• Title/Summary/Keyword: Scientific data

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Genetic radiation risks: a neglected topic in the low dose debate

  • Schmitz-Feuerhake, Inge;Busby, Christopher;Pflugbeil, Sebastian
    • Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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    • v.31
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    • pp.1.1-1.13
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    • 2016
  • Objectives To investigate the accuracy and scientific validity of the current very low risk factor for hereditary diseases in humans following exposures to ionizing radiation adopted by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation and the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The value is based on experiments on mice due to reportedly absent effects in the Japanese atomic bomb (A-bomb) survivors. Methods To review the published evidence for heritable effects after ionising radiation exposures particularly, but not restricted to, populations exposed to contamination from the Chernobyl accident and from atmospheric nuclear test fallout. To make a compilation of findings about early deaths, congenital malformations, Down's syndrome, cancer and other genetic effects observed in humans after the exposure of the parents. To also examine more closely the evidence from the Japanese A-bomb epidemiology and discuss its scientific validity. Results Nearly all types of hereditary defects were found at doses as low as one to 10 mSv. We discuss the clash between the current risk model and these observations on the basis of biological mechanism and assumptions about linear relationships between dose and effect in neonatal and foetal epidemiology. The evidence supports a dose response relationship which is non-linear and is either biphasic or supralinear (hogs-back) and largely either saturates or falls above 10 mSv. Conclusions We conclude that the current risk model for heritable effects of radiation is unsafe. The dose response relationship is non-linear with the greatest effects at the lowest doses. Using Chernobyl data we derive an excess relative risk for all malformations of 1.0 per 10 mSv cumulative dose. The safety of the Japanese A-bomb epidemiology is argued to be both scientifically and philosophically questionable owing to errors in the choice of control groups, omission of internal exposure effects and assumptions about linear dose response.

Electrochemical Detection of $17{\beta}-estradiol$ by using DNA Aptamer Immobilized Nanowell Gold Electrodes

  • Kim, Yeon-Seok;Jung, Ho-Sup;Lee, Hea-Yeon;Kawai, Tomoji;Gu, Man-Bock
    • 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2005.04a
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    • pp.88-92
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    • 2005
  • Aptamer is the single-stranded oligonucleotide which binds to various target molecules such as proteins, peptides, lipids and small organic molecules with high affinity and specificity. DNA aptamers specific for the $17{\beta}-estradiol$ were selected by SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment) process from a random DNA library. These DNA aptamers have a high affinity to $17{\beta}-estradiol$ as an endocrine disrupting chemical. Nanowell and $200{\mu}m$ gold electrode were used as substrate for DNA aptamer immobilization and electrochemical analysis. Especially, nanowell gold electrode was fabricated by e-beam lithography. The size of single nanowell is 130nm and 40,000 nanowells were deposited on one gold electrode. The immobilization method was based on the interaction between the biotinylated aptamer and streptavidin deposited on gold electrode previously. Immobilization procedure was optimized by surface plasma resonance (SPR) and electrochemical analysis. After the immobilization of DNA aptamer on streptavidin modified gold electrode, $17{\beta}-estradiol$ solution was treated on aptamer immobilized gold electrode. The current of gold electrode was decreased by the binding of $17{\beta}-estradiol$ to DNA aptamer immobilized on gold electrode. However, in negative control experiments of 1-aminoanthraquinone and 2-methoxynaphthalene, the current was rarely decreased. And more sensitive data was obtained from nanowell gold electrode comparing with $200{\mu}m$ gold electrode.

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Rock cavern stadium. A research program related to public use of Underground caverns

  • Meland, Oystein
    • Tunnel and Underground Space
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.95-101
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    • 1992
  • Norwegian technology related to preinvestigations, planning, design and construction of large underground caverns is wellknown worldwide. However, so far this technology is only slightly verified through scientiffic reports and documentation. The "Rock cavern stadium" research program is an interdisciplinary program related to the ongoing building and future use of Gjovik Olympic Subsite which is the largest cavern in the world for public purposes with a span of 61 meters and a height of 25 meters. The estimated budget for this program is about USD 4 million which is made possible through grants from The Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research as well as through contributions from Norwegian and Swedish companies that are participating. The program is carried out in collaboration with The Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research at the Norwegian Institute of Technology. The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute and The Eastern Norway Research Center. The research program will continue until the end of 1994 to ensure that input comes from a full period of use in this stadium with different activities like exhibitions, conferences, concerts etc being included as verification through full-scale measurements and observations. The research program has five subtasks. Three of these are related to subjects like Energy consumption. HVAC installations. Fire safety design, Engineering geology and Rock mechanics, Environmental aspects. The fourth subtask is concerned with the collection of basic data, results and experience from these three subtasks to provide a basis for national Norwegian guidelines related to this interdisciplinary subject area. The guidelines will first be presented as a manual for planning and engineering purposes. The realization of this research program is a unique opportunity to enhance the expertise that has been acquired from this cavern stadium. By involving research in this extraordinary project from the excavation and building phase to its subsequent use. this will give the participants know-how and expertise which is very much in demand internationally. The coordination of the international activities between the participants as well as preparation of participations and presentations in international conferences and symposium are included in the fifth task of this national research program.

