• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.110-116
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• 2003

This study was executed to evaluate the utilization and efficiency of the ceramic biocarrier as the promoter of decomposing on the organic matters for the composting using with pig manure by analyzing of the physico-chemical properties during composting. The treatments of this experiment were consisted of the control(C),microorganism(M), M with natural zeolite(M+Z), M with synthesized zeolite(M+SZ), and M with ceramic biocarrier(M+CZ). The process term of composting was conducted for 30days in the rapidly fermented machine(as pilot system). The results of the physico-chemical properties of the composts were as follows. The changes of temperature during composting was not relative with the microorganism and zeolite materials used in the composts. At all of the treatments were similar to changing of temp. from the initial stage to the final stage. But the added microorganism treatments were higher than control. And the entire pH value of treatments were appeared the same that above temperature result, also the M+CZ and M+SZ treatment among the treatment were higher. At the results of T-C, T-N and C/N ratio, in case of T-C value, the M+CZ treatment was highly more decreased than others. However at the T-N value, there were not the differences from the each treatment. And the C/N ratio was changed according to the changes of T-C and T-N value. Especially, at the M+CZ aud M+SZ treatments were remarkably reduced by about 21.4-23.3 value. In the result of G.I for evaluating of the compost humidity, the M+CZ and M+SZ treatments were close up approximately 110 value compared with the control(G.I value 100). Therefore, the examined ceramic biocarrier amended with compost-promoting-bacteria could be applied to the production of many high quality fertilizers. It is also expected that the results of this researches could be applied to the recycle of the organic wastes based on the experimental results of ceramic biocarrier and compost-promoting-bacteria application.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.20
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• pp.75-86
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• 2010

Recently, as the number of female players has increased rapidly, the electronic gaming industry has begun to look at ways to appeal to the largely untapped female market. According to the latest game market investigative report by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the total number of game players in China increased by 24.8% in 2009, reached 69,130,000 people, and 38.9% of them are female players. This growth in the number of female player is corroborated by a series of investigative reports from IResearch Company in Shanghai, China: from 2003 to 2009, the number of female players grew from 8% to more than 49%. Therefore, no matter how much attention the game production companies have given to male players or how they have ignored the female players before, the companies would be sensible to face up this reality and adjust their marketing policy a bit more. This article analyzes gender preferences in video games which shows that male players are more likely to be attracted to elements of aggression, violence, competition and fast action in electronic game-playing, while female players are drawn to emotional and social aspects of the games such as an understanding of character relationships. The literatures cited indicates that female players also show apparent preference for games with familiar environments, games that allow players to work together, games that have more than one way to win, and games in which characters do not die. It also discusses the characteristics of female-friendly games from the aspect of emotion, pointing out that the simulation games involving pet, dressing-up, and social simulation games are very popular with female players. Because these are the most suitable game types to fill with emotions of love, share, jealousy, superiority, mystery, these are absolutely attractive to female players. Finally, in accord with the above, I propose some principles of designing female-oriented games, including presenting a good-looking leading character, making the story interesting with "live" NPCs(Non-Playing Characters), and finding ways to satisfy female nature instincts such as taking care of others and the inborn interest of classifying and selecting.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.205-208
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• 2007

Purpose : Vascular endothelial cell damage and alteration of a fibrinolytic system was suggested to play a role in the development of coronary artery abnormalities in Kawasaki disease (KD). D-dimer is one of the markers of endothelial damage and fibrinolysis. We evaluated the clinical usefulness of D-dimer to differentiate KD from other febrile diseases and predict coronary artery abnormalities in KD. Methods : Sixty eight patients diagnosed as KD and twenty eight patients presented with acute febrile illnesses other than KD from September 2005 to July 2006 were included. Blood levels of D-dimer and various inflammatory markers were measured before treatment and the clinical course of KD was followed. Serial echocardiography was performed at the onset of disease and thereafter at a monthly interval for at least 2 months. Results : KD patients showed a higher D-dimer level than febrile controls, but the difference was not significant ($1.21{\pm}0.77{\mu}g/mL$ vs $0.92{\pm}0.71{\mu}g/mL$, P=0.083). Neither was the difference between KD patients who had coronary artery abnormalities and those who had not ($1.49{\pm}0.98{\mu}g/mL$ vs $1.15{\pm}0.71{\mu}g/mL$, P=0.169). D-dimer was significantly correlated with other inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate in both KD patients and febrile controls. Conclusion : D-dimer was not specific for KD. But it may be useful as an inflammatory marker to assess the severity of KD.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2010

