• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.175-182
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• 1994

The international standard for digital compression and coding of continuous-tone still image known as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) standard is investigated for medical image archiving and communication. The JPEG standard has widely been accepted in the areas of electronic image communication, computer graphics, and multimedia applications, however, due to the lossy character of the JPEG compression its application to the field of medical imaging has been limited. In this paper, the JPEG standard is investigated for medical image compression with a series of head sections of magnetic resonance (MR) images (256 and 4096 graylevels, $256 {\times}256$size). Two types of Huffman codes are employed, i. e., one is optimized to the image statistics to be encoded and the other is a predetermined code, and their coding efficiencies are examined. From experiments, compression ratios of higher than 15 were obtained for the MR images without noticeable distortion. Error signal in the reconstructed images by the JPEG standard appears close to random noise. Compared to existing full-frame bit-allocation technique used for radiological image compression, the JPEG standard achieves higher compression with less Gibb's artifact. Feature of the progressive image build-up of the JPEG progressive coding may be useful in remote diognosis when data is transmitted through slow public communication channel.

• 대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.499-506
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• 1996

Blood flow velocimeter is an essential device to measure the blood flow in skin tissue. In this study, we developed a high-speed LDV(laser Doppler Velocimeter) that has real time processing capability using a DSP(digital signal processing) chip and is able to continuously measure information about blood-flow based on a noninvasive method using self-mixing type laser diode. This LDV system has a simpler structure than any other typical blood flow velocimeter and is composed of new self-mixing probe, stabilizer circuits DSP board, and interf'ace boule We measured velocity of speaker-unit by operational frequencies to identify Doppler effect of this system, performed clinical experiment on bare finger tip and compared it with a commercial euipment BPM403A(USA).

• Advances in robotics research
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.101-126
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• 2014

In this article we present modular neural control for a leg-wheel hybrid robot consisting of three legs with omnidirectional wheels. This neural control has four main modules having their functional origin in biological neural systems. A minimal recurrent control (MRC) module is for sensory signal processing and state memorization. Its outputs drive two front wheels while the rear wheel is controlled through a velocity regulating network (VRN) module. In parallel, a neural oscillator network module serves as a central pattern generator (CPG) controls leg movements for sidestepping. Stepping directions are achieved by a phase switching network (PSN) module. The combination of these modules generates various locomotion patterns and a reactive obstacle avoidance behavior. The behavior is driven by sensor inputs, to which additional neural preprocessing networks are applied. The complete neural circuitry is developed and tested using a physics simulation environment. This study verifies that the neural modules can serve a general purpose regardless of the robot's specific embodiment. We also believe that our neural modules can be important components for locomotion generation in other complex robotic systems or they can serve as useful modules for other module-based neural control applications.

• 대한화장품학회지
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• 제28권1호
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• pp.31-41
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• 2002

The production of matrix matalloproteinases(MMPs) by the UV irradiated skin fibroblast and the degradation of extracellular matrix(ECM) by these enzymes is known as one of the main reasons of photoaging. Recently, Fisher group showed that the MMP expression is mainly regulated by the mitogen-activated protein(MAP) kinas family, such as extracellular signal-regulated kinase(ERK), c-Jun amino-terminal kinase(JNK) and p38, each of which forms a signaling pathway. In this work we first examined the effect of nitric oxide (NO) on the production of MMP-1 and MMP-2 by the human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs). NO is a multifunctional messenger molecule generated from L-arginine and involved in many kinds of signaling pathway. We found that the treatment of HDF with NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP) enhanced the expression of MMPs with or without UV irradiation and the treatment with nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors resulted in the significant decrease of MMPs production. From these results, we concluded that the production of MMPs by the UV irradiated HDF is regulated through the signaling pathway involving NO and cyclic GMP.

• Animal cells and systems
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.95-106
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• 2011

The transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) cation channel, a member of the TRP vanilloid subfamily, is expressed in a broad range of tissues. Nitric oxide (NO) as a gaseous signal mediator shows a variety of important biological effects. In many instances, NO has been shown to exhibit its activities via a protein S-nitrosylation mechanism in order to regulate its protein functions. With functional assays via site-directed mutagenesis, we demonstrate herein that NO induces the S-nitrosylation of TRPV4 $Ca^{2+}$ channel on the $Cys^{853}$ residue, and the S-nitrosylation of $Cys^{853}$ reduced its channel sensitivity to 4-${\alpha}$ phorbol 12,13-didecanoate and the interaction between TRPV4 and calmodulin. A patch clamp experiment and $Ca^{2+}$ image analysis show that the S-nitrosylation of $Cys^{853}$ modulates the TRPV4 channel as an inhibitor. Thus, our data suggest a novel regulatory mechanism of TRPV4 via NO-mediated S-nitrosylation on its $Cys^{853}$ residue.

