• Title/Summary/Keyword: Complex Images

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Enhanced Expression of TREK-1 Is Related with Chronic Constriction Injury of Neuropathic Pain Mouse Model in Dorsal Root Ganglion

  • Han, Hyo Jo;Lee, Seung Wook;Kim, Gyu-Tae;Kim, Eun-Jin;Kwon, Byeonghun;Kang, Dawon;Kim, Hyun Jeong;Seo, Kwang-Suk
    • Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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    • v.24 no.3
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    • pp.252-259
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    • 2016
  • Neuropathic pain is a complex state showing increased pain response with dysfunctional inhibitory neurotransmission. The TREK family, one of the two pore domain $K^+$ (K2P) channel subgroups were focused among various mechanisms of neuropathic pain. These channels influence neuronal excitability and are thought to be related in mechano/thermosensation. However, only a little is known about the expression and role of TREK-1 and TREK-2, in neuropathic pain. It is performed to know whether TREK-1 and/or 2 are positively related in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) of a mouse neuropathic pain model, the chronic constriction injury (CCI) model. Following this purpose, Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot analyses were performed using mouse DRG of CCI model and compared to the sham surgery group. Immunofluorescence staining of isolectin-B4 (IB4) and TREK were performed. Electrophysiological recordings of single channel currents were analyzed to obtain the information about the channel. Interactions with known TREK activators were tested to confirm the expression. While both TREK-1 and TREK-2 mRNA were significantly overexpressed in DRG of CCI mice, only TREK-1 showed significant increase (~9 fold) in western blot analysis. The TREK-1-like channel recorded in DRG neurons of the CCI mouse showed similar current-voltage relationship and conductance to TREK-1. It was easily activated by low pH solution (pH 6.3), negative pressure, and riluzole. Immunofluorescence images showed the expression of TREK-1 was stronger compared to TREK-2 on IB4 positive neurons. These results suggest that modulation of the TREK-1 channel may have beneficial analgesic effects in neuropathic pain patients.

Study on images of technical high school students toward 'engineering' through semantic differential method (의미분별법에 의한 공업계 고등학생의 '공학'에 대한 이미지 연구)

  • Kim, Ki-Soo;Lee, Chang-Hoon
    • 대한공업교육학회지
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.25-42
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    • 2010
  • This research aims to understand how students of technical high schools view 'engineering' as well as to identify the main elements that contribute to the perception on 'engineering.' The research targets are 695 senior students of technical high schools nationwide. The researcher developed the measuring tool for the experiment by referencing the adjective value criteria utilized in the semantic difference method developed by Osgood (1957). There were a grand total of 30 criteria following the preliminary studies. The results of the research are as follows. Firstly, the average value of the overall perception of technical high school students on 'engineering' is 4.27 points. This value just exceeds the standard (4 points). Secondly, when examining the general tendency it can be noticed that there is a sense of stigma that although 'engineering' is significant and valuable it is a field that is overly difficult, complex and even dangerous. Thirdly, 6 main elements that influence the perception on 'engineering' were extracted as results of the factor analysis. The first element is practicality; the second element is emotions; the third element is aesthetics; the fourth is simplicity; the fifth is responsibility; and finally the sixth element is assertiveness. Fourthly, when comparing the average values of the perception on 'engineering' by region, it was seen that there existed a difference on the perception towards 'engineering' based on differing regions.

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e-Learning Contents Development as Social Negotiation Perspective: A Case Study of Program Development for the Public Sector Officials' Case Management (사회적 협상 관점의 e-Learning 콘텐츠 개발: 사례관리 담당 공무원을 위한 프로그램 개발 사례연구)

  • Kim, In-Sook;Jin, Sun-Mee
    • The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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    • v.11 no.7
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    • pp.519-527
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    • 2011
  • The e-Learning program is a multimedia data program consisting of texts, images, animation, audio and video. The development of an e-Learning program requires time and is a complex process, requiring cooperation and open-communication between all parties involved, particularly in the event of a problem. This study will analyze the e-Learning contents development process from the Social Negotiation Perspective. An appropriate process for the development of the program and effective decision-making guidelines for those parties involved will be recommended. Participants' viewpoints regarding program development and guidelines were studied qualitatively, while the evaluation of developed content employed both qualitative and quantitative research. The study found the following results. First, the development of an e-Learning program requires a clear goal and purpose. Second, the target group must be clearly identified. Third, all parties involved must share in the development process and its outcomes. Fourth, the party requesting the program must allocate the appropriate time and budget for the development group. Finally, the project requires a strong, capable leadership for effective decision-making.

