• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.59-68
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• 1998

Digital hearing aids offer many advantages over conventional analog hearing aids. With the advent of high speed digital signal processing chips, new digital techniques have been introduced to digital hearing aids. In addition, the evaluation of new ideas in hearing aids is necessarily accompanied by intensive subject-based clinical tests which requires much time and cost. In this paper, we present an objective method to evaluate and predict the performance of hearing aid systems without the help of such subject-based tests. In the hearing impairment simulation(HIS) algorithm, a sensorineural hearing impairment medel is established from auditory test data of the impaired subject being simulated. Also, the nonlinear behavior of the loudness recruitment is defined using hearing loss functions generated from the measurements. To transform the natural input sound into the impaired one, a frequency sampling filter is designed. The filter is continuously refreshed with the level-dependent frequency response function provided by the impairment model. To assess the performance, the HIS algorithm was implemented in real-time using a floating-point DSP. Signals processed with the real-time system were presented to normal subjects and their auditory data modified by the system was measured. The sensorineural hearing impairment was simulated and tested. The threshold of hearing and the speech discrimination tests exhibited the efficiency of the system in its use for the hearing impairment simulation. Using the HIS system we evaluated three typical hearing aid algorithms.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.366-374
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• 2010

Introduction: This study evaluated the capability of silk fibroin (SF) and recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 loaded SF (SF-BMP) as a bone defect replacement matrix when grafted in a calvarial bone defect of rats in vivo. Materials and Methods: A total 70 calvarial critical size defects (5.0 mm in diameter) made on 35 adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. The defects were transplanted with (1) rhBMP-2 loaded silk fibroin graft (SF-BMP: 0.8+$10\;{\mu}g$), (2) Silk fibroin (SF: $10\;{\mu}g$), and (3) no graft material (Raw). The samples were evaluated with soft x-rays, alkaline phosphatase activity, calcium/phosphate quantification, histological and histomorphometric analysis at postoperative 4 and 8 weeks. Results: The SF-BMP group ($48.86{\pm}14.92%$) had a significantly higher mean percentage bone area than the SF group ($24.96{\pm}11.01%$) at postoperative 4 weeks.(P<0.05) In addition, the SF-BMP group ($40.01{\pm}12.43%$) had a higher % bone area at postoperative 8 weeks than the SF group ($33.26{\pm}5.15%$). The mean ratio of gray scale levels to the host bone showed that the SF-BMP group ($0.67{\pm}0.08$) had a higher mean ratio level than the SF group ($0.61{\pm}0.09$) at postoperative 8 weeks. These differences were not statistically significant.(P=0.168 and P=0.243, respectively) The ratio of the calcium and phosphate contents of the SF-BMP ($0.93{\pm}0.22$) group was lower than that of the SF ($1.90{\pm}1.42$) group at postoperative 4 weeks. However, the SF-BMP group ($0.75{\pm}0.31$) had a higher Ca/$PO_4$ ratio than the SF ($0.68{\pm}0.04$) at postoperative 8 weeks. These differences were not statistically significant.(P=0.126 and P=0.627, respectively) For the bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, which is recognized as a reliable indicator of the osteoblast function, the SF-BMP ($23.71{\pm}8.60\;U/L$) groups had a significantly higher value than the SF group ($12.65{\pm}6.47\;U/L$) at postoperative 4 weeks.(P<0.05) At postoperative 8 weeks, the SF-BMP ($21.65{\pm}10.02\;U/L$) group had a lower bone-specific ALP activity than the SF group ($16.72{\pm}7.35\;U/L$). This difference was not statistically significant.(P=0.263) For the histological evaluation, the SF-BMP group revealed less inflammation, lower foreign body reactions and higher bone healing than the SF group at postoperative 4 and 8 weeks. The SF group revealed more foreign body reactions at postoperative 4 weeks. However, this immunogenic reaction decreased and the remnant of grafted material was observed at postoperative 8 weeks. For histomorphometric analysis, the SF-BMP group had a significantly longer bone length to total length ratio than those of the SF group at postoperative 4 and 8 weeks.(P<0.05) Conclusion: The rhBMP-2 loaded silk fibroin graft revealed fewer immunoreactions and inflammation as well as more new bone formation than the pure silk fibroin graft. Therefore, silk fibroin may be a candidate scaffold for tissue engineered bone regeneration.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.71-79
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• 2017

