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A number of studies have evaluated the variable courses of facial artery. However, the results of these differed substantially from each other so not consistent relationships have yet been established. There has also yet to be a relevant study using conventional angiography.We assessed the variant branching pattern of the facial artery and its branches using conventional angiography.Two radiologists retrospectively reviewed 284 cases of angiographies of the external carotid artery in 198 patients. The courses of the facial artery and infraorbital branch of the maxillary artery were classified into 4 types and 2 types, according to the end branch.Among 284 cases of facial artery, type 1 (angular branch) made up 104 cases (36.6%), type 2 (lateral nasal branch) made up 138 cases (48.6%), type 3 (superior labial branch) made up 24 cases (8.5%), and type 4 (inferior labial branch) made up 18 cases (6.3%).Regarding the 284 total cases of maxillary artery, 163 cases (57.4%) had anastomosis with the angular artery or extended to the territory of the angular artery. In addition, 121 cases (42.6%) had nothing done in regard to the angular artery.The results may be helpful for avoiding complications related to facial and maxillary arteries during facial surgeries and cosmetic procedures.

In order to effectively apply nanoparticles to clinical use, macrophages have been used as vehicles to deliver genes, drugs or nanomaterials into tumors. In this study, the effectiveness of macrophage as a drug delivery system was validated by biodistribution imaging modalities at intercellular and ex vivo levels. We focused on biodistribution imaging, namely, the characterization of the gold nanoparticle-loaded macrophages using intracellular holotomography and target delivery efficiency analysis using ex vivo fluorescence imaging techniques. In more detail, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were prepared with trisodium citrate method and loaded into macrophage cells (RAW 264.7). First, AuNPs loading into macrophages was confirmed using the conventional ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Then, the holotomographic imaging was employed to characterize the intracellular biodistribution of the AuNPs-loaded macrophages. The efficacy of target delivery of the well AuNPs uptake macrophages was studied in a mouse model, established via lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation. The fluorescent images and the ex vivo ICP-MS evaluated the delivery efficiency of the AuNPs-loaded macrophages. Results revealed that the holotomographic imaging techniques can be promising modalities to understand intracellular biodistribution and ex vivo fluorescence imaging can be useful to validate the target delivery efficacy of the AuNPs-loaded macrophages.

Although several recent studies reported that probiotics might be beneficial for allergic rhinitis (AR), the effect of probiotics on AR is not consistent and have not been reproduced between studies. We aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of probiotic NVP-1703, a mixture of Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus plantarum, in subjects with perennial AR. Adult subjects with perennial AR received either NVP-1703 (n = 47) or placebo (n = 48) for four weeks. Total nasal symptom scores (TNSS), rhinitis control assessment test (RCAT), blood eosinophil count, allergen-specific IgE, and immunological parameters in serum and urine were compared at baseline and after four weeks. TNSS changes from baseline at weeks 1, 3, and 4 were significant between the NVP-1703 and placebo groups (p = 0.033, 0.031, and 0.029, respectively). RCAT score showed significant differences between the NVP-1703 and placebo groups (p = 0.049) at week 4. Dermatophagoides farinae-specific IgE levels and serum IL-10 levels were significantly different between the NVP-1703 and placebo groups (p = 0.033 and p = 0.047, respectively). IL-10/IL-4 and IL-10/IL-13 ratios were different between the NVP-1703 and placebo groups at week 4 (p = 0.046 and 0.018, respectively). NVP-1703 treatment reduced urinary prostaglandin F2&alpha, and leukotriene E4 levels (p &gt, 0.05). Therefore, NVP-1703 can be treatment option for perennial AR.

Most currently available commercial vaccines are delivered by systemic injection. However, needle-free oral vaccine delivery is currently of great interest for several reasons, including the ability to elicit mucosal immune responses, ease of administration, and the relatively improved safety. This review summarizes the biological basis, various physiological and immunological barriers, current delivery systems with delivery criteria, and suggestions for strategies to enhance the delivery of oral vaccines. In oral vaccine delivery, basic requirements are the protection of antigens from the GI environment, targeting of M cells and activation of the innate immune response. Approaches to address these requirements aim to provide new vaccines and delivery systems that mimic the pathogen’s properties, which are capable of eliciting a protective mucosal immune response and a systemic immune response and that make an impact on current oral vaccine development.