Parasellar Extension Grades and Surgical Extent in Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal Surgery for Pituitary Adenomas : A Single Surgeon's Consecutive Series with the Aspects of Reliability and Clinical Validity

  • Lee, Sang-Hyo;Park, Jae-Sung;Lee, Song;Kim, Sung-Won;Hong, Yong-Kil
    • Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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    • v.59 no.6
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    • pp.577-583
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    • 2016
  • Objective : The inter-rater reliability of the modified Knosp's classification was measured before the analysis. The clinical validity of the parasellar extension grading system was evaluated by investigating the extents of resection and complication rates among the grades in the endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery (EETS) for pituitary adenomas. Methods : From November 2008 to August 2015, of the 286 patients who underwent EETS by the senior author, 208 were pituitary adenoma cases (146 non-functioning pituitary adenomas, 10 adrenocorticotropic hormone-secreting adenomas, 31 growth hormone-secreting adenomas, 17 prolactin-secreting adenomas, and 4 thyroid-stimulating hormone-secreting adenomas; 23 microadenomas, 174 macroadenomas, and 11 giant adenomas). Two neurosurgeons and a neuroradiologist independently measured the degree of parasellar extension on the preoperative sellar MRI according to the modified Knosp's classification. Inter-rater reliability was statistically assessed by measuring the intraclass correlation coefficient. The extents of resection were evaluated by comparison of the pre- and post-operative MR images; the neurovascular complications were assessed by reviewing the patients' medical records. The extent of resection was measured in each parasellar extension grade; thereafter, their statistical differences were calculated. Results : The intraclass correlation coefficient value of reliability across the three raters amounted to 0.862. The gross total removal (GTR) rates achieved in each grade were 70.0, 69.8, 62.9, 21.4, 37.5, and 4.3% in Grades 0, 1, 2, 3A, 3B, and 4, respectively. A significant difference in the extent of resection was observed only between Grades 2 and 3A. In addition, significantly higher complication rates were observed in the groups above Grade 3A. Conclusion : Although the modified Knosp's classification system appears to be complex, its inter-rater reliability proves to be excellent. Regarding the clinical validity of the parasellar extension grading system, Grades 3A, 3B, and 4 have a negative predictive value for the GTR rate, with higher complication rates.

Quality Assurance of Multileaf Collimator Using Electronic Portal Imaging (전자포탈영상을 이용한 다엽시준기의 정도관리)

  • ;Jason W Sohn
    • Progress in Medical Physics
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.151-160
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    • 2003
  • The application of more complex radiotherapy techniques using multileaf collimation (MLC), such as 3D conformal radiation therapy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), has increased the significance of verifying leaf position and motion. Due to thier reliability and empirical robustness, quality assurance (QA) of MLC. However easy use and the ability to provide digital data of electronic portal imaging devices (EPIDs) have attracted attention to portal films as an alternatives to films for routine qualify assurance, despite concerns about their clinical feasibility, efficacy, and the cost to benefit ratio. In this study, we developed method for daily QA of MLC using electronic portal images (EPIs). EPID availability for routine QA was verified by comparing of the portal films, which were simultaneously obtained when radiation was delivered and known prescription input to MLC controller. Specially designed two-test patterns of dynamic MLC were applied for image acquisition. Quantitative off-line analysis using an edge detection algorithm enhanced the verification procedure as well as on-line qualitative visual assessment. In conclusion, the availability of EPI was enough for daily QA of MLC leaf position with the accuracy of portal films.

