• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.292-301
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• 2010

To restore visual sensation of blind patients, we have proposed a fully implantable retinal prosthesis comprising an three dimensionally (3D) stacked retinal chip for transforming optical signal to electrical signal, a flexible cable with stimulus electrode array for stimulating retina cells, and coupling coils for power transmission. The 3D stacked retinal chip is consisted of several LSI chips such as photodetector, signal processing circuit, and stimulus current generator. They are vertically stacked and electrically connected using 3D integration technology. Our retinal prosthesis has a small size and lightweight with high resolution, therefore it could increase the patients` quality of life (QOL). For realizing the fully implantable retinal prosthesis, we developed a retinal prosthesis module comprising a retinal prosthesis chip and a flexible cable with stimulus electrode array for generating optimal stimulus current. In this study, we used a 2D retinal chip as a prototype retinal prosthesis chip. We fabricated the polymide-based flexible cable of $20{\mu}m$ thickness where 16 channels Pt stimulus electrode array was formed in the cable. Pt electrode has an impedance of $9.9k{\Omega}$ at 400Hz frequency. The retinal prosthesis chip was mounted on the flexible cable by an epoxy and electrically connected by Au wire. The retinal prosthesis chip was cappted by a silicone to pretect from corrosive environments in an eyeball. Then, the fabricated retinal prosthesis module was implanted into an eyeball of a rabbit. We successfully recorded electrically evoked potential (EEP) elicited from the rabbit brain by the current stimulation supplied from the implanted retinal prosthesis module. EEP amplitude was increased linearly with illumination intensity and irradiation time of incident light. The retinal prosthesis chip was well functioned after implanting into the eyeball of the rabbit.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2000

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the disturbed vision on the gait distance parameters on the healthy young population. SUBJECTS. Twenty four healthy college aged individuals are randomly assigned to both a condition with a strobe light and the other condition without a strobe light. METHODS. The instrumentation used for gait analysis is the GaitRite electronic walkway system with a personal IBM computer. The examiner naked all the subjects to walk 6 times on the gait mat without the strobe light and. 6 times on the mat with the strobe light. The first 4 trials were practice and the last two trials were recorded in both conditions. The gait parameters analyzed were as follows : velocity, cadence, step length, and heel to heel base of support. RESULTS. Paired samples t-test used for this study did not found any significant differences between the two conditions because the p-values that were analyzed on the experiment were Utter than 0.05. The gait parameters that were analyzed included cadence, velocity, left and right heel to heel base of support, and left and right step length. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION. Based on this population, the condition of disturbed vision via the effect of the strobe light was not significantly challenging to compromise the body's sensory systems. However, in the elderly population, these systems can undergo age related changes. Visual changes rapidly decline in people 60 to 80 years of age and changes in the vestibular system include $20-40\%$ reduction in hair cells.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.75-81
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• 2012

Road identification is the important task for extracting a road region from the high-resolution satellite images, when the road candidates is extracted by the pre-processing tasks using a binarization, noise removal, and color processing. Therefore, we propose a noble approach for identifying a road using the orientation-selective spatial filters, which is motivated by a computational model of neuron cells found in the primary visual cortex. In our approach, after the neuron cell typed spatial filters is applied to the isolated connected-labeling road candidate regions, proposed method identifies the region of perceiving the strong orientation feature with the real road region. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, the accuracy&error ratio in the confusion matrix was measured from road candidates including road and non-road class. As a result, the proposed method shows the more than 92% accuracy.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.265-272
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• 2006

