• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.55-78
• /
• 2021

Tosolve complex and diverse social problems and ensure the quality of life of individuals, social robots that can interact with humans are attracting attention. In the past, robots were recognized as beings that provide labor force as they put into industrial sites on behalf of humans. However, the concept of today's robot has been extended to social robots that coexist with humans and enable social interaction with the advent of Smart technology, which is considered an important driver in most industries. Specifically, there are service robots that respond to customers, the robots that have the purpose of edutainment, and the emotionalrobots that can interact with humans intimately. However, popularization of robots is not felt despite the current information environment in the modern ICT service environment and the 4th industrial revolution. Considering social interaction with users which is an important function of social robots, not only the technology of the robots but also other factors should be considered. The design elements of the robot are more important than other factors tomake consumers purchase essentially a social robot. In fact, existing studies on social robots are at the level of proposing "robot development methodology" or testing the effects provided by social robots to users in pieces. On the other hand, consumer emotions felt from the robot's appearance has an important influence in the process of forming user's perception, reasoning, evaluation and expectation. Furthermore, it can affect attitude toward robots and good feeling and performance reasoning, etc. Therefore, this study aims to verify the effect of appearance of social robot and consumer emotions on consumer's attitude toward social robot. At this time, a social robot design evaluation model is constructed by combining heterogeneous data from different sources. Specifically, the three quantitative indicator data for the appearance of social robots from the ABOT Database is included in the model. The consumer emotions of social robot design has been collected through (1) the existing design evaluation literature and (2) online buzzsuch as product reviews and blogs, (3) qualitative interviews for social robot design. Later, we collected the score of consumer emotions and attitudes toward various social robots through a large-scale consumer survey. First, we have derived the six major dimensions of consumer emotions for 23 pieces of detailed emotions through dimension reduction methodology. Then, statistical analysis was performed to verify the effect of derived consumer emotionson attitude toward social robots. Finally, the moderated regression analysis was performed to verify the effect of quantitatively collected indicators of social robot appearance on the relationship between consumer emotions and attitudes toward social robots. Interestingly, several significant moderation effects were identified, these effects are visualized with two-way interaction effect to interpret them from multidisciplinary perspectives. This study has theoretical contributions from the perspective of empirically verifying all stages from technical properties to consumer's emotion and attitudes toward social robots by linking the data from heterogeneous sources. It has practical significance that the result helps to develop the design guidelines based on consumer emotions in the design stage of social robot development.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.43-52
• /
• 2013

Zearalenone (ZEN) is a non-steroidal estrogenic mycotoxin produced by several species of Fusarium that are found in cereals and agricultural products. ZEN has been implicated in mycotoxicosis in farm animals and in humans. The toxic effects of ZEN are well known, but the ability of an alkaline Comet assay to assess ZEN-induced oxidative DNA damage in Chang liver cells has not been established. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the Comet assay for the determination of cytotoxicity and extent of DNA damage induced by ZEN toxin, and the second aim was to investigate the ability of N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA) to protect cells from ZEN-induced toxicity. In the Comet assay, DNA damage was assessed by quantifying the tail extent moment (TEM; arbitrary unit) and tail length (TL; arbitrary unit), which are used as indicators of DNA strand breaks in SCGE. The cytotoxic effects of ZEN in Chang liver cells were mediated by inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of oxidative DNA damage. Increasing the concentration of ZEN increased the extent of DNA damage. The extent of DNA migration, and percentage of cells with tails were significantly increased in a concentration-dependent manner following treatment with ZEN toxin (p < 0.05). Treatment with a low concentration of ZEN toxin (25 ${\mu}M$) induced a relatively low level of DNA damage, compared to treatment of cells with a high concentration of ZEN toxin (250 ${\mu}M$). Oxidative DNA damage appeared to be a key determinant of ZEN-induced toxicity in Chang liver cells. Significant reductions in cytolethality and oxidative DNA damage were observed when cells were pretreated with NACA prior to exposure to any concentration of ZEN. Our data suggest that ZEN induces DNA damage in Chang liver cells, and that the antioxidant activity of NACA may contribute to the reduction of ZEN-induced DNA damage and cytotoxicity via elimination of oxidative stress.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.661-665
• /
• 2016

