Joon-Kyu Park

Complete ophthalmoplegia after herpes zoster

Motor loss caused by herpes zoster is infrequent, and only a few studies have focused on ocular motor paralysis in ophthalmic herpes zoster. We report a case of complete ophthalmoplegia resulting from ophthalmic herpes zoster. A 69‐year‐old man presented with complete left‐side ptosis with total ophthalmoplegia 7 days after the onset of left ophthalmic herpes zoster. The patient was treated with aciclovir and prednisolone. Five months later, the ptosis had resolved and the extraocular motility had almost returned to normal.

High‐dose prednisolone and psoralen ultraviolet A combination therapy in 36 patients with vitiligo

It is well known that systemic corticosteroids arrest the progress of vitiligo and lead to repigmentation, but they may produce unacceptable side‐effects. The use of high‐dose prednisolone therapy to minimize the side‐effects of systemic steroids has been reported, but there have been no reports on the effectiveness of such treatment combined with phototherapy. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of combination therapy with intravenous prednisolone and psoralen ultraviolet A (PUVA). In 36 patients with vitiligo, intravenous methylprednisolone for 3 days was followed by PUVA twice weekly. After 6 months, vitiligo lesions on the face were reduced in size by 57.5%, on the upper extremities by 34.5%, on the trunk by 30.4% and on the lower extremities by 26.3%. Overall, improvement was seen in 13 patients (36.1%), with > 50% repigmentation. Side‐effects were mild and transient. We conclude that combination treatment of high‐dose prednisolone therapy and PUVA may represent a highly effective therapeutic option for generalized vitiligo.

Practical valuations on the effect of two type uncertainties for optimum design of cable-stayed bridges

A procedure for the optimum structural design of cable-stayed bridges is proposed based on minimum expected life-cycle cost (LCC); the procedure is illustrated with the optimum design of a cable-stayed bridge subjected to static and earthquake loads. Reliability analysis of the bridge is performed taking into account the two types of uncertainty in the capacity and loads. The capacity of the bridge is assumed to be determined by its critical members; this is tantamount to the assumption that the capacities and load effects of the structural members are highly correlated. Various designs of a cable-stayed bridge are considered; namely, a standard design, plus several that are weaker as well as several that are stronger than the standard design. For the different alternative designs, the member sections are decreased or increased relative to those of the standard design. The LCC of a particular design is formulated assuming that the cost components (including the maintenance and social costs) are respectively fractions of the initial cost. Reliability of a design associated with the aleatory uncertainties is assessed for each design, and the corresponding expected LCC and safety index are evaluated. The results of the various designs provide the information, safety index vs expected LCC, for determining the design with the minimum expected LCC which can be presented graphically. Because of the epistemic type of uncertainty, the LCC as well as the safety index of the optimum design are random variables; the respective histograms are also generated, from which the various percentile values can be obtained. Especially, the 75% and 90% values of the LCC may be specified to minimize the chance of underestimating the actual LCC of the optimum design; similarly the 75% and 90% values of the safety index may be specified for a conservative design of the cable-stayed bridge.

Cutaneous lymphangiectasia associated with photoageing and topical corticosteroid application

We report the case of a 69‐year‐old man with a history of multiple erythematous bullae on both forearms, which had been present for about 1 month. The lesions appeared after several years of topical corticosteroid application and photoageing. A biopsy revealed lymphangiectasia with solar elastosis and increase in the ratio of elastic to collagen fibres in the dermis. We suggest that this patient’s lymphangiectasia resulted from abnormal structure and function of the dermis due to photoageing and steroid‐related atrophy.

Construction of Expert Service for GPS Relative Positioning Data Processing

Abstract It requires a lot of time and effort for general users who do not have enough understanding of GPS to properly processing GPS data. However, the GPS data processing field heavily relies on foreign-produced software and there is almost no development of user-oriented technology. Therefore, in this study, it was attempted to build an expert service that enables non-experts to use high-precision GPS data processing. As a result, an expert service that can maximize user convenience simply by entering the minimum required information for GPS data processing was developed, and the expert service was verified by relative positioning processing of the observation data of satellite control point provided by National Geographic Information Institute and observation data obtained by GPS survey. The expert service significantly reduces the effort and time for processing GPS data, which will contribute to precise positioning and other various studies. Key Words : GPS, Data Processing, Expert Service, Relative Positioning

