• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.717-722
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• 2012

This paper presents the design and dynamic model of the finger exoskeleton actuated by Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMC) to assist a tip pinch task. Although this exoskeleton will be developed to assist 3 degree-of-freedom motion of each finger, it has been currently made to perform the tip pinch task using 1 degree-of-freedom mechanism as the first step. The six layers of IPMC were stacked in parallel to increase the low actuation force of IPMC. In addition, the finger dummy was manufactured to evaluate the performance of the finger exoskeleton. The pinch task experiments, which were performed on the finger dummy with the developed exoskeleton, showed that the pinch force close to the desired level was obtained. Moreover, the dynamic model of the exoskeleton and finger dummy was developed in order to perform the various analyses for the improvement of the exoskeleton.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.125-133
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• 2017

This paper presents the inter-rater reliability of finger spasticity assessment tested realized by using finger simulator that mimics finger spasticity of patients after a stroke. For controlling the simulator torque, finger spasticity was modeled, and the model parameters were obtained by measuring quantitative data while grading based on Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS). A robotic finger simulator was designed for mimicking finger spasticity. Evaluation of this simulator with the help of seven rehabilitation doctors showed that the simulator had a Cohen's kappa value of 0.619 for Metacarpophalangeal Joint and 0.514 for Proximal Interphalangeal Joint. Fleiss' kappa between raters is 0.513 for Metacarpophalangeal Joint and 0.486 for Proximal Interphalangeal Joint. Therefore, the spasticity assessment made by MAS grade system is not reliable owing to the subjectivity of the assessment. The proposed robotic simulator can be used as a training tool for improving the reliability of the spasticity assessment.

• Plant Breeding and Biotechnology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.183-191
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• 2017

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn.) is an important cereal crop in eastern Africa and southern India with excellent grain storage capacity and the unique ability to thrive in extreme environmental conditions. In this study, we analyzed the genetic diversity and population structure of finger millet using 12 developed microsatellites. By sequencing 815 clones from an SSR-enriched genomic DNA library, we obtained 12 polymorphic SSR markers, which also revealed successful amplicons in finger millet accessions. Using the developed SSR markers, we estimated genetic diversity and population structure among 76 finger millet accessions in Asia, Africa, and unknown origins. The number of alleles ranged from 2 to 9, with an average of 3.3 alleles. The mean values of observed heterozygosity and expected heterozygosity were 0.27 and 0.35, respectively. The average polymorphism information content was 0.301 in all 76 finger millet accessions. AMOVA analysis showed that the percentage of molecular variance among the populations was 1%, that among individuals was 5%, and that within individuals was 94%. In STRUCTURE analysis, the 76 finger millet accessions were divided into two subpopulations which had an admixture of alleles. There was a correspondence among PCoA, AMOVA, and population structure. This study may form the basis for a finger millet breeding and improvement program.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2019.04a
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• pp.107-107
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• 2019

Millets are provided considerable amounts of nutrients and gluten-free cereal products and their rich non-nutritional compounds having proven health benefits, especially phenolic compounds. The aim of present investigation was to determine phenolic composition and antioxidant and SOD activity of three different millet of genetic resources namely, foxtail, proso and finger millet. Phenolic compounds were extracted from dehulled grain of genetic resources using methanol and examined for their total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activities and superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity. The TPC range of hog millet, finger millet and finger millet range from 3.3 to 25.1, 11.1 to 29.0 and 3.8 to 94.3 gallic acid equivalent (GAE)mg/g, respectively. Most of TCP content in dehulled millet grains was distributed from 10 to 20 gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g, but two accessions of finger millet (IT235690 and 235689) were showed over than 90. The antioxidant activities were measured by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity. Finger millet and hog millet showed 26.4% and 26.7% in the mean of DPPH scavenging activity percentage, but foxtail millet was 13%. The finger millet showed the higher value than hog and foxtail millet in superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity. Particularly, two accessions of finger millet (IT235690 and 235689) showed the highest phenolic content and antioxidant activities among the used millet genetic resources and will be primary resources for finger millet breeding to develop the appropriate breeding strategies.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.379-386
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• 2023

When patients suffer from finger injuries, their finger joints can become stiff and inflexible due to decreased ability to exercise the finger tendons. This can lead to a loss of strength and difficulty using their hands. To address this, it is important to provide patients with consistent rehabilitation treatment that can help restore finger flexibility and strength simultaneously. In this study, we propose wearable gloves that use FSRs (force sensitive resistors) for finger strength training. The glove is designed to be adjustable using rubber bands and a custom PCB is designed for signal acquisition. For the evaluation of finger strength training, the result was analyzed in four cases. We suggest a vector that represents the center of five finger forces, and the result shows that the vector can indicate the level of force balance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.701-706
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• 2008

