• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.98-104
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• 2018

Naegleria fowleri and Acanthamoeba spp. are free-living amoebas that are widely distributed in natural environments. Although uncommon, infection with these protozoans can cause fatal disease in humans and animals. In this study, in order to select the appropriate method to survey Naegleria fowleri and Acanthamoeba spp. in water samples, four molecular biology techniques and one commercially available kit for real-time PCR were compared. The results indicated that the duplex real-time PCR was the most sensitive, and could be used to simultaneously detect two different free-living amoebas. Using the duplex real-time PCR approach, the two free-living amoebas were surveyed in three local streams in Daejeon, Republic of Korea. The concentrated free-living amoebas were inoculated onto non-nutrient agar plates which had been spread with heat-inactivated Escherichia coli and incubated for 5~7 days. After incubation, gDNA was extracted and used as the template for amplification by duplex real-time PCR. Acanthamoeba spp. and N. fowleri was detected from ten (83.3%) and two (16.6%) of the twelve samples, respectively. As these two free-living amoebas can be fatal, continuous surveillance is needed to track their distribution in the aquatic environment for the drinking water safety.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.398-405
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• 2015

Facilitated transport is considered to be a possible solution to simultaneously improve permeability and selectivity, which is challenging in normal polymeric membranes based on solution-diffusion transport only. We investigated the effect of adding mesoporous $TiO_2$ ($m-TiO_2$) upon the separation performance of facilitated olefin transport membranes comprising poly(vinyl pyrrolidone), Ag nanoparticles, and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane as the polymer matrix, olefin carrier, and electron acceptor, respectively. In particular, $m-TiO_2$ was prepared by means of a facile, mass-producible method using poly(vinyl chloride)-g-poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) graft copolymer as the template. The crystal phase of $m-TiO_2$ consisted of an anatase/rutile mixture, of crystallite size approximately 16 nm as determined by X-ray diffraction. The introduction of $m-TiO_2$ increased the membrane diffusivity, thereby increasing the mixed-gas permeance from 1.6 to 16.0 GPU ($1GPU=10^{-6}cm^3$(STP)/($s{\times}cm^2{\times}cmHg$), and slightly decreased the propylene/propane selectivity from 45 to 37. However, both the mixed-gas permeance and selectivity of the membrane containing $m-TiO_2$ rapidly decreased over time, whereas the membrane without $m-TiO_2$ had more stable long-term performance. This difference might be attributed to specific chemical interactions between $TiO_2$ and Ag nanoparticles, causing Ag to lose activity as an olefin carrier.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.478-486
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• 2021

This report demonstrates a method of generating a chair-side and computer-aided template for implant surgery based on the Top-Down and restoration-driven concept. Compared to the traditional CAD-CAM process which requires multiple steps to be taken between dental clinic and laboratory, this alternative procedure, VARO guide system (VARO Guide, CAD, Pre-Guide, VARO-mill, NeoBiotech, Seoul, South Korea) enables accurate and patient-friendly implant surgery as well as immediate provisional restoration in a single visit. First, bite-registration at centric jaw relation and CBCT were taken using the Pre-Guide. The CBCT data was then reorganized directly through the chair-side CAD, and we could determine the most appropriate 3-dimensional position of implant. The STL file was extracted and put into the chair-side CAM (VARO-mill) to fabricate a VARO. This surgical guide allowed the implants to be accurately positioned into the planned sites within an hour.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.628-635
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• 1999

Direct preparative method of 2,6-diformyl-p-cresol and 2-hydroxy-3-hydroxy-5-methylbenzaldehyde from 2,6-bis(hydroxymethyl)-4-methylphenol using activated $Mn(IV)O_2$ was described. Hexadentate compartmental Iigands, $H_4L[A]\;and\; H_4L[B]$ were prepared by condensation reactions of 2-hydroxy-3-hydroxy methyl-5-methylbenzaldehyde with ethylenediamine and 1,3-diaminopropane respectively. By the reaction of macrocycle($H_4[20]DOTA$) with Ln(III) nitrate {Ln(III)=Pr, Sm, Cd, Dy }, discrete mononuclear Ln(III) complexes of the type $[Ln(H_2[20]DOTA)(ClO_4)(H_2O)]\;{\cdot}\;3H_2O$ were synthesized in the solid state. $[Ln([20]DOTA)(NO_3)(H_2O)](NO_3)_2\;{\cdot}\;xH_2O$ was placed in methanol for 2 days, and $[Ln([20]DOTA)(NO_3)(CH_3OH)]^{2+}$ was formed. The equilibrium constants(K) for the substitution of coordinated $CH_3OH$ in the Ln-[20]DOTA complexes by various auxiliary ligand, $L_a$(=salicylic acid, p-chlorobenzoic acid, benzoic acid, acetic acid, 4-bromophenol) were determined spectroscopically at 25$^{\circ}C$ and 0.1M $NaClO_4$. The K values calculated were in the order of salicylic acid > p-chlorobenzoic acid > benzoic acid > acetic acid > 4-bromophenol, while pKa of auxiliary ligands was in the opposite trend.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.191-196
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• 1996

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a powerful technique to detect scanty amount of DNA from living organisms. The present study intended to develope specific primers for PCR diagnosis of pneumocystosis and to evaluate diagnostic efficacy by preparation of template DNAs from invasive BAk fluid and also to screen serum or blood as a non-invasive specimen. Albino rats of Wistar or Fischer strains were experimentally infected by Pneumocwstis ccrinii. Extracted DNAs or cell Iysates of their blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and lung homogenate were used as the tenlplate DNA. Primers were synthetic oligonucleotides among 16s rDNA sequences. All of the primer combinations gave PCR products, but the primer pair of #24 and #27 gave best quality product of 666 bp. The sensitivity of PCR with Iysates of BAk fluid was 57.7% but it increased to 84.6% with extracted DNAs. None of BAL Iysate or DNA was positive among 13 microscopically negatives. The serum DNAs were positive only in 2 cases out of 20 morphologically positive rats. DNAs of human, rat, other parasites, yeast, and microorganisms were negative. The findings suggest that the present primers are specific but simple Iysate of BAL fluid is not sensitive. PCR may be used as a routine diagnostic method of pneumocystosis if simple and rapid preparation of non-invasive clinical specimens are available.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 2005

