• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.475-485
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• 2006

The physical properties of the central and southwestern crust of South Korea were estimated by comparing values of ${Q_P}^{-1}\;and\;{Q_S}^{-1}$ in the Kimcheon and Mokpo areas. In order to get ${Q_P}^{-1}\;and\;{Q_S}^{-1}$ values, seismic data were collected from two stations of the KIGAM network (KMC and MUN) and four stations of the KMA network (CPN, KUC, MOP, and WAN). An extended coda-normalization method was applied to these data. Estimates of ${Q_P}^{-1}\;and\;{Q_S}^{-1}$ show variations depending on frequency. As frequencies vary from 3 Hz to 24 Hz, the estimates decrease from $(1.4{\pm}3.9){\times}10^{-3}\;to\;(2.3{\pm}3.5){\times}10^{-4}\;for\;{Q_P}^{-1}\;and\;(1.8{\pm}1.3){\times}10^{-3}\;to\;(1.9{\pm}1.5){\times}10^{-4}\;for\;{Q_S}^{-1}$ in central South Korea, and $(5.9{\pm}4.8){\times}10^{-3}\;to\;(2.2{\pm}3.8){\times}10^{-4}\;for\;{Q_P}^{-1}\;and\;(0.5{\pm}2.8){\times}10^{-3}\;to\;(1.8{\pm}1.6){\times}10^{-4}\;for\;{Q_S}^{-1}$ in southwestern South Korea. According that a frequency-dependent power law is applied to the data, the best fits of ${Q_P}^{-1}\;and\;{Q_S}^{-1}\;are\;0.003f^{-0.49}\;and\;0.005f^{-1.03}$ in central South Korea, and $0.026f^{-1.47}$ and $0.001f^{-0.49}$ in southwestern South Korea, respectively. These values almost correspond to those of seismically stable regions although ${Q_P}^{-1}$ values of southwestern South Korea are a little high due to lack of data used.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.241-252
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• 2004

Purpose: Population based structural and functional maps of the brain provide effective tools for the analysis and interpretation of complex and individually variable brain data. Brain MRI and PET standard templates and statistical probabilistic maps based on image data of Korean normal volunteers have been developed and probabilistic maps based on cytoarchitectonic data have been introduced. A quantification method using these data was developed for the objective assessment of regional intensity in the brain images. Materials and Methods: Age, gender and ethnic specific anatomical and functional brain templates based on MR and PET images of Korean normal volunteers were developed. Korean structural probabilistic maps for 89 brain regions and cytoarchitectonic probabilistic maps for 13 Brodmann areas were transformed onto the standard templates. Brain FDG PET and SPGR MR images of normal volunteers were spatially normalized onto the template of each modality and gender. Regional uptake of radiotracers in PET and gray matter concentration in MR images were then quantified by averaging (or summing) regional intensities weighted using the probabilistic maps of brain regions. Regionally specific effects of aging on glucose metabolism in cingulate cortex were also examined. Results: Quantification program could generate quantification results for single spatially normalized images per 20 seconds. Glucose metabolism change in cingulate gyrus was regionally specific: ratios of glucose metabolism in the rostral anterior cingulate vs. posterior cingulate and the caudal anterior cingulate vs. posterior cingulate were significantly decreased as the age increased. 'Rostral anterior'/'posterior' was decreased by 3.1% per decade of age ($P<10^{-11}$, r=0.81) and 'caudal anterior'/'posterior' was decreased by 1.7% ($P<10^{-8}$, r=0.72). Conclusion: Ethnic specific standard templates and probabilistic maps and quantification program developed in this study will be useful for the analysis of brain image of Korean people since the difference in shape of the hemispheres and the sulcal pattern of brain relative to age, gender, races, and diseases cannot be fully overcome by the nonlinear spatial normalization techniques.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.153-160
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• 1999

