• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.827-832
• /
• 2020

X-ray equipment, which is frequently used in radiology and treatment, is the most common and most used equipment in clinical practice. Equipment must provide accurate information to patients through continuous quality control. In case of manual quality control measurement, reproducibility may be poor and there may be a problem with reliability of evaluation results. In this study, an automated program was developed and attempted to measure how much the central ray between the focus of the X-ray tube and the variable aperture of the diagnostic X-ray generator used in clinical practice coincides. As a result of the experiment, it succeeded in calculating the coordinates of the two center points, and the distance between the two points was calculated in pixels and applied to the judgment and the automatic judgment value for whether the center line coincidence is within the normal angle or the abnormal angle is presented. The results of this study are considered to be very helpful in the quality control of the X-ray apparatus.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.653-661
• /
• 2007

The Disinfectants/Disinfection By-products (D/DBP) Rule proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency requires the implementation of enhanced coagulation as a control strategy for natural organic matter (NOM) removal and as a means of limiting the formation of all DBPs, i.e., not just the trihalomethanes and haloacetica acids. To control DBP formation, several best available technologies (BATs) were determined for removal of DBPs and DBP precursors. The enhanced coagulation is one of the BATs for DBP precursors removal. Treatment facilities that achieve a specified percent removal of total organic carbon (TOC) prior to the application of a continuous disinfectant or that achieve a residual TOC concentration < 2mg/L prior to the application of a continuous disinfectant are considered to be in compliance with enhanced coagulation. The enhanced coagulation was applied to raw water in Korea, the Han River. Raw water were examined and effects of different raw water qualities on enhanced coagulation were investigated. Three analyses were used for raw water characteristics, water quality measurement, molecular weight distributions, hydrophobic/hydrophilic fractionation. The Han River had the relatively low alkalinity and low organic carbon concentration. The results of molecular weight distributions showed significant portions of low molecular weight organics, which is very different from most water in USA. The alum doses for the required TOC removal guided from USEPA manual were quite low (i.e. 10~30 mg/L alum) for the water, probably due to the specific water quality of the Han River.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.37-45
• /
• 2018

Background: Posterior-anterior (PA) vertebral mobilization, a manual therapy technique has been used for relieving pain or stiffness treating in spinal segment for in clinical practice, however evidence to gauge efficacy is yet to be synthesised. Objects: This study aimed to investigate the effect of PA mobilization of the thoracic spine on the respiratory function in patients with low back pain (LBP). Methods: The study participants included 30 patients with chronic LBP. They were randomly allocated to the experimental and control groups. The experimental and control groups received PA mobilization of the T1-T8 level of the thoracic spine and placebo mobilization, respectively. All patients received interventions for 35 minutes a day, five times a week, over 2-week period, respectively. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second ($FEV_1$), peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory flow 25~75% ($FEF_{25{\sim}75%}$), and chest wall expansion were measured before and after the intervention. Statistical analysis was performed using independent t-test and two-way analysis of variance, and Pearson's correlation analysis was used to compare the correlation between respiratory function and chest measurement. Results: The experimental group showed significant improvements in FVC, $FEV_1$, PEF, $FEF_{25{\sim}75%}$ (p<.05), and chest wall expansion (p<.05) compared with the control group. Conclusion: PA mobilization of the upper thoracic spine may be beneficial for improving respiratory function parameters including FVC, $FEV_1$, PEF, $FEF_{25{\sim}75%}$, and chest wall expansion in patients with chronic LBP.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
• /
• v.8 no.5
• /
• pp.359-366
• /
• 2015

TMJ(TemporoMandibular Joint) is considered as the most important articulation in human body for maintaining the balance. Thus it is one of the main treatment areas in Chiropractic. Instead of Chiropractic treatment, NOSICK, a TMJ balancing device, can be used. As there is no such device to quantify the effect of NOSICK, a system was developed to measure the effect of NOSICK. This system is composed of stereo vision, infrared lights, and infrared through filter, etc. It requires optical markers for the measurement. 8 land markers were selected from the face which will show different displacement as NOSICK is applied. 11 test subjects were measured with the system developed with and without NOSICK applied. Quantifiable displacement of markers before and after applying NOSICK was successfully measured with the system developed.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.69-87
• /
• 2008

The Web is evolving toward the Semantic Web. Ontologies are considered as a crucial component of the Semantic Web since it is the backbone of knowledge representation for this Web. However, most of these ontologies are still built manually. Manual building of an ontology is time-consuming activity which requires many resources. Consequently, the need for automatic ontology extraction tools has been increased for the last decade, and many tools have been developed for this purpose. Yet, there is no comprehensive framework for evaluating such tools. In this paper, we proposed a set of criteria for evaluating ontology extraction tools and carried out an experiment on four popular ontology extraction tools (i.e., OntoLT, Text-To-Onto, TERMINAE, and OntoBuilder) using our proposed evaluation framework. The proposed framework can be applied as a useful benchmark when developers want to develop ontology extraction tools.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.8
• /
• pp.3233-3239
• /
• 2015

