• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.97-107
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• 2013

The latest programming paradigm has been mostly geared toward object-oriented programming and visual programming based on the object-oriented programming. However, object-oriented programming has a more difficult and complicated concept compared with that of existing structural programming technique; thus it has been very difficult to educate students in the IT-related department. This study designed and implemented a Java robot training kit in which the Java virtual machine is built so that it may enhance the desire and motivation of students for learning the object-oriented programming using the training kit which is possible to attach various input and output devices and to control a robot. The developed Java robot training kit is able to communicate with a computer through the USB interface, and it also enables learners to manufacture a robot for education and to practice applied programming because there is a general purpose input and output port inside the kit, through which diverse input and output devices, DC motor, and servo motor can be operated. Accordingly, facing the IT fusion era, the wall between the academic circles and the major becomes lower and the need for introducing education about creative engineering object-oriented programming language is emerging. At this point, the Java robot training kit developed in this study is expected to make a great commitment in this regard.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.771-782
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• 2017

This paper describes the development of a wearable robot to assist ankle power for the elderly. Previously developed wearable robots have generally used motors and gears to assist muscle power during walking. However, the combination of motor and reduction gear is heavy and has limitations on the simultaneous control of stiffness and torque due to the friction of the gear reducer unlike human muscles. Therefore, in this study, Mckibben pneumatic muscle, which is lighter, safer, and more powerful than an electric motor with gear, was used to assist ankle joint. Antagonistic actuation using a pair of pneumatic muscles assisted the power of the soleus muscles and tibialis anterior muscles used for the pitching motion of the ankle joint, and the model parameters of the antagonistic actuator were experimentally derived using a muscle test platform. To recognize the wearer's walking intention, foot load and ankle torque were calculated by measuring the pressure and the center of pressure of the foot using force and linear displacement sensors, and the stiffness and the torque of the pneumatic muscle joint were then controlled by the calculated ankle torque and foot load. Finally, the performance of the developed ankle power assistive robot was experimentally verified by measuring EMG signals during walking experiments on a treadmill.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.366-379
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• 2017

In this study, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify the effects of exercise on endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). We conducted database searches (Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, ScienceDirect, CINAHL, Scopus, KoreaMed, KISS, RISS, KMBASE) for the effect of exercise on cardiovascular disease, using heart disease, coronary artery disease, heart failure, cardiovascular disease, exercise, motor activity, rehabilitation, and endothelial progenitor cells as the keywords. Of the 539 studies identified, 9 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 2.0 was used to analyze the effect size and the publication bias was checked with a funnel plot. Exercise was found to improve the VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), CD34+KDR+, and endothelial function, assessed via FMD (flow-mediated dilation), in the exercise vs. control groups, viz. 2.008 (95% CI 0.204-3.812), 1.399 (95% CI 0.310-2.489), and 1.881 (95% CI 0.848-2.914), respectively. Exercise improved the VEGF, number of EPCs, and endothelial function in the CVD patients. Considering the increasing prevalence and mortality rates for cardiovascular disease in Korea, the findings of this study that analyzed the effects of exercise on EPCs might provide guidelines for planning exercise interventions for patients with CVD.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.71-80
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• 2021

Parkinson's disease is one of the typical neurodegenerative disease and it is caused by the destruction of substantia nigra in brain leading to lack of dopamine secretion, and it presents 4 major motor symptoms such as tremor, bradykinesia, stiffness, postural instability. Furthermore, it causes many non-motor symptoms such as anosmia, REM sleep conduct disorder, orthostatic hypotension, dementia and autonomic ataxia such as lack of adjusting blood pressure, hyperhydrosis, constipation. Dopaminergic therapy is the most commonly used strategy, but long term treatment of levodopa induce various adverse effects. Thus, many people are focusing on new therapies other than established therapies, and there are many tries and approaches with paradigm shift. Our medical team was able to get 4 cases of PD patients who are hospitalized in our hospital, treated by Whole Body Gi-Hyeol Therapy consisting of acupuncture therapy, herbal therapy, and mental therapy, and their conditions improved in perspective of Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale(UPDRS), Heart Rate Variability(HRV), and Quality of life. Among all 4 cases, UPDRS score and quality of life score is gotton better, and among 2 cases SDNN, RMS-SD, TP, LF, HF scores are finely increased. And PDQ-39 score which shows quality of life is also improved. However, in spite of these improvements and positive results, there were no meaningful improvement in a hurt from a fall which is important to the aged, muscular atrophy which causes bone fracture and SMI(Skeletal Muscle Mass Index) which is indicator of osteoporosis. Thus, supplementary treatment about Whole Body Gi-Hyeol Therapy such as more active nutrition intervention, safe and effective kinesitherapy is needed, and from now on continuous case reports and systematic clinical research which has control group must be carried out.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.32-35
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• 2019

