query assigned to them. IEMADI decides the itinerary for an agent dynamically at each hop using local information. Through mathematical analysis and simulation, we compare the performance of IEMADI with a well known static itinerary based protocol with respect to energy consumption and response time. The results show that IEMADI provides better performance than the static itinerary based protocols.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.29-35
• /
• 2023

Herein we investigated the effect of the conductive agent on the electrochemical performance of the SiOx anode. SiOx anodes have a relatively low volume expansion (~160%) compared to Pure-silicon, but have a problem in that they have a poor electrical conductivity characteristic. In this study, physical and electrochemical measurements were performed using two 0-dimensional amorphous carbon conductive agents with different crystallinity and surface area. The crystal structure of the conductive agents and the local graphitization degree were analyzed through XRD and Raman, and the surface area of the particles was observed through BET. In addition, the electrical performance according to the graphitization degree of the conductive agents was confirmed through a 4-point probe. As a result of the electrochemical cycle and rate performance, it was confirmed that the performance of SiOx using a conductive agent having a low graphitization degree and a high surface area was improved. The results in this study suggest that the graphitization degree and surface area of the amorphous carbon conductive agent may play an important role in the SiOx electrode.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 1997.10a
• /
• pp.608-611
• /
• 1997

The soccer robot system consists of multi agents, with highly coordinated operation and movements so as to fulfill specific objectives, even under adverse situation. The coordination of the multi-agents is associated with a lot of supplementary work in advance. The associated issues are the position correction, prevention of communication congestion, local information sensing in addition to the need for imitating the human-like decision making. A control structure for soccer robot is designed and several behaviors and actions for a soccer robot are proposed. Variable zone defense as a basic strategy and several special strategies for fouls are applied to SOTY2 team.

• Proceedings of the Korea Environmental Mutagen Society Conference
• /
• 2003.05a
• /
• pp.80-80
• /
• 2003

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.72-78
• /
• 2009

This paper considers a multiagent scheduling problem under public information where a machine is shared by multiple agents. Each agent has a local objective among the minimization of total completion time and the minimization of maximum. In this problem, it is assumed that scheduling information is public. Therefore an agent can access to complete information of other agents and pursue efficient schedules in a centralized manner. We propose an enumeration scheme to find Pareto optimal schedules and a multiobjective genetic algorithm as a heuristic approach. Experimental results indicate that the proposed genetic algorithm yields close-to Pareto optimal solution under a variety of experimental conditions.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.25-30
• /
• 1995

Anlgesic agents against visceral pain typically rely on a noxious chemical irritation of the peritoneum, e. g., acetic acid and phenylquinone writhing test. While useful, this type of assay depends upon an acute inflammation and the release of local alogens. Further, ethical and scientific constraints prevent repeated assessments in a single animal, thereby compounding the difficulty of assessing tolerance development to analgesic agents. To overcome these constraints, Colburn et al. developed a model for mechanical visceral pain model (VPM) based on a repeatable and reversible duodenal distention in the rat. A chronic indwelling intraduodenal balloon catheter is well tolerated and upon inflation produces a writhing response graded in proportion to distention. This response is inhibited by morphine in a dose dependent manner. We found that a model for visceral pain was thought to be a great value.

• Medical Lasers
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.185-188
• /
• 2021

Onychomycosis is the most common disease of the nail, with a worldwide prevalence of 5.5%. It causes local pain, paresthesia, and cosmetic problems and decreases the patients' quality of life. Conventional treatments include the administration of topical and systemic agents. However, factors such as subungual hyperkeratosis and biofilm formation may affect the efficacy of these treatments. Moreover, side effects associated with systemic agents are a major concern for patients. Therefore, various novel treatments are being developed; among them, photodynamic therapy (PDT) and Nd:YAG laser are promising, and several studies have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of PDT and laser therapy. Here, we report the efficacy and tolerability of PDT combined with 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser therapy and topical efinaconazole for the treatment of three patients with refractory onychomycosis.