• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.315-324
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• 1996

This study was one of a series of studies on application of machine vision and image processing to extract the geometrical features of plants and to analyze plant growth. Several algorithms were developed to measure morphological properties of plants and describing the growth development of in-situ lettuce(Lactuca sativa L.). Canopy, centroid, leaf density and fractal dimension of plant were measured from a top viewed binary image. It was capable of identifying plants by a thinning top viewed image. Overlapping the thinning side viewed image with a side viewed binary image of plant was very effective to auto-detect meaningful nodes associated with canopy components such as stem, branch, petiole and leaf. And, plant height, stem diameter, number and angle of branches, and internode length and so on were analyzed by using meaningful nodes extracted from overlapped side viewed images. Canopy, leaf density and fractal dimension showed high relation with fresh weight or growth pattern of in-situ lettuces. It was concluded that machine vision system and image processing techniques are very useful in extracting geometrical features and monitoring plant growth, although interactive methods, for some applications, were required.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.133-137
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of thinning on ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in a forest. Ectomycorrhizal root tips were collected from forest soils in thinning and non-thinning sites and identified using morphological characteristics and molecular analysis of ITS rDNA sequences. As a result, species richness of ectomycorrhizal fungi was significantly increased and ectomycorrhizal fungal community composition was changed by thinning. These results suggest that forest management such as thinning, could be an important factor affecting mutualistic relationships and belowground microorganisms in forest ecosystems.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.337-344
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• 1995

Because of the high energy of the treatment beam, contrast of portal films is very poor. Many image processing techniques have been applied to the portal images but a significant drawback is the loss of definition on the edges of the treatment field. Analysis of this problem shows that it may be remedied by separating the treatment field from the background prior to enhancement and uslng only the pixels within the field boundary in the enhancement procedure. A new edge extraction algorithm for accurate extraction of the radiation field boundary from portal Images has been developed for contrast enhancement of portal images. In this paper, portal image segmentation algorithm based on Sobel filtration, labelling processes and morphological thinning has been presented. This algorithm could automatically search the optimal threshold value which is sensitive to the variation of the type and quality of portal images.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers D
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• v.51 no.12
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• pp.577-582
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• 2002

The objective of this paper is to produce a weighted graph map for path-planning of an autonomous mobile robot(AMR) based on the measurements from a single ultrasonic sensor, which are acquired when the autonomous mobile robot explores unknown indoor circumstance. The AMR navigates in th unknown space by following the wall and gathers the range data using the ultrasonic sensor, from which the occupancy grid map is constructed by associating the range data with occupancy certainties. Then, the occupancy grid map is converted to a weighted graph map suing morphological image processing and thinning algorithms. the path- planning for autonomous navigation of a mobile robot can be carried out based on the occupancy grid map. These procedures are implemented and tested using an AMR, and primary results are presented in this paper.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.148-152
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• 2011

Objective: Laser-assisted intracytoplasmic sperm injection (LA-ICSI), also known as micro-opening or thinning of the zona pellucida (ZP) prior to ICSI, may help to reduce mechanical damage to the oocyte during the procedure. The aim of the present study was to evaluate and analyze the efficacy of our institutional LA-ICSI program, which features laser-assisted ZP thinning prior to ICSI, in comparison with conventional ICSI (C-ICSI), performed on patients with different clinical characteristics. Methods: Patients undergoing a total of 212 ICSI cycles were randomly divided into an LA-ICSI group (106 cycles) and a conventional ICSI group (106 cycles). To reduce tissue damage, we thinned the ZP by approximately 70%, using a laser, before ICSI. Patients thus treated formed the LAICSI group. Comparisons included the morphological quality of transferred embryos, blastocyst development of the remaining embryos, and clinical pregnancy, in terms of ICSI method and patient characteristics. Results: Fertilization, development of remaining embryos, and pregnancy rate were significantly higher in the LA-ICSI group compared with the C-ICSI group. Fertilization, embryonic development, and the pregnancy rate were all improved in younger patients (<38 years of age) and in those who underwent a low number of IVF-ET attempts (<3 trials). In addition, the pregnancy rate was increased in older patients. Conclusion: LA-ICSI may be useful in improving the chance of pregnancy in all ICSI patients.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.129-134
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• 2001

Liquid crystalline (LC) poly(ethylene terephthalate-co-2(3)-chloro-1,4-phenylene terephthalate) (50/50, mole/mole) [PECPT] was synthesized and blended with polycarbonate (PC). LC properties of PECPT and thermal, morphological, and rheological behaviors of the PECPT/PC blend were studied. PECPT showed the nematic LC phase and much longer relaxation time than poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The apparent melt viscosity of PECPT was one third of that of FET. An abrupt torque change was observed during the blending process due to the orientation of LC domains. For the blends containing 10~30 wt% of PECPT, the complex viscosities were higher than that of PC. As PECPT content increases above 40 wt%, shear thinning was observed. The lowest complex viscosity was obtained at 40~50 wt%. Transesterification of PECPT and PC was confirmed by the selective chemical degradation of carbonate groups in PC.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1996.10b
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• pp.900-903
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• 1996

