• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.430-437
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• 2008

Optical diffuse reflectance sensing in visible and near-infrared wavelength ranges is one approach to rapidly quantify soil properties for site-specific management. The objectives of this study were to investigate effects of preprocessing of reflectance data and determine the accuracy of the reflectance approach for estimating physical and chemical properties of selected Missouri and Illinois, USA surface soils encompassing a wide range of soil types and textures. Diffuse reflectance spectra of air-dried, sieved samples were obtained in the laboratory. Calibrations relating spectra to soil properties determined by standard methods were developed using partial least squares (PLS) regression. The best data preprocessing, consisting of absorbance transformation and mean centering, reduced estimation errors by up to 20% compared to raw reflectance data. Good estimates ($R^2=0.83$ to 0.92) were obtained using spectral data for soil texture fractions, organic matter, and CEC. Estimates of pH, P, and K were not good ($R^2$ < 0.7), and other approaches to estimating these soil chemical properties should be investigated. Overall, the ability of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to accurately estimate multiple soil properties across a wide range of soils makes it a good candidate technology for providing at least a portion of the data needed in site-specific management of agriculture.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.605-610
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• 2010

The devices based on electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) structure are proposed for the detection of external electric charges. A large size charge contact window (CCW) extended from the floating gate is employed to immobilize external charges, and a control gate with stacked metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor is adapted for a standard single polysilicon CMOS process. When positive voltage is applied to the capacitor of CCW of an n-channel EEPROM, the drain current increases due to the negative shift of its threshold voltage. Also when a pre-charged external capacitor is directly connected to the floating gate metal of CCW, the positive charges of the external capacitor make the drain current increase for n-channel, whereas the negative charges cause it to decrease. For an p-channel, however, the opposite behaviors are observed by the external voltage and charges. With the attachment of external charges to the CCW of EEPROM inverter, the characteristic inverter voltage behavior shifts from the reference curve dependent on external charge polarity. Therefore, we have demonstrated that the EEPROM inverter is capable of detecting external immobilized charges on the floating gate. and these devices are applicable to sensing the pH's or biomolecular reactions.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.674-677
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to analyze bradykinesia of forearm movement in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) as compared to those of normal subjects. A gyrosensor was selected for the measurement of forearm movement, because it can provide angular velocity signal which is free from the gravitational artifact and also because it can be conveniently used during clinical test of bradykinesia. Forty PD patients (age: $65.7\pm11.1$ yrs, H&Y stage:$2.3\pm0.5$), 14 age-matched elderly subjects ($65\pm3.9$ yrs) and 17 healthy young subjects ($24\pm2.1$ yrs) participated in this study. Angular velocity during forearm movement of pronation/supination was measured in both arms. Suggested quantitative measures of bradykinesia were root-mean-squared (RMS) angular velocity, RMS angle, peak power and total power which were derived from the angular velocity. ANOVA showed that all measures were significantly different among three groups (p<0.001). Subsequent post-hoc test revealed that all measures in PD patients were significantly smaller than in healthy elderly and healthy young subjects (p<0.05). This results suggest that PD patients can be differentiated from normal subjects using suggested measures.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.139-155
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• 2011

Polymeric thin-film assemblies whose bulk electrical conductivity and mechanical performance have been enhanced by single-walled carbon nanotubes are proposed for measuring strain and corrosion activity in metallic structural systems. Similar to the dermatological system found in animals, the proposed self-sensing thin-film assembly supports spatial strain and pH sensing via localized changes in electrical conductivity. Specifically, electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is used to create detailed mappings of film conductivity over its complete surface area using electrical measurements taken at the film boundary. While EIT is a powerful means of mapping the sensing skin's spatial response, it requires a data acquisition system capable of taking electrical impedance measurements on a large number of electrodes. A low-cost wireless impedance analyzer is proposed to fully automate EIT data acquisition. The key attribute of the device is a flexible sinusoidal waveform generator capable of generating regulated current signals with frequencies from near-DC to 20 MHz. Furthermore, a multiplexed sensing interface offers 32 addressable channels from which voltage measurements can be made. A wireless interface is included to eliminate the cumbersome wiring often required for data acquisition in a structure. The functionality of the wireless impedance analyzer is illustrated on an experimental setup with the system used for automated acquisition of electrical impedance measurements taken on the boundary of a bio-inspired sensing skin recently proposed for structural health monitoring.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.240-244
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to compare finger tapping (FT) movement of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with normal subjects. A gyrosensor system was used for the measurement of FT movement, because it provides angular velocity free from the gravitational artifact and it can be used during clinical FT test listed in unified PD rating scale (UPDRS). Forty PD patients (age: 65.7 ${\pm}$ 11.1 yrs, H&Y stage:2.3 ${\pm}$ 0.5), 14 age-matched elderly subjects (65${\pm}$3.9 yrs) and 17 healthy young subjects (24${\pm}$2.1yrs) participated in this study. Angular velocity of finger tapping movement was measured in both right and left index finger. As quantitative measures, root-mean-squared (RMS) angular velocity, RMS angle, peak power and total power were used. ANOVA showed that all measures were significantly different among three groups (p<0.001) in all quantitative measures. Post-hoc test revealed that all quantitative measures except peak power in patients with PD were significantly smaller than in both healthy elderly and young subjects (p<0.01). This suggests that the measures developed in this study can distinguish patients with PD from normal subjects.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2011