Purpose: Ni-Cr alloy does not contain Beryllium, causing the metal compound to form oxides in the furnace but by using Titanium as a chemical catalyst the forming of the oxides can be controlled, and by controlling the impurities formed on the metal surface, the possibility of the Ni-Cr alloy bond strength being increased can be analysed. Materials and Methods: Titanium was used as a chemical catalyst in the porcelain for the oxidation of beryllium-free metal (Ni-Cr) alloy. The T1 group, which does not use Titanium power as a chemical catalyst is a reference model for comparison. The T2 group and T3 group used 10 g and 20 g of Titanium power, respectively. They are fabricated to observe the shear bond strength and surface properties. There was no significance when One-way ANOVA analysis/Tukey Honestly Significant Difference Test was conducted for statistical analysis among groups (P > 0.05). Results: Results of measuring the three-point flexural bond strength of the Ni-Cr alloy and thickness of the oxide film. Experiment T3 using 20 g Titanium chemical catalyst: $39.22{\pm}3.41MPa$ and $6.66{\mu}m$, having the highest bond strength and thinness of oxide film. Experiment T2 using 10 g Titanium chemical catalyst: $34.65{\pm}1.39MPa$ and $13.22{\mu}m$. Experiment T1 using no Titanium chemical catalyst: $32.37{\pm}1.91MPa$ and $22.22{\mu}m$. Conclusion: The T2 and T3 experiments using Titanium chemical catalyst showed higher bond strength for the Ni-Cr alloy and lower thickness of oxide film than experiment T1, and the titanium catalyst being able to increase bond strength was observed.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.275-282
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• 2010

Chicken is an important livestock as a valuable biomedical model as well as food for human, and there is a strong rationale for improving our understanding on metabolism and physiology of this organism. The first draft of chicken genome assembly was released in 2004, which enables elaboration on the linkage between genetic and metabolic traits of chicken. The objectives of this study were thus to reconstruct metabolic pathway of the chicken genome and to construct a chicken specific pathway genome database (PGDB). We developed a comprehensive genome database for chicken by integrating all the known annotations for chicken genes and proteins using a pipeline written in Perl. Based on the comprehensive genome annotations, metabolic pathways of the chicken genome were reconstructed using the PathoLogic algorithm in Pathway Tools software. We identified a total of 212 metabolic pathways, 2,709 enzymes, 71 transporters, 1,698 enzymatic reactions, 8 transport reactions, and 1,360 compounds in the current chicken genome build, Gallus_gallus-2.1. Comparative metabolic analysis with the human, mouse and cattle genomes revealed that core metabolic pathways are highly conserved in the chicken genome. It was indicated the quality of assembly and annotations of the chicken genome need to be improved and more researches are required for improving our understanding on function of genes and metabolic pathways of avian species. We conclude that the chicken PGDB is useful for studies on avian and chicken metabolism and provides a platform for comparative genomic and metabolic analysis of animal biology and biomedicine.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.33-48
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• 2012

As a scientific curiosity to understand the structure and the function of crops and experimental efforts to apply it to plant breeding, genetic maps have been constructed in various crops. Especially, in the case of Brassica crop, genetic mapping has been accelerated since genetic information of model plant $Arabidopsis$ was available. As a result, the whole $B.$ $rapa$ genome (A genome) sequencing has recently been done. The genome sequences offer opportunities to develop molecular markers for genetic analysis in $Brassica$ crops. RFLP markers are widely used as the basis for genetic map construction, but detection system is inefficiency. The technical efficiency and analysis speed of the PCR-based markers become more preferable for many form of $Brassica$ genome study. The massive sequence informative markers such as SSR, SNP and InDels are also available to increase the density of markers for high-resolution genetic analysis. The high density maps are invaluable resources for QTLs analysis, marker assisted selection (MAS), map-based cloning and comparative analysis within $Brassica$ as well as related crop species. Additionally, the advents of new technology, next-generation technique, have served as a momentum for molecular breeding. Here we summarize genetic and genomic resources and suggest their applications for the molecular breeding in $Brassica$ crop.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.637-647
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• 1999