Purpose : Present study was undertaken to find out significance of clinical presentation, initial laboratory data and renal biopsy findings on subsequent clinical course of IgA nephropathy in children. Methods : Clinical and laboratory data were analysed retrospectively from 60 children who have been admitted to the Pediatric Department of Kyungpook National University Hospital for the past 11 years and diagnosed as IgA nephropathy. Renal biopsy findings were graded according to the pathologic subclass proposed by Haas. Results : Pathologic grading according to Haas subclassification showed 10 cases in subclass I, 36 in II, 12 in IV and 2 in V and none in subclass II. Sex distribution showed male predominance (male to female ratio = 3 : 1) and mean age at onset of disease was $10.4{\pm}2.8$ years. Episodes of gross hematuria was seen in 71.7% and IgA level increased in 28.3% of children and these were not associated with pathologic grading nor clinical outcomes. With increasing subclass grading, serum protein and albumin decreased and 24 hours urinary protein excretion increased. Normalization of urinalysis (disappearance of hematuria) was seen in 14% at 1-2 years and 37.1% at 3-4 years of follow up period. In 3 cases, renal function deteriorated progressively and they belonged one each to the Haas subclass III, IV and V. Conclusion : In children with IgA nephropathy, progression to chronic renal failure appears to be quite high and pathologic grading according to Haas' subclassification seems to predict patient's outcome faily well. However, firm conclusion cannot be drawn from present study due to the small numbers of patients and short follow-up period. Therefore further multicenter study involving larger numbers of patients and longer periods of follow-up over 10 years was to be undertaken.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.705-715
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• 2010

The adoption of carbon foot print system is being activated mostly in the developed countries as one of the long-term response towards tightened up regulations and standards on carbon emission in the agricultural sector. The Korean Ministry of Environment excluded the primary agricultural products from the carbon foot print system due to lack of LCI (life cycle inventory) database in agriculture. Therefore, the research on and establishment of LCI database in the agriculture for adoption of carbon foot print system is urgent. Development of LCA (life cycle assessment) methodology for application of LCA to agricultural environment in Korea is also very important. Application of LCA methodology to agricultural environment in Korea is an early stage. Therefore, this study was carried out to find out the effect of lettuce cultivation on agricultural environment by establishing LCA methodology. Data collection of agricultural input and output for establishing LCI was carried out by collecting statistical data and documents on income from agro and livestock products prepared by RDA. LCA methodology for agriculture was reviewed by investigating LCA methodology and LCA applications of foreign countries. Results based on 1 kg of lettuce production showed that inputs including N, P, organic fertilizers, compound fertilizers and crop protectants were the main sources of major emission factor during lettuce cropping process. The amount of inputs considering the amount of active ingredients was required to estimate the actual quantity of the inputs used. Major emissions due to agricultural activities were $N_2O$ (emission to air) and ${NO_3}^-$/${PO_4}^-$ (emission to water) from fertilizers, organic compounds from pesticides and air pollutants from fossil fuel combustion in using agricultural machines. The softwares for LCIA (life cycle impact assessment) and LCA used in Korea are 'PASS' and 'TOTAL' which have been developed by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Ministry of Environment. However, the models used for the softwares are the ones developed in foreign countries. In the future, development of models and optimization of factors for characterization, normalization and weighting suitable to Korean agricultural environment need to be done for more precise LCA analysis in the agricultural area.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.829-842
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• 2003

In this Paper, we propose the new face detection and tracking method based on template matching for real-time applications such as, teleconference, telecommunication, front stage of surveillance system using face recognition, and video-phone applications. Since the main purpose of paper is to track a face regardless of various environments, we use template-based face tracking method. To generate robust face templates, we apply wavelet transform to the average face image and extract three types of wavelet template from transformed low-resolution average face. However template matching is generally sensitive to the change of illumination conditions, we apply Min-max normalization with histogram equalization according to the variation of intensity. Tracking method is also applied to reduce the computation time and predict precise face candidate region. Finally, facial components are also detected and from the relative distance of two eyes, we estimate the size of facial ellipse.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.11-21
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• 2015