Dental plaque, a biofilm consisting of more than 500 different bacterial species, is an etiological agent of human periodontal disease, It is therefore important to characterize interactions among periodontopathic microorganisms in order to understand the microbial pathogenesis of periodontal disease. Previous data have suggested a synergistic effect of tow major periodontal pathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythia in the periodontal lesion. In the present study, to better understand interaction between P. gingivalis and T. forsythia, the coaggregation activity between these bacteria was characterized. The coaggregation activity was observed by a direct visual assay by mixing equal amount (1 ${\times}$ $10^9$)of T. forsythia and P. gingivaJis cells. It was found that the first aggregates began to appear after 5-10 min, and that the large aggregates completely settled within 1 h. Electron and epifluorescence microscopic studies confirmed cell-cell contact between two bacteria. The heat treatment of P. gingivalis completely blocked the activity, suggesting an involvement of a heat-labile component of P. gingivalis in the interaction. On the other hand, heat treatment of T. forsythia significantly increased the coaggregation activity; the aggregates began to appear immediately. The coaggregation activity was inhibited by addition of protease, however carbohydrates did not inhibit the activity, suggesting that coaggregation is a protein-protein interaction. The results of this study suggest that coaggregation between P. gingivalis and T. forsythia is a result of cell-cell physical contact, and that coaggregation is mediated by a heat-labile component of P. gingivalis and T. forsythia component that can be activated on heat treatment.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
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• v.10B no.5
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• pp.491-496
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• 2003

We present a new watermark design tool for digital images and digital videos that are based on human visual system (HVS) characteristics. In this tool, basic mechanisms (inhibitory and excitatory behaviour of cells) of HVS are used to determine image dependent upper bound values on watermark insertion. This allows us to insert maximai allowable transparent watermark, which in turn is extremely hard to attack with common image processing, Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) compression. As the number of details (e.g. edges) increases in an image, the HVS decrease its sensitivity to the details. In the same manner, as the number of motion increases in a video signal, the HVS decrease its sensitivity to the motions. We model this decreased sensitivity to the details and motions as an (motion) entropy masking. Entropy masking model can be efficiently used to increase the robustness of image and video watermarks. We have shown that our entropy-masking model provides watermark scheme with increased transparency and henceforth increased robustness.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2010

Research and development of Assistive Technology (AT) for blind people is primarily focused on assisting mobility and improving access to information. Some particularly useful devices for aiding access to information and communication are DAISY players used with talking books, screen readers for reading screens, video magnifiers to aid low vision, Braille displays, and Braille PDAs. These essential devices have been successfully commercialized and have assisted many visually impaired people. Assistive technology devices for visually impaired people are called sensory substitution devices, because these devices substitute tactile or auditory functions for visual functions. The tactile interfaces of sensory substitution devices such as Braille displays and Braille PDAs have a bimorph type of piezoelectric actuator that forms a Braille (pin) of the Braille cells by moving up and down. KGS Corporation of Japan has more than 80% share of the worldwide market for these Braille cell actuators. Commercializing it for the first time in the world. This paper reviews the various endeavors in Japan in the research and development of tactile displays, such as Braille displays and Braille PDAs. Furthermore, it discusses sensory substitution devices that use tactile displays, focusing especially on the rotating Braille display we have developed.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.151-157
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• 2003

Calretinin is thought to play roles in calcium buttering. Its site of expression has been extensively studied in the central nervous system. We previously reported (Hong et at.,2002, Neurosci. Res.,44: 325-335) calretinin expression in the superficial layers of the cat superior colliculus (SC). In the present study, we studied the distribution of calretinin in the intermediate and deep layers by immunocytochemistry. We found striking differences in calretinin immunoreactivity among the superficial, intermediate, and deep layers. In contrast to the superficial layers, the intermediate and deep layers contained many calretinin-immunoreactive (IR) neurons. They formed two laminar tiers. The first tier, which was very distinctive, was found within the upper intermediate gray layers and formed clusters of labeled neurons in many sections. The second tier of calretinin-IR neurons was found in the deep gray layer. However, the second tier was not distinctive compared to the first tier and the labeled neurons did not form any clusters. Calretinin-IR neurons in the intermediate and deep layers varied dramatically in morphology and included vortical fusiform, pyriform, and stellate neurons. Neurons with varicose dendrites were also labeled. Most of the labeled neurons were small to medium in size. Enucleation appeared to have no effect on the distribution of calretinin immunoreactivity in the contralateral intermediate and deep layers of the SC. The results indicate that calretinin is present in various neurons, at different locations. These results should be applicable for better understanding of the functional organization of the SC.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.61-64
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• 2013

