• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10509-10512
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• 2015

Objective: To investigate the differential features of CT images in children with neuroblastomas (N) and ganglioneuroblastomas (G). Materials and Methods: Clinical data of 12 children in group G and 15 in group N undergoing CT examination and definitely diagnosed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed. The focal conditions were observed and compared in the two groups, including location, size, boundaries, morphology, enhanced degree and mode, abdominal vascular involvement, presence or absence of spanning the midline, infiltration of peripheral organs, angiography manifestations in tumors or surroundings, presence or absence of calcification and vascular tumor emboli as well as metastases of distal organs and lymph nodes. Results: In group N, the incidence of tumors in the adrenal area was conspicuously higher than in group G (P<0.05), while that of tumors with regular morphology and clear boundaries was significantly lower than in group G (P<0.01); Angiography manifestation rate and incidences of vascular embedding, lymph node metastasis, infiltration and organic metastasis in group N were all markedly higher than in group G (P<0.05). There was no statistical significance between the two groups in terms of focal size, presence or absence of calcification and spanning the midline, and enhanced degree and mode, as well as vascular tumor emboli (P>0.05). Conclusions: Mostly located in adrenal areas and with vascular embedding as a primary manifestation, the neuroblastoma extremely readily metastases to lymph nodes and other organs as well as infiltrating local tissues, with dilation on angiography frequent in or around the tumors. With vascular displacement as a primary manifestation, ganglioneuroblastoma has a regular morphology and clear boundaries.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.70-75
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• 2014

Purpose: Soft-tissue reconstruction in the knee area requires thin, pliable, and tough skin. The range of motion of the knee also acts as a limitation in using only local flaps for coverage. The author has successfully used various perforator flaps for soft tissue reconstruction around the knee while preserving its functional and cosmetic characteristics. Materials and Methods: Out of the twenty patients assessed from April 2009 to March 2011, seven received anterolateral thigh perforator flaps, four received medial sural perforator island flaps, four received lateral supragenicular perforaor perforator flaps, and five received medial genicular artery flaps. The age of the patients ranged from 44 to 79 and the size of the defects ranged from $4{\times}5cm$ to $17{\times}11cm$. Fifteen of the twenty patients had histories of total knee replacement (TKR) surgery. Results: There were no flap losses in any of the twenty patients assessed. Two patients showed partial losses in the distal area of the flap, but were treated through careful wound care. One patient presented with pedicle adhesion at the drainage site from a past TKR, but it did not hinder the flap survival. Primary closure at the donor site was possible in nine patients, while split skin graft was necessary for the other 13. Conclusion: In soft tissue reconstruction of the knee, various perforator flaps can be used depending on the condition of the preoperation scar, wound site, and size. It also proved to provide better functional and cosmetic results than in primary wound closure or skin grafts.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.403-409
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• 1999

Mg-Zn-Zr ternary alloys containing 6wt% Zn and (0, 0.4, 0.6)wt% Zr, which is added for grain refinement, can be cast into complex shape by squeeze casting. The influence of Zn and Zr as additional elements on microstructure and mechanical characteristics is investigated by OM, SEM, WDX, XRD and microvickers hardness measurement. The microstructure of Mg-Zn-Zr alloys consists of primary ${\alpha}-Mg$ and MgZn eutectic compound between dendrites. The grain size is decreased from $136{\mu}m$ to $97\;{\mu}m$ by Zr addition, resulting in that the hardness is increased from 42Hv to 59Hv. Furthermore, the grain size is changed to $83{\beta}$ and the hardness is increased to 65Hv by additional infiltration pressure. These results indicate that the Zr addition and additional infiltration pressure are effective for grain refinement acting as an important factor to increase the hardness. The increment in hardness by the Zr addition is slightly larger than that by the additional infiltration pressure.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.216-224
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• 2014

