• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.5-16
• /
• 2008

This study investigated the existing theoretical backgrounds in order to examine the stability control method of lateral flow caused by the Plasticity of soils when unsymmetrical surcharge works on polluted soils and then compared and analyzed the results measured through model tests. Ultimate bearing power of ML and $ML_{p1}$ and $ML_{p2}$ obtained at surcharge(q)-settlement$(S_v)$ curve showed similar trends to ultimate bearing power obtained from control chart of deflection $(S_v-Y_m)$ by Tominaga.Hashimoto, that of $S_v-(Y_m/S_v)$ by Matsuo.Kawamura and that of $(q/Y_m)-q$ by Shibata.Sekiguchi and so it is considered that it has no problem in actual applicability. ${S_v-(Y_m/S_v)}$ of control chart of $ML_{p1}$ by Matsuo.Kawamura showed smaller value than ultimate bearing capacity value from surcharge-settlement curve $(q-S_v)$. Expression of ML of fracture baseline at stability control charge by Matsuo Kawamura is ${S_v=3.21exp}\{-0.48(Y_m/S_v)\}$ and expression of $ML_{p1}$ is ${S_v=3.26exp}\{-0.96(Y_m/S_v)\}$ and expression of $ML_{p2}$ is ${S_v=6.33exp}\{-0.45(Y_m/S_v)\}$.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.227-237
• /
• 2023

PURPOSE. This study aimed to assess and compare the color stability, flexural strength (FS), and surface roughness of occlusal splints fabricated from heat-cured acrylic resin, milled polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-based resin, and 3D-printed (PMMA) based-resin. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Samples of each type of resin were obtained, and baseline measurements of color and surface roughness were recorded. The specimens were divided into three groups (n = 10) and subjected to distinct aging protocols: thermomechanical cycling (TMC), simulated brushing (SB), and control (without aging). Final assessments of color and surface roughness and three-point bending test (ODM100; Odeme) were conducted, and data were statistically analyzed (2-way ANOVA, Tukey, P <.05). RESULTS. Across all resin types, the most significant increase in surface roughness (Ra) was observed after TMC (P < .05), with the 3D-printed resin exhibiting the lowest Ra (P < .05). After brushing, milled resin displayed the highest Ra (P < .05) and greater color alteration (∆E₀₀) compared to 3D-printed resin. The most substantial ∆E₀₀ was recorded after brushing for all resins, except for heat-cured resin subjected to TMC. Regardless of aging, milled resin exhibited the highest FS (P < .05), except when compared to 3D-printed resin subjected to TMC. Heat-cured resin exposed to TMC demonstrated the lowest FS, different (P < .05) from the control. Under control conditions, milled resin exhibited the highest FS, different (P < .05) from the brushed group. 3D-printed resin subjected to TMC displayed the highest FS (P < .05). CONCLUSION. Among the tested resins, 3D-printed resin demonstrated superior longevity, characterized by minimal surface roughness and color alterations. Aging had a negligible impact on its mechanical properties.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.250-258
• /
• 2007

Current speech recognition technology s achieved high performance with the development of hardware devices, however it is insufficient for some applications where high reliability is required, such as voice control of powered wheelchairs for disabled persons. For the system which aims to operate powered wheelchairs safely by voice in real environment, we need to consider that non-voice commands such as user s coughing, breathing, and spark-like mechanical noise should be rejected and the wheelchair system need to recognize the speech commands affected by disability, which contains specific pronunciation speed and frequency. In this paper, we propose non-voice rejection method to perform voice/non-voice classification using both YIN based fundamental frequency(F0) extraction and reliability in preprocessing. We adopted a multi-template dictionary and acoustic modeling based speaker adaptation to cope with the pronunciation variation of inarticulately uttered speech. From the recognition tests conducted with the data collected in real environment, proposed YIN based fundamental extraction showed recall-precision rate of 95.1% better than that of 62% by cepstrum based method. Recognition test by a new system applied with multi-template dictionary and MAP adaptation also showed much higher accuracy of 99.5% than that of 78.6% by baseline system.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.25 no.7
• /
• pp.634-643
• /
• 2024