An optical sensing approach based on diffuse reflectance has shown potential for rapid and reliable on-site estimation of soil properties. Important sensing ranges and the resulting regression models useful for soil property estimation have been reported. In this study, a similar approach was applied to investigate the potential of reflectance sensing in estimating soil properties for Korean paddy fields. Soil cores up to a 65-cm depth were collected from 42 paddy fields representing 14 distinct soil series that account for 74% of the total Korean paddy field area. These were analyzed in the laboratory for several important physical and chemical properties. Using air-dried, sieved soil samples, reflectance data were obtained from 350 to 2500 nm on a 3 nm sampling interval with a laboratory spectrometer. Calibrations were developed using partial least squares (PLS) regression, and wavelength bands important for estimating the measured soil properties were identified. PLS regression provided good estimations of Mg ($R^2$ = 0.80), Ca ($R^2$ = 0.77), and total C ($R^2$ = 0.92); fair estimations of pH, EC, $P_2O_5$, K, Na, sand, silt, and clay ($R^2$ = 0.59 to 0.72); and poor estimation of total N. Many wavelengths selected for estimation of the soil properties were identical or similar for multiple soil properties. More important wavelengths were selected in the visible-short NIR range (350-1000 nm) and the long NIR range (1800-2500 nm) than in the intermediate NIR range (1000-1800 nm). These results will be useful for design and application of in-situ close range sensors for paddy field soil properties.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.28-35
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• 1994

Caustic Soda Treatment Systems need a concentration measurement device in order to monitor the weight reduction amount of polyester fabrics. Since the reduction process requires several concentration measurements, we have to do the unit titration fast and exactly. Therefore, a proposition of estimation algorithm for finding the equivalent point in the titration process is needed. In this paper, we used the cardinal spline algorithm, to estimate the proper curve with the measured pH-values after each injection of titration sdution, to predict the equivalent point. While the processing time is elapsed, several equivalent points are estimated and drawed the line graph of fabrics weight reduction automatically. Finally, we designed the hardware and the software of an automatic titration system that can generate the reduction ending signal of Caustic Soda Treatment System.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.105-109
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• 2014

Structure and electrical properties of $0.85NaNbO_3-0.15LiNbO_3$ ($(Li_{0.15}Na_{0.85})NbO_3$) ceramics were investigated as a function of sintering temperature. $(Li_{0.15}Na_{0.85})NbO_3$ ceramics were prepared by conventional solid state processing. A main phase of the orthorhombic perovskite structure and secondary phase of $LiNbO_3$ were confirmed for all sintered specimens. Dense $(Li_{0.15}Na_{0.85})NbO_3$ ceramics were obtained at sintering temperature above $1050^{\circ}C$. With increasing sintering temperature, the electromechanical coupling factor ($k_p$), piezoelectric constant ($d_{33}$) and relative dielectric constant (${\varepsilon}_r$) of the sintered specimens increased, while the mechanical quality factor ($Q_m$) decreased. These results are due to the increase of grain size and crystallite size of orthorhombic perovskite structure. Based on the temperature dependence of ${\varepsilon}_r$, stable piezoelectric properties were expected because no phase transition found up to $300^{\circ}C$. Typically, kp of 18%, $d_{33}$ of 34.7 pC/N, ${\varepsilon}_r$ of 135, and $Q_m$ of 62.8 were obtained for the specimens sintered at $1200^{\circ}C$ for 5 h.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.554-563
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• 2013

The changes in quality properties and nutritional components for two mugworts, namely, Artemisia capillaris Thumberg Artemisiae asiaticae Nakai fermented by Bacillus strains were characterized followed by rapid pattern analysis of volatile flavor compounds through the SAW-based electronic nose sensor in the GC system. After fermentation, the pH has remarkably decreased from 6.0~6.4 to 4.6~5.1 and there has been a slight change in the total soluble solids. The L (lightness) and b (yellowness) values in the Hunter's color system significantly decreased, whilst the a (redness) value increased via fermentation. The HPLC analysis demonstrated that the total amino acids increased in quantity and the essential amino acids were higher in the A. asiaticae Nakai than in the A. capillaris Thumberg, specially with high contents of glutamic and aspartic acid. After fermentation, the monounsaturated fatty acid increased in the A. asiaticae Nakai and the polyunsaturated fatty acids increased in the A. capillaris Thumberg. While the total polyphenol contents have not been affected by fermentation, the total sugar contents have dramatically decreased. Scopoletin, which is one of the most important index components in mugworts, was highly abundant in the A. capillaris Thumberg; however, it was not detected in the A. asiaticae Nakai. Small pieces of plant tissue in the surface microstructure were found in the fermented mugworts through the use of the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Volatile flavor compounds via electronic nose showed that the intensity of several peaks has increased and additional seven flavor peaks have been produced after fermentation. The VaporPrintTM images demonstrated a notable difference in flavors between the A. asiaticae Nakai and A. capillaris Thumberg, and the fermentation enabled the mugworts to produce subtle differences in flavor.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.51-63
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• 1995

Polycrystalline $CdS_{1-x}Se_{x}$ thin films were grown on ceramic substrate using a chemical bath deposition method. They were annealed at various temperature and X-ray diffraction patterns were measured by X-ray diffractometer in order to study $CdS_{1-x}Se_{x}$ polycrystal structure using extrapolation method of X-ray diffraction patterns for the CdS, CdSe samples annealed in $N_{2}$ gas at $550^{\circ}C$ it was found hexagonal structure which had the lattice constant $a_{0}=4.1364{\AA}$, $c_{0}=6.7129{\AA}$ in CdS and $a_{0}=4.3021{\AA}$, $c_{0}=7.0142{\AA}$ in CdSe, respectively. Hall effect on these samples was measured by Van der Pauw method and then studied on carrier density and mobility depending on temperature. We measured also spectral response, sensitivity(${\gamma}$), maximum allowable power dissipation and response time on these samples.