• Title/Summary/Keyword: )$K_d$

Search Result 75,795, Processing Time 0.117 seconds

The Qualitiy Characteristics of Kimchi added Vinegar, Mustard and Leaf Vegetables (식초, 겨자, 잎채소를 첨가한 김치의 품질특성)

  • Pak, Hee-Ok;Sohn, Chun-Young
    • The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
    • /
    • v.26 no.4
    • /
    • pp.841-849
    • /
    • 2013
  • The aim of this study was to investigate the quality characteristics of Kimchi, prepared with seasoning fluid, vinegar, and mustard extract to inhibit the proliferation of microorganisms and extend the edible period during fermentation at $25^{\circ}C$. We also added perilla leaf, endive, and mustard leaf to Kimchi to improve the flavor. The pH of control Kimchi fluid over 1 day after Kimchi processing, was $5.40{\pm}0.01$ and that of the experimental groups in which vinegar and mustard extract were added was $4.51{\pm}0.01{\sim}4.52{\pm}0.01$, which was lower than that of the control. As the fermentation progresses, the pH of the control decreased rapidly and that of the experimental groups decreased slowly. The initial titratible acidity of the control was low and 3 days later reached $0.95{\pm}0.04$. However, that of the experimental groups was $0.42{\pm}0.01{\sim}0.43{\pm}0.02$ and 5 days later reached a level similar to that of the control. The salinities of the Kimchi juice of both the control and the experimental groups were $2.67{\pm}0.06{\sim}2.80{\pm}0.10$% after 1 day and decreased during fermentation. The amount of lactic acid bacteria of the control was $8.17{\pm}4.01{\times}10^8cfu/g$, 1 day after the Kimchi processing and that of the experimental groups was $2.70{\pm}2.08{\times}10^7{\sim}3.63{\pm}2.80{\times}10^7cfu/g$. After 3 days, these were $3.13{\pm}1.94{\times}10^{11}cfu/g$ and $2.47{\pm}2.23{\times}10^9{\sim}8.03{\pm}3.71{\times}10^9cfu/g$, respectively. According to the result of sensory evaluation, throughout the entire period of the experiment, all sensory items such as color, odor, taste, texture, and total acceptability of the experimental groups were better than those of the control group (p<0.05). Especially, Kimchi in which perilla leaf was added was the best. With the addition of vinegar and mustard extract to the Kimchi, microorganism proliferation was inhibited and the edible period was extended. The minerals, vitamins and antioxidants of leaf vegetables could therefore be obtained.

Effect of Exercise on Antioxidant Enzyme Activities of Skeletal Muscle and Liver in STZ-diabetic Rats (STZ-당뇨쥐에서 운동부하가 골격근 및 간의 항산화효소 활성도에 미치는 영향)

  • Seok, Kwang-Ho;Lee, Suck-Kang
    • Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
    • /
    • v.17 no.1
    • /
    • pp.21-30
    • /
    • 2000
  • Background: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of exercise on the activities of antioxidant enzymes, super oxide dismutase(SOD), glutathione peroxidase(GPX) and catalase(CAT) of skeletal muscle(gastrocnemius) and liver in streptozotocin(STZ) induced diabetic rats. The malondialdehyde(MDA) concentration was also measured as an index of lipid poroxidation of tho tissues by exercise-induced oxidative stresses in diabetic rats. Material and Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control and STZ-induced diabetic rats. The STZ in citrate buffer solution was injected twice at S days intervals intraperitoneally(50, 70 mg/kg respectively). On the 28th day after the first STZ injection, the diabetic animals were randomly divided into pre- and post-exercise groups, The exercise was introduced to the rats of post-exercise group by treadmill running until exhaution with moderate intensity ($V_{O2max}$: 50-70%) of exercise. The duration of average running time was 2 hours and 19 minutes. Results: The blood glucose concentration was increased(p<0.001) and plasma insulin concentration was decreased(p<0.001) in the diabetic rats. The glycogen concentration in the muscle and liver was decreased by exhaustive exercise in the diabetic rats(p<0.001), In the skeletal muscle, the activities of GPX was increased(p<0.05) and the activities of SOD and CAT were not changed in the diabetic rats compare to those of the control rats. The activities of GPX was not changed by exercise but the activities of SOD(p<0.01) and CAT(p<0.01) were decreased by exercise in the diabetic rats, The concentration of MDA was not changed by exercise in diabetic rats, and the values of pre-exercise and post-exercise diabetic rats were not different from the value those of control rats, In the liver, the activities of SOD was decreased(p<0.01), and the activities of GPX and CAT were not changed in diabetic rats compared to the values of control rats, The activities of SOD, GPX and CAT were not changed by exercise in diabetic rats but the activity of SOD seemed to decrease slightly, The MDA concentration was increased in the diabetic rats compared to the values of control rats(p<0.001), but there was no change of MDA concentration by exercise in diabetic rats, Conclusions: In summary, exhaustive physical exercise did not seem to impose oxidative stress on the skeletal muscle because of due to oxygen free radicals, regardless of the decrease in SOD and CAT in the diabetic rats, In liver tissue, the tissue damage by oxidative stress was observed in diabetic rats but the additional tissue damage by exhaustive physical exercise was not observed.