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy and safety of low-contrast-dose, dual-source dual-energy CT before transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in patients with compromised renal function. Materials and Methods: A total of 54 consecutive patients (female:male, 26:38; 81.9 ± 7.3 years) with reduced renal function underwent pre-TAVR dual-energy CT with a 30-mL contrast agent between June 2022 and March 2023. Monochromatic (40- and 50-keV) and conventional (120-kVp) images were reconstructed and analyzed. The subjective quality score, vascular attenuation, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were compared among the imaging techniques using the Friedman test and post-hoc analysis. Interobserver reliability for aortic annular measurement was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman analysis. The procedural outcomes and incidence of post-contrast acute kidney injury (AKI) were assessed. Results: Monochromatic images achieved diagnostic quality in all patients. The 50-keV images achieved superior vascular attenuation and CNR (P < 0.001 in all) while maintaining a similar SNR compared to conventional CT. For aortic annular measurement, the 50-keV images showed higher interobserver reliability compared to conventional CT: ICC, 0.98 vs. 0.90 for area and 0.97 vs. 0.95 for perimeter; 95% limits of agreement width, 0.63 cm² vs. 0.92 cm² for area and 5.78 mm vs. 8.50 mm for perimeter. The size of the implanted device matched CT-measured values in all patients, achieving a procedural success rate of 92.6%. No patient experienced a serum creatinine increase of ≥ 1.5 times baseline in the 48-72 hours following CT. However, one patient had a procedural delay due to gradual renal function deterioration. Conclusion: Low-contrast-dose imaging with 50-keV reconstruction enables precise pre-TAVR evaluation with improved image quality and minimal risk of post-contrast AKI. This approach may be an effective and safe option for pre-TAVR evaluation in patients with compromised renal function.

• Women's Health Nursing
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.169-187
• /
• 2001

This study was performed to probe the effect of exercise program on muscle strength, endurance, flexibility, pain, disability level and life satisfaction in female teachers of elementary school who complain of low back pain. For this study, 44 female teachers aged 30-50 years with mechanical low back pain of 6 months' duration, who had the structural normalities in the lumbar spine, were recruited from April 1 to July 10 1999. Twenty three out of them were assigned to the experimental group and twenty one to the control group. The exercise program consisted of education on right postures, the etiology and diagnosis of low back pain, and exercise intervention such as muscle relaxation, elongation and strengthening. With 8 weeks program, the subjects received two sessions of education and six sessions of group exercise in the 1st week, while three sessions of group exercise and four sessions of individual exercise weekly and two sessions of education during the later 7 weeks. The muscle strength and endurance were measured by Cybex 770, the flexibility by flexibility measurement machine, the intensity of pain by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the level of disability by Oswestry low back pain disability scale, depression by Beck depression inventory (BDI), and life satisfaction by Life satisfaction index-Z. Study measurements were taken before and after 8 weeks exercise program. Data were analyzed using paired t-test, t-test, and ANCOVA. The results were as follows ; 1. The flexors and extensors peak torque and flexors peak torque per body weight of experimental group were significantly increased at test velocities $30^{\circ}$/sec, $60^{\circ}$/sec compared with those of control group. There was no significant difference in extensors peak torque per flexors peak torque at $30^{\circ}/sec$, $60^{\circ}/sec$ between experimental and control group. 2. The flexors and extensors total work and flexors total work per body weight of experimental group were significantly increased at $120^{\circ}/sec$, compared with those of control group. 3.The flexibility of lumbar spine in experimental group was significantly increased compared with that of control group. The pains in anterior, posterior, left lateral and right lateral bending and in rotation of experimental group were significantly increased compared with those of control group. 4. The Oswestry disability scores of experimental and control group were significantly decreased, and there was no difference in the Oswestry disability score change between experimental and control group. 5. The scores of BDI of experimental group were significantly decreased compared with those of control group. Life satisfaction index-Z scores of experimental group were not changed, but those of control group were significantly decreased. There was no difference in the score change of Life satisfaction index-Z between experimental and control group. 6. ANCOVA analysis for the data variables of inhomogeneous baseline represented that there was no significant difference in extensors peak torque and extensors total work at $120^{\circ}/sec$ and extensor total work per body weight at $120^{\circ}/sec$ change between experimental group and control group. These findings indicate that the exercise program could be effective in increasing the muscle strength, endurance, flexibility and decreasing pain, improving depression in female teachers of elementary school with chronic low back pain. It is suggested that the exercise program could be an essential factor for the effective nursing intervention to the patients suffered from chronic low back pain.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.333-343
• /
• 2004

