• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2005

Molecular imaging with targeted contrast agents enables tissues to be distinguished by detecting specific cell-surface receptors. In the present study, a ligand-targeted acoustic nanoparticle system is used to identify angioplasty-induced expression of tissue factor by smooth muscle cell within carotid arteries. Pig carotid arteries were overstretched with balloon catheters, treated with tissue factor-targeted or a control nanoparticle system, and imaged with intravascular ultrasound before and after treatment. Tissue factor-targeted emulsion bound and increased the echogenicity and gray-scale levels of overstretched smooth muscle cell within the tunica media, versus no change in contralateral control arteries. Expression of stretch-induced tissue factor in carotid artery media was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. The potential for abnormal thrombogenicity of balloon-injured arteries, as reflected by smooth muscle expression of tissue factor, was imaged using a novel, targeted, nanoparticulate ultrasonic contrast agent.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.81-90
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• 2013

This study explored how Korean L2 learners of English utilize multiple acoustic cues (VOT and F0) in perceiving and producing the English alveolar stop with a voicing contrast. Thirty-four 18-year-old high-school students participated in the study. Their English proficiency level was classified as either 'high' (HEP) or 'low' (LEP) according to high-school English level standardization. Thirty different synthesized syllables were presented in audio stimuli by combining a 6-step VOTs and a 5-step F0s. The listeners judged how close the audio stimulus was to /t/ or /d/ in L2 using a visual analogue scale. The L2 /d/ and /t/ productions collected from the 22 learners (12 HEP, 10 LEP) were acoustically analyzed by measuring VOT and F0 at the vowel onset. Results showed that LEP listeners attended to the F0 in the stimuli more sensitively than HEP listeners, suggesting that HEP listeners could inhibit less important acoustic dimensions better than LEP listeners in their L2 perception. The L2 production patterns also exhibited a group-difference between HEP and LEP in that HEP speakers utilized their VOT dimension (primary cue in L2) more effectively than LEP speakers. Taken together, the study showed that the relative cue-weighting strategies in L2 perception and production are closely related to the learner's L2 proficiency level in that more proficient learners had a better control of inhibiting and enhancing the relevant acoustic parameters.

• The Journal of Information Technology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.129-136
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• 2001

Most of the acoustic microscopes have been constructed acoustic image by simply measuring the amplitude of the reflected signal from the specimen. This method fails to produce images of good quality because the change in amplitude is not sensitive enough to specimen with fine variation. In this paper, we have been constructed the acoustic microscope system which has been able to measure simultaneously the amplitude and phase of the reflected ultrasonic signal. And also we have been constructed the amplitude and phase images for the 500 won coin as a sample and the alumium spacimen with internal round defect, and compared and analyzed these images. In expermental result, the phase image have shown better sensitive than the amplitude image and given better contrast for the micro height variation of specimen. It will be expected that the phase image can be used as an additional bit of information to improve ambiguituities in amplitude image on nondestructive testing for specimen with fine variation.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.507-517
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• 2022

The PhotoAcoustic Microscopy (PAM) has been proved to be a useful tool for biological and medical applications due to its high spatial and contrast resolution. PAM is based on transmission of laser pulses and reception of PA signals. Since the strength of PA signals is generally low, not only are high-performance optical and acoustic modules required, but high-performance electronics for imaging are also particularly needed for high-quality PAM imaging. Most PAM systems are implemented with a combination of several pieces of equipment commercially available to receive, amplify, enhance, and digitize PA signals. To this end, PAM systems are inevitably bulky and not optimal because general purpose equipment is used. This paper reports a PA signal receiving system recently developed to attain the capability of improved Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and Contrast to Noise Ratio (CNR) of PAM images; the main module of this system is a low noise, wideband signal receiver that consists of two low-noise amplifiers, two variable gain amplifiers, analog filters, an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC), and control logic. From phantom imaging experiments, it was found that the developed system can improve SNR by 6.7 dB and CNR by 3 dB, compared to a combination of several pieces of commercially available equipment.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2004.07c
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• pp.1594-1596
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• 2004