Background: Stomach cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the third leading cause of death among cancers throughout the world. Therefore, stomach cancer outcomes can affect health systems at the national and international levels. Although stomach cancer mortality and incidence rates have decreased in developed countries, these indicators have a raising trend in East Asian developing countries, particularity in Iran. In this study, we aimed to determine the time trend of age-standardized rates of stomach cancer in different districts of Iran from 2000 to 2010. Materials and Methods: Cases of cancer were registered using a pathology-based system during 2000-2007 and with a population-based system since 2008 in Iran. In this study, we collected information about the incidence of stomach cancer during a 10 year period for 31 provinces and 376 districts, with a total of 49,917 cases. We employed two statistical approaches (a random effects and a random effects Markov model) for modeling the incidence of stomach cancer in different districts of Iran during the studied period. Results: The random effects model showed that the incidence rate of stomach cancer among males and females had an increasing trend and it increased by 2.38 and 0.87 persons every year, respectively. However, after adjusting for previous responses, the random effects Markov model showed an increasing rate of 1.53 and 0.75 for males and females, respectively. Conclusions: This study revealed that there are significant differences between different areas of Iran in terms of age-standardized incidence rates of stomach cancer. Our study suggests that a random effects Markov model can adjust for effects of previous responses.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.599-614
• /
• 2024

To evaluate the safety status of deteriorated segments in a submarine shield tunnel during its service life, a seepage model was established based on a cross-sea shield tunnel project. This model was used to study the migration patterns of erosive ions within the shield segments. Based on these laws, the degree of deterioration of the segments was determined. Using the derived analytical solution, the internal forces within the segments were calculated. Lastly, by applying the formula for calculating safety factors, the variation trends in the safety factors of segments with different degrees of deterioration were obtained. The findings demonstrate that corrosive seawater presents the evolution characteristics of continuous seepage from the outside to the inside of the tunnel. The nearby seepage field shows locally concentrated characteristics when there is leakage at the joint, which causes the seepage field's depth and scope to significantly increase. The chlorine ion content decreases gradually with the increase of the distance from the outer surface of the tunnel. The penetration of erosion ions in the segment is facilitated by the presence of water pressure. The ion content of the entire ring segment lining structure is related in the following order: vault < haunch < springing. The difference in the segment's rate of increase in chlorine ion content decreases as service time increases. Based on the analytical solution calculation, the segment's safety factor drops more when the joint leaks than when its intact, and the change rate between the two states exhibits a general downward trend. The safety factor shows a similar change rule at different water depths and continuously decreases at the same segment position as the water depth increases. The three phases of "sudden drop-rise-stability" are represented by a "spoon-shaped" change rule on the safety factor's change curve. The issue of the poor applicability of indicators in earlier studies is resolved by the analytical solution, which only requires determining the loss degree of the segment lining's effective bearing thickness to calculate the safety factor of any cross-section of the shield tunnel. The analytical solution's computation results, however, have some safety margins and are cautious. The process of establishing the evaluation model indicates that the secondary lining made of molded concrete can also have its safety status assessed using the analytical solution. It is very important for the safe operation of the tunnel and the safety of people's property and has a wide range of applications.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.237-242
• /
• 2016

A 1.86 kg, 3-year-old, female, Maltese was presented to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital of Seoul National University after being hit by a car. The patient was diagnosed with urinary bladder rupture, diaphragmatic hernia and fracture of ilium, tibia and fibula. Repair surgery was performed after stabilizing treatment. During the surgery, hypoxia was identified and it worsened after positive pressure ventilation (partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood ($PaO_2$): 52 mmHg, pulse oximetry ($SpO_2$): 87%, arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation ($SpO_2$): 85.8%). In addition to hypoxia, blood pressure decreased to 30 mmHg. Positive pressure ventilation was discontinued because hypoxia and hypotension were aggravated. After suturing the diaphragm, air was withdrawn to form negative pressure within the thorax. However, negative pressure was not attained despite continuous withdrawal of air. A thoracostomy tube was placed because tension pneumothorax was strongly suspected. The patient recovered through close monitoring with the tube for 3 days. Due to limitation of evaluation of the lung, predicting occurrence of tension pneumothorax is difficult in patient of diaphragmatic hernia. Therefore, it is recommended that indicators of tension pneumothorax should be closely monitored during diagnosis and repair procedures of diaphragmatic hernia.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.376-386
• /
• 2011

