• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.840-866
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• 2014

Visibility in underwater images is usually poor because of the attenuation of light in the water that causes low contrast and color variation. In this paper, a new approach for underwater image quality improvement is presented. The proposed method aims to improve underwater image contrast, increase image details, and reduce noise by applying a new method of using contrast stretching to produce two different images with different contrasts. The proposed method integrates the modification of the image histogram in two main color models, RGB and HSV. The histograms of the color channel in the RGB color model are modified and remapped to follow the Rayleigh distribution within certain ranges. The image is then converted to the HSV color model, and the S and V components are modified within a certain limit. Qualitative and quantitative analyses indicate that the proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-art methods in terms of contrast, details, and noise reduction. The image color also shows much improvement.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.658-665
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• 2015

In the production of medical images, noise reduction and contrast enhancement are important methods to increase qualities of processing results. By using the edge-based denoising and adaptive nonlinear histogram stretching, a novel medical image enhancement algorithm is proposed. First, a medical image is decomposed by wavelet transform, and then all high frequency sub-images are decomposed by Haar transform. At the same time, edge detection with Sobel operator is performed. Second, noises in all high frequency sub-images are reduced by edge-based soft-threshold method. Third, high frequency coefficients are further enhanced by adaptive weight values in different sub-images. Finally, an adaptive nonlinear histogram stretching method is applied to increase the contrast of resultant image. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can enhance a low contrast medical image while preserving edges effectively without blurring the details.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.287-294
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• 2018

Purpose: The neurodynamic test used to implicate symptoms arising from the nerve is proposed to selectively increase the strain of the nerve without increasing the strain of adjacent tissue, although this has not yet been established in the time of nerve tension application. This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of nerve stretching time on nerve excitability using compound nerve action potential (CNAP) analysis. Methods: Thirty healthy young adults (mean age=23.10 years) with no medical history of neurological or musculoskeletal disorder voluntarily participated in this study. Nerve excitability was assessed using the median nerve conduction velocity test. The amplitude of the CNAP was measured under three conditions: resting phase (supra-maximal stimulus, without nerve stretching), baseline phase (two-thirds of the supra-maximal stimulus, without nerve stretching), and stretch phase (two-thirds of the supra-maximal stimulus, with 1-5 minutes nerve stretching). One-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to compare the latency and amplitude of CNAP. A post-hoc test was analyzed using the contrast test. Results: The latency was significantly delayed after 1 min. of nerve stretching in comparison with the baseline test. However, no significant difference was found during the nerve stretching (1-5 min.). The amplitude was significantly increased by nerve stretching. Conclusion: Nerve stretching can induce nerve excitability without any nerve injury. Based on the results, more than 1 min. of nerve stretching as a neurodynamic test can be a useful method in the clinical setting.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.19-23
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• 2013

TIn this paper, we propose a novel fuzzy stretching method that adopts a triangle type fuzzy membership function to control the highest and lowest brightness limit dynamically. As an essential procedure to enhance the brightness contrast, stretching is an important procedure in color image processing. While popular Ends-in Search stretching method should be provided fixed minimum and maximum brightness threshold from experience, our proposed method determines them dynamically by fuzzy membership functions. The minimum and maximum limit is determined by computing the lowest and highest pixel value according to the membership degree of our designed triangle type membership function. The experiment shows that the proposed method result in far less skewed histogram than those of Ends-in Search stretching thus successfully verifies its effectiveness.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to compare the duration of hamstring flexibility improvement after 3 stretching interventions in people with limited hamstring flexibility. Twenty-two subjects (12 men, 10 women) with limited hamstring flexibility of the dominant leg received 3 stretching interventions- modified dynamic stretching (MDS), hold-relax (HR), and static stretching (SS)-in a random order. All the subjects received all 3 interventions at intervals of at least 24 hours to minimize any carry-over effect. Modified dynamic stretching was applied as a closed kinetic chain exercise in the supine position by using the sling suspension system (Redcord Trainer(R)). The SS and HR interventions were individually performed in the straight leg raising (SLR) position, and all 3 interventions were performed for 3 minutes. Outcome measures included passive knee extension (PKE) measurements. Five post-test measurements were recorded for all subjects at 3, 6, 9, 15, and 30 minutes after the interventions. MDS was associated with a significant increase in knee extension range of motion even at 30 minutes post-treatment. In contrast, the HR and SS stretching methods showed increased hamstring flexibility for only 6 minutes post-treatment. Improvements in the range of motion of knee extension (indicating enhancement in hamstring flexibility) with MDS were maintained longer than those with the HR and SS interventions. Therefore, MDS may be more effective than the other interventions for maintaining hamstring flexibility.

