• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.43-47
• /
• 2012

Background and Objectives : Laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD) originates from regurgitation of gastric contents to the laryngopharynx, and it is relatively common disease in otolaryngology. Proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) medication is frequently using treatment method in present time, but controversies exist regarding treatment for it. High-resolution manometry (HRM) system is a newly developed device that using 36 channels and pressure topography plotting program, checking the function and status of esophagus. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical usefulness of HRM in LPRD patients who do not response to PPI medication. Materials and Method : From July 2009 to July 2010, a total of 99 patients who were suspected LPRD according to symptoms (Reflux Symptom Index >13) and laryngoscopic findings (Reflux Finding Score >7) were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Patients were consisted of 31 men and 68 women, the mean age was 51.8 years, the mean BMI was 22.46. Patients have taken PPI medication for 2 months, after medication, they performed HRM. Comparative analysis was performed with results of the difference in symptoms. Results : In 99 patients, 37 patients (37.4%) show not improvement of LPRD symptoms after PPI medication. Among them, 18 patients (48.6%) showed abnormal findings that were classified as Peristaltic dysfunction (38.9%), Diffuse esophageal spasm (11.1%), Relaxation impairment of LES (11.1%), Achalasia (5.6%), Hypotensive LES (11.1%), Relaxation impairment of UES (11.1%), Nutcracker esophagus (5.6%), Decreased resting pressure (5.6%). Other 62 patients (62.6%) show improvement of LPRD symptoms, 23 patients (37.1%) showed abnormal findings. Most common finding was Peristaltic dysfunction (43.4%) More prevalent abnormal findings of HRM were found in patients who revealed no response to PPI medication (48.6% vs. 37.1%), but it does not reach the statistical significance. Conclusion : Although statistical significances is not showed, the difference observed in the frequency of HRM abnormal finding between response and no response for PPI medication. It has been estimated that HRM may be used to determine differential diagnosis in patients with LPRD. Further studies in lager population containing normal controls will be needed to prove clinical usefulness.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.151-155
• /
• 2011

Background and Objectives : Laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD) originates from regurgitation of gastric contents to the laryngopharynx, and it is relatively common disease in otolaryngology. Proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) medication is frequently using treatment method in present time, but controversies exist regarding treatment for it. High-resolution manometry (HRM) system is a newly developed device that using 36 channels and pressure topography plotting program, checking the function and status of esophagus. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical usefulness of HRM in LPRD patients who do not response to PPI medication. Subjects and Method : From July 2009 to July 2010, a total of 99 patients who were suspected LPRD according to symptoms (Reflux Symptom Index >13) and laryngoscopic findings (Reflux Finding Score >7) were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Patients were consisted of 31 men and 68 women, the mean age was 51.8 years, the mean BMI was 22.46. Patients have taken PPI medication for 2 months, after medication, they performed HRM. Comparative analysis was performed with results of the difference in symptoms. Results : In 99 patients, 37 patients (37.4%) show not improvement of LPRD symptoms after PPI medication. Among them, 18 patients (48.6%) showed abnormal findings that were classified as Peristaltic dysfunction (38.9%), Diffuse esophageal spasm (11.1%), Relaxation impairment of LES (11.1%), Achalasia (5.6%), Hypotensive LES (11.1%), Relaxation impairment of UES (11.1%), Nutcracker esophagus (5.6%), Decreased resting pressure (5.6%). Other 62 patients (62.6%) show improvement of LPRD symptoms, 23 patients (37.1%) showed abnormal findings. Most common finding was Peristaltic dysfunction (43.4%) More prevalent abnormal findings of HRM were found in patients who revealed no response to PPI medication (48.6% vs. 37.1%), but it does not reach the statistical significance. Conclusion : Although statistical significances is not showed, the difference observed in the frequency of HRM abnormal finding between response and no response for PPI medication. It has been estimated that HRM may be used to determine differential diagnosis in patients with LPRD. Further studies in lager population containing normal controls will be needed to prove clinical usefulness.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.35-40
• /
• 2011