The aim of the present study was to determine the apparent and true digestibilities of amino acids of maize, low tannin sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet in adult caecectomized cockerels. Adult cockerels (n = 60), 25-weeks old, were used in this study of which 30 birds were caecectomized as per a standard method. The apparent digestibilities of amino acids of sorghum were not affected by caecectomy, but were higher for maize, finger millet and pearl millet in caecectomized cockerels. Caecectomy had no influence on the true digestibilities of amino acids of maize, but higher digestibilities were observed for most of the amino acids of sorghum and finger millet in caecectomized cockerels. Caecectomy lowered the true digestibility of cystine, threonine and serine of pearl millet. The apparent digestibilities of amino acids of maize, finger millet and pearl millet were underestimated in intact cockerels. The true digestibilities of most of the amino acids of sorghum and finger millet were underestimated, while those of cystine, threonine and serine of pearl millet were overestimated in intact cockerels. The findings suggest that the amino acid digestibility values of cereal grains determined using caecectomized cockerels might be appropriate and reliable for poultry diet formulations. Moreover, the digestibilities of amino acids of finger millet were inferior to other cereal grains, while those of pearl millet were comparable to maize and sorghum.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.643-649
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• 2014

In order to demonstrate the possibility of applying an ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) to a finger exoskeleton, pinching motion analysis was performed for a thumb-index finger dummy actuated by IPMC actuators. The IPMC actuators of 5mm in width and 40mm in length with 2.4mm thickness generated 1.52N of blocking force for the applying voltage of 4.0V. Three actuators were installed on the three rotary joint of an index finger, and one actuator was installed on one proximal joint. Positions of each joint and finger tip were recorded on the video camera, and motion was analyzed. Power supply to the index finger actuators preceded power supply to the thumb actuator, and key pinching motion was accomplished in 180s. Tip pinching was accomplished in 135s as power supply to the thumb preceded power supply to the index finger.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.45-62
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• 1993

This study was aimed to obtain the available information for the clothing constru- ction according to the traits of the cerebral palsied. For this purpose, their abilities of eleven methods seven of fastening performance and seven finger functions were tested and their correlationships were clarified. The results are as follows : 1. The length of time needed to perform each fastening method in descending order is as follows : small button > small snap > culumn button > large button > middle button > large snap > separating zipper > velcro. As the spastic has better function than the athetoid in the performance of all fastening methods, there was a significant difference between the types of handicap and between the handi- capped and the normal, except for velcro fastening style in which there was no significant differ- ence between the types of handicap. 2. In finger functions of the cerebral palsied, according to the types of handicap there was no significant difference among grip, palm fixation and hands coordination, howefer there were significant differences among pulp pinching, lateral pinching, finger rolling and lifting control. As to the correlation between the ability of fastening performance and finger function, there was a high significant correlation between the length of time needed to perform each fastenting and finger function of hands co ordination, and that of finger rolling; and there was a significant correlation between the length of time and pulp pinching, and laternal pinching.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.355-372
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• 2017

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the performance and usability of ten-finger text entry on Tablet PCs. Background: Generally a soft keyboard is used on Tablet PCs. However, the soft keyboard's performance is usually worse than physical keyboard's performance. In this study, we proposed a modified keyboard for tablet PCs to improve the performance of ten-finger text entry and evaluated the performance and subjective ratings of the keyboard. Method: The modified soft keyboard that is suggested in this study was compared with current Google and Samsung soft keyboards on Tablet PCs. Results: The three keyboards were not significantly different in terms of typing speed, error rate, and mental workload and showed bad performance. Also, the subjective ratings were not shown positively. Conclusion: Based on our results, ten-finger text entry using soft keyboards on Tablet PCs seems to be very difficult. However, we need to research the possibility continuously since ten-finger text entry can improve typing speed. Application: Our study can be a starting point of research that explores ten-finger text entry on Tablet PCs. The new soft keyboard design can be one of the soft keyboard alternatives. However, the key factors to improve the performance and usability of the soft keyboard will not be 'key size' or 'convenience to typing special characters or numbers', but other factors (e.g., 'tactile feedback').

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.873-878
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• 2015

A finger exoskeleton actuated by ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuators has been developed. In order to evaluate performance of cylindrical grasping of finger exoskeletons, they were equipped with a hand dummy, which is composed of four fingers. The finger dummy has three joints that can be actuated by bending the IPMC actuators. A four finger grasping motion was analyzed using cameras, and cylindrical grasping motion was accomplished within two minutes after applying a 4 volt direct voltage to the IPMC actuators. A pull out test was also performed to evaluate the cylindrical grasping force of the finger exoskeletons actuated by the IPMC actuators. Each finger generated about 2 N of holding force when grasping the cylinder which had a diameter of 50 mm.