• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.541-547
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• 2017

Climate change has become the main cause of the exacerbation in natural disasters. Social Overhead Capital(SOC) structure needs to be checked for displacement and crack periodically to prevent damage and the collapse caused by natural disaster and ensure the safety. For efficient structure maintenance, the optical image technology is applied to the Structure Health Monitoring(SHM). However, optical image is sensitive to environmental factors. So it is necessary to verify its validity. In this paper, the accuracy of estimating the vertical displacement was verified with respect to environmental condition such as natural light, measurement distance, and the number of image sheets. The result of experiments showed that the effect of natural light on accuracy of estimating vertical displacement was the greatest of all. The measurement angle which was affected by the change in measurement distance was also important to check the vertical displacement. These findings will be taken into account by applying appropriate environmental condition to minimize errors when the bridge was measured by camera. It will also enable the application of optical images to the SHM.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.185-199
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• 2023

This study aimed to predict the effects of water ecology on the supply of hydrothermal energy to model a housing complex in Eco Delta Smart Village in Busan. Based on the results, engineering measures were recommended to minimize problems due to possible temperature variations on the supply of hydrothermal energy from the river. The current distribution of fish, benthic macroinvertebrates, and phytoplankton in the Pyeonggang Stream was monitored to determine their effects on water ecology. In the research area, five species and three families of fish were observed. The dominant species was Lepomis macrochirus, and the subdominant species was Carassius auratus. Twenty-five species and 21 families of benthic macroinvertebrates were found. The distribution of aquatic insects was poor in this area. The dominant species were Chironomidae sp., Lymnaea auricularia, Appasus japonicus, and Caridina denticulata denticulata in February, May, July, and October. Dominant phytoplankton were Aulacoseira ambigua and Nitzschia palea in February and May. Microcystis sp. was dominant in July and October. The health of the ecology the Pyeonggang Stream was assessed as D (bad) according to the benthic macroinvertebrate index (BMI). Shifts in the location of the discharge point 150 m downstream from intake points and discharge through embedded rock layer after adding equal amounts of stream water as was taken at the beginning were suggested to minimize water temperature variations due to the application of hydrothermal energy. When the scenario (i.e., quantity of water intake and dilution water, 1,600 m³/d and water temp. difference ±5 ℃) was realized, variations in water temperature were assessed at -0.19 ℃ and 0.59 ℃ during cooling and heating, respectively, at a point 10 m downstream. Water temperatures recorded at -0.20 ℃ and 0.68 ℃ during cooling and heating, respectively, at a point 10 m upstream. All stream water temperatures after the application of hydrothermal energy recovered within 24 hours. Future work on the long-term monitoring of ecosystems is suggested, particularly to analyze the influence of the water environment on hydrothermal energy supply operations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.7
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• pp.869-877
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• 2018

This study analyzed the current status of MRI (frequency, amount of treatment) based on the history of application of the MRI health insurance benefit standard and health insurance claim data. MRI examinations began as a health insurance benefit in 2005. In 2005, the indications were restricted for some diseases, but coverage for benefits in 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2018 was expanded. In 2021, the Ministry of Health and Welfare decided to apply health insurance for all MRI examinations. From 2010 to 2017, the number of MRI examinations increased by 86.7% in 2017 compared to 2010, and the amount of treatment increased by 53.5%. According to general characteristics, the number of MRI examinations was higher in women than in men. By age, the number of examinations was the highest among ages 70-79. Outpatient examinations were more frequent than inpatient examinations, and the number of examinations in the tertiary hospitals was the highest among the types of hospitals. The number of brain MRI examinations was the highest in each exam site. In December 2013, the standard of MRI was expanded for heart disease and Crohn's disease, the number of cardiac MRI and abdominal MRI examinations increased in 2014 compared to 2013. However, the number of examinations is small and not associate with the disease, it would be difficult to say that it affected the increase in the total number of MRI examinations. To assess health insurance sustainability and policy effectiveness, monitoring will be necessary.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2935-2937
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• 2014

