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This article assesses how South Korea, an emerging donor, is mainstreaming climate change considerations into its official development assistance (ODA) activities. We find that Korea’s climate mainstreaming remains in the incipient stage, with a lack of consistent political commitment at the macro level, misalignment with the recipient’s development plans at the meso level and insufficient institutional capacity at the micro level. In addition to the governance systems that fall short of incentivizing the mainstreaming of climate change, this research identifies a number of characteristics accounting for Korea’s progress with climate mainstreaming that may be unique to emerging donors, like under-reporting of climate ODA and the absence of mainstreaming fatigue.

BACKGROUND Diarrhea is a leading cause of death in children

In this paper, we propose a sign language recognition system using an SVM (Support Vector Machine) and a depth camera. In particular, we focus on the Korean sign language. For the sign language system, we suggest two methods, one for the hand feature extraction stage and the other for the recognition stage. Hand features consist of the number of fingers, finger length, palm radius, and hand direction. To extract hand features, we use Distance Transform and a hand skeleton. This method is more accurate and faster than a traditional method that uses contours. To recognize hand posture, we develop a decision tree with hand features. For more accuracy, we use SVM to determine the threshold value in the decision tree. In the experiment results, we show that the suggested method is more accurate and faster when extracting hand features and recognizing hand postures.

In this paper, we propose a sign language recognition system using SVM and depth camera. Especially, we focus on the Korean sign language. For the sign language system, we suggest two methods, one in hand feature extraction stage and the other in recognition stage. Hand features are consisted of the number of fingers, finger length, radius of palm, and direction of the hand. To extract hand features, we use Distance Transform and make hand skeleton. This method is more accurate than a traditional method which uses contours. To recognize hand posture, we develop the decision tree with the hand features. For ∙제1저자 : 김기상 ∙교신저자 : 최형일 ∙투고일 : 2014. 9. 19, 심사일 : 2014. 9. 29, 게재확정일 : 2014. 10 28 * 숭실대학교 미디어학과(School of Media, Soongsil University) ※ 본 연구는 서울시 산학연 협력사업(SS110013)과 2013년도 정부(미래창조과학부)의 재원으로 한국연구재단의 지원을 받아 수행된 기초연구사업임 (No.2013R1A1A2012012) 64 Journal of The Korea Society of Computer and Information November 2014 more accuracy, we use SVM to determine the threshold value in the decision tree. In the experimental results, we show that the suggested method is more accurate and faster when extracting hand features a recognizing hand postures. ▸

The Adaboost extracts an optimal set of weak classifiers in stages. On each stage, it chooses the optimal classifier by minimizing the weighted error classification. It also reweights training data so that the next round would focus on data that are difficult to classify. The typical Adaboost algorithm assigns the same weight to each training datum on the first round of a training process. In this paper, we propose to assign different initial weights based on some statistical properties of involved features. In experimental results, we assess that the proposed method shows higher performance than the typical one.

Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) is described as sudden onset of flaccid paralysis in one or more limbs in children caused by polioviruses (PVs). PV eradication is achieved through intensive immunization and AFP attentive surveillance, according to the World Health Organization. Since 1998, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has conducted surveillance system. This is an overview of surveillance in the Republic of Korea during the 10-year period from 2002 to 2011. The surveillance system for wild PV eradication was conducted through reporting and laboratory testing. Cell culture isolates were identified by neutralization tests using standard polyclonal antisera typing. The molecular methods were used for further characterization to improve specificity. For genotyping, semi-nested RT-PCR was used to amplify part of the viral protein 1 gene. Patients below 5 years of age accounted for the largest proportion of cases, and a positive association between age and incidence was found. In the total 285 cases, Guillain-Barre syndrome was the major leading causes of AFP. Non-polio enterovirus was detected in some AFP patients. EV71 was detected in 21 cases and Coxsackievirus (C) A2, CA6, CA9, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5, and Echovirus (E) 25, E30, Sabin strain polio 2, polio 1 and 3 were also detected in some patients. The present study represents a comprehensive 10-year country-based survey of AFP in the Republic of Korea. This surveillance could provide better understanding of the epidemiologic pattern, and clinical manifestations associated with specific genotypes of AFP in the Republic of Korea.

