The Clinical Usefulness of Cystatin C in Evaluating Renal Function in Children with Various Renal Diseases (다양한 신질환을 가진 소아에서 Cystatin C 검사의 임상적 유용성)
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- Childhood Kidney Diseases
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- v.11 no.2
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- pp.161-167
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- 2007
Purpose : GFR(glomerular filtration rate) is a fundamental parameter in detecting renal impairment and predicts the progression of renal disease. Because serum creatinine has several disadvantages, serum cystatin C has been recently proposed as a new endogenous marker for GFR. We compared serum cystatin C with creatinine and creatinine clearance to investigate the clinical usefulness of cystatin C. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed 46 patients(60 case numbers) who had various renal diseases and classified them into 3 groups according to creatinine clearance(Group 1 : CrCl <40 mL/min/
Purpose: F-18 FDG can be accumulated in the liver, bowel, kidney, urinary tract, and muscles physiologically. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical value of dual time point 18F-FDG PET /8 imaging for the differentiation of the colonic focal uptake lesions. Materials and Methods: One hundred thirty two patients (M:F = 77:55, Age 62.8
Purpose: I-131 scan using High Energy (HE) collimator is generally used. While, Medium Energy (ME) collimator is not suggested to use in result of an excessive septal penetration effects, it is used to improve the sensitivities of count rate on lower dose of I-131. This research aims to evaluate I-131 SPECT/CT image quality using by HE and ME collimator and also find out the possibility of ME collimator clinical application. Materials and Methods: ME and HE collimator are substituted as Siemens symbia T16 SPECT/CT, using I-131 point source and NEMA NU-2 IQ phantom. Single Energy Window (SEW) and Triple Energy Windows (TEW) are applied for image acquisition and images with CTAC and Scatter correction application or not, applied different number of iteration and sub set are reconstructed by IR method, flash 3D. By analysis of acquired image, the comparison on sensitivities, contrast, noise and aspect ratio of two collimators are able to be evaluated. Results: ME Collimator is ahead of HE collimator in terms of sensitivity (ME collimator: 188.18 cps/MBq, HE collimator: 46.31 cps/MBq). For contrast, reconstruction image used by HE collimator with TEW, 16 subset 8 iteration applied CTAC is shown the highest contrast (TCQI=190.64). In same condition, ME collimator has lower contrast than HE collimator (TCQI=66.05). The lowest aspect ratio for ME collimator and HE collimator are 1.065 with SEW, CTAC (+) and 1.024 with TEW, CTAC (+) respectively. Conclusion: Selecting a proper collimator is important factor for image quality. This research finding tells that HE collimator, which is generally used for I-131 scan emitted high energy
Responses of real-time control parameters, such as ORP, DO and pH, to the conditions of biological animal wastewater treatment process were examined to evaluate the stability of real-time control using each parameter. Also an optimum index for supplemental carbon source addition based on NOx-N level was determined under a consideration of denitrification rate by endogenous respiration of microorganism and residual organic matter in liquor. Experiment was performed with lab-scale sequencing batch reactor(SBR) and working volume of the process was 45L. The distinctive nitrogen break point(NBP) on ORP-and DO-time profiles, which mean the termination of nitrification, started disappearing with the maintenance of low NH4-N loading rate. Also the NBP on ORP-and DO-time profiles was no longer observed when high NOx-N was loaded into the reactor, and the sensitivity of ORP became dull with the increase of NOx-N level. However, the distinctive NBP was constantly occurred on pH(mV)-time profile, maintaining unique profile patterns. This stable occurrence of NBP on pH(mV)-time profile was lasted even at very high NOx-N:NH4-N ratio(over 80:1) in reactor, and the specific point could be easily detected by tracking moving slope change(MSC) of the curve. Revelation of NBP on pH(mV)-time profile and recognition of the realtime control point using MSC were stable at a condition of over 300mg/L NOx-N level in reactor. The occurrence of distinctive NBP was persistent on pH(mV)-time profile even at a level of 10,000mg/L STOC(soluble total organic carbon) and the recognition of NBP was feasible by tracing MSC, but that point on ORP and DO-time profiles began to disappear with the increase of STOC level in reactor. The denitrfication rate by endogenous respiration and residual organic matter was about 0.4mg/L.hr., and it was found that 0.83 would be accepted as an index for supplemental carbon source addition when 0.1 of safety factor was applied.
Purpose: We evaluated correlation of
A probabilistic model that can predict the residual useful lifetime of structure is formulated by using the gamma process which is one of the stochastic processes. The formulated stochastic model can take into account both the sampling uncertainty associated with damages measured up to now and the temporal uncertainty of cumulative damage over time. A method estimating several parameters of stochastic model is additionally proposed by introducing of the least square method and the method of moments, so that the age of a structure, the operational environment, and the evolution of damage with time can be considered. Some features related to the residual useful lifetime are firstly investigated into through the sensitivity analysis on parameters under a simple setting of single damage data measured at the current age. The stochastic model are then applied to the rubble-mound breakwater straightforwardly. The parameters of gamma process can be estimated for several experimental data on the damage processes of armor rocks of rubble-mound breakwater. The expected damage levels over time, which are numerically simulated with the estimated parameters, are in very good agreement with those from the flume testing. It has been found from various numerical calculations that the probabilities exceeding the failure limit are converged to the constraint that the model must be satisfied after lasting for a long time from now. Meanwhile, the expected residual useful lifetimes evaluated from the failure probabilities are seen to be different with respect to the behavior of damage history. As the coefficient of variation of cumulative damage is becoming large, in particular, it has been shown that the expected residual useful lifetimes have significant discrepancies from those of the deterministic regression model. This is mainly due to the effect of sampling and temporal uncertainties associated with damage, by which the first time to failure tends to be widely distributed. Therefore, the stochastic model presented in this paper for predicting the residual useful lifetime of structure can properly implement the probabilistic assessment on current damage state of structure as well as take account of the temporal uncertainty of future cumulative damage.
