• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.243-248
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• 2019

The respiratory tract is an essential part of the respiratory system involved in the process of respiration. However, if stenosis occurs, it interferes with breathing and can even lead to death. Asthma is a typical example of a reversible cause of airway narrowing, and the number of patients suffering from acute exacerbation is steadily increasing. Therefore, it is important to detect airway narrowing early and prevent the patient's condition from worsening. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), which has high resolution, is suitable for observing the microstructure of tissues. In this study we developed an endoscopic OCT system. We combined a 1300-nm OCT system with a servo motor, which can rotate at a high speed. A catheter was pulled back using a linear stage while imaging with 360° rotation by the motor. The motor was selected considering various requirements, such as torque, rotational speed, and gear ratio of pulleys. An ex vivo rabbit tracheal model was used as a sample, and the sample and catheter were immobilized by acrylic structures. The OCT images provided information about the structures of the mucosa and submucosa. The difference between normal and stenosed parts in the trachea was confirmed by OCT. Furthermore, through a three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction process, it was possible to identify and diagnose the stenosis in the 3-D image of the airway, as well as the cross-sectional image. This study would be useful not only for diagnosing airway stenosis, but also for realizing 3-D imaging.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2011

Genetic Identification has become an important forensic investigation method which discerns identity through analysis of physical samples discovered in various crime scenes. Recently more samples are being requested to undergo A-STR analysis of low copy number (LCN) DNA, which is known as touch evidence-type sample and left on various objects such as a pen briefly used by the criminal, the gear of the car used for driving, the handle, and various buttons inside a car. This research attempted to extract the LCN DNA of the touch evidencetype left on crushed fingerprints on firearms, etc. and examine the genotyping success rate. Four types of firearms (M16, K1A, COLT 45 Pistol, M29 Revolver) were fired individually and physical samples were gathered from four parts of each firearm. Subsequently, in order to extract the LCN DNA, Microkit and $Prepfiler^{TM}$ were used to compare and analyze the quantity of DNA extracted and the genotyping success rate. Analysis results showed that the quantity of DNA extracted by $Prepfiler^{TM}$ was on average 1.7 times higher than that of Microkit, and in genotype analysis success rate $Prepfiler^{TM}$ also demonstrated 24.9% on average in contrast to 0% for Microkit. In regards to the grip part of the K1A, $Prepfiler^{TM}$'s success rate was as high as 50.6%.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.414-421
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• 2015

This paper presents a new method to decompose a duplicated ECG signal, which is measured from two people, to two individual ECG signals. In paper, it is shown that the duplicated ECG signal can be decomposed, provided that their SAECG signals are known. As the SAECG signal is the average of a ECG signal, it is a feature to identify individual ECG signals from the duplicated signal. Since the ECG signal is nearly periodic, so-called heart-rate, the period of each ECG signal can be found by using the autocorrelation of the duplicated signal, That is, the autocorrelation has high peaks at the multiple instants of heart-rate of each person. With the heart-rate of each person obtained by some processing, all R-peaks are identified by the SAECG signals. To be concrete, the SAECG signal of each person is repeatedly placed at the R-peak instants with his heart-rate, and the weight of each SAECG signal is computed by LMSE optimization. Finally, as adding the error signal in the LMSE optimization processing to the weighted SAECG signal, each individual ECG signal is obtained. In experimental results, we demonstrate that the duplicated ECG signal is successfully decomposed into two ECG signals.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.59-66
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• 2018

The utilized coefficient of friction (UCOF) as a ratio of the shear force to the normal force on the ground during walking is used to identify the point at which slip is likely to occur. Shoe walking will change the utilized coefficient of friction by shoe design such as sole thickness and hardness, heel shape, and outsole pattern. In this study, subjects are 21 adults (10 female, 11 male, age: $25.2{\pm}2.3yrs$, height: $165.6{\pm}7.2cm$), analysis variables were walking speed, GRF, when the UCOF is maximal, and Tangent of CoP-CoM angle, and correlation analysis with the utilized friction coefficient (UCOF). As a result, First, for the shod walking the time point which UCOF is maximum about heel strike was faster and the magnitude was larger than for barefoot walking. Second, the correlation between the tangent of CoP-CoM and UCOF of right foot was higher at the left heel striking point (UCOF2_h) which occurred in the post propulsion phase than at the right heel striking point (UCOF1_h). This suggests that the right foot UCOF is related to the braking phase of left foot( which is the propulsion phase of right foot) rather than the braking phase of right foot.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.703-712
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• 2023

Angiogenesis, the formation of blood vessels from pre-existing vessels, is a multistep process regulated by modulators of angiogenesis. It is essential for various physiological processes, such as embryonic development, chronic inflammation, and wound repair. Dysregulation of angiogenesis causes many diseases, such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and delayed wound healing. However, the number of effective anti-angiogenic drugs is limited. Recent research has focused on identifying potential drug candidates from natural sources. For example, marine natural products have been shown to have anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and wound-healing effects. Thus, this study aimed to describe the angiogenesis inhibitory effect of Hizikia fusiforms (brown algae) extract. The hexane extract of H. fusiformis has shown inhibitory effects on in vitro angiogenesis assays, such as cell migration, invasion, and tube formation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The hexane extract of H. fusiformis (HFH) inhibited in vivo angiogenesis in a mouse Matrigel gel plug assay. In addition, the protein expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal kinase, and AKT serine/threonine kinase 1 decreased following treatment with H. fusiformis extracts. Our results demonstrated that the hexane extract of H. fusiformis (HFH) inhibits angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.17-29
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• 2014