Purpose: There are various beam parameter in intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). The aim of this study is to investigate how various dose rate affect the parotid in treatment plan of IMRT. Materials and Methods: The study was performed on 10 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients who have undergone IMRT. CT images were scanned 3 mm of thickness in the same condition and the treatment plan was performed by Eclipse (Ver.7.1, Varian, Palo Alto, USA). The parameters for planning used 6 MV energy and 8 beams under the same dose volume constraint. The variation of dose rates were used 300, 400, 500 MU/min. The mean dose of both parotid was accessed from the calculated planning among the 10 patients. The mean dose of parotid was verificated by 2D diode array (Mapcheck from Sun Nuclear Corporation, Melbourne, Florida). Also, Total monitor unit (MU) and beam-on time was analysed. Results: According to the dose rate, the mean dose of parotid was increased by 0.8%, 2.0% each, when dose rate was changed from 300 MU/min to 400, 500 MU/min, moreover Total MU was increased by 5.4% and 10.6% each. There was also a dose upward trend in the dose measurement of parotid by 2D diode array. However, beam - on time difference of 1~2 minutes was no signigicant in the dose rate increases. Conclusion: From this study, when the dose rates increase, there was a signigicant increase of Total MU and the parotid dose accordingly, however the shortened treatment time was not significant. Hence, it is considered that there is a significant decrease of late side effect in parotid radiation therapy, if the precise dose rate in IMRT is used.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.47-60
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• 2020

To assess the characteristics of phytoplankton community structures related to environmental factors, seasonal surveys were conducted in the vicinity of Dokdo. In 2019, phytoplankton of four phyla and 69 species were observed. During winter, unidentified nanoflagellates dominated, with an average of 3.19×10⁴ cells L^-1. In spring, unidentified nanoflagellates occupied about 50% of the composition and a variety of dinoflagellates appeared. The summer phytoplankton population showed very low abundance. In autumn, various species of Chaetoceros appeared, along with diatoms, such as Bacteriastrum spp., Guinardia striata, and Pseudo-nitzschia spp. In addition, tropical species Amphisolenia sp. and Ornithocercus sp. were observed in both 2018 and 2019. The diversity was high in the summer of 2018 and the winter of 2019 and the characteristics of each index varied. Cluster analysis was divided into four groups according to species and population characteristics regardless of the season. The stratification of spring was particularly weak. In the autumn of 2018, the water mass was stabilized in the same way as in the summer, which is considered a suitable condition for phytoplankton growth. However, in 2019, the water masses were mixed, resulting in a low population. In a phytoplankton comparison, the dominant group showed seasonal differences, except for summer when the population was low, and the difference was most pronounced in autumn. Therefore, the waters surrounding Dokdo have different environmental and ecological characteristics from the East Sea, but the seasonal characteristics of each year are considered to be different depending on the topography, various currents, the island effect, and other factors.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.36 no.5_3
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• pp.1053-1066
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• 2020

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂) is primarily released through industrial, residential, and transportation activities, and creates secondary air pollutants through chemical reactions in the atmosphere. Long-term exposure to SO₂ can result in a negative effect on the human body causing respiratory or cardiovascular disease, which makes the effective and continuous monitoring of SO₂ crucial. In South Korea, SO₂ monitoring at ground stations has been performed, but this does not provide spatially continuous information of SO₂ concentrations. Thus, this research estimated spatially continuous ground-level SO₂ concentrations at 1 km resolution over South Korea through the synergistic use of satellite data and numerical models. A stacking ensemble approach, fusing multiple machine learning algorithms at two levels (i.e., base and meta), was adopted for ground-level SO₂ estimation using data from January 2015 to April 2019. Random forest and extreme gradient boosting were used as based models and multiple linear regression was adopted for the meta-model. The cross-validation results showed that the meta-model produced the improved performance by 25% compared to the base models, resulting in the correlation coefficient of 0.48 and root-mean-square-error of 0.0032 ppm. In addition, the temporal transferability of the approach was evaluated for one-year data which were not used in the model development. The spatial distribution of ground-level SO₂ concentrations based on the proposed model agreed with the general seasonality of SO₂ and the temporal patterns of emission sources.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.85-91
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• 2000

Purpose : The aim of this study is to look for the possible efficacy of postoperative external irradiation for incompletely resected meningiomas. Methods and Materials : From August 198: to January 1997, forty-four patients with intracranial meningioma were treated by postoperative external irradiation. Of the 44 meningiomas, 18 transitional, 13 meningotheliomatous, 6 hemangiopericytic, 4 atypical, 2 fibroblastic and 1 malignant meningioma were identified. We classified all patients into two groups by the histology. The benign group was consisted of the meningotheliomatous, transitional and fibroblastic types. The malignant group was consisted of the atypical, hemangiopericytic and malignat types. In the means of surgery, 37 patients were resected incompletely and 7 patients were managed by biopsy only. After surgery, all patients were received postoperative external irradiation. Radiotherapy was deliverd using Co-60 or 4 MV photon beam to a total dose of 50 to 65 Gy (mean dose 57.4 Gy) with a 1.8 to 2 Gy per fraction. The median follow-up was 48 months (range : 21 $\~$ 101 months). Multivariate analysis of the Influence by age, sex, location, histology and radiation dose on local control has been done using Cox's proportional hazard model. Results : 5-year local control rate was 93.8$\%$ for the benign histology and 51.8$\%$ for the malignant histology (p=0.0110) and overall local control rate at 5 years was 87.4$\%$. The analysis of the prognostic factors, such as age, sex, location, and radiation dose were not significant except for the histology. Conclusion : Adjuvant postoperative external irradiation appears to be significantly improved local control in the patients with incompletely resected meningiomas.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2014

