• Yonsei Medical Journal
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• v.59 no.9
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• pp.1115-1122
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• 2018

Purpose: To investigate biomechanical properties of the cornea using a dynamic Scheimpflug analyzer according to age. Materials and Methods: In this prospective, cross-sectional, observational study, participants underwent ophthalmic investigations including corneal biomechanical properties, keratometric values, intraocular pressure (IOP), and manifest refraction spherical equivalent (MRSE). We determined the relationship of biomechanical parameters and ocular/systemic variables (participant's age, MRSE, IOP, and mean keratometric values) by piecewise regression analysis, association of biomechanical parameters with variables by Spearman's correlation and stepwise multiple regression analyses, and reference intervals (RI) by the bootstrap method. Results: This study included 217 eyes of 118 participants (20-81 years of age). Piecewise regression analysis between Corvis-central corneal thickness (CCT) and participant's age revealed that the optimal cut-off value of age was 45 years. No clear breakpoints were detected between the corneal biomechanical parameters and MRSE, IOP, and mean keratometric values. Corneal velocity, deformation amplitude, radius, maximal concave power, Corvis-CCT, and Corvis-IOP exhibited correlations with IOP, regardless of age (all ages, 20-44 years, and over 44 years). With smaller deformation amplitude and corneal velocity as well as increased CorvisIOP and Corvis-CCT, IOP became significantly increased. We provided the results of determination of confidence interval from RI data using bootstrap method in three separate age groups (all ages, 20-44 years, and over 44 years). Conclusion: We demonstrated multiple corneal biomechanical parameters according to age, and reported that the corneal biomechanical parameters are influenced by IOP.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.12-18
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• 2019

Fluid jet polishing is a method of jetting a fluid to polish a concave or free-form surface. However, the fluid jet method is difficult to form a stable polishing spot because of the lack of concentration. In order to solve this problem, MR fluid jet polishing system using an abrasive mixed with an MR fluid whose viscosity changes according to the intensity of a magnetic field is under study. MR fluid jet polishing is not easy to formulate for precise optimal conditions and material removal due to numerous fluid compositions and process conditions. Therefore, in this paper, quantitative data on the factors that have significant influence on the machining conditions are presented using various simulations and the correlation studies are conducted. In order to verify applicability of the fabricated MR fluid jet polishing system by nozzle diameter, the flow pattern and velocity distribution of MR fluid and polishing slurry of MR fluid jet polishing were analyzed by flow analysis and shear stress due to magnetic field changes was analyzed. The MR fluid of the MR fluid jet polishing and the flow pattern and velocity distribution of the polishing slurry were analyzed according to the nozzle diameter and the effects of nozzle diameter on the polishing effect were discussed. The analysis showed that the maximum shear stress was 0.45 mm at the diameter of 0.5 mm, 0.73 mm at 1.0 mm, and 1.24 mm at 1.5 mm. The cross-sectional shape is symmetrical and smooth W-shape is generated, which is consistent with typical fluid spray polishing result. Therefore, it was confirmed that the high-quality surface polishing process can be stably performed using the developed system.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.979-987
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• 2021

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) can be early diagnosed by detecting lesions in brain magnetic resonance images (MRI). Unsupervised anomaly detection methods based on autoencoder have been recently proposed for automated detection of MS lesions. However, these autoencoder-based methods were developed only for 2D images (e.g. 2D cross-sectional slices) of MRI, so do not utilize the full 3D information of MRI. In this paper, therefore, we propose a novel 3D autoencoder-based framework for detection of the lesion volume of MS in MRI. We first define a 3D convolutional neural network (CNN) for full MRI volumes, and build each encoder and decoder layer of the 3D autoencoder based on 3D CNN. We also add a skip connection between the encoder and decoder layer for effective data reconstruction. In the experimental results, we compare the 3D autoencoder-based method with the 2D autoencoder models using the training datasets of 80 healthy subjects from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) and the testing datasets of 25 MS patients from the Longitudinal multiple sclerosis lesion segmentation challenge, and show that the proposed method achieves superior performance in prediction of MS lesion by up to 15%.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.266-272
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• 2021