Schwannomas are well-differentiated solitary benign tumors that originate from the schwann cells of the nerve sheath. They can readily occur in the head and neck regions, but the schwannoma originating from the infraorbital nerve is extremely rare and usually painless, slow-growing, and without specific symptoms. The author experienced a rare case of infraorbital schwannoma, which was completely removed through the intraoral approach. A 20-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for a painless, solid and circular mass located on the right infraorbital region. The eyeball movement and visual field were normal. There was no globe displacement or proptosis. Preoperative computed tomography demonstrated $13{\times}10{\times}5mm$-sized soft tissue mass. On March 2011, the mass was removed through an intraoral approach. On histopathological examination, the gross specimen consisted of a smooth, well-encapsulated and light yellowish solid mass, measuring $12{\times}7{\times}5mm$. Microscopically, it presented a typical manifestation of schwannoma with Antoni A area with Verocay body, and Antoni B area on H&E stain. The result of the immunohistochemical staining was positive for the S-100 protein. The patient had hypoesthesia of the nasal septum and vestibule in the postoperative period, and this finding confirmed that the internal nasal branch of infraorbital nerve was the nerve in which the schwannoma originated. Infraorbital schwannomas are very rare and must be included in the differential diagnosis of the orbital masses inferior to the eyeball. In the case of early diagnosis, the small-sized infraorbital schwannomas can be completely removed without any scar through an intraoral approach.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.827-837
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• 2019

The present study was conducted with the aim to investigate the ameliorative effects of a new soybean product (cheonggukjang) fermented with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SCGB1 (SFBA) in atopic dermatitis (AD) mouse model. Visual evaluation of AD induction in the mice indicated the remarkable control of SFBA in reducing the pathological severity of AD-like skin lesions reported as the SCORAD score of AD clinical symptoms. The results revealed that SFBA reduced dorsal skin and epidermal thickness to a similar extent with prednisolone. Further analysis revealed the dominance of SFBA in restraining mast cell infiltration in the dermis; immunoglobulin-E expression in serum; and TH2 IL-4 cytokine and itch-related IL-31 cytokine in the mice skin and serum. SFBA also suppressed scratching behaviours in mice induced by compound 48/80. Further histological findings also revealed the alleviation of collagen fiber deposition in dermal skin of the AD mice model. These actions of SFBA were examined to be mediated by its suppression of the phosphorylation activation of key signalling molecules such as $NF-{\kappa}B$ and MAPK responsible for the induction of cytokine production. Thus, SFBA can be considered as a promising functional food for managing clinical, histological and immunological spectra associated with AD.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.49-54
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• 2017

Objectives : Bangki is commonly Sinomeni Caulis et Rhizoma (SC) in Korea. But it often confused with others such as Cocculi Radix (CR), Stephaniae Tetrandrae Radix (SR) and Aristolochiae Fangchi (AR) due to the similarity in herbal names and morphological characteristics. However, because all of these types of Bangi have different healing properties, they need to be differentiated. Methods : A discrimination on external features of original plants and external characteristics of herbal medicines was carried out using visual examination, stereoscope. For the examination of Internal characteristics of herbal medicines, tissues were dyed using fast green FCF, hematoxylin and safranin O, and the features were observed by the microscope. Results : In external morphology of original plants, the original plants of SC and AR were lignum plants and others were herbaceous plants. The leaf blade and the petiole were another discriminative criteria. In external morphology of herbal medicines, SR and AR have powders and others didn't. Also, SC and CR were determined by the dense of the radiation pattern in the cross section. In internal morphology of herbal medicines, SR and AR were distinguished by the dense of Stone cells. Moreover, SC and CR were different in the pattern of medullary ray and vascular bundle. Conclusions : The results above could be used as identification keys of Bangki. Moreover, these identifications might attribute as a fundamental material to further studies like physicochemical pattern analysis and biological reaction.