Human enterovirus (EV) 71 is the main etiological agent of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). It is associated with neurological complications, and caused fatalities during recent outbreaks in the Asia–Pacific region. Infections caused by EV71 could lead to many complications, ranging from brainstem encephalitis to pulmonary oedema, resulting in high mortality. In this study, a duplex real-time RT-PCR assay was developed in order to simultaneously detect pan-EV and EV71. EV71-specific primers and probes were designed based on the highly conserved VP1 region of EV71. Five EV71 strains were detected as positive, and no positive fluorescence signal was observed in the duplex real-time RT-PCR for other viral RNA, which showed 100% specificity for the selected panel, and no cross-reactions were observed in this duplex real-time RT-PCR. The EV71-specific duplex real-time RT-PCR was more sensitive than conventional RT-PCR, and detected viral titers that were 10-fold lower than those measured by the latter. Of the 381 HFMD clinical specimens, 196 (51.4%) cases were pan-EV-positive, of which 170 (86.7%) were EV71-positive when tested by pan-EV and EV71-specific duplex real-time RT-PCR. EV71-specific duplex real-time RT-PCR offers a rapid and sensitive method to detect EV71 from clinical specimens, and will allow quarantine measures to be taken more effectively during outbreaks. J. Med. Virol. 85:1274–1279, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Injecting drug use is associated with an increased risk of blood-borne viral infections, such as hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and HCV, respectively) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, their prevalence, virological characteristics, and associated factors are not clear among the injecting drug users in Korea. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HBV, HCV, and HIV infection, as well as their virological and clinical characteristics of injecting drug users in South Korea. Between 2007 and 2010, 318 injecting drug users (89.3% male; mean ± age 41.9 ± 8.15 years) were participated. While HIV infection was not found, the seroprevalence of anti-HCV and HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) was 48.4% (n = 154) and 6.6% (n = 21), respectively. HBV/HCV co-infection was found in 4.1% (n = 13). Occult HBV infection was suggested in 5.0% (n = 16). Among the HCV genotypes, 1b (37.7%) and 2a/2c (35.7%) were mostly often detected. HCV RNA was detected in 98.1% (n = 151/154) and high-level viremia (HCV RNA level, ≥400,000 IU/ml) were observed in 59.6% (n = 90/151). In multiple logistic regression analysis, old age (OR 1.18 per year, 95% CI = 1.09-1.27) and ever-sharing injecting equipment (OR 4.17, 95% CI = 1.39-12.45) independently predicted HCV mono-infection. The prevalence of HBV and HCV infection were high but largely undiagnosed in the present sample of Korean injecting drug users. Strategic prevention, screening, and treatment are needed to reduce further transmission and morbidity.

Hepatitis A virus is one of the most prominent causes of fecally transmitted acute hepatitis worldwide. In order to characterize the viral agents causing an outbreak in Korea (comprising North and South Korea) from June 2007 to May 2009, we collected specimens and performed genotyping of the VP1/P2A and VP3/VP1 regions of hepatitis A virus. We then used a multiple-alignment algorithm to compare the nucleotide sequences of the 2 regions with those of reference strains. Hepatitis A virus antibodies were detected in 64 patients from 5 reported outbreaks (North Korea, June 2007 [ n = 11]; Jeonnam, April 2008 [ n = 15]; Daegu, May 2008 [ n = 13]; Seoul, May 2009 [ n = 22]; and Incheon, May 2009 [ n = 3]). We found 100% homology between strains isolated from the Kaesong Industrial Region and Jeonnam. While those strains were classified as genotype IA strains, strains from Seoul and Incheon were identified as genotype IIIA strains and showed 98.9 to 100% homology. Genotype IIIA was also dominant in Daegu, where strains were 95.7 to 100% homologous. All hepatitis A virus strains isolated from the Kaesong Industrial Region, Jeonnam, Seoul, and Incheon belonged to a single cluster. However, strains from Daegu could be classified into 2 clusters, suggesting that the outbreak had multiple sources. This study indicates that hepatitis A virus strains of 2 different genotypes are currently cocirculating in Korea. Moreover, it documents an increasing prevalence of genotype IIIA strains in the country.

