• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.437-446
• /
• 2021

Background: Non-invasive painless signaling therapy (NPST) is an electro-cutaneous treatment that converts endogenous pain information into synthetic non-pain information. This study explored whether pain improvement by NPST in failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) patients is related to cerebral modulation. Methods: Electroencephalography (EEG) analysis was performed in 11 patients with FBSS. Subjects received daily NPST for 5 days. Before the first treatment, patients completed the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and Beck Depression Inventory and underwent baseline EEG. After the final treatment, they responded again to the BPI, reported the percent pain improvement (PPI), and then underwent post-treatment EEG. If the PPI grade was zero, they were assigned to the ineffective group, while all others were assigned to the effective group. We used standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) to explore the EEG current-source distribution (CSD) associated with pain improvement by NPST. Results: The 11 participants had a median age of 67.0 years, and 63.6% were female. The sLORETA images revealed a beta-2 CSD increment in 12 voxels of the right anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG) and the right medial frontal area. The point of maximal CSD changes was in the right ACG. The alpha band CSD increased in 2 voxels of the left transverse gyrus. Conclusions: Pain improvement by NPST in FBSS patients was associated with increased cerebral activity, mainly in the right ACG. The change in afferent information induced by NPST seems to be associated with cerebral pain perception.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.223-235
• /
• 2018

This study was carried out to investigate benthic sedimentary environments and benthic polychaetous communities on the coast of Ulsan, located on the southern East Sea of Korea. This survey was conducted at 15 stations, four times seasonally in January, April, July and October 2016. From the coast to the outer sea, surface sediments turned into fine grained sediments. There were complex coarse-grained sedimentary facies in various forms in the coastal zones while those with mud facies were found in the offshore zone. Organic matter content (LOI) and sulfide amount (AVS) recorded extremely high values, and increased from the coast to the outer sea, showing a similar trend to mud content with depth. The benthic polychaetous community revealed a mean density of $525ind./m^2$, and the total species number of species was 84. The major dominant polychaetous species were Magelona japonica, Lumbrineris longifolia and Heteromastus filiformis throughout the four seasons. Magelona japonica was concentrated predominantly in shallow coastal areas, but was present in all the regions of the survey area. Lumbrineris longifolia showed higher density in offshore regions more than 30 m deep, whereas H. filiformis showed higher density in coastal areas less than 30 m in depth. As a result of cluster analysis, the study area was divided into three ecological areas according to species composition, such as the northern coastal area between Ulsan PortOnsan Port, the southern area around Hoeya River and the outer sea area. Benthic environments in the study area, as determined by AMBI and BPI index, maintained a healthy condition in all four seasons with the AMBI at a level above GOOD and BPI at a level above FAIR. As organic matter accumulation continues to take place in the Ulsan coastal area, it is essential that detailed research activities continue to be carried out and ongoing monitoring be maintained.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.61-74
• /
• 2021