BACKGROUND: An implicit understanding of one’s body with fixed boundaries allows us to differentiate self from other. However, individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) frequently report experiencing bodily self-disturbances such as sudden changes in size and shape of the body and flexible or porous body boundary. In order to quantify bodily disturbances in schizophrenia, we investigated the construct of peripersonal space (PPS), which represents the ‘near’ space immediately surrounding our bodies. Whilst the physical body boundary is fixed, the neural representation of PPS is plastic and can be estimated using multisensory integration paradigms. Moreover, the size and extent of the PPS is thought to be influenced by the social-emotional environment, which in turn has implications for social interactions. We sought to measure PPS in SZ and control participants (CO) by adopting a multisensory integration task in a virtual reality (VR) environment to test whether PPS is altered in SZ when compared to CO. In addition, we examined the effects of social context and threat on the plasticity of PPS. METHODS: SZ and demographically matched CO participated in a visual-tactile response time (RT) task in immersive VR. Participants wore a head-mounted display and trackers on their feet, hands, and the torso. Handheld controllers were used to deliver tactile vibration and to record RTs. In VR, participants faced either an avatar or a machine that threw a ball at a speed of 3m/s. In addition to this visual display, tactile vibration was delivered to the participant’s hand via the controller at one of five set distance points from the initiation of the ball pitch. Participants were asked to press a trigger on the controller as soon as they felt a vibration. There were two social conditions (ball thrown by a person or a machine) and two emotion conditions (threat versus no threat). The RTs were recorded. According to Serino et al (2018), visuo-tactile integration would facilitate the RT nearer one’s PPS boundary. We calculated the location where the visuotactile facilitation occurs to estimate the boundary of PPS. In addition, we examined positive and negative symptoms, social isolation, and social functioning. RESULTS: PPS boundary in SZ differed significantly from that of the CO. However, there were a range of individual differences in PPS within groups. RTs were faster for threat than non-threat stimuli. The impact of social context was not conclusive. DISCUSSION: Preliminary results suggest that PPS can be estimated in VR and that PPS is altered in SZ. Given the importance of PPS in the construction of social self, anomalous experience of PPS in SZ may contribute to self-disturbances. Moreover, individual differences in PPS might impact social interactions and hence contribute to social impairments in schizophrenia.

Despite the previous studies showing the relationship between microalbuminuria and insulin resistance, longitudinal effect of insulin resistance on development of microalbuminuria is not clearly identified in non-diabetic population.One thousand six hundred three non-diabetic Korean men without microalbuminuria in 2005 had been followed up for the development of microalbuminuria until 2010. Microalbuminuria was evaluated by urine-albumin creatinine ration, and insulin resistance was evaluated by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate the risk for microalbuminuria according to the tertile of HOMA-IR.During 5465.8 person-y of average follow-up, microalbuminuria developed in 76 (4.7%) participants. Incidence of microalbuminuria increased in proportion to the level of HOMA-IR (tertile 1: 3.0%, tertile 2: 4.1%, tertile 3: 7.1%, P0.001). When the 1st tertile of HOMA-IR was set as reference, hazard ratios and 95% confidence interval were 1.15 (0.56-2.35) and 2.07 (1.05-4.09) for those in the 2nd and 3rd tertiles of HOMA-IR, even after adjusting multiple covariates, respectively (P for linear trend=0.054).Increased insulin resistance was a predictor of microalbuminuria in Korean men.

Increasing renewable energy, ESS and digital loads can be combined with DC power distribution to achieve high energy utilization efficiency. Emergency power supply needs consideration to prepare power failure of AC grid due to characteristic of DC distribution system connected with AC grid and digital loads. The application of emergency generators should be considered as the ESS cannot perfectly satisfy the emergency power supply. However, the slow response characteristic of the emergency generator interrupts the quick stabilization of the DC grid voltage. In this paper, an emergency power supply system using an emergency generator in DC distribution has been proposed. An emergency power supply system using a 13.3 [kW] emergency generator was constructed for DC distribution and an operation method was proposed to minimize the voltage drop occurring at the initial startup. The proposed method is verified by simulation.

Background: Past research suggests a disconnection between experienced emotions and bodily sensations in individuals with schizophrenia (SZ), but mechanisms underlying abnormal embodiment of emotions in SZ are unknown. There might be an overall reduction in emotion-related bodily sensations, but it is also possible that the spatial distribution of bodily sensations associated with emotions may be altered in SZ. We hypothesized the presence of a more coherent underlying structure giving rise to embodied emotions in healthy controls (HC) compared to SZ.

Background: Verbal fluency tasks are widely used to assess language organization and executive functioning. Meta-analyses of verbal fluency performance in individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) indicate greater impairment on semantic (SF) than phonemic fluency (PF). Because SF depends more on efficient word retrieval within subcategories (clustering) and PF more on shifting between subcategories (switching), fluency impairment has been linked to clustering difficulties in SZ. However, most scoring methods rely on subjective judgments to determine clusters and switches, which reduces reliability. Here, we test a novel computational method to objectively capture clustering, switching, and overall retrieval organization from fluency performance in SZ and demographically matched healthy controls (HC). Methods: PF and SF (“animals”) tasks were administered to SZ and HC. Responses were transcribed from audio recordings into text files for computational analysis using VFClust (Ryan et al, 2013). VFClust utilizes latent semantic analysis (LSA) to quantify the semantic similarity of ordered word pairs as well as a combination of the Cargenie Mellon Phonemic Dictionary (CMUDict) with the Levenshtein distance method to determine phonemic similarity of ordered word pairs. Similarity thresholds were established and applied to these pairwise similarity scores (PSS) to determine cluster or chain inclusion. Clusters included words in which every word pair in that cluster had a PSS above threshold. Chains consisted of words in which PSS of adjacent words were above threshold. Switches were counted when PSS were below threshold, signifying a shift from one category to another. Output metrics for each individual included total words produced, mean size of chains and clusters, number of chains, clusters, and switches, and mean PSS across all ordered word pairs for SF and PF. Results: SZ were impaired compared to HC on SF but not PF. SF deficit was driven by a lower number of chains and clusters produced by SZ compared with HC. Group differences in SF were not driven by any other measures. Negative symptoms were inversely correlated with the total number of words produced and the switch count in SF. Conclusion: Objective, computationally derived fluency metrics captured group differences observed in SF in SZ. Interestingly, the lack of difference in cluster size questions SZ deficits in generating sizable clusters. Instead, limitations in the ability to retrieve a variety of semantically associated words (multiple clusters) seem to underlie performance deficits. Intact switching despite lower number of clusters and chains could indicate increased activation between (conventionally) unrelated words. While altered, semantic relatedness could cascade to thought disorder and abnormal interpersonal interactions, in this study, we only observed a significant negative association with negative symptoms.