In this paper, we proposed automatic face detection and tracking which is robustness in rotation. To detect a face image in complicated background and various illuminating conditions, we used face skin color detection. we used Harris corner detector for extract facial feature points. After that, we need to track these feature points. In traditional method, Lucas-Kanade feature tracker doesn`t delete useless feature points by occlusion in current scene (face rotation or out of camera). So we proposed the estimation function, which delete useless feature points. The method of delete useless feature points is estimation value at each pyramidal level. When the face was occlusion, we deleted these feature points. This can be robustness to face rotation and out of camera. In experimental results, we assess that using estimation function is better than traditional feature tracker.

In this paper, we propose real-time hand tracking with a depth camera by using a Kalman Filter and an improved DAM-Shift (Depth-based adaptive mean shift) algorithm for occlusion handling. DAM-Shift is a useful algorithm for hand tracking, but difficult to track when occlusion occurs. To detect the hand region, we use a classifier that combines a boosting and a cascade structure. To verify occlusion, we predict in real time the center position of the hand region using Kalman Filter and calculate the major axis using the central moment of the preceding depth image. Using these factors, we measure real-time hand thickness through a projection and the threshold value of the thickness using a 2nd linear model. If the hand region is partially occluded, we cut the useless region. Experimental results show that the proposed approach outperforms the existing method.

In this paper, we propose the hand gesture recognition, especially static sign language gesture, using depth camera. For this system, we developed a finger extraction and gesture recognition method. In the extraction, we detect hand skeleton with Distance Transform. To extract fingertip, we use Convex Hull with hand skeleton. With hand skeleton, we could detect more accurate fingertip than contour-based method. For recognition, we create decision-tree with several features, hand center, hand axis, finger length, finger axis and arm center. Through the experimental results, we show that the performance is successful with our methods.

Prevalence of asymptomatic norovirus infection was investigated in food handlers in South Korea. Among 6,441 subjects, 66 (1.02%) had norovirus infections confirmed by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR (real time and nested). GII-12 and GII-4 were the prevalent genotypes. Our data suggest that infection of asymptomatic food handlers is an important transmission source in norovirus outbreaks.

Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) is described as sudden onset of flaccid paralysis in one or more limbs in children caused by polioviruses (PVs). PV eradication is achieved through intensive immunization and AFP attentive surveillance, according to the World Health Organization. Since 1998, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has conducted surveillance system. This is an overview of surveillance in the Republic of Korea during the 10-year period from 2002 to 2011. The surveillance system for wild PV eradication was conducted through reporting and laboratory testing. Cell culture isolates were identified by neutralization tests using standard polyclonal antisera typing. The molecular methods were used for further characterization to improve specificity. For genotyping, semi-nested RT-PCR was used to amplify part of the viral protein 1 gene. Patients below 5 years of age accounted for the largest proportion of cases, and a positive association between age and incidence was found. In the total 285 cases, Guillain-Barré syndrome was the major leading causes of AFP. Non-polio enterovirus was detected in some AFP patients. EV71 was detected in 21 cases and Coxsackievirus (C) A2, CA6, CA9, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5, and Echovirus (E) 25, E30, Sabin strain polio 2, polio 1 and 3 were also detected in some patients. The present study represents a comprehensive 10-year country-based survey of AFP in the Republic of Korea. This surveillance could provide better understanding of the epidemiologic pattern, and clinical manifestations associated with specific genotypes of AFP in the Republic of Korea.

Human enterovirus (EV) 71 is the main etiological agent of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). It is associated with neurological complications, and caused fatalities during recent outbreaks in the Asia-Pacific region. Infections caused by EV71 could lead to many complications, ranging from brainstem encephalitis to pulmonary oedema, resulting in high mortality. In this study, a duplex real-time RT-PCR assay was developed in order to simultaneously detect pan-EV and EV71. EV71-specific primers and probes were designed based on the highly conserved VP1 region of EV71. Five EV71 strains were detected as positive, and no positive fluorescence signal was observed in the duplex real-time RT-PCR for other viral RNA, which showed 100% specificity for the selected panel, and no cross-reactions were observed in this duplex real-time RT-PCR. The EV71-specific duplex real-time RT-PCR was more sensitive than conventional RT-PCR, and detected viral titers that were 10-fold lower than those measured by the latter. Of the 381 HFMD clinical specimens, 196 (51.4%) cases were pan-EV-positive, of which 170 (86.7%) were EV71-positive when tested by pan-EV and EV71-specific duplex real-time RT-PCR. EV71-specific duplex real-time RT-PCR offers a rapid and sensitive method to detect EV71 from clinical specimens, and will allow quarantine measures to be taken more effectively during outbreaks.