In this study, we used marine environment assessment indices to evaluate impacts of various development projects on the marine environment. TheWaterQuality Index (WQI) was applied in the field of marine water quality and the Cleanup Index of Harmful Chemicals (CIHC), the Cleanup Index of Eutrophication (CIET), the Enrichment Factor(EF) were used in the field of marine sediment. In the field of marine benthic organisms, the Benthic Health Index (BHI) and the Benthic Pollution Index (BPI) were utilized. Each assessment index was calculated using the data observed in the development project, and its characteristics and usefulness were evaluated. The assessment method and criteria were clearly defined for WQI, CIHC, and BHI. Furthermore, through these indices, an integrated environment impact analysis was possible. Apart from the indices presented in this study, there are various indices that can be used for evaluating the marine environment. Therefore, it is important to utilize appropriate indices according to the characteristics of each project.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.117-125
• /
• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate whether and how the biopsychosocial features of myofascial pain (MFP) differ from those of local myalgia (LM) in temporomandibular disorder (TMD). Methods: Patients with TMD were retrospectively evaluated using the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD. All patients completed a series of self-administered questionnaires on pain severity and pain interference (Brief Pain Inventory, BPI), pain disability (Graded Chronic Pain Scale, GCPS), psychological distress (Symptom Check List-90-Revised, SCL-90R), pain cognition (Pain Catastrophizing Scale, PCS), and subjective sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI). Among all the TMD diagnoses, muscle pain was classified into the MFP group and LM group. Results: This study included 917 patients with myalgia (MFP: 266, LM: 651). Significant differences were observed in the female ratio (78.9% for MFP, 60.9% for LM, p<0.001) and the mean pain duration (MFP: 25.3 months, LM: 15.8 months, p=0.001) between the two groups. Patients with MFP exhibited higher pain severity (p=0.003) and pain interference (p<0.001) of BPI than those with LM. Furthermore, the global scores of the PCS (p<0.001) and PSQI (p<0.001) were higher in the MFP group than in the LM group. The MFP group had higher global symptom index (p=0.017) and five subscales of the SCL-90R than the LM group. Compared with the LM group (33.4%), the greater proportion of high disability of GCPS was observed in the MFP group (44.9%) (p<0.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that sex (p=0.002), pain duration (p=0.019), pain disability (p=0.010), and subjective sleep quality (p=0.008) significantly differed between the two groups. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicated that MFP presents a higher biopsychosocial burden than LM in TMD.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.137-146
• /
• 1996

There has been no general agreement about optimal time for nerve surgery in the closed brachial plexus injury(BPI). From our early experiences, we knew by chance that spontaneous recovery in BPI patients may begin even later than 8 months after injury. Authors' strategy, which was based on our early experiences, for the treatment of closed fresh injury was 'wait and see' unlit 8 months after injury. From 1985 to 1994, we observed 103 patients with BPI. All of them did not have any operation until 8 months after injury. There were 95 men and 8 women with a mean age of 29 years. Motorcycle injury(31%) and vehicle accident(28%) were main causes of injury. Whole plexus types were observed in 56 patients(54%), upper plexus types in 29(28%), lower plexus types in 3(3%), and infraclavicular types in 15(15%). Electromyography was performed in all patients. This was repeated every three months to detect the recovery. Results were evaluated by authors' criteria, in which AMA system of brachial plexus impairment was modified. Duration of follow up was average 25 months. 47 patients(46%) showed spontaneous improvement, which was initially detected at average 7.8 months(range,3 months-16 months) after trauma by electromyography. The average score of these 47 patients improved from 14.8 points to 39.8 points.31 patients(30%) had nerve surgery such as nerve graft, neurotization or neurolysis. Average duration from injury to nerve surgery, was 10 months. Among 31 patients who had nerve surgery, 16 patients improved from preoperative 21.5 points to postoperative 36.3 points in average. Because spontaneous recovery began in average 7.8 months after injury, we think that it would be better to 'wait and see' for at least one year in patients with closed BPI expecting spontaneous recovery.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
• /
• v.19 no.6
• /
• pp.1052-1064
• /
• 2016

For effective management and processing for civil affairs, online public services are in operation in every administrative organizations. However, due to the lack of links in each government departmental business processes on e-Government system, the satisfaction of the civil petitioners has not improved. In this paper, we propose an improved business process for the implementation of one-stop integrated civil affairs and suggestions services on e-Government system to reduce the time and cost for processing civil affairs and to improve the efficiency of the public services by cutting down the cost and time. This paper also suggests the ways to improve the quality of public service through redesigning civil affairs processing in the light of integrated system for the civil affairs and its suggestion.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Biology Conference
• /
• 2002.11a
• /
• pp.81-106
• /
• 2002