  • PDF

Sex- and age group-specific associations between intakes of dairy foods and pulses and bone health in Koreans aged 50 years and older: Based on 2008~2011 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (50세 이상 한국인의 성·연령군별 우유류와 두류 섭취량과 골 건강과의 관련성 : 2008~2011 국민건강영양조사 자료를 이용하여)

  • Seo, Hyun-Bi;Choi, Young-Sun
    • Journal of Nutrition and Health
    • /
    • v.49 no.3
    • /
    • pp.165-178
    • /
    • 2016
  • Purpose: This study was performed to examine associations of intakes of milk and dairy products, pulses, and soy foods with bone health in Koreans aged 50 yr and older. Methods: A total of 3,201 men and 3,581 women aged 50 yr and older who participated in the 2008~2011 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were grouped by sex and age groups of 50~64 yr and 65 yr and older. Subjects within each sex and age group were divided into three bone health groups: normal, osteopenia, and osteoporosis groups based on bone mineral density. Intakes of nutrients and foods derived from 24-hour recall data were compared among three bone health groups. Associations between intake frequencies of foods, including milk, yogurt, tofu, or soy milk, and osteoporosis risk were evaluated based on confounding risk factor-adjusted logistic regression. Results: Calcium intake was in the order of normal, osteopenia, and osteoporosis in men (p < 0.01) and women (p < 0.05) aged 50~64 yr as well as in men aged 65 yr and older (p < 0.001). In women aged 50~64 yr, intake of milk and dairy products was lower in the osteoporosis group (p < 0.01) as compared with the osteopenia group. Intake of pulses or tofu was not significantly different among bone health groups. Odds ratio (OR) for milk intake frequency (${\geq}2$ times/week) compared to intake frequency less than 1 time/month was 0.45 (95% CI 0.24~0.85, p for trend = 0.022) in men aged 65 yr and older. The OR for yogurt intake frequency (1 time/month~1 time/week) was 0.47 (95% CI 0.30~0.73, p for trend = 0.019) in women aged 50~64 yr. Intake frequency of tofu or soy milk was not associated with reduced risk of osteoporosis in all groups. Conclusion: Dairy food intake was significantly associated with bone health, and its effect was sex- and age group-specific, whereas soy food intake was not. Dietary intervention to prevent osteoporosis would be effective for women aged 50~64 yr old and for men aged 65 yr and older.

Comparative analysis of status of safety accidents and importance-performance analysis (IPA) about precautions of safety accidents by employment type of industry foodservices in Jeonbuk area (전북지역 산업체급식소 조리종사자의 고용형태에 따른 안전사고 실태 및 안전사고 예방관리에 대한 중요도와 수행도 분석)