Purpose: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common source of bacterial infections in infants and young children. Accurate diagnosis and treatment is important because of their association with renal scarring, which can lead to complications. Urine endothelin-1 (ET-1) is the major renal isoform produced and released by renal mesangial cells in response to glomerular injury. This study aimed to investigate whether urinary levels of ET-1 can be used as a biomarker for UTI diagnosis. Method: We conducted a prospective study using medical records of 70 patients below the age of 18 years, who visited Chung-Ang University Hospital from July 2012 to July 2013. We classified the patients into the UTI and control groups based on urine culture studies. The UTI group was further divided into upper and lower UTI groups using 99m-Technetium dimercaptosuccinic acid scintigraphy. Urine ET-1 was measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay with 0.3 mL urine. Results: The UTI and control groups were comprised of 45 and 25 patients, respectively. Mean urine ET-1 levels were significantly higher in the UTI group than in the control group ($1.41{\pm}0.35$ pg/mL vs. $0.33{\pm}0.07$ pg/mL, P =0.04). There was no significance difference in the quantitative value between the upper and lower UTI groups (P =0.552). There was no correlation between urine ET-1 and serum C-reactive protein (Pearson correlation [R]=0.24), urine ET-1 and serum white blood cell count (R=0.19). Conclusion: Our study suggests that urine ET-1 can be used for early diagnosis of UTI in children.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.43-48
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• 2017

Measurement of bone marrow measurements may occur if bone marrow examination performed with bone marrow examination (bone marrow examination) and bone density (bone scan) are performed together recently. Thus, it was examined in clinical aspects that $^{99m}Tc-MDP$ compounds were affected by bone mineral density measurements. The average age of the participants in the experiment was $35.17{\pm}9.45$ and the patient fractures of the lumbar vertebrae that could affect the metabolic disease and bone density measurements affecting the metabolic disease of the 17 subjects. 6 patients with normal bone mineral density T-scores>-1.0 in 12 patients were analyzed before and after the administration of $^{99m}Tc-MDP$. In the lumbar spine, the average of $0.975{\pm}0.084g/cm^2$ and $0.966{\pm}0.078g/cm^2$ were increased by $0.009g/cm^2$. respectively In the right proximal femur, mean values were $0.909{\pm}0.078g/cm^2$ and $0.913{\pm}0.086g/cm^2$. In the right proximal thigh, mean values were $0.909{\pm}0.078g/cm^2$ and $0.913{\pm}0.08 g/cm^2$, respectively, which decreased by $0.004g/cm^2$. In the left side proximal femur, mean $0.887{\pm}0.099g/cm^2$ and $0.881{\pm}0.103g/cm^2$, respectively, increased by $0.007g/cm^2$. Therefore, the BMD changes in the lumbar region were larger than that in the proximal thigh. In addition, $^{99m}Tc-MDP$ did not affect the BMD. And a bone scan test using a technetium-labeled compound emitting a gamma-ray energy of 140 keV did not significantly affect bone density measurements. However, if the nuclear medical examination and the osteoporosis test are to be performed together, the examination should be carried out at intervals considering the exposures of the patient.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.557-564
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• 2009

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between F-18 FDG uptake of tumor in PET/CT scan and pathological or immunohistochemial parameters of colorectal cancer. Materials and Methods: 147 colorectal cancer patients who underwent both pre-operative F-18 FDG PET/CT scan and surgery were included. In cases with perceptible FDG uptake in primary tumor, the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was calculated. The pathologic results such as site, size, depth of invasion (T stage), growth pattern, differentiation of primary tumor, lymph node metastasis and Dukes-Astler & Coller stage and immunohistochemical markers such as expression of EGFR, MLH1, MSH2 and Ki-67 index were reviewed. Results: 146 out of 147 PET/CT scans with colorectal cancer showed perceptible focal FDG uptake. SUVmax showed mild positive linear correlation with size of primary tumor (r=0.277, p=0.001) and Ki-67 index (r=0.226, p=0.019). No significant difference in F-18 FDG uptake was found according to site, depth of invasion (T stage), growth pattern, differentiation of primary tumor, presence of lymph node metastasis, Dukes-Astler & Coller stage and expression of EGFR. Conclusion: The degree of F-18 FDG uptake in colorectal cancer was associated with the size and the degree of Ki-67 index of primary tumor. It could be thought that FDG uptake of primary tumor has a correlation with macroscopic and microscopic tumor growth.