As growing interest in Human-Computer Interaction(HCI), research on HCI has been actively conducted. Also with that, research on Natural User Interface/Natural User eXperience(NUI/NUX) that uses user's gesture and voice has been actively conducted. In case of NUI/NUX, it needs recognition algorithm such as gesture recognition or voice recognition. However these recognition algorithms have weakness because their implementation is complex and a lot of time are needed in training because they have to go through steps including preprocessing, normalization, feature extraction. Recently, Kinect is launched by Microsoft as NUI/NUX development tool which attracts people's attention, and studies using Kinect has been conducted. The authors of this paper implemented hand-mouse interface with outstanding intuitiveness using the physical features of a user in a previous study. However, there are weaknesses such as unnatural movement of mouse and low accuracy of mouse functions. In this study, we designed and implemented a hand mouse interface which introduce a new concept called 'Virtual monitor' extracting user's physical features through Kinect in real-time. Virtual monitor means virtual space that can be controlled by hand mouse. It is possible that the coordinate on virtual monitor is accurately mapped onto the coordinate on real monitor. Hand-mouse interface based on virtual monitor concept maintains outstanding intuitiveness that is strength of the previous study and enhance accuracy of mouse functions. Further, we increased accuracy of the interface by recognizing user's unnecessary actions using his concentration indicator from his encephalogram(EEG) data. In order to evaluate intuitiveness and accuracy of the interface, we experimented it for 50 people from 10s to 50s. As the result of intuitiveness experiment, 84% of subjects learned how to use it within 1 minute. Also, as the result of accuracy experiment, accuracy of mouse functions (drag(80.4%), click(80%), double-click(76.7%)) is shown. The intuitiveness and accuracy of the proposed hand-mouse interface is checked through experiment, this is expected to be a good example of the interface for controlling the system by hand in the future.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.69-93
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• 2014

The aim of this research was to develop a climate change vulnerability index at the district level (Si, Gun, Gu) with respect to the health care sector in Korea. The climate change vulnerability index was esimated based on the four major causes of climate-related illnesses : vector, flood, heat waves, and air pollution/allergies. The vulnerability assessment framework consists of six layers, all of which are based on the IPCC vulnerability concepts (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity) and the pathway of direct and indirect impacts of climate change modulators on health. We collected proxy variables based on the conceptual framework of climate change vulnerability. Data were standardized using the min-max normalization method. We applied the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) weight and aggregated the variables using the non-compensatory multi-criteria approach. To verify the index, sensitivity analysis was conducted by using another aggregation method (geometric transformation method, which was applied to the index of multiple deprivation in the UK) and weight, calculated by the Budget Allocation method. The results showed that it would be possible to identify the vulnerable areas by applying the developed climate change vulnerability assessment index. The climate change vulnerability index could then be used as a valuable tool in setting climate change adaptation policies in the health care sector.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.720-732
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• 2007

