• Title/Summary/Keyword: Ambient Service

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Short-term Effects of Ambient Air Pollution on Emergency Department Visits for Asthma: An Assessment of Effect Modification by Prior Allergic Disease History

  • Noh, Juhwan;Sohn, Jungwoo;Cho, Jaelim;Cho, Seong-Kyung;Choi, Yoon Jung;Kim, Changsoo;Shin, Dong Chun
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.49 no.5
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    • pp.329-341
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    • 2016
  • Objectives: The goal of this study was to investigate the short-term effect of ambient air pollution on emergency department (ED) visits in Seoul for asthma according to patients' prior history of allergic diseases. Methods: Data on ED visits from 2005 to 2009 were obtained from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. To evaluate the risk of ED visits for asthma related to ambient air pollutants (carbon monoxide [CO], nitrogen dioxide [$NO_2$], ozone [$O_3$], sulfur dioxide [$SO_2$], and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <$10{\mu}m$ [$PM_{10}$]), a generalized additive model with a Poisson distribution was used; a single-lag model and a cumulative-effect model (average concentration over the previous 1-7 days) were also explored. The percent increase and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for each interquartile range (IQR) increment in the concentration of each air pollutant. Subgroup analyses were done by age, gender, the presence of allergic disease, and season. Results: A total of 33 751 asthma attack cases were observed during the study period. The strongest association was a 9.6% increase (95% CI, 6.9% to 12.3%) in the risk of ED visits for asthma per IQR increase in $O_3$ concentration. IQR changes in $NO_2$ and $PM_{10}$ concentrations were also significantly associated with ED visits in the cumulative lag 7 model. Among patients with a prior history of allergic rhinitis or atopic dermatitis, the risk of ED visits for asthma per IQR increase in $PM_{10}$ concentration was higher (3.9%; 95% CI, 1.2% to 6.7%) than in patients with no such history. Conclusions: Ambient air pollutants were positively associated with ED visits for asthma, especially among subjects with a prior history of allergic rhinitis or atopic dermatitis.

A Study on the Effects of Physical Environment on the Perceived Service Quality, Menu Quality and Customer Satisfaction (외식서비스기업의 물리적 환경이 고객이 인지한 서비스품질, 메뉴품질, 고객만족에 미치는 영향)

  • Jung, Seon-Mi;Kim, Young-Hun
    • Culinary science and hospitality research
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.224-238
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    • 2014
  • This study aimed to identify that the physical environment of a food service company has influenced on the perceived service quality, menu quality and customer satisfaction. To achieve the purpose of this study, it reviewed the theoretical background about the physical environment, the perceived service quality, the perceived menu quality and customer satisfaction. Moreover, this study conducted a corresponding empirical analysis. For the empirical analysis, a questionnaire was given to a total of 275 regular restaurant customers at Busan area. The results of the empirical analysis were shown as follows. 1) The components of physical environment of a service company are the attractiveness, cleanliness, space & convenience and the ambient factor of physical environment. 2) For the attractiveness of the physical environment, cleanliness and the ambience factors of the physical environment have influenced on the perceived service quality and menu quality. 3) The perceived service quality has influence on the perceived the menu quality. 4) The perceived service quality and the menu quality have influence on the customer satisfaction.

The Interaction Roles of Ambient Pride Type and Advertisement Type on Product Evaluation (프라이드의 유형과 광고유형의 광고제품평가에 대한 상호작용효과)

  • Choi, Nak-Hwan
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.13 no.5
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    • pp.61-70
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    • 2015
  • Purpose - This study investigates whether the effectiveness of self trait-advertisement versus communion-focused advertisement on product evaluations depends on a type of pride felt as ambient emotion. It also explores whether the mediating roles of cognitive and affective response to the effect of the advertisement type on product evaluation are moderated by types of pride such as hubristic pride or authentic pride. Research Design, Data, and Methodology - This research uses a restaurant service as the experimental object and employs a 2 (pride type: hubristic pride vs. authentic pride) × 2 (advertisement type: self trait-focused advertisement versus communion-focused advertisement) between-subjects design, with cognitive response and affective response as within-subject. Each experimental group consisted of 40 undergraduate students assigned to participate in the experiment. One questionnaire from the authentic pride and self-trait focused advertisement group and two questionnaires from the hubristic pride and communion-focused advertisement group were removed due to answer errors, resulting in a participant number of 157. The author conducts a 2 (pride type: hubristic pride vs. authentic pride) × 2 (advertisement type: self trait-focused advertisement versus communion-focused advertisement) ANOVA on advertised product evaluations, and to better understand the interaction effects, also conducts separate analysis of the hubristic and the authentic pride groups. Additionally, the study conducts mediated moderation analysis to check the mediation role difference of the cognitive response and the affective response to each advertisement on the interaction effects on product evaluations between the hubristic and the authentic pride groups. Results - The findings indicate that participants in the hubristic pride group more positively evaluate the product in self-trait focused advertisement, whereas participants in the authentic pride group more positively evaluate the product in communion-focused advertisements. In addition, the mediating role of cognitive response on the positive interaction effect of advertisement type and pride type on product evaluation is partially moderated by the pride type. However, the mediating role of affective response on the positive interaction effect of advertisement type and pride type on the product evaluation is not moderated by the pride type. Conclusions - The results of this study contribute to advertisement theory development by exploring interaction effects of ambient pride type and advertisement type on product evaluation, as well as to the theory of consumer behavior by exploring how pride type moderates the mediating roles of cognitive response on the positive interaction effect of advertisement type and pride type on product evaluation. From the perspective of the current research, advertisers should research what kinds of events consumers have experienced to increase the effectiveness of their advertisements, and use self-trait advertisements when consumers are grouped under ambient hubristic pride, and use communion-focused advertisements when consumers are grouped under ambient authentic pride. However, future research is necessary to discover the reasons why the mediating role of affective response to advertisements in the interaction effects of pride type and advertisement type on product evaluation is not moderated by pride type.

