• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.705-710
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• 2012

Research involving discomfort or pain related to haptic vibratory stimulation the for prosthesis users of myoelectrical hand is very lacking. Our objective of this study was to evaluate the displeasure and sensitivity of areas in forearm using vibration stimulation system between upper limb amputees and non-amputees. Twenty transradial amputees and forty non-amputees (20 youth, 20 elderly) were involved. We set up custom-made vibration stimulation system including eight actuators (4 medial parts and 4 lateral parts) and GUI-based acquisition system, to investigate changes of residual somatosensory sensibility and displeasure at proximal 25% of forearm. Eight vibration actuators were attached to the circumference of proximal 25% point of forearm at regular intervals. Sensitivity tests were used to stimulate the 120Hz and discomfort experiment was used to 37 ~ 223Hz. The subjective responses were evaluated by 10 point scale. The results showed that both groups were similar in sensitive areas. Response at around of radius was most sensitive than other areas in all subjects. Elderly group do not appear discomfort of vibrotactile; however, youth group and amputee presented discomfort of vibrotactile. Prosthesis with a vibrotactile feedback system should be developed considering the sensitivity. Furthermore, Future studies should investigate the scope of application of that principle.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.83-92
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• 2011

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease and is led to physical disability. Yet the development of effective disease-modifying treatments has lagged. In this study, I examined the effect of physical therapeutic intervention through microcurrent stimulation and attempt to find which degree of intensity, either 25 ${\mu}A$ or 500 ${\mu}A$ with a regular 5 pps pulse, is more effective in the osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis was induced with a mixture of 2% carrageenan and 2% kaolin in 26 male Sprague-Dawley rats. The mixture (0.1 $m{\ell}$) was injected into the intra-articular capsule of knee joint once a week for three weeks. Five animals did not show degenerative changes by radiological findings and excluded in the following experiment. Osteoarthritic animals were randomly divided into 3 groups ($n_1$, $n_2$, $n_3$=7/each): untreated, treated with 25 ${\mu}A$, treated with 500 ${\mu}A$. All experimental groups received microcurrent stimulation for four weeks (15 min/day, 5 days/week). The ethological inspection of foot print analysis on the walking corridor was accomplished every week. Histological preparations and immunohistochemical staining with insulin-like growth factor-1 were also done in the articular cartilages. All of these parameters were compared with those of osteoarthritic control group (n=7). The ethological inspection of foot print analysis revealed that changes of walking track (paw width) and stride length was significantly increased in both experimental groups. The better results were observed in experimental group treated with 25 ${\mu}A$ intensity without significance than group treated with 500 ${\mu}A$. Histological preparations disclosed that routine hyaline cartilage of articular surface were altered to fibrous cartilage in untreated group and experimental group treated with 500 ${\mu}A$ intensity. But a little changes were seen in experimental group treated with 25 ${\mu}A$ intensity. Immunolocalization of insulin-like growth factor-1 was simultaneously decreased according to the duration of osteoarthritis, and did not show significant difference among the groups. In this study discovered that the microcurrent stimulation, especially 25 ${\mu}A$ intensity, had a positive effect by the ethological inspection, histological and immunohistochemical stainings. These results suggest that microcurrent stimulation with low-intensity might be effective in the promotion of healing process for the osteoarthritis.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 2009

In accordance with the development of EEG and polysomnography in the field of sleep research, the sleep onset period (SOP) between wakefulness and sleep has been considered an important part for understanding the physiology of sleep. SOP in the transition from wakefulness to sleep is a gradual process integrating various viewpoints such as behavior, EEG, physiology and subjective report. Particularly, based on understanding of EEG changes during sleep, SOP has been regarded as a pattern of topographical change in specific frequency and specific state in EEG. Studies on quantitative EEG (qEEG) and event-related potential (ERP) have suggested that SOP shows the changes of functional coordination at the specific cortical areas in qEEG and the changes of regular patterns in response to environmental stimulation in ERP. The development of sleep EEG and topographic mapping of EEG is expected to integrate various viewpoints of SOP and clarify the neurophysiologic mechanism of SOP further.