  • So, Hee;Rho, Jeong Ok
    • Journal of Nutrition and Health
    • /
    • v.50 no.4
    • /
    • pp.402-414
    • /
    • 2017
  • Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the status of safety accidents and importance-performance analysis (IPA) between regular and non-regular employees in industry foodservices. Methods: The participants were regular employees (n = 119) and non-regular employees (n = 163) in industry foodservices in the Jeonbuk area. Demographic characteristics, status of safety accidents, safety education, and importance and performance status were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Approximately 66.4% of regular employees and 53.4% of non-regular employees experienced safety accidents (p < 0.05). Types of safety accidents of regular and non-regular employees were mostly burns, and causes were mostly from their own negligence. Approximately 98.3% of regular employees and 95.1% of non-regular employees experienced safety education. Approximately 88.9% of regular employees and 96.8% of non-regular employees received safety education from dietitians. Approximately 41.9% of regular employees and 50.0% of non-regular employees had difficulty applying the contents of safety education due to lack of time during work. As a result of IPA, regular and non-regular employees were aware of the importance of the following and performed them well: 'Clean the floor of the work place', 'Arrange in the work area', 'Wear safety shoes', 'Check for heater cord', and 'Safety cooking when using oil'. On the other hand, they were not aware of the importance of the following and performed them insufficiently: 'Check for the MSDS', 'Aware of chemical signs', 'Wear protection gloves etc.', 'Do stretching exercise', and 'Using ancillary tools'. Conclusion: Therefore, it is necessary to improve the consciousness of dietitians for effective application of safety education contents, development of contents, especially MSDS, and related things.

Rural Migration and Changes of Agricultural Population (농민이촌(農民離村)과 농업인구(農業人口)의 변화(變化))

  • Wu, Tsong-Shien;Kim, Kuong-Ho
    • Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
    • /
    • v.1 no.1
    • /
    • pp.91-116
    • /
    • 1974
  • Taiwan agricultural development in the last decade has not been changed much since the accomplishment of land reform program. This is mainly due to the rapid development taken place within industry that agricultural development can not keep pace with. The increasing gap of rural-urban income discrepancy has caused socio-psychological unstability among rural people and inspire wants of out-migration. From 1961 to 1970, population of the ten largest cities showed an annual growth rate of 4.05%, while the population of the remainder of Taiwan showed 2.06%. Assuming the natural increase rate of these two population sections are similar, the difference of rural and urban annual growth rate can be at tributed to the flow of people from rural to urban sectors. The main objective of this paper is to identify the amount of agricultural out-migration and its impact on agricultural development and agricultural extension programs. Specifically, the objectives are to examine (1) rural-urban population composition (2) rural out-migration estimation (3) changes of agricultural population, and (4) implications for agricultural development and extension programs Some of the important findings are listed below; (1) The average agricultural out migration of the period 1960-1969 is estimated at around 60,000 per year. Take Tainan prefecture for example, the Male-Female Migration Ratio is 0.39 for age 20-24, 0.55 for age 25-29, 0.90 for 30-34. It is understood between age 20 and 34, the rural female migration rate is higher than the rural male. (2) Based on the population growth rate of 1950-1969, agricultural population is projected for the period of 1953 to 1989. By 1978, the agricultural population will reach its peak and begin to dedaine from 1980. The projected agricultural population in 1989 is 5,847,566 which occupies 29% of the Taiwan total population. (3) Assuming area of cultivated land keep unchanged as 905,263 ha. in 1970, and tif we can eliminate all 72% of part-time farms, then the average farm acreage for hose full-time farms will be increased to 3.6 hactares. This is unlikely to happen before 1989 without the government interference. (4) Less than 10% of adult farmer s of age 25-64 in 1969 enrolled in Farm Discussion Club, only 5% of adult farm women enrolled in Home Economics Club, and 5% of rural youth enrolled in 4-H Club. These statistics show a fact that only few farmers are reached by extension workers. Based on findings in this paper, some important suggestions are listed for future agricultural development. (1) Improve agricultural structure by decreasing agricultural population (a) Encourage farmers with less than 0.5 ha. of land to seek jobs outside of agriculture (b) Encourage joint cultivation and farm mechanization (c) Discourage rural migrants to Keep farm land (d) Provide occupational guidance program through extension education programs (2) Establish future farmers settlement project to assure rural youth have enough resources for farming. (3) An optimum Population policy should be integrated into rural socio-economic development and national development programs.

  • PDF

Two Anhydrous Zeolite X Crystal Structures, $Ca_{18}Tl_{56}Si_{100}Al_{92}O_{384}\;and\;Ca_{32}Tl_{28}Si_{100}Al_{92}O_{384}$ (제올라이트 X의 두 개의 무수물 $Ca_{18}Tl_{56}Si_{100}Al_{92}O_{384}$$Ca_{32}Tl_{28}Si_{100}Al_{92}O_{384}$의 결정구조)