Interactions of nitrogen supplying level and elevated CO2 on Growth and Photosynthesis of Picea koraiensis Nakai seedlings

  • Wang Y.J.;Mao Z.J.;Park K.W.
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bio-Environment Control Conference
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    • 2004.11a
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    • pp.139-143
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    • 2004
  • To evaluate the biological and physiological response of Picea koraiensis Nakai to elevated $CO_2$ and nitrogen.3-year old seedlings were planted in an ambient and 700 ppm $CO_2$ at low (2mM $NH_4NO_3$) or high nitrogen (16mM $NH_4NO_3$) supplying treatments for 3 months. Photosynthetic parameters were measured monthly. Seedlings were harvested at monthly intervals and growth parameters of root system, stem and needle fractions were evaluated. The result showed that height of the seedlings grown at both of elevated $CO_2Xhigh$ nitrogen and elevated CO2×low nitrogen supplying treatments increased significantly more than that of at ambient CO2 treatments. Seedlings grown at elevated $CO_2Xhigh$ nitrogen produced more root biomass than at elevated $CO_2Xlow$ nitrogen and ambient $CO_2Xhigh$ nitrogen treatments. This result suggested that the root growth response of Picea koraiensis seedlings was greater in elevated $CO_2{\times}high$ nitrogen regime, which is very important for carbon sequestration in soil. $A_{max}$ of the seedlings grown at elevated $CO_2Xhigh$ nitrogen increased during the three months significantly, and $A_{max}$ of the seedlings grown at the other three treatments decreased significantly, suggesting that the interaction between elevated $CO_2$ and high nitrogen supplying stimulates the $A_{max}$ of Picea koraiensis. $A_{max}$ of the seedlings grown at elevated $CO_2Xlow$ nitrogen showed higher than other three treatments in the first month of the experiment, but decreased in succedent two months, suggesting that elevated $CO_2$ promotes the photosynthesis of the seedlings. However long term growth in elevated $CO_2Xlow$ nitrogen supplying condition resulted in an acclimatory decreased in leaf photosynthesis.

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Autonomous evaluation of ambient vibration of underground spaces induced by adjacent subway trains using high-sensitivity wireless smart sensors

  • Sun, Ke;Zhang, Wei;Ding, Huaping;Kim, Robin E.;Spencer, Billie F. Jr.
    • Smart Structures and Systems
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    • v.19 no.1
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    • pp.1-10
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    • 2017
  • The operation of subway trains induces secondary structure-borne vibrations in the nearby underground spaces. The vibration, along with the associated noise, can cause annoyance and adverse physical, physiological, and psychological effects on humans in dense urban environments. Traditional tethered instruments restrict the rapid measurement and assessment on such vibration effect. This paper presents a novel approach for Wireless Smart Sensor (WSS)-based autonomous evaluation system for the subway train-induced vibrations. The system was implemented on a MEMSIC's Imote2 platform, using a SHM-H high-sensitivity accelerometer board stacked on top. A new embedded application VibrationLevelCalculation, which determines the International Organization for Standardization defined weighted acceleration level, was added into the Illinois Structural Health Monitoring Project Service Toolsuite. The system was verified in a large underground space, where a nearby subway station is a good source of ground excitation caused by the running subway trains. Using an on-board processor, each sensor calculated the distribution of vibration levels within the testing zone, and sent the distribution of vibration level by radio to display it on the central server. Also, the raw time-histories and frequency spectrum were retrieved from the WSS leaf nodes. Subsequently, spectral vibration levels in the one-third octave band, characterizing the vibrating influence of different frequency components on human bodies, was also calculated from each sensor node. Experimental validation demonstrates that the proposed system is efficient for autonomously evaluating the subway train-induced ambient vibration of underground spaces, and the system holds the potential of greatly reducing the laboring of dynamic field testing.

