• Journal of KIISE
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• v.41 no.11
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• pp.943-957
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• 2014

Removing noise, called denoising, is an essential factor for the more intuitive and more accurate results in boundary image matching. This paper deals with a partial denoising problem that tries to allow a limited amount of partial noise embedded in boundary images. To solve this problem, we first define partial denoising time-series which can be generated from an original image time-series by removing a variety of partial noises and propose an efficient mechanism that quickly obtains those partial denoising time-series in the time-series domain rather than the image domain. We next present the partial denoising distance, which is the minimum distance from a query time-series to all possible partial denoising time-series generated from a data time-series, and we use this partial denoising distance as a similarity measure in boundary image matching. Using the partial denoising distance, however, incurs a severe computational overhead since there are a large number of partial denoising time-series to be considered. To solve this problem, we derive a tight lower bound for the partial denoising distance and formally prove its correctness. We also propose range and k-NN search algorithms exploiting the partial denoising distance in boundary image matching. Through extensive experiments, we finally show that our lower bound-based approach improves search performance by up to an order of magnitude in partial denoising-based boundary image matching.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2001

Background: Although several mechanisms of causalgia, which results from a partial injury to the peripheral nerve trunk, have been proposed, whether or not antidromic impulses from the injured neurons contribute to the development of the mechanical hyperalgesia has not been studied. The purpose of this experiment is was to investigate the role of antidromic impulses to the peripheral sensory receptor site on the development of mechanical hyperalgesia in a rat model of peripheral neuropathy. Methods: Rats were prepared with tight ligation of by tightly ligating the left fifth and sixth lumbar spinal nerves. The effect of bupivacaine pretreatment on the development of mechanical hyperalgesia was evaluated by injecting 0.5% bupivacaine (0.3 ml) into the plantar surface of the left hind paw before the skin incision was made. For the control group, normal saline (0.3 ml) was injected instead of bupivacaine. To measure the mechanical hyperalgesia, paw withdrawal thresholds were measured using a series of von Frey hairs. Mechanical hyperalgesia was measured a the day before, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 14 days after the surgery. Results: The control group showed decreased withdrawal thresholds from the day after the surgery (the values were $14.0{\pm}0.5$, $8.9{\pm}1.3$, $8.4{\pm}1.6$, $6.9{\pm}1.2$, $8.8{\pm}1.5$, $10.5{\pm}1.3$, and $8.6{\pm}1.3$ g; at -1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 14 days after the surgery, respectively). However, withdrawal thresholds of the bupivacaine-pretreated group showed increased withdrawal thresholds for three days after the surgery ($14.5{\pm}0.3$, $12.6{\pm}1.4$, $12.7{\pm}1.1$, $10.5{\pm}1.3$ g; at 1, 1, 2, 3 days after the surgery). Conclusions: Our result suggests that antidromic impulses to the peripheral sensory receptors are at least partly responsible for the initial development of mechanical hyperalgesia in a rat model of peripheral neuropathy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.86-95
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• 2006

Brillouin backscatter is a type of reflection that occurs when light is shone into an optical fibre. Brillouin reflections are very sensitive to changes in the fibre arising from external effects, such as temperature, strain and pressure. We report here several case studies on the measurement of strain using Brillouin reflections. A mechanical bending test of an I beam, deployed with both fiber optic sensors and conventional strain gauge rosettes, was performed with the aim of evaluating: (1) the capability and technical limit of the DTSS technology for strain profile sensing; (2) the reliability of strain measurement using fiber optic sensor. The average values of strains obtained from both DTSS and strain gauges (corresponding to the deflection of I beam) showed a linear relationship and an excellent one-to-one match. A practical application of DTSS technology as an early warning system for land sliding or subsidence was examined through a field test at a hillside. Extremely strong, lightweight, rugged, survivable tight-buffered cables, designed for optimal strain transfer to the fibre, were used and clamped on the subsurface at a depth of about 50cm. It was proved that DTSS measurements could detect the exact position and the progress of strain changes induced by land sliding and subsidence. We also carried out the first ever distributed dynamic strain measurement (10Hz) on the Korean Train eXpress(KTX) railway track in Daejeon, Korea. The aim was to analyse the integrity of a section of track that had recently been repaired. The Sensornet DTSS was used to monitor this 85m section of track while a KTX train passed over. In the repaired section the strain increases to levels of 90 microstrain, whereas in the section of regular track the strain is in the region of 30-50 microstrain. The results were excellent since they demonstrate that the DTSS is able to measure small, dynamic changes in strain in rails during normal operating conditions. The current 10km range of the DTSS creates a potential to monitor the integrity of large lengths of track, and especially higher risk sections such as bridges, repaired track and areas at risk of subsidence.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.80-81
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• 2012