  • Choi, Eun Young;Kim, Yang
    • Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
    • /
    • v.43 no.4
    • /
    • pp.384-385
    • /
    • 1999
  • Two anhydrous crystal structures of fully dehydrated, $Ca^{2+}$- and $Tl^+$-exchanged zeolite X, TEX>$Ca_{18}Tl_{56}Si_{100}Al_{92}O_{384}($Ca_{18}Tl_{56}$-X;\alpha=24.883(4)\AA)$ and TEX>$Ca_{32}Tl_{28}Si_{100}Al_{92}O_{384}($Ca_{32}Tl_{28}$-X;\alpha=24.973(4)\AA)$ per unit cell, have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques in the cubic space group Fd3 at $21(1)^{\circ}C.$ $Ca_{18}Tl_{56}-X$ was prepared by ion exchange in a flowing stream of 0.045 M aqueous $Ca(NO_3)_2$ and 0.005 M $TlNO_3$. $Ca_{32}Tl_{28}-X$ was prepared similarly using a mixed solution of 0.0495 M $Ca(NO_3)_2$ and 0.0005M $TlNO_3$. Each crystal was then dehydrated at 360 $^{\circ}C$ and $2{\times}10^{-6}$ Torr for 2 days. Their structures were refined to the final error indices, $R_1=0.039\;and\;R_2=0.036$ with 382 reflections for $Ca_{18}Tl_{56}-X$ , and $R_1=0.046\;and\;R_2=0.045$ with 472 reflections for $Ca_{32}Tl_{28}$-X for which $/>3\sigma(I).$ In the structures of dehydrated $Ca_{18}Tl_{56^-}X\;and\;Ca_{32}Tl_{28}$-X, $Ca^{2+}\;and\;Tl^+$ ions are located at six crystallographic sites. Sixteen $Ca^{2+}$ ions fill the octahedral sites I at the centers of double six rings ($Ca_{18}Tl_{56}$-X:Ca-O=2.42(1) and O-Ca-O=93.06(4)$^{\circ}$; $Ca_{32}Tl_{28}$-X Ca-O=2.40(1) $\AA$ and O-Ca-O=93.08(3)$^{\circ}$). In the structure of $Ca_{18}Tl_{56}$-X, another two $Ca^{2+}$ ions occupy site II (Ca-O=2.35(2) $\AA$ and O-Ca-O=111.69(2)$^{\circ}$) and twenty six $Tl^+$ ions occupy site II opposite single six-rings in the supercage; each is 1.493 $\AA$ from the plane of three oxygens $(Tl-O=2.70(8)\AA$ and O-Tl-O=92.33(4)$^{\circ}$). About four $Tl^+$ ions are found at site II',1.695 $\AA$ into sodalite cavity from their three oxygen plane (Tl-O=2.81 (1) and O-Tl-O=87.48(3)). The remaining twenty six $Tl^+$ ions are distributed over site III'(Tl-O=2.82 (1) $\AA$ and Tl-O=2.88(3)$^{\circ}$). In the structure of $Ca_{32}Tl_{28}$-X, sixteen $Ca^{2+}$ ions and fifteen $Tl^+$ ions occupy site III' (Ca-O=2.26(1) $\AA$ and O-Ca-O=119.14(4)$^{\circ}$; Tl-O=2.70(1) $\AA$ and O-Tl-O=92.38$^{\circ}$) and one $Tl^+$ ion occupies site II'. The remaining twelve $Tl^+$ ions are distributed over site III'. It appears that $Ca^{2+}$ ions prefer sites I and II in that order and $Tl^+$ ions occupy the remaining sites.

  • PDF

3-D Finite element stress analysis in screw-type, cement-type, and combined-type implant fixed partial denture designs (임플란트 상부보철물의 유지형태에 따른 3차원 유한요소 응력분석)