Mooring systems are among the most important elements employed to control the motion of floating offshore structures on the sea. Considering the use of polymer material, a new method is proposed to address the creep characteristics rather than the method of using a tension load cell for measuring the tension of the mooring line. This study uses a synthetic mooring rope made from a polymer material, which usually consists of three parts: center, eye, and splice, and which makes a joint for two successive ropes. We integrate the optical sensor into the synthetic mooring ropes to measure the rope tension. The different structure of the mooring line in the longitudinal direction can be used to measure the loads with the entire mooring configuration in series, which can be defined as SMART (Smart Mooring and Riser Truncation) mooring. To determine the characteristics of the basic SMART mooring, a SMART mooring with a diameter of 3 mm made of three different polymer materials is observed to change the wavelength that responds as the length changes. By performing the longitudinal tension experiment using three different SMART moorings, it was confirmed that there were linear wavelength changes in the response characteristics of the 3-mm-diameter SMART moorings. A 54-mm-diameter SMART mooring is produced to measure the response of longitudinal tension on the center, eye, and splice of the mooring, and a longitudinal tension of 100 t in step-by-step applied for the Maintained Test and Fatigue Cycle Test is conducted. By performing a longitudinal tension experiment, wavelength changes were detected in the center, eye, and splice position of the SMART moorings. The results obtained from each part of the installed sensors indicated a different strain measurement depending on the position of the SMART moorings. The variation of the strain measurement with the position was more than twice the result of the difference measurement, while the applied external load increased step-by-step. It appears that there is a correlation with an externally generated longitudinal tensional force depending on the cross-sectional area of each part of the SMART mooring.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.375-386
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• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to summarize current clinical study trends and results regarding transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) treatment for xerostomia. Methods: Studies published from 2017 to 2022 were searched on domestic databases and PubMed. The included studies were analyzed according to the year, language, study design, diagnosis xerostomia method, and TENS treatment method. Results: Nine studies were included. There were three randomized controlled trials (RCTs), three case series, one case report, one case-control study, and one cross-sectional study. Conventional TENS was used in seven studies, and acupuncture-like TENS (ALTENS) was used in one study. The most common TENS attachment site was externally on the skin overlying the parotid gland region, and the setting of TENS was 50 Hz-250 μs the most. In all nine studies, TENS was effective for xerostomia as assessed by salivary flow rate or quality of life questionnaire. Additionally, no persistent adverse events were reported after TENS treatment. Conclusions: TENS treatment for xerostomia can be considered effective and safe, so it can be used in clinical practice.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.433-445
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• 2021

Artificial ground freezing (AGF) is a commonly used geotechnical support technique that can be applied in any soil type and has low environmental impact. Experimental and numerical investigations have been conducted to optimize AGF for application in diverse scenarios. Precise simulation of groundwater flow is crucial to improving the reliability these investigations' results. Previous experimental research has mostly considered horizontal seepage flow, which does not allow accurate calculation of the groundwater flow velocity due to spatial variation of the piezometric head. This study adopted vertical seepage flow-which can maintain a constant cross-sectional area-to eliminate the limitations of using horizontal seepage flow. The closure time is a measure of the time taken for an impermeable layer to begin to form, this being the time for a frozen soil-ice wall to start forming adjacent to the freeze pipes; this is of great importance to applied AGF. This study reports verification of the reliability of our experimental apparatus and measurement system using only water, because temperature data could be measured while freezing was observed visually. Subsequent experimental AFG tests with saturated sandy soil were also performed. From the experimental results, a method of estimating closure time is proposed using the inflection point in the thermal conductivity difference between pore water and pore ice. It is expected that this estimation method will be highly applicable in the field. A further parametric study assessed factors influencing the closure time using a two-dimensional coupled thermo-hydraulic numerical analysis model that can simulate the AGF of saturated sandy soil considering groundwater flow. It shows that the closure time is affected by factors such as hydraulic gradient, unfrozen permeability, particle thermal conductivity, and freezing temperature. Among these factors, changes in the unfrozen permeability and particle thermal conductivity have less effect on the formation of frozen soil-ice walls when the freezing temperature is sufficiently low.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.101-108
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• 2022

Purpose : This study was conducted to investigate the effect of muscle taping and joint taping on static and dynamic balance in normal adults with chronic ankle instability. Methods : The subjects of this study were 32 people who met the inclusion criteria. This cross-sectional study was conducted using the Kinesio tape, an elastic tape, was used. Subjects were randomized to exclude the effect of sequence, and no taping, joint taping, and muscle taping were applied as taping interventions. One-leg standing test and a Functional reach test were conducted to measure static balance, and Y-balance test was conducted to measure dynamic balance. One way repeated ANOVA was performed to investigate the difference in balance ability according to the taping intervention. If there was a significant difference, a post-hoc was performed using the Bonferroni method. Results : In the case of static balance, joint taping showed more significant results than did no taping and muscle taping (p<.05), and muscle taping showed more significant results than did no taping (p<.05). In the case of dynamic balance, muscle taping showed significantly larger results than did no taping and joint taping (p<.05) and joint taping showed significantly larger results than did no taping (p<.05). Conclusion : This study found that mechanical stimulation of muscles and joint compression by elastic taping increased ankle stability and improved static and dynamic balance. In particular, for static balance, joint taping was more effective than muscle taping, and for dynamic balance, muscle taping was more effective than joint taping. Applying the appropriate taping method to individual subjects has the advantage of maximizing the therapeutic effect for the recovery of balance ability. Similarly, the application of various tapings to subjects with ankle instability will have a positive effect on functional improvement.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.17-28
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• 2023

