• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2011

Automatic vehicle license plate recognition technology is widely used in gate control and parking control of vehicles, and police enforcement of illegal vehicles. However inherent geometric information of the license plate can be transformed in the vehicle images due to the slant and the sunlight or lighting environment. In this paper, a distortion invariant vehicle license plate extraction and recognition algorithm is proposed. First, a binary image reserving clean character strokes can be achieved by using a DoG filter. A plate area can be extracted by using the location of consecutive digit numbers that reserves distortion invariant characteristic. License plate is recognized by using neural networks after geometric distortion correction and image enhancement. The simulation results of the proposed algorithm show that the accuracy is 98.4% and the average speed is 0.05 seconds in the recognition of 6,200 vehicle images that are obtained by using commercial LPR system.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.319-323
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• 2008

The polarization resistance of mild steel in 0.5M hydrochloric acid has been evaluated by using impedance (Z) and linear polarization (LPR) techniques and compared to the noise resistance obtained from electrochemical noise data. The degree of localization of this general corrosion has also been discussed by evaluating localization index and power spectral density. Polarization resistance obtained by LPR technique ($28\Omega$) was higher than that obtained by impedance technique ($15\Omega$). Noise resistance ($11\Omega$) was much lower than polarization resistance measured by both of above techniques. Higher polarization resistance obtained by LPR technique is generally caused by passivation effect in the presence of scales or deposits which can introduce an increased resistance as can low conductivity electrolytes. The reason why noise resistance is lower than polarization resistance is the effect of background noise detected by using three platinum electrodes cell in 0.5M hydrochloric acid. Slope($-\beta$) of power spectral density (PSD) obtained from analysis of noise data ($-\beta$ = 3.3) was much higher than 2 which indicates mild steel corroded uniformly. Localization index (LI) calculated from statistical analysis (LI=0.08) is much lower than 1 which indicates that mild steel did not corroded locally. However, LI value is still higher than $1x10^{-3}$ and this indicates that mild steel corroded locally in microscopic point of view.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.290-299
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Spirulina is a known a functional food related to lipid profiles, immune functions, and antioxidant capacity. Circulating monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) level is associated with inflammation markers. Single nucleotide polymorphism in the MCP-1 promoter region -2518 have been identified and shown to affect gene transcription. Gene variation may also impact functional food supplementary effects. The current study investigated the interaction of MCP-1 -2518 polymorphism with spirulina supplements on anti-inflammatory capacity in Korean elderly. SUBJECTS/METHODS: After genotyping, healthy elderly subjects (n = 78) were included in a randomized, double blind, and placebo controlled study. Baseline characteristic, body composition, and dietary intake were measured twice (baseline vs. week 16). For 16 weeks, subjects consumed 8 g either spirulina or placebo daily. Plasma MCP-1, interleukin (IL) -2, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$, complement (C) 3, immunoglobulin (Ig) G, and Ig A concentrations and lymphocyte proliferation rate (LPR) were analyzed as inflammatory markers. RESULTS: In the placebo group with A/A genotype, MCP-1 level was significantly increased, but the spirulina group with A/A genotype was unchanged. IL-2 was significantly increased only in subjects with spirulina supplementation. TNF-${\alpha}$ was significantly reduced in subjects with the G carrier. C3 was significantly increased in the placebo group, particularly when A/A increased more than G, but not when spirulina was ingested. LPR was significantly different only in subjects with A/A genotype; there was a significant increase in phytohemagglutinin and lipopolysaccharide induced LPR in the spirulina group. CONCLUSION: In healthy Korean elderly, spirulina supplementation may influence different inflammatory markers by the MCP-1 genotype. These results may be useful for customized dietary guidelines to improve immune function in Koreans.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.721-729
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• 2022

