• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.140-146
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• 2016

The ultrasound imaging in medical diagnosis has become a popular modality because of its safe, noninvasive, portable, relatively inexpensive, and provides a real-time image formation. However, usefulness of ultrasound imaging is at times limited due to the presence of signal-dependent noise like as speckle. Therefore, noise reduction is very important, as various types of noise generated limits the effectiveness of medical image diagnosis. This paper introduces a speckle noise reduce algorithm using total variation denoising (TVD) in Laplacian pyramid. With this method, speckle is removed by TVD of bandpass ultrasound images in Laplacian pyramid domain. For TVD in each pyramid layer, a ${\lambda}$ is selected by trial-and-error method. The visual comparison of despeckled 'in vivo' ultrasound images from pancreas shows that the proposed method could effectively preserve edges and detailed structures while thoroughly suppressing speckle. For a Simulated B-mode image, contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR) and signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) were obtained like 4.65 dB and 14.11 dB, respectively. The results show that the proposed method can conduct better than some of the existing methods in terms of the CNR and the SNR.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1506-1515
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• 2008

Two feeding trials were conducted to assess the relative bioavailability (RBV) of methionine hydroxy analogue calcium salt (MHA-Ca) in comparison to DL-methionine (DL-Met). Male Ross 308 (1-38 days) and Cobb 500 chickens (1-42 days) were used in studies 1 and 2, respectively. Experimental diets based on wheat and soybean meal or sorghum and soybean meal were fed during three phases. In both experiments graded levels of DL-Met and MHA-Ca were supplemented to Met+Cys deficient basal diets. Additionally, in experiment 1, increasing levels of a DL-Met preparation diluted with corn starch to 65% purity (DL-Met65) were supplemented. Birds were kept in floor pens and feed and water were available ad libitum. Body weights and feed consumption were recorded at the beginning and end of the experimental periods and weight gain and feed efficacy were computed subsequently. At the end of the experiments, a number of birds were slaughtered for carcass evaluation (dressing percentage, breast meat yield). Dose response data were analysed by both ANOVA and nonlinear common plateau asymptotic regression. In both experiments birds responded significantly to increasing levels of either methionine source. However, RBV of MHA-Ca compared to DL-Met was markedly (in many cases significantly) below 84%, the value which would have been expected from MHA-Ca's chemical characteristics. Excluding some extremely low RBV figures of trial 2, RBV of MHA-Ca averaged to about 63% in relation to DL-Met. In addition, supplementation of DL-Met65 allowed confirmation of nonlinear common plateau asymptotic regression to be suitable to determine RBV.

• CELLMED
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.23.1-23.6
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• 2016

With the rapid developments in nanotechnology, an increasing number of nanomaterials have been applied in various aspects of our lives. Recently, pharmaceutical nanotechnology with numerous advantages has growingly attracted the attention of many researchers. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) are nanomaterials that are widely used in many fields including diagnostics, therapeutics, drug-delivery systems, electronics, cosmetics, sunscreens, coatings, ceramic products, paints, and food additives, due to their magnetic, catalytic, semiconducting, anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, ultraviolet-protective, and binding properties. The present review focused on the recent research works concerning role of ZnO-NP on inflammation. Several studies have reported that ZnO-NP induces inflammatory reaction through the generation of reactive oxygen species by oxidative stress and production of inflammatory cytokines by activation of nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$ ($NF-{\kappa}B$). Meanwhile, other researchers reported that ZnO-NP exhibits an anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting the up-regulation of inflammatory cytokines and the activation of $NF-{\kappa}B$, caspase-1, $I{\kappa}B$ $kinase{\beta}$, receptor interacting protein2, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase. Previous studies reported that size and shape of nanoparticles, surfactants used for nanoparticles protection, medium, and experimental conditions can also affect cellular signal pathway. This review indicated that the anti-inflammatory effectiveness of ZnO-NP was determined by the nanoparticle size as well as various experimental conditions. Therefore, the author suggests that pharmaceutical therapy with the ZnO-NP is one of the possible strategies to overcome the inflammatory reactions. However, further studies should be performed to maximize the anti-inflammatory effect of ZnO-NP to apply as a potential agent in biomedical applications.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.676-683
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• 2007

A non-invasive respiratory gated radiotherapy system like those based on external anatomic motion gives better comfortableness to patients than invasive system on treatment. However, higher correlation between the external and internal anatomic motion is required to increase the effectiveness of non-invasive respiratory gated radiotherapy. Both of invasive and non-invasive methods need to track the internal anatomy with the higher precision and rapid response. Especially, the non-invasive method has more difficulty to track the target position successively because of using only image processing. So we developed the system to track the motion for a non-invasive respiratory gated system to accurately find the dynamic position of internal structures such as the diaphragm and tumor. The respiratory organ motion tracking apparatus consists of an image capture board, a fluoroscopy system and a processing computer. After the image board grabs the motion of internal anatomy through the fluoroscopy system, the computer acquires the organ motion tracking data by image processing without any additional physical markers. The patients breathe freely without any forced breath control and coaching, when this experiment was performed. The developed pattern-recognition software could extract the target motion signal in real-time from the acquired fluoroscopic images. The range of mean deviations between the real and acquired target positions was measured for some sample structures in an anatomical model phantom. The mean and max deviation between the real and acquired positions were less than 1mm and 2mm respectively with the standardized movement using a moving stage and an anatomical model phantom. Under the real human body, the mean and maximum distance of the peak to trough was measured 23.5mm and 55.1mm respectively for 13 patients' diaphragm motion. The acquired respiration profile showed that human expiration period was longer than the inspiration period. The above results could be applied to respiratory-gated radiotherapy.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.609-617
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• 2007