The performance of an isolated high voltage full bridge converter is improved using a voltage doubler. In a conventional high voltage full bridge converter, the diode of the transformer secondary voltage undergoes a voltage spike due to the leakage inductance of the transformer and the resonance occurring with the parasitic capacitance of the diode. In addition, in the phase shift control, conduction loss largely increases from the freewheeling mode because of the circulating current. The efficiency of the converter is thus reduced. However, in the proposed converter, the high voltage dual converter consists of a voltage doubler because the circulating current of the converter is reduced to increase efficiency. On the other hand, in the proposed converter, an input current is distributed when using parallel input / serial output and the output voltage can be doubled. However, the voltages in the 2 serial DC links might be unbalanced due to line impedance, passive and active components impedance, and sensor error. Considering these problems, DC injection is performed due to the complementary operations of half bridge inverters as well as the disadvantage of the unbalance in the DC link. Therefore, the serial output of the converter needs to control the balance of the algorithm. In this paper, the performance of the conventional converter is improved and a balance control algorithm is proposed for the proposed converter. Also, the system of the 1.5[kW] PCS is verified through an experiment examining the operation and stability.

This paper proposes that each converter supplies the power using the proposed droop control for the parallel operation of the converters. The proposed method is easy to increase the power as parallel system in DC distribution. By improving conventional droop-control method used in AC grid newly, a droop controller is designed to apply droop control in DC grid. And the control method of the proposed droop controller is explained particularly. In this paper, by applying the proposed control method to DC distribution system, propriety is verified through the simulation and the experiment.

The aims of this study are to analysis about surface muscle activity of lower and upper musculus erector spinae according to walkers form. The subjects of the current step is inconvenient to use a walker and five people over the age of 65 valid samples were selected as final. All the subjects were measured in three forms. Wireless EMG muscle activity is a measure of surface measurements were measured using a system, both musculus vastus lateralis, outside the erector spinae muscle, musculus biceps femoris, gastrocnemius muscle was attached to the channel electrodes. According to the results, First, gastrocnemius muscle activity showed significant differences by type of gait. Second, the muscle activity of the erector spinae muscle walking showed significant differences by type, side grip type showed the lowest muscle activity. Consequently, the present study is the efficient use of the four-wheel walker will provide the baseline data.

Background and Objective Treatment modalities, such as hyperthermia and photodynamic therapy (PDT) have been used in the treatment of a variety of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), either alone or as an adjuvant therapy. Macrophages loaded with gold nanoshells, which convert near-infrared light to heat, can be used as transport vectors for photothermal hyperthermia of tumors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of combined macrophage mediated photothermal therapy (PTT) and PDT on HNSCC cells.

It is critical to design for affordances, which is the messages of products and services that help human activities when properly perceived, in both product design and service design. Although research on product design for user activities or user-friendly design has been conducted, few efforts have been dedicated to product design for diverse service considerations. In the context of servitization and product-service systems, many new services are devised starting with a product. A systematic method is proposed to redesign products so that value propositions through services can be enhanced by dealing with service activities specifically. By integrating service activities and product functions, affordances for service activities are identified. Affordance features for those affordances are designed and combined into the redesign of a product to support service activities. An illustrative case of a standing wheelchair redesign is described to validate the applicability of the proposed method for product redesign for service considerations. The proposed method enhances through the redesign of products diverse life-cycle services in which many stakeholders are participating to co-create values for societal, entrepreneurial, and ecological sustainability.

Background and Objective Photodynamic therapy (PDT)-induced disruption of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) has been investigated as a technique for the delivery of therapeutic agents to selective regions of the brain. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of PDT on the migration of systemically administered exogenous macrophages (Ma) loaded with iron oxide nanoparticles in non-tumor bearing rats.