Objective: An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of supplementing graded concentrations of inorganic sulphur (S) without and with folic acid (FA) in maize-soybean meal diets on performance, slaughter and anti-oxidant variables, immune responses and serum protein fractions in broiler chicken. Methods: Inorganic S was supplemented at 0.05%, 0.10%, 0.15%, and 0.20% alone or in combination with FA (4 mg/kg) in basal diet (BD) containing no supplemental methionine (Met) and FA. A control group was fed with the recommended concentration of Met. Each diet was offered to 10 pens of 5 male broiler chicks (Cobb 400) and fed ad libitum from day 1 to 42. Results: The broilers fed the BD had lower body weight gain (BWG), feed efficiency (FE), higher lipid peroxidation (LP), lower activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), lower lymphocyte proliferation ratio (LPR), and reduced concentrations of total protein, albumin, and globulin in serum. Supplementation of FA and S to the BD improved the BWG (all concentrations of S) and FE (0.20% S) similar to the control group. Similarly, the combination of S and FA significantly improved the concentrations of total protein, albumin, and globulin in serum, reduced the LP and increased the activity of GSHPx and LPR. However, responses in the above parameters were related to the concentration of S in the diet. The slaughter variables and antibody titres against the Newcastle disease were not affected with the treatments. Conclusion: Based on the results, it is concluded that the combination of S (0.2%) and FA (4 mg/kg) improved the BWG and FE, similarly supplementation of these nutrients improved the concentration of protein fractions and reduced the stress (reduced LP and improved GSHPx) variables in serum and improved the cell mediated immune response (LPR) in broilers fed sub-optimal concentrations of Met in diet.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.190-201
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• 2024

Background: Deposition of immune complexes drives podocyte injury acting in the initial phase of lupus nephritis (LN), a process mediated by B cell involvement. Accordingly, targeting B cell subsets represents a potential therapeutic approach for LN. Ginsenoside compound K (CK), a bioavailable component of ginseng, possesses nephritis benefits in lupus-prone mice; however, the underlying mechanisms involving B cell subpopulations remain elusive. Methods: Female MRL/lpr mice were administered CK (40 mg/kg) intragastrically for 10 weeks, followed by measurements of anti-dsDNA antibodies, inflammatory chemokines, and metabolite profiles on renal samples. Podocyte function and ultrastructure were detected. Publicly available single-cell RNA sequencing data and flow cytometry analysis were employed to investigate B cell subpopulations. Metabolomics analysis was adopted. SIRT1 and AMPK expression were analyzed by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence assays. Results: CK reduced proteinuria and protected podocyte ultrastructure in MRL/lpr mice by suppressing circulating anti-dsDNA antibodies and mitigating systemic inflammation. It activated B cell-specific SIRT1 and AMPK with Rhamnose accumulation, hindering the conversion of renal B cells into plasma cells. This cascade facilitated the resolution of local renal inflammation. CK facilitated the clearance of deposited immune complexes, thus reinstating podocyte morphology and mobility by normalizing the expression of nephrin and SYNPO. Conclusions: Our study reveals the synergistic interplay between SIRT1 and AMPK, orchestrating the restoration of renal B cell subsets. This process effectively mitigates immune complex deposition and preserves podocyte function. Accordingly, CK emerges as a promising therapeutic agent, potentially alleviating the hyperactivity of renal B cell subsets during LN.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.69 no.5
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• pp.368-374
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• 2010

Background: Rhinolaryngoscopy and sputum examination are popular tests for the evaluation of chronic cough. Little is known about the relationship between symptoms and rhinolaryngoscopic findings or sputum eosinophilia in chronic cough patients. Methods: One hundred patients, who had chronic cough with normal chest radiography and who also had undergone both rhinolaryngoscopy and induced sputum analysis, were reviewed retrospectively. Eleven associated symptoms of chronic cough were asked; postnasal drip (PND) and laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) were examined by rhinolaryngoscopy. Induced sputum analysis was performed for evaluation of sputum eosinophilia. Cross tabulation analyses with chi-square tests were used to evaluate the relationship between symptoms and objective findings. Results: The most frequent symptom was sputum (70%). The prevalence of PND and LPR on rhinolaryngoscopy were 56% (56/100) and 25.6% (22/86), respectively. Sputum eosinophilia was observed in 23 (23.7%) of 97 patients. The dyspnea (p=0.001), sputum (p=0.003), nasal obstruction (p=0.023), and postnasal drip sense (p=0.025) were related with PND on rhinolaryngoscopy. LPR on rhinolaryngoscopy was not related with any symptoms. Dyspnea (p=0.003), wheezing (p=0.005), nasal obstruction (p=0.013), and belching (p=0.018) were related with sputum eosinophilia. Conclusion: Any symptoms might not be related with LPR on laryngoscopy. Some symptoms might be related with PND on rhinoscopy or with sputum eosinophilia.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.39C no.10
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• pp.909-919
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• 2014