• Animal cells and systems
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.155-160
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• 2010

Extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) play important roles in a variety of biological processes including cell growth and differentiation. We have previously reported that GAR-3 activates ERK1/2 via phospholipase C and protein kinase C, presumably through pertussis toxin (PTX)-insensitive Gq proteins, in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Here we provide evidence that GAR-3 also activates ERK1/2 through PTX-sensitive G proteins, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase), and Src family kinases in CHO cells. We further show that in human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells, epidermal growth factor receptor and Ras are required for efficient ERK1/2 activation by GAR-3. Taken together, our data indicate that GAR-3 evokes ERK1/2 activation through multiple signaling pathways in cultured mammalian cells.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.14-20
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• 2013

For the treatment of osteoarthritis, pulsed electromagnetic field stimulus has been suggested as a useful therapeutic method in rehabilitative medicine. Most studies have been performed under low-frequency and low-energy to find out biological properties for stimulating chondrocyte with pulsed magnetic field. In this study, the effect of strong pulse magnetic field on the human chondrosarcoma cells (SW-1353) has been investigated by means of cell counting, morphologies, and gene expression of cartilage extracellular matrix genes. The SW-1353 cells were exposed under the field intensities of 270, 100, 55, 36, and 26 mTesla during 6 hours a day in 5 consecutive days. The pulse magnetic field with an LRC oscillating signal has the pulse width of 0.126 msec and stimulation period of 1 sec. For the 270 and 100 mTesla stimulation, the cell proliferation significantly increased in 21-24% as compared with the non-stimulated cells. Gene expression of cartilage extracellular matrix genes (ACAN, COMP and COL2A1) was assayed by quantitative real time-PCR method. The ACAN gene expression showed a significant brightness, which means the increase on gene expression, compared with the non-stimulated cells. Our results suggest that the strong pulse magnetic field stimulation can be utilized to accelerate cell proliferation and gene expression on human chondrosarcoma cells.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• 제15권8호
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• pp.2923-2943
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• 2021

The double helix structure of DNA makes it diverse, stable and can store information with high density, and these characteristics are consistent with the requirements of molecular communication for transport carriers. In this paper, a specific structure of molecular communication system based on DNA length coding is proposed. Transmitter (Tx) adopts the multi-layer golden foil design to control the release of DNA molecules of different lengths accurately, and receiver (Rx) adopts an effective and sensitive design of nanopore, and the biological information can be converted to the electric signal at Rx. The effect of some key factors, e.g., the length of time slot, transmission distance, the number of releasing molecules, the priori probability, on channel capacity is demonstrated exhaustively. Moreover, we also compare the transmission capacity of DNA-based molecular communication (DNA-MC) system and concentration-based molecular communication (MC) system under the same parameter setting, and the peak value of capacity of DNA-MC system can achieve 0.08 bps, while the capacity of MC system remains 0.025 bps. The simulation results show that DNA-MC system has obvious advantages over MC system in saving molecular resources and improving transmission stability.

• 한국멀티미디어학회논문지
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• 제22권2호
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• pp.242-249
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• 2019

Old people and patients with cardiovascular disease could die of a heart attack in the bath with heated water for a long time. Various researches have been studied to prevent these accidents from happening such as measuring the ECG signal when taking bath. However, these devices are hard to use and the higher price is not easily accepted by the public. In this paper, a low-cost and use-friendly, real time high precision water temperature monitoring device to prevent heart attack in the bath was developed. The device with waterproof design that lets the device can float on the surface of the water, and an accurate way to make water temperature measurement method was proposed by this paper that is immerging the sensor into water with 4cm depth to measure the temperature of underwater. The manufactured device was conducted to two experiments; one was to verify the basic functions of the device, and another one was for compare the proposed device with commercial products for monitoring the water temperature in the bathtub. As the experimental results shown, the proposed device has stable performance for the water temperature measurement and communicating with laptop in wireless.

• 한국자원식물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국자원식물학회 2019년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.123-123
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• 2019

Xanthone is a kind of polyphenolic compounds that contain a distinctive chemical structure with a tricyclic aromatic ring found in a few higher plant families e.g. gentian root. This compound had a variety of biological activity, for instance antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects. However, the effect of xanthone on mast cell-mediated allergic inflammation and its associated mechanism have not been elucidated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to elucidate the anti-allergic inflammatory effects and the underlying molecular mechanism of xanthone in PMACI-stimulated human mast cells-1 (HMC-1). In this result, xanthone treatment decreased the production of histamine, pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-${\alpha}$), IL-6, and IL-8 and expressions of TSLP in PMACI-stimulated HMC-cells. In addition, xanthone significantly suppressed the phosphorylation of MAPKs and the activation of NF-${\kappa}B$ signal pathway in activated mast cells. Furthermore, xanthone inhibited the activation of caspase-1, an IL-$1{\beta}$ converting enzyme, in PMACI-stimulated HMC-1 cells. These findings provide evidence that xanthone could be a potential therapeutic agent for allergy-related inflammatory disorders.