Short-term Effect of Ambient Air Pollution on Emergency Department Visits for Diabetic Coma in Seoul, Korea

  • Kim, Hyunmee;Kim, Woojin;Choi, Jee Eun;Kim, Changsoo;Sohn, Jungwoo
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.51 no.6
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    • pp.265-274
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    • 2018
  • Objectives: A positive association between air pollution and both the incidence and prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) has been reported in some epidemiologic and animal studies, but little research has evaluated the relationship between air pollution and diabetic coma. Diabetic coma is an acute complication of DM caused by diabetic ketoacidosis or hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state, which is characterized by extreme hyperglycemia accompanied by coma. We conducted a time-series study with a generalized additive model using a distributed-lag non-linear model to assess the association between ambient air pollution (particulate matter less than $10{\mu}m$ in aerodynamic diameter, nitrogen dioxide [$NO_2$], sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone) and emergency department (ED) visits for DM with coma in Seoul, Korea from 2005 to 2009. Methods: The ED data and medical records from the 3 years previous to each diabetic coma event were obtained from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service to examine the relationship with air pollutants. Results: Overall, the adjusted relative risks (RRs) for an interquartile range (IQR) increment of $NO_2$ was statistically significant at lag 1 (RR, 1.125; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.039 to 1.219) in a single-lag model and both lag 0-1 (RR, 1.120; 95% CI, 1.028 to 1.219) and lag 0-3 (RR, 1.092; 95% CI, 1.005 to 1.186) in a cumulative-lag model. In a subgroup analysis, significant positive RRs were found for females for per-IQR increments of $NO_2$ at cumulative lag 0-3 (RR, 1.149; 95% CI, 1.022 to 1.291). Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that ambient air pollution, specifically $NO_2$, is associated with ED visits for diabetic coma.

Temperature effect analysis of a long-span cable-stayed bridge based on extreme strain estimation

  • Yang, Xia;Zhang, Jing;Ren, Wei-Xin
    • Smart Structures and Systems
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.11-22
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    • 2017
  • The long-term effect of ambient temperature on bridge strain is an important and challenging problem. To investigate this issue, one year data of strain and ambient temperature of a long-span cable-stayed bridge is studied in this paper. The measured strain-time history is decomposed into two parts to obtain the strains due to vehicle load and temperature alone. A linear regression model between the temperature and the strain due to temperature is established. It is shown that for every $1^{\circ}C$ increase in temperature, the stress is increased by 0.148 MPa. Furthmore, the extreme value distributions of the strains due to vehicle load, temperature and the combination effect of them during the remaining service period are estimated by the average conditional exceedance rate approach. This approach avoids the problem of declustering of data to ensure independence. The estimated results demonstrate that the 95% quantile of the extreme strain distribution due to temperature is up to $1.488{\times}10^{-4}$ which is 2.38 times larger than that due to vehicle load. The study also indicates that the estimated extreme strain can reflect the long-term effect of temperature on bridge strain state, which has reference significance for the reliability estimation and safety assessment.

The Influence of Physical Environment Perception on Restaurant Patrons' Attitude Formation : The Mediating Role of Emotional Responses (레스토랑의 물리적 환경지각이 고객 태도형성에 미치는 영향 : 감정반응의 중개역할을 중심으로)

  • Chun, Byung-Gil;Roh, Young-Man
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.438-445
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    • 2005
  • This research examines how various dimensions of physical environments influence patrons' psychological responses(especially emotional responses) in the restaurant service setting, and how these emotional responses, in turn, influence patrons' attitude formation. The result of empirical research indicates that restaurant physical environments have a significant effect patrons' emotional responses, and that these psychological experiences serve as critical mediators in the restaurant physical environments-store attitudes relationship. However, the effects of restaurant physical environments on patrons' psychological responses varied with the dimensions of physical environments. First, the effect of cleanliness on emotional responses was most significant, especially on negative emotion, out of 4 dimension of restaurant physical environment. Second, ambient conditions are the most important predictor on customers' positive emotion, and in turn, positive emotion has the most significant effects on customers' attitude formation of restaurant. Therefore, the result suggests that restaurants should manage(or, improve) their ambient conditions(e.g. background music, scents, ventilation, noise etc.) for efficiently maximizing customers' positive attitude. The implications of this study are discussed, and ideas for future work suggested.

Effects of Enhanced pCO2 and Temperature on Reproduction and Survival of the Copepod Calanus sinicus

  • Kang, Hyung-Ku;Lee, Chang-Rae;Kim, Dongseon;Yoo, Sinjae
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.38 no.4
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    • pp.303-314
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    • 2016
  • We tested the combined effects of increased partial pressure of $CO_2$ ($pCO_2$) and temperature on the reproduction and survival of the copepod Calanus sinicus from Asan Bay, the Yellow Sea under laboratory conditions to understand the impact of acidification on copepods. Egg production rate, survival rate, and fecal pellet production of C. sinicus were not affected by 1305 ppm $pCO_2$ or with combined treatments of temperature and $pCO_2$, including $8^{\circ}C$ and 289 ppm $pCO_2$ (ambient), $8^{\circ}C$ and 753 ppm $pCO_2$ (high $pCO_2$), $12^{\circ}C$ and 289 ppm $pCO_2$ (high temperature), and $12^{\circ}C$ and 753 ppm $pCO_2$ (greenhouse), for 5 or 10 d of exposure. However, egg hatching success of C. sinicus decreased significantly in the greenhouse treatment compared with the ambient or the high $pCO_2$ treatments. These results suggest that a combined treatment ($pCO_2$ and temperature) affected egg viability more than a single treatment($pCO_2$).