In this paper, we propose a hand gesture recognition system using a depth camera for user notes correction. For this system, we developed a gesture recognition and hand tracking method. In tracking, we focus on the index finger tip point. To extract the point, we detect the hand region using depth information and determine the top point of the region. For recognition, we use the $N recogniser. However, the recogniser has a problem that it is too insensitive in rotation. Therefore, we propose an enhanced $N recogniser. We include the process of matching the angle between the starting gesture pose and the ending gesture pose. Through experimental results, we show that the performance improves with our methods.

This study was performed to analyze epidemiological and molecular characteristics of coxsakievirus (CV) B1 infection associated with severe neonatal illness cases and death in Korea during 2008–2009. Through a nationwide surveillance program, specimens were collected from 104 patients infected with CVB1. The detection of enteroviruses (EVs) from specimens was subjected to a diagnostic real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in the 5′-non-coding region (NCR). A semi-nested PCR was conducted to amplify sequences from the VP1 region and sequence comparison was performed with reference strains registered in Genbank. Male-to-female ratio confirmed approximately 5:4. The major clinical manifestation of patients infected with CVB1 was aseptic meningitis (55.8%). The other clinical symptoms were herpangina or hand–foot–mouth disease (22.1%) and neonatal sepsis (7.7%). The sequences of CVB1 isolates were divided into four genetic clusters (A–D) with at least 15% diversity between the clusters. Almost all the CVB1 isolates in Korea from 2008 to 2009 were in cluster D (except for 2 cases). The homology relationship was also similar between the Korean CVB1 strains and US strain (above 93%). It is possible that Korean CVB1 isolates found during 2008–2009 originated from the US strains found during 2006–2008. The identification of CVB1 in South Korea shows the potential of EVs to cause serious disease in an unpredictable fashion. J. Med. Virol. 85:110–115, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

ObjectivesThe epidemiological patterns of endemic hepatitis A virus (HAV) are unclear in northeastern Asia depending on the ethnicity of the country in question. The purpose of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of HAV in northeastern China, South Korea, and Japan.MethodsA total of 1,500 serum samples were collected from five groups of inhabitants (300 each) who were over 40 years of age (Korean Chinese, indigenous Chinese, South Korean, Korean living in Japan, and indigenous Japanese). The samples were screened for antibodies to HAV using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.ResultsPositivity for HAV antibodies was 93.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 90.9–96.4) in Koreans living in northeastern China, 99.7% (95% CI: 99.0–100.3) in indigenous Chinese, 98.0% (95% CI: 96.4–99.6) in indigenous Koreans, 33.3% (95% CI: 28.0–38.7) in Koreans living in Japan, and 20.4% (95% CI: 15.8–25.0) in indigenous Japanese persons. The overall anti-HAV prevalence was not significantly different between northeastern China and South Korea, but it was different in Japan.ConclusionsThese results indicate that differences in seroprevalence can be attributed to geological, environmental, and socioeconomic conditions rather than ethnicity.

This paper presents performance evaluation of high-κ/metal gate (HK/MG) process on an industry standard 45nm low power microprocessor built on bulk substrate. CMOS devices built with HK/MG demonstrate 50% improvement in NFET and 65% improvement in PFET drive current when compared with industry standard 45nm Poly/SiON devices. No additional stress elements were used for this performance gain. The critical path circuits of this low power microprocessor built with HK/MG show dynamic performance gain over 50% at same supply voltage and 36% lower dynamic energy at same performance. Superior SRAM minimum operating voltage characteristics are achieved due to Vt variability reduction from HK/MG. Analog circuit functionality is demonstrated by a fully integrated PLL circuitry without any modification to process.

In traditional feature tracker method (Lucas-Kanademethod), feature points have to found which doesn't have this feature in current scene by occlusion. In this paper developed a novel method for correct feature tracker. In proposed feature tracker, we used the estimation value at each pyramidal level. When the face was occlusion, we deleted these feature points, which is useless feature. This method is robustness to face rotation. It has two main modules, candidate face region detecting and tracking. For detect a face region in diversely conditioned image, we utilized skin color detector, which defines explicitly the boundaries of skin cluster in some color space. Then, tracking the region, we used the Harris corner detector and the improved feature tracker which has robustness for face rotation. In experimental result, we estimated the performance of face tracking algorithm and show its robustness in orientation.

