Suki Kim

Diagnostic value of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) for the early detection of diabetes in high‐risk subjects

Objective  The aim of this study was to assess the validity of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and/or glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) as screening tests for the early detection of diabetes in high‐risk subjects.

Factor analysis of the metabolic syndrome among elderly Koreans—the South-west Seoul Study

Aims  To examine the relationship between the components of the metabolic syndrome and to explore whether insulin resistance unifies the clustering of components of the metabolic syndrome among urban elderly Koreans using exploratory factor analysis.

Image enhancement using a fusion framework of histogram equalization and laplacian pyramid

The image enhancement methods based on histogram equalization (HE) often fail to improve local information and sometimes have the fatal flaw of over-enhancement when a quantum jump occurs in the cumulative distribution function of the histogram. To overcome these shortcomings, we propose an image enhancement method based on a modified Laplacian pyramid framework that decomposes an image into band-pass images to improve both the global contrast and local information. For the global contrast, a novel robust HE is proposed to provide a well-balanced mapping function which effectively suppresses the quantum jump. For the local information, noise-reduced and adaptively gained high-pass images are applied to the resultant image. In qualitative and quantitative comparisons through experimental results, the proposed method shows natural and robust image quality and suitability for video sequences, achieving generally higher performance when compared to existing methods.

A control network architecture based on EIA-709.1 protocol for power line data communications

This paper presents an EIA-709.1 protocol architecture that can alleviate the burden of data communications in the Neuron chip. The proposed protocol is implemented with partly hardware and partly software. The physical layer and the MAC layer of the EIA-709.1 protocol are implemented with hardware. The upper link layer of the EIA-709.1 protocol is implemented with software. We verified the commercial feasibility of the proposed system through the power line tests with the existing LonWorks network. As a result, it is concluded that the proposed architecture provides flexibility and cost benefit for the system implementations.

Visceral fat amount is associated with carotid atherosclerosis even in type 2 diabetic men with a normal waist circumference.

Objective:Our objective was to investigate whether determination of the quantity of visceral fat has an additional benefit in assessing atherosclerotic burden in men with type 2 diabetes compared with the traditional measurement of waist circumference (WC) alone.Methods:This was an observational study performed in 368 men with type 2 diabetes, consecutively enrolled in Diabetes Clinics. Common carotid artery far-wall intima-media thickness (IMT), WC and visceral fat thickness (VFT), as measured by ultrasonography, were measured for each subject. Abdominal and visceral obesity were defined as a WC >90 cm and a VFT ⩾47.6 mm, respectively.Results:Among subjects with abdominal obesity (n=174), 35 subjects did not have visceral obesity. In contrast, among the subjects without abdominal obesity (n=194), 88 patients had visceral obesity. Despite no differences in age, glucose control, lipid profile and treatment modalities, there was a significant difference in carotid IMT based on VFT strata, but not WC strata. The subjects without abdominal obesity, but who had visceral obesity, had a higher carotid IMT compared with subjects with abdominal obesity, but without visceral obesity (maximal, 0.94±0.35 vs 0.78±0.17 mm; and average, 0.74±0.19 vs 0.64±0.14 mm, respectively, P<0.001).Conclusions:Subjects having visceral obesity, regardless of a normal WC, showed a higher carotid IMT compared with those with increased WC, but less visceral fat. In addition to WC, a direct estimation for visceral fat may provide an additional role in assessing atherosclerotic burden in men with type 2 diabetes.

Comparison of ADA and WHO criteria for the diagnosis of diabetes in elderly Koreans.

Aims This study was conducted to compare the prevalence and cardiovascular risk factors of different categories of glucose tolerance in the elderly Korean population using World Health Organization (WHO) and American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria.

Development of voltage stability constrained optimal power flow (VSCOPF)

This paper presents an application of optimization techniques incorporating voltage stability constraints. L-index that indicates voltage collapse proximity is adapted into the OPF formulation. This paper shows the impact of incorporation of voltage security constraint into optimal power flow formulation in which the active power dispatch problem is associated with guaranteeing adequate voltage security levels in power systems. It provides the optimal solution both minimizing generation cost and guaranteeing voltage security level, Numerical examples using simple 3-bus system and IEEE 30-bus system are also presented to illustrate the capabilities of the proposed formulation.

A 3.57 Gb/s/pin Low Jitter All-Digital DLL With Dual DCC Circuit for GDDR3 DRAM in 54-nm CMOS Technology

This paper presents an all digital delay-locked loop (DLL) which achieves low jitter and stable duty cycle correction (DCC) operation. Since the DLL has dual DCC circuit, with the combinations of two DCC circuits, the DLL can correct +12.9% and -6.13% duty error under 2% at 333 MHz with 1.6 V. The DLL operates up to 1.67 GHz with 1.8 V and 1.78 GHz with 2.0 V supply voltage, and its peak-to-peak jitter at 1.4 GHz with 1.8 V is 29 ps. The power dissipations are 4.2 mW (5 mW) at 100 MHz and 19.8 mW (29.5 mW) at 1 GHz with 1.5 V (1.8 V) supply voltage with the help of the update gear circuit from the previous work. And the DLL is fabricated with 54-nm DRAM CMOS technology. The active area of the DLL is 0.11 mm2.

Improved field emission stability of thin multiwalled carbon nanotube emitters.

The improved field emission stability of thin multiwalled carbon nanotube (thin-MWCNT) emitters using a tip sonication process has been investigated. The thin-MWCNTs showed short lengths and many open tips after the tip sonication treatment. The field emission properties of the thin-MWCNT emitters were investigated. Field emission stability dramatically increased as the tip sonication time increased. In particular, field emission current at an acceleration condition was quite stable and showed no degradation for over 19 h after tip sonication treatment of 30 min. Tip sonication could effectively cut CNTs short and regulate the length of CNTs. Therefore, field emission stability was significantly improved during a long period of operation because many shortened thin-MWCNTs could participate in field emission after the treatment.

High fat stores in ectopic compartments in men with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: an anthropometric determinant of carotid atherosclerosis and insulin resistance

Objective:The objective of this study was to analyze how fat partitioning in the liver, muscle and visceral compartments is altered by diabetes and age, and whether altered fat distribution is associated with a higher carotid artery intima-media thickness (C-IMT) and insulin resistance.Methods:This was an observational study performed on 21 young healthy men (mean age±s.d., 28.6±3.8 years) and 73 men with newly developed type 2 diabetes (38 young (29.2±4.1 years) and 35 middle-aged (47.1±6.0 years) subjects). Abdominal visceral and subcutaneous fat areas, mid-thigh muscle attenuation and liver attenuation characteristics were determined; the mid-thigh muscle was divided into low- and normal-density muscle areas.Results:The young and middle-aged diabetic subjects had higher visceral fat areas, higher liver attenuation and higher lipid-rich muscle (greater low-density muscle area and decreased muscle attenuation) when compared with healthy individuals; however, no differences were observed between the two diabetic groups. In contrast, the C-IMT increased with both age and diabetes. On the basis of multiple regression analyses, mid-thigh low-density muscle area and muscle attenuation were independently associated with the C-IMT, and the mid-thigh normal-density muscle area and muscle attenuation were independent factors of insulin resistance.Conclusions:High fat stores within ectopic compartments were observed at an early stage in the development of diabetes. Furthermore, altered lipid partitioning within muscle was independently associated with carotid atherosclerosis and insulin resistance.