Currently, a variety of materials are available for the treatment of glottal insufficiency. Ideal injection materials should be inexpensive, easily obtainable, nontoxic, and biocompatible. Plasma gel has recently been developed as an injectable, autologous material used in plastic surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the histological changes in rabbit vocal folds (VFs) after an injection of plasma gel, compared with collagen (Artecoll) or hyaluronic acid (Reviderm Intra).Experimental prospective animal study.Animal laboratory.Blood samples were collected from 12 New Zealand rabbits. Plasma collected from each rabbit was centrifuged and processed using a gel heating system. All rabbits received a 0.05 ml injection of plasma gel into the right VF, while an equivalent volume of Artecoll or Reviderm Intra was injected into the left VFs of each 6 rabbits randomly. The larynges were collected 2, 4, and 8 weeks after injection, and the tissues were stained for histological analysis.In comparison with left VFs injected with Artecoll or Reviderm Intra, there was significantly less inflammatory response and foreign body reaction in the plasma gel injected right VFs (P.05). Multinucleated foreign body type giant cells were also more prevalent in the left VFs. There were no quantitative differences in the rates of neovascularization or collagen deposition between groups.Plasma gel is a biologically compatible material that may serve as a suitable augmentation material in injection laryngoplasty. Further studies that examine the long-term effects in a larger number of subjects are needed.

Contains fulltext : 182713.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Rapamycin (RM), a drug that inhibits the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway and responds to nutrient availability, seemingly mimics the effects of caloric restriction (CR) on healthy life span. However, the extent of the mechanistic overlap between RM and CR remains incompletely understood. Here, we compared the impact of CR and RM on cellular metabolic status. Both regimens maintained intracellular ATP through the chronological aging process and showed enhanced mitochondrial capacity. Comparative transcriptome analysis showed that CR had a stronger impact on global gene expression than RM. We observed a like impact on the metabolome and identified distinct metabolites affected by CR and RM. CR severely reduced the level of energy storage molecules including glycogen and lipid droplets, whereas RM did not. RM boosted the production of enzymes responsible for the breakdown of glycogen and lipid droplets. Collectively, these results provide insights into the distinct energy metabolism mechanisms induced by CR and RM, suggesting that these two anti-aging regimens might extend life span through distinctive pathways.

In this paper, model predictive control method is applied to improve output DC voltage dynamic characteristic of 3-level NPC AC/DC PWM converter for DC distribution using LCL filter. Generally, DC grid is applied to micro grid with renewable energy as photovoltaic, ESS. Renewable energy as photovoltaic causes transient state of DC bus voltage because input/output of energy is irregular due to irregular generating power of renewable energy. Transient state of DC bus voltage is required to be minimized for stable power supplying because most loads connected to DC grid require digital load which is sensitive to voltage fluctuation. Proposed control method improved transient state of DC bus voltage characteristic applying model predictive control AC/DC PWM converter for DC distribution using LCL filter. Proposed method is verified by simulation.

This paper proposed a compensation method for reducing sampling delay through ADC(Analog-to-Digital Converter) module of MCU(Micro Controller Unit) using ZDPWM method. In case of conventional PWM method of 3-level NPC inverter, the switching devices which is composed of silicon compounds are conducted complementary operation by both reference and carrier waveform. And this operating method needs to contain dead time state to prevent short-circuit fault. However, the phase voltage distortion is caused by the dead time state in conventional method. As a results, THD of phase current is increased when inverter system is operating. ZDPWM method which is non-complementary operation is suggested to compensate the distortion through dead time in 3-level NPC inverter. The ZDPWM method has some advantages such as simple operation through carrier waveform as same as conventional method and low harmonic factor at phase current based on non-complementary operation. However, the unexpected distortion of phase current can occur by phase angle delay through sampling of ADC module when the ZDPWM is used in experiment by MCU. Therefore, this paper proposed simple method to compensate sampling delay based on the modeling of delayed phase angle. The proposed method is demonstrated by experiment, and the method compares with same conditions as both conventional PWM method and the ZDPWM due to uncompensated sampling delay.

IPMSM has advantage of high efficiency than other types of motors because of its high generating output per unit volume. However, when torque controlled in certain transient state, the transient response difference occurs due to difference of magnetic resistance. It means that difference of response on q-axis and d-axis currents, thus causing the motor control performance is reduced in transient. Therefore, control measure, considering the rated parameter and driving speed of IPMSM and compensation technique for efficient motor drive are needed. In this paper, we will analyze the problem of the IPMSM drive systems. We will also propose algorithm that improves the transient response and will confirm it by simulations and experiments.

In this paper, a fast voltage strategy of three-phase AC/DC pulse width modulation (PWM) converter applying a feedforward compensation method is proposed. Conventional PI regulator control method and soft staring method are easy to generate inrush current from startup period. It leads to influence device's parts life, system reliability and increase the stresses on the switches. The paper analyzed Three-phase PWM converter and researched cause of inrush current during startup. Also, it solved the small signal modeling with output current. Based on contents, this paper determines feedforward compensation value and prevents saturating PI controller by applying feedforward compensation. The proposed feed forward compensation method is illustrated with PSIM simulation.

This paper presents how to design a converter that robust to the load variable. The proposed LLC resonant converter can control the output voltage by applying phase-shift switching method. In this paper, first It was proposed to describe the configuration of Phase Control LLC(PCLLC) converter. After that, The input voltage is analyzed by the first harmonic approximation analysis. Then, principle of operation for the converter is explained by each mode.

