• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.389-400
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• 2002

Background : The rapid diagnostic tests for tuberculosis are needed to facilitate early treatment of tuberculosis and prevention of Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission. The Xeniss Rapid TB kit is a rapid, card-based immunochromatographic test for the detection of antibodies directed against M. tuberculosis antigens including antigen 5(38-kDa antigen). The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Xeniss Rapid TB kit for the diagnosis of active tuberculosis with serums from patients, asymptomatic healthy and close contact controls. Methods : 188 patients with active tuberculosis were tested; 177 with pulmonary tuberculosis(18 with combined pleurisy), and 11 with extrapulmonary tuberculosis. The control groups were composed of 82 close contacts and 57 healthy adults. Study subject were drawn from one national tuberculosis hospital for patients and close contacts, and another private hospital for healthy adults in Masan city, Korea. The Xeniss Rapid TB kit(Xeniss Life Science Co., Ltd., Seoul, Korea) was evaluated by using serum samples according to the instructions of the manufacturer by an investigator masked to the clinical and microbiological status of the study subjects. Results : The diagnostic sensitivity of the Xeniss Rapid TB kit was 73.9% in patients and specificities were 73.2% and 93.0% in close contact and healthy adults respectively. The positive predictive value in patients was 84.2% and the negative predictive value in controls was 85.8%. Conclusion : This study shows that the Xeniss Rapid TB test is a simple and fast method to diagnose active TB. The results of the sensitivity and specificites suggest that serodiagnosis using this point of care testing(POCT) device would be valuable and advantageous for screening tuberculosis in the clinical field.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.67-76
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• 1997

We studied optical behavior of scintillation light generated in NaI(TI) crystal using Monte Carlo simulation method. The simulation was performed for the model of NaI(TI) scintillator (size: 60 mm ${\times}$ 60 mm ${\times}$ 6 mm) using an optical tracking code. The sensitivity as a function of surface treatment (Ground, Polished, Metal-0.95RC, Polished-0.98RC, Painted- 0.98RC) of the incident surface of the scintillator was compared. The effects of NaI(TI) scintillator thickness and the refractive index of light guide optically coupling between the NaI(TI) scintillator and photomultiplier tube (PMT) were simulated. We also evaluated intrinsic position resolution of the system by calculating the spread of scintillation light generated. The sensitivities of the system having the surface treatment of Ground, Polished, Metal-0.95RC, Polished-0.98RC and Painted-0.98RC were 70.9％, 73.9％, 78.6％, 80.1％ and 85.2％, respectively, and the surface treatment of Painted-0.98RC allowed the highest sensitivity. As increasing the thickness of scintillation crystal and light guide, the sensitivity of the system was decreased. As the refractive index of light guide increases, the sensitivity was increased. The intrinsic position resolution of the system was estimated to be 1.2 mm in horizontal and vertical directions. In this study, the performance of NaI(TI)-PMT detector system was evaluated using Monte Carlo simulation. Based on the results, we concluded that the NaI(TI)-PMT detector array is a favorable configuration for small gamma camera imaging breast tumor using Tc-99m labeled radiopharmaceuticals.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2013

The surgical resection was occurred mainly in liver metastasis before the development of radiation therapy techniques. Recently, Radiation therapy is increased gradually due to the development of radiation dose delivery techniques. 18F-FDG PET image showed better sensitivity and specificity in liver metastasis detection. This image modality is important in the radiation treatment with planning CT for tumor delineation. In this study, we applied automatic image segmentation methods on PET image of liver metastasis and examined the impact of image factors on these methods. We selected the patients who were received the radiation therapy and 18F-FDG PET/CT in Korea Cancer Center Hospital from 2009 to 2012. Then, three kinds of image segmentation methods had been applied; The relative threshold method, the Gradient method and the region growing method. Based on these results, we performed statistical analysis in two directions. 1. comparison of GTV and image segmentation results. 2. performance of regression analysis for relation between image factor affecting image segmentation techniques. The mean volume of GTV was $60.9{\pm}65.9$ cc and the $GTV_{40%}$ was $22.43{\pm}35.27$ cc, and the $GTV_{50%}$ was $10.11{\pm}17.92$ cc, the $GTV_{RG}$ was $32.89{\pm}36.8$4 cc, the $GTV_{GD}$ was $30.34{\pm}35.77$ cc, respectively. The most similar segmentation method with the GTV result was the region growing method. For the quantitative analysis of the image factors which influenced on the region growing method, we used the standardized coefficient ${\beta}$, factors affecting the region growing method show GTV, $TumorSUV_{MAX/MIN}$, $SUV_{max}$, TBR in order. The result of the region growing (automatic segmentation) method showed the most similar result with the CT based GTV and the region growing method was affected by image factors. If we define the tumor volume by the auto image segmentation method which reflect the PET image parameters, more accurate and consistent tumor contouring can be done. And we can irradiate the optimized radiation dose to the cancer, ultimately.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.287-292
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• 2008