  • Lee, Sung-Chun;Kim, Seok-Gyu
    • The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
    • /
    • v.47 no.4
    • /
    • pp.365-375
    • /
    • 2009
  • Statement of problems: Stress analysis on implant components of the combined screw- and cement-retained implant prosthesis has not investigated yet. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the load distribution characteristics of implant prostheses with the different prosthodontic retention types, such as cement-type, screw-type and combined type by using 3-dimensional finite element analysis. Material and methods: A 3-dimensional finite element model was created in which two SS II implants (Osstem Co. Ltd.) were placed in the areas of the first premolar and the first molar in the mandible, and three-unit fixed partial dentures with four different retention types were fabricated on the two SS II implants. Model 1 was a cement-retained implant restoration made on two cement-retained type abutments (Comocta abutment; Osstem Co. Ltd.), and Model 2 was a screw-retained implant restoration made on the screw-retained type abutments (Octa abutment; Osstem Co. Ltd.). Model 3 was a combined type implant restoration made on the cement-retained type abutment (Comocta abutment) for the first molar and the screw-retained type abutment (Octa abutment) for the first premolar. Lastly, Model 4 was a combined type implant restoration made on the screw-retained type abutment (Octa abutment) for the first molar and the cement-retained type abutment (Comocta abutment) for the first premolar. Average masticatory force was applied on the central fossa in a vertical direction, and on the buccal cusp in a vertical and oblique direction for each model. Von-Mises stress patterns on alveolar bone, implant body, abutment, abutment screw, and prosthetic screw around implant prostheses were evaluated through 3-dimensional finite element analysis. Results: Model 2 showed the lowest von Mises stress. In all models, the von Mises stress distribution of cortical bone, cancellous bone and implant body showed the similar pattern. Regardless of loading conditions and type of abutment system, the stress of bone was concentrated on the cortical bone. The von-Mises stress on abutment, abutment screw, and prosthetic screw showed the lower values for the screw-retained type abutment than for the cement-retained type abutment regardless of the model type. There was little reciprocal effect of the abutment system between the molar and the premolar position. For all models, buccal cusp oblique loading caused the largest stress, followed by buccal cusp vertical loading and center vertical loading. Conclusion: Within the limitation of the FEA study, the combined type implant prosthesis did not demonstrate more stress around implant components than the cement type implant prosthesis. Under the assumption of ideal passive fit, the screw-type implant prosthesis showed the east stress around implant components.

Studies on a Plan for Afforestation at Tong-ri Beach Resort(II) -Analyses of Crown Amounts and Soil Properties in the Disaster-damage Prevention Forests of Pinus thunbergii PARL., the Valuation on Soil Properties for Planting and Planning for Afforestation- (통리(桶里) 해수욕장(海水浴場) 녹지대(綠地帶) 조성(造成)에 관(關)한 연구(硏究)(II) -곰솔 해안방재림(海岸防災林)의 수관량(樹冠量) 및 토양분석(土壤分析), 식재기반평가(植栽基盤評價) 및 녹지대계획(綠地帶計劃)-)

  • Cho, Hi Doo
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
    • /
    • v.77 no.3
    • /
    • pp.303-314
    • /
    • 1988
  • Tong-ri beach has not enough vegetation to be enjoyed by the sea bathers and to be satisfied with preventing the disaster-damages, but mixed forest near the beach can work its funtions and the old forest of Pirus thunbergii $P_{ARL}$. near the beach do a Little. Therefore it is very urgent to plant more trees near the beach for bathers and disaster-damage prevention. This study was carried out for planning an afforestation, with reporting upon the crown amounts and soil properties of disaster-damage prevention forests of P. thunbergii $P_{ARL}$. planted on the coast sand dunes in 1970 and 1976, and with reporting upon the valuation on soil properties of the lands near the beach in order to set the afforestation site. The results are as follows : 1. In disaster-damage prevention forests, crown surface area and crown volume became increasingly greater in proportion to the height. To D.B.H., crown volume also became increasingly greater in proportion, but crown surface area was directly proportional. 2. In comparison to sail characteristics of sand dune, those of the forests were in large quantity in OM, T-N and avail. $SiO_2$, and almost in the same in avail. $P_2O_5$, but in small quantity in exchangeable canons : K, Ca, Mg and Na. 3. EC, Cl and pH were in small value in the forest soils, but CEC was in large value in those soils. 4. Above facts showed that the forests fulfill their functions for preventing disaster-damages and improve their soil properties. 5. The forests have naturally been thinned up to 34% in 17 years and 39% in 11 years, and one can easily pass through the forest(planted in 1970), because of its sufficient clear-length(2.71m) and its space to pass. 6. A plan for afforestation was oracle nut after judging several sites by the evaluation on the soil properties and considering the best relaxation and the prevention of the various disaster-damages upon which were reported in the last issue. 7. Afforestation should be kept for maintaining its appropriate density for best relaxation and disaster-damage prevention.