Background: Ischemia-reperfusion injury is one of the major contributing causes of early graft failure in lung transplantation. It has been suggested that triiodothyronine (T3) may ameliorate ischemia-reperfusion injury to various organs in vivo and in vitro. Predicting its beneficial effect for ischemic lung injury, we set out to demonstrate it by administering T3 into the in situ canine ischemia-reperfusion model. Material and Method: Sixteen adult mongrel dogs were randomly allocated into group A and B. T3 $(3.6\mug/kg)$ was administered before the initiation of single lung ischemia in group B, whereas the same amount of saline was administered in group A. Ischemia was induced in the left lung by clamping the left hilum for 100 minutes. After reperfusion, various hemodynamic parameters and blood gases were analyzed for 4 hours while intermittently clamping the right hilum in order to allow observation of the injured left lung function. Result: Arterial oxygen partial pressure $(PaO_2)$ decreased 30 minutes after reperfusion and recovered gradually thereafter in both groups. In group B the decrease of $PaO_2$ was less marked than in group A. The recovery of $PaO_2$ was faster in group B than in group A. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant from 30 minutes after reperfusion $(125\pm34$ mmHg and $252\pm44$ mmHg, p<0.05) until the end of the experiment $(178\pm42$mmHg and $330\pm37$ mmHg, p<0.05). The differences in the arterial carbon dioxide pressure, airway pressure and lung compliance showed no statistical significance. The malondialdehyde (MDA) level, measured from the tissue obtained 240 minutes after reperfusion, was lower in group B $(0.40\pm0.04\mu$M) than in group A $(0.53\pm0.05\mu$M, p<0.05). The ATP level of group B $(0.69\pm0.07\mu$M/g) was significantly higher than that of group A $(0.48\pm0.07\mu$M/g, p<0.05). The microscopic exami nation revealed varying degrees of injury such as perivascular neutrophil infiltration, capillary hemorrhage and interstitial congestion. There were no differences in the microscopic findings between the two groups. CONCLUSION T3 has beneficial effects on the ischemic canine lung injury including preservation of oxygenation capacity, less production of lipid peroxidation products and a higher level of tissue ATP. These results suggest that T3 is effective in pulmonary allograft preservation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.413-421
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• 1999

Background: Ischemia reperfusion injury is known to contribute to the major causes of the early graft failure in lung transplantation. Triiodothyronine (T3) has been suggested to ameliorate ischemia reperfusion injury from both in vivo and in vitro experiments of various organs. Prospecting its beneficial effect for pulmonary allograft preservation, we made a new solution by adding T3 into the extracellular type dextran solution. Material and Method: Twelve adult mongrel dogs underwent left lung allotransplantation. Six donor dogs were flushed with the new solution(Group 1, n=6), and the remaining six were flushed with Euro-Collins solution to serve as controls(Group 2, n=6). Allografts were stored in each preservation solution for 20 hours at 4$^{\circ}C$. Left single lung transplantations were performed. The right pulmonary artery and the right main bronchus were clamped at 15 minutes after the reperfusion and maintained throughout the experiment to evaluate the transplanted left lung function. Result: Arterial carbon dioxide tension was better in group 1 than in group 2 throughout the experiment period and the difference was statistically significant at 2 hours after reperfusion(28.0${\pm}$3.0 mmHg and 53.1${\pm}$17.4 mmHg, p<0.05). The differences of arterial oxygen partial pressure, peak airway pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance showed no statistical significance. The malondialdehyde(MDA) level, measured from tissue obtained at 120 minutes after reperfusion showed no statistically significant difference. The tissue wet/dry ratio of group 1(649${\pm}$27 %) was significantly lower than that of group 2(686${\pm}$71 %, p<0.05). The microscopic examination revealed varying degrees of injury represented mainly by findings such as perivascular neutrophil infiltration, capillary hemorrhage and interstitial congestion. These findings were less severe in group 1 than those in group 2. Conclusion: The new solution demonstrated superior allograft preservation after 20 hour ischemia compared to Euro-Collins solution in canine single left lung transplantation model, these results suggest that T3 might be a promising agent for pulmonary allograft preservation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1031-1031
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• 2001