In this paper, we propose a new method to drastically reduce computational complexity in Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM)-based Speaker Identification (SI). Generally, GMM-based SI systems have very high computational complexity proportional to the length of the test utterance, the number of enrolled speakers, and the GMM size. These make the SI systems difficult to be used in various real applications in spite of their broad applicability. Thus, a trade-off between computational complexity and identification accuracy is considered as a primary issue for practical applications. In order to reduce computational complexity sharply with a little loss of accuracy, we introduce a method based on the Universal Background Model (UBM) clustering approach and then we show that it can be used successfully in real-time applications. In experiments with the proposed algorithm, we obtained a speed-up factor of 6 with a negligible loss of accuracy.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.395-405
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• 2014

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate 1) somatotopic arrangement of the second and third fingers in SI area 2) difference of neural activation in the SI area produced by stimulation with different frequencies 3) correlation between the intensity of tactile perception by different stimulus intensity and the level of brain activation measurable by means of fMRI. Background: Somatosensory cortex can obtain the information of environmental stimuli about "where" (e.g., on the left palm), "what" (e.g., a book or a dog), and "how" (e.g., scrub gently or scrub roughly) to organism. However, compared to visual sense, the neural mechanism underlying the processing of specific electrotactile stimulus is still unknown. Method: 10 right-handed subjects participated in this study. Non-painful electrotactile stimuli were delivered to two different finger tips of right hand. Functional brain images were collected from 3.0T MRI using the single-shot EPI method. The scanning parameters were as follows: TR and TE were 3000, 35ms, respectively, flip angle 60, FOV $24{\times}24cm$, matrix size $64{\times}64$, slice thickness 4mm (no gap). SPM5 was used to analyze the fMRI data. Results: Significant activations produced by the stimulation were found in the SI, SII, the subcentral gyrus, the precentral gyrus, and the insula. In all participants, statistically significant activation was observed in the contralateral SI area and the bilateral SII areas by the stimulation on the fingers but ipsilaterally dominant. The SI area representing the second finger generally located in the more lateral and inferior side than that of the third finger across all the subjects. But no difference in brain area was found for the stimulation of the fingers by different frequencies. And two typical patterns were observed on the relationship between the perceived psychological intensity and the amount of voxels in the primary sensory cortex during the stimulation. Conclusion: It was possible to discriminate the representation sites in the SI by electrotactile stimulation of digit2 and digit3. But we could not find the differences of the brain areas according to different stimulation frequencies from 3 to 300Hz. Application: The results of the study can provide a deeper understanding of somatosensory cortex and offer the information for tactile display for blinds.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2005

The micron or nano-sized lysozyme as a model protein drug was prepared using solution enhanced dispersion by supercritical fluid (SEDS) process at various conditions (e.g., solvent, temperature and pressure) to investigate the feasibility of pulmonary protein drug delivery. The lysozyme particles prepared were characterized by laser diffraction particle size analyzer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and powder X-ray diffractometry (PXRD). The biological activity of lysozyme particles after/before SEDS process was also examined. Lysozyme was precipitated as spherical particles. The precipitated particles consisted of 100 - 200 nm particles. Particle size showed the precipitates to be agglomerates with primary particles of size $1\;-\;5 \;{\mu}m$. The biological activity varied between 38 and 98% depending on the experimental conditions. There was no significant difference between untreated lysozyme and lysozyme after SEDS process in PXRD analysis. Therefore, the SEDS process could be a novel method to prepare micron or nano-sized lysozyme particles, with minimal loss of biological activity, for the pulmonary delivery of protein drug.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.750-754
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• 2002

Primary cardiac tumors are rare and about 20~25% of primary cardiac tumors are malignant. Moreover, primary malignant mesenchymoma of the heart is extremely rare. Recently, we have experienced two cases of cardiac malignant mesenchymoma. In the first case, malignant mesenchymoma which was originated from the posterior wall of the left atrium obstructing the mitral orifice was revealed pathologically in a 61-year-old woman with mitral regurgitation. The mass, which was 2.7$\times$3.7cm in size on the posterior wall of left atrium, was extended to the posteromedial commissure and annulus of the mitral valve. The mass was resected partially without excision of the left atrial free wall. She was discharged after 30 days without any problems and she received chemotherapy and followed up for 19months. The second case was a 4$\times$5cm in size, friable, yellow-whitish multilobulated mass in the left atrium which was originated from the left lower pulmonary vein. Multiple minor tumor nodules were found in the wall of the left atrium and the posterior leaflet of mitral valve. Partial mass excision and mitral valve replacement were performed.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.337-346
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• 2022

