• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.2429-2434
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• 2010

In this paper, we propose a method to extract and analyze palm line with fuzzy method. In order to extract the palm part, we transform the original RGB color space to YCbCr color space and extract sin colors ranging Y:65-255, Cb:25-255, Cr:130-255 and use it as a threshold. Possible noise is removed by 8-directional contour tracking algorithm and morphological characteristic of the palm. Then the edge is extracted from that noise-free image by stretching method and sobel mask Then the fuzzy binarization algorithm is applied to remove any minute noise so that we have only the palm lines and the boundary of the hand. Since the palm line reading is done with major lines, we use the morphological characteristics of the analyzable palm lines and fuzzy inference rules. Experiment verifies that the proposed method is better in visibility and thus more analyzable in palm reading than the old method.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.359-364
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• 2007

The objective of this study was to evaluate monthly variation in semen characteristics in Black Bedouin and Black Bedouin${\times}$Damascus crossbred bucks. Twenty one Black Bedouin Goat bucks (BG) and 20 $F_1$ Black Bedouin${\times}$Damascus crossbred goat bucks (CB) were used in the study. Animals were 2 to 5 years old at the beginning of the study. Body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), scrotal circumference (SC) and semen samples were evaluated monthly for all bucks. Body weight, BCS and SC differed according to month of collection (p<0.0001). Body weight and BCS were greater in the spring and summer months while SC reached their highest values during the autumn months. No differences were detected between breeds with respect to semen characteristics with the exception of ejaculate volume (p<0.05) and ejaculate appearance (p=0.053) which were greater in CB than in BG bucks. With the exception of ejaculate appearance, all semen characteristics were influenced by month of collection (p<0.05). Semen concentration and motility were better during the late summer and autumn months than during the spring. The percentage of abnormal spermatozoa declined from its greatest values in the spring to its lowest values in the autumn. Results of the present study show no effects of goat breed on most of the studied parameters. In general, most semen quality parameters were better in both breeds during the autumn than the spring months. Minimal variation in semen quality was observed between the summer and autumn months indicating the ability to use bucks for semen collection and for natural breeding during both of these seasons.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.363-368
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• 2006

In this study, native Byadyrhizobium strains were isolated from the host plant, Glycine max, harvested from fields in Madhya Pradesh, India, and were typed by Iytic rhizobiophages. Eight indigenous (Soy2, ASR011, ASR031, ASR032, MSR091, ISR050, ISR076 and ISR078) and two exotic strains (USDA123 and CB1809), all of which evidenced a distinct reaction with six phages, were employed in this study. The symbiotic interaction of these strains was studied initially using soybean cultivar JS335 in a sand culture in a controlled environment, and the efficiency was assessed based on the nodule number, nodule dry weight, plant dry weight, nitrogenase activity, and total accumulation of N per plant. Symbiotic effectiveness was found to be highest with the native phage-sensitive isolate ASR011, whereas it was at a minimum with the phage-resistant isolates, ISR050 and ISR078. Additionally, the effectiveness of these strains was evaluated using six soybean cultivars belonging to different maturity groups; namely, Brags, Lee, Pusa20, PK416, JS33S and NRC37. Analysis of variance data evidenced significant differences due to both symbionts, for the majority of the tested parameters. The CB1809, USDA123, and ASR011 strains evidenced relatively superior symbiotic effectiveness with soybean cultivars Brags, Lee and JS335. Strain ISR078 evidenced no significant responses with any of the cultivars. The ASR031 strain performed moderately well with all tested cultivars. The symbiotic response of all the strains was quite poor with cultivar PK416. Our studies showed that a significant relationship existed between the phage sensitivity and symbiotic efficiency of the bacterial strains with the host-cultivars.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.69-78
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• 2002