The mammary gland is made up of remarkably sensitive tissue, which has the capability of producing a large volume of secretion, milk, under normal or healthy conditions. When bacteria enter the gland and establish an infection (mastitis), inflammation is initiated accompanied by an influx of white cells from the blood stream, by altered secretory function, and changes in the volume and composition of secretion. Cell numbers in milk are closely associated with inflammation and udder health. These somatic cell counts (SCC) are accepted as the international standard measurement of milk quality in dairy and for mastitis diagnosis. NIR Spectra of unhomogenized composite milk samples from 14 cows (healthy and mastitic), 7days after parturition and during the next 30 days of lactation were measured. Different multivariate analysis techniques were used to diagnose the disease at very early stage and determine how the spectral properties of milk vary with its composition and animal health. PLS model for prediction of somatic cell count (SCC) based on NIR milk spectra was made. The best accuracy of determination for the 1100-2500nm range was found using smoothed absorbance data and 10 PLS factors. The standard error of prediction for independent validation set of samples was 0.382, correlation coefficient 0.854 and the variation coefficient 7.63%. It has been found that SCC determination by NIR milk spectra was indirect and based on the related changes in milk composition. From the spectral changes, we learned that when mastitis occurred, the most significant factors that simultaneously influenced milk spectra were alteration of milk proteins and changes in ionic concentration of milk. It was consistent with the results we obtained further when applied 2DCOS. Two-dimensional correlation analysis of NIR milk spectra was done to assess the changes in milk composition, which occur when somatic cell count (SCC) levels vary. The synchronous correlation map revealed that when SCC increases, protein levels increase while water and lactose levels decrease. Results from the analysis of the asynchronous plot indicated that changes in water and fat absorptions occur before other milk components. In addition, the technique was used to assess the changes in milk during a period when SCC levels do not vary appreciably. Results indicated that milk components are in equilibrium and no appreciable change in a given component was seen with respect to another. This was found in both healthy and mastitic animals. However, milk components were found to vary with SCC content regardless of the range considered. This important finding demonstrates that 2-D correlation analysis may be used to track even subtle changes in milk composition in individual cows. To find out the right threshold for SCC when used for mastitis diagnosis at cow level, classification of milk samples was performed using soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) and different spectral data pretreatment. Two levels of SCC - 200 000 cells/$m\ell$ and 300 000 cells/$m\ell$, respectively, were set up and compared as thresholds to discriminate between healthy and mastitic cows. The best detection accuracy was found with 200 000 cells/$m\ell$ as threshold for mastitis and smoothed absorbance data: - 98% of the milk samples in the calibration set and 87% of the samples in the independent test set were correctly classified. When the spectral information was studied it was found that the successful mastitis diagnosis was based on reviling the spectral changes related to the corresponding changes in milk composition. NIRS combined with different ways of spectral data ruining can provide faster and nondestructive alternative to current methods for mastitis diagnosis and a new inside into disease understanding at molecular level.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.647-655
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• 2011