Impression cytology refers to application of cellulose acetate filter material to the ocular surface to remove the superficial layers of the conjunctival epithelium. The technique is non-invasive, is easy to perform, causes minimal discomfort to the patient, and can be used to follow changes in the conjunctival ocular surface over time. With this method, the morphology of the conjunctival ocular surface can be studied and the degree of squmaous metaplasia assessed. This study was performed to evaluate the conjunctival surface by impression cytology in dry eye patients. A total of 70 students with no contact lens wearing history were recruited. Subjects were required to fill in a McMonnies dry eye symptom questionnaire. The non-invasive tear thinning time(TIT) test of each subject was measured, followed by Schirmer tear test(STI), tear film break-up time(TBUT) tests and Rose-bengal staining were performed as a baseline. Conjunctival epithelial cells from the inferior bulbar conjunctiva were harvested by the impression cytology technique. The specimens collected were labelled and stained with PAS(Periodic Acid Schift)-haematoxylin. The goblet cells and conjunctival epithelial cells were observed under a light microscope of 400x magnification. The specimens were classified according to the Nelson Grading scale which was based on the degree of squamous metaplasia such as changes of goblet cells density, size/form, N:C(nucleus : cytoplasm) ratio. Dry eye patients were observed morphological changes of the epithelial cells, different nuclear alterations, decrease of the goblet cells density. The degree of cytological changes was related to severity of dry eye conditions. When the epithelial cell morphology was graded according to the system described by Nelson, specimens from the control group revealed 91.43% of the eyes to be grade 0 and 8.57% to be grade 1, whereas of the dry eye patients, 20% were grade 0, 42.86% grade 1, 34.29% grade 2 and 2,86% grade 3. Impression cytology represents a non- or minimally invasive biopsy of the ocular surface epithelium with no side effects or contraindications. It has demonstrated to be a useful diagnostic aid for a wide variety of processes involving the ocular surface. This technique is a safe, simple method and may help increase understanding of various ocular surface alterations in dry eye patients.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.112-132
• /
• 1975

When Korean family planning services began as a part of the National Policy in 1962, the annual population growth was 3.0%. This growth rate has been decreased to 2.0% during last ten year period. And it seems imperative that all hospitals, as well as related organizations, should participate in family planning in order to contribute to achieving the National goal of 1.5% population growth by 1976, the end of the Third Five Year Economic Development Plan. Nurses should be considered the most important human resources in charge of the core of family planning services in any setting. For the family planning services in the general hospital setting, nurses as a core members contribute much as change agent, motivators, counsellors, educators etc. A nurse can work with patients and their relatives when she is equipped with relevant knowledge and skills. Fur the more family planning cannot be ignored even in hospital setting where more comprehensive nursing care is needed Thus, the general objective of this study is to provide baseline data for better programming of In-service education in family planning so that effective hospital family planning nursing services can be made a part of comprehensive nursing care contributing to the national population program and human welfare. In order to meet the general objective, this study has the following specific objectives : 1. To find out the general characteristics of the clinical nurses working in Y Hospital 2. To evaluate their attitudes and practices of family planning 3. To assess their knowledge, attitudes and practices of population and family planning as professional nurses. 4. To examine and compare data collecting methods for the planning of an In-service Educational Program 5. To explore the contents to be included in this In-service Education Program. The study population randomly selected one hundred nurses working in Y Hospital A cross-sectional survey with questionnaires developed for this study was chosen for the study method. To collect reliable data, the questionnaires were distributed to and answered by the study population in a controlled situation. X²test and t-test was employed in analyzing the data. The findings of this study are as follows: 1. Y Hospital nurses had a lower ideal number of children (X=2.02) and showed no strong preference for male children, and 74% of them expressed the desire to use permanent methods of birth control 2. of this thirty Y Hospital nurses who were married 66.7% stated they were already practicing contraceptive methods. Most of them preferred male methods of contraception. 3. According to objective evaluation about knowledge of various aspects of population and family planning, respondents from collegiate programs significantly knew better the subjects on the average than did respondents from diploma programs of nursing. 4. There was a marked difference in the results of self-evaluation and objective evaluation in their family planning knowledge. It was found that the self-evaluation family planning knowledge seemed to be unreliable. Accordingly, the objective test methods appeared to be more reliable in the evaluation of knowledge levels. 5. The subject areas needed to be included in In-service education for the Hospital family planning services in Y Hospital are 1) rhythm methods, 2) tubal-legation, 3) family planning effects of contraceptives, 4) population growth, 5) demographic traction, 6) population structure and 7) infant mortality facts. In addition, 1) various oral contraceptives, 2) basal temperature method, 3) laparoscopic female sterilization, 4) interfering factors of family planning, 5) anatomy and physiology of the female reproductive organs were additional areas to be taught to respondents from 3-year diploma schools of nursing. Demographic transition was one subject area in which the four-year graduates need further study. 6. Population problems guidance and counselling in family planning instruction in the theory and practice of contraceptives should be included in future In-service Education Programs in order to provide more effective hospital Family Planning Services, stated 77.0% of the respondents.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.74-80
• /
• 2009