In order to optimize the solution treatment conditions of Al-7Si-(0.3~0.5)Mg-(0~0.5)Cu alloys, a series of heat treatment experiments were conducted under various solution treatment times up to 7 hours at 545℃, followed by a microstructural analysis using optical microscopy, FE-SEM, and Brinell hardness measurements. Rapid coarsening of eutectic Si particles was observed in the alloys during the first 3 hours of solution treatment but the size of those Si particles did not change at longer solution treatment conditions. Meanwhile, the degree of spheroidisation of eutectic Si particles increased until the solution treatment time was increased up to 7 hours. Q-Al5Cu2Mg8Si6 andθ-Al2Cu were observed in as-cast Cu-containing Al alloys but the intermetallic compounds were dissolved completely after 3 hours of solution treatment at 545℃. Depending on the initial Mg composition of the Al alloys, π-Al8FeMg3Si either disappeared in the alloy with 0.3wt% of Mg content after 5 hours of solution treatment or remained in the alloy with 0.5wt% of Mg content after 7 hours of solution treatment time. Mg and Cu content in the primary-α phase of the Al alloys increased until the solution treatment time reached 5 hours, which was in accordance with the dissolution behavior of Mg or Cu-containing intermetallic compounds with respect to the solution treatment time. From the results of microstructural changes in the Al-7Si-Mg-Cu alloys during solution treatment, it was concluded that at least 5 hours of solution treatment at 545℃ is required to maximize the age hardening effect of the present Al alloys. The same optimal solution treatment conditions could also be derived from Brinell hardness values of the present Al-7Si-Mg-Cu alloys measured at different solution treatment conditions.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.9 no.9
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• pp.865-871
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• 1999

Effect of sintering condition in mechanical properties of ZrSiO\ulcorner shell molds was investigated. Number of microcrack in primary layer of the mold was maximized after preheating at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 1.5 hours. Yield strength and specific surface area of the mold were inversely proportion to sintering temperature and time. After hot deformation test at $1500^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours, molds were deformed opposite to the loading direction and backup layers were cracked along the interface between stucco and zircon slurry. Reverse deformation of the molds during hot deformation test was considered to be resulted from the difference of thermal expansion coefficient between alumina stucco and zircon slurry in primary coat, and size difference between zircon stucco and zircon slurry in backup coat.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 1986

This study was undertaken to understand the formation mechanism of the hard spots in high strength brass. To investigate the behavior of the hard spots in the isothermal liquid state with varying silicon content, the rapidly quenched specimens were obtained by suctioning the melt into the silica tube and water quenching. To examine the growth process of the hard spots with holding time, the unidirectional solidification technique was used. The results of this study are summarized as follows: 1) With the addition of Fe in order to get the effects of grain refinement in high strength brass, the two different type of Fe-rich phases are occurred, which are defined as dendritic and globular phase. The chemical composition of the globular phase was different from that of the dendritic phase in that the globular phase contained Si. 2) With increasing Si content, the Fe-rich phase had a tendency to form globular phase. 3) As the holding time increased in the liquid state, globular was also prone to coalesce. The further growth of globular phase to large size was due to reducing the interfacial energy. 4) The primary phase of copper alloy was nucleated preferentially on the dendritic phase. It was noticeable that the dendritic phase acted as a grain refiner. However, the agglomerate (hard spots) which was composed of the globular phase decreased the mechanical properties of high strength brass. 5) Once the hard spots formed in the high strength brass casting, it was very difficult to remove them. This is due to the fact that their meting temperature is higher than the pouring temperature of high strength brass.