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbial hazards posed by food utensils and fixtures in food service operations at selected middle and high schools located in Seoul, Korea. Methods: We collected 200 samples of utensils and fixtures including cups, spoons/chopsticks, food trays and tables from five different schools in Seoul. Target microorganisms of this study were divided into two groups: total bacterial count and total coliform as indicators of microbial contamination and Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus as pathogens of food poisoning. We used selective media to quantify microbial concentration and 16S rRNA PCR assay for qualitative analysis. In addition, intensive interviews with nutritionists were conducted and observations were made to identify factors that may affect microbial contamination. Logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the relationship between the microbial concentration and operation characteristics of each operation. Results: The level of microbial concentration in school B and C were significantly lower than in school A, D and E (p<0.05). Some samples from school A, D and E showed over 3.4 log CFU/100 $cm^2$ (total bacterial count) and 1.0 log CFU/100 $cm^2$ (total coliform), which requires immediate hygienic action. The number of customers per staff member, periodicity of hygiene education for staff and daily operation time of sterilizers were also found to be important factors related with the microbial contamination of food service operations. Conclusions: These results suggested that not only a HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) approach, but also efforts to assess internal risk factors within operations be needed to reduce the microbial contamination of food utensils and fixtures. This study is expected to provide preliminary data for assessing microbial hazards in food service operations.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.169-178
• /
• 2021

Background and objective: Education based on agricultural experience in school gardens is coming to the fore as a solution to reduce the negative effect of rapid urbanization and the development of information technology (IT) on students. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate how parents of elementary, middle, and high school students in Korea perceive the value of education service using school gardens, as well as their willingness to participate in and pay for such service, and to utilize the results in a quantitative assessment of the socioeconomic value of the education service. Methods: A contactless online survey on the perceived value of education service using school gardens was conducted on 1,010 parents of elementary, middle, and high school students in Korea's five major districts from October 22 to 26 (5 days) of 2020 by M, a Korean specialized survey agency. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS for Windows 25.0 and Excel to obtain the frequency and ratio of each measured item. Results: The respondents had an average of 1.83, of which 52.8% were male. 55.3% of the respondents were aware of the education service using school gardens, and 27.9% experienced the service. When asked if they saw the educational service using school gardens as necessary, 79% answered in the affirmative. In terms of the difference in perception of the need for the service according to experience, 91.8% of the parents who experienced the service responded that it was necessary, indicating that it is important to provide opportunities to experience this service to expand the scope of service. 54.9% of all respondents responded they were willing to pay the costs required for school gardens. When income tax was used as a payment method, the average amount parents were willing to pay was 13,193 KRW, and the tax rate was 2.02%. Based on experience, those who experienced this service had a higher need and willingness to pay for the service than those who had not experience, but the actual amount or tax rate was low as they knew how it was operated. Conclusion: As basic research on the assessment of the value of agricultural experience education using school gardens, this study determined how parents perceive this form of education service as well as their willingness to participate and pay for the service. These findings can be used to systemize the assessment indicators and promote the value of the education service using school gardens, allowing students to maintain a healthy and happy school life through agricultural experience.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.57-66
• /
• 2002

