• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.140-146
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• 2014

This paper presents a case study to develop e-learning contents of agricultural safety based on the assessment of risks of 4 selected crops and stock farming: rice, potatoes, apples, tomatoes and stock raising. The aged farmers, who are main workforce of current Korean agriculture and relatively more vulnerable to various risks of agricultural work compared to younger workers, were considered as the main users of the contents in developing them. The safety guidelines were presented as simple as possible and the interfaces were designed to be simple and easy to use so that the older users can use it without much difficulty. In making the scenarios of the contents, risk assessments were carried out for each crop and stock farming with the focus being on occupational diseases rather than accidental injuries. To make the contents more attractive to the farmers, the functions requiring active responses from the users, such as answering simple questions, were included in the contents. Usability evaluation by experts of ergonomics and agricultural tasks were carried out in modifying the draft version, whereas formal usability test was not included in the case study. Though there are some limitations in the developed contents in the aspects of evaluation of usability and effectiveness, this case study shows the structured procedure of developing e-learning safety contents based on the risk assessments on agricultural tasks. The developed e-learning contents are expected to be used practically and easily in educating and training older farmers about safety and health of agricultural tasks.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.11 no.11
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• pp.17-24
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• 2022

With the spread of smart speakers based on voice recognition technology and deep learning technology, not only non-disabled people, but also the blind or physically handicapped can easily control home appliances such as lights and TVs through voice by linking home network services. This has greatly improved the quality of life. However, in the case of speech-impaired people, it is impossible to use the useful services of the smart speaker because they have inaccurate pronunciation due to articulation or speech disorders. In this paper, we propose a personalized voice classification technique for the speech-impaired to use for some of the functions provided by the smart speaker. The goal of this paper is to increase the recognition rate and accuracy of sentences spoken by speech-impaired people even with a small amount of data and a short learning time so that the service provided by the smart speaker can be actually used. In this paper, data augmentation and one cycle learning rate optimization technique were applied while fine-tuning ResNet18 model. Through an experiment, after recording 10 times for each 30 smart speaker commands, and learning within 3 minutes, the speech classification recognition rate was about 95.2%.

• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.142-147
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• 2012

Individuals with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulty inferring other people's feelings from their facial expressions and/or from situational cues, and therefore, they are less able to respond with prosocial behavior. We developed a computer-based training program to help teach the connection between facial-based or situation-based emotions and prosocial behavioral responses. An 8-year-old male school child with ASD participated in the study. In this program, he was trained to identify persons in need of help and appropriate prosocial responses using novel photo-based scenarios. When he misidentified emotions from photographs of another's face, the program highlighted those parts of the face which effectively communicate emotion. To increase the likelihood that he would learn a generalized repertoire of emotional understanding, multiple examples of emotional expressions and situations were provided. When he misidentified persons expressing a need for help, or failed to identify appropriate helping behaviors, role playing was used to help him appreciate the state of mind of a person in need of help. The results of the training indicated increases in prosocial behaviors during a laboratory task that required collaborative work. His homeroom teacher, using a behavioral rating scale, reported that he now understood another's emotion or situation better than before training. These findings indicate the effects of the training are not limited to the artificial experiment situation, but also carried over to his school life.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.347-354
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• 2015

Excess manganese (Mn) is neurotoxic. Increased manganese stores in the brain are associated with a number of behavioral problems, including motor dysfunction, memory loss and psychiatric disorders. We previously showed that the transport and neurotoxicity of manganese after intranasal instillation of the metal are altered in Hfe-deficient mice, a mouse model of the iron overload disorder hereditary hemochromatosis (HH). However, it is not fully understood whether loss of Hfe function modifies Mn neurotoxicity after ingestion. To investigate the role of Hfe in oral Mn toxicity, we exposed Hfe-knockout ($Hfe^{-/-}$) and their control wild-type ($Hfe^{+/+}$) mice to $MnCl_2$ in drinking water (5 mg/mL) for 5 weeks. Motor coordination and spatial memory capacity were determined by the rotarod test and the Barnes maze test, respectively. Brain and liver metal levels were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Compared with the water-drinking group, mice drinking Mn significantly increased Mn concentrations in the liver and brain of both genotypes. Mn exposure decreased iron levels in the liver, but not in the brain. Neither Mn nor Hfe deficiency altered tissue concentrations of copper or zinc. The rotarod test showed that Mn exposure decreased motor skills in $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice, but not in $Hfe^{-/-}$ mice (p = 0.023). In the Barns maze test, latency to find the target hole was not altered in Mn-exposed $Hfe^{+/+}$ compared with water-drinking $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice. However, Mn-exposed $Hfe^{-/-}$ mice spent more time to find the target hole than Mn-drinking $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice (p = 0.028). These data indicate that loss of Hfe function impairs spatial memory upon Mn exposure in drinking water. Our results suggest that individuals with hemochromatosis could be more vulnerable to memory deficits induced by Mn ingestion from our environment. The pathophysiological role of HFE in manganese neurotoxicity should be carefully examined in patients with HFE-associated hemochromatosis and other iron overload disorders.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.417-426
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• 2016