In this paper, a new rehabilitation training system was developed to improve equilibrium sense of the elderly by combining virtual reality technology with a fixed exercise bicycle. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the training system, the elderly participated as test subject in the investigation of the influence of different the parameters on postural balance control. We measured three different running modes of virtual bicycle system with two successive sets. The parameters measured were running time, velocity, the weight movement, the degree of the deviation from the road, and the variables about the center of pressure. The repeated training, our results showed that the running capability of the elderly improve compared. In addition, it was found out that the ability of postural control and the equilibrium sense was improved with the presentation of the visual feedback information of the distribution of weight. From the results of this experiment, we showed that our newly developed system might be useful in the diagnosis of equilibrium sense or in the improvement of the sense of sight and, somatic, and vestibular sense of the elderly in the field of rehabilitation training.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.175-182
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the reliability and effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen chamber on alcohol-induced oxidative stress and hangover. In order to evaluate them, 20 healthy adults were tested for blood and hangover stress tests. When an exponential change was examined after 3 interventions (hangover drink, hyperbaric oxygen chamber, and normal chamber as placebo effect) of 1 hour, the heart rate of subjects experiencing a hyperbaric oxygen chamber showed a statistically significant decrease (p < 0.001). The tests of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) as for exquisite hematology analysis, glucose, creatinine, and AST (aspartate aminotransferase) as well as ALT (alanine aminotransferase) used as liver-damage indicator show that the hyperbaric chamber has the effective effect. In the test of lactic acid, CRP (c-reactive protein), cortisol, and creatinine, the hyperbaric chamber shows much more excellent effect than the hangover drink and normal chamber as control groups. Further studies on hyperbaric oxygen chamber intervention including this study could be very helpful for improving lives of both the patients and healthy people.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.200-207
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• 2009

U-Healthcare is more efficient as a solving method for health problems rather than visiting the hospital. Recently, systems have been studied to offer appropriate service to user, which gather and analyze biological signals of a user and context information around the user from a variety of sensors. The existing systems for U-Healthcare are based on domain specific service so it is difficult to expand and link to other systems. Also, they lack services focusing on the specific quality of the user, because they offer a general service which targets a lot of users. To address this problem, we expand an extensibility of system using the context-awareness agent based on multi-agents. Also, we provide the suitable services which match with the context information of user to each user using the modeling toolkit JaUCE based on GUI. We design and implement U-Silvercare service to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed context-awareness agent and modeling toolkit.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.642-649
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• 2007

The effectiveness of add-on tertiary treatment processes for the polishing of the effluent of a biological nutrient removal (BNR) system from a modified $A^2/O$ process has been examined under the field condition with pilot-scale plants. The add-on treatment processes of 1) combined biofilm anoxic reactor and sand filtration, and 2) two-stage denitrification filter had been operated with various operating conditions. The experimental results indicated that two-stage denitrification filter could produced a better polished tertiary effluent. Filtration rate of $150m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$ for the 2-stage denitrifying filter could decrease the nitrate removal probably due to shorter detention time that caused insufficient reaction for denitrification. Two stage denitrification filter operated with M/N ratio of 3.0 and filtration rate of $100m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$ produced the tertiary effluent with nitrate and SS concentraitons of 2.8 mg/L and 2.3 mg/L, respectively. When the operating temperature reduced $30^{\circ}C$ to $18^{\circ}C$, $NO_3{^-}-N$ removal efficiency decreased from 73% to 68%.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2017

Well-established standards and specifications for medical devices not only provide clarity and consistency in licensing processes but also secure device safety and effectiveness. This study reviewed regulatory standards and specifications for veterinary medical devices in Korea based on data obtained through analyses of those medical devices. General standards for electromechanical, electromagnetic, and biological safety and individual standards for 76 electric and 70 general medical device products have been established by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. However, the first standards and specifications for veterinary medical devices were established in March 2000 for two products (disposable needle and syringe). Similar to the large number of standards for medical devices, there have been general standards for safety and individual standards for 72 veterinary medical devices (27 electric medical devices, 12 non-electric medical devices, 10 medical supplies, and 23 other types) established since 2014. These new standards considered, among other aspects, the devices' applications, usage characteristics, and industrial environment. To date, the establishment of standards and specifications for veterinary medical devices remains limited. This study suggests that improvements should be made to the regulation of general and individual standards associated with various veterinary medical instruments, supplies, and in vitro diagnostic medical reagents.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.339-344
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• 2012

This study was carried out to research microorganisms having the antifungal activity against ginseng Alternaria blight pathogen Alternaria panax and ginseng anthracnose pathogen Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Eleven Bacillus strains. were isolated from Korean traditional soybean paste and Kimchi. Among the 11 isolates, DJ5, KC1, KC2 and KC4 showing antagonistic activity on the mycelial growth of A. panax and C. gloeosporioides in pairing culture were finally selected as the antagonistic microorganisms. Based on 16s rRNA sequence and phylogenetic tree analysis, they were identified as Bacillus spp.. The selected microorganisms were investigated antagonistic activity by measured leaf-segment colonization in pot test. When Bacillus sp. were injected after A. panax treatment, KC1, KC2 and KC4 showed similar effect to chemical pesticides treated control. To measure preventive effect of Bacillus sp, antagonistic microorganisms were injected and C. gloeosporioides was treated in pot. When measuring the effectiveness for the prevention of Anthracnose, All Bacillus spp. showed approximately 83~90 % degree of superior preventive effect. In general, The four Bacillus spp. isolated from Korean traditional fermented foods showed therapeutic effect of Alternaria blight and preventive effect of Anthracnose.