Browsing by Author "Chang, Yen-Chung"

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A Robotic Ball Catcher with Embedded Visual Servo Processor
(2010-01-01)
Hu, Jwu-Sheng
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Chien, Ming-Chih
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Chang, Yung-Jung
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Chang, Yen-Chung
;
Su, Shyh-Haur
In this work we present a robotic ball catcher with embedded visual servo processor. The embedded visual servo processor with powerful parallel computing capability is used as the computation platform to track and triangulate a flying ball's position in 3D based on stereo vision. A recursive least squares algorithm for model-based path prediction of the flying ball is used to determine the catch time and position. Experimental results for real time catching of a flying ball are presented by a 6-DOF robot arm. The percentage of success rate of the robotic ball catcher was found to be approximately 60% for the ball thrown to it from five meters away.
Development of a Multisite, Closed-loop Neuromodulator for the Theranosis of Neural Degenerative Diseases
(2018-01-01)
Chen, Hsin
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Chang, Yen-Chung
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Yeh, Shih-Rung
;
Hsieh, Chih-Cheng
;
Tang, Kea-Tiong
Stimulating specific brain regions has been found useful for treating neural disorders, such as the Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, depression, etc. However, how electrical stimulation modulates neural activities remains not fully understood. As animal models provide the advantage of recording and stimulating different disease-related regions simultaneously, this paper introduces the latest development of a multisite, closed-loop-controlled microsystem for investigating novel treatments on neural degenerative diseases with freely-moving rats. The algorithms for recognizing pathological neural activities automatically are also developed and realized in hardware, so as to control the stimulation in a closed loop and in real time. The pilot studies on the efficacy of treating the Parkinson's disease with closed-loop-controlled stimulation will be presented and discussed. Finally, the feasibility of modelling and probing how neural dynamics and connectivity are modulated by stimulation will be an important topic for future research.
Heavy chain of cytoplasmic dynein is a major component of the postsynaptic density fraction
(2006-08-01)
Cheng, Huei-Hsuan
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Liu, Szu-Heng
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Lee, Flui-Chen
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Lin, Ya-Shiuan
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Huang, Zu-Han
A protein with an apparent molecular size of 490 kDa was found in the postsynaptic density (PSD) fraction isolated from porcine cerebral cortices and rat forebrains, and this 490 kDa protein accounted for similar to 3% of the total protein of these samples. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometric and Western blotting analyses consistently indicated that this 490 kDa protein consisted primarily of the heavy chain of cytoplasmic dynein (cDHC). Immunocytochemical analyses showed that cDHC was found in 92% and 89% of the phalloidin-positive protrusions that were themselves associated with discrete clusters of synaptophysin, a presynaptic terminal marker, and PSD-95, a postsynaptic marker, on neuronal processes, respectively. Quantitative Western blotting analyses of various subcellular fractions isolated from porcine cerebral cortices and rat forebrains further showed that not only the heavy but also the intermediate chains of dynein are enriched in the PSD fraction. Cytoplasmic dynein is a microtubule-associated motor protein complex that drives the movement of various cargos toward the minus ends of microtubules and plays many other diverse functions in the cell. Our results that cDHC is a major component of the PSD fraction, that both dynein heavy and intermediate chains are enriched in the PSD fraction and that cDHC is present in dendritic spines raise the possibilities that cytoplasmic dynein may play structural and functional roles in the postsynaptic terminal. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.