This paper presents a method for face detection which is robustness in face rotation. This method has two main modules, candidate face region detecting and tracking. To detect a face region in variously conditional image, we used skin color detection, which is rule-based algorithm. Then, to track the region, we applied Harris corner detection and a greedy feature tracker which has robustness for rotated facial image. In experimental result, we assess the performance of face tracking algorithm, which is robustness in rotation.

In this paper, we present a face tracking and detection algorithm in real time camera input environment. To trace and extract a face image in complicated background and various illuminating conditions, we used pyramidal Lucas-Kanade feature tracker. Also we used KLT algorithm, which has robustness for rotated facial image, to extract the distinguishing feature of face area.

A split-gate flash memory cell has been embedded in a 0.18 um high performance CMOS logic process with copper interconnects. A novel triple self-aligned (SA3) process provides a compact cell and high degree of modularity. The entire memory cell structure is defined with one single mask in an area less than 13F/sup 2/. Source-side channel hot electron program and poly-poly tunneling erase enable low power consumption suitable for low voltage applications.

Background/aims The distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes varies geographically. In Korea, genotypes 1 and 2 comprise more than 90% of HCV infections, while genotype 6 is very rare. This study compared the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with genotype 6 HCV infection with those infected with HCV genotypes 1 and 2. Methods This was a prospective, multicenter HCV cohort study that enrolled 1,173 adult patients, of which 930 underwent HCV genotype analysis, and only 9 (1.0%) were found to be infected with genotype 6 HCV. The clinical and epidemiological parameters of the genotypes were compared. Results The patients with genotype 6 HCV had a mean age of 41.5 years, 77.8% were male, and they had no distinct laboratory features. A sustained virologic response (SVR) was observed in four (67%) of six patients who received antiviral therapy. Risk factors such as the presence of a tattoo (n=6, 66.7%), more than three sexual partners (n=3, 33.3%), and injection drug use (n=3, 33.3%) were more common among genotype 6 patients than among genotypes 1 or 2. Conclusions The epidemiology and treatment response of patients infected with genotype 6 HCV differed significantly from those with genotypes 1 or 2, warranting continuous monitoring.

High performance analog (HPA) devices in high-k metal gate (HKMG) scheme with innovative halo engineering have been successfully demonstrated to produce superior analog and digital performance for low power applications. HPA device was processed “freely” with no extra mask, no extra litho, and no extra process step. This paper details a comprehensive study of the analog and digital characteristics of these HPA devices in comparison with analog control (conventional digital devices with matched geometry). Analog properties such as output voltage gain (also called self-gain), trans-conductance G m, conductance G ds, G m/I d, mismatching (MM) behavior, flicker noise (1/f noise) and current linearity have clearly reflected the advantage of HPA devices over analog control, while DC performance (e.g., I on–I off, I off–V tsat, DIBL, C jswg) and reliability (HCI) have also shown the comparability of HPA devices over control.

Two new astrovirus assays, a rapid biotin-avidin enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and RNA probe hybridization, were developed and compared with an established astrovirus assay, an indirect EIA, and immune electron microscopy. Sensitivity and specificity were evaluated by using a screening panel of 22 astrovirus-positive and 305 astrovirus-negative fecal specimens. The biotin-avidin assay was equivalent in performance to the reference indirect assay, and both could detect about 10 ng of viral protein. Although the probe was more sensitive than either EIA and could detect higher dilutions of virus in tissue culture and stool specimens, it did not detect more astrovirus-positive fecal specimens. Of the 22 astrovirus-positive specimens detected by the EIAs, 20 were confirmed by immune electron microscopy with hyperimmune rabbit antiserum. To determine the usefulness of EIAs for large epidemiologic studies, EIAs were used to screen 1,289 stool specimens from three studies of children with and without diarrhea. Astrovirus was detected in 3.5% of specimens from children with diarrhea and 1.9% of specimens from those without diarrhea. Our results indicate that the biotin-avidin EIA is an efficient, sensitive, and specific method for routinely screening large numbers of fecal samples and that its application in epidemiologic studies may yield higher rates of astrovirus infection than have been found previously by other methods.