Recently, The necessity of renewable energy be on the rise in as fossil fuel is depleted. Study of offshore wind power generation is being carried out as part of the renewable energy business. The 3-level inverter for use in the offshore wind power system studied is increasing as high capacity about offshore wind power. The 3-level inverter had an advantage that make reference voltage higher than 2-level reference voltage. Also, study of the 3-phase inverter has increased nowadays. However, 3-level NPC (Neutral-Point-Clamped) inverter, two capacitors and the neutral point are connected in series, it can lead to problems reduces stability of the system and unbalance voltage. It is SVPWM (Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation) method. Because DPWM (Discontinuous Pulse Width Modulation) method didn't neutral point control as same method from SVPWM, each DPWM method need a method of neutral point control. This paper proposed a method of applying the offset voltage attem pts to resolve the difficulties of the neutral point voltage control. The equation for the offset voltage to be applied to the system of each DPWM was determined. The proposed method is implemented by comparison of block diagram. The proposed algorithm is verified by the simulation.

Background and objectives Some patients experiencing dizziness also report psychological distress. However, the association between vestibular deficits and psychological symptoms remains controversial. Thus, the aim of this paper is to report the proportion of patients who complained of dizziness who also had high depression and anxiety indices. Also we investigated the severity of their dizziness and the distribution of the diseases underlying this symptom. Subjects and methods We assessed the dizziness and psychological distress of 544 patients experiencing dizziness using the Korean versions of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). We also reviewed the audio-vestibular symtoms of patients with high levels of depression and anxiety. Results The incidences of high depression and anxiety scores were 11% (60/544) and 18% (98/544), respectively. Patients with vestibular migraine were most likely to have high depression and anxiety indices. Patients in the high-BDI or high-STAI groups (117/544) obtained significantly higher DHI scores than those in neither the high-BDI nor the high-STAI group (427/544). We noticed that about 20% of the patients experiencing dizziness had high levels of psychological distress in this study; this group also suffered from various vestibular diseases and more symptoms of dizziness. Conclusions The results of the study suggest that psychological evaluation should be considered when assessing patients with vertigo.

In this paper, control method which detects positive-sequence voltage and phase angle is proposed for dc distribution system. Apart from positive-sequence voltage extraction using phase delay of APF, conventional control method needs phase angle detection using the PLL. On the other hand, control method applied in proposed system is able to perform phase angle detection, positive-sequence voltage extraction and harmonic filtering only using SOGI-FLL. Validity of control method using SOGI-FLL is verified by PSIM simulation and experimental results.

The flows of paper are analyzed throughout the papermaking processes, with the year 2007 and Korea defined as the system boundaries. In practice, the statistical data on the production, import and export of paper or pulp can be collected with relative ease from the government and industrial associations. However, the input data regarding the volumes of pulp and wastepaper used in different paper products, such as newsprint, printing papers, sanitary and household papers, specialty papers, and corrugating board base, are difficult to obtain because such information is generally kept confidential in the course of corporate operations. The production processes of paper products in Korea are modeled using information on raw materials, their compositions and production yields of products in order to identify and quantify the amounts of pulp and wastepaper used in each paper product. The material flows of paper are then analyzed based on the calculation model derived from the correlation of input and output flows between the individual processes throughout the entire paper lifecycle. Accuracy analysis using both mean absolute error (MAE) and mean absolute percent error (MAPE) is conducted to verify the amounts of pulp and wastepaper calculated from the proposed model against the volumes of domestically consumed pulp and wastepaper provided in the national statistics. Although the calculated values for the past (i.e., the 1980s and 1990s) differ to some degree from the statistical values, the data for the 2000s have a relatively higher level of accuracy, with the MAPE of the total pulp and recycling volume at 5.39% and 5.30%, respectively, thus validating the adequacy of the proposed modeling method. The proposed calculation model can be effectively used in the material flow analysis (MFA) of paper to reduce the burden of data collection and obtain relatively accurate results.

Material flow analysis (MFA) is an evaluation technique that systematically identifies the flows and stocks of materials within predefined spatial and temporal boundaries. In this paper, the steel resources in Korea are investigated using dynamic MFA. Iron ore and steel scrap are added as raw material components during the production processes of steel, which is then used in a variety of product groups such as construction products, transportation equipment, machinery/metal products, electrical/electronic devices, and other products through fabrication and manufacturing processes. When such product groups are discarded, they are either recycled or landfilled. With consideration for the lifetimes of various product groups in conjunction with steel resource flows in Korea, dynamic MFA is conducted on the flows of steel stock change and annual scrap generation. By 2020, these two flows are expected to increase by as much as 40% and 30%, respectively, compared to 2008, with transportation equipment, in particular, envisaged to experience high growth. At the current recycling rate, however, it will be hard to meet future scrap demand. According to the scenario analysis, 100% of this future scrap demand can be supplied domestically if the recycling rate is increased to over 70% for all product groups, except construction products and transportation equipment, which already have high recycling rates. By 2020, the reduction in scrap importation costs is projected to offer a financial gain of 2.3 billion dollars.