Objective : This study was designed to investigate the interrelationship and clinical usefulness of sperm morphology by strict criteria (SM), acrosome reaction following ionophore challenge test (ARIC) and sperm penetration assay (SPA) using zona-free hamster ova as prognostic factors in in vitro fertilization. Materials and Methods: Semen samples were provided by 83 patients undergoing IVF. We first evaluated the differences between normal fertilization group and poor fertilization group on three andrologic tests. Secondly, we analyzed the relationship between the three andrologic tests and in vitro fertilization on IVF settings. Finally, we evaluated the effectiveness of the three andrologic tests as the prognostic indicators for fertilizing ability. Results: The fertilization rate of all men in the poor fertilization group was less than 30%; but there was no evidence that this poor fertilization was due to oocyte defects. The results of three andrologic tests were significatly higher in normal fertilization group. Fertilization rate (%) in vitro was highly correlated (p<0.001) with % normal sperm by SM, ARIC value (%), and SPA result. By using Receiver-Operator-Characteristic curve (ROC), we evaluated the effectiveness of these three tests. The sensitivity and specificity of SM, ARIC test and SPA in predicting fertilization potential in IVF setting were 76% and 75%, 84% and 90%, and 76% and 95%, respectively. Conclusion: Our data suggest that the three andrologic tests can be reliable tools as prognostic factors of sperm fertilizing ability. Among these test, ARIC test and SPA gave more accurate information on fertilizing capacity. ARIC test was shown to have a predictive value for fertilizing ability comparable to that of SPA that appears to be a simple and cost-effective addition to current andrology laboratory. Combined application of these three tests may give more information on predicting sperm fertilizing capacity.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.98-106
• /
• 1991

Apgar score is most widely used evaluating indicator of newborn health, but it is very Subjective. Umbilical cord blood gas analysis is more objective and effective than Apgar score in evaluation of newborn status. Cord blood gas was changed slightly by processing of time after fetal birth. This study was undertaken to observe objectiveness and effectiveness of umbilical arterial blood gas analysis and effects of time interval of cord clamping to newborn health with 122 pregnant women and their babies. We observed following results : 1. There were poor correlation between Apgar score and umbilical cord arterial blood analysis in evaluating of newborn health (P>0.05). 2. There was no clinical significance of Apgar score or umbilical arterial blood gas analysis as single indicator in evaluating of newborn health (P>0.05). 3. Gas analysis and pH of umbilical arterial blood was more helpful in evaluating of newborn health than Apgasr score. 4. There were no significant effects of time interval of umbilical cord clamping to newborn health. 5. If there were no indications of early umbilical cord clamping, cord blood sampling at immediately after birth without cord clamping was more effective to evaluate newborn status.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.445-462
• /
• 2022

To investigate and evaluate the seismic damage behaviors of steel reinforced recycled concrete (SRRC) filled circular steel tube composite columns, in this study, the cyclic loading tests of 11 composite columns was carried out by using the load-displacement joint control method. The seismic damage process, hysteretic curves and performance indexes of composite columns were observed and obtained. The effects of replacement rates of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA), diameter thickness ratio, axial compression ratio, profile steel ratio and section form of profile steel on the seismic damage behaviors of composite columns were also analyzed in detail. The results show that the failure model of columns is a typical bending failure under the combined action of horizontal loads and vertical loads, and the columns have good energy dissipation capacity and ductility. In addition, the replacement rates of RCA have a certain adverse effect on the seismic bearing capacity, energy consumption and ductility of columns. The seismic damage characteristics of composite columns are revealed according to the failure modes and hysteretic curves. A modified Park-Ang seismic damage model based on the maximum displacement and cumulative energy consumption was proposed, which can consider the adverse effect of RAC on the seismic damage of columns. On this basis, the performance levels of composite columns are divided into five categories, The interlayer displacement angle and damage index are used as the damage quantitative indicators of composite columns, and the displacement angle limits of composite columns at different performance levels under 80% assurance rate are calculated as 1/105, 1/85, 1/65, 1/28, and 1/25 respectively. On this basis, the damage index limits corresponding to each performance level are calculated as 0.045, 0.1, 0.48, 0.8, and 1.0 respectively. Finally, the corresponding relations among the performance levels, damage degrees, interlayer displacement angles and damage indexes of composite columns are established. The conclusions can provide reference for the seismic design of SRRC filled circular steel tube composite columns, it fills the vacancy in the research on seismic damage of steel reinforced recycled concrete (SRRC) filled circular steel tube composite columns.