• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.346-352
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• 2007

Background: Pulmonary hypertension is one of the cardiovascular complications of in COPD. However, a diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension requires an invasive test, such as right heart catheterization. NT-proBNP is a cardiac hormone that is elevated when a cardiac volume or pressure overload is present. It was hypothesized that NT-proBNP might play a role in detecting of pulmonary hypertension in COPD patients. Method: The 31 COPD patients, who underwent all of NT-proBNP, echocardiography, and spirometry in Seoul National University Bundang Hospital during the period from November 2003 to July 2005, were retrospectively analyzed. Result: Of the 31 COPD patients, 9 patients had pulmonary hypertension. A significant positive correlation was observed between the NT-proBNP and pulmonary arterial pressure (r=0.589, p=0.002). However, there was no significant correlation observed between the $FEV_1$ and NT-proBNP and $FEV_1$ and pulmonary arterial pressure. Conclusion: NT-proBNP might indicate the presence of pulmonary hypertension in COPD patients.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.102 no.4
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• pp.499-505
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• 2013

Pine wilt disease has known as a serious forest disease in East Asia such as Japan, Korea and China. Fumigation and burning are considered as best way to treat infected tree at early detection. For investigate spectral reflectance characteristics of infected trees, periodic measurement has been done in both infected and non-infected trees. Infected and non-infected trees' reflectance (400 nm~2,500 nm wavelength) are detected from June to October with GER3700 spectrometer. Noise of reflectance data was corrected using cubic spline interpolation method. Reflectance was changed in most of infected trees with ranges Red (600 nm~700 nm) and Middle Infrared (1,400 nm~1,500 nm) within two months after injected by Pine Wood nematode (PWN), but there was no differences in non-infected trees. Infected and non-infected trees were compared statistically in each period. As a result, we found that a statistically significant difference was occurred at Red and Middle Infrared (MIR) 2 months after injection (p<0.05), however, no significant difference in near infrared (p>0.05). Therefore, the early detection of infested pine trees by PWN may possible through detecting the change of spectral reflectance at red and MIR.

• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.201-205
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• 2005

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the result of arthroscopic excision of painful Os subtibiale and Os subfibulare. Materials and Methods: Sixteen patients who had accessory bone in the ankle joint were treated by arthroscopy. Os subtibiale was four cases and os subfibulare twelve. The average follow-up period was 9 months$(range:6{\sim}42months)$. All patients were evaluated clinically with physical examination and radiologically with simple X-ray and for further evaluation, eight with bone scan, three with computed tomography and twelve with magnetic resonance image. We estimated the result of resection with Ogilvie-Harris's criteria. Results: All parameters of subjective and functional evaluation were improved with statistical significance(p<0.05). At final evaluation, eight patients still complained of mild pain and among them, three patients for synovitis, three for tendinitis on MRI and two for incomplete resection. Conclusion: The arthroscopic resection is a very effective method for painful os subtibiale and subfibulare using small incisions and for treatment of associated lesion. The preoperative radiological evaluation is essential and magnetic resornance image is useful for detecting of associated lesion.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.205-212
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• 2020

In the performance of a wind turbine system, the blades play a vital role. However, they are susceptible to damage arising from complex and irregular loading (which may even cause catastrophic collapse), and they are expensive to maintain. Therefore, it is very important both to find defects after blade manufacturing is completed and to find damage after the blade is used for a certain period of time. This study provides a new perspective for the detection of internal defects in glass-fiber- and carbon-fiber-reinforced panels, which are used as the main materials in wind turbine blades. A gap or fracture between fiber-reinforced materials, which may occur during blade manufacturing or operation, is simulated by drilling a hole 5 mm in diameter in the middle layer of the laminated material. Then, a digital-image-correlation (DIC) method is used to detect internal defects in the blade. Tensile load is applied to the fabricated specimen using a tensile tester, and the generated changes are recorded and analyzed with the DIC system. In the glass-fiber-reinforced laminated specimen, internal defects were detected from a strain value of 5% until the end of the experiment, while in the case of the carbon-fiber-reinforced laminated specimen, internal defects were detected from 1% onward. It was proved using the DIC system that the defect was detected as a certain level of strain difference developed around the internal defects, according to the material properties.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.86 no.3
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• pp.261-269
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• 1997