One of the major problems with the livestock industry is that in the summer, livestock will die from heat waves or infectious diseases. Under these circumstances, what livestock need is a proper indoor temperature and a regular sterilization system. Therefore, in this study, we developed a system that automatically controls the power of the fan according to the temperature inside the shaft, and a function that provides feed and sterilization on a regular basis, so that we could manage the toast efficiently. It also proposed the ability to automatically control the power of the fan, to display the temperature inside the shaft to mobile applications, and to provide food and sterilization. First, the function of controlling the power of the fan automatically turns the fan on when the temperature inside the shaft rises above a certain level. Conversely, if the temperature inside the shaft falls below a certain level, turn off the fan. Second, the function of the mobile application is to check the temperature inside the shaft. The third feeding function is periodically fed using a servo motor, and the feeding provided is delivered to livestock through a conveyor belt. Finally, the sterilization function is a function to sterilize livestock periodically using DC motor pump. The intelligent congratulatory functions proposed in this study may contribute to the health of livestock.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.857-866
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• 2020

'Movement' is an expanded concept of 'place' where people act, interact with one another and achieve a specific purpose at every moment. Wheelchairs, as a mobility aid, have a profound impact on improving the quality of physical and psychological well-being for the mobility disadvantaged groups who have mobility difficulties. Such mobility aids were developed mainly for outdoor activities, but in recent years, mobility aids for indoor spaces, the main living environment, are also being developed. Because indoor mobility aids generally move short distances repeatedly, this study examined the characteristics of lithium-ion batteries in short-distance driving of battery-powered wheelchairs and compared them with the characteristics of lithium-ion batteries in continuous driving. The result showed that the driving time for short-distance driving was 2.8% shorter than that of continuous driving. The current supplied to the motor was 15.4% higher for short-distance driving than that of continuous driving.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2021

This study proposes the design and implementation of a low-cost emergency ventilator which can be helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic where the supply of automatic ventilators is not smooth compared with the urgent demand worldwide. Easy implementation and lower price were made possible by using AMBU-bag and off-the-shelf embedded micro-controller board. Moreover, while 3D printing is used by companies and experts around the world to build prototype hardware, materials which are readily available from surrounding environments so that people in countries where it is difficult to access many advanced technologies could manufacture the system. The design features AMBU-bag automation, not use 3D printing, and it can contrl speed. By allowing speed control, ventilation can be performed according to the conditions of the patient being used. A complementary point in the study is that it is difficult to fix the start point of the wiper motor used first. A method for complementing this is a method for replacing the brush DC motor with a position feedback function. Secondly, the AMBU-bag may wear out in the long-term process of compressing the AMBU-bag because the arm and the fixing frame are made of wood. To complement this, the part of fixing frame and arm parts that the AMBU-bag touches need to be wrapped in a material such as silicon to minimize friction.

• Clinical Pain
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2019

Objective: To investigate the cortical disinhibition in diabetic patients with neuropathic pain and without pain. In addition, we assessed the cortical disinhibition and pain relief after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Method: We recruited diabetic patients with neuropathic pain (n = 15) and without pain (n = 15). We compared the TMS parameters such as motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude, cortical silent period (CSP), intracortical inhibition (ICI %) and intracortical facilitation (ICF %) between two groups. Moreover, we evaluated the changes of pain and TMS parameters after five consecutive high frequency (10 Hz) rTMS sessions in diabetic patients with neuropathic pain. The neuropathic pain intensity (visual analog scale) and TMS parameters were assessed on pre-rTMS, post-rTMS 1day, and post-rTMS 5 day. Results: The comparison of the CSP, ICI % revealed significant differences between two groups (p<0.01). After rTMS sessions, the decrease in pain intensity across the three time points revealed a pattern of significant differences (p<0.01). The change of CSP and ICI % across the three test points revealed a pattern of significant differences (p<0.01). The ICI % revealed immediate increase after first rTMS application and significant increase after five rTMS application (p<0.01) in diabetic patients with neuropathic pain. The MEP amplitude and ICF % did not reveal any significant changes. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that cortical inhibition was decreased in diabetic patients with neuropathic pain compared with patients without pain. Furthermore, we also identified that five daily rTMS sessions restored the defective intracortical inhibition which related to improvement of neuropathic pain in diabetic patients.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.71-90
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• 1996

