• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.63-72
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• 2014

In this paper, we propose a sign language recognition system using SVM and depth camera. Especially, we focus on the Korean sign language. For the sign language system, we suggest two methods, one in hand feature extraction stage and the other in recognition stage. Hand features are consisted of the number of fingers, finger length, radius of palm, and direction of the hand. To extract hand features, we use Distance Transform and make hand skeleton. This method is more accurate than a traditional method which uses contours. To recognize hand posture, we develop the decision tree with the hand features. For more accuracy, we use SVM to determine the threshold value in the decision tree. In the experimental results, we show that the suggested method is more accurate and faster when extracting hand features a recognizing hand postures.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.140-151
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• 2014

Objectives: Cold hypersensitivity has been regarded to be associated with digestive function. This study is aims to evaluate the correlation between digestive function and coldness of hands. Methods: We made a research of 80 women who is in ${\bigcirc}{\bigcirc}$ University. The patients were subjected to thermometer, and those with thermal difference between upper arm and palm were diagnosed with cold hypersensitivity. The patients were divided into two group by cold hypersensitivity group (n=20), and non-cold hypersensitivity group (n=19), and 39 women are mesured by Nepean dyspepsia index-Korean version (NDI-K) to evaluate the severity of functional dyspepsia. Results: There was no difference between two groups on age, height, weight. In functional dyspepsia symptom score, 6 symptoms (Pain in upper abdomen, Burning in upper abdomen, Cramps in upper abdomen, Pressure in upper abdomen, Vomiting, Bad breath) out of 15 were significantly increased in cold hypersensitivity group compared with non-cold hypersensitivity group. And in quality of life score, 3 domains (Tension/sleep, Interference with daily activities, Knowledge/control) out of 5, and total quality of life score were significantly decreased in cold hypersensitivity group compared with non-cold hypersensitivity group. Conclusions: This study shows the correlation between cold hypersensitivity and digestive function.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.58-66
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• 2014

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical manifestations and influences of occupation, concomitant allergic diseases, various aggravating factors and seasonal changes for patients with dyshidrotic eczema. Methods : A total of 219 patients who showed clinical manifestations of dyshidrotic eczema were included in this study. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical characteristics of all the patients. Results : 1. Among 219 patients, there were 76 male patients (34.7%), 143 female patients (65.3%), male to female ratio was 1: 1.88. The average age of the patients at admission was $31.9{\pm}9.8$ years, had a lot of 20s and 30s the distribution. 2. The average of duration of the admission to the clinic after the onset was $4.01{\pm}4.42$ years. 3. Common accompaning diseases dyshidrotic eczema patients have were allergic rhinitis(87 cases), and atopic dermatitis(55 cases), sweating(45 cases), and asthma(10 cases) in order. 4. The most commonly occurring sites for dyshidrotic eczema patients are fingers(60.3%), palm(53.4%), dorsum of hand(19.2%) and nails(5.5%) in order. 5. The most commonly contacted materials for dyshidrotic eczema patients are water(130 cases), cosmetics(40 cases) and rubber gloves(34 cases) in order. The aggravating factors of dyshidrotic eczema patients are emotional stress(110 cases), fatty food(22 cases) and alcohol(22 cases) in order. 6. The number of patients showing seasonal changes in symptoms was 111. The season with the most severe symptom was summer with 76 cases, which was statistically significant. Conclusions : This study demonstrated the various clinical characteristics of Korean patients with dyshidrotic eczema.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.361-365
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• 2018

Background: Recently, we examined the effects of 2% lidocaine gel on the tactile sensory and pain thresholds of the face, tongue and hands of symptom-free individuals using quantitative sensory testing (QST); its effect was less on the skin of the face and hands than on the tongue. Consequently, instead of 2% lidocaine gel, we examined the effect of 8% lidocaine spray on the tactile sensory and pain thresholds of the skin of the face and hands of healthy volunteers. Methods: Using Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments, QST of the skin of the cheek and palm (thenar skin) was performed in 20 healthy volunteers. In each participant, two topical sprays were applied. On one side, 0.2 mL of 8% lidocaine pump spray was applied, and on the other side, 0.2 mL of saline pump spray was applied as control. In each participant, QST was performed before and 15 min after each application. Pain intensity was measured using a numeric rating scale (NRS). Results: Both the tactile detection threshold and filament-prick pain detection threshold of the cheek and thenar skin increased significantly after lidocaine application. A significant difference between the effect of lidocaine and saline applications was found on the filament-prick pain detection threshold only. NRS of the cheek skin and thenar skin decreased after application of lidocaine, and not after application of saline. Conclusion: The significant effect of applying an 8% lidocaine spray on the sensory and pain thresholds of the skin of the face and hands can be objectively scored using QST.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.525-531
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• 2019

Efforts to utilize human gestures to effectively implement a more natural and interactive interface between humans and computers have been ongoing in recent years. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm that accepts consecutive three-dimensional (3D) depth images, defines a hand model, and robustly extracts the human hand region based on six palm joints and 15 finger joints. Then, the 3D depth images are adaptively binarized to exclude non-interest areas, such as the background, and accurately extracts only the hand of the person, which is the area of interest. Experimental results show that the presented algorithm detects only the human hand region 2.4% more accurately than the existing method. The hand region extraction algorithm proposed in this paper is expected to be useful in various practical applications related to computer vision and image processing, such as gesture recognition, virtual reality implementation, 3D motion games, and sign recognition.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.467-475
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• 2019