Laboratory-scale hydraulic fracturing experiments were conducted on granite specimens at various viscosities and injection rates of the fracturing fluid. A series of cross-sectional computed tomography (CT) images of fractured specimens was obtained via a three-dimensional X-ray CT imaging method. Pixel-level fracture segmentation of the CT images was conducted using a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based Nested U-Net model structure. Compared with traditional image processing methods, the CNN-based model showed a better performance in the extraction of thin and complex fractures. These extracted fractures extracted were reconstructed in three dimensions and morphologically analyzed based on their fracture volume, aperture, tortuosity, and surface roughness. The fracture volume and aperture increased with the increase in viscosity of the fracturing fluid, while the tortuosity and roughness of the fracture surface decreased. The findings also confirmed the anisotropic tortuosity and roughness of the fracture surface. In this study, a CNN-based model was used to perform accurate fracture segmentation, and quantitative analysis of hydraulic stimulated fractures was conducted successfully.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.105-114
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• 2023

Objective: The study examined the validity and reliability of tele-assessment of cervical range of motion (ROM) through video conferencing. Design: A cross-sectional study Methods: The study included 22 healthy adults as subjects and 10 physical therapists as evaluators. The subjects underwent both face-to-face and tele-assessment of cervical ROM. The CROM (Cervical Range of Motion) device was used for reference measurements in the face-to-face assessment. The evaluators assessed the subjects' ROM through visual inspection (VI) and using a Universal Goniometer (UG) in the tele-assessment. Results: The results showed a significant correlation between the face-to-face and tele-assessment measurements for all ROM contents. The correlation coefficients ranged from r=0.54 to 0.71 (p<0.05), indicating concurrent validity. In terms of inter-rater reliability, the ICC values for both VI and UG assessments in the tele-assessment were high, with ICCs of 0.93 and 0.92, respectively. Additionally, the study investigated the usability of the tele-assessment method and environment. The satisfaction of the participants and evaluators was assessed using the Telehealth Usability Questionnaire (TUQ), which evaluates perceptions, usability, and satisfaction with telehealth services. Conclusions: In conclusion, tele-assessment of cervical range of motion using video conferencing was valid and reliable. Also, investigated participant and evaluator satisfaction and opinions, providing insights into the clinical value of tele-assessment. It is important to note that the study was conducted only healthy adults, and further research may be needed to validate the tele-assessment method in populations with cervical dysfunction or neck pain. These findings support the potential effectiveness of telerehabilitation services in assessing and managing musculoskeletal disorders.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.409-424
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• 2023

Response of the pipeline crossing fault is considered as the large strain problem. Proper estimation of the pipeline response plays important role in mitigation studies. In this study, an advanced continuum modeling including material non-linearity in large strain deformations, hardening/softening soil behavior and soil-pipeline interaction is applied. Through the application of a fully nonlinear analysis based on an explicit finite difference method, the mechanics of the pipeline behavior and its interaction with soil under large strains is presented in more detail. To make the results useful in oil and gas engineering works, a continuous pipeline of two steel grades buried in two clayey soil types with four different crossing angles of 30°, 45°, 70° and 90° with respect to the pipeline axis have been considered. The results are presented as the fault movement corresponding to different damage limit states. It was seen that the maximum affected pipeline length is about 20 meters for the studied conditions. Also, the affected length around the fault cutting plane is asymmetric with about 35% and 65% at the fault moving and stationary block, respectively. Local buckling is the dominant damage state for greater crossing angle of 90° with the fault displacement varying from 0.4 m to 0.55 m. While the tensile strain limit is the main damage state at the crossing angles of 70° and 45°, the cross-sectional flattening limit becomes the main damage state at the smaller 30° crossing angles. Compared to the stiff clayey soil, the fault movement resulting 3% tensile strain limit reach up to 40% in soft clayey soil. Also, it was seen that the effect of the pipeline internal pressure reaches up to about 40% compared to non-pressurized condition for some cases.