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A theoretical Study on the Motive of Movement in Animation (애니메이션의 Movement 동인(動因)에 대한 이론적 고찰)

  • Lee Sang-Won
    • Journal of Science of Art and Design
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    • v.3
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    • pp.62-86
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    • 2001
  • This study is based on theoretical background about movements of visual communication highlighted in digital age. Such movements are variously expressed in animation with the advancement of media, and their expression has great effect on visual art. Artists' concern and endeavor about movement expression techniques have been continued by impressionism, expressionism, futurism, cubism closely related with the birth of movie from late 19th century to early 20th century. At that time, stationary 2D space in plane screen couldn't express movement or time directly. Later, artists and designers have attempted to approach illusions in pictures or 4 dimension and movements by 2D or 3D computer graphics. The visual image in present digital age is to see, to hear, to feel by timing, so it is necessary for the most efficient way of message communication. And then, it is the time to start new, scientific, and creative study about production techniques of animation and expression of movements, since domestic animation productions are rapidly changed from cell to digital. The aim of this study is to clarify the motive of movement by theoretical inquiry of animation. Various aspects of animation as synthetic art have been examined by mathematical, scientific, and philosophical viewpoint. The results will be useful to the expression of motions for maximization of emotional effect in animation production or basic data of virtual simulation about certain situation. Therefore, such study should be managed as multidisciplinary research in the rapidly changing visual culture paradigm. namely, animation includes much more imaginative & creative power than simple function or techniques, so it has to be recognized as special synthetic art(visual art) constructing an area, the formative art with philosophical viewpoint and scientific principles.

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Development of a VR Juggler-based Virtual Reality Interface for Scientific Visualization Application (과학적 가시화 어플리케이션을 위한 VR Juggler 기반 가상현실 인터페이스 개발)

  • Gu, Gibeom;Hwang, Gyuhyun;Hur, YoungJu
    • KIISE Transactions on Computing Practices
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    • v.22 no.10
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    • pp.488-496
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    • 2016
  • In this paper, we introduce a virtual reality interface for scientific visualization applications. Our VR interface is based on an open-source framework called VR Juggler. Although VR Juggler has its own advantages, it lacks some of the important functionalities needed for practical applications - event handling, synchronization and data sharing among cluster nodes, to name a few. We explain how these issues are resolved while developing the VR interface. Also, a new interface with a smart device, which replaces the virtual reality input device, is introduced. Finally, system usability test results are provided to prove the effectiveness of the proposed interfaces.

Taxonomic Status of Endemic Plants in Korea

  • Kim, Kun-Ok;Hong, Sun-Hee;Lee, Yong-Ho;Na, Chae-Sun;Kang, Byeung-Hoa;Son, Yo-Whan
    • Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.32 no.4
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    • pp.277-293
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    • 2009
  • Disagreement among the various publications providing lists of Korean endemic plants makes confusion inevitable. We summarized the six previous reports providing comprehensive lists of endemic plants in Korea: 407 taxa in Lee (1982), 570 taxa in Paik (1994), 759 taxa in Kim (2004), 328 taxa in Korea National Arboretum (2005), 515 taxa in the Ministry of Environment (2005) and 289 taxa in Flora of Korea Editorial Committee (2007). The total number of endemic plants described in the previous reports was 970 taxa, including 89 families, 302 genera, 496 species, 3 subspecies, 218 varieties, and 253 formae. Endemic plants listed four times or more were collected to compare the data in terms of scientific names and synonyms (339 taxa in 59 families and 155 genera). If the varieties and formae were excluded, the resulting number of endemic plants was 252 taxa for the 339 purported taxa analyzed. Seven of the 155 genera analyzed were Korean endemic genera. Among the 339 taxa, the same scientific names were used in the original publications for 256 taxa (76%), while different scientific names were used for 83 taxa (24%). The four largest families were Compositae (42 taxa, 12.4%), Ranunculaceae (19 taxa, 5.6%), Rosaceae (19 taxa, 5.6%), and Scrophulariaceae (19 taxa, 5.6%). Saussurea (Compositae) had the highest number of taxa within one genus (17 taxa; 5% of total endemic taxa).