Purpose: To assess the value of first-trimester pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), nuchal translucency (NT) and second-trimester alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), unconjugated estriol (uE3), and inhibin-A in predicting pregnancy complications other than fetal aneuploidy. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study in 3,121 singleton pregnancies with integrated testing was performed at Kangnam CHA hospital between January 2005 and December 2006. Baseline characteristics, pregnancy outcomes, and serum marker levels were obtained by review of the medical records. We analyzed the data to identify associations between the integrated screening markers and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Statistical analyses were performed with the SPSS program. Results: In preterm labor and preeclampsia, high AFP, hCG, and inhibin-A levels and low PAPP-A and NT levels were found to be significantly correlated (P<0.05). Elevated second-trimester inhibin-A levels were associated with preeclampsia (odds ratio 2.843), low birth weight (odds ratio 1.446), and preterm labor (odds ratio 1.287), and while decreased first-trimester PAPP-A levels were associated with preeclampsia (odds ratio 0.51) and preterm labor (odds ratio 0.75). Conclusion: First- and second-trimester maternal serum markers screening can be used for predicting high-risk pregnancies.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.45 no.5
• /
• pp.466-472
• /
• 2007

A technology platform for wafer-level three-dimensional integration circuits (3D-ICs) is presented, and that uses wafer bonding with low-k polymeric adhesives and Cu damascene inter-wafer interconnects. In this work, one of such technical platforms is explained and characterized using a test vehicle of inter-wafer 3D via-chain structures. Electrical and mechanical characterizations of the structure are performed using continuously connected 3D via-chains. Evaluation results of the wafer bonding, which is a necessary process for stacking the wafers and uses low-k dielectrics as polymeric adhesive, are also presented through the wafer bonding between a glass wafer and a silicon wafer. After wafer bonding, three evaluations are conducted; (1) the fraction of bonded area is measured through the optical inspection, (2) the qualitative bond strength test to inspect the separation of the bonded wafers is taken by a razor blade, and (3) the quantitative bond strength is measured by a four point bending. To date, benzocyclobutene (BCB), $Flare^{TM}$, methylsilsesquioxane (MSSQ) and parylene-N were considered as bonding adhesives. Of the candidates, BCB and $Flare^{TM}$ were determined as adhesives after screening tests. By comparing BCB and $Flare^{TM}$, it was deduced that BCB is better as a baseline adhesive. It was because although wafer pairs bonded using $Flare^{TM}$ has a higher bond strength than those using BCB, wafer pairs bonded using BCB is still higher than that at the interface between Cu and porous low-k interlevel dielectrics (ILD), indicating almost 100% of bonded area routinely.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.1188-1198
• /
• 1998

Background : The purpose of the present study was to determine the protective effect of antiasthmatic activity of inhaled heparin, cromolyn sodium, budesonide, furosemide in exercise-induced asthma(EIA). The other important considerable point of this study was the mechanism of bronchoconstriction on EIA. Methods : Eight subjects with a history of EIA were studied on 5 different experiment days. After obtaining baseline $FEV_1$ and FVC, subjects performed a standardized exercise challenge. EIA was assessed by measurement of $FEV_1$ before and after exercise. On experiment day 4, the exercise challenge was performed after the subjects inhaled either heparin (1,000 units/kg/day for 5 days), furosemide (1mg/kg for 5 days), cromolyn (4mg/day for 5 days), or budesonide ($400{\mu}g/day$ for 5 days). On experiment day 5, the methacholine bronchial provocation test was performed. On experiment day 3, activated partial thromboplastine time(aPTI) was checked. Results : Maximum decrements of $FEV_1$ (mean${\pm}$SE) among 0 to 120 minutes after exercise were as follows : heparin was $83.1{\pm}4.81%$ (p=0.010), furosemide was $80.5{\pm}6.87%$ (p=0.071), cromolyn was $86.8{\pm}6.53%$ (p=0.340), and budesonide was $79.4{\pm}7.31%$ (p=0.095). Above medications were compared to the control value ($72.5{\pm}18.2%$) by paired t-test. No medications had effect on $PD_{20}$ of methacholine bronchial provocation test The results were control $1.58{\pm}0.49{\mu}mol$), heparin ($4.17{\pm}1.96{\mu}mol$), furosemide ($1.85{\pm}0.86{\mu}mol$), cromolyn ($2.19{\pm}0.89{\mu}mol$), and budesonide ($3.38{\pm}1.77{\mu}mol$), respectively(p>0.05). The inhaled heparin had no effect of anticoagulation. Conclusion : These data demonstrate that inhaled heparin has a protective effect on EIA. The effect of inhaled cromolyn was statistically absent with manufacture's recommended dosage on EIA. So, the dosage of cromolyn should be carefully evaluated in future. Although inhalation of budesonide and furosemide have no statistical significance compared to control, these drugs also have some protective effects on EIA.