Excised immature ovules and calli derived from the stems of cottonwood were bombarded with microprojectiles carrying plasmid DNA containing CaMV-35S promoter and ${\beta}$-glucuronidase(GUS) gene. After bombarded, the expression of GUS gene was detected by the assay of 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-${\beta}$-gluconide(X-gluc). Transient gene expression was measured by counting the number of distinct regions of GUS activity per explant. As major parameters, the number of shots and the period of exposure to X-gluc after the bombardment were investigated for detecting GUS gene expression. In this experiment, the percents of GUS gene expression showing spots were 56.8 from immature ovules and 75.9 from micro-calli of cottonwood species. Among the treatments, two consecutive shots and 48 hour exposure produced about $25.75{\pm}2.77$(per ovule), $11.43{\pm}1.22$(per mini petridish) spots, respectively, Microprojectile particle bombardment provides a useful method to assay transient expression in both types of explants. Furthermore, our results represent that the excised ovule and/or the calli might be stably transformed by the biolistics.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2012

Toxoplasmic encephalitis is caused by reactivation of bradyzoites to rapidly dividing tachyzoites of the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii in immunocompromised hosts. Diagnosis of this life-threatening disease is problematic, because it is difficult to discriminate between these 2 stages. Toxoplasma PCR assays using gDNA as a template have been unable to discriminate between an increase or decrease in SAG1 and BAG1 expression between the active tachyzoite stage and the latent bradyzoite stage. In the present study, real-time RT-PCR assay was used to detect the expression of bradyzoite (BAG1)- and tachyzoite-specific genes (SAG1) during bradyzoite/tachyzoite stage conversion in mice infected with T. gondii Tehran strain after dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DXM) administration. The conversion reaction was observed in the lungs and brain tissues of experimental mice, indicated by SAG1 expression at day 6 after DXM administration, and continued until day 14. Bradyzoites were also detected in both organs throughout the study; however, it decreased at day 14 significantly. It is suggested that during the reactivation period, bradyzoites not only escape from the cysts and reinvade neighboring cells as tachyzoites, but also converted to new bradyzoites. In summary, the real-time RT-PCR assay provided a reliable, fast, and quantitative way of detecting T. gondii reactivation in an animal model. Thus, this method may be useful for diagnosing stage conversion in clinical specimens of immunocompromised patients (HIV or transplant patients) for early identification of tachyzoite-bradyzoite stage conversion.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.350-357
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• 2017

Purpose: In-situ monitoring of water quality is fundamental to most environmental applications. The high cost and long delays of conventional laboratory methods used to determine water quality, including on-site sampling and chemical analysis, have limited their use in efficiently managing water sources while preventing environmental pollution. The objective of this study was to develop an on-site water monitoring system consisting mainly of an Arduino board and a sensor array of multiple ion selective electrodes (ISEs) to measure the concentration of $NO_3$ ions. Methods: The developed system includes a combination of three ISEs, double-junction reference electrode, solution container, sampling system consisting of three pumps and solenoid valves, signal processing circuit, and an Arduino board for data acquisition and system control. Prior to each sample measurement, a two-point normalization method was applied for a sensitivity adjustment followed by an offset adjustment to minimize the potential drift that could occur during continuous measurement and standardize the response of multiple electrodes. To investigate its utility in on-site nitrate monitoring, the prototype was tested in a facility where drinking water was collected from a water supply source. Results: Differences in the electric potentials of the $NO_3$ ISEs between 10 and $100mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ $NO_3$ concentration levels were nearly constant with negative sensitivities of 58 to 62 mV during the period of sample measurement, which is representative of a stable electrode response. The $NO_3$ concentrations determined by the ISEs were almost comparable to those obtained with standard instruments within 15% relative errors. Conclusions: The use of the developed on-site nitrate monitoring system based on automatic sampling and two-point normalization was feasible for detecting abrupt changes in nitrate concentration at various water supply sites, showing a maximum difference of $4.2mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ from an actual concentration of $14mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.3 s.70
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• pp.387-396
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• 2005