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are smart materials whose original (permanent) shape can be restored from a temporarily fixed one by applying an external stimulus such as heat, acidity, light, etc. In particular, thermo-responsive shape memory polyurethanes (SMPUs) show shape memory behavior when heated. Here, it is important to characterize the transition temperature at which the materials memorize their permanent shape from the temporary shape. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) or dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) are employed to determine the transition temperature of SMPUs depending on their molecular conformation. A new method is proposed that can determine the transition temperature by making use of the thermo-mechanical behavior of SMPUs using a general tensile tester with an environmental chamber. This method focuses on the constrained recovery behavior of the SMPUs upon heating, i.e., they are prevented from contracting or deforming during the test, thereby causing them to develop a certain stress. The rate of the developed stress according to the temperature depends on the micro-structures of the SMPUs, which determine their transition temperature.

Background Our sense of embodied self depends on continuous spatiotemporal integration and predictive coding of multisensory signals to yield a stable internal landscape. However, schizophrenia is characterized by inconsistent mapping of the physical and parasomatic body space, autoscopic hallucinations and flexible body self boundary. We aimed to elucidate the specific roles of exteroceptive, proprioceptive and interoceptive systems in generating self disturbances. Lastly, if schizophrenia represents one end of the spectrum of bodily self disorders, it is also important to understand what lies at the other extreme end, represented by those whose prediction coding is honed to perfection from years of training (athletes) to gain insight into potential remediation strategies. Methods In Study 1, components of bodily self-disturbances were examined in individuals with schizophrenia (SZ), matched controls (CO) and prodromal participants (P) with tasks that assessed tactile perception (2-point discrimination task), susceptibility to proprioceptive-tactile illusions, multisensory integration, visual body mapping of emotions (emBODY), and interoceptive awareness (heartbeat detection task). Phenomenological dissociative experiences were captured with a novel picture-based inventory (BODI). In Study 2, we recruited healthy participants with extraordinary expertise to coordinate interoceptive, proprioceptive and exteroceptive signals to perform physical tasks (athletes), and compared their embodiment of emotions with that of matched controls and individuals with schizophrenia. Results Individuals with schizophrenia and prodromal participants were impaired in interoceptive awareness, exteroceptive tactile discrimination, and audio-visual integration compared with matched control groups. SZ and P also showed increased sensitivity to proprioceptive illusions, which was associated with increased dissociative experiences and positive syndromes. Bodily sensations associated with emotions were reduced in SZ and P compared to CO. Importantly, the spatial locations of embodied emotions were different in SZ compared with CO. Interestingly, athletes showed highly precise localization of embodied emotions compared with matched controls. Self-disturbances were exacerbated by social isolation regardless of diagnosis. Discussion These results suggest that mapping of internal signals to the experience of external world is inconsistent or incoherent, contributing to fragmented and discontinuous self experience in persons with schizophrenia. More specifically, proprioceptive prediction errors seem to contribute to abnormally flexible self boundary. Diminished access to interoceptive signals may lead to reduced mapping of bodily sensations. Embodied emotions were reduced in SZ and P compared to CO. Athletes seemed to have much more precisely tuned awareness of embodied emotions. These results are consistent with the framework of increased internal neural noise in schizophrenia, which could lead to both weakened and poorly integrated interoceptive, proprioceptive and exteroceptive signaling, and a fragmented sense of self. Athletes data suggest that it may be possible to remediate bodily self disturbances via physical training. These findings underscore the importance of bringing back the body to psychiatry.

Today, most of all the query processors in the world generally use the 'Pipelining' method to acquire fast response time (first record latency) and less memory usage. Each of the operator nodes in the Query Execution Plan (QEP) provides Open(), Next(), and Close() functions for their interface to facilitate the iterator mechanism. However, the embedded database systems for the mobile devices, based on the FLASH memory, usually require a function like Previous(), which returns the previous records from current position. It is because that, in the embedded environment, the mobile devices cannot fully provide it main memory to store all the query results. So, whenever needed the previously read records the user (program) should re-fetch the previous records using the Previous() function: the BACKWARD data fetch. In this paper, I introduce the 'Direction Switching Problem' caused by the Previous() function and suggest 'Block-wise Skipping' method to fully utilize the benefits of the block-based data transfer mechanism, which is widely accepted by most of the today's relational database management systems.Keywords:Pipelining, Embedded Database, Query Processor

This study examined the effect of nanoclays on the shape memory behavior of polyurethane (PU) in fibrous form. A cation was introduced into the PU molecules to disperse the organo-nanoclay (MMT) into poly(e- caprolactone) (PCL)-based PU (PCL-PU). The MMT/PCL-PU nanocomposites were then spun into fibers through melt-processing. The shape memory performance of the spun fibers was examined using a variety of thermomechanical tests including a new method to determine the transition temperature of shape memory polymers. The MMTs showed an improved the fixity strain rate of the MMT/PCL-PU fibers but a slight decrease in their recovery strain rate. This was explained by the limited movement of PU molecules due to the presence of nanoclays. The shape memory performance of the MMT/PCL-PU fibers was not enhanced significantly by the nanoclays. However, their recovery power was improved significantly up to a strain of approximately 50%.