In this paper, we propose an efficient moving object tracking technique for multi-camera surveillance system. Color CCD cameras used in this system are network cameras with their own IP addresses. Input image is transmitted to the media server through wireless connection among server, bridge, and Access Point (AP). The tracking system sends the received images through the network to the tracking module, and it tracks moving objects in real-time using color matching method. We compose two sets of cameras, and when the object is out of field of view (FOV), we accomplish hand-over to be able to continue tracking the object. When hand-over is performed, we use MHI(Motion History Information) based on color information and M-bin histogram for an exact tracking. By utilizing MHI, we can calculate direction and velocity of the object, and those information helps to predict next location of the object. Therefore, we obtain a better result in speed and stability than using template matching based on only M-bin histogram, and we verified this result by an experiment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.415-420
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• 2017

In this paper, an algorithm for object counting via a conveyor system using machine vision is suggested. Object counting systems using image processing have been applied in a variety of industries for such purposes as measuring floating populations and traffic volume, etc. The methods of object counting mainly used involve template matching and machine learning for detecting and tracking. However, operational time for these methods should be short for detecting objects on quickly moving conveyor belts. To provide this characteristic, this algorithm for image processing is a region-based method. In this experiment, we counted young abalone shells that are similar in shape, size and color. We applied a characteristic conveyor system that operated in one direction. It obtained information on objects in the region of interest by comparing a second frame that continuously changed according to the information obtained with reference to objects in the first region. Objects were counted if the information between the first and second images matched. This count was exact when young shells were evenly spaced without overlap and missed objects were calculated using size information when objects moved without extra space. The proposed algorithm can be applied for various object counting controls on conveyor systems.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.189-195
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• 2004

Carbon black have not been used as pigment material in cosmetic because of very low density and dispersity, but carbon black have applicable character as black pigment because of non-toxic, stable physico-chemical property, and black colority. In this study, mesoporous silica samples were synthesized by sol-gel reaction using surfactants-template method; TEOS (tetraethoxysilane) - a) PEO/lecithin, b) PEO/polyethylene glycol, c) lecithin/polyethylene glycol in ethanol/water solution. Synthesized organic-inorganic hybrid - silica were heat-treated in N2 condition at 500$^{\circ}C$. Mesoporous silica with black carbon in pore have the effective density and show the good dispersity in both hydrophilic and hydrophobic solvent. Properties of the samples were measured; specific surface area (750㎡/g) and pore size (4-6nm) using BET, pore structure (cylindrical type) using XRD, morphology (spherical powder with 0.1-0.5$\mu\textrm{m}$ partical size) of the samples using SEM. Carbon-silica black color applied to mascara, it shows a dark black colority and good dispersity as compared with the general black color titania pigment. Moreover, it is possible to control the density of black color pigment because it is possible to control pore volume and particle size of mesoporous silica properly. It show the good volume effects in mascara. That is why possible to apply all kinds of cosmetic products.

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.273-282
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• 2022

MPEG-VCM(Video Coding for Machine) aims to standardize video codec for machines. VCM provides data sets and anchors, which provide reference data for comparison, for several machine vision tasks including object detection, object segmentation, and object tracking. The evaluation template can be used to compare compression and machine vision task performance between anchor data and various proposed video codecs. However, performance comparison is carried out separately for each machine vision task, and information related to performance evaluation of multiple machine vision tasks on a single bitstream is not provided currently. In this paper, we propose a performance evaluation method of a video codec for AI-based multi-tasks. Based on bits per pixel (BPP), which is the measure of a single bitstream size, and mean average precision(mAP), which is the accuracy measure of each task, we define three criteria for multi-task performance evaluation such as arithmetic average, weighted average, and harmonic average, and to calculate the multi-tasks performance results based on the mAP values. In addition, as the dynamic range of mAP may very different from task to task, performance results for multi-tasks are calculated and evaluated based on the normalized mAP in order to prevent a problem that would be happened because of the dynamic range.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.107-115
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• 2003

Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita cv. Jang-Ma) plants showing necrotic mosaic symptom were collected from their growing fields in Andong, Euisong, Gunwi and Daegu, Korea. Direct negative stainning method by electron microscope showed filamentous particles of about 660 nm in length. Immunosorbent electron microscopy (ISEM) revealed filamentous particles of 660nm decorated with antiserum of Chinese yam necrotic mosaic virus (ChYNMV). The virues purified partially were used to isolate viral RNA as template for RT-PCR to amplify about 1.2 kbp of 3'-terminal region (coat protein, 3'-UTR) with ChYNMV specific and oligo-dT primers. Amino acids sequences of amplified CP genes revealed that the viruses shared 97.9% similarity with ChYNMV (AB044386) wh ich was known as the member of Macluravirus. So the viruses from Chinese yam (D. opposita cv. Jang-Ma) plants were identified as ChYNMV. Comparing the CP amion acid sequences of ChYNMV strains with other macluraviruses such as Cardamon mosaic virus (CdMV), Narcissus latent virus (NLV) and Maclura mosaic virus (MacMV) revealed that N-terminal was the most varialbe region and conserved regions were present within the genus Macluravirus.