The aims of the study were to establish a short-term screening test for detecting testicular toxicity of chemicals in rats and to determine whether a 2-week administration period is sufficient to detect testicular toxicity of 2-bromopropane (2-BP) as an example. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subcutaneously administered with 1000 mg/kg/day of 2-BP or its vehicle for 2 weeks. Ten male rats each were sacrificed on days 3, 7 and 14 after the initiation of treatment. Parameters of testicular toxicity included genital organ weights, testicular sperm head counts, epididymal sperm counts, motility and morphology, and qualitative and quantitative histopathologic examinations. The early histopathological changes observed on day 3 of treatment included degeneration of spermatogonia and spermatocytes, multinuclear giant cells, mature spermatid retention, vacuolization of Sertoli cells, and decreased number of spermatogonia in stages II and V. On day 7 of treatment, atrophy of seminiferous tubules, exfoliation of germ cells, degeneration of spermatogonia and spermatocytes, multinuclear giant cells, mature spermatid retention, vacuolization of Sertoli cells, decreased number of spermatogonia in stages II and V, and decreased number of spermatocytes in stages VII and XII. On day 14 after treatment, a significant decrease in the weights of testes and seminal vesicles was found. Atrophy of seminiferous tubules, exfoliation of germ cells, degeneration of spermatogonia and spermatocytes, mature spermatid retention, vacuolization of Sertoli cells, decreased number of spermatogonia in stages II and V, and decreased number of spermatocytes in all spermatogenic stages were also observed. In addition, a slight non-significant decrease in testicular sperm head counts, daily sperm production rate and epididymal sperm counts was found. The results showed that 2 weeks of treatment is sufficient to detect the adverse effects of 2-BP on male reproductive organs. It is considered that the short-term testicular toxicity study established in this study can be a useful tool for screening the testicular toxic potential of new drug candidates in rats.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.36 no.6_2
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• pp.1605-1613
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• 2020

The tidal channel is a coastal sedimentary terrain that plays the most important role in the formation and development of tidal flats, and is considered a very important index for understanding and distribution of tidal flat sedimentation/erosion terrain. The purpose of this study is to understand the changes in tidal channels by a period after the opening of the floodgate of the seawall in the reclaimed land of Sihwa Lake using KOMPSAT high-resolution multispectral satellite image data and to evaluate the applicability and efficiency of high-resolution satellite images. KOMPSAT 2 and 3 images were used for extraction of the tidal channels' lineaments in 2009, 2014, and 2019 and were applied to supervised classification method based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Artificial Neural Net (ANN), Matched Filtering (MF), and Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) and band ratio techniques using Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and MF/SAM. For verification, a numerical map of the National Geographic Information Service and Landsat 7 ETM+ image data were utilized. As a result, KOMPSAT data showed great agreement with the verification data compared to the Landsat 7 images for detecting a direction and distribution pattern of the tidal channels. However, it has been confirmed that there will be limitations in identifying the distribution of tidal channels' density and providing meaningful information related to the development of the sedimentary process. This research is expected to present the possibility of utilizing KOMPSAT image-based high-resolution remote exploration as a way of responding to domestic intertidal environmental issues, and to be used as basic research for providing multi-platform-image-based convergent thematic maps and topics.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.5
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• pp.119-126
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• 1987

This study was conducted to elucidate the most appropriate method to obtain auxotrophic mutants from Valsa ceratosperma, the causal fungus of apple canker, which may be used as a gene marker in detecting the transfer of the factors of avirulent strains to virulent strains. Among the 3 kinds of synthetic media tested, each have two formula for minimal and complete, the medium which has been used in study of Endothia parasitica (E. P medium) was turned out to be most appropriate for the growth of V. ceratosperma. A medium for single colony formation from pycnidiospore of this fungus was developed by adding 0.5% L - sorbose to the E. P minimal medium. The period of incubation in dark for preventing the photoreactivation after U. V irradiation was estimated as about 60hrs at which most of the spores become binucleate. Largest number of putative auxotrophs were obtained at about 50second of irradiation to the spores smeared on the medium for single colony formation, at which the survival rate of spores was 5 to 6 percent. With these method developed in this experiment, 161 isolates of putative auxotrophs were detected among which the nutrient requirement for 10 isolates were determined. Five out of 10 mutants were still virulent to apple tree and all but one could not sporulate.