• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.43.1-43.14
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• 2022

Background: Cataracts are the leading cause of impaired vision or blindness in dogs. There are many antioxidants that can prevent cataract progression, but whether they are clinically effective in dogs has not been established. Objectives: To analyze the delaying or preventing effect of oral antioxidants on canine senile cataracts through retrospective analysis. Methods: Medical records of dogs from January 1, 2015 to July 10, 2020 were reviewed. Dogs that were 8 yr of age or older with senile cataracts were included in this study. The dogs were divided into two treatment groups (dogs administered with Ocu-GLO supplement and dogs administered with Meni-One Eye R/C supplement) and a control group (dogs that were not administered any supplement). Dogs with incipient and immature cataracts were included in this study. Altogether, 112 dogs (156 eyes) with incipient cataracts and 60 dogs (77 eyes) with immature cataracts were included. The period of time that cataracts progressed from incipient to immature, and from immature to mature was recorded for each dog. Results: There was no significant delaying effect on the progression of incipient cataracts. However, both Ocu-GLO (hazard ratio = 0.265, p = 0.026) and Meni-One (hazard ratio = 0.246, p = 0.005) significantly delayed the progression of immature cataracts compared to the control group. Conclusions: Although there was no significant delaying effect of oral antioxidants on incipient cataract progression, antioxidants could be used to delay the progression of senile immature cataract.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.647-654
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• 2022

Wearable devices come in a variety of shapes and sizes in numerous fields in numerous fields and are available in various forms. They can be integrated into clothing, gloves, hats, glasses, and bags and used in healthcare, the medical field, and machine interfaces. These devices keep track individuals' biological and behavioral data to help with health communication and are often used for injury prevention. Those with hearing loss or impaired vision find it more difficult to recognize an approaching person or object; these sensing devices are particularly useful for such individuals, as they assist them with injury prevention by alerting them to the presence of people or objects in their immediate vicinity. Despite these obvious preventive benefits to developing Internet of Things based devices for the disabled, the development of these devices has been sluggish thus far. In particular, when compared with people without disabilities, people with hearing impairment have a much higher probability of averting danger when they are able to notice it in advance. However, research and development remain severely underfunded. In this study, we incorporated a wearable detection system, which uses an infrared proximity sensor, into a backpack. This system helps its users recognize when someone is approaching from behind through visual and tactile notification, even if they have difficulty hearing or seeing the objects in their surroundings. Furthermore, this backpack could help prevent accidents for all users, particularly those with visual or hearing impairments.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.167-176
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• 2023

Purpose: Despite the high prevalence of visual impairment caused by diabetic retinopathy and nutritional problems among older adults with diabetes, evidence regarding factors related to nutritional risk in this population is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the correlates of nutritional risk among older adults with diabetes, focusing on visual impairment. Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis of the 2020 National Survey of Older Koreans aged 65 years and above. The sample comprised 2,376 older adults with diabetes, and complex sample ANOVA and Rao-Scott chi-square tests were used to compare the groups according to visual impairment. Complex-sample logistic regression analyses were conducted to verify the association between visual impairment and nutritional risk. Results: Older adults with diabetes, who also have severe visual impairment, are more likely to have nutritional risk status than those without impairment after controlling for covariates (odds ratio [OR] = 2.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16~5.13). Among the covariates, depression (OR = 3.58, 95% CI 2.60~4.94), dependent activities of daily living status (OR = 2.79, 95% CI 1.60~4.86), and experience of hospitalization during the past year (OR = 2.51, 95% CI 1.57~4.03) were strongly associated with nutritional risk. Conclusion: Severe visual impairment increases the nutritional risk among older adults with diabetes. Therefore, it is essential to prevent visual impairment due to exacerbation of diabetes through appropriate management. Additionally, tailored nutritional interventions for visually impaired older adults with diabetes that consider visual characteristics are required.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2023

