• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2711-2715
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• 2012

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disrupting chemical, has been suspected to pose carcinogenic risks. However, likely mechanisms are obscure and there are difficulties to estimating its real significance for cancer development. Methods: We therefore studied BPA-induced proteomic alterations in immune organs of ICR mice offspring that were prenatally exposed to BPA (15 and 300 mg/L of drinking water). We performed 2D-gel analyses of samples, considering differences in spleen, exposure levels, sex, and ages. Results: From proteomic analyses, we found various proteins were up- or down-regulated by BPA. Among them, SET, a putative oncogene and inhibitor of phosphatase 2A, was significantly down-regulated in a BPA dose-dependent manner. We also confirmed down-regulation of SET in western blot and real time PCR analyses. From gene network analysis, SET is predicted to communicate with other genes including CYP17, which is involved in biosynthesis and metabolism of sex-hormones. Conclusions: This study provided evidence that SET can be applied as a new biomarker for prenatal BPA exposure and suggests a potential new mechanism of action in that BPA may disrupt CYP17 via SET.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1256-1265
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• 2011

Automated parking assist systems are being commercialized and rapidly spread in the market. In order to improve odometry accuracy, we proposed a practical odometry calibration scheme of Car-Like Mobile Robot (CLMR). However, there were some open problems in our prior work. For example, it was not clear whether the kinematic parameters always converged or not using the proposed calibration scheme. In addition, test driving had to be carried out "twice" without detailed explanation. This research aims to provide answers for the addressed questions though the convergence property analysis of the calibration scheme. In this paper, we evaluate on the effect of the kinematic parameter error on the odometry error at the final pose by numerical computation. The evaluation will show that the wheel diameter and tread of the CLMR can be calibrated by iterative test drives. In addition, the region of convergence in the parametric space will be discussed. Presented experimental results clearly showed that the proposed calibration scheme would be useful in practical applications.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.618-632
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• 2010

This paper presents a novel approach to control the augmented reality (AR) objects robustly in a marker-less AR system by fingertip tracking and hand pattern recognition. It is known that one of the promising ways to develop a marker-less AR system is using human's body such as hand or face for replacing traditional fiducial markers. This paper introduces a real-time method to manipulate the overlaid virtual objects dynamically in a marker-less AR system using both hands with a single camera. The left bare hand is considered as a virtual marker in the marker-less AR system and the right hand is used as a hand mouse. To build the marker-less system, we utilize a skin-color model for hand shape detection and curvature-based fingertip detection from an input video image. Using the detected fingertips the camera pose are estimated to overlay virtual objects on the hand coordinate system. In order to manipulate the virtual objects rendered on the marker-less AR system dynamically, a vision-based hand control interface, which exploits the fingertip tracking for the movement of the objects and pattern matching for the hand command initiation, is developed. From the experiments, we can prove that the proposed and developed system can control the objects dynamically in a convenient fashion.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.35-41
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• 2010

In this paper, an Android based ubiquitous interface for controlling service robots is presented. The robot server captures the images for the front view of the robot, makes a map of the environment and its position, produces a graphic image of its pose, and then transmits them to the Android client. The Android client displays them in the LCD panel and transfers control information obtained from touched buttons to the server. In the interface environment, we implement remote moving mode, autonomous moving mode, and remote operation mode for being used for versatile operability to the robot with limited screen of the smart phone. Experimental results show the implementation of the proposed interface in Android installed on Motoroi to control a service robot, and demonstrate its feasibility.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.429-435
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• 2011

This paper presents a sensor fusion-based estimation of heading and a Bezier curve-based motion planning for unmanned ground vehicle. For the vehicle to drive itself autonomously and safely, it should estimate its pose with sufficient accuracy in reasonable processing time. The vehicle should also have a path planning algorithm that enables to adapt to various situations on the road, especially at intersections. First, we address a sensor fusion-based estimation of the heading of the vehicle. Based on extended Kalman filter, the algorithm estimates the heading using the GPS, IMU, and wheel encoders considering the reliability of each sensor measurement. Then, we propose a Bezier curve-based path planner that creates several number of path candidates which are described as Bezier curves with adaptive control points, and selects the best path among them that has the maximum probability of passing through waypoints or arriving at target points. Experiments under various outdoor conditions including at intersections, verify the reliability of our algorithm.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.12-17
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• 1986