Film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) devices which adopt a membrane-type configuration are fabricated by a novel process. In contrast to the conventional FBAR structure, the newly fabricated resonator doesn't employ any supporting layer below or above it, so that the properties of piezoelectric layer are not influenced by the bottom electrode material. FBAR devices with Mo/AlN/Metal configuration are also fabricated. The frequency response characteristics ($S_{11}$) of the devices fabricated using the proposed process are compared with those of the conventional devices. The return losses are also estimated, in terms of the kind and thickness of bottom electrode materials.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.91-103
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• 1997

This paper aimed to study what the influences of orthodontic treatment of pronunciation are. We compared the duration and the acoustic wave patterns of Korean consonants pronounced by a control group with those of a patient who had his four premolars extracted and had been given orthodontic treatment The results were as follows : 1. Compared to the control group, the treatment group had a longer duration time of consonant pronunciation for all consonants but "ㅅ(s)" and "ㅌ($(t^h)$" in CV(consonant-vowel) pairs. Especially in the case of "ㅈ(dz)", "ㅆ$({\varphi}^h)$" for CV-pairs, and "ㄷ(d)" in VCV(vowel-consonant-vowel) clusters, the duration of consonant sound showed a sharp contrast between the control group and the treatment group. 2. There were clear differences in the acoustic wave patterns of "ㅉ(ts)", "ㅆ$({\varphi}^h)$" and "ㅊ$(c^h)$", all of which were in VCV-clusters. The acoustic wave pattern of "ㅉ(ts)", when pronounced by the treatment group, was stronger than the control group's. This phenomenon was most remarkable in the transitive section where the "ㅉ(ts)" sound flowed into the following vowel. When a preceding vowel shifted to the consonant "ㅆ$({\varphi}^h)$", the attack property of the appeared clearly in the acoustic waves of the treament group, while in the control group the starting point of consonart was indistinctive. Consonant duration for the treatment group was longer, and the appearance of a zero crossing point in the acoustic wave was more frequent. In the case of "ㅊ$(c^h)$", the treatment group produced a strong acoustic wave, and the property of aspiration was obvious in it. 3. When the treatment group pronounced "ㄷ(d)" and "ㅈ(dz)" in CV-pairs, the acoustic-wave was similar to that of aspirated "ㅌ$(t^h)$" and "ㅊ$(c^h)$". 4. The aspirated "ㅌ$(t^h)$" and "ㅊ$(c^h)$" pronounced by the treatment group showed the stronger airstream and acoustic wave form.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.1014-1017
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• 2007

Sound focusing technologies has been studied for various purposes from early 1990s. As a result, these technologies make us possible to apply in many uses. For example, we can treat tumors using focused ultrasonic waves without surgical knife and communicate in the ocean using time reversal array. Also applications for personal audio system become issues. Recently, as technologies are developing, in some applications, needs for regional focusing become increasing because previously suggested focusing methods, such as phase conjugation, time reversal and inverse filtering, were all about a point focusing. Therefore, studies on regional focusing method are essentially needed. Regional focusing method was firstly mentioned by Choi and Kim in 2002: acoustic contrast control. However, in regional focusing, physical interpretations between control variables and results are still not easy because of its complexity. In this regard, we tried to understand the relations between control variables and results in wavenumber domain and suggested a solution method for regional focusing: wavenumber spectrum matching. We also showed how to make spatially focused sound shape using the suggested method from the simplest case: line focusing.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.91-101
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to investigate laryngeal characteristics in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A total of 50 children participated, including eight children aged 2 to 4 years old diagnosed with ASD and 42 normal controls at the same age. All children recorded X-ray images of the midsagittal plane of the cervical spine and larynx, and compared the laryngeal positions of ASD and control. In addition, samples of children with vowel prolongation were collected and analyzed for acoustic parameters. X-rays showed that the height of the hyoid bone in the normal group was the lowest at 3 years of age, and ascended at 4 years of age. Nevertheless, the distance from the external acoustic meatus to the hyoid bone was longest at age 4. 4-year-olds with explosive language development showed laryngeal height elevation and anteriorization. In contrast, the hyoid height of the ASD group of all ages was lower than that of the control group, and there was no difference in the hyoid position between the ages. As a result of acoustic evaluation, PFR, vFo, and vAm were significantly higher ASD than control. Low laryngeal height of ASD children may be associated with delayed language development. PFR, vFo, and vAm seem to be voice markers showing the difference between normal and ASD children.