  • PDF

The Relationship between Trust, Trustworthiness, and Repeat Purchase Intentions: A Multidimensional Approach (신뢰대상의 다차원적 접근법에 의한 신뢰와 재구매 의도와의 관계)

  • Lee, Soo-Hyung;Park, Mi-Ryong
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
    • /
    • v.18 no.1
    • /
    • pp.1-31
    • /
    • 2008
  • Trust is central to human relationships, at all times and places. The importance of trust is fundamental in all areas of human life, not only in the area of business administration. 2,500 years ago in China, Confucius taught that the foundation of politics was the trust of the people, more important even than military strength or the supply of food. Shakespeare's play, "Much Ado about Nothing' is about trust and deception. These days, trust and transparency in a commercial organization's business culture form the basis of the 'social capital' by which that organization increases its productivity. A successful company raises productivity by the accumulation of social capital, derived from a trust relationship between business partners, and between the company and consumers. Trust is the crucial factor. At the national level, building trust determines a nation's competitiveness. For a company, long term trust relationships with customers are essential for its survival in a business environment of rapid change. Such relationships, based on trust, are important assets to ensure a company's competitive advantage, and need to be organic to that company's business culture. Because of this importance, trust relationships have been studied in diverse areas within business administration, and especially within marketing, where they form the basis of a successful relationship between producer and consumer. However, what has been lacking is a unified definition of trust. Research has been conducted on the basis of various definitions and models. The majority of researchers have not considered the multidimensional character of the concept of trust until now. Approaches based on a one dimensional model have undermined the value of research results. Furthermore, researchers have only considered trust and trustworthiness as a single component. The majority of research has explored the consequences of perceived trust for outcomes such as loyalty or cooperation, but has neglected the effects of trustworthiness upon the mechanisms of consumer trust. This study focuses on the dimension of trust from such a perspective. It seeks to verify the effect of trust on customer intentions by breaking it down into three separate components: 1) the salesperson, 2) the product/service, and 3) the company. The purposes of this paper are as follows: Firstly, we review the multidimensional nature of trust objects: the salesperson, the product/service, and the company. Secondly, we analyze the relationship between multidimensional trust and trustworthiness. Thirdly, we analyze the connection between trust and repeat purchase intentions for the maintenance of long term relationships. For these purposes the author has developed several hypotheses as follows: H1-1: The competence of a salesperson is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the salesperson. H1-2: The benevolence of a salesperson is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the salesperson. H2-1: The competence of product/service is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the product/service. H2-2: The benevolence of product/service is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the product/service. H3-1: The reputation of a company is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the company. H3-2: The physical environment of a company is positively associated with the trust given by the consumer to the company. H4-1: Trust in a salesperson is positively associated with repeat purchase intentions. H4-2: Trust in a product/service is positively associated with repeat purchase intentions. H4-3: Trust in a company is positively associated with repeat purchase intentions. The data was compiled from 366 questionnaires. 500 questionnaires were collected, but some of the data was considered unsuitable and inappropriate. The subjects of the survey were male and female customers purchasing products at department stores in Seoul, Daegu and Gyeongbuk. It was carried out between Oct. 25 and 29, 2007. The data was analyzed by frequency analysis using SPSS 12.0 and structural equation modeling using LISREL 8.7. The result of the overall model analysis is as follows: Chi-Square=445.497, d.f.=185, p-value=0.0, GFI=.901, RMSEA=.0617, NNFI=.986, NFI=.981, CFI=.989, AGFI=.864, RMR=.0872. The results of the overall model analysis were coherent. It was found that trust is a multi-dimensional construct, that each of the dimensions of trust are meaningful influences on customer's repurchase intention. Trust in a company may be the most relevant, while trust in a product/service and a salesperson may be less relevant to repurchase intentions. The effective factors in determining trust in a salesperson and a company's product/service were found to be competence and benevolence. Factors in determining trust in a company were its reputation and physical environment, and the relationship of each effective trust factor has been verified in this research. As a result, it was found that competence and benevolence have a meaningful influence on trust in a salesperson and in product/service. It was also found that a company's reputation influences the overall trust in the company significantly but a company's physical environment does not have much effect.

  • PDF

Memory Organization for a Fuzzy Controller.