For the Seoul metropolitan area and the eastern Kyeongsang Basin, we simultaneously calculated $Q_P^{-1}$ and $Q_S^{-1}$ by applying the extended coda-normalization method for 98 seismograms of local Earthquakes. As frequency increases from 1.5 Hz to 24 Hz, the result decreased from $(4.0{\pm}9.2){\times}10^{-3}$ to $(4.1{\pm}4.2){\times}10^{-4}$ for $Q_P^{-1}$ and $(5.5{\pm}5.6){\times}10^{-3}$ to $(3.4{\pm}1.3){\times}10^{-4}$ for $Q_S^{-1}$ in Seoul Metropolitan Area. The result of eastern Kyeongsang basin also decreased from $(5.4{\pm}8.8){\times}10^{-3}$ to $(3.7{\pm}3.4){\times}10^{-4}$ for $Q_P^{-1}$ and $(5.7{\pm}4.2){\times}10^{-3}$ to $(3.5{\pm}1.6){\times}10^{-4}$ for $Q_S^{-1}$. If we fit a frequency-dependent power law to the data, the best fits of $Q_P^{-1}$ and $Q_S^{-1}$ are $0.005f^{-0.89}$ and $0.004f^{-0.88}$ in Seoul metropolitan Area, respectively. The value of $Q_P^{-1}$ and $Q_S^{-1}$ in the eastern Kyeongsang basin are $0.007f^{-1.02}$ and $0.006f^{-0.99}$, respectively. The $Q_S^{-1}$ value of the eastern Kyeongsang basin is almost similar to Seoul metropolitan area. But the $Q_P^{-1}$ value of the eastern Kyeongsang basin is a little higher than that of Seoul metropolitan area. This may be that the crustal characteristics of the eastern Kyeongsang basin is seismologically more heterogeneous. However, these $Q_P^{-1}$ values in Korea belong to the range of seismically stable regions all over the world.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.141-152
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• 2020

The rapid on-site measurement of hydroponic nutrients allows for the more efficient use of crop fertilizers. This paper reports on the development of an embedded on-site system consisting of multiple ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) for the real-time measurement of the concentrations of macronutrients in hydroponic solutions. The system included a combination of PVC ISEs for the detection of NO₃, K, and Ca ions, a cobalt-electrode for the detection of H₂PO₄, a double-junction reference electrode, a solution container, and a sampling system consisting of pumps and valves. An Arduino Due board was used to collect data and to control the volume of the sample. Prior to the measurement of each sample, a two-point normalization method was employed to adjust the sensitivity followed by an offset to minimize potential drift that might occur during continuous measurement. The predictive capabilities of the NO₃ and K ISEs based on PVC membranes were satisfactory, producing results that were in close agreement with the results of standard analyzers (R² = 0.99). Though the Ca ISE fabricated with Ca ionophore II underestimated the Ca concentration by an average of 55%, the strong linear relationship (R² > 0.84) makes it possible for the embedded system to be used in hydroponic NO₃, K, and Ca sensing. The cobalt-rod-based phosphate electrodes exhibited a relatively high error of 24.7±9.26% in the phosphate concentration range of 45 to 155 mg/L compared to standard methods due to inconsistent signal readings between replicates, illustrating the need for further research on the signal conditioning of cobalt electrodes to improve their predictive ability in hydroponic P sensing.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1070-1077
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• 2017

Chondrocyte apoptosis induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. Schisandrin A, a bioactive compound found in fruits of the Schisandra genus, has been reported to possess multiple pharmacological and therapeutic properties. Although several studies have described the antioxidant effects of analogues of schisandrin A, the underlying molecular mechanisms of this bioactive compound remain largely unresolved. The present study investigated the cytoprotective effect of schisandrin A against oxidative stress (hydrogen peroxide [$H_2O_2$]) in SW1353 human chondrocyte cells. The results showed that schisandrin A preconditioning significantly inhibited $H_2O_2-induced$ growth inhibition and apoptotic cell death by blocking the degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase proteins and down-regulating pro-caspase-3. These antiapoptotic effects of schisandrin A were associated with attenuation of mitochondrial dysfunction and normalization of expression changes of proapoptotic Bax and antiapoptotic Bcl-2 in $H_2O_2-stimulated$ SW1353 chondrocytes. Furthermore, schisandrin A effectively abrogated $H_2O_2-induced$ intracellular ROS accumulation and phosphorylation of histone H2AX at serine 139, a widely used marker of DNA damage. Thus, the present study demonstrates that schisandrin A provides protection against $H_2O_2-induced$ apoptosis and DNA damage in SW1353 chondrocytes, possibly by prevention of ROS generation. Collectively, our data indicate that schisandrin A has therapeutic potential in the treatment of oxidative disorders caused by overproduction of ROS.