Recently, one of the critical issues in the etching processes of the nanoscale devices is to achieve ultra-high aspect ratio contact (UHARC) profile without anomalous behaviors such as sidewall bowing, and twisting profile. To achieve this goal, the fluorocarbon plasmas with major advantage of the sidewall passivation have been used commonly with numerous additives to obtain the ideal etch profiles. However, they still suffer from formidable challenges such as tight limits of sidewall bowing and controlling the randomly distorted features in nanoscale etching profile. Furthermore, the absence of the available plasma simulation tools has made it difficult to develop revolutionary technologies to overcome these process limitations, including novel plasma chemistries, and plasma sources. As an effort to address these issues, we performed a fluorocarbon surface kinetic modeling based on the experimental plasma diagnostic data for silicon dioxide etching process under inductively coupled C4F6/Ar/O2 plasmas. For this work, the SiO2 etch rates were investigated with bulk plasma diagnostics tools such as Langmuir probe, cutoff probe and Quadruple Mass Spectrometer (QMS). The surface chemistries of the etched samples were measured by X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer. To measure plasma parameters, the self-cleaned RF Langmuir probe was used for polymer deposition environment on the probe tip and double-checked by the cutoff probe which was known to be a precise plasma diagnostic tool for the electron density measurement. In addition, neutral and ion fluxes from bulk plasma were monitored with appearance methods using QMS signal. Based on these experimental data, we proposed a phenomenological, and realistic two-layer surface reaction model of SiO2 etch process under the overlying polymer passivation layer, considering material balance of deposition and etching through steady-state fluorocarbon layer. The predicted surface reaction modeling results showed good agreement with the experimental data. With the above studies of plasma surface reaction, we have developed a 3D topography simulator using the multi-layer level set algorithm and new memory saving technique, which is suitable in 3D UHARC etch simulation. Ballistic transports of neutral and ion species inside feature profile was considered by deterministic and Monte Carlo methods, respectively. In case of ultra-high aspect ratio contact hole etching, it is already well-known that the huge computational burden is required for realistic consideration of these ballistic transports. To address this issue, the related computational codes were efficiently parallelized for GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) computing, so that the total computation time could be improved more than few hundred times compared to the serial version. Finally, the 3D topography simulator was integrated with ballistic transport module and etch reaction model. Realistic etch-profile simulations with consideration of the sidewall polymer passivation layer were demonstrated.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2017

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is a perennial plant of the genus Stevia, originated in South America. It stores many forms of glycosides, mainly stevioside and rebaudioside A, in which steviol is the basic structure. Steviol glycosides, widely used as sweeteners, are superior to sugar in sweetness. Recently, it has been reported that steviol glycosides are involved not only in the skin whitening and anti-inflammatory effect but also in enhancing skin barrier function through tight junction regulation. Thus, we examined anti-inflammatory effect of rebaudioside A and tried to identify its potential for improving atopic dermatitis as cosmetic ingredients. To investigate the anti-inflammatory effect, cell viability and mRNA expression level of inflammation-related cytokines were measured using mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells. Cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8) assay was carried out to measure cell viability and the maximum concentration without cytotoxicity was set to $250{\mu}M$. A quantitative real-time RT-PCR method was used for the study of the inflammatory suppression of rebaudioside A. Rebaudioside A inhibited expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) up to 47% and COX-2 up to 41% compared to LPS treated condition. NO synthesis was decreased by rebaudioside A. Also, mRNA expression of interleukin (IL)-$1{\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$ and IL-6 in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells was decreased to 40%, 45% and 59%, respectively, as a concentration-dependent manner. In conclusion, rebaudioside A inhibited the inflammatory response by regulation of cytokine gene expression. From these results, we expect that steviol glycoside, such as rebaudioside A, can be used as a material for improving atopic dermatitis in the future.