While high-definition precipitation maps with a 270 m spatial resolution are available for South Korea, there is little information on geospatial availability of precipitation water for the famine - plagued North Korea. The restricted data access and sparse observations prohibit application of the widely used PRISM (Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model) to North Korea for fine-resolution mapping of precipitation. A hybrid method which complements the PRISM grid with a sub-grid scale elevation function is suggested to estimate precipitation for remote areas with little data such as North Korea. The fine scale elevation - precipitation regressions for four sloping aspects were derived from 546 observation points in South Korea. A 'virtual' elevation surface at a 270 m grid spacing was generated by inverse distance weighed averaging of the station elevations of 78 KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration) synoptic stations. A 'real' elevation surface made up from both 78 synoptic and 468 automated weather stations (AWS) was also generated and subtracted from the virtual surface to get elevation difference at each point. The same procedure was done for monthly precipitation to get the precipitation difference at each point. A regression analysis was applied to derive the aspect - specific coefficient of precipitation change with a unit increase in elevation. The elevation difference between 'virtual' and 'real' surface was calculated for each 270m grid points across North Korea and the regression coefficients were applied to obtain the precipitation corrections for the PRISM grid. The correction terms are now added to the PRISM generated low resolution (~2.4 km) precipitation map to produce the 270 m high resolution map compatible with those available for South Korea. According to the final product, the spatial average precipitation for entire territory of North Korea is 1,196 mm for a climatological normal year (1971-2000) with standard deviation of 298 mm.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.35-43
• /
• 2012

The Government is implementing the safety measures for pedestrian in living zone to decrease the traffic accident casualties in half. It is urgently to study the guideline because it contains to make the guideline of a median strip in City to prevent the violation of central line and jaywalking on the main contents. So, this study analyzed the pedestrian accidents and the violation of central line, and studied the type of a median strip, the installation guideline through studying the minimum crossing. Consequently, this study found out that a median strip which revised the attention inducement stick to decrease jaywalking could not have the strong prevention function of a crash barrier, so if it happens separation after the collision between vehicles, it induced the secondary accidents, and could take negative effects on traffic safety. In consideration of driving safety, this study analyzed that if it installs a median stirp, it has to ensure one meter, and such a thing could prevent the separation of lane or damage of facilities. However, if it is hard to ensure the space because of narrow road width, it could install a median strip in case of installing the road surface mark 0.5m. And the installation of the attention inducement stick or a median strip on the central line could be possible to induce the violation of central line, thus it is desirable not to install only anythings but also raised pavement markers.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.85-99
• /
• 2015

TDI CCD sensors are being used for most of the electro-optical camera mounted on the low earth orbit satellite to meet high performance requirements such as SNR and MTF. However, the CMOS sensors which have a lot of implementation advantages over the CCD, are being upgraded to have the TDI function. A few methods for improving the issue of motion blur which is apparent in the CMOS sensor than the CCD sensor, are being introduced. Each pixel can be divided into a few sub-pixels to be read more than once as is the same case with three or four phased CCDs. The fill factor can be reduced intentionally or even a kind of mask can also be implemented at the edge of pixels to reduce the blur. The motion blur can also be reduced in the TDI CMOS sensor by reducing the integration time from the full line scan time. Because the integration time can be controlled easily by the versatile control electronics, one of two performance parameters, MTF and SNR, can be concentrated dynamically depending on the aim of target imaging. MATLAB simulation has been performed and the results are presented in this paper. The goal of the simulation is to compare dynamic MTFs affected by the different methods for reducing the motion blur in the TDI CMOS sensor.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.365-374
• /
• 2016

In high-latitude regions, temperature has risen ($0.6^{\circ}C$ per decade) and this leads to the increase in microbial degradability against soil organic carbon (SOC). Furthermore, the decomposed SOC is converted into green-house gases ($CO_2$ and $CH_4$) and their release could further increase the rate of climate change. Thus, understanding the microbial diversity and their functions linked with SOC degradation in soil-thawing model is necessary. In this study, we divided tundra soil from Council, Alaska into two depth regions (30-40 cm and 50-60 cm of depth, designated as SPF and PF, respectively) and incubated that for 108 days at $0^{\circ}C$. A total of 111,804 reads were obtained through a pyrosequencing-based metagenomic study during the microcosm experiments, and 574-1,128 of bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and 30-57 of archaeal OTUs were observed. Taxonomic analysis showed that the distribution of bacterial taxa was significantly different between two samples. In detail, the relative abundance of phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes largely increased in SPF and PF soil, respectively, while phyla Crenarchaeota was increased in both soil samples. Weight measurement and gel permeation chromatography of the SOC extracts demonstrated that polymerization of humic acids, main component of SOC, occurred during the microcosm experiments. Taken together our results indicate that these bacterial and archaeal phyla could play a key function in SOC degradation and utilization in cold tundra soil.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.187-192
• /
• 1996