• 대한핵의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.05b
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• pp.77-95
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• 2002

During the last several decades, prognosis of differentiated thvroid cancers improved markedly, mainly due to refinement of surgical techniques and routine use of radioactive iodine. Total or neat-total thyroidectomy is to be performed as the first line of treatment. Routine remnant ablation just after surgery decreases recurrence and increases survival. After then patients are maintained on suppressive dose of thyroid hormone to keep endogenous TSH below normal. Regular follow-up of the patients with serum thyroglobulin measurement and iodine whole body scan after thyroid hormone withdrawal or under recombinant human thyrotropin stimulation select high risk patients with recurrence or metastatic disease and treatment with therapeutic dose of radioactive iodine prolongs survival and sometimes leads cure. Currently recommended diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, present controversies and future directions are discussed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.1019-1023
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• 2001

An on-farm trial was conducted in temperature-controlled lactation rooms at a commercial pig farm to investigate the efficacy of broadcasting sow suckling grunts from day 4 of lactation, on increasing piglet growth to weaning. In the Broadcast treatment, sows and litters were exposed to a 3-min broadcast from loud-speakers every 42 min. The Control treatment was not exposed to the broadcast. All sows and litters had similar husbandry and piglets were provided with creep feed on the floor twice daily. In each of the three replicates in time, the Broadcast and Control treatments were allocated to different lactation rooms at random and there were 12 sows and litters per treatment per replicate. A total of four identical lactation rooms were available for the trial, each containing 28 conventional sow and litter crates with piglet heater in the creep area. A non-trial room separated the two treatment rooms in each replicate to minimise the chance that the broadcast grunt stimulation was audible to the Control treatment litters. Five "normal and average-looking" piglets from the trial litters were weighed twice, 7 d apart. The cohort of five piglets was identified by ear-tags and formed the experimental unit for the statistical analysis. The average (${\pm}SD$) age of piglets at initial weighing was 7.7(${\pm}2.22$) days. For each litter, mean piglet live weight at day 14 of lactation was estimated by linear regression of the two weights recorded seven days apart, when on average, the Broadcast treatment had been exposed to the stimulation for 10 days. Piglets in the Broadcast treatment were heavier (p<0.01) at day 14 of lactation compared to Control treatment (4.24 and 3.92 kg, respectively) and tended to have a greater average daily weight gain over the 7-d period (245 and 228 g/day, respectively; p<0.08). The results suggest piglet growth was improved by about 8% in response to the regular, timed broadcast of sow suckling grunts in the lactation shed. The independent contributions of milk and creep feed to the improved growth remain to be determined.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.137-143
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• 1998

The effects of continuous GH(hGH) secretion on the female reproduction was studies in adults female transgenic rats expressing the hGH gene with a mouse whey acid protein (mWAP) promotor. Two line of transgenic female rats carrying the mWAP/hGH gene were established and used in the study. One was characterized by relatively high levels of serum hGH (high line), and the other had relatively low levels (low line). 1. High line female rats had recurring, Pseudopregancy-like estrous cycles accompanied by increased serum progesterone level for 2 weeks after ovulation, and they were fertile. 2. In the rats, luteinization occurred spontaneously without cervical stimulation, probably due to high levels of serum hGH, which has prolactin (PRL)-like activity in the rat. 3. Low line female rats had recurring, regular 4-days estrous PRL surge following cervical stimulation were not, detected and PRL secretion was not induced by a dopamine antagonist. 4. The ovarian tissue in this line had a much higher number of corpora lutea and grew much heavier than in normal littermates, suggesting impairment of PRL induced structural luteolized. Su, pp.ession of PRL secretion in the low line rats was, at least in part, due to a marked decrease in the number of lactotrophs in the pituitary. The present study shows that the serum hGH level plays a crucial role in regulating luteal function in female transgenic rats expressing the hGH gene.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.41-46
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• 2014