A case of unilateral scrotal calcinosis

Scrotal calcinosis usually occurs during adolescence, and appears as asymptomatic hard nodules on the scrotum, which can be single or multiple. The nodules usually occur bilaterally, and usually increase in number over time. Unilateral scrotal calcinosis has not been reported previously in the dermatological literature, to our knowledge. We report a peculiar case of scrotal calcinosis, in which 20 nodules were limited to the left scrotum. They ranged in size from 2 to 10 mm. Over 2 months, they decreased slightly in size and number, and no new nodules developed. In April 2006, an 18-year-old man was admitted to our department with multiple subcutaneous nodules on the left scrotum that had occurred 1 month earlier. He reported that the number and size of the nodules had increased and were causing discomfort. On physical examination, 20 nodules ranging in size from 2 to 10 mm were seen (Fig. 1a). Histological examination of a skin biopsy specimen found amorphous basophilic calcium nodules in the dermis with no epidermal change (Fig. 1b). No epithelial lining or inflammatory cells were seen. The patient was in good health and claimed to have no underlying disease. He refused to undergo blood, urine or radiological tests. He was followed up carefully for 2 months, during which time the subcutaneous nodules decreased slightly in size and number (Fig. 1c). Scrotal calcinosis was first reported by Lewinski in 1883. It usually occurs during adolescence, appearing as a single nodule or multiple asymptomatic hard nodules, which can reach 30 mm in size, on the scrotum. Scrotal calcinosis is typically bilateral, and the number of nodules increases over time, with reported cases involving up to 51 nodules. Histopathological observations of scrotal calcinosis include amorphous basophilic calcium nodules on haematoxylin and eosin staining. With von Kossa stain, the nodules stain black. Some nodules have an epithelial lining. In addition, multinucleated megakaryocytes and inflammatory cells may be seen around the calcium deposits. Destruction of the nodules may result in the efflux of a chalk-like substance. The aetiopathogenesis of the disease remains controversial. Although no reports in the English literature have (a)

Multiple yellow–brown papules on the neck and anterior trunk of a patient with diabetes mellitus

A 20-year-old Korean woman presented with a 1-year history of an eruption that began as numerous papules on the neck and spread to cover a large area on the anterior trunk in successive crops. The neck eruption had recently become mildly pruritic. She had been hospitalized with diabetic ketoacidosis as a complication of uncontrolled type I diabetes mellitus. The eruption consisted of numerous yellow-brown, flat-topped papules, 1–5 mm in diameter, on the neck, anterior chest, and abdomen (Fig. 1). The lesions had coalesced in places to form plaques 5–15 mm in diameter. The lesions were bilateral and symmetrical, and had both a follicular and nonfollicular distribution. The patient was diagnosed 3 years ago with type I diabetes mellitus but had not begun treatment. Histopathological findings

Development and Accuracy Evaluation of GPS Data Processing Automation Module

Actually, software used for GPS data processing has its result according to user’s skill. Also, it takes much time and effort for general user to make a normal user of GPS data processing software. Accordingly, this research developed the automation module of GPS data processing that even general users can interpret the location at a professional level. Automation module made possible decision of precise position based on C# and Bernese 5.0, and performed the interpretation of precise position of the national GPS observatory for the precise evaluation of developed module. The research calculated the deviation within 0.020m by X,Y,Z and result of RMSE less than ±0.021m, and presented its application. Based on the research result, the future web based GPS data processing service development will be able to contribute to GPS related area but also for general user to interpret the precise position, and reducing the dependence upon foreign software would reduce the economic loss and contribute to raising the national economy.

Accuracy Evaluation of Supervised Classification about IKONOS Imagery using Mixed Pixels

Selection of training set influences the classification accuracy in supervised classification using satellite imagery. Generally, if pure pixels which character of training set is clear were selected, whole accuracy is high while if mixed pixels were selected, accuracy is decreased because of low-resolution imagery or unclear distinguishment. However, it is too difficult to choose the pure pixels as training set actually. Accordingly, this study should be suggested the suitable classification method in case of mixed pixels choice. To achieve this, a few pure pixels were chosen as training set and classification accuracy was calculated which was compared with classification result using an equal number of mixed pixels. As a result, accuracy of SVM was the highest among the classification method using mixed pixels and it was a relatively small difference with the result of classification using pure pixels. Therefore, imagery classification using SVM is most suitable in the mixed area of construction and green because it is high possibility to choose mixed pixels as training set.