Position information of radiation interactions in detection material is essential to reconstruct a radiation source image. With most position sensing techniques, the position information of a single interaction inside the detectors can be precisely obtained. Each interaction position of multi-scattering inside scintillators, however, can not be individually measured and only the average of the scattering positions can be obtained, which causes the uncertainty in the measured interaction position. In this paper, the position uncertainties due to the multi-scattering were calculated by Monte Carlo simulation. The simulation model was a 50 by 50 by 5 mm $LaCl_3$(Ce) scintillator(pixel size is 2 by 2 by 5mm) which was utilized for the dual collimation camera. The dual collimation camera uses the information from both photoelectric effect and Compton scattering, and therefore, position uncertainties for both partial and full energy deposition of radiation interactions are calculated. In the case of partial energy deposition(PED), the standard deviations of positions are less than $1{\sim}2mm$, which means the uncertainty caused by multi-scattering is not significant. Because the effect of the multi-scattering with PED is insignificant, the multi-scattering has little effect on the performance of Compton imaging of dual collimation camera. In the case of full energy deposition(FED), however, the standard deviation of the positions is about twice that of the pixel size of the 1stdetector, except for 122keV incident radiations. Therefore, the standard deviations caused by multi-scatterings should be considered in the design of the coded mask of the dual collimation camera to avoid artifact on the reconstructed image. The position uncertainties of the FEDs are much larger than those of the PEDs for all radiation energies and the ratio of PEDs to FEDs increases when the incident radiation energy increases. The position uncertainties of both PEDs and FEDs are dependent on the incident radiation energy.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.745-750
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• 2006

Purpose : Enteroviruses are the most common cause of aseptic meningitis in patients of all ages. A definite diagnosis of enteroviral meningitis can be established by detection of virus directly in CSF specimens. But this is time-consuming and lacks sensitivity, so polymerase chain reaction(PCR) detecting of viral RNA in patient specimens such as CSF, stool has been demonstrated. But little is known about the influence of sampling time on the results of CSF PCR and stool PCR. We investigated diagnostic utility of PCR of CSF and stool according to sampling time after the onset of symptoms. Methods : PCR results were analyzed according to sampling time for 42 patients diagnosed aseptic meningits in our hospital from $11^{th}$ January to $30^{th}$ August, 2005. Results : The diagnostic yield of the test was higher of CSF specimens obtained ${\leq_-}2$ days after clinical onset(positive PCR results 9/18, 50 percent), compared with CSF collected >2 days after onset(positive PCR results 1/24, 4.2 percent)(P=0.001). Instead, positive PCR results of fecal specimens maintained highly(average 90.5 percent), 10 cases had also positive PCR results even 5-6 days after onset. 10 cases of CSF specimens had positive enterovirus PCR results containing coxsackievirus B5 (n=6), coxsackievirus B3(n=3). 38 cases of stool specimens had positive enterovirus PCR results containing echovirus 18(n=7), echovirus 9(n=3), coxsackievirus B5(n=8), coxsackievirus B3(n=3). 6 cases(coxackie B5) had positive CSF PCR and stool PCR, both. Conclusion : Stool PCR was clinically sensitive for detecting enterovirus during enteroviral meningits and could give a presumptive diagnosis throughout the disease course. A definite diagnosis was obtained by CSF PCR, but its utility was clearly lower for samples obtained >2 days after clinical onset. Therefore, it is recommended that, in addition to performance of CSF PCR, fecal samples obtained from patients with suspected enteroviral meningitis should be tested by PCR, especially when the duration of symptoms is >2 days.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.73-77
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• 2012

Recently, Interest to the photoconductor, which is used to flat form X-ray detector such as a-Se, $HgI_2$, PbO, CdTe, $PbI_2$ etc. is increasing. In this study, the film layer by using the photoconductive material with particle sedimentation was fabricated and evaluated. The quantization efficiency of the continuous X-ray with the 70 kVp energy bandwidth was analyzed by using the Monte Carlo simulation. With the results, the thickness of film with 64 % quantization efficiency was 180 ${\mu}m$ which is similar to the efficiency of 500 ${\mu}m$ a-Se film. And $HIg_2$ film has the high quantization efficiency of 74 % on 240 ${\mu}m$ thickness. The electrical characteristics of the 239 ${\mu}m$ $Hgl_2$ films produced by particle sedimentation were shown as very low dark current(under 10 $pA/mm^2$), and high sensitivity(19.8 mC/mR-sec) with 1 $V/{\mu}m$ input voltage. The SNR, which is influence to the contrast of X-ray image, was shown highly as 3,125 in low driving voltage on 0.8 $V/{\mu}m$. With the results of this study, the development of the low-cost, high-performance image detector with film could be possible by replacing the film produced by particle sedimentation instead to a-Se detector.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.815-825
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• 2017