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A Study on the Development of Bamboo Decorating Tiles (죽세장식타일 개발 연구)

  • 조규춘
    • Archives of design research
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.117-126
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    • 2001
  • A new functional meaning has been given as natural resource to bamboo through reanalysis. Bamboo products contributed to creating added-value of pro-environment. In this study, a potential efficiency and vision of bamboo products and crafts are presented. As bamboo plywood and bamboo decorating paper were developed followed by academic and technological support, an activation of markets has been pursued and bamboo pattern tiles for new furniture was developed. This study examined kinds and characteristics of bamboo and processing of raw material and how to express with the material. Through advanced technology, it identified traditional functions and technological mistakes and analysed domestic and overseas applications to enhance utility of plywood made of bamboo. Bamboo pattern tiles were developed for decorating of furniture doors based on bamboo pattern paper. For patterns, 'tortoise, cranes, and deer'meaning eternity and new millenium among Ten Korean Longevity Animals are simply and lively represented. Series of the sun and mountain use effects of bamboo pieces to present bright images and to maximize quality of bamboo. A pattern of '卍'incorporates mystery of the cosmos and meaning of temples together with traditional patched wrapping cloth, Arirang and Chilgyopannori for beautiful ornamentation. Bamboo decorating tiles are made through accumulation of technologies by a cooperation with industries of bamboo equipment and production of furniture in Damyang Bamboo Products Complex. Processing of raw materials is peformed with equipment of Damyang. Development of samples and production and delivery of bamboo goods are handled in Design Venture of Chosun University Chamber. Developed goods decorating doors of furniture are in sale by an order from furniture industries.

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A Combined Hough Transform based Edge Detection and Region Growing Method for Region Extraction (영역 추출을 위한 Hough 변환 기반 에지 검출과 영역 확장을 통합한 방법)

  • N.T.B., Nguyen;Kim, Yong-Kwon;Chung, Chin-Wan;Lee, Seok-Lyong;Kim, Deok-Hwan
    • Journal of KIISE:Databases
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    • v.36 no.4
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    • pp.263-279
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    • 2009
  • Shape features in a content-based image retrieval (CBIR) system are divided into two classes: contour-based and region-based. Contour-based shape features are simple but they are not as efficient as region-based shape features. Most systems using the region-based shape feature have to extract the region firs t. The prior works on region-based systems still have shortcomings. They are complex to implement, particularly with respect to region extraction, and do not sufficiently use the spatial relationship between regions in the distance model In this paper, a region extraction method that is the combination of an edge-based method and a region growing method is proposed to accurately extract regions inside an object. Edges inside an object are accurately detected based on the Canny edge detector and the Hough transform. And the modified Integrated Region Matching (IRM) scheme which includes the adjacency relationship of regions is also proposed. It is used to compute the distance between images for the similarity search using shape features. The experimental results show the effectiveness of our region extraction method as well as the modified IRM. In comparison with other works, it is shown that the new region extraction method outperforms others.

Spreading of motion aftereffect for rotational motion: Evidence of adaptation of global motion detector (회전 운동 잔여 효과의 확산 현상: 전역적 운동 탐지기의 순응에 대한 증거)

  • Kham Keetaek
    • Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.17-27
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    • 2005
  • After prolonged viewing of a moving pattern, a stationary pattern can appear to move in the opposite direction, a phenomenon known as motion aftereffect (MAE). Unlike the classical explanation MAE was not confined to an adapted region; instead it can spread to an adjacent region, which was not adapted previously. In order to examine the relative locus of the mechanism responsible for MAE spreading, a rotating harmonic spiral pattern was presented as an adapting stimulus within an annulus window, and then the duration of MAE was measured in both the adapted annulus region and the non-adapted inner region. Two different kinds of test patterns were used: the same and mirror images of the original adapting pattern. An interesting characteristic of a harmonic spiral is that the orientation of a contour at a given location is different from thar of its mirror image by 90 degrees, and consequently the adapting effect of local motion detector is not expected to occur in the mirror image. The results showed that MAE duration in an adapted region was longer in the same image condition than in its mirror image condition, while MAE duration in an non-adapted region was not found to be different between those two different image conditions. These results suggest that MAE spreading might be produced by the adaptation of global motion detectors, not by local motion detectors.