Objectives: The objective of the study was to investigate the related factors of preventive behavior experience toward dental caries and periodontal disease in Korean adolescents. Methods: The study subjects were 72,060 adolescents in 800 schools who completed 2014 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based survey. Dependent variables included general characteristics of the subjects, oral health behavior, and oral disease experience. The experience rate of sealant and scaling showed the prevention behavior of dental caries and periodontal disease. Data were analyzed by IBM SPSS statistics 20.0. Results: The experience rate of sealant accounted for 26.9%. The experience of sealant was related with gender, school, maternal education level, economic status, vigorous physical activity, smoking, usual stress, fruit consumption, milk consumption, soda consumption, snack consumption, tooth brushing, oral health education experience, periodontal bleeding and pain, mucosal disorders, and bad breath. The experience rate of scaling was 22.6%. The experience of scaling was related with gender, school, city division, learning achievement, maternal education level, economic status, residential type, vigorous physical activity, usual stress, fruit consumption, milk consumption, tooth brushing, oral health education experience, periodontal bleeding and pain, mucosal disorders, and bad breath. Conclusions: To expand preventive oral health behavior in the adolescents, it is necessary to support the systematic policy making and monetary establishment in the future.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.55 no.10
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• pp.383-387
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• 2012

Purpose: Although benign rolandic epilepsy (BRE) is a benign condition, it may be associated with a spectrum of behavioral, psychiatric, and cognitive disorders. This study aimed to assess the cognitive and other neuropsychological profiles of children with BRE. Methods: In total, 23 children with BRE were consecutively recruited. All children underwent sleep electroencephalography (EEG) and were assessed on a battery of comprehensive neuropsychological tests including the Korean versions of the Wechsler intelligence scale for children III, frontal executive neuropsychological test, rey complex figure test, Wisconsin card sorting test, attention deficit diagnostic scale, and child behavior checklist scale. Results: The study subjects included 13 boys and 10 girls aged $9.0{\pm}1.6$ years. Our subjects showed an average monthly seizure frequency of $0.9{\pm}0.7$, and a majority of them had focal seizures (70%). The spike index (frequency/min) was $4.1{\pm}5.3$ (right) and $13.1{\pm}15.9$ (left). Of the 23 subjects, 9 showed frequent spikes (>10/min) on the EEG. The subjects had normal cognitive and frontal executive functions, memory, and other neuropsychological sub-domain scores, even though 8 children (35%) showed some evidence of learning difficulties, attention deficits, and aggressive behavior. Conclusion: Our data have limited predictive value; however, these data demonstrate that although BRE appears to be benign at the onset, children with BRE might develop cognitive, behavioral, and other psychiatric disorders during the active phase of epilepsy, and these problems may even outlast the BRE. Therefore, we recommend scrupulous follow-up for children with BRE.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.486-494
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• 2018

Recently, we have reported that animals with telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) overexpression exhibit reduced social interaction, decreased preference for novel social interaction and poor nest-building behaviors-symptoms that mirror those observed in human autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Overexpression of TERT also alters the excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) ratio in the medial prefrontal cortex. However, the effects of TERT overexpression on hippocampal-dependent learning and synaptic efficacy have not been investigated. In the present study, we employed electrophysiological approaches in combination with behavioral analysis to examine hippocampal function of TERT transgenic (TERT-tg) mice and FVB controls. We found that TERT overexpression results in enhanced hippocampal excitation with no changes in inhibition and significantly impairs long-term synaptic plasticity. Interestingly, the expression levels of phosphorylated CREB and phosphorylated $CaMKII{\alpha}$ were significantly decreased while the expression level of $CaMKII{\alpha}$ was slightly increased in the hippocampus of TERT-overexpressing mice. Our observations highlight the importance of TERT in normal synaptic function and behavior and provide additional information on a novel animal model of ASD associated with TERT overexpression.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.267-276
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• 2014