Visibility of lane marking is impaired at night or in the rain, which thereby threatens traffic safety. Recently, various studies and technologies have been developed to improve lane marking visibility, such as the extension of lane marking life expectancy (up to 1.5 times), improvement of lane marking equipment productivity, improvement of lane marking visibility by applying phosphorescent material mixed paint. Cost-benefit analysis was performed with considering various benefit items that can be expected. About 45% of traffic accidents would be prevented by improving lane marking visibility. Additionally, accident reduction benefit and traffic congestion reduction benefit were calculated as much as 246 billion KRW per year and 12 billion KRW per year, respectively, by reducing repaint cycle due to enhanced durability. 45 billion KRW per year is expected to reduced with improved lane detection performance of autonomous vehicle. Meanwhile, total increased cost when introducing phosphorescent material mixed paint to 91,195km of nationwide road is identified as 1922 billion KRW per year. However, economic feasibility could not be secured with 0.16 of cost-benefit ratio when applied to the road network as a whole. In case of "Accident Hot Spot" analyzing section window (400m), one or more fatality or two or more injured (one or more injured in case of less than 2 lanes per direction) per year were caused by pavement marking related accident, economic feasibility was secured. In detail, 3.91 of cost-benefit ratio is estimated with comparison of the installation cost for 5,697 of accident hot spot and accident reduction benefit. Some limitations and future research agenda have also been discussed.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.87-96
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to identify and compare the main phenolic compounds (anthocyanins, flavonoids, phenolic acids) in blueberry and black raspberry cultivated in Korea using ultra-performance liquid chromatography diode array detection-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-DAD-QTOF/MS). METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-nine flavonoids were identified by comparison of ultraviolet and mass spectra with data in a chemical library and published data. Blueberry contained flavonols including kaempferol, quercetin, isorhamnetin, myricetin, and syringetin aglycones. Isorhamnetin 3-O-robinobioside, kaempferol 3-O-(6"-O-acetyl)glucoside, quercetin, quercetin 3-O-arabinofuranoside (avicularin), quercetin 3-O-(6''-O-malonyl) glucoside, and quercetin 3-O-robinobioside were detected for the first time in blueberry. The flavonoids in raspberry consisted of quercetin aglycone and its glycosides. The mean total flavonoid content in blueberry [143.0 mg/100 g dry weight (DW)] was 1.5-times that in raspberry (95.4 mg/100 g DW). The most abundant flavonoid in blueberry was quercetin 3-O-galactoside (hyperoside, up to 76.1 mg/100 g DW) and that in raspberry was quercetin 3-O-glucuronide (miquelianin, up to 55.5 mg/100 g DW). Miquelianin was not detected in blueberry. CONCLUSION: Flavonol glycosides were the main flavonoids in blueberry and black raspberry cultivated in Korea. The composition and contents of flavonoids differed between blueberry and black raspberry, and may be affected by the cultivar and cultivation conditions.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.381-388
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• 2017

In this study, we investigated the levels of natural preservatives of benzoic acid, sorbic acid, and propionic acid in spices. The quantitative analysis was performed using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for benzoic acid and sorbic acid and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for propionic acid. The sample was extracted with ethanol using sonication, then centrifuged and evaporated to dryness and redissolved to 1 mL with ethanol to use for the instrumental analysis. The analytical method was validated based on linearity, recovery, limit of detection (LOD), and limit of quantification (LOQ). This method was suitable to determine low amounts of naturally occurring preservatives (benzoic acid, sorbic acid, and propionic acid) in various spices. Benzoic acid, sorbic acid, and propionic acid were found in 165 samples, 88 samples, and 398 samples, respectively from the total of 493 samples. The concentration of benzoic acid, sorbic acid, and propionic acid were ranged at ND-391.99 mg/L, ND-57.70 mg/L, and ND-188.21 mg/L in spices, respectively. The highest mean levels of benzoic acid, sorbic acid, and propionic acid were found in cinnamon (167.15 mg/L), basil leaves (22.79 mg/L), and white pepper (51.48 mg/L), respectively. The results in this study provide ranges of concentration regarding naturally occurring benzoic acid, sorbic acid, and propionic acid in spices. Moreover, the results may use to the case of consumer complaint or trade friction due to the inspection services of standard criteria for the preservatives of spices.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.424-433
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• 2017

Antioxidants are used in the manufacturing of commercial food packages made of polyolefin plastic such as polyethylene and polypropylene for the purpose to delay the oxidation reaction of the polymer due to oxygen or traces of ozone in the atmosphere. Additives in plastics may be migrated from the packaging materials into foods, thereby presenting a potential health risk to the consumer. Therefore, it is necessary to determine migration level of antioxidants from food packaging materials to foodstuffs in order to take proactive management. In this study, we have developed a method for the analysis of 10 antioxidants, which are butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), Cyanox 2246, 425 and 1790, Irgafos 168, and Irganox 1010, 1330, 3114 and 1076, migrated from the food packaging materials into four food simulants for aqueous, acidic, alcoholic and fatty foods. The antioxidants were determined by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatograph-ultraviolet detector with 276 nm after solid-phase extraction with a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) cartridge or dilution with isopropanol. The analytical method showed a good linearity of coefficient ($R^2{\geq}0.99$), limits of detection (0.11~0.41 mg/L), and limits of quantification (0.34~1.24 mg/L). The recoveries of antioxidants spiked to four food simulants ranged from 71.3% to 109.4%. The migrated antioxidants in this study were within the safety levels that resulted from the safety assessment by the estimated daily intake to the tolerable daily intake.