• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.199-209
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• 2024

Objective: This study aimed to compare therapeutic efficacy and technical outcomes between adjustable electrode (AE) and conventional fixed electrode (FE) for radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of benign thyroid nodules. Materials and Methods: Between 2013 and 2021, RFA was performed on histologically proven benign thyroid nodules. For the AE method, AE length ≥ 1 cm with higher power and < 1 cm with lower power were utilized for ablating feeding vessels and nodules, especially those near anatomical structures, respectively. The therapeutic efficacy (volume reduction rate [VRR], complication rate, and regrowth rate) and technical outcomes (total energy delivery, ablated volume/energy, RFA time, and ablated volume/time) of FE and AE were compared. Continuous parameters were compared using a two-sample t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, and categorical parameters were compared using a chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. Results: A total of 182 nodules (FE: 92 vs. AE: 90) in 173 patients (mean age ± standard deviation, 47.0 ± 14.7 years; female, 90.8% [157/173]; median follow-up, 726 days [interquartile range, 441-1075 days]) were analyzed. The therapeutic efficacy was comparable, whereas technical outcomes were more favorable for AE. Both electrodes demonstrated comparable overall median VRR (FE: 92.4% vs. AE: 84.9%, P = 0.240) without immediate major complications. Overall regrowth rates were comparable between the two groups (FE: 2.2% [2/90] vs. AE: 1.1% [1/90], P > 0.99). AE demonstrated a shorter median RFA time (FE: 811 vs. AE: 627 seconds, P = 0.009). Both delivered comparable median energy (FE: 42.8 vs. AE: 29.2 kJ, P = 0.069), but AE demonstrated higher median ablated volume/energy and median ablated volume/time (FE: 0.2 vs. AE: 0.3 cc/kJ, P < 0.001; and FE: 0.7 vs. AE: 1.0 cc/min, P < 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Therapeutic efficacy between FE and AE was comparable. AE demonstrated better technical outcomes than FE in terms of RFA time, ablated volume/energy, and ablated volume/time.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.49-54
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• 2000

Cr-Mo-V steel is widely used as a material for the turbine structural component in fossil power plants. It is well known that this material shows the various material degradation phenomenons such as temper embrittlement, carbide coarsening. and softening etc. or ins to the severe operation conditions as high temperature and high pressure. These deteriorative factors cause tile change of mechanical properties as reduction of fracture toughness. Therefor it is necessary to evaluate tile extent of degradation damage for Cr-Mo-V steel in life assessment of turbine structural components. In this paper. the electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation(EPR) test in $50wt%-Ca(NO_3)_2$ solution is performed to develop the newly technique for degradation damage evaluation of Cr-Mo-V steel. The results obtained from the EPR test are compared with those in small punch(SP) tests recommended by semi-nondestructive testing method using miniaturized specimen. The evaluation parameters used in EPR test are tile reactivation current density$(I_R)$ and charge$(Q_{RC})$ reactivation rate$(I_R/I_{Crit},\;Q_R/Q_{Crit})$. The results suggest that $I_R/I_{Crit}$ in these parameters shows a good correlation with SP test results.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.131-137
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• 2007

In this study, the biodegradation test on lignocellulose under sulfate reducing conditions was carried out. In particular, the interaction between cellulose and lignin was investigated with various g-cellulose/g-lignin (C/L) ratios: 42.15, 4.59, 2.51, 1.14 and 0.7. It was shown that the rate of cellulose degradation decreased in proportion to the lignin content. Assuming first order degradation kinetics, the consequences of competitive inhibition were graphically shown for different C/L ratios. The relation between cellulose reduction rate and C/L ratio was expressed by logarithm function with a determination coefficient of 0.97. Lignocellulose reduction rate was also described as a logarithm function of C/L ratio showing a inhibition effect by lignin. In the mean time, the rate of lignin decomposition was higher at C/L ratio of 2.51 and 1.14 compared with C/L ratios of 4.59 and 0.7, indicating that excessive extra carbon source is not appropriate for lignin biodegradation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.1398-1408
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• 2003

Tensile and LCF(low cycle fatigue) tests were carried out in air at wide temperature range 20$^{\circ}C$-750$^{\circ}C$ and strain rates of 1${\times}$10$\^$-4//s-1${\times}$10$\^$-2/ to ascertain the influence of strain rate on tensile and LCF properties of prior cold worked 316L stainless steel, especially focused on the DSA(dynamic strain aging) regime. Dynamic strain aging induced the change of tensile properties such as strength and ductility in the temperature region 250$^{\circ}C$-600$^{\circ}C$ and this temperature region well coincided with the negative strain rate sensitivity regime. Cyclic stress response at all test conditions was characterized by the initial hardening during a few cycles, followed by gradual softening until final failure. Temperature and strain rate dependence on cyclic softening behavior appears to result from the change of the cyclic plastic deformation mechanism and DSA effect. The DSA regimes between tensile and LCF loading conditions in terms of the negative strain rate sensitivity were well consistent with each other. The drastic reduction in fatigue resistance at elevated temperature was observed, and it was attributed to the effects of oxidation, creep and dynamic strain aging or interactions among them. Especially, in the DSA regime, dynamic strain aging accelerated the reduction of fatigue resistance by enhancing crack initiation and propagation.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.461-474
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to present a making method of jeans pattern with high fitness after deriving the appropriate shrinkage rate by material and washing process. Research Method of jeans pattern was presented after applying the optimized shrinkage rate. According to the result of the exterior evaluation of test jeans, all 6 jeans were rated high with scores close to 3.5. Following the evaluation of satisfaction of usage by physical movement, the highest ranking was in the order of walking with normal steps, back bending $90^{\circ}$, chair sitting, climbing stairs, and squatting. The shrinkage rate by physical area showed the highest score in the order of pants length, waist circumference, thigh circumference, knee circumference, hem circumference, hips circumference. In addition, the shrinkage rate was higher in warp direction than weft direction after washing finishing. As for the result of addition and reduction of pattern measurements by parts of jeans, waist circumference was $2.5{\sim}5.2cm$, hips circumference was $-1.8{\sim}2.8cm$, thigh circumference was $-1.3{\sim}2.0cm$ and knee circumference was $-1.0{\sim}1.7cm$. Also, hem circumference was $-1.0{\sim}1.8cm$ and pants length was $2.9{\sim}6.2cm$. That is, this results showed a wide range of addition and reduction according to material and washing finishing.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.42-47
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• 2001