The pericardial adhesions following the first open heart surgery pose a major problem that can increase the morbidity and mortality in cases of reoperation because of the danger of damaging the heart, great vessels or grafts. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of intrapericardial infusion of 5% dextrose solution and heparin on experimental pericardial adhesions. The 15 white rabbits were divided into three treatment groups of 5 animals each: group 1 [control group], group 2[5% dextrose group] and group 3 [heparin group]. At 4 weeks, all animals were sacrificed and the pericardial adhesions were graded as follows: 1[none], ll[mild], Ill[moderate] and IV[severe]. Histological examination was performed on a subset of each group. The difference of adhesion between control and heparin group was evaluated by Chi-square analysis. The results were as follows: 1. Pericardial adhesions developed in 80% of animals in group 1 and 2. 2. Only 40%> of animals in group 3 had mild to moderate pericardial adhesions. This was significantly different from the control group [P=0.01]. 3. Histological examination showed that the pericardium with adhesion was thickened with fibrosis, while that without adhesion was thin, normal appearance. 4. In group 3, there was no evidence of hemorrhage or hemorrhagic tendency in the pericardium.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.227-242
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• 2019

Seismic isolation systems employ structural control that protect both buildings and vibration-sensitive contents from destructive effects of earthquakes. Structural control is divided into three main groups: passive, active, and semi-active. Among them, semi-active isolation systems, which can reduce floor displacements and accelerations concurrently, has gained importance in recent years since they don't require large power or pose stability problems like active ones. However, their seismic performance may vary depending on the variations that may be observed in the mechanical properties of semi-active devices and/or seismic isolators. Uncertainties relating to isolators can arise from variations in geometry, boundary conditions, material behavior, or temperature, or aging whereas those relating to semi-active control devices can be due to thermal changes, inefficiencies in calibrations, manufacturing errors, etc. For a more realistic evaluation of the seismic behavior of semi-active isolated buildings, such uncertainties must be taken into account. Here, the probabilistic behavior of semi-active isolated buildings under historical pulse-like near-fault earthquakes is evaluated in terms of their performance in preserving structural integrity and protecting vibration-sensitive contents considering aforementioned uncertainties via Monte-Carlo simulations of 3-story and 9-story semi-active isolated benchmark buildings. The results are presented in the form of fragility curves and probability of failure profiles.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.10 no.12
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• pp.1566-1576
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• 2007

Camera pose information from 2D face image is very important for making virtual 3D face model synchronize with the real face. It is also very important for any other uses such as: human computer interface, 3D object estimation, automatic camera control etc. In this paper, we have presented a camera position determination algorithm from a single 2D face image using the relationship between mouth position information and face region boundary information. Our algorithm first corrects the color bias by a lighting compensation algorithm, then we nonlinearly transformed the image into $YC_bC_r$ color space and use the visible chrominance feature of face in this color space to detect human face region. And then for face candidate, use the nearly reversed relationship information between $C_b\;and\;C_r$ cluster of face feature to detect mouth position. And then we use the geometrical relationship between mouth position information and face region boundary information to determine rotation angles in both x-axis and y-axis of camera position and use the relationship between face region size information and Camera-Face distance information to determine the camera-face distance. Experimental results demonstrate the validity of our algorithm and the correct determination rate is accredited for applying it into practice.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.1797-1801
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• 2005

SLAM(Simultaneous localization and mapping) and AI(Artificial intelligence) have been active research areas in robotics for two decades. In particular, localization is one of the most important issues in mobile robot research. Until now expensive sensors like a laser sensor have been used for the mobile robot's localization. Currently, as the RFID reader devices like antennas and RFID tags become increasingly smaller and cheaper, the proliferation of RFID technology is advancing rapidly. So, in this paper, the smart floor using passive RFID tags is proposed and, passive RFID tags are mainly used to identify the mobile robot's location on the smart floor. We discuss a number of challenges related to this approach, such as RFID tag distribution (density and structure), typing and clustering. In the smart floor using RFID tags, because the reader just can senses whether a RFID tag is in its sensing area, the localization error occurs as much as the sensing area of the RFID reader. And, until now, there is no study to estimate the pose of mobile robot using RFID tags. So, in this paper, two algorithms are suggested to. We use the Markov localization algorithm to reduce the location(X,Y) error and the Kalman Filter algorithm to estimate the pose(q) of a mobile robot. We applied these algorithms in our experiment with our personal robot CMR-P3. And we show the possibility of our probability approach using the cheap sensors like odometers and RFID tags for the mobile robot's localization on the smart floor.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1492-1499
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• 2019

This paper propose how to track the position of the observer to control the viewing zone using an adaptive parallax barrier. The pose is estimated using a Constrained Local Model based on the shape model and Landmark for robust eye-distance measurement in the face pose. Camera's correlation converts distance and horizontal location to centimeter. The pixel pitch of the adaptive parallax barrier is adjusted according to the position of the observer's eyes, and the barrier is moved to adjust the viewing area. This paper propose a method for tracking the observer in the range of 60cm to 490cm, and measure the error, measurable range, and fps according to the resolution of the camera image. As a result, the observer can be measured within the absolute error range of 3.1642cm on average, and it was able to measure about 278cm at 320×240, about 488cm at 640×480, and about 493cm at 1280×960 depending on the resolution of the image.