This paper addresses a method to automatically detect out a person's face from a given image that consists of a hair and face view of the person and a complex background scene. Out method involves an effective detection algorithm that exploits the spatial distribution characteristics of human skin color via an adaptive fuzzy color classifier (AFCC), The universal skin-color map is derived on the chrominance component of human skin color in Cb, Cr and their corresponding luminance. The desired fuzzy system is applied to decide the skin color regions and those that are not. We use RGB model for extracting the hair color regions because the hair regions often show low brightness and chromaticity estimation of low brightness color is not stable. After some preprocessing, we apply convex-hull to each region. Consequent face detection is made from the relationship between a face's convex-hull and a head's convex-hull. The algorithm using the convex-hull shows better performance than the algorithm using pattern method. The performance of the proposed algorithm is shown by experiment. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm successfully and efficiently detects the faces without constrained input conditions in color images.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.191-202
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• 2023

Elevated serum cholesterol is a main risk factor for heart disorders. Most probiotic products administered to lower cholesterol are dairy products which are not suitable for lactose-intolerant individuals. In this study, we assessed the cholesterol-lowering efficacy of LAB isolated from traditionally fermented drinks in diet-induced rats and determine their efficacy in the production of non-dairy, probiotic formulations using papaya juice. LAB were isolated from palm wine and corn beer on MRS agar using a pour-plate technique. Identification was carried out using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. A hypercholesterolemia model in which diet-induced Wistar albino rats were assigned into four groups was established. Oral gavage was carried out for 30 days. On the 31^st day, the rats were dissected and the serum lipid profile was analyzed using biochemical kits. A 10⁶ cfu/ml of a 24-h-old culture of selected lactobacilli was used to inoculate papaya juice and incubated at 37℃. Microbial and chemical changes were assessed during papaya fermentation and after four weeks of cold storage. Two selected isolates (Pw1 and Cb4) had in vitro cholesterol reduction of > 80%. These two isolates lowered lipid profile (triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL-c) significantly, and increased HDL-c levels (p < 0.5) in the rat sera. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Pw1 was 98.86% similar to Limosilactobacillus fermentum, while Cb4 was 99.54% similar to Enteroccocus faecium. Both strains fermented papaya juice with cell viability reaching 8.92 × 10⁸ cfu/ml and 25.3 × 10⁸ cfu/ml respectively, and were still viable after 4 weeks of cold storage.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.161-172
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• 2023

Because particulate matter has emerged as a major contributor to air pollution, the tire industry has conducted studies to reduce particulate matters from tires by improving tire performance. In this study, we compared the conventional blending method, in which rubber, filler, and additives are mixed simultaneously, to the Y-blending method, in which masterbatches are blended. We manufactured carbon black (CB)-filled natural rubber (NR)/butadiene rubber (BR) blend and silica-filled epoxidized NR/BR blend compounds to compare the effects of the two blending methods on the physical properties of the compounds and the amount of particulate matter generated. The Y-blending method provided uniform filler distribution in the heterogeneous rubber matrix, improved processability, and exhibited low rolling resistance. This method also improved physical properties owing to the excellent filler-rubber interaction. The results obtained from measuring the generation of particulate matter indicated that, the Y-blending method reduced PM_2.5 particulate matter generation from the CB-filled and silica-filled compounds by 38% and 60%, and that of PM₁₀ by 29% and 67%, respectively. This confirmed the excellence of the Y-blending method regarding the physical properties of truck bus radial tire tread compounds and reduced particulate matter generated.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.251-264
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• 1992

In this study, the size effect in measuring the fracture toughness of rock was investigated using the ISRM Suggested Method for Fracture toughness using Chevron Bend Specimens. Total 58 specimens were prepared with 4 different diameters, 29, 42, 54, 68mm and center cut-chevron notch. In addition to this, to evaluated the effect of anisotropy of Jecheon granite, which is the sample for this study, core drilling direction was adjusted perpendicular(short transverse) and parallel(arrester) to the rift plane in the sample and the measured fracture toughness for each direction were compared. Important results obtained from this study are as follows. Level ll test condition is more adequate than l, because of low data scattering and precision and corrected fracture toughness of Jechoen granite measured and 2.2MPa{{{{ SQRT { m} }}}} for arrester direction with minimum initial crack length 0.7cm. From the relationship between core diameter and initial crack length presented in the ISRM testing method, the specimen diameter should be bigger than 47mm. The fracture toughnesses measured for arrester and short transverse directon show 10% difference. This is to the anisotropy of Jecheon granite possessing rift plane.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.35-43
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• 2000