The neurotoxicity of aggregated amyloid ${\beta}$ ($A{\beta}$) has been implicated as a critical cause in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It can cause neurotoxicity in AD by evoking a cascade of apoptosis to neuron. Here, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of cilostazol, which acts as a phosphodiesterase III inhibitor, on $A{\beta}_{25-35}$-induced cytotoxicity in mouse neuronal cells and cognitive decline in the C57BL/6J AD mouse model via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-${\gamma}$ activation. $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ significantly reduced cell viability and increased the number of apoptotic-like cells. Cilostazol treatment recovered cells from $A{\beta}$-induced cell death as well as rosiglitazone, a PPAR-${\gamma}$ activator. These effects were suppressed by GW9662, an antagonist of PPAR-${\gamma}$ activity, indicative of a PPAR-${\gamma}$-mediated signaling. In addition, cilostazol and rosiglitazone also restored PPAR-${\gamma}$ activity levels that had been altered as a result of $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ treatment, which were antagonized by GW9662. Furthermore, cilostazol also markedly decreased the number of apoptotic-like cells and decreased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Intracerebroventricular injection of $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ in C57BL/6J mice resulted in impaired cognitive function. Oral administration of cilostazol (20 mg/kg) for 2 weeks before $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ injection and once a day for 4 weeks post-surgery almost completely prevented the $A{\beta}_{25-35}$-induced cognitive deficits, as did rosiglitazone. Taken together, our findings suggest that cilostazol could attenuate $A{\beta}_{25-35}$-induced neuronal cell injury and apoptosis as well as promote the survival of neuronal cells, subsequently improving cognitive decline in AD, partly because of PPAR-${\gamma}$ activation. The phosphodiesterase III inhibitor cilostazol may be the basis of a novel strategy for the therapy of AD.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.15
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• pp.225-266
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• 1988

Various theories and techniques for the subject catalog have been developed since Charles Ammi Cutter first tried to formulate rules for the construction of subject headings in 1876. However, they do not seem to be appropriate to Korean language because the syntax and semantics of Korean language are different from those of English and other European languages. This study therefore attempts to develop a new Korean subject indexing system, namely Korean String Indexing System(KOSIS), in order to increase the use of subject catalogs. For this purpose, advantages and disadvantages between the classed subject catalog nd the alphabetical subject catalog, which are typical subject ca-alogs in libraries, are investigated, and most of remarkable subject indexing systems, in particular the PRECIS developed by the British National Bibliography, are reviewed and analysed. KOSIS is a string indexing based on purely the syntax and semantics of Korean language, even though considerable principles of PRECIS are applied to it. The outlines of KOSIS are as follows: 1) KOSIS is based on the fundamentals of natural language and an ingenious conjunction of human indexing skills and computer capabilities. 2) KOSIS is. 3 string indexing based on the 'principle of context-dependency.' A string of terms organized accoding to his principle shows remarkable affinity with certain patterns of words in ordinary discourse. From that point onward, natural language rather than classificatory terms become the basic model for indexing schemes. 3) KOSIS uses 24 role operators. One or more operators should be allocated to the index string, which is organized manually by the indexer's intellectual work, in order to establish the most explicit syntactic relationship of index terms. 4) Traditionally, a single -line entry format is used in which a subject heading or index entry is presented as a single sequence of words, consisting of the entry terms, plus, in some cases, an extra qualifying term or phrase. But KOSIS employs a two-line entry format which contains three basic positions for the production of index entries. The 'lead' serves as the user's access point, the 'display' contains those terms which are themselves context dependent on the lead, 'qualifier' sets the lead term into its wider context. 5) Each of the KOSIS entries is co-extensive with the initial subject statement prepared by the indexer, since it displays all the subject specificities. Compound terms are always presented in their natural language order. Inverted headings are not produced in KOSIS. Consequently, the precision ratio of information retrieval can be increased. 6) KOSIS uses 5 relational codes for the system of references among semantically related terms. Semantically related terms are handled by a different set of routines, leading to the production of 'See' and 'See also' references. 7) KOSIS was riginally developed for a classified catalog system which requires a subject index, that is an index -which 'trans-lates' subject index, that is, an index which 'translates' subjects expressed in natural language into the appropriate classification numbers. However, KOSIS can also be us d for a dictionary catalog system. Accordingly, KOSIS strings can be manipulated to produce either appropriate subject indexes for a classified catalog system, or acceptable subject headings for a dictionary catalog system. 8) KOSIS is able to maintain a constistency of index entries and cross references by means of a routine identification of the established index strings and reference system. For this purpose, an individual Subject Indicator Number and Reference Indicator Number is allocated to each new index strings and new index terms, respectively. can produce all the index entries, cross references, and authority cards by means of either manual or mechanical methods. Thus, detailed algorithms for the machine-production of various outputs are provided for the institutions which can use computer facilities.