GRAS probiotics can be used to modulate intestinal microbiota and to alleviate various gastrointestinal disorders. In several recent studies, researchers have explored the potential expansion and usability of probiotics to reduce the risk factors associated with diseases, including obesity, hypercholesterolemia, arterial hypertension, hyperhomocysteinemia, and oxidative stress. In this review, our aim was to clarify the mechanism underlying interactions between hosts (animal or human) and probiotics and the beneficial effects of probiotics on human health.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.62-70
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• 1994

This study was conducted to find out if there are some differences in germination, growth and morphological characteristics between rice(Oryza saliva) and barnyardgrass(Echinochloa crus-galli) under various cropping patterns and to abtain the fundamental information on weed control method in direct seeded rice. Rice was broadcast on soil-surface(Broadcast rice), drill seeded in soil(Drilled rice) and barnyardgrass was drill seeded in soil(Barnyardgrass) under dry(Dry condition) and water direct seeded condition(Water condition). Also rice was transplanted with 8-day seedlings(8 -day-old seedling) and 25-day seedlings(25-*day-old seedling) under transplanting condition(Transplanting condition) At 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 and 20 days after seeding or transplanting(DAS/T), plants were harvested to examine their germination, growth and morphology. The major results were as follows ; Until 5 DAS/T growth of rice and barnyardgrass were well established under dry condition but under water condition growth of shoots was mainly elongated. At 20 DAS/T barnyardgrass had greater plant height and shoot fresh weight than rice under direct seeded condition, while plant height and shoot fresh weight of rice was greater than those of barnyardgrass under transplanting condition. Root length of barnyardgrass was greater under the dry, drilled, direct seeded conditions than that of rice under the water, broadcast, transplanting condition, respectively. And root fresh weight of rice under direct seeded condition was similar to that of barnyardgrass but that of rice under transplanting condition was significantly greater than that of barnyardgrass. Barnyardgrass only formed mesocotyls and its length increased with increased depth of seeding. Leaf stage and leaf area of barnyardgrass was greater under the dry, drilled than those of rice under water, broadcast conditions, respectively, while those of rice was greater than those of barnyardgrass under transplanting condition. Chlorophyll contents were higher in barnyardgrass, dry direct seeded rice, transplanted rice, water direct seeded rice in descending order.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 1995

Soil-applied pre-emergence herbicide, pyrazolate(4-(2, 4-dichlorobenzoyl)-1, 3-dimethyl pyrazol-5-yl-p-toluene sulphonate) induced, twist effect of shoots of barnyardgrass under dry conditions, and etiolated leaf and stem of that under water condition. Plant height and root length of rice broadcast on soil surface were similar to the untreated control, but plant height of rice drilled in soil was more inhibited than root length as compared with the untreated control, while development of barnyardgrass seedling was severely inhibited at 20 days after application. The inhibition rate was much higher under water condition than under dry condition, but difference in rice and barnyardgrass did not abserve. However, growth of transplanted rice shown to increase to the untreated control. Shoot and root fresh weight of rice broadcast on soil surface was increase as compared with the untreated control, and that of rice drilled in soil was not affected whereas that of barnyardgrass was severely inhibited by 42% and 41%, respectively. Under dry condition at 20 days after pyrazolate application while root growth of rice broadcast on soil surface under water condition was deadly inhibited and development of barnyardgrass was almost completely inhibited. On the other hand, microscopic studies showed that constriction of mesophyll cell by destruction of chloroplast of barnyardgrass were occurred only under dry condition, whereas damage of rice and barnyardgrass under water and transplanting condition were not observed. Anatomical change in the meristernatic region of rice and barnyardgrass was not occurred, and similar to intact plant regardless of cropping patterns.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.42-51
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• 2011

Nuclear medicine images (SPECT, PET) were widely used tool for assessment of myocardial viability and perfusion. However it had difficult to define accurate myocardial infarct region. The purpose of this study was to investigate methodological approach for automatic measurement of rat myocardial infarct size using polar map with adaptive threshold. Rat myocardial infarction model was induced by ligation of the left circumflex artery. PET images were obtained after intravenous injection of 37 MBq $^{18}F$-FDG. After 60 min uptake, each animal was scanned for 20 min with ECG gating. PET data were reconstructed using ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) 2D. To automatically make the myocardial contour and generate polar map, we used QGS software (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center). The reference infarct size was defined by infarction area percentage of the total left myocardium using TTC staining. We used three threshold methods (predefined threshold, Otsu and Multi Gaussian mixture model; MGMM). Predefined threshold method was commonly used in other studies. We applied threshold value form 10% to 90% in step of 10%. Otsu algorithm calculated threshold with the maximum between class variance. MGMM method estimated the distribution of image intensity using multiple Gaussian mixture models (MGMM2, ${\cdots}$ MGMM5) and calculated adaptive threshold. The infarct size in polar map was calculated as the percentage of lower threshold area in polar map from the total polar map area. The measured infarct size using different threshold methods was evaluated by comparison with reference infarct size. The mean difference between with polar map defect size by predefined thresholds (20%, 30%, and 40%) and reference infarct size were $7.04{\pm}3.44%$, $3.87{\pm}2.09%$ and $2.15{\pm}2.07%$, respectively. Otsu verse reference infarct size was $3.56{\pm}4.16%$. MGMM methods verse reference infarct size was $2.29{\pm}1.94%$. The predefined threshold (30%) showed the smallest mean difference with reference infarct size. However, MGMM was more accurate than predefined threshold in under 10% reference infarct size case (MGMM: 0.006%, predefined threshold: 0.59%). In this study, we was to evaluate myocardial infarct size in polar map using multiple Gaussian mixture model. MGMM method was provide adaptive threshold in each subject and will be a useful for automatic measurement of infarct size.