Exposures to lead (Pb) are associated with neurological problems including psychiatric disorders and impaired learning and memory. Pb can be absorbed by iron transporters, which are up-regulated in hereditary hemochromatosis, an iron overload disorder in which increased iron deposition in various parenchymal organs promote metal-induced oxidative damage. While dysfunction in HFE (High Fe) gene is the major cause of hemochromatosis, the transport and toxicity of Pb in Hfe-related hemochromatosis are largely unknown. To elucidate the relationship between HFE gene dysfunction and Pb absorption, H67D knock-in Hfe-mutant and wild-type mice were given drinking water containing Pb 1.6 mg/ml ad libitum for 6 weeks and examined for behavioral phenotypes using the nestlet-shredding and marble-burying tests. Latency to nestlet-shredding in Pb-treated wild-type mice was prolonged compared with non-exposed wild-types (p < 0.001), whereas Pb exposure did not alter shredding latency in Hfe-mutant mice. In the marble-burying test, Hfe-mutant mice showed an increased number of marbles buried compared with wild-type mice (p = 0.002), indicating more repetitive behavior upon Hfe mutation. Importantly, Pb-exposed wild-type mice buried more marbles than non-exposed wild-types, whereas the number of marbles buried by Hfe-mutant mice did not change whether or not exposed to Pb. These results suggest that Hfe mutation could normalize Pb-induced behavioral alteration. To explore the mechanism of repetitive behavior caused by Pb, western blot analysis was conducted for proteins involved in brain dopamine metabolism. The levels of tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine transporter increased upon Pb exposure in both genotypes, whereas Hfe-mutant mice displayed down-regulation of the dopamine transporter and dopamine D1 receptor with D2 receptor elevated. Taken together, our data support the idea that both Pb exposure and Hfe mutation increase repetitive behavior in mice and further suggest that these behavioral changes could be associated with altered dopaminergic neurotransmission, providing a therapeutic basis for psychiatric disorders caused by Pb toxicity.

• Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.512-527
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• 2018

This review provides a comprehensive overview of brain imaging studies of the brain-gut interaction in functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs). Functional neuroimaging studies during gut stimulation have shown enhanced brain responses in regions related to sensory processing of the homeostatic condition of the gut (homeostatic afferent) and responses to salience stimuli (salience network), as well as increased and decreased brain activity in the emotional response areas and reduced activation in areas associated with the top-down modulation of visceral afferent signals. Altered central regulation of the endocrine and autonomic nervous responses, the key mediators of the brain-gut axis, has been demonstrated. Studies using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging reported abnormal local and global connectivity in the areas related to pain processing and the default mode network (a physiological baseline of brain activity at rest associated with self-awareness and memory) in FGIDs. Structural imaging with brain morphometry and diffusion imaging demonstrated altered gray- and white-matter structures in areas that also showed changes in functional imaging studies, although this requires replication. Molecular imaging by magnetic resonance spectroscopy and positron emission tomography in FGIDs remains relatively sparse. Progress using analytical methods such as machine learning algorithms may shift neuroimaging studies from brain mapping to predicting clinical outcomes. Because several factors contribute to the pathophysiology of FGIDs and because its population is quite heterogeneous, a new model is needed in future studies to assess the importance of the factors and brain functions that are responsible for an optimal homeostatic state.

• Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2024

Background and Purpose: Voice, reflecting cerebral functions, holds potential for analyzing and understanding brain function, especially in the context of cognitive impairment (CI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study used voice data to distinguish between normal cognition and CI or Alzheimer's disease dementia (ADD). Methods: This study enrolled 3 groups of subjects: 1) 52 subjects with subjective cognitive decline; 2) 110 subjects with mild CI; and 3) 59 subjects with ADD. Voice features were extracted using Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients and Chroma. Results: A deep neural network (DNN) model showed promising performance, with an accuracy of roughly 81% in 10 trials in predicting ADD, which increased to an average value of about 82.0%±1.6% when evaluated against unseen test dataset. Conclusions: Although results did not demonstrate the level of accuracy necessary for a definitive clinical tool, they provided a compelling proof-of-concept for the potential use of voice data in cognitive status assessment. DNN algorithms using voice offer a promising approach to early detection of AD. They could improve the accuracy and accessibility of diagnosis, ultimately leading to better outcomes for patients.