There is considerable current interest in the effect of regular vigorous exercise and in particular endurance-running as a possible measure in improving myocardial function. Some data indicate that the aging heart may actually suffer from vigorous endurance exercise. On the contrary appropriate exercise in aged animals improves myocardial function and aerobic energy metabolism. So far there is relatively little data to indicate that endurance exercise is in fact beneficial in improving myocardial function or damaging to heart of aged animals. The present investigation aimed to study the possible effect of a long range treadmill training program on the heart in aging rats. Male rats aged 3, 10, and 20 months were divided at random into a control (sedentary) and an exercise group. The training group was exercised for 5 days a week on an automated treadmill for 20minutes at 18m/min over a period of 5 months. The exercise regimen of our experiments did not cause any significant changes in the tissues and ultrastructural as com-pared with sedentary age-matched control. Tissues and ultrastructures of myocardial cells in trained group aged 8 months are intact and well organized as well as sedentary control group. Age associated tissue and ultrastructural changes of trained group aged 15 months included : an increase in transformed mitochondria, vacuoles, lysosomes, lipid droplets and early lipofuscin. But the trained heart did not show significant difference in tissue and ultrastructural properties from those of sedentary controls. Endurance-trained group aged 25 months showed significant qualitative tissue and ultrastructural difference as compared with age-matched controls. In addition to those found in 25 months control group, focal necrosis, myofibril fraying, hypercontraction band, seperation of intercalated discs, degenerating nucleus and infiltration of collagenous fiber into myocyte were noted in trained 25 months group. The stereological examination of the mi-crographs disclosed no significant difference in the myoflbril, mitochondrion, sarcotubule and in-terstitium volume density and surface density of mitochondrial cristae and numerical density of mitochondria between trained and control group aged 8 and 15 months. In the trained 25 months group, significant increase in volume density of interstitium, lipofucsin granule were shown as compared to untrained age-matched control. On the other hand, significant decrease in mitochondrion volume density was shown. The myofibril volume density did not differ between trained and control group although trained group showed slight increase. From the data obtained a reduced mitochondria/myofibrils ratio was found in trained rat heart aged 25 months and there was no difference between trained and control rat aged 15 months. But a slight but not significant increase was found in the trained group aged 8 months as compared with same age control group. Such increase in the ratio in young animals is considered to be of great importance to cardiac pumping and adaptability. Whereas such adaptations don't seem to occur in aged heart muscle. This study proposed that repeated endurance exercise do not cause any significant qualitative and quantitative ultrastructural change of heart muscle in young(3months) and adult (10months) suggesting that the heart is able to adapt to the exercise. On the contrary, the repeated endurance exercise stress may actually induce degenerative changes in the aged heart muscle(20months).

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea CI
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.7-17
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• 2009

The precise analysis of exercise data for designing an effective rehabilitation system is very important as a feedback for planing the next exercising step. Many subjective and reliable research outcomes that were obtained by analysis and evaluation for the human motor ability by various methods of biomechanical experiments have been introduced. Most of them include quantitative analysis based on basic statistical methods, which are not practical enough for application to real clinical problems. In this situation, data mining technology can be a promising approach for clinical decision support system by discovering meaningful hidden rules and patterns from large volume of data obtained from the problem domain. In this research, in order to find relational rules between posture training type and muscle activation pattern, we investigated an application of the WAR(Weishted Association Rule) to the biomechanical data obtained mainly for evaluation of postural control ability. The discovered rules can be used as a quantitative prior knowledge for expert's decision making for rehabilitation plan. The discovered rules can be used as a more qualitative and useful priori knowledge for the rehabilitation and clinical expert's decision-making, and as a index for planning an optimal rehabilitation exercise model for a patient.