• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.59-65
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• 2024

Hydronephrosis, characterized by dilation of the renal pelvis and calyces due to urine flow obstruction, poses a significant clinical challenge. Although often asymptomatic and capable of spontaneous resolution, surgical intervention is necessary for specific scenarios such as febrile urinary tract infections, deteriorating hydronephrosis, or declining renal function. The efficacy of continuous antibiotic prophylaxis in preventing urinary tract infections remains controversial. Yet, it may benefit high-risk patients, emphasizing the importance of individualized patient selection, as surgical treatment methods for patients with hydronephrosis have become less invasive than in previous decades. However, long-term follow-up outcomes are lacking, necessitating further clarification. This review presents an overview of the etiology, natural progression, and modern management of hydronephrosis, encompassing advancements in minimally invasive procedures.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.312-320
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• 2002

It is well-known that when single rock fractures undergo shear displacement, they are influenced by the boundary conditions and fracture roughness. In this case, aperture geometry will change by means of dilation due to the shear displacement. As fractures become the flow paths, fluid flow through rock fractures is affected by the void geometry. In this study, therefore, the influence of roughness on shear behavior of fractures has been investigated, and the resulting hydraulic behavior has been analyzed. In order for this study, a statistical method has been used to generate rough fractures, and they have been adopted into new conceptual models fur fracture shearing and flow calculations. The main contributions of this study are as follows: firstly, fracture shear behavior becomes less brittle with decreasing fracture roughness and increasing normal stress. Then, the characteristics of aperture distribution becomes those of roughness of fractures indicating its hydraulic significance. Finally, it is observed that with decreasing fracture roughness the breakdown of channel flow occurs more slowly.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.222-231
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• 1999

Uwhangchungsimwon(UC) has been used in the treatment of a wide variety of conditions including stroke, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, autonomic imbalance, mental instablity, etc in Korean traditional hospitals, In particular it is often initialy chosen for emergency care of acute stroke. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of UC on cerebral hemodynamics. Using transcranial Doppler ultrasound, we studied changes of mean flow velocity and pulsatility index(PI) of middle cerebral arteries (MCAs) from 11 health young volunteers who were administrated with 1 pill UC and 11 health controls who were not. We obtained hypercapnia with breath-holding and evaluated cerebrovascular reactivity with breath-holding index(BHI). Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate were measured using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring(ABPM). In UC administration group, the evaluation was performed during basal condition. and repeated at 20, 40, and 60 min after administration. In controls, the evaluation was performed at corresponding time intervals. Mean flow velocity in middle cerebral artery, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate did not change during the observation period and were not different between these two groups. However, administration of UC was associated with decreases in PI by $3.6{\sim}12.4%$ in BHI by $17.9{\sim}24.8%$ compared with pre-administration period. Decreases in PI and BHI with UC were significantly different compared with control group (p<0.05). These results indicate that UC decreases PI and BHI in cerebral artery, which is due to a dilation of cerebral resistance vessels.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.657-665
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• 2008

Objectives : The objective of this study was to assess the effect of acupuncture applied at the ST36 point on blood pressure and endothelial dependent vasodilation in hypertensive patients. Methods : 24 hypertensive patients were recruited and randomized to a study group (12 subjects) or a control group (12 subjects). Both groups took FMD (endothelial-dependant, flow-mediated dilation) measurement and then acupuncture needles were inserted at ST36 for the study group. In the control group, they took sham acupuncture as a control. FMD was rechecked after 10-min acupuncture treatment. Blood pressure was measured before and after acupuncture treatment. Results : FMD increased significantly in the study group after acupuncture (9.5${\pm}$2.0% to 11.1${\pm}$2.2%), but not in the control group. In both groups, there were no changes in blood pressure and heart rate. Conclusions : Acupuncture on ST36 appears to improve endothelial dysfunction of hypertensive patients and this might result from inducing activation of endothelium-derived nitric oxide.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.236-246
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• 2014

Purpose: Walnut is known to have unique favorable fatty acids, phytochemicals, and other nutrient profiles. As a result, there has been growing interest in evaluation of its health benefit related to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although inverse associations of nut consumption and risk factors of cardiovascular disease have been reported in many epidemiological studies and qualitative reviews, few meta-analysis studies have been reported. This meta-analysis was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of a walnut-enhanced diet on CVD risk factors. Methods: We searched Pubmed, Cochrane, Science Direct, and KISS (Korean studies Information Service System) through July 2014. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted on 17 trials reporting total cholesterol (TC), 14 trials reporting LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), 15 trials reporting HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), 17 trials reporting triglyceride (TG), and four trials reporting flow-mediated dilation (FMD). Results: In meta-analysis, intake of a walnut-enhanced diet resulted in significantly lowered TC, LDL-C, and TG by -0.124 mmol/l (95% CI, -0.209, -0.039; p = 0.004), -0.085 mmol/lL (95% CI, -0.167, -0.004; p = l0.039), and -0.080 mmol/l (95% CI, -0.155, -0.004; p = 0.039), respectively. The overall pooled estimate of the effect on FMD was +1.313% (95% CI, 0.744, 1.882, p = 0.000). HDL-C was not affected by walnut intake. No statistical heterogeneity was observed for any analysis. Results of funnel plots and Egger's regression suggested a low likelihood of publication bias in all biomarkers (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Findings of this meta-analysis provide consistent evidence that walnut-enhanced diet intake reduces the CVD risk factors.

