Chung-Ang University

About: Chung-Ang University is a education organization based out in Seoul, South Korea. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Thin film. The organization has 13381 authors who have published 26978 publications receiving 416735 citations. The organization is also known as: CAU & Chung.

Home visitation program for detecting, evaluating and treating socially withdrawn youth in Korea

Abstract: Aim The problems of youth social withdrawal (or hikikomori) became a hot-button social issue in Japan in the 1990s Unfortunately, current nosology in the DSM-IV may not adequately capture the concept of socially withdrawn youth (SWY) or hikikomori This study aimed to investigate core SWY issues, evaluate SWY's psychopathologies, and approach them therapeutically through a home visitation program Methods Participants were 65 youth referred by community mental health centers and psychiatric clinics around Seoul and Kyongki-Do province Among them, only 41 participants (31 male, 10 female, mean age 15 ± 36 years) fit our SWY criteria In addition, 248 middle and high school students in Seoul were recruited as a baseline control group Caseworkers interviewed the SWY participants and their parents in their homes, using our structured interview manual and a number of psychiatric scales Caseworkers also approached the participants therapeutically Results Participants' Depression Inventory, Trait Anxiety Inventory, Social Anxiety Scale, and Internet Addiction Scale scores were significantly higher than those of baseline controls Participants' mean number of psychotherapeutic sessions was 28, and the mean number of parental interview sessions was 34 After the therapeutic sessions, Global Assessment Functioning scores and social activities had improved somewhat in 683% of participants Conclusion These findings suggest that SWY is a complex phenomenon, so an individual psychopathologic process is very important for treatment The most difficult problem in SWY treatment was therapeutic access Hence, the home visit approach with a structured manual may be a good gateway for solving this problem

Low-light image enhancement using variational optimization-based Retinex model

Abstract: This paper presents a low-light image enhancement method using the variational-optimization-based Retinex algorithm. The proposed enhancement method first estimates the initial illumination and uses its gamma corrected version to constrain the illumination component. Next, the variational-based minimization is iteratively performed to separate the reflectance and illumination components. The color assignment of the estimated reflectance component is then performed to restore the color component using the input RGB color channels. Experimental results show that the proposed method can provide better enhanced result without saturation, noise amplification or color distortion.

Volume IV. The DUNE far detector single-phase technology

Abstract: The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe, the dynamics of the supernovae that produced the heavy elements necessary for life, and whether protons eventually decay—these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our universe, its current state, and its eventual fate. DUNE is an international world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions as it searches for leptonic charge-parity symmetry violation, stands ready to capture supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. Central to achieving DUNE's physics program is a far detector that combines the many tens-of-kiloton fiducial mass necessary for rare event searches with sub-centimeter spatial resolution in its ability to image those events, allowing identification of the physics signatures among the numerous backgrounds. In the single-phase liquid argon time-projection chamber (LArTPC) technology, ionization charges drift horizontally in the liquid argon under the influence of an electric field towards a vertical anode, where they are read out with fine granularity. A photon detection system supplements the TPC, directly enhancing physics capabilities for all three DUNE physics drivers and opening up prospects for further physics explorations. The DUNE far detector technical design report (TDR) describes the DUNE physics program and the technical designs of the single- and dual-phase DUNE liquid argon TPC far detector modules. Volume IV presents an overview of the basic operating principles of a single-phase LArTPC, followed by a description of the DUNE implementation. Each of the subsystems is described in detail, connecting the high-level design requirements and decisions to the overriding physics goals of DUNE.

Foxa2 and Nurr1 Synergistically Yield A9 Nigral Dopamine Neurons Exhibiting Improved Differentiation, Function, and Cell Survival

Abstract: Effective dopamine (DA) neuron differentiation from neural precursor cells (NPCs) is prerequisite for precursor/stem cell-based therapy of Parkinson's disease (PD). Nurr1, an orphan nuclear receptor, has been reported as a transcription factor that can drive DA neuron differentiation from non-dopaminergic NPCs in vitro. However, Nurr1 alone neither induces full neuronal maturation nor expression of proteins found specifically in midbrain DA neurons. In addition, Nurr1 expression is inefficient in inducing DA phenotype expression in NPCs derived from certain species such as mouse and human. We show here that Foxa2, a forkhead transcription factor whose role in midbrain DA neuron development was recently revealed, synergistically cooperates with Nurr1 to induce DA phenotype acquisition, midbrain-specific gene expression, and neuronal maturation. Thus, the combinatorial expression of Nurr1 and Foxa2 in NPCs efficiently yielded fully differentiated nigral (A9)-type midbrain neurons with clearly detectable DA neuronal activities. The effects of Foxa2 in DA neuron generation were observed regardless of the brain regions or species from which NPCs were derived. Furthermore, DA neurons generated by ectopic Foxa2 expression were more resistant to toxins. Importantly, Foxa2 expression resulted in a rapid cell cycle exit and reduced cell proliferation. Consistently, transplantation of NPCs transduced with Nurr1 and Foxa2 generated grafts enriched with midbrain-type DA neurons but reduced number of proliferating cells, and significantly reversed motor deficits in a rat PD model. Our findings can be applied to ongoing attempts to develop an efficient and safe precursor/stem cell-based therapy for PD. STEM CELLS 2010; 28: 501-512 (Less)