The Contribution of University-business Interaction to Innovation: Bibliometric Analysis (대학과 기업 간 상호협력에 따른 혁신창출 -계량서지학적 분석-)

  • Beck, Yeong Ki
    • Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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    • v.15 no.4
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    • pp.493-514
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    • 2012
  • Research collaboration between industry and universities is high on many policy agenda's nowadays, especially with regard to science-based technological innovation. Nonetheless, there have been few attempts at examining large-scale systematic and quantitative data on the nature and extent of university-industry collaborations. The objective of this paper is to explore the patterns and trends of research collaborations between universities and companies for scientific knowledge production in the seven science-based technologies. This paper uses co-authored articles published in major scientific journals in the world as an indicator of collaborative scientific research between universities, companies and governmental research institutes. The tens of thousands of co-authorship papers in the northeast region in the US over the years 2006 to 2010 were analyzed for collaboration patterns and their spatial characteristics. This paper finds that there were increases both in the proportions of multiple authored, particularly five or more, papers, and in the volume of international collaborations. By examining a type of collaborations between different institutions, research collaboration between universities and companies in this region is relatively high share at national level. This suggests that the national or even international scale seems more appropriate for innovation policies.

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A Scientometric Analysis of 20 Years of Research on Breast Reconstruction Surgery: A Guide for Research Design and Journal Selection

  • Moghimi, Mehrdad;Fathi, Mehdi;Marashi, Ali;Kamani, Freshteh;Habibi, Gholamreza;Hirbod-Mobarakeh, Armin;Ghaemi, Marjan;Hosseinian-Sarajehlou, Mahdi
    • Archives of Plastic Surgery
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    • v.40 no.2
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    • pp.109-115
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    • 2013
  • Background Breast reconstruction refers to the rebuilding of a woman's breast using autologous tissue or prosthetic material to form a natural-looking breast. It is increasingly offered to women undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer. However, there is no systematic analysis available for the expanding area of research on breast reconstruction. Methods A bibliometric method was used to obtain a view of the scientific production about breast reconstruction by data extracted from the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). Specific parameters were retrieved from the ISI. Articles about breast reconstruction were analyzed to obtain a view of the topic's structure, history, and document relationships using HistCite software. Trends in the most influential publications and authors were analyzed. Results The number of articles was constantly increasing. Most highly cited articles described the methods of flap construction in the surgery. Other highly cited articles discussed the psychological or emotional aspects of breast reconstruction, skin sparing mastectomy, and breast reconstruction in the irradiated breast. Conclusions This was the first breast reconstruction scientometric analysis, representing the characteristics of papers and the trends of scientific production. A constant increase in the number of breast reconstruction papers and also the increasing number of citations shows that there is an increasing interest in this area of medical science. It seems that most of the research in this field is focused on the technical aspects of surgery.

A Registry Program for Familial Gastric Cancer Patients Referred to Cancer Institute of Iran

  • Etemadi, Mehrnoosh;Pourian, Mandana;Shakib, Asyeh;Sabokbar, Tayebeh;Peyghanbari, Vahideh;Shirkoohi, Reza
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.5
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    • pp.2141-2144
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    • 2014
  • Background: Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death. It has a poor prognosis with only 5-10% of hereditary etiology. If it is diagnosed, it could be helpful for screening the other susceptible members of a family for preventive procedures. Usually it is identified by symptoms such as presence of cancer in different members of family, some special type of pathology such as diffused adenocarcinoma, having younger age and multiple cancer syndromes. Hence, designing a registry program can be a more practical way to screen high risk families for a preventive program. Materials and Methods: Based on the inclusion criteria, a questionnaire was prepared. After pilot on a small number of patients, the actual data was collected from 197 patients and processed in SPSS 16.0. Results: Totally, 11.8% of the patients were younger than 45 years old. Blood type 'A' was dominant and males had a higher risk behavior with higher consumption of unhealthy food. Adenocarcinoma was reported in majority of cases. 21.8% of the patients had the including criteria for familial gastric cancer (FGC). Conclusions: The high percentage of FGC population compared to the other studies have revealed a need to design an infrastructural diagnostic protocol and screening program for patients with FGC, plus preventive program for family members at risk which could be done by a precise survey related to frequency and founder mutations of FGC in a national registry program.

Measuring the Scientific Benefits from the Deep-sea Human-operated Vehicle Project: A Choice Experiment Study (선택실험법을 이용한 심해 유인잠수정 개발사업의 과학기술적 경제적 편익추정)

  • Jin, Se-Jun;Lim, Seul-Ye;Park, Se-Hun;Yoo, Seung-Hoon
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.36 no.3
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    • pp.277-288
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    • 2014
  • The Korean government is considering the implementation of a project to develop a deep-sea human-operated vehicle (HOV) to improve the level of deep-sea research. Information on the scientific benefits from the project is urgently needed in order to come to a decision about whether to implement the project. This paper measures the conservation value of developing nine attributes associated with HOV by using the choice experiment (CE). A survey of about 356 experts was undertaken and 132 experts completely responded to the survey. To deal with the CE data from the survey, we employed a multinomial logit model. All the coefficient estimates are statistically significant and consistent with prior expectations. Therefore, we can judge that the respondents' works required in the CE survey were within their cognitive abilities and they reported responsible and significant values. Each marginal willingness to pay for each attribute associated with the HOV is statistically significant and provides good information on the scientific values with regard to developing the HOV. The results can be utilized in evaluating and planning several alternatives related to developing the HOV.