Background Hearing loss can lead to a number of disabilities, subsequently reducing the quality of life. In general, hearing thresholds of adolescents are better than adults and the elderly. However, occasionally, adolescents acquire hearing loss for a number of reasons. In this study, our goal was to estimate the prevalence of hearing loss in the Korean population and to investigate the factors related to hearing thresholds in adolescents. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) between 2010 and 2012. We enrolled a total of 1,658 participants, ages 13 to 18 years. We investigated the prevalence of hearing loss and the factors associated with hearing thresholds at various frequencies (0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 KHz). Results Weighted prevalence of unilateral and bilateral hearing loss in Korean adolescents was 2.2% and 0.4%, respectively. Weighted prevalence of hearing thresholds ≥ 20 dB at speech and high frequencies were 3.1% and 5.0%, respectively, for unilateral hearing loss and 0.7% and 1.9%, respectively, for bilateral. Age group, tympanometric data, and household income were significantly related to unilateral or bilateral hearing thresholds ≥ 20 dB at speech frequencies. Earphone use in noisy places was associated with bilateral hearing thresholds ≥ 20 dB at high frequencies. Conclusions The prevalence of hearing loss in Korean adolescents was 2.6% using the general standard threshold associated with hearing loss. However, the prevalence of hearing thresholds ≥ 20 dB for speech and high frequencies was much higher. The results from this study provide an estimate of hearing loss in adolescents and suggest the need for early detection and hearing preservation programs among adolescents.

Electromechanical reshaping (EMR) is a promising surgical technique used to reshape cartilage by direct current and mechanical deformation. It causes local stress relaxation and permanent alterations in the shape of cartilage. The major advantages of EMR are its minimally invasive nature and nonthermal electrochemical mechanism of action. The purpose of this study is to validate that EMR does not cause thermal damage and to observe structural changes in post-EMR cartilage using several imaging modalities. Three imaging modality metrics were used to validate the performance of EMR by identifying structural deformation during cartilage reshaping: infrared thermography was used to sense the temperature of the flat cartilages (16.7°C at 6 V), optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used to examine the change in the cartilage by gauging deformation in the tissue matrix during EMR, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to show that EMR-treated cartilage is irregularly arranged and the thickness of collagen fibers varies, which affects the change in shape of the cartilage. In conclusion, the three imaging modalities reveal the nonthermal and electromechanical mechanisms of EMR and demonstrate that use of an EMR device is feasible for reshaping cartilage in a minimally invasive manner.

Segmented polyurethane (PU) polymers are known to have shape memory function, i.e., when they reach certain temperatures, they deform into the memorized shape from any temporary one. In the present study, PU polymers were spun into fibers using the conventional extrusion process to investigate the feasibility of producing smart fibers with shape memory function. The shape memory polymers (SMPs) and their spun fibers were characterized using DSC, DMTA, and tensile test. In particular, the thermo-mechanical deformation behavior, which enables to evaluate the shape memory performance of the SMPs, was characterized using DMTA. Then, the linear viscoelastic theory was utilized for mathematical modelling of the thermo-mechanical behavior of the SMPs. For the shape memory fibers, the large deformation characteristics were also investigated using the thermo-mechanical test, necessitating the development of nonlinear viscoelastic theory to formulate a constitutive equation and to provide an effective tool for designing smart textile structure.

The mechanism of water pollution in Lake Shihwa, one of highly eutrophicated artificial lakes in Korea, has been studied using a numerical 3D physical-biochemical coupled model. In this study, the model was applied to estimate the contribution of land-based pollutant load to water quality of heavily polluted Lake Shihwa. The chemical oxygen demand(COD) was adopted as an index of the lake water quality, and the spatial distribution of an average COD concentration during the summer from 1999 to 2000 was simulated by the model. The simulated COD showed a good agreement with the observed data. According to reproducibility of COD, the high-est levels between 8 and 9 mg/L were shown at the inner site of the lake with inflow of many rivers and ditches, while the lowest was found to be about 5 mg/L at the southwestern site near to dike gate. In the pre-diction of water quality of Lake Shihwa, COD showed still higher levels than 3 mg/L in case of reduction of 95% for land-based pollutant load. This suggests that the curtailment of land-based pollutant load is not only sufficient but the improvement of sediment quality or the increase of seawater exchange should be considered together to improve a water quality in Lake Shihwa.