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a significant visual disease that induces impaired vision and irreversible blindness in the elderly. However, the effects of ginseng berry extract (GBE) on the retina have not been studied. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the protective effects of GBE on blue light (BL)-induced retinal damage and elucidate its underlying mechanisms in human retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE-19 cells) and Balb/c retina. Methods: To investigate the effects and underlying mechanisms of GBE on retinal damage in vitro, we performed cell viability assay, pre-and post-treatment of sample, reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and western immunoblotting using A2E-laden ARPE-19 cells with BL exposure. In addition, Balb/c mice were irradiated with BL to induce retinal degeneration and orally administrated with GBE (50, 100, 200 mg/kg). Using the harvested retina, we performed histological analysis (thickness of retinal layers), qRT-PCR, and western immunoblotting to elucidate the effects and mechanisms of GBE against retinal damage in vivo. Results: GBE significantly inhibited BL-induced cell damage in ARPE-19 cells by activating the SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway, regulating NF-kB translocation, caspase 3 activation, PARP cleavage, expressions of apoptosis-related factors (BAX/BCL-2, LC3-II, and p62), and ROS production. Furthermore, GBE prevented BL-induced retinal degeneration by restoring the thickness of retinal layers and suppressed inflammation and apoptosis via regulation of NF-kB and SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway, cleavage of caspase 3 and PARP, and expressions of apoptosis-related factors in vivo. Conclusions: GBE could be a potential agent to prevent dry AMD and progression to wet AMD.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.81-89
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• 2023

In modern society, blind people face difficulties in navigating common environments such as sidewalks, elevators, and crosswalks. Research has been conducted to alleviate these inconveniences for the visually impaired through the use of visual and audio aids. However, such research often encounters limitations when it comes to practical implementation due to the high cost of wearable devices, high-performance CCTV systems, and voice sensors. In this paper, we propose an artificial intelligence fusion algorithm that utilizes low-cost video sensors integrated into smartphones to help blind people safely navigate their surroundings during walking. The proposed algorithm combines motion capture and object detection algorithms to detect moving people and various obstacles encountered during walking. We employed the MediaPipe library for motion capture to model and detect surrounding pedestrians during motion. Additionally, we used object detection algorithms to model and detect various obstacles that can occur during walking on sidewalks. Through experimentation, we validated the performance of the artificial intelligence fusion algorithm, achieving accuracy of 0.92, precision of 0.91, recall of 0.99, and an F1 score of 0.95. This research can assist blind people in navigating through obstacles such as bollards, shared scooters, and vehicles encountered during walking, thereby enhancing their mobility and safety.

• Proceedings of the KOR-BRONCHOESO Conference
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• 1978.06a
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• pp.9.2-9
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• 1978

Monaural and binaural hearing aid performance under quiet and noisy conditions were compared in regard to (1) the degree of hearing impairment, (2) the symmetry of pure tone audiogram, (3) the automatic gain control of the hearing aid. (4) hearing impairement with recruitment and, word discrimination ability. Performance using binaural hearing aids was consistently superior to that using monaural hearing aids. The results were as follows. 1. Speech detection thresholds were enhanced by a mean of 4.25dB when tested with danavox 747 PP stereo type hearing aid and by a mean of 4.12 dB when tested hearing aids connected seperately to the right and left ears. 2. Binaurally tested speech reception thresholds were superior to monaurally tested thresholds by a mean of 3.56dB when tested in quiet and by a mean of 5.56dB when tested in noise. 3. Binaurally tested word discrimination scores were also superior by a mean of 17.09% in quiet and by a mean 19.63% in noise. 4. Both SRT and word discrimination scores were performed best by subjects with moderately-severe impairement. The performance by one mildly impaired subject was the poorest of all performances. The levels of performance order were; moderately-severe loss, severe loss. moderate loss and mild loss. 5. The data obtained using AGC aids when compaired with that of linear amplification show that when AGC aids were worn in both ears. the results were very poor but when one AGC aid was worn in one ear and linear amplification in the other. the results were good. 6. The advantages of binaural hearing aids were obvious even in cases 1) with great diferences in hearing thresholds between right and left ears, 2) when the subject was unable to discriminate words without vision and. 3) when the subject had extreme recruitme t phenomenon.