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Socialist Pop After Cultural Revolution (문화혁명기 이후의 중국의 사회주의 팝아트)

  • Park, Se-Youn
    • The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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    • no.6
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    • pp.27-50
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    • 2008
  • This thesis examines contemporary Chinese painting after the Cultural Revolution(1966~76), focusing upon so-called "Chinese Pop art", which I termed as "Socialist Pop art". I considered the art of this period within the broader context of social changes especially after the Tienanmen incident of 1989. After the Cultural Revolution during which idolization of Chairman Mao was at its peak, one of the major changes in communist China was that an anti-Mao wave was generated in almost every social class. For example, novels that revealed the hardships during the Cultural Revolution were published. Posters that openly criticized the Maoism were also produced and displayed on the walls, and demand for democracy spurred widespread activist movements among young generations. These broad social changes were also reflected in art. A variety of art movements were introduced from the West to China, and after a period of experimentation with the new imported styles, artists began to apply the new artistic idiom to their works in order to visualize their own social and political realities they lived in. It was a shift from earlier Socialist Realism to a new expression either directly or indirectly, "Socialist Pop", an amalgam of Socialist Realism and Pop art tradition. After the 1989 crackdown of Tienanmen Square protest, when communist government quelled with brutal measures the students, workers, and ordinary people who rose for democracy, greater urge to protest the Deng Xiaoping regime emerged. This time coincided with the gradual emergence of art using Pop art vocabulary to satirize the social reality, the Socialist Pop art, along with many other art forms all with avant-garde spirit. One of the most frequent subjects of Chinese Pop art was visual images of Chairman Mao and his Cultural Revolution, and new China that was saturated with capitalism, which tainted the Chinese way of life with a Western way of consumerism and commercialism. The reason for the popularity of Mao's image was spurred by the "Mao Craze" in the early 1990's. People suddenly began to fall in a kind of nostalgia for the past, and once again, Mao Zedong was idolized as an entity who can heal the problems of modern China who had been marching towards their ultimate destination, the economic development. But this time Chairman Mao was no more an idol but just a popular, commercial product. He is no more an object of worship of almost religious nature but he has become an iconography symbolizing the complex nature of present Chinese society. During this process of depicting the social reality, Chinese artists are making the authority and sanctity of Maoism ineffective. Dealing with this new trend of contemporary Chinese art in view of "Socialist Pop art" two manners of re-creating Pop art can be illustrated: one that incorporates the propaganda posters of the Cultural Revolution; the other borrows from Chinese traditional popular imagery or mass media, such as photos taken during Mao era. What is worth mentioning is that these posters and photos of the Cultural Revolution can be identified as 'popular' media, as they were directed to educate the popular mass, thus combination of this ingenuous pop media with Western Pop art can be fully justified as a genre unique to China. Through this genre, we can discover a new chapter of the Chinese contemporary painting and its society, as their Pop art can be considered as self-portraits true to their present appearances.

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Spatial Audio Signal Processing Technology Using Multi-Channel 3D Microphone (멀티채널 3차원 마이크를 이용한 입체음향 처리 기술)

  • Kang Kyeongok;Lee Taejin
    • The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.68-77
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    • 2005
  • The purpose of a spatial audio system is to give a listener an impression as if he were present in a recorded environment when its sound is reproduced. For this purpose a dummy head microphone is generally used. Because of its human-like shape, dummy head microphone can reproduce spatial images through headphone reproduction. However, its shape and size are restriction to public use and it is difficult to convert the output signal of dummy head microphone into a multi-channel signal for multi-channel environment. So, in this paper, we propose a multi-channel 3D microphone technology. The multi-channel 3D microphone acquire a spatial audio using five microphones around a horizontal plane of a rigid sphere and through post processing, it can reproduce various reproduction signals for headphone, stereo, stereo dipole, 4ch and 5ch reproduction environments. Because of complex computation, we implemented H/W based post processing system. To verily the Performance of the multi-channel 3D microphone, localization experiments were Performed. The result shows that a front/back confusion, which is the one of common limitations of conventional dummy head technology, can be reduced dramatically.