The matrix tablet containing sodium alginate and $CaHPO_4$ can release drugs in a controlled fashion from hydrogel with gelling and swelling due to their interaction as water penetrates the matrices of the tablet. The purpose of this study was to evaluate release characteristics of the matrix tablet varying the amount of sodium alginate, $CaHPO_4$ and other excipients such as chitosan, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and $Eudragit^{\circledR}$ RS100 in the simulated gastric and intestinal fluid. The practically soluble ibuprofen was used as a model drug. The release profiles of matrix tablet in the gastric fluid as a function of sodium alginate/$CaHPO_4$ ratio was not pronounced because of low solubility of drug and stability of alginate matrices. However, release rate of drug from the matrix tablet in the intestinal fluid was largely changed when sodium alginate/$CaHPO_4$ ratio was increased, suggesting that the ratio of sodium alginate/$CaHPO_4$ was an important factor to control the gelling and swelling of the matrix tablet. The incorporation of other excipients into the matrix tablet also influenced the release rate of drug. The chitosan and HPMC decreased the release rate of drug. No release of drug was occurred when $Eudragit^{\circledR}$ RS100 was added into the tablet. The retarded release of matrix tablet when excipients were added resulted from the hindrance of swelling and gelling of the matrix tablet containing sodium alginate and $CaHPO_4$. The hardness and bulk density of the matrix tablet was not correlated with release rate of drug in the study. From these findings, the ratio of sodium alginate and $CaHPO_4$ in the matrix tablet in addition to incorporation of excipients could be very important to control the release rate of drug in dosage form design.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.948-954
• /
• 2010

Exercise can favorably influence brain plasticity by facilitating neurogeneration, neuroadaptivity, and neuroprotection. Aerobic exercise has been reported to change brain nerve growth factors (growth hormone, insulin like factor-1, estrogen and serotonin). The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effects of aerobic exercise for 12 weeks on brain nerve growth factors in girls. Fourteen female participants in elementary school grades 1 through 3 were randomly allocated to the exercise group (EG, n=6) and control group (CG, n=8). The EG participated in 60 minutes of modified ballet exercise as aerobic training three days a week for 12 weeks. Based on comparison between groups by two-way ANOVA with repeated measures, aerobic exercise program participants experienced decreased weight (p<0.01), BMI (p<0.01), fat mass (p<0.001), fat percent (p<0.001) and increased LBM (lean body mass) percent (p<0.001). In addition, we detected that aerobic exercise decreased the level of serotonin (p<0.05) and increased the level of GH (p<0.05) and IGF-1 (p<0.05). These findings suggest that aerobic exercise programs can be an efficient intervention to change body composition, alleviate central fatigue, improve brain function, and induce brain cell proliferation in girls.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.102-111
• /
• 2014

Purpose: Surface damage and bonding strength difference after micromechanical treatment of zirconia surface are to be studied yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the difference of fracture resistance and bonding strength between more surface-damaged group from higher air-blasting particle size and pressure, and less damaged group. Materials and Methods: Disk shape zirconia ($LAVA^{TM}$) was sintered and air-blasted with $30{\mu}m$ particle size (Cojet), under 2.8 bar for 15 seconds, $110{\mu}m$ particle size (Rocatec), under 2.8 bar for 15 seconds, and $110{\mu}m$ particle size (Rocatec), under 3.8 bar for 30 seconds respectively. Biaxial flexure test and bonding failure load test were performed serially (n = 10 per group). For bonding test, specimens were bonded on the base material having similar modulus of elasticity of dentin with $200{\mu}m$-thick resin cement for tension of surface damage. Failure load of bonding was detected with acoustic emission (AE) sensor. Results: There were no significant differences both in the biaxial flexure test and bonding failure load test between groups (P > 0.05). Sub-surface cracks were all radial cracks except for two specimens. Conclusion: Within the limitations of no aging under monotonic load test, surface damage from higher air-blasting particle size and pressure was not significant. Evaluations of failure load with bonded zirconia disks was clinically relevant modality for surface damage and bonding strength, simultaneously.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.65-74
• /
• 2020

This study aims to compare the acoustic characteristics of vowel phonation in children with spastic and dyskinetic cerebral palsy (CP). Thirty-four children aged 4-12 years with CP participated in the study (spastic 26, dyskinetic 8). Voice samples for the acoustic analysis were extracted from a sustained vowel /a/. All acoustic measures were made using Praat. Group differences were compared by an independent t-test or Welch-Aspin test, if the equivalence assumption was not met. The results of this study are as follow. First, maximum phonation time(MPT) was significantly shorter for the dyskinetic CP than for the spastic CP. Second, shimmer percent was significantly increased in the dyskinetic CP than in the spastic CP. Lastly, there were no significant group differences in both the first formant and the second formant. These findings indicate that the dyskinetic CP has a poorer respiratory capacity and poorer laryngeal function than the spastic CP. On the other hand, both groups have a comparable ability to articulate the vowel /a/. The results of the present study help speech language pathologists identify the speech motor control ability of children with two types of CP (spastic and dyskinetic) and help to make an intervention plan associated with a specific type of CP.