A high-intensity ultrasound wave generates acoustic streaming and acoustic radiation forces when propagating through a medium. An acoustic radiation force generated in a three-dimensional space can produce a solid tactile sensation, delivering spatial information directly to the human skin. We placed 154 ultrasound transmit elements with a frequency of 40 kHz on a concave circular dish, and generated an acoustic radiation force at the focal point by transmitting the ultrasound wave. To feel the tactile sensation better, the transmit elements were excited by sine waves whose amplitude was modulated by a 60 Hz square wave. As an application of ultrasonic tactile sensing, a region where tactile sense is formed in the air is used as an indicator for the position of the hand. We confirmed the utility of ultrasonic tactile feedback by implementing a system that provides the number of fingers to a machine by receiving the shape of the hand at the focal point where the tactile sense is detected.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.296-300
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• 2011

In this work, various wood biomasses were used to determine the combustion characteristics for the fuel of cogeneration plant. Combustion characteristics of four types, i.e., (i) forest products, (ii) recycled wood, (iii) empty fruit bunch, and (iv) palm kernel shell, were examined via thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA) in air atmosphere and coal was used as a comparison group. From the TGA results, the combustion of the wood biomass was occurred in the range of 280 to $420^{\circ}C$, which was lower than that of coal. Forest product showed the lowest activation energy (0.4 kJ/mol) compared to that of other wood biomasses (about 6 to 14 kJ/mol) and coal (64 kJ/mol). In addition, the reaction rate constant of the wood biomass was lower than that of coal. These results indicate the higher combustion initiation rate of wood biomass due to the high content of volatile matter, which had a low boiling point.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.353-357
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• 2018

Previous studies have suggested that rice bran oil (RBO), an edible oil from the byproducts of rice milling, has anti-inflammatory effects in inflammation inducing macrophages, known as M1 subsets. Yet the effects of RBO on the counterpart M2 subsets, the "healing" macrophages, were poorly investigated to date. In this regard, recent studies on the molecular/cellular anti-inflammatory mechanisms of dietary components have demonstrated that mitochondrial respiration contributes to macrophage functioning. Therefore, the current study examined whether RBO regulates cytokine secretion by modulating mitochondrial metabolism in wound healing M2 subsets. Palm oil (PO), enriched with medium-chain fatty acids, served as a positive control. C57BL/6 mice were fed a diet containing either corn oil (CO), PO or RBO for 4 weeks, followed by purification of bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) from their tibias and femurs. Cells were further polarized to M2-BMDM, and the expression of M2 marker (CD206) on cellular surfaces were not affected by dietary intervention. In addition, the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) in the culture supernatant was not affected by dietary lipids. Oxygen consumption rate, the indicator of mitochondrial respiration in M2-BMDM was not regulated by RBO intervention and PO treatment. Taken together, this study imply that RBO did not intervene both the regulation of inflammatory responses and mitochondrial respiration in M2 macrophages.

• Journal of Science Criminal Investigation
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.276-282
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• 2017

As evidence that can be obtained at the crime scene, the importance of micro-evidences has been recognized in recent years with the development modern molecular-level analytical techniques. These micro-evidences include substances useful for personal identification such as DNA, but it is difficult to collect only the evidences showing individual characteristics every time at the crime scene. Therefore, development of new research approaches for the discovery and application of micro-evidence candidates is in increasing demand. For this purpose, skin microbial communities of bacteria inhabiting the palms of 16 people were collected and terminal-restriction enzyme fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis was carried out to examine the potential for the application in personal identification. As a result, 16 different electropherograms were obtained, and various taxa including Staphylococcus and Bacillus were shown to produce different T-RF profiles among individuals. These results were analyzed with the factors affecting the microbiota such as sex and working environment of individuals.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.656-662
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• 2022

The median nerve can be compressed due to a tumor along the course of the median nerve, causing typical compression symptoms or even persistence or recurrence after an operation. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of rare tumors described in recent publications that cause median nerve compression and to evaluate treatment options. The PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched for studies describing median nerve compression due to a tumor in adults, published from the year 2000 and written in English. From 94 studies, information of approximately 100 patients have been obtained. Results The rare tumors causing compression were in 32 patients located at the carpal tunnel, in 21 cases in the palm of the hand, and 28 proximal from the carpal tunnel. In the other cases the compression site extended over a longer trajectory. There were 37 different histological types of lesions. Complete resection of the tumor was possible in 58 cases. A total of 8 patients presented for the second time after receiving initial therapy. During follow-up, three cases of recurrence were reported with a mean follow-up period of 11 months. The most common published cause of median nerve compression is the lipofibromatous hamartoma. Besides the typical sensory and motor symptoms of median nerve compression, a thorough physical examination of the complete upper extremity is necessary to find any swelling or triggering that might raise suspicion of the presence of a tumor.