• 전자공학회논문지 IE
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.7-13
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• 2010

In this paper, an efficient contrast enhancement algorithm using weighted histogram modification is proposed. For contrast enhancement, histogram equalization (HE) and histogram stretching (HS) are effective techniques. However, HE and HS may have excessive contrast enhancement. Proposed method using weighted histogram modification produces better natural and enhanced results than those of conventional contrast enhancement methods without artifacts.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.972-974
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• 2009

This paper presents smart regional contrast enhancement technique of partitioned image for local dimming backlight on small-sized mobile display to reach two goals. One is to save the power consumption, and the other to improve contrast ratio of display image. Recently new advanced method is proposed, named local dimming method, that backlight LED is positioned on backside of the display panel. So it is important to partition an image by sub blocks and then post-processing independantly. This means regional contrast enhancement. After partitioning, we compare the mean luminance(Y) value of each sub-block image with the one of original whole image. If some blocks have the mean value lower than the one of whole image, they are processed with the proposed method and others are bypassed. Simultaneously the information of the processed blocks are transferred to BLC(Backlight LED Controller). And then the supply current of each backlight LED is reduced to realize the contrast ratio enhancement and at the same time to power consumption reduction. In addition, we verify this proposed method is free from blocking artifacts.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.164-168
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• 2015

Purpose: Flexibility has been considered one of the most important goals in rehabilitation. This study aimed to investigate the effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) with the static stretching technique on the flexibility of hamstrings. Methods: Twenty-four subjects (15 men, 9 women) with limited hamstrings flexibility received three different intervention sessions in random order. The treatment sessions included static stretching (SS), static stretching with motor-level TENS (SS with motor TENS) and sensory-level TENS (SS with sensory TENS). All sessions of SS were performed in the straight-leg raise position for 30 seconds followed by rest for 15 seconds, in repetitions for 10 minutes using a belt. The TENS groups underwent TENS stimulation ($40{\mu}s$, 100 Hz) during the stretching for 10 minutes. Outcome measures were evaluated according to active knee extension (AKE) and recorded before the session and at 0, 3, 6, 9, and 15 minutes after the session. Results: There was significant improvement in hamstrings flexibility within all groups (p<0.05). SS with TENS (both sensory and motor) maintained significant increases in knee extension range of motion until 15 minutes post-treatment. In contrast, the SS-only group maintained significantly increased hamstrings flexibility only until 6 minutes post-treatment (p<0.05). Conclusion: Improvement in hamstrings flexibility with SS with TENS was maintained longer than with SS-only intervention. Electrical stimulation with stretching may be more effective than SS alone for increased duration of maintained hamstrings flexibility.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1281-1285
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• 2013

In this paper, we propose a method to extract the area of appendix from ultrasonographic image via computational vision. A series of image processing techniques such as Ends-in search stretching for enhancing the brightness contrast, block binarization, grassfire algorithm for extracting lower part of fascia, and fuzzy sigma binarization method to finalize the appendix area are used to achieve our goal. The strength of this paper is using fuzzy sigma binarization instead of other binarization technique to handle the sensitivity of extracting the target area from regio hypogastrica. The experiment verifies the efficacy of the proposed method successfully.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.2540-2545
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• 2015

In this paper, we propose a novel method to extract appendix from ultrasound image automatically to avoid such subjectivity issue. In the process, we apply a series of image processing algorithms such as Ends_in search stretching for emphasizing brightness contrast and binarization, region labelling, and cubic spline interpolation for extracting lower bound fasicia line that is the base of extracting the appendix. Knowing that the appendix is located at the lower organ area below the bottom fascia line, we conduct a series of image processing techniques to find the fascia line correctly. And then we apply ART2 algorithm to the organ area in order to extract appendix accurately. Through experiment, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified based on the field experts' evaluations.