• International Journal of Vascular Biomedical Engineering
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2005

Flow-induced dilation of blood vessel is the result of a series of bioreaction in vascular endothelial cells(VEC). Shear stress change by blood flow in human artery or vein is sensed by the mechanoreceptor and responsible for such a chain reaction. The inositol(1,4,5)-triphophate($IP_3$) is produced in the first stage to elevate permeability of the intercellular membrane to calcium ions by which the cytosolic calcium concentration is consequently increased. This intracellular calcium transient triggers synthesis of EDRF and prostacyclin. The mathematical model of this VEC calcium dynamics is reproduced from the literature. We then use the Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) technique to investigate the blood stream dictating the VEC calcium dynamics. The pulsatile blood flow in a stenosed blood vessel is considered here as a part of study on thrombogenesis. We calculate the pulsating shear stress (thus its temporal change) distributed over the stenosed artery that is implemented to the VEC calcium dynamics model. It has been found that the pulsatile shear stress induces larger intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ transient plus much higher amount of EDRF and prostacyclin release in comparison with the steady shear stress case. It is concluded that pulsatility of the physiological shear stress is important to keep the vasodilation function in the stenosed part of the blood vessel.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.302-306
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• 2008

ChongMyeong-Tang(CMT) have been used clinically to treat patient with amnesia and dementia. In addition, CMT have been also used for examinee to improve learning ability in Korea. This experimental study was designed to investigate the effects of Gagam-ChongMeong-Tang(GCMT) to improve the retentive faculty and learning ability in terms of Cerebral blood flow(rCBF) and Mean Artery Blood Pressure(MABP) in rats. In our study, we investigated that increasing doses of GCMT (1 ug/ml, 10 ug/ml, 100 ug/ml, and 1000 ug/ml) affect the level of rCBF and MABP in rats. In our results, treatment with GCMT elevated level of rCBF in dose dependant manner. Cantraray, level of MABP was lowered by treatment with GCMT. The involved mechanisms in rCBF are guanylate cyclase pathway. During the period of cerebral re-perfusion, GCMT treated group showed stability of rCBF compared to control group. These results imply that GCMT increased rCBF through dilation of pial artery. And related mechanisms are involved in guanylate cyclase pathway.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.238-243
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• 2011

In this study, we attempted a structural analysis in order to design a balloon type extracorporeal membrane oxygenator that can induce blood flow without using blood pumps for the purpose of complementing the weakness in the existing extracorporeal membrane oxygenator. To analyze the flow characteristic of the blood flow within the virtual model of extracorporeal membrane oxygenator, computational fluid dynamics(CFD) modeling method was used. The operating principle of this system is to make the surface of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenator keep contracting and dilating regularly by applying pressure load using a balloon, and the 'ime Function Value'that changes according to the time was applied by calculating a half cycle of sine waveform and a cycle of sine.waveform Under the assumption that the uni-directional blood flow could be induced if the balloon type extracorporeal membrane oxygenator was designed as per the method described above, we conducted a structural analysis accordingly. We measured and analyzed the velocity and pressure of blood flow at both inlet and outlet of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenator through CFD simulation. As a result of the modeling, it was confirmed that there was a flow in accord with the direction of the blood by the contraction/dilation. With CFD simulation, the characteristics of blood flow can be predicted in advance, so it is judged that this will be able to provide the most optimized design in producing an extracorporeal membrane oxygenator.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.11-23
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• 2020

In this study, a new analytical-numerical procedure is developed to give the stresses and strains around a circular tunnel in rock masses exhibiting different stress-strain behavior. The calculation starts from the tunnel wall and continues toward the unknown elastic-plastic boundary by a finite difference method in the annular discretized plastic zone. From the known stresses in the tunnel boundary, the strains are calculated using the elastic-plastic stiffness matrix in which three dimensional Hoek-Brown failure criterion (Jiang and Zhao 2015) and Mohr-Coulomb potential function with proper dilation angle (i.e., non-associated flow rule) are employed in terms of stress invariants. The illustrative examples give ground response curve and show correctness of the proposed approach. Finally, from the results of a great number of analyses, a simple relationship is presented to find out the closure of circular tunnel in terms of rock mass strength and tunnel depth. It can be valuable for the preliminary decision of tunnel support and for prediction of tunnel problems.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.495-503
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• 2012

An acoustic method for discriminating plankton from fish, in Lake Dom Helvecio of Brazil, is developed. The flow of data from this method is comprised of time varied threshold (TVT), dilation filter, bitmap and mask functions. The TVT can, of itself, precisely explain how to select an appropriate value. The final results of the echogram, which only shows plankton by masking fish signals, is used to examine the acoustic density of plankton by depth and time. The results indicate that the acoustic density of the plankton is at a depth of between 5m to 15m, its density is especially high at 10m to 15m. The results of the acoustic density of plankton by time indicate that May 7 is higher in density than May 8. Future study plans include the use of net samples, environmental datasets to identify the abundance and ecology described by the Chaoborus spp. from other species.