This paper improves the performance of VAD (Voice Activity Detector) in G.723.1 Annex A 6.3kbps/5.3kbps dual rate speech coder, which is developed for Internet Phone and videoconferencing. The VAD decision is based on a three-level energy threshold. We evaluates for processing time, speech quality, and bit rate. The processing time is reduced due to the accuracy of VAD decision on the silence period. On subjective quality test there is almost no difference compared with the G.723.1. In order to measure the bit rate we count the active speech frame (VAD=1) and we can reduce more bit rate as silence periods are shown.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1491-1501
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• 2017

In this paper, we propose a method to measure respiration rate by dividing the respiration related region in depth image using level set method. In the conventional method, the respiration related region was separated using the pre-defined region designated by the user. We separate the respiration related region using level set method combining shape prior knowledge. Median filter and clipping are performed as a preprocessing method for noise reduction in the depth image. As a feasibility test, respiration activity was recorded using depth camera in various environments with arm movements or body movements during breathing. Respiration activity was also measured simultaneously using a chest belt to verify the accuracy of calculated respiration rate. Experimental results show that our proposed method shows good performance for respiration rate estimation in various situation compared with the conventional method.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.360-368
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• 2017

In order to investigate the durability of high performance polymer concrete composites, polymer concrete specimens were prepared using the ortho-type unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) and iso-type UPR as a polymer binder and the calcium carbonate and silica fine powder as a filler. The durability of polymer concrete specimens was measured by hot water resistance, chemical resistance, pore analysis and SEM observation. The compressive strength of the specimen using the iso-type UPR was higher than that of using the ortho-type UPR, and the compressive strength of the specimen using the silica fine powder was higher than that of using the calcium carbonate filler. From hot water resistance results, it was found that the specimen using the iso-type UPR was superior to that of using the ortho-type UPR and the specimen using the calcium carbonate filler was superior to that of using the silica fine powder. The compressive strength reduction rate was measured after the chemical resistance test and the sodium hydroxide solution showed the highest reduction rate, followed by sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid and calcium chloride solutions. When using the alkaline solution of sodium hydroxide, the weight reduction rate of the specimen using calcium carbonate was lower than that of using silica fine powder, while for the acidic solutions of sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid, the weight reduction rate of the specimen using the silica fine powder was lower than that of using calcium carbonate.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.94-103
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• 2016

For elevated railway station on which track is connected with superstructure of station, structural vibration level and structure-borne-noise level has exceeded the reference level due to structural characteristics which transmits vibration directly. Therefore, existing elevated railway station is in need of economical and effective vibration reduction method which enable train service without interruption. In this study, structural vibration non-transmissible system which is applied to vibroisolating material for column member is developed to reduce vibration. That system is cut covering material of the column section using water-jet method and is installed with vibroisolating material on cut section. To verify vibration reduction effect and structural performance for structural vibration non-transmissible system, impact hammer test and cyclic lateral load test are performed for 1/4 scale test specimens. It is observed that natural period which means vibration response characteristics is shifted, and damping ratio is increased about 15~30% which means that system is effective to reduce structural vibration through vibration test. Also load-displacement relation and stiffness change rate of the columns are examined, and it is shown that ductility and energy dissipation capacity is increased. From test results, it is found that vibration non-transmissible system which is applied to column member enable to maintains structural function.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.498-503
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• 2007

The performance of elutriated acid fermentation to evaluate the effects of microwave irradiation and pH control as pretreatment was investigated. The MW pH 7 reactor which was used the pretreated primary sludge as microwave irradiation was operated at pH 7 and $35^{\circ}C$. The EAF pH 9 reactor was operated at pH 9 and $35^{\circ}C$ without pretreatment. The SCOD and VFAs production rate were 0.17 gSeOD/gVSrem. and 0.27 gVFAs as COD/gVSrem. in MW pH 7 reactor, 0.16 gSCOD/gVSrem. and 0.24 gVFAs as COD/gVSrem. in EAF pH 9 reactor, respectively. VS and Volume reduction were 54% and 48% in MW pH 7 reactor, 54.6% and 36% in EAF pH 9 reactor, respectively. A comparison of the microwave irradiation and controlled pH in elutriated acid fermentation showed that the former is more efficient in SCOD and VFAs production and it rises to slightly higher reduction in the volume of the sludge. In addition, E. coli. was not detected in the wasting sludge of MW pH 7 reactor. Based on the results, microwave irradiation appeared to be one of the viable options for generating class A sludge. According to the batch tests, sequencing batch test which was used the pretreated primary sludge as microwave was performed at pH 7 and $35^{\circ}C$, SCOD production was 0.16 gSCOD/gVSrem., VS reduction and volume reduction were 64% and 63%, respectively.