The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) method was used to evaluate the concrete deterioration process related to chloride-induced steel corrosion with various corrosion levels(initiation, rust propagation and acceleration periods). The impressed current technique, with four total current levels of 0C, 13C, 65C and 130C, was used to accelerate steel corrosion in concrete cylinder samples with w/c ratio of 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6, immersed in a 0.5M NaCl solution. A series of EIS measurements was performed to monitor concrete deterioration during the accelerated corrosion test in this study. Some critical parameters of the equivalent circuit were obtained through the EIS analysis. It was observed that the charge transfer resistance(Rc) dropped sharply as the impressed current increased from 0C to 13C, indicating a value of approximately 10kΩcm2. However, the sensitivity of Rc significantly decreased when the impressed current was further increased from 13C to 130C after corrosion of steel had been initiated. Meanwhile, the double-layer capacitance value(Cdl) linearly increased from 50×10-6μF/cm2 to 250×10-6μF/cm2 as the impressed current in creased from 0C to 130C. The results in this study showed that monitoring Cdl is an effective measurement parameter for evaluating the progress of internal concrete damages(de-bonding between steel and concrete, micro-cracks, and surface-breaking cracks) induced by steel corrosion. The findings of this study provide a fundamental basis for developing an embedded sensor and signal interpretation method for monitoring concrete deterioration due to steel corrosion at various corrosion levels.
Due to climate change, drought and flood occurrences have been increasing. Accurate projections of watershed discharges are imperative to effectively manage natural disasters caused by climate change. However, climate change and hydrological model uncertainty can lead to imprecise analysis. To address this issues, we used two lumped models, IHACRES and GR4J, to compare and analyze the changes in discharges under climate stress scenarios. The Hapcheon and Seomjingang dam basins were the study site, and the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and the Kling-Gupta efficiency (KGE) were used for parameter optimizations. Twenty years of discharge, precipitation, and temperature (1995-2014) data were used and divided into training and testing data sets with a 70/30 split. The accuracies of the modeled results were relatively high during the training and testing periods (NSE>0.74, KGE>0.75), indicating that both models could reproduce the previously observed discharges. To explore the impacts of climate change on modeled discharges, we developed climate stress scenarios by changing precipitation from -50 % to +50 % by 1 % and temperature from 0 ℃ to 8 ℃ by 0.1 ℃ based on two decades of weather data, which resulted in 8,181 climate stress scenarios. We analyzed the yearly maximum, abundant, and ordinary discharges projected by the two lumped models. We found that the trends of the maximum and abundant discharges modeled by IHACRES and GR4J became pronounced as changes in precipitation and temperature increased. The opposite was true for the case of ordinary water levels. Our study demonstrated that the quantitative evaluations of the model uncertainty were important to reduce the impacts of climate change on water resources.
The wall shear stress in the vicinity of end-to end anastomoses under steady flow conditions was measured using a flush-mounted hot-film anemometer(FMHFA) probe. The experimental measurements were in good agreement with numerical results except in flow with low Reynolds numbers. The wall shear stress increased proximal to the anastomosis in flow from the Penrose tubing (simulating an artery) to the PTFE: graft. In flow from the PTFE graft to the Penrose tubing, low wall shear stress was observed distal to the anastomosis. Abnormal distributions of wall shear stress in the vicinity of the anastomosis, resulting from the compliance mismatch between the graft and the host artery, might be an important factor of ANFH formation and the graft failure. The present study suggests a correlation between regions of the low wall shear stress and the development of anastomotic neointimal fibrous hyperplasia(ANPH) in end-to-end anastomoses. 30523 T00401030523 ^x Air pressure decay(APD) rate and ultrafiltration rate(UFR) tests were performed on new and saline rinsed dialyzers as well as those roused in patients several times. C-DAK 4000 (Cordis Dow) and CF IS-11 (Baxter Travenol) reused dialyzers obtained from the dialysis clinic were used in the present study. The new dialyzers exhibited a relatively flat APD, whereas saline rinsed and reused dialyzers showed considerable amount of decay. C-DAH dialyzers had a larger APD(11.70
The wall shear stress in the vicinity of end-to end anastomoses under steady flow conditions was measured using a flush-mounted hot-film anemometer(FMHFA) probe. The experimental measurements were in good agreement with numerical results except in flow with low Reynolds numbers. The wall shear stress increased proximal to the anastomosis in flow from the Penrose tubing (simulating an artery) to the PTFE: graft. In flow from the PTFE graft to the Penrose tubing, low wall shear stress was observed distal to the anastomosis. Abnormal distributions of wall shear stress in the vicinity of the anastomosis, resulting from the compliance mismatch between the graft and the host artery, might be an important factor of ANFH formation and the graft failure. The present study suggests a correlation between regions of the low wall shear stress and the development of anastomotic neointimal fibrous hyperplasia(ANPH) in end-to-end anastomoses. 30523 T00401030523 ^x Air pressure decay(APD) rate and ultrafiltration rate(UFR) tests were performed on new and saline rinsed dialyzers as well as those roused in patients several times. C-DAK 4000 (Cordis Dow) and CF IS-11 (Baxter Travenol) reused dialyzers obtained from the dialysis clinic were used in the present study. The new dialyzers exhibited a relatively flat APD, whereas saline rinsed and reused dialyzers showed considerable amount of decay. C-DAH dialyzers had a larger APD(11.70