A blank holder force (BHF) is applied to a fabric preform in stamp forming operations to impose a tension onto it, which helps to reduce the occurrence of defects such as wrinkles. The current study aims to quantitatively investigate BHF’s effect on formed shapes by carrying out a stamp forming operation on non-crimp fabrics with various BHFs. A non-crimp fabric (NCF) with chain stitches was used as the fabric preform. The NCF exhibits asymmetrical shear behavior due to its stitches, which can be confirmed from a picture frame test. This asymmetrical shear behavior causes NCFs to be formed into asymmetrical shapes when stamped by a symmetrically spherical forming tool. The asymmetrical forming behavior was scrutinized using various BHFs and measuring the local change in fiber angle along the formed parts’ arc lines. It was observed that BHF lessens the formed shape’s asymmetry and influences the NCF’s in-plane buckling and wrinkling behavior. The BHF’s effect on wrinkling behavior was quantitatively characterized using an image processing method that can assess a fabric preform’s wrinkling level. Finally, using these experiments and simulations, we discuss the feasibility of finding the optimized forming condition that can process the NCF preform into complex shapes with few or no wrinkles.

In this paper, we propose a new operator, histogram-by, which provides a grouping for continuous domains, which partitions records into several groups by given ranges of the target attributes. The histogram-by operator can be represented as histogram-by clause in the SQL statement, and can be easily amenable to query optimization. As the application of the histogram-by operator, we introduce a multi-dimensional histogram query, which returns aggregate values of all ranges specified by the histogram-by clause. To process the query efficiently, we propose effective algorithms using aggregate R-trees. Our experimental results show that our algorithms are reliable in terms of performance over the synthetic and real-world datasets.

In this paper, feedforward compensation method is proposed to increase transient state dynamic characteristic of DC distribution system. In AC distribution system, voltage fluctuation of ±10[%] is regulated to normal range. Generally, the loads in AC system is not sensitive to voltage fluctuation because it supply power through DC/DC converter and diode rectifier. But, the loads in DC distribution system is sensitive to the rate of voltage fluctuation. Moreover, renewable energy which is composited with DC distribution, power amount is non-constant. Thus, consisting link with renewable energy, distribution system is required for stable power supply to the loads. Proposed method can improve quality of power and dynamic characteristic of distribution voltage through feedforward.

This paper propose Zero Dead-time PWM method in 3-Level NPC(Neutral Point Clamped) inverter. Each switch of conventional PWM method is performs to complementary switching and semiconductor switch devices have time difference between rising time and falling time. Therefore, dead-time is applied to rising edge of switching signal for prevent short circuit fault. But this dead-time cause distortion of output voltage and current due to signal difference between reference switching and real switching. These distortions are responsible for system instable and DC-Link voltage unbalance. Whereas proposed ZDPWM method does not shows output current distortion because dead time is not exist. The validity of proposed method is verified it through simulation.

In this paper, 3-level Active NPC inverter of predictive thermal modeling controls losses through the predictive thermal modeling. In the advantage of conventional 3-Level NPC, the generated thermal in each switch is unbalanced. Also, utilization of designed system has decreased. Thus, in order to compensate, 3-Level Active NPC inverter can distribute switch loss in accordance with operation of active switch. Therefore, 3-level Active NPC inverter is controlled with the loss distribution method by using predictive thermal modeling and Active NPC inverter is verified by simulation results.

Gold-based nanoparticles have been used in a number of therapeutic and diagnostic applications. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of gold-silica nanoshells (AuNS) in photothermal therapy (PTT) of rat gliomas. Rat alveolar macrophages (Ma) were used as nanoparticle delivery vectors. Uptake of AuNS (bare and PEGylated) was investigated in Ma. AuNS were incubated with Ma for 24 h. Phase contrast microscopy was used to visualize the distribution of loaded Ma in three-dimensional glioma spheroids. PTT efficacy was evaluated for both empty (Ma) and AuNS-loaded Ma (Ma(NS)) in both monolayers and spheroids consisting of C6 rat glioma cells and Ma. Monolayers/spheroids were irradiated for 5 min with light from an 810-nm diode laser at irradiances ranging from 7 to 28 W cm(-2). Monolayer survival was evaluated using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (MTS) assay while PTT efficacy in spheroids was determined from growth kinetics and live/dead fluorescence microscopy. PTT efficacy was investigated in vivo using a Sprague-Dawley rat glioma model. Five rats received direct intracranial injection of a mixture of 10(4) C6 glioma cells and, 2 days later, an equal number of Ma(NS). Three rats received laser treatment (810 nm; 10 min; 1 W) while the remaining two served as controls (no laser treatment). The uptake ratio of bare to PEGylated AuNS by Ma was 4:1. A significant photothermal effect was observed in vitro, albeit at relatively high radiant exposures (2.1-4.2 kJ cm(-2)). PTT proved effective in vivo in preventing or delaying tumor development in the PTT-treated animals.

A range top-k query returns the topmost k records in the order set by a measure attribute within a specified region of multi-dimensional data. The range top-k query is a powerful tool for analysis in spatial databases and data warehouse environments. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to answer the query by selectively traversing an aggregate R-tree having MAX as the aggregate values. The algorithm can execute the query by accessing only a small part of the leaf nodes within a query region. Therefore, it shows good query performance regardless of the size of the query region. We suggest an efficient pruning technique for the priority queue, which reduces the cost of handling the priority queue, and also propose an efficient technique for leaf node organization to reduce the number of node accesses to execute the range top-k queries.