Aqueous solutions of chlorobenzene and chlorinated phenols were exposed to 200kHz ultrasound with a power of $6.0W/\textrm{cm}^2$ per unit volume on sonochemical reactor under ambient temperature and pressure conditions. The concentration of chlorobenzene and chlorinated phenols decreased with ultrasound, indicating first-order kinetics. Degradation rate constants are calculated from the slope of plots. The order of the rate constants is as follows : 2-chlorphenol(2-CP)$\leq$ 4-chlorophenol(4-CP)<3-chlorophenol(3-CP)$5.63~9.96({\times}10^{-2})min^{-1}$ under argon. The degradation was suppressed by the addition of t-BuOH and the suppressed yield was agreed with their reactivity for hydroxy radical. The main products of these systems were formic acid, acetic acid, small amount of methane and inorganic carbon forms as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide in sonolysis of chlorinated phenols, and also these results agreed with change of TOC.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.263-270
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• 2002

In the recent studies, many researchers are interested in foods as functional components rather than nutrient sources. Cow's milk is considered as an excellent food sources because of its many nutrients. Casein is a major milk protein and has been reported to have hyperlipidemic and hypercholesterolemic effects. But several reporters have suggested that peptide fractions and hydrolysate of casein have hypolipidemic effects differing from intact protein, casein. Therefore, the objective of the study was to investigate how the casein peptide fractions affect lipid metabolism in rats fed normal or high fat diets. The peptide fractions and hydrolysate of casein were obtained by casein hydrolysis with trypsin. The male rats (Sprague-Dawley), weighing approximately 150 g, were fed each experimental diet containing casein (CAS), casein hydrolysate (CH), casein hydrolysate precipitate (Cpt) and two kinds of peptide fractions (CL & CB) for three weeks, respectively. In the exit I, the male rats were fed normal fat diets (7% soybean oil & cholesterol-free; Expt. I), and in the expt II, fed high fat diets (18% beef tallow & 1% cholesterol; Expt. II). Crude protein contents were calculated from nitrogen contents. Amino acid composition of each fraction was also analyzed. The concentration of total lipid, total cholesterol and triglyceride in serum, liver and feces were measured. As the results of study, tole rats fed peptide fractions with normal fat diets (Expt. I) had no effects on total lipid, total cholesterol and triglyceride concentration in serum and liver and fecal excretion. However, in the rats fed hydrophobic casein peptide fractions (CB) with high fat diet, fecal lipids excretion were significantly increased and the lipids concentration of serum and those of liver tended to decrease, numerically.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.178-183
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the possible paracrine effect of bone morphogeneticprotein-2 (BMP-2) at the experimental site on the adjacent control site for validating a rabbit calvarial defect model as a means of verifying the effect of BMP-2. Methods: Sixteen rabbits were divided into two groups (n=8 in each) according to whether or not BMP-2 would be used. Two circular defects (8 mm in diameter) were created side by side, 2 mm apart, in the calvarium of all of the rabbits. In each animal, one of the defects was grafted with either BMP-2-loaded carrier or carrier material alone. The control defects adjacent to these grafted defects, designated CB (the nongrafted defect adjacent BMP-2-loaded carrier-grafted defect) and CC (the nongrafted defect adjacent to carrier only-grafted defect), respectively, were the focus of this study, and were filled only with a blood clot in all of the animals. Histologic observation and histomorphometric analysis were performed at 2 and 8 weeks (n=4 animals per point in time) after surgery. Results: There was no noteworthy difference in the healing pattern, and no statistically significant differences in histomorphometric parameters such as the defect closure, new bone area, or total augmented area between the CC and CB groups. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that rabbit calvarial defects separated by a distance of 2 mm are suitable for evaluating the effects of BMP-2 and the control defect can be regarded not to be affected by BMP-2 applied defect.