여름철 광양만의 저서환경 상태를 파악하기 위해서 2001년 6월 광양만의 38개 조사정점에서 대형저서동물의 분포를 조사하였다. 출현한 대형저서동물은 총 154종이었고, 다모류가 출현종수와 개체수에서 가장 우점한 동물분류군이었다. 다모류의 Tharyx sp. (44.8 %), Lumbrineris longifolia (14.0%), 이매패류의 Mytilus edulis (6.5 %), 단각류의 Corophium sinense (4.5 %), 다모류의 Heteromastus filiformis (3.6 %), Sigambra tentaculata (1.7 %) 등이 주요 우점종이었다. 광양만의 묘도 서쪽에 위치한 정점들에서 종수와 개체수가 적었고, 광양만의 주수로역에서 풍부한 생물상을 보였다. 군집분석결과 7개 정점군으로 구분되었으며, 광양만의 서부해역은 종조성이 다양한 군집으로 구성되어 있었다. 저서오염지수(BPI)와 생물계수(BC)에 의한 저서군집의 건강도지수에서는 주수로역의 일부 정점을 제외한 전 정점이 현재 정상적인 상태에 있었지만, 광양만 입구지역에서는 유기물오염에 잘 적응한 다모류의 대량 출현이 있었다.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Biology Conference
• /
• 2002.11a
• /
• pp.46-50
• /
• 2002

광양만의 저서환경을 평가하기 위하여 광양만 표층퇴적물에 대한 퇴적학적, 지화학적 특성을 연구하였다. 입도분석결과 표층퇴적물의 입도특성 분포는 사질퇴적물과 점토질 퇴적물이 다양하게 분포하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 사질을 포함하는 퇴적물은 주로 POSCO 우측해역과 남해도 사이의 수로 중앙부분에 분포하고 있으며, 그외 지역에서는 점토질 퇴적물이 주를 이룬다. 유기물(TOC) 함량은 약 0.2-2.1%의 범위로 분포하고 있으며, 유기물의 C/N비에 근거한다면 육지에서 공급된 유기물과 현장에서 생성된 유기물이 혼합되어 있음을 지시하고 있다. 저질의 건강상태를 검토하기 위해 퇴적물중의 황화수소(H$_2$S)을 측정한 결과 최고 301 ppm에서 최소 0.7 ppm으로 나타났다. 전체적으로는 묘도안 쪽에서 비교적 높은 값을 보이고 있어 일반적으로 오염된 저서환경이라고 할 수 있다. 기존에 조사된 중형 저서생물의 개체수(species abundance)에 대한 공간분포면화를 조사해본 결과 묘도안쪽에서 낮은 개체수(species abundance)와 종수(species richness)를 보이고 있어 황화수소가 높게 나타나는 지역과 대략적으로 일치하고 있음을 보인다. 추후 저서생물의 다양도나, 저서오염지수(Benthic Pollution Index. BPI)등과 퇴적물증의 유기물이나 황화수소값이 어떻게 관련되는지에 대한 자세한 연구를 필요로 한다.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
• /
• v.9 no.8
• /
• pp.2984-3004
• /
• 2015

Designing a new reversible data hiding technique with a high embedding rate and a low compression rate for vector quantization (VQ) compressed images is encouraged. This paper proposes a novel lossless data hiding scheme for VQ-compressed images based on the joint neighboring coding technique. The proposed method uses the difference values between a current VQ index and its left and upper neighboring VQ indexes to embed n secret bits into one VQ index, where n = 1, 2, 3, or 4. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme achieves the embedding rates of 1, 2, 3, and 4 bits per index (bpi) with the corresponding average compression rates of 0.420, 0.483, 0.545, and 0.608 bit per pixel (bpp) for a 256 sized codebook. These results confirm that our scheme performs better than other selected reversible data hiding schemes.

• Journal of Information Display
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.8-14
• /
• 2001

Three types of conjugated polymers, poly(PZ-Pi), poly(PZ-BPI) and poly(PZ-NPI) were synthesized by Schiff-base reaction. These new conjugated polymers exhibited improved solubility in common organic solvents due to the presence of alkyl side chains as well as azomethine groups, Double layer LEDs made with the synthesized polymers as emitting layer and $Alq_3$, as electron transporting layer exhibited enhanced EL emission and efficiency compared to those of single layer LEDs. Double layer LEDs exhibited gradual shift in the emission peak th the single layer LED, made of only $Alq_3$ as the emitting layer as the thickness of $Alq_3$ layer increased.