  • Jee, K.D.S.;Poluzzi, R.;Russo, B.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems Conference
    • /
    • 1993.06a
    • /
    • pp.1041-1043
    • /
    • 1993
  • Fuzzy logic based Control Theory has gained much interest in the industrial world, thanks to its ability to formalize and solve in a very natural way many problems that are very difficult to quantify at an analytical level. This paper shows a solution for treating membership function inside hardware circuits. The proposed hardware structure optimizes the memoried size by using particular form of the vectorial representation. The process of memorizing fuzzy sets, i.e. their membership function, has always been one of the more problematic issues for the hardware implementation, due to the quite large memory space that is needed. To simplify such an implementation, it is commonly [1,2,8,9,10,11] used to limit the membership functions either to those having triangular or trapezoidal shape, or pre-definite shape. These kinds of functions are able to cover a large spectrum of applications with a limited usage of memory, since they can be memorized by specifying very few parameters ( ight, base, critical points, etc.). This however results in a loss of computational power due to computation on the medium points. A solution to this problem is obtained by discretizing the universe of discourse U, i.e. by fixing a finite number of points and memorizing the value of the membership functions on such points [3,10,14,15]. Such a solution provides a satisfying computational speed, a very high precision of definitions and gives the users the opportunity to choose membership functions of any shape. However, a significant memory waste can as well be registered. It is indeed possible that for each of the given fuzzy sets many elements of the universe of discourse have a membership value equal to zero. It has also been noticed that almost in all cases common points among fuzzy sets, i.e. points with non null membership values are very few. More specifically, in many applications, for each element u of U, there exists at most three fuzzy sets for which the membership value is ot null [3,5,6,7,12,13]. Our proposal is based on such hypotheses. Moreover, we use a technique that even though it does not restrict the shapes of membership functions, it reduces strongly the computational time for the membership values and optimizes the function memorization. In figure 1 it is represented a term set whose characteristics are common for fuzzy controllers and to which we will refer in the following. The above term set has a universe of discourse with 128 elements (so to have a good resolution), 8 fuzzy sets that describe the term set, 32 levels of discretization for the membership values. Clearly, the number of bits necessary for the given specifications are 5 for 32 truth levels, 3 for 8 membership functions and 7 for 128 levels of resolution. The memory depth is given by the dimension of the universe of the discourse (128 in our case) and it will be represented by the memory rows. The length of a world of memory is defined by: Length = nem (dm(m)+dm(fm) Where: fm is the maximum number of non null values in every element of the universe of the discourse, dm(m) is the dimension of the values of the membership function m, dm(fm) is the dimension of the word to represent the index of the highest membership function. In our case then Length=24. The memory dimension is therefore 128*24 bits. If we had chosen to memorize all values of the membership functions we would have needed to memorize on each memory row the membership value of each element. Fuzzy sets word dimension is 8*5 bits. Therefore, the dimension of the memory would have been 128*40 bits. Coherently with our hypothesis, in fig. 1 each element of universe of the discourse has a non null membership value on at most three fuzzy sets. Focusing on the elements 32,64,96 of the universe of discourse, they will be memorized as follows: The computation of the rule weights is done by comparing those bits that represent the index of the membership function, with the word of the program memor . The output bus of the Program Memory (μCOD), is given as input a comparator (Combinatory Net). If the index is equal to the bus value then one of the non null weight derives from the rule and it is produced as output, otherwise the output is zero (fig. 2). It is clear, that the memory dimension of the antecedent is in this way reduced since only non null values are memorized. Moreover, the time performance of the system is equivalent to the performance of a system using vectorial memorization of all weights. The dimensioning of the word is influenced by some parameters of the input variable. The most important parameter is the maximum number membership functions (nfm) having a non null value in each element of the universe of discourse. From our study in the field of fuzzy system, we see that typically nfm 3 and there are at most 16 membership function. At any rate, such a value can be increased up to the physical dimensional limit of the antecedent memory. A less important role n the optimization process of the word dimension is played by the number of membership functions defined for each linguistic term. The table below shows the request word dimension as a function of such parameters and compares our proposed method with the method of vectorial memorization[10]. Summing up, the characteristics of our method are: Users are not restricted to membership functions with specific shapes. The number of the fuzzy sets and the resolution of the vertical axis have a very small influence in increasing memory space. Weight computations are done by combinatorial network and therefore the time performance of the system is equivalent to the one of the vectorial method. The number of non null membership values on any element of the universe of discourse is limited. Such a constraint is usually non very restrictive since many controllers obtain a good precision with only three non null weights. The method here briefly described has been adopted by our group in the design of an optimized version of the coprocessor described in [10].

  • PDF