Background: Whether depression causes increased risk of the development of breast cancer has long been debated. We conducted an updated meta-analysis of cohort studies to assess the association between depression and risk of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Relevant literature was searched from Medline, Embase, Web of Science (up to April 2014) as well as manual searches of reference lists of selected publications. Cohort studies on the association between depression and breast cancer were included. Data abstraction and quality assessment were conducted independently by two authors. Random-effect model was used to compute the pooled risk estimate. Visual inspection of a funnel plot, Begg rank correlation test and Egger linear regression test were used to evaluate the publication bias. Results: We identified eleven cohort studies (182,241 participants, 2,353 cases) with a follow-up duration ranging from 5 to 38 years. The pooled adjusted RR was 1.13(95% CI: 0.94 to 1.36; $I^2=67.2%$, p=0.001). The association between the risk of breast cancer and depression was consistent across subgroups. Visual inspection of funnel plot and Begg's and Egger's tests indicated no evidence of publication bias. Regarding limitations, a one-time assessment of depression with no measure of duration weakens the test of hypothesis. In addition, 8 different scales were used for the measurement of depression, potentially adding to the multiple conceptual problems concerned with the definition of depression. Conclusions: Available epidemiological evidence is insufficient to support a positive association between depression and breast cancer.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.247-253
• /
• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the accuracy of two different fluid intake measurement methods (fluid only vs. all dietary intake) in measuring fluid balance compared to body weight change among patients with cancers. Methods: A total of 60 cancer patients in an urban cancer center in South Korea participated in the study. Adult patients who were over 18 years old; having 24-hour I&O order; and taking either normal regular diet or soft blend diet were included. Demographic information and disease related information were also gathered. The data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 program. Results: Measuring 'fluid only' for oral intake was a more accurate measure than measuring 'all dietary intake' (p=.026 vs. p=.094). Both methods had positive correlations with the amount of weight change (r=.329, p=.010; r=.303, p=.019). Measuring body weight was a more accurate and efficient way of evaluating the fluid balance than 24 hour cumulative I&O. Conclusion: Developing clinical manual for selecting proper patients who needs fluid balance monitoring is imperative. Administering weight check and/or 24 hour cumulative I&O should be considered thoroughly based on solid nursing evidence in future.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
• /
• v.12B no.5 s.101
• /
• pp.567-576
• /
• 2005

This paper proposes an image-based modeling method which recovers 3D models using projected line segments in multiple images. Using the method, a user obtains accurate 3D model data via several steps of simple manual works. The embedded nonlinear minimization technique in the model parameter estimation stage is based on the distances between the user provided image line segments and the projected line segments of primitives. We define an error using a finite line segment and thus increase accuracy in the model parameter estimation. The error is defined as the sum of differences between the observed image line segments provided by the user and the predicted image line segments which are computed using the current model parameters and camera parameters. The method is robust in a sense that it recovers 3D structures even from partially occluded objects and it does not be seriously affected by small measurement errors in the reconstruction process. This paper also describesexperimental results from real images and difficulties and tricks that are found while implementing the image-based modeler.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
• /
• v.34 no.8
• /
• pp.752-762
• /
• 2007

The PSP (Personal Software Process) is developed to help developers make high-quality products through improving their personal process. With consistent measurement and analysis activity that the PSP suggests, developers can identify process deficiencies and make reliable estimates on effort and quality. However, due to the high-overhead and context-switching problem of manual data recording, developers have difficulties in collecting reliable data, which can lead wrong analysis results. On the other hand, the paper-based process guides of the PSP are inconvenient to navigate its process information and difficult to attach additional information. In this paper, we introduce a PSP supporting tool developed to handle these problems. The tool provides automated data collection facilities to help acquire reliable data, an EPG (Electronic Process Guide) for the PSP to provide easy access and navigation of the process information, and an experience repository to store development experience as additional information about the process.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.19-27
• /
• 2015

Purpose: A system to measure the visibility of agricultural tractor operators was designed and evaluated according to ISO standards, and a blind area diagram around the tested tractor was created based on the manual method recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Methods: A visibility measurement system was designed and evaluated based on the ISO 5006 and ISO 5721-1 standards. Two bulbs used to simulate the operator's eyes were mounted on a bar with a supporting frame. A wooden frame was used to determine the seat index point position. The 12-m visibility test circle was divided into six sectors of vision, and the test tractor was placed at the center of the circle. Artificial light was supplied in the darkened environment, and shadow or masking effects were measured manually around the 12-m circle. Results: When the bulbs were placed at the operator's eye level, front visibility was good; no masking was found in the "A" vision sector, but larger masking widths were found in the "B" and "C" vision sectors. Since the masking width exceeded 700 mm, additional tests, such as movement of the light sources to both sides of the operator's eye level, were performed. Less than six masking effects were found in the semi-circle of vision to the front, and more than one masking was found in the "B" and "C" visual fields. The minimum distance between the centers of two masking effects exceeded 2500 mm when measured as a chord on the semi-circle of vision. A blind area diagram was created to define the exact nature of the blind spots and mirror visibility. Conclusions: Visibility evaluation is an effective way to enable proper and safe operation for agricultural tractor operators. Inclusion of this visibility evaluation test in the general testing process might aid tractor manufacturers.