The objective of this paper is to make the weighted graph map for path planning using the ultrasonic sensor measurements that are acquired when an A.M.R (autonomous mobile robot) explores the unknown circumstance. First, The A.M.R navigates on unknown space with wall-following and gathers the sensor data from the environments. After this, we constructs the occupancy grid map by interpreting the gathered sensor data to occupancy probability. For the path planning of roadmap method, the weighted graph map is extracted from the occupancy grid map using morphological image processing and thinning algorithm. This methods is implemented on an A.M.R having a ultrasonic sensor.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.2 no.2 s.2
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• pp.15-24
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• 1993

To understand the morphological change of ancient woods, samples classified by cell type, burial environment and species were collected and observed using microscopy. Decay of wood by cell type could classified into two types. First, degraded secondary wall was formed granular residues in $S_2$ layer and was remained $S_3$ layer and compound middle lamella. Second, the cell wall was slightly degraded and cracked in secondary wall. A gradual thinning of cell wall was occured. The compound middle lamella was separated from secondary wall. The resistance of degradation is increased at vessels, parenchyma, and tracheid and wood fiber in the order named. The type of degradation by species could be classified into four types. Overall degradation type; the degradation of cell wall is usually heavy and the extent of degradation Varies by part of the same sample. Partial degradation type ; this type shows severely different decay type by part of the sample. Nondegraded cells were mixed with degraded cells on the same sample. Erose degradation type ; thinning of the cell wall was occoured and the degradation type was different by part. Slight degradation types ; secondary wall was slightly degraded, cracked and separated from compound middle lamella. Considering different type of burial environment, dry wood was similiar to sound wood and slightly decayed. Waterlogged and peat burial wood was heavilydecayed. Between species of under the same environment, decay type and extent were diferentiated from each other.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.429-436
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• 2002

Hydrocepbalus may be an acquired or a congenital condition. We have studied the macroscopic and microscopic changes in the hydrocephalus of an inbred Sprague-Dawley rat at postnatal week 8. The animal suspected with the hydrocephalus showed clinical syndromes such as depression, severe ataxia, eye abnormalities, dome-shaped head, and persistent fontanelle. With the postmortem examination, the suspected animal was clearly revealed as a severe internal hydrocephalus. In this animal, severe ventriculomegaly was limited to the third and lateral ventricles, and cortical thining was most apparent in the parieto-occipital region. With the routine histological examination, brain tissue showed aqueductal obstruction, thinning of the cerebral cortex, severe ependymal damage, subependymal edema, damage of choroid plexus of fourth ventricle, enlarged cortical vessels, and expanded ventricles. Aqueductal obstruction was observed with the appearance of simple stenosis at the level of rostral colliculus. Subsequently, the other structures of brain such as septal nucleus, caudate nucleus, and hippocampus etc. were abnormally reconstructed by hydrocephalus. This study suggests that the hydrocephalus can be taken place by primary aqueductal obstruction and this type of hydrocephalus is classified as uncommunicating type. Though the mechanism of aqueductal obstruction is not clear, the morphological studies of this case may be helpful for the further study of hydrocephalus.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.243-252
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• 2005

The effect of the vinyl acetate (VA) content on the thermal, viscoelastic, rheological, morphological and mechanical behaviors in various blends of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA)/ethylene-$\alpha$-olefin copolymers was investigated using 28, 22 and $15 mol\%$ of VA in EVA. In the DSC melting and crystallization thermograms of all of the EVA systems blended with ethylene-$\alpha$-olefin copolymers, discrete peaks were observed which were related to the constituents. In the dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, the storage modulus increased with increasing content of ethylene-$\alpha$-olefin copolymers. In addition, the transition regions relating to the tan bpeaks varied with the VA content. The crossover point between G' and G" varied depending on the VA contents, and shear-thinning was more prominent in the EVA/EtBC system. In the SEM investigation, a discrete phase morphology was observed in both the EVA/EtBC and EVA/EtOC blends, but the contrast improved with decreasing VA content. However, the tensile strength and modulus improved, but the elongation at break reduced with decreasing VA content, implying that the ethylene-$\alpha$-olefin copolymers play the role of reinforcing materials. Thus, the EVA and ethylene-$\alpha$-olefin components in the copolymers are immiscible in the molten and solid states, but are nevertheless mechanically compatible.