IVM refers to the maturation of immature oocytes in culture after their recovery from small antral follicles at the stage prior to selection and dominance. IVM requires little or no FSH in vivo and has been proposed as an alternative to conventional IVF, since it reduces the primary adverse effects caused by controlled ovarian stimulation, including the ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Moreover, IVM is a promising option for cases for which no standard protocol is suitable, such as FSH resistance, contraindications for ovarian stimulatory drugs, and the need for urgent fertility preservation. Recently, IVM has been used in women with regular cycles and normal ovaries. However, the pregnancy rate following IVM is suboptimal compared with that of conventional IVF, indicating that further studies to optimize the protocol and the culture conditions are warranted.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.165-181
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• 2024

The slow and regular pacemaking activity of midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons requires proper spatial organization of the excitable elements between the soma and dendritic compartments, but the somatodendritic organization is not clear. Here, we show that the dynamic interaction between the soma and multiple proximal dendritic compartments (PDCs) generates the slow pacemaking activity in DA neurons. In multipolar DA neurons, spontaneous action potentials (sAPs) consistently originate from the axon-bearing dendrite. However, when the axon initial segment was disabled, sAPs emerge randomly from various primary PDCs, indicating that multiple PDCs drive pacemaking. Ca²⁺ measurements and local stimulation/perturbation experiments suggest that the soma serves as a stably-oscillating inertial compartment, while multiple PDCs exhibit stochastic fluctuations and high excitability. Despite the stochastic and excitable nature of PDCs, their activities are balanced by the large centrally-connected inertial soma, resulting in the slow synchronized pacemaking rhythm. Furthermore, our electrophysiological experiments indicate that the soma and PDCs, with distinct characteristics, play different roles in glutamate-induced burst-pause firing patterns. Excitable PDCs mediate excitatory burst responses to glutamate, while the large inertial soma determines inhibitory pause responses to glutamate. Therefore, we could conclude that this somatodendritic organization serves as a common foundation for both pacemaker activity and evoked firing patterns in midbrain DA neurons.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.293-300
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• 1996

During the development of hepatic encephalopathy after thioacetamide (TAA) injection to rat, EEG was recorded at two different states: without or with tactile stimulation of tail at regular intervals. Calculations based on the spectral and band analysis were used. The changes in the power spectra and bands were examined in 3 different behavioral stages: normal, mild ataxia and severe ataxia. In normal rats, the stimulation produced the increase in the power of the theta $(3.5{\sim}8\;Hz)$ and the gamma $(30{\sim}50\;Hz)$ bands. These changes could not be produced in rats with the mild and severe ataxia. The changes in the power of the theta band occurred earlier than those of the beta3 and the gamma bands in the stimulated state. Gradual decreases in the spectral power of the beta3 $(21{\sim}30\;Hz)$ and the gamma bands were correlated with the progress of the stages from normal condition to mild to severe ataxia in both unstimulated and stimulated states. The results indicate that the spectral and band analysis used in this study can quantify the severity of the neurological malfunction during HE.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.371-379
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to develop basic data in improving quality of life along with the enhancement in oral health, by arranging a plan for being able to reduce dental fear given the dental treatment in the future by grasping the subjective oral health recognition & status, and the dental fear level of the dental treatment field targeting patients of visiting dental clinics in Busan and Gyeongnam area. In the whole items of DFS, a sense of fear was higher in women than men. A factor of avoiding dental treatment stood at 1.72 points in men and 2.10 points(p<0.001) in women. A factor of response to stimulation stood at 2.75 points in men and 3.20 points(p=0.001) in women. A fear level according to dental kind was high in a factor of avoiding implant treatment(p=0.015), a factor of avoiding orthodontic treatment(p=0.002), physiological reaction(p=0.009), a factor of avoiding prosthesis treatment(p=0.014), a factor of avoiding pulpectomy treatment(p=0.005), a factor of physiological reaction(p=0.017), a factor of avoiding periodontal therapy(p=0.013), a factor of physiological reaction(p=0.004), and a factor of avoiding treatment given not receiving regular checkup(p=0.027). In the above results, to reduce dental fear, there will be a need of developing diverse programs and oral health eduction for regular checkup and preventive treatment.