Studies of the causes of cancer, early detection, prevention or treatment need accurate, comprehensive, and timely cancer data. The clinical laboratory provides important cancer information needed for physicians which influence clinical decisions regarding treatment, diagnosis and patient monitoring. Poor communication between health care providers and clinical laboratory personnel can lead to medical errors and wrong decisions in providing cancer care. Because of the key impact of laboratory information on cancer diagnosis and treatment the quality of the tests, lab reports, and appropriate lab management are very important. A laboratory information management system (LIMS) can have an important role in diagnosis, fast and effective access to cancer data, decrease redundancy and costs, and facilitate the integration and collection of data from different types of instruments and systems. In spite of significant advantages LIMS is limited by factors such as problems in adaption to new instruments that may change existing work processes. Applications of intelligent software simultaneously with existing information systems, in addition to remove these restrictions, have important benefits including adding additional non-laboratory-generated information to the reports, facilitating decision making, and improving quality and productivity of cancer care services. Laboratory systems must have flexibility to change and have the capability to develop and benefit from intelligent devices. Intelligent laboratory information management systems need to benefit from informatics tools and latest technologies like open sources. The aim of this commentary is to survey application, opportunities and necessity of intelligent clinical laboratory as a tool to increase cancer care management productivity.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.299-306
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• 2013

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been widely used as a treatment for the movement disturbances caused by Parkinson's disease (PD). Despite successful application of DBS, its mechanism of therapeutic effect is not clearly understood. Because PD results from the degeneration of dopamine neurons that affect the basal ganglia (BG) network, investigation of neuronal responses of BG neurons during STN DBS can provide informative insights for the understanding of the mechanism of therapeutic effect. However, it is difficult to observe neuronal activity during DBS because of large stimulation artifacts. Here, we report the observation of neuronal activities of the globus pallidus (GP) in normal and PD model rats during electrical stimulation of the STN. A custom artifact removal technique was devised to enable monitoring of neural activity during stimulation. We investigated how GP neurons responded to STN stimulation at various stimulation frequencies (10, 50, 90 and 130 Hz). It was observed that activities of GP neurons were modulated by stimulation frequency of the STN and significantly inhibited by high frequency stimulation above 50 Hz. These findings suggest that GP neuronal activity is effectively modulated by STN stimulation and strongly dependent on the frequency of stimulation.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.65-72
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• 2016

Personal Health Record(PHR) service can be helpful to patients with diseases requiring strict everyday care and medical treatment, such as diabetes or cancer. In this paper, we propose a PHR system specialized in collecting and analyzing health record data of cancer patients, and present the process of how the system can improve the efficiency of cancer treatment process. Through the smart device application, cancer PHR system obtains daily PHR data which is highly related and critical to cancer therapy. The analysis report is provided to the medical staff with an available format suited for Electronic Medical Record used at medical institution. With the final result of PHR analysis which is easily merged with medical chart, most efficient Chemotherapy treatment can be provided for the patients. Also it is possible for the patients to give the information of side-effect and other pain experience during therapy to their doctors without loss of information. The proposed PHR system has the effect of improving the quality of patient care by allowing the medical staff to acquire the main objective data necessary for drug prescription and medical care benefits.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.94-102
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• 2020

Renewable energy (RE) is essential to comprise sustainable societies, especially, in rural villages of developing countries. Furthermore, application of off-grid RE systems to health care can improve the quality of life. In this research, a RE-based vaccination supply management system was constructed to enlarge the cold-chain in developing countries for the safe storage and delivery of vaccines. The system was comprised of the construction of RE plants and development of vaccine carriers. RE plants were constructed and connected to health posts in local villages. The cooling mechanism of vaccine carriers was improved and monitoring devices were installed. The effect of the system on vaccine cold-chain was evaluated from the field test and topographical analysis in the southern village of Nepal. RE plants were normally operated for the vaccine refrigerator in the health post. The modified vaccine carriers had a longer operation time and better temperature control via monitoring and RE-based recharging functionality. The topographical analysis estimated that the system can cover larger region. The system prototype showed great potential regarding the possibility of a sustainable and enlarged cold-chain. Thus, RE-based vaccine supply management is expected to facilitate vaccine availability while minimizing waste in the supply chain.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.24-34
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• 2019