License plate (LP) detection is the most imperative part of an automatic LP recognition (LPR) system. Typical LPR contains two steps, namely LP detection (LPD) and character recognition. In this paper, we propose an efficient Vehicle-to-LP detection framework which combines with an adaptive GMM (Gaussian Mixture Model) and a cascade of boosted classifiers to make a faster vehicle LP detector. To develop a background model by using a GMM is possible in the circumstance of a fixed camera and extracts the motions using background subtraction. Firstly, an adaptive GMM is used to find the region of interest (ROI) on which motion detectors are running to detect the vehicle area as blobs ROIs. Secondly, a cascade of boosted classifiers is executed on the blobs ROIs to detect a LP. The experimental results on our test video with the resolution of $720{\times}576$ show that the LPD rate of the proposed system is 99.14% and the average computational time is approximately 42ms.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.3621-3627
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• 2015

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of most common causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Recent studies have suggested that microbial and environmental factors including diet and lifestyle can impact on colon cancer development. Vitamin D deficiency and dysfunction of vitamin D receptor (VDR) also correlate with colon cancer. Moreover, leptin, a 16-kDa polypeptide, participates in the regulation of food intake and is associated with other environmental factors affecting colon cancer through the leptin receptor. Altered levels of serum leptin and patterns of expression of its receptor (LPR) may be observed in human colon tumours. Furthermore, the collected data from in vitro and in vivo studies have indicated that consuming probiotic non-pathogenic lactic acid bacteria have beneficial effects on colon cancer. Probiotics, inflammation and vitamin D/VDR have been correlated with leptin and its receptor and are also with colon cancer. Thus, in this paper, we review recent progress on the roles of probiotic, vitamin D/VDR and leptin/LPR in inflammation and colon cancer.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.173-179
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• 2018

With the recent increase in the number of cars and the lack of parking spaces, the number of parking businesses has increased. the parking management has become an essential element in parking business, and the parking management's company becomes an increasingly popular opportunity. However, as competition grows as more and more and companies increase in number, efforts are being made to create new services, gain technological excellence, or reduce costs through current system improvements. In this paper, we developed a parking management system using cloud based LPR(License Plate Recognition) service for effective parking. Structural improvements in the proposed system reduce costs, simplify installation, and respond quickly to failures and updates.

• Proceedings of the Korea Information Processing Society Conference
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• 2018.10a
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• pp.733-735
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• 2018

최근의 차량 주차관리 시설, 출입통제가 필요한 장소 그리고 도로 방범카메라를 통한 단속 등 다양한 곳에서 차량 번호판 자동 인식 기술들이 활용되고 있다. 하지만 현재 사용되고 있는 LPR(License Plate Recognition) 시스템에는 많은 장비와 비용이 들어간다는 큰 단점이 존재한다. 본 논문에서는 하나의 컴퓨터와 최소의 카메라를 가지고 할 수 있는 기계학습을 통한 영상처리를 제안하려 한다. 먼저 딥러닝 프레임워크 중 하나인 YOLO(You Only Look Once) [4]를 활용하여 자동차의 번호판 부분의 영역을 검출하고 Grayscale를 통해 햇빛 또는 조명 등의 영향을 감소시켜 번호판의 특징을 보존시킨다. 전처리 작업이 끝난 후 번호판에서 숫자를 인식 하는 부분에서는 k-NN(k-Nearest Neighbor) 알고리즘을 사용하였으며 한글 문자 인식부분은 Template Matching을 이용하였다. 제안한 알고리즘을 사용하여 기존 LPR 시스템에서 획득한 차량이미지를 대상으로 시뮬레이션 한 결과 좋은 결과를 얻을 수 있어 향후 연구 방향의 시스템 확장성의 가능성을 발견할 수 있었다.