The safety of food is occasionally questionable, as there have been some reports of products contaminated with illegal adulterants. In this study, the presence of 16 sedative-hypnotics and sleep inducers in dietary supplements was determined by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (UPLC-UV) and quadruple Orbitrap mass spectrometry (Q-Orbitrap-MS). The UPLC method was validated, providing a linearity (R2) of more than 0.999, and LODs and LOQs that ranged from 0.2 to 0.5 and 0.6 to $1.5{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$, respectively. The repeatabilities were 0.2-8.4 % (intra-day) and 0.3-4.5 % (inter-day), and the accuracies were 89.0-117.0 % (intra-day) and 87.8-111.9 % (inter-day). The mean recoveries of the spiked samples ranged from 98.7 to 107.3 %. The relative standard deviation (%RSD) of the stability was less than 2.4 %. Using the developed method, one sedative-hypnotic compound, phenobarbital, was detected in one of the nineteen samples tested. In addition, the major characteristic fragment ions of each target compound were confirmed using Q-Orbitrap-MS for higher accuracy. Monitoring the presence of these 16 sedative-hypnotics and sleep inducers in dietary supplements should be pursued in the interest of human health, and the results of this study confirmed that the developed method has value for this application.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.277-284
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• 2006

The genetic toxicity of environmental pollutants, namely, nonylphenol (NP), bisphenol A (BPA) and chloropyriphos (CP) was investigated in aquatic sentinel species, freshwater crustacean, Daphnia magna, and larva of aquatic midge, Chironomus tentans, using Comet assay. Physiological effect of such pollutants was also investigated by studying the specimens' rates of reproduction, growth and survival. Acute toxicity results showed that, as expected, Daphnia was more sensitive than Chironomus to chemical exposure. The order of acute toxicity was CP > NP > BPA in D. magna and NP > CP > BPA in C. tentans. BPA may exert a genotoxic effect on D. magna and C. tentans, given that DNA strand breaks increased in both species exposed to this compound, whereas NP- and CP-induced DNA damage occurred only in C. tentans. In vivo genotoxic data obtained in aquatic sentinel species could provide valuable information for freshwater quality monitoring. The experiments with NP-exposed D. magna showed that the pollutant has long-term effects on reproduction, whereas no short-term effect on DNA integrity was found, being an example of a false-negative result from the biomarkers perspective. This result could be interpreted that other mechanism than genetic alteration might be involved in NP-induced reproduction failure in D. magna. False-positive results from the genotoxic biomarker obtained in BPA-exposed D. magna and in NP-exposed C. tentans make it difficult to use DNA integrity as an early warning biomarker. However, as the mere presence of genotoxic compounds, which are potentially carcinogenic, is of high concern to human and ecosystem health, it could also be important to rapidly and effectively detect genotoxic compounds in the aquatic system in ways that do not necessarily accompany a higher level of alteration. Considering the potential of D. magna and C. tentans as bioindicator species, and the importance of genotoxic biomarkers in ecotoxicity monitoring, DNA damage in these species could provide useful information for environmental risk assessment.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.45-56
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• 2017

Coal power plants produce electricity for the nation's power grid, but they also produce more hazardous air emissions than any other industrial pollution sources. The quantity is staggering, over 386,000 tons of 84 separate hazardous air pollutants spew from over 400 plants in 46 states. In South Korea also, annual coal ash generation from coal-fired power plants were about 6 million tons in 2015. Pollutants containing particulate matter 10, 2.5 (PM10, PM2.5), heavy metals and dioxins from coal-fired power plant. The emissions threaten the health of people who live near these power plants, as well as those who live hundreds of miles away. These pollutants that have long-term impacts on the environment because they accumulate in soil, water and animals. The present study is to investigate the physical and chemical characteristics of coal-fired power plant fly ash and bottom ash contains particulate matter, whose particulate sizes are lower than $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ and heavy metals. There are wide commercial technologies were available for monitoring the PM 2.5 and ultra-fine particles, among those carbonation technology is a good tool for stabilizing the alkaline waste materials. We collected the coal ash samples from different coal power plants and the chemical composition of coal fly ash was characterized by XRF. In the present laboratory research approach reveals that potential application of carbonation technology for particulate matter $PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$ and stabilization of heavy metals. The significance of this emerging carbonation technology was improving the chemical and physical properties of fly ash and bottom ash samples can facilitate wide re use in construction applications.